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Dear 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.

8 SKILLS YOU NEED TO SUCCEED IN LIFE AND WORK - PART 2 (8-9 November 2015)

". . . Skill will bring success" Ecclesiastes 10:10 (NIV)

1. Who is going to be my authority? 
   
   - Are you relying on your own instincts? 
   "The human mind is the most deceitful of all things! It is incurable. No one can understand how deceitful  it really is!" Jeremiah 17:9 (GW)   
   
   - Are you relying on what the world says is important (appearance, pleasure, and materialism)? 
   "Don't love what the world offers and values; Those who love the world don't have the Father's love in them. For what the world values - physical gratification, greed, and prideful, self-centered lifestyles - does not come from God our Father."1 John 2:15-16   
   
   - Are you relying on God's Word?
   Jesus: "If you continue in my Word . . . you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!" John 8:31-32 
   
   ACTION PLAN:  During your quiet time this week consider what or who has been the authority in your life.  Ask God daily to help you make His Word your authority. 
   
   
2. What's going to last the longest? 
   
   "We focus our attention not on what we can see around us, but on what we cannot see with our eyes. For everything that we see is temporary and will only last a short time but what is unseen is eternal and will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) 
   
   ACTION PLAN:  This week, examine your calendar and your finances.  Are you spending your time and money on the things that will last or on temporary pleasure?  How are you doing? What needs to change?
3. Will I choose what's easy or what's best?
4. • Are there things you are watching or reading that you should change?
     
     "Turn my eyes away from worthless things . . ." Psalm 119:37a (NIV) 
   • Are there people in your life that are dragging you down and you should get out of your life?
     
     "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong . . ." Exodus 23:2a (NIV) 
   • Are your spending habits consistent with your values?
     
     "Don't store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value!" Matthew 6:19-20 (LB)
   • Are you treating people the way you'd want to be treated?
     
     "So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view . . ."2 Corinthians 5:16a (NIV) 
5. Is it worth the price? 
   
   Paul: "I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done for me. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Him! "Philippians 3:7-8 (NLT)

   ACTION PLAN:  Take some time this week to make a comprehensive list of things that are important to you. Ask God to show you the things that are not in alignment with His will for you and ask Him for the strength to let them go.

REMEMBER: "I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." Philippians 4:13 (LB)