Set Apart

March 1, 2013

Gary J. Borgstede Faith And Family , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Scripture

Jeremiah 1:5 “I [the Lord] knew you [Jeremiah] before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” New Living Translation

Observation

In this verse, the Lord tells Jeremiah that He knew Jeremiah before the Lord formed him in his mother’s womb. Furthermore, the Lord tells Jeremiah that before he was even born, the Lord set him apart and divinely appointed him as a prophet to the nations. This declaration from God is the calling that Jeremiah needed to hear from God, be encouraged to follow diligently after Him, and step forward into his divinely appointed destiny as a holy, set apart, unique, prophet of God to the nations.

Application

If the Lord knew Jeremiah before He formed him in his mother’s womb, I can rest assured that the Lord also knew me before He formed me in my mother’s womb. In fact, the Apostle Peter says in Acts 10:34, “God is no respecter of persons.” And if this truth is not astounding enough, I can also trust that the Lord has a holy, set apart, unique, divine calling and appointment for me as a child of God, just like He did for Jeremiah. In Luke 12:6-7, the Bible says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Understanding that I am worth more than many sparrows to the Lord, that the Lord knew me before I was even born, and that He has set me apart with a God-ordained calling in Him, encourages me to: 1) carefully listen for His still small voice, 2) follow diligently after Him, and 3) courageously step forward in faith into my unique divinely appointed destiny in God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise You for You are El Elyon, God Most High, Creator and Possessor Of Heaven And Earth! Thank you Lord for knowing me before I was formed in my mother’s womb and creating me with a unique divinely appointed destiny in You. Help me Lord to carefully listen for Your still small voice calling me, leading me, and encouraging me to courageously step forward in faith into my unique divinely appointed destiny in You. I love You Jesus! Amen!

Set Apart Copyright 2012, Gary J. Borgstede.  You have permission to reprint the personal devotion, Set Apart, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Tested

October 12, 2012

Gary J. Borgstede Faith And Family , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Scripture

Psalms 105:19 “Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.”

Observation

In this passage of Scripture, the Bible reminds us of the faithfulness of God to fulfill the word spoken to Joseph about his purpose and destiny in Him. God gave Joseph a dream and until the dream was fulfilled in his life, the word of the Lord tested him in many ways. There were times in Joseph’s life when it appeared that the dream God gave him would never be fulfilled; however, Joseph allowed those times of testing to build his testimony and his character in preparation for the time when the Lord would bring it to pass in His perfect timing.

Application

By the example of Joseph’s life, I know that God cares more about my character than my comfort and will therefore use all situations and circumstances to prepare me for the destiny and purpose He has planned for me.  Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Because the word of the Lord is true and He is faithful to perform it, I can rest assured that He will work all situations and circumstances in my life for good as I allow Him and His word to test me and prepare me for the good work He began in me and has planned for me.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise You for You are Jehovah Tsebaioth, the Lord of Hosts! Thank You Lord for working all things together for my good as I trust You to fulfill all of Your promises in my life. Because You are my victory in Christ, I am more than a conqueror in times of testing and trial on my personal journey of purpose and destiny in You. I love You Jesus! Amen!

Tested Copyright 2011, Gary J. Borgstede.  You have permission to reprint the personal devotion, Tested, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

The Make It Happen Moment ® Talent Plus

October 5, 2012

Gary J. Borgstede The Make It Happen Moment ® , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Quote: “At any given time, we must be willing to give up all we have in order to become all we can be!” – John C. Maxwell

One afternoon while my children and I were at a state park near our home celebrating with our church the sending of a missionary friend to India, we were told that there was an eagle’s nest in the park with little eaglets.  Intrigued by the possibility of seeing real eagles in their natural habitat, my children and I walked over to the identified lookout post and began to watch for them.  With the help of some binoculars provided by a professional bird watcher, we were able to spot the eagles and observe their elegant flight patterns in, out, and around their nestled home high up in one of the treetops.

One thing that I’ve recently learned about eagles is that when it becomes time for their eaglets to leave the safety of their nests and learn to fly, the momma eagle begins to pull out all of the cushioned particles of the nest to make it prickly and uncomfortable.  Additionally, she will take the eaglets in her grasp, fly high into the air, and then drop the eaglets toward the ground.  Then right before they hit the ground – if they aren’t flying yet – she will swiftly fly underneath and pick them up under her wings.  This routine will be repeated until each little eaglet learns how to safely fly on their own. Wow!

As a leader, have you ever felt like the safety zone of your comfortable nests with people, places, and positions were being made prickly and uncomfortable because it was time for you to take flight into new realms of faith, promise, and purpose in God?  If you have, then like a little eaglet, you know what it feels like when the Lord calls you to leave the safety of the nest and completely trust Him until you learn how to fly in the good future He has planned for you.  And unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how much gifting and talent that you and I may have been given at birth, if we don’t exercise those gifts and talents with faith in God, the Giver of those gifts, we will never learn how to properly fly into the great destiny that God has uniquely planned for each of us as leaders.

In fact, do you know that it is impossible to please God without faith? Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  Furthermore, John 15:5 states, “I [Jesus] am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Therefore, regardless of our talent and gifts from God, it is clear from the Bible that we will never fully step into our true destiny unless we trust the Lord completely with our entire lives and abide in the shelter of His wings. Like eagles, leaders are created to fly; however, leaders of righteousness in God are created to fly in the abiding presence of the Lord as they put their total and complete trust in the shelter of His wings. With a spirit of faith and excellence, lead as an eagle of righteousness in God with a heart like King David expressed toward the Lord in Psalms 61:4 stating, “I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.”

The Make It Happen Risk-Taking Value: “Make It Happen” People Take Calculated Risks In The Pursuit Of Excellence!

Have a blessed “Make It Happen” day!

Edited by The Make It Happen Moment ® Editorial Team

The Make It Happen Moment ® Talent Plus Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint The Make It Happen Moment ® Talent Plus, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Stronger And Stronger

February 19, 2012

Gary J. Borgstede Faith And Family , , , , 1 Comment

Scripture

2 Samuel 3:1 “Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.  But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”

Observation

In this verse, the Bible chronicles the strengthening of the house of David, the anointed king of Israel, and the weakening of the house of Saul led by Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, the appointed king of Israel. 

Application

What God anoints is strengthened by God over time. What man appoints is weakened by man over time. When I move forward in life with God’s anointing upon me, I am strengthened by the Lord with His favor and blessing to fulfill my life purpose and destiny inside of God’s will.  When I move forward in life without His anointing upon me, I am weakened by myself with nothing but human pursuit to fulfill my life purpose and destiny outside of God’s will.  God did not create me to fulfill my life purpose and destiny without Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise You for You are El Shaddai, my All-Powerful and All-Sufficient Father God!  Thank You for Your anointing and blessing upon my life to strengthen me and empower me to fulfill my life purpose and destiny in You. I am grateful for Your life-time of favor that surrounds me as with a shield as I move forward in faith to do what You have called me to do in Your kingdom! I love You Jesus! Amen!

Stronger And Stronger Copyright 2011, Gary J. Borgstede.  You have permission to reprint the personal devotion, Stronger And Stronger, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

The Make It Happen Moment ® Lion Chase

December 8, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede The Make It Happen Moment ® , , , , , Leave a comment

Quote: “Lion chasers don’t hide from the things they fear.  They chase lions into pits!” – Mark Batterson

Contemplating my future, I fought some momentary bouts of fear in my mind as I answered personal questions of faith and destiny.  Would I let the safety and security of more than 16 years of dedicated service as a corporate leader supersede my faith in God and possibly steal the adventure and excitement of completely fulfilling my destiny in the Lord? Would I be content as a lion caged by the safe confines of a certain job or would I embrace a potential departure into a faith-filled future as a lion chaser in the kingdom of God?  With the peace of God in my heart and the support of family, natural and spiritual, I overcame my fear and embraced what many might consider unthinkable, crazy, reckless – I gave up the emotional safety net in a steady tenured company position, for instead, a steadfast trust in the Lord to direct my steps into the good plan that He has for me as a lion chaser in His kingdom!   

