​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It calls you to account.  There are two things very different.  Ideas and Actions.  What you think, and what you do.  Ideas, maybe even revelation, dreams, plans…  those are all thoughts – figments of your imagination if you will.  But actions – those are different. Those are things moved from your mind into your hands and feet.  Actions are things taken from the realm of thought to the realm of reality.  Has God ever told you or prompted you to do something?  Did you?  What are you waiting for?  God often tells us to do something.  It might be just a prompting, or a dream He puts inside you.  Some people, God speaks to them on occasion. He loves you, He has plans for you, and He puts things in your heart, mind and spirit to do.  Other people, know and understand Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  They understand that God knows the plans, but they don’t, so they have developed the life habit of seeking Him for His plans.  PiVAT before dinner – the most important thing in your life.  Get God’s plans for you.  It’s a regularly scheduled conversation, the proof of the priority you place on that relationship, an intimacy habit with the One who loves you, who created you for a purpose.  And this is how you can know so you can do, what that purpose is from God – for today and your life.  Whatever God tells you is “the what.”  But the real questions is “the did.”  Did you do it?  What did God tell you to do? It starts with today.  Did you do it?  Did God tell you to do something a week ago, or a month ago?  If the habit of “God telling and you not doing” creeps in.  It’s very hard to make progress, it could even keep you from your purpose and destiny.  Eventually God will stop telling you to do, until you do it.  What did God tell you to do that you haven’t done?  Maybe it’s a habit.   Maybe it’s PiVAT before dinner, or a Daily Call, so you can overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.  Or get up earlier so you can spend some time with Him in His Word. PRISM time – those five things you can do in God’s Word every day to transform your mind, so you think like Christ, and obey like Him!  Maybe it’s to prepare for something God has in your future, or make a change.  Maybe it’s acquire a new skill, or change a relationship or relationships of not likeminded people, or things that are leading you away from God and what He has for you, not closer to Him.  God told the Israelites to cross the Jordan and enter the land promised to Abraham and His descendants, but they listened to the other spies, not Caleb and Joshua and they didn’t do it.  Then when God told them, what lack of faith and disobedience would now result in (a forty year wild goose chase), then they decided to do it.  They tried to cross over by themselves and got their butts kicked.  They didn’t do what God told them, then they tried to do what God told them not to, and of course it didn’t work.  If you don’t go with God, you certainly cannot go against Him.  God told Jonah to go to Ninevah, but He had other plans in Tarsus.  God told the Israelites to utterly destroy the peoples of the land.  Because God was mean and unfair?  No, because God told Abraham, not now, you’ll get this promised land four hundred years from now – the sin of this land has not yet reached it’s full measure.  God said destroy them, or they will intermarry with you and your children and they will deceive you into following their gods, and their evil practices, and you will be vomited out of this land, just like they were.  But the Israelites didn’t do what God told them, and suffered the same fate.  It was 1948 before they were re-established as a nation.  So of those two very different words: thoughts and actions, how many things did God tell you, that are still thoughts and not actions?  Elijah asked the Israelites, how long will you flip-flop between two opinions.  If God is God obey Him, and if baal, then follow him.  But the Israelites remained silent.  Praying that you will know for sure what God told you to do.  That anything He has prompted you to do, you will confirm it, ask Him when, and then do it, no matter what.  Praying that you will just start with your PiVAT for today.  What did God tell you to do, in what hour?  Praying that you will do it completely, and not let any sleep come to your eyes until you do it.  So the what will always be the did – every day of your life. 
 
