The Power of I Am: Two Words That Will Change Your Life Today (18 page)

When Jesus was on the earth, He was very selective with His friendships. Everyone wanted to be close to Him. But He chose only twelve disciples with whom to spend most of His time. Out of those twelve, three were His close friends: Peter, James, and John. One could be considered His best friend, John. He was described as the disciple whom Jesus loved. You may know a lot of people and have many acquaintances, but you have to be careful who you allow into your inner circle. You can’t have twenty best friends. The higher you go and the more successful you are, the tighter your circle needs to become. You may have twenty people you call friends, and that’s great. But make sure the two or three you choose to be close to you are 100 percent for you. Make sure they believe in you, stick up for you, and are with you through thick or thin. It could be that you’re not seeing God’s best because your team is weak. You’re investing valuable time in people who were never supposed to be a part of your inner circle. If your team is weak, you’re going to be weak.

In Mark 5, Jesus was traveling to another city to pray for a little girl who had died. When He arrived at the home, the Scripture states that Jesus didn’t allow anyone to go in with Him except for Peter, James, and John. His inner circle. Why? Jesus knew when He got in that room where the little girl was lying dead, He needed people who wouldn’t question who He was. He needed people who wouldn’t ask, “Are you sure you’re the Son of God? What if she doesn’t get healed? Do you have a backup plan?”

When you’re in the heat of the battle, when you need God’s favor, when you need a breakthrough, when you need a legal situation to turn around, you cannot afford to have people in your inner circle asking, “Do you really think you’re going to get well? My grandmother died of that same thing. Do you really think you’re going to get out of debt? Business is so slow.” You need people who are joined in spirit with you. You need people who will say, “If you’re bold enough to believe it, count on me. I’m bold enough to agree with you.” “If you believe you can break that addiction, I’m not going to tell you ten reasons why you can’t. My report is you are well able.” “If you believe you can get your degree, or you can start that business, or you can see your marriage restored, then count on me. I’m on board. I’m all for you.”

You need people who will join faith with you and not try to talk you out of what’s in your heart. Jesus got to the home, and everyone was so distraught. You can imagine the crying, weeping, and sorrow. Jesus looked at them and said, “Don’t be upset. She’s not dead; she’s only asleep.” Their sorrow turned to mocking, ridiculing, and making fun. “What do you mean she’s not dead? Of course, she’s dead.” What Jesus did next is very significant. It’s a key to living in victory. The Scripture says they “mocked and jeered at Him, and Jesus put them out.” Notice that the Son of God asked them to leave. He showed them the door. Jesus knew the importance of having people around Him who understood His destiny. His attitude was,
I don’t need your doubt. I don’t need you telling Me what I can’t do. I’m going to surround Myself with believers, with people of faith, with people who understand My assignment.

If you have people close to you who are constantly pulling you down, telling you what you can’t do and how you’ll never accomplish your dreams, understand that it is scriptural to show them the door. It may be difficult, but you have to have the attitude,
I cannot fulfill my destiny with your critical spirit in my life. I can’t become who
I was created to be with you dragging me down. I love you, but I can’t allow you in my inner circle. I’m going to love you from a distance.

This is what Jesus did. He took only the girl’s parents and Peter, James, and John into the little girl’s room. He spoke to that girl, and she came back to life. Think of this. Jesus could have healed her in front of the whole laughing, mocking, ridiculing crowd. He’s God, and He can do anything. But He was showing us this principle: Who you have in your inner circle is extremely important. If Jesus went to the trouble to ask the wrong people to leave, if He took the time to weed out the doubters, the naysayers, and the people who didn’t believe in Him, if He was that concerned about His inner circle, how much more concerned should we be with who’s in our inner circle?

Pay attention to who’s on your team. Who’s speaking into your life? To whom are you giving your time and attention? In practical terms, who are you eating lunch with every day at the office? Who are you talking to on the phone so much? Are they building you up or tearing you down? Are they pushing you toward your destiny, or are they telling you what you can’t do? Are they modeling excellence, integrity, character, and godliness, or are they lazy, sloppy, and undisciplined? You have a responsibility to redeem your time.

Don’t waste it with people who don’t sharpen you. If you don’t politely show them the door, they can keep you from your destiny. Sometimes we know a person’s not good for us and we know they’re dragging us down, but we think if we let them go, we’re going to be lonely. Yes, you may be lonely for a season, but you’ll never give up something for God without Him giving you something better back in return. God will not only give you new friends, He’ll give you better friends. People who inspire you, people who celebrate you, and people who push you forward.