Spiritually speaking, do you know the oldest strategy in the devil’s toolkit is to try to steal, kill, and destroy our destiny in God through personal fear and intimidation in our minds?  In fact, 1 Peter 5:8 states, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  Notice the Word of God says that the devil walks about like a roaring lion; therefore, we can conclude that he really isn’t a lion at all, but rather, he’s nothing but a lying devil.  His roar is only meant to scare us through fear and his false accusations in our minds are only meant to intimidate us into thinking that we must live our lives less than the full potential that God has destined for us. 

But praise God that the devil was totally and completely defeated by Jesus at the Cross of Calvary and not only that, Jesus has given us His authority to put the devil completely under our feet.  In Luke 10:19 Jesus says, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy [the devil and all his demons], and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”  This means that we don’t have to be “fraidy” cats when the devil is trying to steal our destiny in God by holding us captive to our personal fears.  Instead, as believers with a spirit of faith as well as the mind of Christ, we can be lion chasers in the kingdom of God with the authority in Christ to chase the devil into a pit and totally overcome his scare tactics in the battlefield of our minds!

Furthermore, Romans 8:31 states, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Believing in the present that God is for us and not against us makes all the difference when leaving yesterday’s memory and reaching for tomorrow’s dream.  In chasing our God-given dreams, lion chasers choose to believe God and seek Him because Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  With a spirit of faith, embrace your future and your destiny in the Lord as a lion chaser who believes God because with Him all things are possible!

The Make It Happen Risk-Taking Value: “Make It Happen” People Takes Risks In The Pursuit Of Excellence!

Have a blessed “Make It Happen” day!

Edited by The Make It Happen Moment ® Editorial Team

The Make It Happen Moment ® Lion Chase Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint The Make It Happen Moment ® Lion Chase, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

The Make It Happen Moment ® Use Your Mind

November 14, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede The Make It Happen Moment ® , , , Leave a comment

Quote: “Learn to use your mind or your mind will use you!” – Gary Mack with David Casstevens

I’ve heard it said once that the average American watches nearly 6 hours of TV each day.  If this is true, and unfortunately I believe the source to be credible, especially if you include internet surfing hours, then there is no wonder why advertisers spend millions of dollars to promote their goods and services on television and computer screens.  The pictures and images that daily bombard our minds through digital media sources have a powerful impact on the markets and greatly influence our daily lives.  For better or worse, the pictures, images, and thoughts that we put into our minds have a way of becoming reality in our life.  Proverbs 23:7 states that “as a person thinks in their heart, so are they.”  This truth means that the things people think about manifest in their character and the person they become on the inside.

So let me ask you – do the things you think about each day help you to build character and to become a person of excellence or do they bring you down and cause you to live a mediocre life of subpar potential?  While the TV and internet dupes people into living a vicarious life of fantasy and adventure through other people on the screen, the reality is that we are allowing our minds to use us as we settle for a boring life at best in the “easy chair”.  Don’t let this happen to you because your potential is far greater than what you might think and your own real life adventure awaits an active pursuit of your God-given destiny!

Learning to effectively use the mind God gave you instead of allowing it to use you as a “couch potato” or “surf junkie” is an important key to becoming all that the Lord created you to be and living the life of excellence He has destined for you.  Therefore, turn off the TV, step away from the monitor, and start feeding your mind with thoughts, images, and information that can help you learn, grow, and develop into a person of excellence.  Paul states in Philippians 4:8, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”  As you and I begin to do this with a spirit of commitment and excellence, the peace of God will rule in our hearts and lead us on an adventurous journey with God to become everything He created us to be and to do all that He purposed for us to do in His Righteousness and His Glory!

The Make It Happen Training And Development Value: “Make It Happen” People Invest And Participate In Training And Development!

Have a blessed “Make It Happen” day!

Edited by The Make It Happen Moment ® Editorial Team

The Make It Happen Moment ® Use Your Mind Copyright 2007, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint The Make It Happen Moment ® Use Your Mind, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

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