Who is Next for me?

someone who is next for you means giving someone an open window to your life.

Open windows mean access.

If you want to impact a life you must first be open to that life.  Open windows scare us in our culture.  We like to control what people see and what they know.  Open windows scare us because we cannot control what we allow out nor what is allowed in.

After Hurricane Gustav I was without power for about a week.  Open windows led to a filthy house full of dead love bugs (which I do not love) and dust.  One night while sleeping with the windows open, I began to smell an absolutely terrible stench.  The next morning I figured it out.   The neighborhood sewage treatment location across the street was without power like me.  All of a sudden I could smell all my neighbor’s stink.

Truth is we all have stink.  But we are accustomed to our own stink.  It is familiar to us.  When we give open windows to others with our lives we smell their stink, but we also allow them to smell ours.

The principles of this blog are found in the passage 2 Timothy 3:10-11.  Where do I get the thought of open windows…”you know ALL ABOUT…”

How many people know ALL ABOUT you?

Here are four things people need from you if they are going to be next for you.

1.  Seeing behavior sets beliefs.

            People learn way more from what they see than what they hear.  Your children do not think you believe what you say…they know you believe what you do. 

2.  Seeing purposes lived out defines promises lived in.

            The purposes and plans of your life define what promises you truly believe.  We can say we believe we are new creations in Christ or that we are more than conquerors in Christ, but it is the purposes of our lives that define for others what promises we actually hold to.  Often our problem is that we say we believe in grace until it means we need it too.

We are so afraid that others might see what is wrong in our lives that we never allow anyone to see what is right in our life.

3.  Seeing patience given reveals love felt.
            We are patient with the people we love.  We are also the most impatient with the people we love, but that is because the people we love have much greater opportunity and ability to test our patience.  Patience is never to lower a standard…it is to love someone in spite of their failure to uphold that standard.

4.  Endurance is seen in the inconveniences of life.
            Character is seen when the inconvenient and difficult is dealt with.  It’s easy to have high character when the going is easy.  It is when the going gets rough that the real is seen.

Making an impact means making an impression.

If you want to leave a powerful impact make personal impressions…one life at a time.