Against his parents strict orders, a little boy was sliding on his wood floors at home without his socks.  A splinter lodged in his foot.  He tried to ignore it, butafter several days of hobbling his mother demanded he slip his sock off.  There, she saw the truth.  She gingerly pulled the splinter out and he began his healing process. Do you have a splinter in your foot?

You may be walking around with a “splinter in your foot.” A relationship wound can come through many avenues:  rejection, sexual abuse, manipulation, or deception.  The question is, will you continue to act as though it’s not there?  Or, will you let God shine His light on that wound and put it on the road to healing?

Here are some ways I have seen people deal wrongly with a wound:

Having been in ministry for 46 years, I have seen that perspiration is often as important as inspiration!  People often think of their successful friends as “lucky” or “more talented.” However, they rarely make the connection between their own work-ethic and their success.  A lazy, passive, self-pitying work ethic leaves you negative, blaming, unsuccessful…and usually broke! Nehemiah and his men had a “mind to work” (Neh. 4: 6).  Those hard-working men built a huge wall in 52 days!  They barely slept, they stayed in their clothing, they built while holding a sword, and they amazed the devil’s crowd.

What were the secrets of Nehemiah’s great work ethic?

Everyone is trying to get a leg up on this New Year.  Thousands of churches nationwide are participating in 21 days of prayer and fasting.  I’ve never been more excited about the American church seeking God.  Surely He is going to answer these millions of prayers! Jesus taught us the “three-fold cord” of a breakthrough in Matthew 6 with the Sermon on the Mount. 

Here is how they have worked in my life when I combine them together:

Everybody makes New Year’s resolutions:  lose weight, gain muscle, write books, read books, get a degree, get a raise, and so on infinitum. All of that is great, but I want to give you a completely different starting point for 2016:  get your finances in order.   Do you realize how much of your life will change when you start emerging out from under that pile of bills, credit card balances, and STRESS?

As I start a new year, here are the three primary focuses I renew:

How do you view impossibilities?  Do they intimidate you and stop you dead in your tracks before you ever even attempt to defeat them?  I have found that there are usually 2 different ways to approach an obstacle in your life. The story of Israel’s twelve spies always helps me when I am facing an impossibility.  They focused on the giants but Joshua and Caleb focused on the grapes!  God called this kind of faith a "different spirit”:  “But my servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land he entered and his descendants will take possession of it” (Num. 14: 24)

Here are a few of the “differences” in a different spirit:

The nation was stunned last week when Islamic terrorism struck San Bernardino.  Fun loving party-goers were suddenly sprayed with automatic weapons.  The plot shows a deep hatred for Americans and sinister preparation to kill.  Everyone is thinking, “What’s next?”

Fear is a normal reaction to a perceived danger.   Yes, mass shootings are occurring almost weekly.  Gun and bullet sales are through the roof.  People are concerned to go to a mall.  Every footstep or out of the ordinary motion makes people jumpy.

Here are the five things I use to combat fear:

Ezekiel and John both saw the four awesome living creatures that stand around the throne of God.  Both of them (Eze. 1: 10, Rev. 4: 7) describe their four faces:  an eagle, an ox, a lion, and a man.  Could these four powerful creatures give us an insight into the nature of God’s kingdom and leadership model?

Paul describes a leadership model with all four included in (1 Cor. 16: 13-14):

Negative pessimism is a hard monkey to get off your back.  It colors everything dull and bland.  It stifles creativity, ruins relationships, and makes everything hopeless.  You lose sight of all that you “have and are” for what you “want and are not.”

The other morning I took a one mile walk in the beautiful crisp, fall air with Melanie.  When I got back home I noticed the nice truck I drive, the beautiful home I live in, and the wonderful amenities I am surrounded by (like dishwashers).  Over the course of the day,  it was as if I was continually overwhelmed by HOW MANY blessings I have in my life. 