Love you all,
dad

 Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It is truth, it is life, it is instruction for righteousness, for victory, it tells you what is needed.   So what is needed?  Faith.  God said without faith it is impossible to please Him.  God said the righteous (those in right standing with Him and right doing) will live by faith.  Faith is a funny thing.  It’s not what most people think it is.  Most people think faith is believing God will do what they want Him to do.  That’s not faith.  Faith is believing in God, not what He does that you wanted.  Faith is believing God, believing in His Nature, His Character, His Power, and His Promise.  Faith is believing that He is good, and believing that He will do what He wants to do, which is the very best, in the very best time.  So first, build yourself up in your most Holy Faith – pray in the Holy Spirit.  Read out loud with your mouth into your heart - the Word of God – Read PRISM Topics out loud, so you will be filled with the Word of faith, so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Obey what He says – whatever He told you.  Obedience is the first demonstration of faith.  Praying that you will review out loud the PRISM Topic – Faith.   If you don’t have faith that He said it, or that He told you that, you won’t do it, you won’t obey.  So Pray in the Spirit, Read out Loud the Word of Faith, Obey what He told you.   And Call upon His Name. Pray the prayer of faith, that heals the sick, and raises the dead.  Act in faith – put your faith into action.  Obey what He just told you.  Believe in faith, banish every word of doubt, let not one perverse word creep in.  Praise in Faith, Take Joy again, Rejoice in Faith, let His joy give you strength.  Also know this, Faith comes with Joy – because if you know who God is, and what He promised, even when faith is required, love, joy, and peace comes with it.  That’s how you know it’s the faith that pleases God.  The fruit of the Spirit – consumes it.  If He said He’s the Healer, then call on His Name for healing, and believe He’s the Healer.  If He said He’s the Deliverer, than call on His Name to deliver you, and believe He’s the Deliverer, and will deliver you.  If He’s said He’s the God of mercy, and forgiveness, then call on His Name to forgive and show mercy, and Believe He’s the Forgiver, the Redeemer, the God of All Mercy. If He said He’s the Provider, Jehoveh Jireh, my provider.  Then call on His Name, believe that He is who He said He is, and that He will provide.   If He said He gives strength to those who have no strength, than Call on His Name for strength, and let His joy give you strength.  Today is a day for faith, for praise, for trust, for believing His Word, for walking in faith.  Every day is a day for faith.  His faithfulness endures to all generations.  The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.  Not only doing what He told you, but believing what He told you.  Being full of, fully activating the faith that He gave you.  The measure of faith you need to please Him, for today, and every day – to see His miracles come to life - in your life.  Praying that you will know what’s needed.  And do it. 
 
Love you all,
dad

Deliver H5337 natsal <naw-tsal’> to snatch away, defend, deliver, escape, without fail, pluck, preserve, rescue, recover, rid, save, surely take out.

Deliver H5414 nathan <naw-than’> to give, appoint, bring forth, without fail, grant, pull, withdraw

Delivered H2502 chalats <khaw-lats’> to pull off, strip, depart, draw out,

Delivered H4422 malat <mal-lat’> to be smooth, to escape, to release or rescue, let out, let alone, preserve, save speedily, surely.

Webster's 1828 - Deliver - to set free; to release, as from restraint; to transfer, to set at liberty, as to deliver one from captivity.  To put into another's hand or power; to pass from one to another
 
Psalms 18:2-3 – The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the power that saves me, my stronghold.  I called to the LORD who is worthy of praise, and I was delivered from my enemies.
 
Psalms 115:8 – For you, O LORD, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling
 
Psalms 91:14,15 – “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will deliver him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
 
Psalms 70:1,5 – Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God.  You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay. 

Psalms 71:2– Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear unto me, and save me.

Psalms 109:21 – But you, O GOD, the LORD, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because your loving-kindness is good, deliver me;

Psalms 119:153 – Consider my affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget your law.

Psalms 142:6 – Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; deliver me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. 

Psalms 143:9 – Deliver me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you.

Psalms 39:8 – Deliver me from all my transgressions.  Do not let the foolish mock me.

Matthew 6:13 – And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.
 
Psalms 72:12 – For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no help.

Psalms 107:6 – Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

Psalms 107:20 – He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from the pit.
 
