Black Friday Freebies

Today marked another day in my personal journey on a week of works.   I am humbled by what I learn from Psalm 119 time and time again.  I was inspired to take initiative to take things further, especially with Black Friday approaching and our week of works is taking a totally different spin.

Check back on Friday for Life Path Multimedia’s Black Friday Freebie.   I will schedule a post for 8 AM EST on Friday to go live with a link to some new and fresh content that is totally free.  That means that you can access more of what Life Path Multimedia has to offer without having to use leftover cash from the early bird specials and sales.

I feel compelled and convicted to share openly and freely on this Black Friday.  There are a lot of ways that we can get caught up in the widespread consumerism of the holiday shopping season, but I want to shed light on going about things differently.  Just look at last year’s Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales stats to see where most people have accepted this type of spending as the norm.

@Prayer is designed to stir up inspiration T-Shirt
by Lifepath08

Do not be mistaken, Life Path Multimedia makes money from our online stores for publications and downloads.  Even our Life Path Gear is a money-maker per se.  However, it is all with open and honest intent.  Our money fuels our ministry work.

This is not about raising enough money to “keep the lights on” or providing believers with an opportunity to “keep from robbing God.” It’s strictly about supporting the ministry of Life Path Mobile Ministries.  We want to do more.  We need to do more.  With your support, we can truly do more.

Leadership

With Life Path Multimedia pushing for  Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday, the least we could do is give you a freebie on a Friday. just because.

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Do Something Good for Someone Else

“Be not simply good – be good for something.”

– Henry David Thoreau

Imagine if you had nothing getting in your way, nothing holding you back.

What would you do with your life?

Could you see yourself doing whatever you could to help someone else?

Could you see beyond yourself and make a difference for someone else?

Just imagine if you had that opportunity.

No obstacles.

No opposition.

No other objective.

Just being in the position to do good for someone else, uplifting their spirit and blessing them through what God has already done for you.

Now it’s time for a reality check.

The only thing holding you back from doing such mighty works is you.

YOU…Your Own Unwillingness

If you could somehow shake that unwilling spirit, then you can do it.

Oh, that’s not you?

Then it must be. . .

YOU. . . Your Own Unworthiness

That is the pitiful self image that says that you are not worthy of doing good because you know that you are of no earthly good.  Our Bibles tell us that we are a “new creation” based upon the work of the Lord.  We are worthy!

So, you still think that’s not you?

How about. . .

YOU. . . Your Own Unfaithfulness

You just don’t believe that God can use you in such a way.  You don’t believe that you can be a blessing, especially since you are in the need of a blessing yourself.  Elijah was fed by ravens by a brook, and then he was fed by an impoverished widow.  There was another widow who gave all that she had when she placed two mites in the offering.

Get YOU out of the way and let God have His way.

Sit YOU down and set yourself up to be a blessing to someone.

Give YOU his walking papers and give God an open opportunity to use you like He’s never used you before.

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8 (NASB)

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Shepherding like the Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” – John 10:11 (NKJV)

The modern society has made what we consider pastoring a mere shadow of what we truly should expect of the man of God today.  We may never get out of ordained and anointed pastoral leaders what we could get out of them because we can never drop or shed expecting more out of them than they have been called to ever do in the first place.

After all, just like the rest of us believers, pastors are Christians.  That point sometimes gets missed.  Plain and simple, they are Christians just like us.

Secondly, pastors are called from among the flock to stand set apart as “called” by God.  They’re still Christians but they have a greater responsibility in regards to standing firm and handling God’s Word.

Finally, God plucks out a set of His own chosen few to serve as pastors and shepherds.  He places His Spirit in them and allows manifestations of Word to emerge within their messages, sermons and Bible lessons. 

He uses them.  He molds them.  He shapes them.  He directs them.  He guides them.  He orders them.  He trains them.

After all, He called them. 

He called them to walk as He walked.  He called them to live as He once lived.  He called them to work just like Jesus did the works of the Father. 

If you want to see Jesus on display in your pastor, help your pastor do the things that allow Him to be display Himself in your pastor.  If you can’t help with that,  maybe you can just adjust your expectations.  After all, they’re still just Christians.

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New Methods for Ministry

Look at Luke 5:38.

But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

Read it again.

But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

New wineskins do not change the wine.  New wineskins retain the wine, its fervency and its potency.  They do not burst like old wineskins when New wine is poured into them.

Ask God to show you your new wineskins.  He just may surprise you.  You may find yourself still in the same ministry but with a new and vibrant perspective on how to serve the poor, afflicted, oppressed and needy people in your community.

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The Miracle of Christmas

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Previously, I wrote about the miracles of Jesus and shared some of the inspirational accounts from the Gospels.  The Gospels depict Jesus as a worker of miracles as well as a messenger of God’s redemption while remaining the Messiah who would serve as the Lamb of God.

But when the time had fully come, 
God sent his Son, 
born of a woman, 
born under law, 
to redeem those under law, 
that we might receive the full rights of sons.
– Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

However, the miracle of Christmas is more about God orchestrating everything beyond coincidence.  He set things in order long before they began to unfold in order to redeem mankind.  Christmas marks a celebration of things coming in order to fulfill God’s plan for redemption.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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Succeeding at Necessities

“You must succeed at doing what is necessary.” – Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill stands out as a prominent figure due to what history has made out of his accomplishments as part of Great Britain’s wartime stance against the air raids of the German Lufthansa during World War II.  However, Churchill’s many quotes should also provide today’s business leaders with some stirring words to ponder.

How many of us view success as “doing what is necessary?” That is not a common perspective for most people, especially those trying to run a business on their own in the hopes of growing and increasing revenue or the pastor of a storefront church who has aspirations of growth and expansion.  Necessary things seem to fall right into the mix with all of the other unexpected fires that have to be put out as one makes it day by day and step by step. Yet, Churchill offers such words to cause us to ponder if what we are tinkering with here and there is really leading towards true success.

Ask yourself if you have done “what is necessary” in order to keep the doors open and the lights on.  Develop a list of fundamentals that have to be in place before you move to bigger things.  Utilize this list as a check-in point for yourself before you get started on your daily grind.  I guarantee that such a checklist is exactly what will come in handy as you work on getting to that crucial point that we all seek so desperately and tirelessly that we tend to call success.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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The Day of the Lord is Coming

² 

“I will utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

³ 

“I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land,”

Says the Lord.

-Zephaniah 1:2-3 (NKJV)

Consider yourself warned.  God will have a day of reckoning.  he prophets spoke of it.  In particular, Zephaniah spoke explicitly about it.  It would be the type of day that no one would want to see in their lifetime.

Think you have had a bad day? That’s nothing like what will happen when this day comes about.  The Lord will not be slow to anger on that day.  He will set forth His wrath like it has never been unleashed before.

Take care of business, brothers and sisters.  Know that how you manage your business affairs is part of how you reflect God in your daily life to others, especially those who are not of the faith.

• Are you viewed as shrewd and crafty, ready to cut costs at the expense of the livelihood of your employees and vendors?

• Do you readily examine the bottom line or the heart of the matter when making decisions?

• Do you pray over your business decisions and seek godly counsel from other Christian business men and women?

Consider how you handle your business.  Others are watching you.  Others take into account that you say that you are a Christian.  God is watching.  God will not always be waiting.  One day, and we we do not know when, God is going to call us on what we have done and what we haven’t done as His children.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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