I would like to list a few, for your sake and for mine:

There is huge energy behind the apocalyptic movement right now.  With four blood moons, ISIS, and Iran’s nuclear deal there is a feeling of imminent disaster in the air.  How is a fellow to live? What should be our posture at a moment in history where it seems entirely possible Christ could return?

I have developed a philosophy of the end-times that has kept me on track:

We all reach a point where we need to take a break.  Jesus told His disciples to come apart and rest for a while.

God’s break for you is the Sabbath principle. The Sabbath is not just a day of the week; it is a walk in the cool, refreshing breezes of the Holy Spirit.

Here are some ways I maintain the spirit of Sabbath in my life:

A great deal of your success as a leader is in the ability to spot and recruit talented leaders.  King David seemed to be a master at attracting and enlisting top talent (see 1 Chronicles 11-12).  Your ultimate legacy will be the leaders you attracted, trained, and released as great warriors.

What are the top qualities of David’s great recruiting?

Everyone struggles with their tongue.  Sometimes it feels like a coiled up viper, ready to strike.  No matter how hard you grit your teeth to stop it, it will come flying out at a moment’s notice!  James described your tongue as a runaway horse:  “And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

How do we control this “horse inside our mouth?”

Everyone wants to know how to multiply their business, their finances, and their influence. Jesus showed us the secret by having the crowd of people sit down in groups of 50 before He multiplied the bread. Order precedes multiplication.

I have observed that multiplication is wishful thinking for most leaders. They forget that God is “not the author of confusion” and that everything should be done “decently and in order.”

With that fact in mind, here are some areas that I try to be sure I keep in order:

I’ve been really concerned about the lack of honor in our nation.

I have learned that honor is a part of God’s character: “Those who honor Me I will honor and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2: 30).

Here are a few practical ways honor works in my life:

Most leaders are struggling to “fit it all in”.  From home, to work, to kids, to spouse, to church, to parents we are all trying to not leave anyone out. We feel stretched and stressed.  Successful relationships happen on purpose.  Here is how to prioritize the relationships in your life and make sure you are hitting the bullseye.

This is a true Olympic archery bullseye.

It gives us a picture of a plan for making it all fit:

Why is it so hard to forgive? I run across leaders all the time who have deep grudges, bitter feelings, and hard hearts.  An unforgiving heart could be in the top five issues all leaders deal with.  

Marriages are affected, health is affected, and even generations are affected.  Forgiveness 101 is all about conversations, decisions, and memories.

Here are my top three thoughts about forgiveness:

I was blown away last week when I had the privilege to view the smash hit movie, “War Room.” It rocketed to number ONE in the American box office! As I walked out of the theater, the thought came to my mind, "This movie is going to start a movement of prayer in every church in the nation."

I learned the power of spiritual warfare when I had only been married for two weeks and headed off to Africa as a missionary.

In my two years as a missionary in West Africa, I learned some basic principles of spiritual warfare:

Of all the characters in the Bible who rose to the top as a secular leader, Daniel is my favorite.  In a totally hostile, godless environment, he became the top official next to a king who basically ruled the world.  What were the qualities that put him in that position when enemies everywhere were trying to depose him?  He even spent a night with the lions and they still couldn’t get rid of him! 

Here are the five qualities I notice most about this powerful man and how to survive the lions:

Maintaining stability as a leader is one of the greatest crisis in America today.  Business leaders, political leaders, spiritual leaders are “uprooted” from their positions by moral, financial, and ethical failure.  How do you maintain long-term stability as a leader? 

I’ll never forget being in Lebanon and taking a trip to see the “cedars of Lebanon.”  There, perched high on a mountain, these gentle giants were 30 ft. around!  I wondered how they received their nourishment and flourished in such a harsh mountaintop climate. 

Our guide, a native of Lebanon and one of our Surge Project directors, gave us some really interesting insight into why these trees have been so coveted in major building projects worldwide: