This generation that I have been called to reach is amazing because of their “wonder” and “amazement”. My fear, though, is that in their desire to “live in the moment”, they will fail to pursue holiness and ‘live for tomorrow”. So, how do we balance this. I think it all comes down to the first and great commandment. Jesus said it this way because it is of first importance. He said, “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30) If we will simply live in each moment of our lives to know and love God with all of our heart, with all our souls, with all of our mind, and with all of our strenth, then we will not only live in the moment but also for the future. This is a cause and a commitment worth giving our lives to.

Check this out. Very convicting when it comes to creativity. Creativity is good but the cross of Jesus and Godliness must be at the center and prevail. Pray for Matt today. He is having surgery on a brain tumor.

I was reading and thinking about productivity for the new year and came across this. I hope it is helpful to you and you find release in delegation and doing only what you can do.

Three Q&A’s on productivity with Matt Perman

1. What’s the most common mistake people make in trying to develop a system for productivity?
There are a lot of wrong turns that people make here, but I think the biggest one is that they simply seek to make their system capture and organize their existing work. We shouldn’t first ask “what things are vying for my attention and how do I organize them?” Instead, we should first ask “what things are most important for me to be doing and I how do I make sure that I am able to move ahead on them?” The former is reactive and the later is proactive.

2. In the last three months, what has been the most helpful insight that has helped you be more productive?
Peter Drucker’s comment that “effective executives put first things first and do one thing at a time.” My workload has been larger than normal the last few months, and that makes it tempting to splinter myself and move on too many fronts at once. Drucker reminds me to avoid this trap. First, you don’t have to do everything. Instead, identify what is most important, and start there. Second, build momentum by doing one thing at a time, bringing it to completion, and then moving on to the next thing (what’s best next). You might think this makes it take longer to do things, but it actually saves time. The scarcity of time is precisely the reason we need to do one thing at a time.

3. In a nutshell, what is the most important and fundamental principle for being productive?
I would actually say: realize that you don’t have to be productive. By this I mean: your significance does not come from your productivity. It comes from Christ, who obeyed God perfectly on our behalf such that our significance and standing before God comes from him, not anything we do. Then, on that basis, we pursue good works (which is what productivity is) and do so eagerly, as it says in Titus 2:14.

When it comes to day-to-day application, the main principle is this: The key denominator of effectiveness is not intelligence or even hard work, as important as those are. It is the discipline to put first things first. You need to operate from a center of sound principles and organize and execute around priorities. This means that instead of prioritizing your schedule, you schedule your priorities.

Matt is the senior director of strategy at DesiringGod and author of What’s Best Next.

A voice from the past that needs to be heard desperately today.

Want to know what the life of a believer is about? Listen to this! A little something from my friend and mentor Dave Proffitt.

listen to this sound bite from my friend and mentor Dave Proffitt.

Follow-up with what we talked about last night at Aletheia Norfolk. How was Phillip in Acts 8 able to leave what appeared to be a successful work of God in Samaria to Go down to the desert? Because He treasured Christ more than his success. He treasured Christ and being obedient to God above anything. Do you? Do I? Listen to this and be inspired to be different!

GOOD WORDS FOR DUDES!

Believe…Repent…Be Content not in yourself but be content in allowing your brokenness to heal others! POWERFUL! LET THAT SOAK IN AND REMEMBER THAT SUFFERING HAS A PURPOSE!