January 17. What Are You In Hot Pursuit Of?

As a leader of a team, how much can you get done today? We all have limiting factors that keep us from achieving something. Some of those many limiting factors are resources of our physical and mental energy, our financial resources, our talents, our gifts, our education and so on.

For most of us, the largest limiting factor is probably ourselves. Think of something that requires you to change your normal awakening time in the morning. Maybe it is a flight somewhere for a vacation. You set the alarm clock an hour early.

You jump out of bed and get around with just a little quicker pace and make the event happen. You know why the alarm must be just a little earlier. Knowing why it must happen allows how it will happen to fall into place. The why is the vacation so where did those limiting factors go?

When we understand that we have our own limiting factors and viewpoints in place we can choose which ones to address for the successes we want to experience in life. One powerful limiting factor for most is that our subconscious mind is still focusing on the basic element of survival.

It wants to avoid pain and seek comfort. The subconscious brain believes that a big piece of comfort is staying in the status quo. No change needed. It wants to avoid change and that is no surprise.

But when we operate with a mindset that my survival is not threatened our minds and behaviors can adopt something new. That means we are willing to reset the alarm clock or anything else for that matter. What is your biggest possibility for this year?

How will you get around the biggest limiting factor, yourself?

In Genesis 31, Jacob takes his family and flocks and leaves to go back to his own home place. He does so without saying goodbye though to the people that he was in relationship with for the last twenty years! It is three days after they depart before Laban, his father-in-law, finds out about it.

 Do you re member what Laban does? He gathers his remaining relatives and goes after Jacob and his daughters and grandchildren in hot pursuit. I can understand why he did as it seems reasonable to me that if my family was taken away secretly that I would likely want to find them.

I bet you would also. But wait a second, what happened to Laban's limiting factors? He was not chasing and then suddenly, he was chasing in a big way. He catches up to the departed group after just seven days from their leaving.

Hot pursuit is a great description but think of all the people that went. How many limiting factors were overcome? Read the passages and think of how many people were involved in the chase after Jacob and his clan. But the pursuers knew why they were going and that made the how possible.

Do you want to be connected to Christ more? Why? Is it because you want to feel closer, to experience his love more, find comfort in places where you have pain, seek forgiveness where you do not believe you deserve it, or maybe it is to improve yourself through the great teacher?

If you know why you want it, then how to make it happen is much easier. If you want to know Christ more, then maybe you might read the New Testament and his stories more. If you want to read the stories more, then you need a Bible and some dedicated time to read it.

In the next seven days what is the first thing you can do to obtain it?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, in seven of your days, you created the world. You taught us that it happened day by day and that it was good. We can learn much from your story and ask that you hold us in the palm of your hands as we are uncomfortable at changing. Help us to set for ourselves the achievements we want with you instead of chasing after what others want. Move among us so that we might love the unlovable, love ourselves as well, and walk with you more. In Jesus' name, we pray. Together, Amen,