11 Things To Do

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word – it is so practical, it is true wisdom in a false wisdom world.  Praying that you will love His Word!  Every time you open it, you get wiser, smarter, more effective, more productive.  It never returns zero results, it never yields zero return.  The guaranteed investment - every minute you spend in God’s Word – it produces a harvest.  A benefit for you.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you and lead you in it – He takes from Jesus what He received from the Father for you.  He will lead you in all truth! There is power and great effectiveness waiting for you.  God wants you to have it, but you have to come get it.  Have you ever considered all the things that you could do.  Lots of choices – more than you could do in a lifetime… So in your life - what should you do?  Other than career pursuits, spouse choices, passions and pursuits.  What are some things you should do?  Here are a few:  Eleven Things To Do.  #1 Do your homework.  Always be the most prepared person in the room.  Know your stuff.  You don’t have to be a genius, just diligent.  Do your research, do your homework.  Know what’s at stake, know the information to be discussed, know each person’s interest and desired outcome.  God said seek peace and pursue it.  Part of seeking peace is skillful negotiation.  Not to get what you want - to get everyone what they want.  Get as many wins for as many people as possible.  Not only will it bring peace, it will bring agreement, unity, and strong relationships, so many good things can be accomplished!   #2 Do your job.  There are some things that just depend on you.  Do your job.  Don’t do other people’s, you can help bear their burdens, but each one must carry their own load.  And don’t let anyone do yours – they shouldn’t have to.  Do your job, no excuses.  It takes planning (to Get God’s plan) and executing, it takes diligence and perseverance.  It sometimes takes growing a love for the simple, the seemingly unimportant or mundane – that may be the most important of all, what you become, what characterizes you.  Be sure that you are accountable and dependable.  Be trustworthy,  your reputation should be excellence.  Like Daniel.  Start early, arrive early, stay late when needed…  But always - be effective when its time to work, and all the extra hours are less needed. God has other plans for you in them - things that are as important or more important than just your vocation.  Someone said, “The best second job, is doing a better job at your first job.”  Whatever responsibility is yours – do your job!   #3 Do Work.  The precious possession of a man is diligence.  If you lose your precious possession, you are unlike God, but you also lose what it could have produced.  Success, benefit for others, encouragement and joy from the commendation of your Master whom you serve, the LORD Jesus Christ.  You work for him, not money, not your boss, not even you.  Be a worker – build a reputation of hard work – view it as the precious possession that God said it is.  If someone would comment about you – let it always be said, He’s a worker, She’s a worker.  He carries his own load, He helps others with theirs.  You can depend on him, you can depend on her.  Work for the LORD, not for men.  It reflects the goodness, and the excellence of God.  #4 Do Chores.  There are some things that require daily attention to steward what God has entrusted to you: Body, Health, Money, Possessions.  Don’t be like the sluggard whose walls are broken down, whose yard and fields are full of weeds, whose room is a mess, whose car is trashed.  Simple daily chores – build habits of excellence that lead to God’s Order – and God’s peace.  Lack of order comes with confusion, and every evil practice.  Order – regular disposition – things in their assigned place, welcome the peace of God.  Do chores faithfully, so you steward well the things entrusted to you, and you have more time to invest in others.  So the peace of God remains on your house, and your life reflects God’s order.  When people come to your home, they will sense the peace and the presence of God.  The more regular your stewardship habits, the quicker and easier they become.  You wouldn’t skip brushing your teeth, don’t skip the daily requirements of stewarding possessions that God has entrusted to you - in a way that reflects and honors God.  It speaks of God, but it also speaks of you.   #5 Do your time.  We live in a microwave, drive-thru world – one click and five second attention spans.  People expect to enjoy the fruits of labor before doing the labor.  They want to live like someone who worked for years when they’ve only worked for a few weeks.  Some things just take time.  Don’t get stuck in old ways of doing things – if there’s a better way to do it, then do it.  But in some things the old way is the best way.  They’re old ways for a reason – they work!  They take time, the best wine is old, it doesn’t come quickly.  The wise have learned the value of diligence over time.  God said wealth is built little by little and that doesn’t just apply to money.  Don’t be impatient.  Put in the time, pursue excellence more than you pursue a paycheck, promotion, or a raise.  Be excellent where you are at, and trust God to promote you.  Don’t always look for your next job.  Be the best that ever was - on this job.  With Christ – you can do anything.  He will show you.  Be a testimony, Be like Daniel, neither corrupt nor negligent.  Be like Jesus – fully doing what His Father told him.  Be patient, content, add value, give more than you get paid, and God will make sure your paycheck and promotion reflect the effort and attitude that you have put in.  Don’t always live for tomorrow, enjoy the victory God has for you today!  Do your time.  #6 Do good.  God has a plan for you – and it will always be good.  Do good.  Not what seems good, what is good.  