فصل 1

PART ONE

KEEP PRESSING FORWARD

CHAPTER 1

Stretching to the Next Level

The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed many beautiful buildings, homes, and other magnificent structures. Toward the end of his career, a reporter asked him, “Of your many beautiful designs, which one is your favorite?” Without missing a beat, Frank Lloyd Wright answered, “My next one.”

Frank Lloyd Wright understood the principle of stretching, constantly pressing forward, never being satisfied simply with past successes. The entire world is waiting for your next adventure.

Too many people are living far below their potential. They have many gifts and talents, and so much more going for them. But they’ve gotten comfortable, settled where they are, and lately become too easily satisfied.

I often hear people making excuses for stagnating in their personal growth:

“I’ve achieved as much as most.”

“Compared to other people, I’m doing pretty well in my career.”

“I’ve gone as far as my parents did.”

That’s great, but God wants you to go further. He’s a progressive God, and He wants every generation to be increasing in happiness, success, and significance. No matter where we are in life, God has more in store. He never wants us to quit growing. We all have areas where we can come up higher. We may have achieved a certain level of success, but there are always new challenges, other mountains to climb. There are new dreams and goals that we can pursue.

God wants to show His favor in your life in greater ways today than He did yesterday. He wants you to be more blessed tomorrow than you are today. He intends for you to have a greater impact on the world than you have had. That means if you’re a teacher, you haven’t taught your best lesson yet. If you’re a builder, you haven’t built your best home yet. If you’re a businessperson, you haven’t negotiated your best deal yet. It’s time to get your hopes up; enlarge your vision, and get ready for the new things that God has on the horizon. Your best days are not behind you. They’re in front of you.

But if this is going to happen, we have to keep pressing forward, stretching ourselves. Get rid of low expectations. Don’t make little plans for your life. Don’t have little dreams. Don’t go around thinking, Everybody gets good breaks except me. I’ve reached my limits. I’ll probably never get this promotion. I don’t know why I’m not as talented as that other person.

No, get rid of that defeated mind-set. You are a child of the Most High God. God has breathed His life into you. He planted seeds of greatness in you. You have everything you need to fulfill your God-given destiny. God has already put in the talent, the creativity, the discipline, the wisdom, and the determination. It’s all in you. You are full of potential. But you have to do your part and start tapping into it. You have to make better use of the gifts and talents that God has given you.

Years ago, a friend of mine and a passenger were in Europe driving on the Autobahn, the superhighway across Germany. Unlike American freeways, the Autobahn has no speed limits. You can travel as fast as you want to drive.

My friend was so excited as he pressed down on the accelerator and took the car up to 80 miles an hour, then 90, 100, 110. He felt like the king of the road, zooming past people left and right.

A few minutes later, another car streaked down the freeway. This car was the exact same model as my friend’s car, but it blew by him like he was standing still. That second automobile must have been going 170 per hour.

The passenger traveling with my friend laughed and said, “See; you’re not going as fast as you can. You’re just going as fast as you will.” Think about that: My friend’s car possessed tremendous potential. It too was capable of going 180 miles per hour. The manufacturer put in the potential. How fast my friend drove didn’t have anything to do with the car’s capability. In other words, the potential was not lessened just because he chose not to use it. And simply having the potential on board did not affect his future.

It’s the same way with us. Our potential has been put in us by our Manufacturer, our Creator, Almighty God. Whether we use it or not does not diminish it, but it does impact our future. The events of your past do not reduce your potential. How somebody has treated you or what he or she said about you doesn’t change your potential. Maybe you’ve been through some disappointments, or have had some unfair things happen in life. None of that affects your potential.

A young woman named Sherry came to me for advice. She had tolerated an abusive relationship for years in which she was repeatedly told, “You can’t do anything right. You’re so slow. You’re not attractive.” After hearing that for so long, it had totally beaten her down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She had no joy, little confidence, and extremely low self-esteem.

I told her what I’m telling you: “Your value, your gifts, and talents have been put in you by Almighty God. And it doesn’t matter what anyone else has spoken over you. The good news is God has the final authority. He says you have a treasure on the inside. He says you have a gift. He says you are valuable. You’ve got to quit playing that old tune and put on a new one. You need to be dwelling on thoughts like: I am creative. I am talented. I am valuable. I have a bright future. My best days are still out in front of me. You have to get your mind going in this new direction. Because dwelling on negative thoughts about yourself will keep you from becoming all God has created you to be.”

Too many people don’t have the confidence and the self-esteem they should because they’re constantly dwelling on negative thoughts about themselves. I don’t say this arrogantly, but in my mind, all day long I try to remind myself: I am anointed. I am creative. I am talented. I am successful. I have the favor of God. People like me. I’m a victor and not a victim.

Try it! If you go around thinking those kinds of thoughts, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, or inferiority won’t have a chance with you. Throw your shoulders back, put a smile on your face, and be looking for opportunities to stretch into the next level.

Back in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they hid. In the cool of the day, God came to them and said, “Adam, Eve, where are you?” They said, “God, we’re hiding because we are naked.”

I love the way God answered them. He said, “Adam, who told you that you were naked?” In other words, “Who told you that something was wrong with you?” God immediately knew the enemy had been talking to them.

God is saying to you today, “Who told you that you don’t have what it takes to succeed? Who told you that the best grades you could make in school would be C’s rather than A’s? Who told you that you are not attractive enough? Who told you that your marriage is never going to last?” Who told you that something was wrong with you?

