Message Action PlanDear Saddleback Family,
Use the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you learned this weekend into practice. If you missed last weekend's message, click here to watch it online.
Maximizing Your Strengths - 8 skills you need to succeed in life & work - Part 3 (14-15 November 2015)
"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you." Jeremiah 1:5a(Mes)
"You Lord, made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way...You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother's body. When I was put together there, you saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in your Book before I was one day old!" Psalm 139:13-16(NCV)
THE 5 ELEMENTS GOD USES TO "SHAPE" YOUR LIFE
- Spiritual Gifts - Multiple supernatural gifts to build up others and the Church
"Each one has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that." 1 Corinthians 7:7b(NIV)
- Heart - Motives, passions, things that "turn your crank"
"Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23(NIV)
- Abilities - Capabilities you were born with
"God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well..." Romans 12:6a(LB)
- Personality - How do I like to relate to people?
"God works through different people in different ways.." 1 Corinthians 12:6(Ph)
- Experiences - The good and the bad. Vocation, education, and painful times
"All that happens to us is working for our good if we love God..." Romans 8:28(LB)
HOW DO I MAXIMIZE MY GOD-GIVEN SHAPE?
- Discover my shape
- By examining my past
"You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted?" Galatians 3:4(ICB)
"Everyone should examine his own conduct; then he will be able to take the measure of his own worth; with no need to compare himself to others." Galatians 6:4 (Knox)
"Try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities..." Romans 12:3b (Ph)
- By experimenting with different tasks
- Accept my shape
"What right do you have as a human being to cross-examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: Why did you make me this shape? A potter can do whatever he likes with the clay!" Romans 9:20-21 (JB)
"Each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him." 1 Corinthians 7:17a (NIV)
Action Plan: During your quiet time, examine your thought life and search for any people pleasing or envying tendencies. Ask God to refocus your attention on His will for your life and thank Him for the significance found in pleasing him in only the ways you can.
- Enjoy my shape
"To enjoy your work and to accept your lot in life - this is a gift from God. People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy." Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 (NLT)
"It is God who is at work within you...energizing and creating in you the power and desire to will and to work for his good pleasure and satisfaction and delight." Philippians 2:13(Amp)
Action Plan: Take time this week to perform a task you love doing and are skilled at that you don't regularly have the opportunity to do. While doing the activity, invite God to ride along. Allow him to further reveal his plan for you during this time.
- Develop and use my SHAPE
"Keep using the gift God gave you...let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire." 2 Timothy 1:6(NCV)
"God has given each of you special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's...blessings." 1 Peter 4:10(LB)
WHAT HOLDS US BACK?
- Fear
"I was afraid, so I hid the talent you gave me in the ground." Matthew 25:25
WHY MUST I MAXIMIZE MY STRENGTHS?
- I'm accountable to my Creator
"From where he sits God overlooks all of us on earth. He has shaped each person and now he watches everything we do." Psalm 33:14-15(Mes)
"Offer every part of your body to God to be used in doing good." Romans 6:13b(NCV)