Get God’s plan, and your life will be occupied with His good.  You cannot do good without it.  Because He is good, there is no other good but Him, and every good thing comes from Him.  So if you know His plans for you – you will walk in His good – and it will be a fountain of blessing for those around you.  The number six thing to do, is do his plan for you – so you do good.  #7 Do right.  Life is full of opportunities to cheat – to give less rather than give more.  To not honor, to speak ill, rather than speak life.  Do what is right – no matter the cost.  If you have to - do it over, if you didn’t do right the first time, make it right.  Never treat anyone unfairly, God hates dishonest scales, ill-gotten gain won’t last. He hates injustice – don’t do it.  And when required, stand up for justice, for those who can’t speak for themselves.  Do right.  Often what’s right is not the cultural norm.  You may have to go against the grain to do what is right.  There’s a cost.  Don’t be deceived, those who do what is right are righteous.  You won’t know what right is – because God’s right is not like man’s.  Man makes excuses, changes definitions.  To know what’s right – you must find out from God’s Word.  PRISM every day – and the Holy Spirit will lead you in what is right – what is the right thing to do.  He’ll show you how and when to do it, and you’ll know why.  It’s easy to do wrong, everyone is doing it.  But to do right – that is what God requires.  Know His Word – and you’ll do what is right.  #8 Do your wife, Do your husband.  Sorry for the candor.  There’s an important truth for a fulfilled life.  Intimacy with your spouse is vitally important in marriage.  It’s not the act itself, it’s how you treat them twenty-four seven that flows into the blessing that God created for a husband and wife in marriage.  Without sex, you’re just roommates.  That’s not what God ordained marriage to be.  There is a spiritual union as well as a physical union that comes with the intimacy God designed for marriage alone.  People with random hookups and growing body counts will never understand the beauty of God’s perfect design for intimacy in marriage – with someone committed to you and you to them - for life!  Make it a priority in your marriage.  Don’t wait for the perfect time, if you have kids you know, there never is one.   And if you wait til the mood hits you, you won’t be hitting anything very often.  Schedule regular times for intimacy.  It doesn’t kill the romance, that should be happening already all day.  Sex and money are the only two things you share completely with just one person – for the rest of your life.  Otherwise, marriage is just roommates.  God has way more for you than that!  #9 Due Diligence – a different kind of do…  Due diligence is doing the research required - so you are not easily deceived, not tossed like a wave in the wind, but rightly dividing the Word of truth.  The best and only protection against deception is the Word of God, by the Holy Spirit.  Don’t be easily swayed by winds and waves of doctrine, whether political, financial, philosophy, or religion.  Know God’s Word – apply it fully, and you will see clearly through what deceives the masses.  God will give you wisdom, the wisdom of heaven, and your discernment will expose things of the world.  Remember your New Information Filter.  1)  Is it True? 2) Where is the evidence?  3) What’s in it for them? and 4) What does God say?  Ask Him when facing new information – but prepare beforehand with PRISM – those five things you can do in His Word every day.  In just a few days, weeks and months – you will build a foundation of truth – that makes falsehood quickly visible.  God will reveal and show you.  His Word, and His wisdom are great protection.  #10 Do what God told you to do.  Most people don’t do anything, they lack the work ethic required to live honorable lives - to provide for their families, and have enough to share willingly with those in need.  Most people think they work hard, but don’t really work hard at all.  But that is not what we’re talking about here.   A small percentage of people – do work hard doing all sorts of things that God never told them… chasing all sorts of goals and dreams, which can easily fall into greed.  Some people keep jobs because of money, they are in debt, so they’re slaves - they have to.  Others are in debt to a lifestyle the slavery of the mind – to a level of comfort they think they should have, whether their skill and work ethic merits it or not.  But all of these miss the point.  If you don’t know what God created you for, if you don’t know His plans for you today – then how can He fulfill in you the purpose He has for your life.  PiVAT before dinner – the most important regular conversation with God you can have.  He will lead you into all truth, and will lead you in the way you should go.  What made David so special to God?  He wasn’t perfect, he had some major screwups, so why did God honor Him, and even measure every subsequent king of Israel in comparison to him?  Acts 13:22 – I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to do.   The tenth thing to do (and only do) - Do what God told you. You have to ask, and He will surely tell you. Do it!  Don’t waste time on anything else - and victory will come in your life, joy will follow!   #11 Do not fear.  Fear will cripple you.  You have not been given the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.  “Fear not” - means do not fear, decline the opportunity.  Trust God instead.  Do not be dismayed, I am your God, I will strengthen you and uphold you with my righteous right hand.  If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit – walk in His plan for you every day – you will not fear, your trust will be in the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth, who fulfills His purpose for you!  Eleven Things To Do.  Praying that you will do everything God told you to do – with joy! 
 
Love you all,
dad