Those are lies from the enemy. You need to reject those ideas and discover what God says about you.

I wonder how many times God tells us that He wants to do something great in our lives, that we are going to be healthy and well; we are going to get out of debt. We feel it strongly, but we start thinking about what we don’t have, and all the obstacles in our path, and before long, we’ve talked ourselves out of God’s best.

“That could never happen for me. I don’t have the education; I don’t have the talent; I don’t have the discipline. I’ll never break this addiction; I’ll never accomplish my dreams.” No, you must quit looking at what you don’t have, and start believing that all things are possible.

I never dreamed that I’d be doing what I am doing today, encouraging people around the world. For seventeen years, my father tried to get me to speak at our home church, but I had no desire. I’m naturally quiet and reserved and would much prefer working behind the scenes.

But when my father went to be with the Lord, I knew that I was supposed to step up. Although I had never preached before, never had been to seminary, and had no formal training, I said, “God, I’m not going to look at what I don’t have. I’m looking unto you. I know in my weakness, you show up the strongest.” I took that step of faith, and God has taken me places I never dreamed.

He can do the same for you. Don’t get stuck in a rut in your attitude, your career, or your marriage. You have incredible potential within you—much more than you may realize! God is not limited to the laws of nature. He can do what human beings cannot. The key is to get your eyes off your problems and onto your God.

Some people are always looking back, focused on their hurts and pains. Other people are looking down, living in self-pity, and complaining that life is not fair. The key to rising higher is to keep looking to where you want to go. Dream big dreams! Don’t focus on where you are today; keep a positive vision and see yourself accomplishing your goals and fulfilling your destiny.

Some people almost miss the great things God wants to do in and through them because they talk themselves out of believing for better things. In the Old Testament, when God told Moses to confront Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, and command him to free God’s people who had been living in slavery, Moses balked. “God, I can’t do such a thing. I stutter and stammer. I’m not a good speaker.” I love how God answered Moses’ protests and excuses. God asked, “Moses, who made your tongue? Who made your voice?” With these poignant questions, God was reminding His man, “Moses, I have already put in you exactly what you need. Now draw out what I’ve given you, and use it for my honor, for the good of your family and friends, and your own good.”

Don’t let the size of your dreams or the vastness of God’s calling on your life intimidate you. Moreover, don’t allow naysayers in your path to keep you from pressing forward. When people attempted to discourage the Apostle Paul, trying to talk him out of his dreams, telling him what he couldn’t do, Paul responded, “What if they don’t believe? Will their unbelief make the promise of God of no effect in my life?” Paul was saying, “If other people don’t want to believe God for better things in their lives, fine; but that won’t keep me from believing. I know the promises of God are in me.” That’s the attitude we need to have as well. So what if other people say I can’t succeed? So what if someone tries to pull me down; so what if a person doesn’t believe? I am not going to allow their actions, attitudes, or comments to cause me to give up on my God-given dreams. I’ll not allow their unbelief to influence my faith.

When disappointment or rejection knocks you down, get back up and go again. We give up too easily on our dreams. We need to understand that just as God supernaturally opens doors, sometimes God supernaturally closes doors. And when God closes a door, it’s always because He has something better in store. So just because you’ve come to a dead end, that’s not the time to give up. Find a different route and keep pressing forward.

Back in 1959, my father was the pastor of a successful church with a thriving congregation. They had just built a beautiful new sanctuary and my father had a bright future. About that time, my sister Lisa was born with something like cerebral palsy. Hungry for a fresh touch from God, my dad went away for a while and got alone with God. He searched the Scriptures in a new way, and he began to see how God was a good God, a healing God, and that God could still perform miracles today. My dad went back to his church and he preached with a new fire, a new enthusiasm. He thought everybody would be thrilled, but the congregation’s reaction was just the opposite. They didn’t like his new message. It didn’t fit in with their tradition. After suffering much persecution, heartache, and pain, my father knew the best thing for him to do was to leave that church.

Naturally, my dad was disappointed. He didn’t understand why such a thing should happen. But remember, out of rejection comes direction.

My father went down the street to an abandoned feed store. There, he and ninety other people formed Lakewood Church on Mother’s Day, 1959. The critics said it would never last, but today, nearly fifty years later, Lakewood Church has grown to become one of the largest churches in America and is still going strong.

I don’t believe that my father would have enjoyed the ministry he had, and I don’t believe he would have become all God created him to be, if he would have stayed in that limited environment. Here’s a key: The dream in your heart may be bigger than the environment in which you find yourself. Sometimes you have to get out of that environment in order to see that dream fulfilled.

Throughout life, we’re not always going to understand everything that happens along the way. But we’ve got to learn to trust God. We’ve got to believe that He has us in the palm of His hand, that He is leading and guiding us, that He always has our best interests at heart.

Friend, don’t die with the treasure still inside you. Keep pressing forward. Keep reaching for new heights. Give birth to what God has placed in your heart. Don’t let other people talk you out of your dreams. Listen to what God says about you, not all the negative voices. When you face rejection and disappointment, don’t stay there. Know that God has another plan. That closed door simply means God has something better in store. You may not have experienced God’s favor in the past, but this is a new day. You have not seen, heard, or imagined the wonderful things God has in store for you. God is going to show you more of His blessings and favor, and you will become a better you, better than you ever dreamed possible.