Today we continue our series, “Progress On Purpose.” At the beginning of the year, I told you that God wants us to walk in “NEW LEVELS IN 2021!” I also told you that if we are going to do so, we must be intentional about our progress. So, to lay a strong foundation for the year, for the past four months, I taught you about “Leveling Up” in five areas:
1. Spiritually
2. Financially
3. Physically
4. Internally
5. Externally
As I am bringing the series to an end, I am providing a brief recap of each topic. Today we will go back and glean some nuggets about Leveling Up externally.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Here are 5 roles you should have filled in your life.
I am not going to say much about these roles because I covered it several times in the series. For today, I will just provide a quick run-through.
1. Coaches. These are people who speak TO you. They know the value of practice, and they drive drills that produce proven skills for success.
2. Mentors. These are people who speak WITH you. These are people you consider to be at a position in life that you aspire to attain, and they are willing to invest in your success.
3. Sponsors. These are people who speak FOR you. They can do (with on phone call or email), what you cannot do (with years of hard work). God gives you favor through them.
4. Models. These are people you may NEVER SPEAK TO. But you don’t have to. They have provided their lessons online, in videos, in books, etc., and since you have access to their content, you can be inspired by their example.
5. Spiritual parents. These are people who provide you a spiritual covering. While knowledge must be attained, the anointing can be transferred. When you are connected to a spiritual covering, what is ON them winds up ON you!
2. Greatness is too great of a task for one person.
John Maxwell said, “One is too small a number to achieve greatness. No accomplishment of real value has ever been achieved by a human being working alone.” The way I say it is, “Greatest is too great of a task for one person.”
— Think of anyone who has accomplished anything you would consider to be extraordinary. Even if that person played an individual sport or they performed an individual task, it may seem like they did it on their own, but if you do some investigation, you will find that multiple people were working with them behind the scenes, and even more people invested in their success along the way.
— If you want to be great at anything, not only will it require a dedication to greatness on your part, but it will require an openness to receive from the many people God will send your way to invest in your success.
3. If you want others to invest in you, humble yourself and make sure you are TEACHABLE.
In Exodus 18, Moses was the leader of Israel. He was the one God chose to lead His people out of Egypt. His leadership had been tested, but he endured the tests and he was in charge. However, Moses had not learned how to delegate yet. As a result, he was running the risk of burning himself out. God used Moses’ father-in-law to correct him. Guess what? Although Moses was the leader, he was humble enough to embrace the correction.
I have been corrected by my mentors and spiritual parents. I don’t like being wrong. I don’t like being corrected. But being open to God means that I must be open to correction.
Here are some quick nuggets on this:
a) Don’t confuse your position with being right. You can be in charge and still be in need of correction. Never allow the fact that you have a title or a position to cause you to miss out on the correction God sends your way.
b) While we live in a society where people seem to want to accept anything and everything — people say, “I am not wrong, it is just a different perspective,” — you must be willing to accept the fact that sometimes you are simply WRONG! When you are wrong, God will send someone to correct you because He loves you. You must be willing to accept the correction.
c) Don’t get offended. Many people today get offended when they get corrected. I remember years ago when my Spiritual Father corrected me. I accepted it. He said, “Son, thank you for allowing me to correct you. Some people don’t know how to receive correction. I have corrected some who have gotten offended and they left the church. You have an assignment here. But if you would have left, God would have sent someone else to replace you.” I will never forget that conversation. I refuse to give up my destiny because of pride. No matter how far I go, I pray I never get to the point where I cannot be corrected.
d) Be open to correction and instruction. Be teachable. You don’t know it all. If every time someone tries to teach you something, you act like you already know it, they are going to walk away from you, and you will miss out on their investment. Remain humble. Remain “little in your own eyes.” Be open to correction and teaching. This way, others will WANT to invest in you.
4. Your friends have a great impact on your life.
a) When you pick the right friends, you are protecting your anointing.
— If you value what God is doing in your life, then you will value it enough to protect it.
— Protect your purpose by refusing to connect with those who may contaminate your anointing.
b) When you surround yourself with the right people, you will hear the right things and get the right advice.
(Psalm 1:1-3 ERV)
Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God. Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night. So they grow strong, like a tree planted by a stream—a tree that produces fruit when it should and has leaves that never fall. Everything they do is successful.
— If you get the wrong advice, and you take it, you can ruin your life.
— Successful people surround themselves with people who provide sound counsel.
c) Wisdom is transferred by association.
Solomon taught us that if we associate with the wise, we will become wise ourselves. However, if we associate with fools, we will become foolish. Both wisdom and foolishness are transferred by association (Prov 13:20).
d) Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.
My mother always said, “Show me who you hang with and I will tell you who you are.” Another way to say it is, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.”
— If you surround yourself with the wrong people, you will inevitably become the wrong person.
— You can’t be around the wrong people and think you are going to become the right person.
— Paul said, “Don’t be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits and corrupt your character.” (1 Cor 15:33). That’s as plain as it can be!
— Solomon said, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but a true friend can be better than a brother.” (Prov 18:24). God can give you friends who will be more of a blessing to you than your own blood relatives.
— You get to “do life” with others. When you connect with the right people, you can support each other, fuel each other’s dreams, and build each other up. This is the will of God. We were not created to “do life” in isolation. Prisoners are put in isolation as a form of punishment and it can drive them crazy because we were designed to connect with others. Just make sure you connect with the right people!
e) One of the hardest things to do is go different ways when you and one of your friends are being led in different directions.
— Unfortunately, everyone can’t handle what God has called you to do.
— You must be processed to the point where you can carry the weight of the anointing associated with your divine assignment. When you endure the processing and come out on the other side of it, some of your friends will celebrate your evolution. However, others won’t understand it. As a result, they may try to get you to go back to the way you were. These people are holding you back from becoming the man/woman God called you to be.
— God wants you to live your life out in times and seasons, levels, and stages. As you do, you will grow, evolve and change. If there are people around you who keep seeing you as who you used to be, they may become a hindrance to your divine development. It’s hard, but sometimes friends grow apart. But don’t worry, God has people assigned to you for every level and stage of your life.
LEVEL UP your relationships, and you will LEVEL UP your life!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for connecting me to the right people at the right times, seasons, levels, and stages of my life. I humble myself to receive from the people You assign to me. I appreciate those You have ordained to be in my life. I also know that some people are with me for a season and not a lifetime. When it is time for those people to go, I will speak LIFE and BLESSING over them. But I will not be moved by the fact that their season in my life is over because my season WITH YOU will never be over. I am tirelessly committed to pursuing You, to surrounding myself with the right people, to receiving the right input, and to becoming the man/woman You called me to be! I LEVEL UP my relationships in 2021, and I LEVEL UP my life! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
