THE TIME TO TAKE ACTION

John 2:1-5  On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." (NIV)

John’s first chapter is the record of the first three days of Jesus’ ministry after His baptism (John 1:29; 1:35; 1:43 ). Jesus had called His disciples and they set out from the Jordan to the region of Galilee. Having arrived at Cana, a wedding feast was well under way. It might have lasted a week. To the embarrassment of the host, the wine had all been drunk and so Jesus’ mother informed Jesus, believing that He could resolve the problem. However, John 2:11 tells us that Jesus had not performed miracles before, so Mary could not have known His miraculous power. Nevertheless she had such trust in Him that she boldly instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus said. But before dealing with the immediate problem, Jesus made clear that the big action of His life was not to be a popular miracle-worker: His ‘time’ had not yet come; He was referring to His death on the cross.
 
 Jesus always had the end in sight. The goal of His life was to die as a sacrificial lamb to pay for the sins of everybody in the world. He had no need to orchestrate a campaign of power and popularity, nor to allow others to do it for Him – even His mother. No. Jesus had His heart and mind fixed on His salvation work. As John says later (John 2:11 ; 20:30-31 ) His miracles were not advertising to make Him accepted, but signs so that those who had hearts to understand might know that Jesus was the Son of God – and that would lead them to put their faith in Him and lead them into eternal life.
 
 Jesus always got it right: keeping the big picture clear, ensuring He achieved the main purpose of His life, and also doing what was right in a way which blessed people – demonstrating who He was. But Christians may get it wrong: some have no big picture, no sense of God’s calling; they either amble through life in an unfocussed way or they put their time and energy into activities without appreciating God’s bigger plan. Let the main thing be the main thing! Keep God’s priorities for your life carefully guarded. Do not allow yourself to be dragged off track. Resist the temptation to be popular or do things to get attention for yourself, when God’s purpose in saving you was that you will draw attention to Jesus. You may feel that ‘something must be done’ … just make sure you are doing the right ‘something’ for the right reason!
  

How to Posses A Creative Mindset.

How to Posses A Creative Mindset.

I once asked myself this Question; Can creativity be taught?

I then looked closely into it and discovered it’s a question without a Yes or No answer

Creativity as it is may not be able to be taught directly, but you can get it better by frequently aligning the circumstances of life which foster the greatest chances for true creative expression. Creativity Is no like a lightning strike, but more like something that manifests itself inside those who learn to foster it and create the right conditions for it to prosper and strive to its fullest.

Possesing Creativity in 3 steps…

1. Follow your own pattern: The moment you ask for peoples opinion, you will definitely be infused with that persons preconceived notions or ideas of what the outcome will or should be. Other peoples opinion about your idea will unconsciously push you in the direction that thy see it best, though this is done in good intentions but it hurts you inner creative self, this is different from sharing an idea. Sharing your ideas is good but do it when you’ve created the perfect picture by yourself no from others opinions if you truly want to find your own path of creative self-expression. Once the creative work is done, whatever happens then you can listen to Feedbacks, just don’t let criticism stifle your creativity during creative process.

2. Let go of the “Correct or Incorrect” syndrome: Your natural output for creating something correct or incorrect will always yield creative results. There are limitless paths that leads to achieving absolute creativity. The imperfect nature in us humans and sometimes the most creative artists leave some grave mistake unfixed on purpose. Someone said nature itself is beautifully imperfect. Many of us try to be so perfect that the way they scrub away the major ingredient that made their work special in the first place creates the greatest challenges later. You have to work on the so called “BAD IDEAS” too, even if you are coming up with what you feel are the “BAD IDEAS”, in a way you are still being creative, so you’ve gotta develop them, and they could turn into a great solution after all.

3. The last thing is to Ignore the PAST: if you really to be creative, you’ve got to ignore or forget what the past holds, ignore what the world has created, yours is the BETA version of whatever has been on ground till this moment. Sometimes considering the past can make you place a sort of unconscious time stamp on a particular style or pattern. Create things from your inner self that do not draw any inspiration from what has come previously or you even considering it, your inspiration must come from a divine source God who is the creator of all creations. In a creative state of mind, time does not exist, a moment can seem to last for hours and you are completely immersed in the present .         

Writing A Proper Mission Statement Can Drive Your Life Forward

Most people measure us by our accomplishments -- what we’ve done. In my experience, most people compile their track record of accomplishments BY MISTAKE that is, we don’t have a plan, we simply react to opportunities as they arise. In other words, our accomplishments are externally motivated, not internally driven. What this argues for, of course, is a consciousness of mission -- what each of our lives is really about. That’s what this short article will discuss -- your Personal Mission Statement. A Personal Mission Statement will help you to organize your entire life -- your time, your thoughts, your priorities. Actually, a personal mission statement, conscientiously developed, will change the way you view everything in your life.

Your personal mission statement will force you to constantly re-evaluate who you are, what you’re about, and what you’re doing. As an example, just look at the Constitution of the United States. The essential mission statement there is “...to create a more perfect union.” Where would we be as a nation today if they had not outlined the goals and hopes of a new nation in those terms?

The basics of a mission statement are as follows:

1.  Make it short and to the point. Nelson Mandela’s mission statement, developed over his 27 years in prison in South Africa, says just this: “End Apartheid.” Another great mission statement was developed by Abraham Lincoln upon his inauguration as President. “Preserve the Union.” Note that mission statements can change. Perhaps a mission is accomplished. Franklin Roosevelt started his presidency with a mission to “End the Depression.” By the time that was almost done another threat had arisen and the United States had become involved in World War II. Now the mission statement was “End the War.”

2.  Keep your mission statement short, to the point, simple. Use direct language. Be sure that a 12-year-old could understand the statement and you’ll be more or less on track.

3.  Make it memorable so it can be burned into your consciousness. The rule of thumb here is that if you can’t recite it from memory, it’s too long and too complicated. Remedy: simplify, condense, “laser” your thought process until you’ve said everything you need to say in the fewest and strongest possible words.

4.  Eliminate excuses. Before you can write an effective mission statement you must clear away the excuses that prevent most people from writing one in the first place. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your job IS your mission. It’s only part of it...or not. Either way, remember that a mission is larger than a job. Your job may change, but your mission may not. In fact, there are times that a job MUST change in order that a mission be completed. So don’t lock yourself in a box that says that you ARE your work. You’re far more than that. Another trap...excuse...is “My role is my mission.” If you’re a man you may think of your role as “breadwinner.”

For a woman this might be “wife” or “mother.” The operating principle here is that your role, too, may change. In fact, as your life, evolves your role will almost certainly change. The third excuse -- the one most of us don’t want to cop to -- is that we may believe that we’re just not important enough to have a mission statement. Sure, it’s fine for a big company to have one, or for a country to have one, but I’m just one of the “little people,” so I don’t DESERVE one. Parenthetically, we almost never say this aloud. What we do say, at least to ourselves, is that we don’t NEED one. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!! Get rid of all that silly thinking. Focus. You’ll be glad you did.

Finally, clear out influences that have driven you in the past. A mission statement isn’t about what you think you should be doing. It’s about what EXCITES you. So instead of listening to all those voices from the past...the ones that told you you weren’t worth anything, that you’d never succeed, and so forth. Concentrate on your gifts, your dreams.