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Lk 14:28-30 - "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' NASU
I can remember on numerous occasions saying to myself, "If I would have taken a few minutes to plan this out I could have saved myself some time and money. Serago you are an idiot." So, if you have some ideas about future plans do yourself a favor and calculate the cost before you jump into it.
How does he do this? He would make a plan. What will be the dimensions of this tower? How many workers will I need? What type of materials and how much of each type will I need? How much money will be needed to finance this project? How long will this job take? These are just some of the questions that a wise person would ask before the project begins.
Are you trying to build a family, team or a business? Are you trying to build a nest egg for your retirement? Whatever it is you are trying to build if you follow the advice of Jesus you will at least sit down and make a plan.
In our society today where you have preachers putting the pressure on people to make a decision about becoming a Christian during a 30 minute sermon this was not the case with Jesus. Jesus was saying if you want to follow me or be a disciple of Mine you better think about what it is going to cost you. This is not to be some quick decision. I have been a Christian for 40 years and a Minister for over 30 of those years. I have seen a lot of people start down the path of being a Christian but somewhere along the road they quit. This parable is true in a lot of ways but it will never be any truer than it is when one becomes a Christian. If you are listening to a preacher and he is encouraging you to be a Christian and he is telling you how great your life is going to be once you make that decision and you will never have any problems. I would get away from there and quickly. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 14:27 - "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple…." If you are carrying your cross, you are in trouble. You are going to die. You are walking to your death. There is going to be no tomorrow for you. Jesus says this is the path His disciples travel. Jesus' disciples expect hard times here on earth and they will overcome these hard times because God is with us. One second's worth of time in heaven and you will forget all the suffering you ever had to endure on earth. Now before you become a disciple of Jesus' you may want to think about the cost and after you have thought about the cost do yourself a favor and think about the reward. Think On These: When it comes to food for thought some folks are on a hunger strike. Thinking is only a process of talking to yourself intelligently. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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John 6:15 - So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. NASU
It doesn't matter if you are planning to run a marathon or lose 5 lbs. Once you set your goal the distractions will immediately start coming your way.
His plan was to become the Savior of mankind. He would become a King but not an earthly one. He would become a Heavenly or Spiritual King. When people were trying to force their will on Him He headed for the mountains to pray. When people try to get you off your goals do like Jesus separate yourself from them. Find a place where you can have some alone time and pray.
Set yourself some goals and start to work on accomplishing them and see how the life looks different. Instead of the glass being half empty it will be half full. People who find themselves in a lot of debt are told by their counselors that the first thing to do is set a goal of paying the smallest ones off first because once this is done it gives you a good feeling, a feeling of accomplishment. When you accomplish one pay off this motivates you to pay off the second and every time another debt is paid off the motivation level raises until they are all completely paid in full.
A person with goals must always watch out for distractions. As we can see in the above text the distraction Jesus was facing was from His own people who He had come there to help. Some of your distractions may come from the people who are closest to you and know you best. They know you are trying to accomplish certain goals but they still will want you to break your training and go with them. This is when you must really "stay focused" and say, "No." I have other things I need to do. Notice I didn't say to tell them you can't go. That is negative. You tell them you need to do other things. The other thing is to stay focused on accomplishing your goals. I guarantee you once you accomplish your goals all those people will want to be around you.
Athletes get tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Some of the best advice I can give you here is to change up your routine some how so that it doesn't lead to boredom. In fact, physical trainers will always have you change your routines because of "muscle memory" once muscle memory kicks in your gains will start to decrease. "Stay Focused" and you will accomplish your goals. Jesus did and so can you. Think On These: The thing to try when all else fails is again. The man who really wants to do something finds a way; the other man finds an excuse. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Share this Pump Up with others by Sharing on Your Facebook Page or Forwarding to a friend. Luke 23:4 - So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man." NKJV
When Pilate had done some investigating of Jesus he returned to face this mob and informed them that he could find "no fault" in Him. There certainly wasn't any reason for the Roman Government to execute Him. We all know Pilate was not able to convince this group of non-believers and Jesus, a faultless man, would be crucified.
I have thought about Pilate's statement about Jesus on more than one occasion. In fact if Pilate were speaking about me he would probably say something like this: "I find a lot of faults in this man." Great day in the morning my own mind finds fault with me. I remember when I first became a Christian how excited I was to have all of my sins, which were many, forgiven. Then there were times when I would start to question if God could really forgive me of all the sins I had committed against Him. I mean some of them were really horrible. One thing a Christian needs to always remember is the devil is never going to let you forget your sins. He will continue to bring them to your mind for you to remember and cause you to be ashamed of what you have done in the past. His ultimate goal is to have you question and doubt that God could really forgive you of all your sins. Never doubt that God can forgive you.
Rom. 4:7-8 - "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. 8 "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." NASU (The reason Rom. 4:7-8 is in all capitals is this is a direct quote from Ps. 32:1-2) God not only can forgive us of our sins but He does. Do not allow the devil to lie to you about the power of God's forgiveness. Col 2:13-14 - When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. NASU How many of our transgressions is He able to forgive? The answer is ALL of them. 1 Jn 2:12 - I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgivenyou for His name's sake. NASU What has been forgiven? Our sins. Believe the Word of God when it says, "your sins have been forgiven".
If ever there is a reason for us to be Pumped Up today it is in the fact that if your sins have not been forgiven by God they can be. If you have no idea how to receive the forgiveness of sins please reply to this Pump Up and I will be more than happy, no I would be honored, to help you know for sure that your sins are forgiven.
Now it is our turn to do our part. When the people were convicted by Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost they asked what they should do and here is what Peter told them: Acts 2:37-38 - Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. NASU Think on This: Our Lord is in the cleansing business, not the whitewashing business. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Share this Pump Up with others by Sharing on Your Facebook Page or Forwarding to a friend. Prov. 21:31 - The horse is prepared for the day of battle,…. NASB
Prov.30:25 - The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer; NASB
In the day when armies fought on foot a man on top of a horse was greatly feared. As for the ants they were not lazy. They gathered their food in the summer as a part of their preparation to survive. The person who will not prepare is telling you he/she is lazy.
How were they all able to survive? They were able to survive because of the crew's and Capt. "Sully" Sullengberger's preparation. Sully was prepared to face that challenge and because of his preparation 155 people survived.
I was being actively recruited to leave college and become a minister in my freshman and sophomore years at some of the churches where I had preached. Clarence's words to me when I asked him if I should accept their invitation was always the same, "No". Then he would say these words "Drink long at the well my son." Once I got into the ministry I then understood exactly what he was saying. Those four years in college would be the beginning of my preparation for what I was going to need to survive in the ministry and help others survive in life. It was because of Clarence's excellent advice "to drink long at the well my son" that I went on and furthered my education or to say it another way took my preparation to another level. Never shortchange yourself on education see it as it really is "preparation".
If your athletes don't want to train, if they don't want to attend the practices or their classes they are telling you I don't want to be prepared. Then you shouldn't be surprised when they lose and let down your team.
Every successful person knows you must do everything you can to be prepared in the field you want to be successful. So my question for you today is this, "What area of life do you want to be successful?" What type of preparation are you doing? If you are not preparing then you are preparing to fail. Think On These: Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement. Prepare and prevent instead of repair and repent. When you're thirsty it's too late to think about digging a well. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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