Psalms 56:13 – For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
 
2 Timothy 4:18 – The Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.  To him be glory for ever and ever.
 
Psalms 86:13 – For great is your love toward me: you have delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Psalms 34:4 – I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalms 18:17 – He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

Psalm 37:40 – And the LORD will help them and deliver them: he will deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Jeremiah 1:8 – Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 1:19  They will fight you, but they will fail.  For I am with you, and I will deliver you.  I, the LORD, have spoken!

Jeremiah 15:21 – And I will deliver you out of the hand of he wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the powerful.
 
I Samuel 17:37 – Then David said, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine,” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”
 
2 Corinthians 1:9-10 – Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver:  in whom we trust that he will deliver us again.
 
Psalms 18:19 – He brought me out into a large place; he delivered me because he delighted in me.

Psalms 54:7 – You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my enemies. 

Psalms 55:18 – He delivers me unharmed from the battle that rages against me: even though they outnumber me.
(even though many oppose me.)

Psalms 91:3 – Surely he will deliver you from the fowler’s snare and from the noisome pestilence. (destructive words that cause ruin). 
 
Proverbs 11:6 – The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

Proverbs 11:8 – The righteous person is delivered from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead.

Proverbs 11:21 – Be sure of this: the wicked will not go unpunished, but the seed of the righteous will be delivered.

Proverbs 12:6 – The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright delivers them.

Psalms 41:1-2 – Blessed is he that has regard for the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.  The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and you will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. 

Psalms 33:18-19 – But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 

Psalms 50:15-17 – And call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?  You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.

Proverbs 2:11-12 – Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things;

Proverbs 28:26 – Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom will be delivered.

Deuteronomy 23:14 – Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

2 Kings 17:39 – Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” (But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.)

Daniel 3:17-18 – Your majesty, if it be his will, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will deliver us from you.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3:29 – “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for there is no other god who can deliver like this.”

Daniel 6:20-23 – When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”  Daniel answered, “May the king live forever!  My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.  They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.  Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”  The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den.  Not a scratch was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 
 
Galatians 1:4 – Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God our Father:
 
Hebrews 2:14-16 – Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and deliver those who all  their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abrahams descendants.
 
Hebrews 2:17-18 – For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to deliver those who are being tempted.
 
2 Peter 2:9 – The LORD knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
 
Romans 7:6 – But now we have been delivered from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
 
I Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way of escape, so that you can stand up under it. 

Daniel 12:3 – Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
 
Luke 22:31 – “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.  But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.  And when you have returned, strengthen your brothers.”  
 
Colossians 1:13 – He has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
​

​
A PRISM Topic: is God’s Word on a single subject.  A Relationship Topic is a perspective from God's Word on relationships.  A PRISM Topic Packet is a grouping of PRISM or Relationship Topics of similar subjects... part of the M: Meditate on the Word of PRISM – (5 Things You Can Do Daily in God’s Word)  to transform the way you think. Ask God what PRISM Topic or Relationship Topic He wants you to meditate on today.  Take your PRISM Topic, Relationship Topic or Packet with you!  Come back to it multiple times a day!   “It is to be with him, and he is to meditate on it day and night, so that he may learn to fear the LORD…” - Deuteronomy 17:19

Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word, it gives such practical and foundational truth that will make or break your life.  It gives insight, that never runs out, and it reveals the obvious, that is not always obvious.  God said, there are two kinds of wisdom.  The real, and the fake, the wisdom of God, and the so-called wisdom of the world.  Praying that you will follow God’s first plan to gain wisdom.  Your daily Proverbs Chapter.  Do you want to become wise, beyond your age, above your peers, not for pride, but effectiveness in life?  Do you want in your life, prosperity, and success which starts with humility and the Fear of the LORD?  Then read that chapter of Proverbs with today’s date, that God gave you for today.  Every day of the month, He gave one for you.  If you do PRISM, you’ll read Proverbs twelve times this year.  How will that impact the wisdom you operate in?  Significantly.  If you do PRISM for the next ten years, you’ll have read Proverbs through one hundred and twenty times.  His Word never fails to yield a result, produce a profit, it’s the most guaranteed investment ever.  You can’t read Proverbs one hundred and twenty times, and it not change your character, your DNA, your destiny, and your whole family.   When I was growing up, we had a telephone in the house, it was mounted on the wall, with a receiver that clicked in a box.  With a long curly cord, that let you walk a good distance from the wall, even around the corner to the other room, where people couldn’t hear you.  Back then, the phone rang, but you never knew who was calling.  There wasn’t any caller id back then, and no cell phones.  They were just coming out, only the rich could afford them, they looked like a phone at your house, but connected to a big box they could carry around like a thick triple wide briefcase.  That was cutting edge technology at the time.  Now caller ID lets you know exactly who’s calling.  I was reading in Proverbs recently, a chapter I’ve read many times.  Proverbs 8 – It says, Wisdom calls out!  Does not wisdom raise her voice?  From the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand, beside the city gates (where all the people come through) she cries aloud.  I’ve read this many times.  But God asked me a question…  Who is wisdom calling out to?  So I looked.  Wisdom calls out to the simple, the fool, the simpleton, those who lack knowledge and understanding.  She calls out to them.  She wants to give them at least the basics, at least wisdom 101, so they don’t fall off the cliff in the direction they’re heading, so they don’t end up in the ditch, crash and burn.  Wisdom calls out so they turn off that road that leads to destruction.  And God gently told me.  “Wisdom calls out to fools, not the wise.  It doesn’t have to, because the wise call out for wisdom.”  And I remembered Proverbs 2 - My son, if you accept my words, and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding…  then you will learn the fear of the LORD – the beginning of wisdom.  The wise cry out for wisdom, wisdom doesn’t cry out to the wise.  It doesn’t have to, they’re walking together, the wise are walking in it.  Praying that you will cry out for wisdom, so wisdom doesn’t have to cry out for you.  That you will be faithful in PRISM every day.  Those five things you can do in God’s Word, that give you wisdom! God’s Wisdom!  It will change you, you will succeed, it will bring you success, safety, prosperity, in good times, or hard times,, it will guard you from disaster, and establish you in success.  God said it is available for anyone who asks (James 1:5) who cries out for it.  Praying you’ll review 11 Things You Need To Know About Wisdom.  and 11 Things Wise People Do.  Praying you will call out for wisdom, that wisdom is what you walk in, that it will set you apart, so you discern the difference between the wisdom that comes from God, and the wisdom that comes from the world – which is not wisdom at all.  Praying that you’re wise.  But if you’re not, you can be.  Praying that you’re wise, but if you are, you can gain more, Proverbs 1:5 - Let the wise listen, and add to their learning, let the discerning get guidance.  Praying that you will call out for wisdom, and walk in it, not be a part of the crowd at the city gate, that wisdom needs to call out to.  So who’s calling?  Wisdom, or you?  
