Five things that have inspired and challenged me this week:
1. BIBLE PASSAGE I'M FOCUSING ON
17“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! ... 26Then this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 27“I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:17, 26-27 NLT
My daily Bible reading plan has me reading in Jeremiah (which is the longest book in the Bible by word count) and chapter 34 has this wonderful exchange between Jeremiah the Lord. In Jeremiah's prayer he declares that nothing is too hard for God. And a few verses later the Lord responds with the same words - nothing is too hard for Him. The word that translates to "too hard" is one of those beautiful Hebrew words with broad meaning. The primary meanings are "to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, and to be difficult." When used of the Lord, it refers to his supernatural abilities. The Hebrew Lexicon says, "pala is the Old Testament’s principal verb for what is 'extraordinary,' 'beyond human capacity,' or 'wonderfully accomplished.' When attributed to the Lord it celebrates His miraculous interventions; when applied to people it identifies matters they cannot unravel without divine aid."
These verses and that word stood out to me as a reminder that whatever difficult challenge I face, whatever trial or tribulation, nothing is too hard for our wonderful, supernatural extraordinary God!
2. BOOK I'M LISTENING TO
Winning With People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time, John C. Maxwell
John Maxwell is America's leadership guru with more than 30 books on the subject. One common theme in all of his books is relationships. He defines leadership as influence, nothing more, nothing less. And influence works best in relationship with others, both personally and in the corporate world. This is at least my third time through the book in the last 4-5 years. I love the strait-forward, common sense principles that Maxwell teaches in this book (and many others).
Maxwell is also a devout Christian and a longtime pastor. He often uses his leadership platform to reach those in the business world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. QUOTE I AM PONDERING
"The way people see others is a reflection of themselves. If I am a trusting person, I will see others as trustworthy. If I am a critical person, I will see others as critical. If I am a caring person, I will see others as compassionate. Your (own) personality comes through when you talk about others and interact with them." John Maxwell, Winning with PeopleFrom the introduction of the book, and it only gets better after that.
4. OTHER QUOTE I AM PONDERING
"Seek to understand, and then to be understood." Stephen R. Covey
I learned this quote in a college Communications class, and on my better days I put it into practice. The idea is that when you are in a discussion or conversation with another person, seek to understand the other persons point or point of view, before trying to make your point.
As I said, on my better days I put this principle into practice, but I realized this week that I had been failing to put it into practice with both family and friends. I had become so convinced I was right and so focused on making my point, I failed to listen to wise council and good advice from people I love very much. My failure has hurt some people I love and I am praying I can restore some relationship, and learn my lessons to do better in the future.
5. FRIDAY FUNNY!
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