The Secret of Life
The secret of life is just one thing!
“We don’t really determine our destiny; we discover it!” – Bishop Tony Miller
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
Near the end of his life, the Apostle Paul in essence was saying “I’m trying to grab what grabbed me. I’m somehow trying to grasp what it is that grasped my life.”
In 1991, the movie City Slickers was released starring Billy Crystal and some other people. Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) is a middle aged big-city radio ads salesman. He and his friends Ed and Phil are in a mid-life crisis. They decide the best birthday gift is to go on a two week holiday in the wild west and play “cowboy” by driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There they meet cowboy Curly who not only teaches them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life in the open air of the west.
One day during a very tense moment, Curly looks at Billy Crystal and his city slicker friends and says “You guys just don’t get it. You spend 50 weeks of the year getting your knot all tied up and then you think you can come out here for two weeks and get it untied.”
Billy Crystal asks “What do you mean we don’t get it?
Curly replies “You don’t get the secret to life.”
Billy Crystal asks “What is the Secret of Life?”
Curly says “The secret to life is one thing.”
Billy Crystal asks “What is that one thing? Tell me!”
Curly answered “That’s what you have to discover.”
Next to Jesus, Paul was the greatest character of the New Testament. David was one of the greatest characters of the Old Testament. Both of them at the end of their lives, came to the same conclusion. For David and Paul, it was “just one thing.”
King David said “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
While for David and Paul, it was this one thing, most of us dabble in lots of things. Our life becomes so scattered, so broad, so dis-focused, that we lose our ability to really have impact and effectiveness. A Kingdom principle is: “The greater you can focus, the more success you can have.”
Most of us are great at dreaming. Our problem is not dreaming, but implementing. Our problem is coming up with a strategy of how to accomplish what we dream. And because we have been great dreamers, sometimes we don’t want to deal with the reality that we’re not really reaching what it is we’re dreaming about. So we stayed locked up in a world called “fantasy,” and we spend our whole life celebrating fantasies that are never going to become reality because we never learn how to focus.
What is “just one thing” that is the secret to your life?
What’s keeping you from doing that one thing?
Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, this message today has really spoken to me. Forgive me for my lack of focus in the past. Forgive me for dreaming and not implementing. Thank You, that like King David, You have placed the desire in my heart for just one thing – “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
Thank You for commissioning me to pen these e-prayer devotionals and for my uncommon obedience. Starting these was one of the hardest things I have ever done; yet also the easiest. The hardest, as I’ve had to yield to the discipline of daily devoting 1-2 hours to write these for a period of 365 days. Yet, it is also the easiest, as the Holy Spirit meets me each day to tell me what He wants to share.
LORD, I know that uncommon obedience always leads to uncommon blessings. Therefore, Holy Spirit, soul of soul, I ask You to be the author of each and every e-prayer devotional. Use me as Your scribe to deliver manna from heaven to bless millions of families to be a blessing to millions more. Bless each person who reads this message to discover the “one thing” that leads to abundant life and everlasting joy. In Jesus’ name, I thank You. Amen and Hallelujah!
Here was my original prayer that was intercepted and stopped by God when He shut down Constant Contact for server maintenance just as I was trying to post this devotional.
Heavenly Father, this message today has really convicted me. Forgive me for my lack of focus in the past. Forgive me for dreaming, but not implementing. Like King David, I desire one thing – “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4) I realize this is the secret to the abundant life that Jesus promises me. Bless each person who read this message to discover his/her “one thing” that leads to the abundant life and everlasting joy. In Jesus’ name, I thank You. Amen.
More Blessings
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