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you what you can’t see.  It reminds you of things you need to know and remember.  Sometimes you just have to say it.  “If the LORD had not been on our side – let Israel say – If the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.  Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.  We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken and we have escaped.  Our help is in the Name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 124  Sometimes you just have to say it.  There is power in declaration.  When was the last time you praised God, and thanked him for the near misses, the disasters that didn’t happen, the danger He turned away, the plans against you that He foiled, the arrows that missed, the protection He gives.  God said, Let Israel say.  Israel – where He rules as God.  That’s you, not just God’s chosen people, you’ve been grafted in.  You are the children of the promise, counted as Abraham’s descendants.  God said there are some things you should say.  “His mercy endures forever!” Let the redeemed of the LORD say so!  Praying that you will review the PRISM Topic – Say - Read it out loud, and then just speak the bold letters - what God said, to say.  There is power in your declaration, and always blessing in obedience.  Praying that you’ll review the PRISM Topic – Starter Verses,  and start the day declaring His truth into the atmosphere around you, into your mind and heart and spirit.  Praying that you will learn to say, what God told you to say.  It will establish His will and His good in your life.
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you the most important thing and things.  Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.  So if God said above all else, guard your heart.  What is He talking about, and how do you do it?   Some people think that guard your heart means be careful who you fall in love with, who you give your affections to, that is not your spouse.  Be careful who you let into your heart.  That’s good counsel.  Some people are so wanting a partner or a spouse, that they give their affections away easily, and their heart follows, but if that is not the one God created you to be married to…not wise, not God’s best.  But this verse is about even more than that… this is about a broader truth, not just relationships.  Guard your heart means – be careful what you put into it.  Why is that so important?  Because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  What’s in your heart, will come out, under pressure, sooner or later, blessing or cursing.  You can’t hide what’s in your heart, it comes out.  Both the irony, and the blessing is.  What’s in your heart, you put it there, so you can put something else there! The words you speak, what you see, where you go, what you do, and who you do it with fills your heart – with good, or compromise.  So What is guarding your heart?  Guard the inputs.  How do you guard your heart?  Guard your mouth, your eyes, and your feet.  First, Speak His Word always, use your tongue to fill your heart.  Do PRISM Out Loud.  Get a PRISM Topic – and speak it out loud, all day long, into the atmosphere, into your mind, and into your heart.  The best weed prevention is thick grass.  Your mouth is a weapon, use it for good, fill your mouth with His Word, and you will fill your heart with truth.  So truth and wisdom are the overflow of your heart.  – You’ll say nothing without them. You’ll say them without thinking, it’s just in there, so it comes out.  Do not say anything perverse – any ‘slow to obey’ words, any words other than instant and complete obedience of what God says, and what God told you.  Don’t allow your mind to consider other alternatives than what God said is true, or what you should do.  Be sure you continually put His thoughts into words, and your heart will be filled with what is true, not untrue, not perverse.  Don’t say anything corrupt or harmful, build up, don’t tear down.  If you allow yourself to think and speak, other than what God told you, your heart will be filled with the wrong thing, distractions, deception, a lack of knowledge, not what is profitable for you or others.  Second thing to guard your heart.  Be careful what you look at Proverbs 4 covered all three.  Put away perversity from your mouth, keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.  God’s secret to guard your heart:  Mouth, Eyes, and Feet.  If you’re going to guard your heart, here’s how you do it, guard your mouth, your eyes, and your feet. Say nothing corrupt – that tears down, or is untrue, nothing perverse - a slowness to obey, justifying other than God’s plan or God’s way, keep your eyes on him, and straight ahead on the path He has for you, not the path of the wicked.  And finally, your feet.  If your feet are in the right place, your hands don’t get dirty.  If you are running on God’s path, it leads far away from compromise or less than His will for you, it brings you to His destiny for you!  Joseph knew this principle.  When he couldn’t avoid the temptation, when it cornered him, he ran!  Good advice.  The young man at dusk, walking down the street near her corner, didn’t understand the feet principle.  His feet were in the wrong place, on the wrong path, and it led to his destruction.  (Even King Julian did warn you about the feet.) To guard your heart, you have to guard your mouth, your eyes, and your feet.  Praying that you are actively speaking God’s truth into the atmosphere, and into your heart.  Praying that your eyes are looking straight ahead, on where you are going, not the distractions around you.  Praying that your feet are in the right place, on His path to your good.  It’s how you guard your heart.  So what’s in your heart comes out.  And blesses God and others – It puts you in the exact place where God can bless you, and bring you to His Good!  Praying that you’ll guard your heart, so it will always spring forth life!    
