Prov. 15:31-32 - He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. NASB
     Ears That Listen

If you are one that is able to listen to someone else giving you correct advice you will be successful. If your ears are able to listen to the life-giving reproof from others you will prosper. The item we need are ears that will listen to others when they share correct information with us.

    How Many Times Have We Said, "If Only I Would Have Listened."

As I sit here and write this Pump Up I am smiling, but when I was going through life looking back on another mistake I made because I would not listen I wasn't laughing. I wasn't even smiling. I was asking myself, "Why didn't you listen?"

The answer is right there in Proverbs because I didn't have ears that would listen. I thought I knew what was best. The one thing I find amazing is the times I didn't listen and I was correct I can't remember those situations as easily as I remember the ones where I didn't listen and was wrong.

    Reminds Me Of The "How To Be Successful Story"

A young college student was sitting in the 5,000 member congregation. He was going to graduate from the local seminary this year. He asked the preacher after service if he could meet with him for 5 minutes. The preacher told him to stop by the office tomorrow morning at 9 am.

The young man was there promptly. As he sat in the preacher's office he explained that he would be graduating in the spring and wanted to have a successful ministry like his and was there any advice he could give him.
 
The preacher told him why sure. "I can tell you how to have a successful ministry in three words."

The young student said, "Are you kidding me?" The preacher said, "Not at all. Are you ready to write them down?"

"Yes." he replied.
 
"Make Right Decisions." the preacher said.

As the young student wrote down those three words he asked, "How will I know if I'm making right decisions?"

"I can answer your question with one word. Experience!" said the preacher.

With a pondered look on his face he asked, "And how do I get this experience?"

With a big smile on the preacher's face he said, "By Making Wrong Decisions."

There my friends is how to be successful. You will make decisions in life and not all of them are going to be the right ones. You just have to learn from your mistakes. Make the necessary adjustments, make another decision and continue to move forward.

    The Choice Is Yours

You can either listen to others and be successful as Proverbs states or don't listen to others and learn from your own mistakes. Hopefully, your mistakes will not be too costly and you will be able to rebound and move forward becoming successful.
 
The choice really is yours.

Think On These:

The biggest fool of all is the one who refuses to learn from his mistakes.
 
Making mistakes isn't stupid, disregarding them is.
 
A mistake is proof that someone was at least trying to accomplish something. 
 
Stay Pumped, 
 
Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word
​

Jonah 1:17 - "…And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights."  NASU 

• Ask Yourself The Hard Questions 

Are you in your present situation because of your own carelessness or disobedience to God?
 
The reason Jonah was swallowed by a great fish was his disobedience to God.
 
Jonah 1:1-3 - The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
 
God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach and Jonah wanted no part of that assignment. He didn't want to do what God wanted him to do. Plain and Simple!
 
Are you in your present situation because you haven't done what God has asked you to do? You must answer this question truthfully. Are you in your present situation because you have disobeyed God? 

• Do This If You Answered Yes 

Jonah 2:1-5
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said,
 
"I called out of my distress to the LORD,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice. 
3 "For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 
4 "So I said, 'I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.' 
 
PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
 
When Jonah was in distress he called out to the LORD, and the LORD answered him. Be open and honest with the Lord. Tell Him you have messed up and would like another chance to correct this situation.
 
God is a loving and forgiving God. All great parents love their children and sometimes we have to correct them. God is correcting Jonah's actions of disobedience. Exactly the way parents correct their children's acts of disobedience.
 
Now I don't believe in child abuse, but I can tell you I had my butt beat numerous times by both of my parents when I was younger. I may not have enjoyed it at the time, but as I sit here and write this Pump Up I know I was spanked because my parents loved me.
 
Jonah was in the belly of a great fish because God loved him and God loved the people of Nineveh. God wanted the people of Nineveh to have the opportunity to repent of their sinfulness and this is exactly what they did once Jonah went there and preached to them. 

• Conclusion 

Do what God wants and you may find yourself avoiding being swallowed up by life.
 
If you are doing what God wants and you still find yourself swallowed up by life then there is only one possible conclusion. You are being attacked by the evil one for living a life according to God's Word.
 
You endure this attack and God will give you the victory.
 
Think About This:
 
A good example has twice the value of good advice.
 
God's main problem with the laborers in His vineyard is absenteeism.
 
Stay Pumped, 
 
Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

Luke 12:17-21 - "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'  18 "Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  19'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'  20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'  21 "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."  NASU
 

• Amass Financial Wealth While Forgetting About Spiritual Wealth

 
This man was a wealthy worrier. I know a lot of people who believe if they had more money they would have fewer problems. There is only one problem with that belief, "It is False, and It simply isn't true."
 
This man had wealth and he was worryed because he didn't have a place big enough to store his crops. He had great financial wealth but was absolutely bankrupt when it came to spiritual wealth.
 

• He Thought He Had The Right Answer

 
He says, "This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones…"  His plan was to build larger barns. He thought he had the correct solution to his problem.
 
The only problem was he was fixing the wrong problem. He was taking care of his physical dilemma but he hadn't done anything to fix his spiritual problem. He thought after he built his bigger barns he was going to be able to kick back and take life easy.
 
