I love to pray.  It hasn’t always been that way.  I have moved from “desire” to “discipline” to “delight.”

LET ME TELL YOU A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE HELPED ME:

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke went to heaven this week. Perhaps the greatest evangelist of all time, he watched 79 MILLION people respond to Christ in his 35 years of crusades.

I knew him well.

HERE IS MY STORY OF THIS GREAT GENERAL:

Destiny” is a big word.  It sounds like your whole life in seven letters. 

Actually, it is easier thank you think.  Destiny is when you connect your purpose to the purpose of God.

God has a purpose.  It is eternal.  It was there before the world began.  Some parts of that purpose, however, will not be done until we connect our purpose to God’s purpose.

Here are my four main concepts of how to shape your destiny:

I was surprised the other day when someone told me that many Americans are not even celebrating Thanksgiving.  They see it now as a pointless, even worn out holiday.  Some even disagree that our founding leaders were godly people.

Ok.  I agree it’s more than turkey and cranberry. 

Here are my thoughts about the “why” of Thanksgiving and the things moving in my heart right now about it:

What a stunner.  A man just ran a marathon (26.2 miles) in under 2 HOURS. 

Eliud Kipchoge easily broke the “impossible” goal.  His secret?  “If I keep on running, my body responds.”

Endurance is the ability to push yourself toward your goals when your body, mind, and spirit say, “I’ve had enough.”  Actually, you haven’t. 

What are the secrets of endurance in your life, your marriage, your legacy? 

RESTORATION.  I love that word.  It speaks of hope, of past mistakes being made up for. 

God is a God of restoration.  He doesn’t ignore failure.  He gives us the courage to face failure and defeat what defeated us.

Try these ideas about restoring your past failures: 

I tried a little gardening when I was first married (no money!).  I usually ended up with a huge pile of weeds and some tiny, even microscopic “fruit.”

My neighbor staked his tomatoes with “PVC” pipe and carefully poured water down the pipe to the deep roots of his plants.  He weeded every day.  He fertilized, protected with insecticide (not so good now!) and organized his rows so that each plant had space to grow.

Is it any wonder that his tomatoes looked the size of oranges when mine looked like marbles?

Try these five simple observations on productivity:

Betrayal is as old as humankind.  A strong alliance or partnership is suddenly dissolved.  Close, intimate friends are wounded.  Cynicism sets in as it seems “no one can be trusted.”

There’s hope after betrayal. 

We’ve all been there (including me) and I can help you with a few perspectives:

Elijah had an amazing day.  He wiped out 850 idolatrous prophets and ended a 3 1/2 year nationwide drought by one prayer!  Not bad, huh?  Why in the world is he praying to die the next day?

Mood swings.  They are real.  It feels like the floor disappeared and you are in a free fall. 

What was the source of Elijah’s downward spiral and how did he come out of it?

A policeman has a uniform, a badge, and a weapon.  Without them, he blends into the crowd.  He has no authority.  Wearing them, he carries all authority.

Jesus said, “I have all authority in heaven and earth.”  Why are Christians still living as “victims” instead of “victors?”

Let’s go to work on how you see yourself and why you have lived a life of “retreat” and “defeat”:

The famous hymn, “It Is Well" is one of my favorites.  We all love to sing it but never answer this question:  “Is it well with my soul?” 

HERE ARE THREE KEY QUESTIONS THAT WILL HELP YOU TO KNOW THAT:

A compass is a small thing.  If you are totally lost in the deep woods, finding a compass on the ground could save your life.  You’re not “out of the woods” but you’re on your way out of the woods.

“One small decision” (like the compass) can start a process that ultimately unravels a tapestry of bad financial, career, relationship, or other personal decisions.

Want to know how?  Read more.

Electricity flows through connection.  When connections fray, a “short-circuit” can happen. Living day in, day out for many years can fray your relationship. 

How do you restore the “power” and “magnetism” of marriage? 

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS I HAVE HAD TO WORK THROUGH MYSELF IN MY 43 YEARS:

Have you ever thrown something away you wish you had back again?  Whatever you do, don’t throw away your confidence!  You have every reason to hold on to it. 

“Confidence” affects everything:  your spiritual life, your work life, your social life, your moral life. 

Here are five elements of confidence that can shape your legacy:

Jesus spoke about having “life and having it MORE ABUNDANTLY” (Jn. 10:10).  This phrase means, “more than they can possibly use, a surplus, something that goes way beyond necessity.”  Quit thinking about barely getting by in life!

Here are some areas for you to apply this beautiful phrase to your life:

An insult is a hard thing to handle.  Our pride, position, and even personhood is attacked.  We all tend to automatically lash out in retaliation.

How do you resist the urge to “fight fire with fire?” 

Here are some thoughts to help you calm down and let God fight your battles:

Decisions cause regret.  Someone said, “If you made no decisions, you would have no regrets!”  Regret can paralyze your forward motion for years.

How do you recover from a bad decision…especially one that can never be reversed? God can defeat your regret. 

Here are some steps I have followed to get it OFF my trail:

This May was 50 years in the ministry for me.  I started preaching at 16 and have just turned 66!  I see so many pastors and leaders hurting.  Marriage stress…health breakdowns…children challenges…implosion from temptation.  If you love your pastor, read on.

I’ve developed a tool to stem the tide:  “Pastors University.”  It’s “50 lessons from 50 years.”

Here are the four basic areas of this one year course where I will personally teach four intensive “modules” that each last three days:

Do you feel like you’ve been “dealt a bad hand?”  Circumstances have been reversed?  On a streak of bad luck? 

Try these secrets for turning “bitterness into blessing”!

I am not a great snow skier. I recall a time I slid down a mountain and was only stopped when I hit a snow fence and “face-planted” on the other side of it!

Snow skiing is “slightly downhill and out of control.”  Kind of like TEMPTATION. 

Sin is a slippery slope. 

HOW CAN YOU PUT ON THE BRAKES WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO SLIDE OFF THE MOUNTAIN?