⁹ You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. ~Haggai 1:9

Does it ever seem like you’re doing everything you should be doing, and seeing no results? You’re sowing, you’re serving, you’re sacrificing, and still . . . you reap nothing. You say to God, “God in Matthew 6:33 it says if I seek your Kingdom first, you’ll add all these things to me. I’m doing that and getting no results!”

If you’re in that position, I would reevaluate whether or not you’re REALLY putting His Kingdom first.

God’s been pressing me with a question that I want to challenge you with: “Are you focused on building your kingdom or God’s?

If we’re not reaping like we should, getting our needs met, and walking in God’s best, I’m willing to bet that we’re not focused on building the right Kingdom, odds are, we’re trying to build our own, and all of our efforts are and will be in vain.

Let’s all make a commitment that everyday we’ll have one focus: Building God’s Kingdom. If we do, I promise, that God will follow through on His promise of having “all these things will be added to you.”

God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. -Hebrews 12:10,11

When people have asked me what God’s been doing in my life recently, the only thing I can tell them is I feel like every morning God is setting me on a golf tee and sending me sailing!

It seems everyday I’m finding areas where God is saying, “Step it up here, don’t do that, do this.” He’s putting people in my life that are telling me things I don’t want to hear, but need to hear. And if I’d be completely honest, it’s tough. It feels like everyday all I’m seeing is how much I have to work on, how far I have to go, etc. and at times it’s completely overwhelming. Anyone else ever feel like this?

“You can tell your on the path to success, it’s uphill all the way”

I believe this is a result of me asking God to develop me as quickly and as solidly as possible. Keith Moore prayed that, and went through a season of intense development, and when he got overwhelmed, he cried out to God, “God this is too much!” God spoke to his heart, “You asked for it!”. That’s exactly how I feel right now!

I heard Keith Moore say once “If you want God’s direction, you need to be open to His correction.”

I’m in a position where I can either look at all the areas I need to develop in, get overwhelmed, and quit . . . or I can stand up and be a man, do whatever it takes, swim upstream, go against the grain, and allow the grace of God to help me navigate through the changes I need to make.

I’m choosing to swim upstream. It won’t be easy. It will be uphill all the way. But I’m up for the challenge. I want God’s best in my life and I’ll do whatever He leads me to do to get there. And I know, that though it may be painful in the moment, when I get through to the other side, I’ll be so grateful that God loved me enough to correct me.

Will you join me?

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read! I heard Maxwell teach recently and he said if he were a college president, he would make a class called Failure 101 and make it a requirement for every student to go through so they can learn to fail.

The thesis for the book is: The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.

Above anything else, this book taught me that it’s ok to fail. In fact, in life I’ll probably fail 50 million times! I think as a young man with a lot of ambition, hopes, and dreams, this is an important lesson. There have been many times where I’ve felt that I’ve failed and let it ruin my day, week, or month. This book helped me have a greater perspective on failure.

If you’re breathing, this is a must read. Buy it here!

Highlights:

• The average for entrepreneurs is 3.8 failures before they finally make it in business.

• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. —THOMAS EDISON

• Get a new definition of failure. Regard it as the price you pay for progress. If you can do that, you will put yourself in a much better position to fail forward.

• The greater the feat you desire to achieve, the greater the mental preparation required for overcoming obstacles and persevering over the long haul.

• if fear overcomes you, it’s almost impossible to fail forward.

• Harvard psychologist Jerome Bruner says, “You’re more likely to act yourself into feeling than feel yourself into action.” So act! Whatever it is you know you should do, do it.

• Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s okay to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing. —H. STANLEY JUDD

• Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit. —PAUL J.MEYER

• Failure is the greatest opportunity I have to know who I really am. —JOHN KILLINGER