He was going to eat, drink and be merry.
 

• He Forgot One Thing

 
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'…"
 
WOW! He thought his problem was solved. He was going to find out the next day his problems were just getting started. He had lived his life and in so doing was financially in great shape, but spiritually he was in trouble.
 
God said he wasn't going to make it through the night. He was going to die. Everything this man had worked so hard for would belong to someone else. Ouch! That has got to hurt.
 
Don't let this happen to you, my friend. I know most of my subscribers personally and I know you are hard workers and I commend you for not being lazy. Please, if you have not become rich toward God do it today.
 
Confess that you believe Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, repent of your sins and be baptized (immersed) into Christ. If you have no one to baptize you reply to this Pump Up and I will come and baptize you into Christ.
Think About This:
 
An old farmer told me in 1985 that he could not figure out younger people. He said, "You spend all your health to get wealth and then when you get old you spend all your wealth to get health."
 
Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

Nehemiah 6:1-4 - Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono." But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.   NASU
 

• They Stay Focused On Their Goal 

Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were trying desperately to distract Nehemiah from accomplishing his goal. Great leaders will not be distracted from accomplishing their goals. They know how to stay focused on the task at hand.
 
One thing we must remember not everyone wants us to accomplish our goals. As you read the book of Nehemiah he was always fighting off some type of attack. The purpose of the attacks was to stop Nehemiah from accomplishing his goals. 

• Life Lesson 

When I was younger in my faith and I would try to accomplish a goal for the Lord I always met some type of resistance. At first, I was always puzzled by the obstacles. I thought because I was doing something for the Lord it should have been smooth sailing.
 
After a few years of reading God's Word and seeing all the men of God who were trying to accomplish something for the Lord or His Kingdom, I noticed they were always under some type of attack from someone. I wondered why God didn't help them and clear a path for them, after all their goals benefited His kingdom.
 
The life lesson I learned is when you establish a goal for the Lord's Kingdom and the devil places all types of obstacles in your way this is how you learn to grow in your faith and really rely on God to see you through this trial.
 
We must never forget God is teaching us to depend on Him.
 
If you do it all by yourself then you receive all of the glory, but if you accomplish the job with God you both receive the glory for a job accomplished. 

• What Is Your Goal Today? 

Leaders are always setting goals.
 
When you set your goal you should know you will face opposition. There will always be some who believe God has sent them to stop you. The best advice I can give you is what I have learned from Nehemiah.
 
Stay Focused!
Don't Come Down!
Remember You Are Doing A Great Work!
 
Think On These:
 
Remember the steam kettle! Though up to its neck in hot water, it continues to sing.
 
Our Goal should be Service, not Success.
 
A man with a burning ambition is seldom fired.
 
Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word
​

 
Ps 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God;…"  NIV
  

• The Best Advice
   
  This friend is the best advice I can give you when your life is filled with frustrations. It is at this time that you want to find a place where you can "be still". The Hebrew word used here means "to be astonished, be silent, or to quiet yourself".
   
  Now that is not all you are to do. While you are being silent, "KNOW that I am God," the Lord says.
   
  As you read all of Psalm 46 you will see the Psalmist is letting us know God is the one who protects us. He is our refuge, strength and ever-present help in trouble.
  
  

• Your Most Frustrating Time In Life
   
  As you read this Pump Up think back on a time in your life when you were totally frustrated with your life. Ask yourself this question, "What brought on your frustrations?"
   
  A lot of our frustrations come as a result of unmet expectations. We expect something (promotion or financial raise) to happen to us or for us at work and if that doesn't happen we become frustrated with the situation.
   
  Similar expectations can take place at home, school, or in our personal lives and when they don't happen the frustrations come upon us quickly.
  
  
•    How To Handle Frustrating Situations
   
  The Psalmist says, "Be Still, and know that I am God…"  In other words, he is saying, "Trust in God." God sees what is going on in all of our lives. Some of these very things may be happening to us as a test.
   
  Heb 11:17 - "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,…"  NASU
   
  How frustrated could that command have made us? God tells Abraham now to go and sacrifice his son, Isaac. It took 20 plus years for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham that he would have a son.
   
  Now he has a son and he is told by God to sacrifice him. I am sure that didn't meet his expectations of things to do with Isaac.
   
  But God's word informs us it was a "test". Instead of becoming frustrated control your emotions and keep telling yourself this is a test from God and He would not be giving it to me if He didn't think I could pass it.

• How Are God's Tests Frustrating You Today?
   
  I would like for you to think on that question for a minute.
   
  Are some of the frustrations that you are experiencing from God? Is He trying to give you a test that will make you spiritually stronger?  
   
  It really doesn't matter if God is giving you a test or not. The key here is Ps. 46:10 -"Be Still, and know that I am God…" is the answer to our frustrations.
   
  The frustrations you are facing could be coming from someone else besides God but the key is Being Still, and know who your God is and what He is capable of accomplishing with you.
   
  Think on These:
   
  What chance can a man have to control his destiny when he can't control himself?
   
  During times of frustrations, the best weapon to hold is your tongue.

​Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word