This may mean that you have to change whom you eat lunch with at the office every day. That person who’s always finding fault, critical, and bad-mouthing the boss, you don’t need that poison in your life. That’s not redeeming the time. You may have to change hanging out with that neighbor who’s always depressed, defeated, and has a sad song. If you stay there, you’re going to end up defeated. It’s better to make the change and be lonely for a season than to be poisoned for a lifetime.

When we come to the end of our days, God is going to ask us, “What did you do with the time I entrusted to you? Did you develop your gifts and talents? Did you accomplish your assignment? How did you spend your life?” It’s not going to be a good excuse to say, “God, I got distracted, but my friend got me off course.” “God, I lived bitter, but somebody did me wrong.” “God, I was negative, but my company let me go.” I’m asking you to quit making excuses and start redeeming the time. We’re not always going to be here. The Scripture says, “Our life is like a mist. We’re here for a moment, then we’re gone.”

Make this decision that you’re going to be an on-purpose person. Set your goals and be disciplined to stick with it. Don’t waste any more days. Prune off those relationships that are not adding to your life. And don’t go to bed with any kind of defeat, bitterness, or negativity still in your mind. This day is a gift. Make sure you’re investing your time and not wasting it. If you do this, the seeds of greatness inside you are going to take root and begin to flourish. You’re going to see God’s favor in new ways.

I
t doesn’t take a lot of effort to start things—a diet, school, a family. Starting is easy. Finishing is what can be difficult. Almost any young lady can have a baby, but it takes a mother to really raise that child. Any two people can get married, but it takes commitment to stick with it for the long haul. Anyone can have a dream, but it takes determination, perseverance, and a made-up mind to see it come to pass. The question is not “Will you start?” but “Will you finish?” Will you finish the diet? Will you finish school? Will you finish raising your children? Too many people start off well. They have big dreams. They’re excited about their futures. But along the way they have some setbacks. It’s taking longer than they thought. Somebody didn’t do what they said. Over time, they get discouraged and think,
What’s the use? It’s never going to work out.

But God is called “the author and the finisher of our faith.” He has not only given you the grace to start; He has given you the grace to finish. When you are tempted to get discouraged, give up on a dream, give up on a relationship, or give up on a project, you have to remind yourself,
I was not created to give up. I was not created to quit. I was created to finish.

You have to shake off the discouragement. Shake off the self-pity. Shake off what somebody said. If you will keep moving forward in faith, honoring God, you will come into a strength that you didn’t have before, a force pushing you forward. That’s finishing grace. That’s God breathing in your direction, helping you to become who He created you to be.

This grace is available, but you have to tap into it. It’s not going to do us any good if we sit around in self-pity, thinking about how difficult things are, what didn’t work out. “Well, my college professor is so hard. I’ll never pass his course.”

Friend, you have the grace to finish. Quit talking defeat and start talking victory. “I can do all things through Christ. I am full of wisdom, talent, and creativity. I will pass this course.” When you say that, finishing grace will help you do what you could not do on your own.

Even in simple things. You start cleaning your house. Five minutes later, you think,
I don’t feel like doing this. I am so tired. This is so boring.
Instead, turn it around and tell yourself, “I am strong in the Lord. I am full of energy. I am healthy. This is no match for me.” If you will tap into this finishing grace, you will vacuum your house as though you’re on a mission from God—vacuuming up dirt, coins, socks, children, anything else that gets in your way!

Maybe you’re tempted to give up on a dream. Things haven’t turned out the way you planned. It was going fine at first, but then you had some obstacles and you think,
It just wasn’t meant to be.
Here’s what I’ve learned. The enemy doesn’t try to stop you from starting. He has
seen a lot of people start. That doesn’t bother him. But when you have a made-up mind and keep pushing forward, doing the right thing, taking new ground, when he sees you getting closer, he will work overtime to try to keep you from finishing. Don’t get discouraged when you have setbacks, people come against you, or you get a negative medical report. That’s a sign that you’re moving toward your finish line.

