Success Occurs When Opportunity Meets Preparation

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Quote from Pastor Terry Roberts: I really sense that 2000 is a pivotol year between the old and the new. We are really emphasizing discipleship and equipping for ministry. I believe

2001 and beyond will bring us opportunities that we are going to have to be in position to take advantage of. Several years ago the Lord put a phrase in my heart with a three year time frame..."Run to Get Ready" and "Get Ready to Run". That was June, 1997. It really just tells me to be ready to take advantage of whatever situation I find myself. Someone said " success occurs when preparation meets opportunity ".

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (NIV)

Heb 11:13-16

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country-- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (NIV)

v  It used to be that our heroes were those that were successful at what we wanted to do and were our role models and patterns to follow.

o   Today our heroes are those that live out our desires and dreams for us.

§  Karate stars, muscle men, beauty queens, sexual fulfilment (pornography) Soap operas, love stories, the rich and the famous,

§  Our sports teams give us the feeling of victory even if we did not play(Hockey, Soccer). Our beauty queens make us feel beautiful.

o   The Devil has found a way to steal our lives without killing us. He steals our dreams and causes us to take the safest path possible.

§  Robs us of our faith and hopes.

§  Steals the treasure that God has placed in us and replaces it with a synthetic life created by Hollywood and advertisers.

§  It is like a virtual reality world. People on TV live out lives for us, adventure for us, danger, fear, etc.. Eventually we become vegetables in a human body. Unable to LIVE our lives out!

 

It’s time to stop letting others live our lives for us and get the Life that God wants us to have. The real thing.

Getting ready for a new season " success occurs when preparation meets opportunity ".

 

Preparation: Preparation will determine if we are ready for the Opportunities. Daily we are preparing for something. We will be prepared to fail or to win. By doing nothing we are still preparing, preparing to fail.

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

o   Looking:  intensively Searching and asking for, The eyes of faith are made strong by the meditation on the plans of God, revealed in his word or by his spirit. v:13 saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

§  Where are we going? What are you looking to come? What is off in the distance for you?

§  Be persuaded of his promises: You will not continue when it gets hard if you are not persuaded that you are going in the right direction to the right goals.

o   Thinking: Mindful,

§  What do we meditate on? What this world system thinks? If we do this will determine what we desire, what we long for!

§  Embraced his promises: pull to yourself,

o   Longing: Desiring, to reach for. What are you desiring?

§  Money, A wife or Husband, thing, vacations,…

§  Confessed them: acknowledge, assent to, restate intent,

Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (KJV)

Opportunity: A season, A period of time, the right time etc… There are opportunities that present themselves. Some “Seasonally” and others “Once in a lifetime”.

o   If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

§  First of all Meditation, your thought life will determine your readiness to take an opportunity when it comes.

§  Your thought life also determines which opportunities you will probably see.

·         Zb.. Have you ever been in a crowd and were looking for someone? First you focused maybe on the color of the clothes that they were wearing or the color of their hair. Anyone with another hair color you did not look at. You filtered your vision in order to see what you wanted to see.

§  In this case it says if their thoughts would have been on Egypt, they would have had an opportunity to return.

§  So we can see that God and the Devil are offering Opportunities.

·         Opportunities will come from God and will come from the devil.

·         We will only recognize the ones that we have prepared for and…

·          We will think it is the right one because we are prepared to receive it.

Prague is a city of Miracles: Where Jesus is Lord, where there are more Christians than unbelievers, Where miracles are common, Where love is normal, where the devil is uncomfortable. It is a city of the presence of the Lord.

Looking: I am looking for it. I am seeking the signs that lead in that direction. I am expecting it to happen. OR I will not look for it and will not be ready when it happens. I will not go in the right direction with my life. I will be hopeless.

Thinking: Things that agree with this catch my attention. I meditate on the word that will help me be ready for it. I welcome fellowship with those that are in agreement. OR I will think about anything that I want to and let my mind wander as much as it wants to. I will be drawn away more and more to the desires of this age. Becoming more and more comfortable with this world.

Longing: My desires grow for it. I want it more and more. I talk more and more about it and the result of it. OR I will begin to make a way to get the things that I desire. My priorities will suffer and I will justify being selfish and seek self fulfilment more and more.

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