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It is wise counsel for excellence in life.  Have you ever been in a situation where you dropped the ball.  Maybe something at work, that you forgot to do, and it was important, and it came back to bite you?  Or something, the Holy Spirit prompted you to do, but you didn’t do it immediately, or write it down, so the opportunity passed.  And God got someone else to do it, or you lost the benefit of doing what God prompted you, that could have blessed others and blessed you?  Obedience is always a test.  God prompts you because He’s trying to help you!   He wants you to succeed!  He loves you!  He knows how to succeed, you don’t.  He knows what’s coming next, you don’t.  The more you ask Him, the more He helps you.  Wisdom is there for the asking.  And as long as you do it, He’ll give it to you again and again, He’ll give you more.  Have you ever been in a place where the ball isn’t in your court?  Trick question.  You’ve never been in that place.  Yeah I have, It’s in someone else’s court. I’ve done my part, now it’s on them to do their part.”  But their performance will affect you in some way, enabling you to deliver on your expectations, or causing you to fail to deliver…  So is the ball in their court? Or yours.   Here is a life rule to remember.  The ball is always in your court! Keep your eye on the ball, Always.  There is no such thing as the ball in their court.  Even when the ball is in their court – just know – the ball is in your court.  It may be theirs to do, but it’s your responsibility if it affects you.  Not saying you should micro-manage others, or constantly worry, just write it down, It’s why your PiVAT Journal, your Monthly Excellence Tool is so important.  So you ask God when He has assigned your follow-up.  Then focus on your job until then.  But if you’re expecting something by tomorrow morning 8:00 am to enable you to deliver your part by noon.   You better not find out in the morning, that you’re not going to get it until 3pm.  It’s your job to keep your eye on the ball, even if it’s in their court.   Ultimately – if one of your deliverables depends on others.  the ball is never in their court – even when it is.  That’s your responsibility.  You better find out before the night before – that they won’t meet their deliverable.  That means you can’t meet yours.  It’s not their fault, it’s yours.  Adam tried to get out of it.   The woman you gave me…  No Adam, God aint hearin’ that…  you’re not going to get out of this one.  The responsibility is yours.  If someone you’re depending on won’t deliver, you need to know that a week in advance of their failure to deliver, not the night before, or the morning of…  You need to know in advance, so you can ask God for His alternate solution to meet the deliverable for the ball that is in your court.  You cannot blame others.  The sluggard has excuses, “he cannot plow by reason of the cold, so at harvest he looks but finds nothing.”  He can’t go to work today, because his ride didn’t show up...  Some people always have excuses.  They don’t realize – the ball is always in your court.  Communication of any delays – is not their job, it’s yours.  Because if they fail, you fail.  So saying someone dropped the ball, doesn’t excuse you from delivering what is required of you, or what you committed to.  Watch the ball – no matter whose court it’s in.  God said He would give the Holy Spirit to show you things to come.  Ask Him, and be sure you communicate with everyone who has anything to do with you delivering on your expectations.  Excellence is proactive, not passive.  No passive person has ever been excellent.  And the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of excellence.  Make the phone call, find out how they are doing, ask if there is anything you can do to help them (even though they might be helping you).  If they ran into some obstacles, maybe you can remove one for them… Value and appreciate them, see if you can help them deliver the ball in their court, so you can deliver what you are responsible for.    It’s just good habit, and good business, help them succeed, value and appreciate those who help you, and help others every chance God gives you, even if you don’t directly gain from it.  You need to understand - your needs are not their priority.  Honor them, thank them, compensate them, but make sure you know that what you depend on from others, they are on track to fulfilling.  Find out early, so you can make other arrangements to be faithful to what you are called to do.  That’s excellence.  A simple life lesson to remember.  The ball is always in your court, even when it’s not.  Ask God, He’ll help you.  Communicate early, not late.  Love and honor always, thank them and reward them, so they and you can both succeed in serving God and others with excellence.   
 
Love you all,
dad