OVERCOMING PERSONAL STAGNATION – PART 2

4 – Key to Inspiration:
If there is not something that gives me that spark, that stimulation to move forward with my life, then it is not going to happen. I need something that will inspire me to grow into the person YHVH created me to be. [Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.] -- Hebrews 10:24-25. Have you ever thought about this? Looking around at your fellow believers, or here on TTN, can you think of any ways to encourage them to [outbursts of love and good deeds?] Has it ever even crossed your mind? According to this passage, our inspiration not only comes from YHVH, but from each other and if we are not keeping company that inspires, we have a problem.

Cultivate Stimulating Relationships:
One of the best way to experience growth is to find someone that is ahead of you on the spiritual path and make friends with them. Ask them to teach you, to mentor you, to help you to grow in your faith. [Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm.] -- Proverbs 13:20. You make your own choice as to who you will spend your time with. If you choose those who are mature in their faith, you will mature in your faith. If you choose those who are weak in their faith or who have no faith at all, your personal condition will be affected by that. Sometimes you don’t have someone readily available, go out and buy a book from someone who has mastered the area that you need to grow in and learn from them. Get internet programs from others who are ahead of you and learn from them. There are hundreds of people and resources available to help you in this area of inspiration and when you are inspired to grow, you will grow.

Take time to go through every article here on TTN! There are excellent articles; and make friends. Not to make a name for yourself but with the idea to learn.

5 – Key to Change:
I am sure you have heard this definition of insanity: [Doing the same thing today as I did yesterday but expecting different results]. I was involved with a church once that could not figure out why they were not experiencing any growth. They had not experienced any growth for years and years. When I asked what they had changed to stimulate growth, they said that they were afraid to make any changes because they might lose people. Many of us are that way in our own lives we make no changes because we are afraid of the risks involved, yet we are experiencing no personal growth.

Choose to Become Progressive Risk-Takers!
Now if I know the exact result of a particular action, I am not taking a risk. If I know that investing money in my savings account will give me 5% interest and that the money is insured, I am not taking a risk putting my money there. But let us say I have the opportunity to invest in an African Diamond Mine that has the chance to hit it big or I could lose it all; that is risky. When it comes to our faith walk, we need to be willing to step out beyond what we have experienced as tried and true and what we are comfortable with. This word [risk] has some correlation with the biblical word [faith.] If YHVH wants us to do it, it is not risky in the sense of the diamond mine, but it is risky in the sense that we are being stretched beyond what is comfortable for us. [It is impossible to please YHVH without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a YHVH and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.] -- Hebrews 11:6. We cannot please YHVH with no faith, and His reward only comes to those who move in faith. Until we begin to place our faith in YHVH, which is trusting Him in those areas that are unseen, we will remain victims of personal stagnation. What needs to happen is that we begin to take risks in our relationships, in our ministry areas, here on TTN and in our time when it comes to giving to YHVH. To risk in relationship means that I will go out of my way, at the risk of looking like a fool, to establish relationships with the unbelievers or with people who are different than me. I risk in ministry by stretching my Elohiym-given gifts and abilities by serving in ways that I never have before. I risk financially in the sense that I trust that YHVH will bless me when I move from giving 10 pounds a week, to giving Him 10% or more of my whole existence for His work. I am changing the way I do life, by getting off the bench and getting into the game and the game has to involve some level of risk, if I am going to experience growth.

6 – Key to Character:
Every day as I am growing in Moshiach through the process He has given, focused on the goal of becoming like Him, I am developing my character. One of the most significant ways my character is developed is by the way I deal with the trials that come into my life. [Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.] -- James 1:2-4. When James describes using our trials as an [opportunity for joy] he is talking about making a choice and exhibiting an appropriate attitude toward life. The choice consists of how we view our trials, and the joy is the resulting attitude of making the right choice. When we look at our trials as an opportunity for growth, rather than simply a burden to bear, we are given the gift from YHVH of strong character.

Leverage Life’s Hardships:
While I know it is easier said than done, I need to take whatever trial life has dealt me and see what possible good can be derived from it. For instance, a person might say: [This cancer that has invaded my body has given me the ability to minister to others in similar circumstances.] or [The death of my spouse has allowed me to better understand the grief the Father felt when His Son was nailed to the Cross.] or [This financial setback has shown me the importance of good stewardship.] The list is unending, but the principle is that our character grows when we respond to hardships in the right way and our lives are enriched as a result.

7 – Key to Guidance:
I have saved this one for last, because without it the others will not be able to produce their full effect. In every area of life, we need the guidance that can only come to us from YHVH.

Make Time For Solitude and Silence!
I know how difficult this is in the culture we live in; this is something I have to force myself to do. We need that time, it is so important, when we are by ourselves with YHVH in the silence of the moment, when we allow Him to speak to our soul. [Yeshua often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.] -- Luke 5:16. Yeshua had to get away from His friends, from His family and from the crowds, so that He could spend some time alone with YHVH in prayer. If Yeshua needed this, how much more so do we need to? It is not a matter of reading theological journals or memorizing the entire Bible, most of the time what is most necessary is that we just stand before YHVH, all by ourselves and in the solitude of the moment we speak to Him and He speaks to us. The guidance that He offers to us is the one key that pulls everything else together; if you are looking for the answer to overcoming the stagnation of life, this is the most important key of all. As usual, there is a choice that we have to make, we can either keep living the way that we always have and if we are not there already, eventually we will end up living a life of personal stagnation or we can decide that today is the day that we are going to begin living life to its fullest and with YHVH’s help we will overcome whatever it is that has been holding us back. I hope and pray that whatever the choice you make, you will be inspired by Ruach HaKodesh to make the right choice.