Reaching Your Potential (Part 1)
by James Todd
My biggest fear is to not reach my full potential according to God’s Word and His will. I believe full-heartedly that God’s will for each of us is to obey His commandments. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thy self” (Luke 10:27). I believe that there is a difference between knowing God and doing God’s will. My dad taught me that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do what unsuccessful people do not want to do. I believe that to be the same as our walk with God. Some believers believe their salvation relies on believing in God’s only Son, Jesus; and for others their salvation relies on their testimony of Jesus and keeping God’s commandments. God’s commandments are not easy, and we as human’s cannot and will not keep them perfectly; yet it is the challenges that we face in trying to keep them that constantly remind us of who we are and what we are called to be.
The first thing needed for reaching your full potential is knowing what you are worth. “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most high” (Psalms 82:6). Do you not know that you were called to be members of the divine family? Kings and Priests? Do you not remember that God’s Son came and died for each and every one of us? But some will ask, “Why should I love God?” “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). But some will say, “I believe in Jesus,” and I will reply with, “So do the demons and they shudder!” (James 2:19). It is not easy to follow God! If it were easy everyone would do it! But Jesus says, “But it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only few find it.” Why did Jesus say that few will find it? According to Wikipedia, there are 1.09 billion Catholics, the largest denomination of Christianity. That does not seem like a few. One-third of Earth’s population believes in Jesus. Yet according to Christianity Today, only one out of five American adults has read the Bible. It is easy to proclaim Jesus and then continue doing whatever you feel is right in your own heart. It is hard to deny yourself your desires, your ambitions, your emotions, and your time. It is not easy, my friends, to follow God. Jesus declared, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” I don’t know about you, but I do not just want to make it in the kingdom of heaven, I want to be close to God, I want to be in His holy of holies and feel His light upon my face.
I believe we all desire to want to be close to God, but some of us do not know how to be close to God. I had the opportunity to work in downtown Dallas for about four months. As many may know, downtown Dallas has a huge gay culture. Needless to say, I had many dealings with the LGBT community. I actually currently work with a gay couple twice a week. The majority of the LGBT community I have met have a strong desire to worship God. They tell me they are looking for a church and a place to worship that is accepting. Now I believe that the LGBT community is a sinful community and they do not live by what the Scriptures say; however, the fact that these people cannot find a place to worship and learn more about God is wrong! And, as Christians today, we must not be arrogant to deny anyone of hearing God’s message. It is not easy to humble ourselves, but we must challenge ourselves to rethink how we handle this issue. We are all guilty of wanting to worship how we want to worship. We are no different than the Israelites at Mount Sinai! When Moses went to talk to God on the mountain the Israelites began making a golden calf to worship. Where did the Israelites get this thinking from? From Egypt, of course. They did not mean to offend God; they just wanted to worship God. God does not care about our intentions alone; He cares about us hearing and doing what He commands. That’s what faith means, to listen and obey.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).
God Bless!
Editor’s Note: The doors of CGI are open to visitors regardless their age, gender, race, nationality, or marital status, and we do not screen persons coming through our doors to find out about their sexual preference. However, based on the principle set forth in 1 Corinthians 5, we cannot permit gay couples to participate in our church services as romantically involved couples.