The enemy was fine when you got started. He was fine when you were far from finishing. No big deal. But when you began to make progress, that got his attention. That’s when he threw out some obstacles, some challenges. Where you confused him is he thought you would give up after the first few difficulties. He thought you would get discouraged when that friend turned on you, when you lost that client, when your child got in trouble, but instead you kept moving forward, thanking God that He is in control, thanking Him that He is fighting your battles, thanking Him that no weapon formed against you will prosper. What were you doing? Tapping into finishing grace. When you should have gotten weaker, you got stronger. When you should have been depressed, you had a smile on your face. When you should have been complaining, you had a song of praise. Instead of talking about how big the problem was, you were always talking about how big your God is. When you should have gone under, God caused you to go over. When you didn’t see a way, He made a way. When people came against you, He fought your battles and you came out better than you were before.

You may be up against challenges right now. It’s because you are moving forward. You’re making progress. Keep reminding yourself that God is the author and the finisher of your faith. He helped you to get started. That’s great, but there’s something more important: He is going to help you finish. He didn’t bring you this far to leave you.

It says in Philippians, “God began a good work in you, and He
will continue to perform it until it is complete.” One translation says, “He will bring you to a flourishing finish”—not a defeated finish, where you barely make it and are beat up and broke. You are coming to a flourishing finish, a finish more rewarding than you ever imagined.

When Joseph was a teenager, God gave him a dream that one day he would rule a nation. His father, Jacob, loved him very much. Everything started off great for Joseph. He had a big dream, a supportive family. Life was good. But when Joseph was seventeen, things started to go wrong. His brothers became jealous of him and turned on him. They threw him into a pit and left him there to die. Eventually they changed their minds and sold him into slavery. He was taken to Egypt and resold to a man named Potiphar. Joseph hadn’t really done anything wrong, yet his whole world had been turned upside down. It looked as if his dream was dead; he had been betrayed by his family and enslaved in a foreign country. If that wasn’t bad enough, they put him in prison for years for something that he didn’t do.

Joseph must have been depressed, angry, bitter, and upset. Nothing had turned out right. But Joseph understood this principle. He knew he had the grace not only to start but to finish what God put in his heart. He knew the enemy wouldn’t be fighting him if he wasn’t heading toward his destiny. So he stayed in faith. He kept doing the right thing when the wrong thing was happening. He was not working unto people but working unto God.

One day the Pharaoh, the leader of the nation, had a dream that he
didn’t understand. Joseph was able to interpret the dream. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he brought him out of prison and put him in charge of the whole nation. Joseph’s dream came to pass.

God has put something on you that will override people being against you. It will override bad breaks and injustice. You have the grace not just to start. You have something even more powerful—the grace to finish. When you have an attitude like Joseph had, you cannot stay defeated. Life may push you down, but God will pull you back up. People may do you wrong, but God will be your vindicator. Situations may look impossible, but God can do the impossible. When you have finishing grace, all the forces of darkness cannot stop you. You may suffer some setbacks, bad breaks, and injustice. But don’t worry. It’s only temporary. It’s just a detour on the way to your destiny. That’s a sign that you are moving toward your finish line.

The enemy doesn’t fight people who are going the wrong way, people who are off course, discouraged, distracted, bitter, and angry. That’s where he wants you. He comes against people who are headed toward the fullness of their destinies, people who are taking new ground, people like you who are coming into a flourishing finish. Our attitude should be,
I have a made-up mind. I am determined. I’m going to keep moving forward in spite of the bad break, in spite of the loss, in spite of the negative report, in spite of the critics. My destiny is too great and my assignment is too important to get discouraged, distracted, and bitter. I’m not going halfway or three-fourths of the way. I’m going to become all God has created me to be.

When you’re tempted to get discouraged and settle, it’s because you’re close to your breakthrough. You’re close to seeing the problem turn around. You’re close to meeting the right person. Pharaoh is about to call you, so to speak.
The good break is on the way. The healing is on the way. The contract is on the way. Now you have to tap into this finishing grace. Friend, you’ve come too far to stop now. You’ve believed too long. You’ve worked too hard. You’ve invested too much. It may be difficult. Negative voices may be telling you, “It’s never going to work out. Forget it. Just settle where you are.” But don’t believe those lies. You are close to your destiny.

When the going gets tough, you have to dig your heels in and say, “I am in it to win it. I am not moved by this opposition. I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I’m moved by what I know, and I know this: I have the grace to finish. I know this: God began a good work in me, and He is going to complete it. So I’m going to keep honoring God. I’m going to keep being good to people. I’m going to keep on being my best.” Every day you do that, you are passing the test. You are one day closer to coming into your finish line.