"At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called to Saul, “Get up! It’s time you were on your way.” So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together."
I was thinking over the weekend that I have a different "New Year's Day" than when the calendar does. Of course, I look at January 1 as the official New Years, but for me I count the year as September 1st - August 31st. I'm not alone in using that calendar, but it's not because I am an anxious and giddy schoolchild looking forward, or dreading, that first day back to school. For me, I have found this annual pattern because the beginning of September signifies when Patti and I come off of our summertime in New England and head back to the West coast. Lots of new activities pop up, meetings are set for strategies and plans, etc. For me, it feels like the beginning of the year and and sadly, the end of August the end of year. Leaving my mental year at the end of the summer also always makes me appreciate what blessings we have in this life and how I can look forward to summer returning as quickly as I felt it flee. Our businesses also may have fiscal versus calendar years so we get another new year put upon us. Consider how fresh and new each month, each week, or even each day can be if we bring to it the feeling of the beginning of a new year. So, on this Monday, let's look to the new year that is in front of us and start today in making the most of it!
The Bible tells us that all is new every morning and that we are to remember God's faithfulness to deliver us also anew each day. Each morning can be a new year for us spiritually and as Samuel said to Saul, "It's time you were on your way". Today, "it is time" to get up and get on our way. Our way is God's way to bringing glory to Him in each and everything that we do. Today is a new and fresh start. Let's make the very, very most today of what we can of ourselves for Him!
Reference: 1 Samuel 9:26 (New Living Translation)
Showing posts with label saul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saul. Show all posts
Monday, August 19, 2013
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
day 1006: Conversations - Part 3: All On The Table
"Then the Lord said, I am Jesus"
This is the last post on this three part series on conversations. I wrote of the power of the first name in a conversation and then I followed that up yesterday with how important it is that we take a conversation deeper through getting to know the person to whom we are talking. And then there is the trust thing and getting everything on the table if want to have a productive, constructive and worthwhile conversation. One sided conversations or ones where there is either an obvious power or influence difference don't usually end up being as fruitful as we desire. The same frustration can occur when one side of the conversation is guarded and doesn't put everything out on the table but instead leaves the other person not trusting that they know everything they need to know. All day long we can fight these problems in the conversations we have at the office. What we need to do is ensure that our cultures are such that everyone is on the same plane and that full disclosure and transparency is in the DNA. It's actually a very, very important organizational trait to monitor and reinforce, both in the positive and when it is not happening. It means having the courage to confront and call out bad behavior and if there are repeat offenders, helping them find their way into another company. Companies can't afford the wasted time, the half-steps that get taken because of lack of trust, and the incomplete conversations that just suck energy out of an organization because the foundational elements for good conversations isn't there. If you sense that your company, or your team, department, function, etc. isn't having the right level of conversations, then today would be the day to start doing something about it.
When Saul asked back to the voice from heaven, "Who are you, Lord?", God could have easily said back to Saul, "I am who you think I am", or "Yes, I am the Lord", or even, "You don't need to know more than this Saul". But, that is not our Lord's way. He loves conversation with us so he allowed Saul to ask the question and then He answered with His grace, "I am Jesus." God puts it all out on the table with us each and every day and in every moment so that we can have the best conversation with Him possible. It's all up to us to to open up to Him and and not hold back. As we think about how we can strengthen our conversations with others, all in the hopes of bringing glory to Him in all we do, we can also spend the extra time this week to open our conversation with God more fully. He is calling our name, asking to know more, and putting everything out there and on the table for us. Now it's just up to us.
*For those who are reading this and want more on the conversation and conversion of Saul, I recommend you check out the current teaching series: Radical Change by Pastor Terry Brisbane at http://www.cornerstone-sf.org/tv/channel/messages/http://www.cornerstone-sf.org/tv/channel/messages/
Reference: Acts 9:5 (New King James Version)
This is the last post on this three part series on conversations. I wrote of the power of the first name in a conversation and then I followed that up yesterday with how important it is that we take a conversation deeper through getting to know the person to whom we are talking. And then there is the trust thing and getting everything on the table if want to have a productive, constructive and worthwhile conversation. One sided conversations or ones where there is either an obvious power or influence difference don't usually end up being as fruitful as we desire. The same frustration can occur when one side of the conversation is guarded and doesn't put everything out on the table but instead leaves the other person not trusting that they know everything they need to know. All day long we can fight these problems in the conversations we have at the office. What we need to do is ensure that our cultures are such that everyone is on the same plane and that full disclosure and transparency is in the DNA. It's actually a very, very important organizational trait to monitor and reinforce, both in the positive and when it is not happening. It means having the courage to confront and call out bad behavior and if there are repeat offenders, helping them find their way into another company. Companies can't afford the wasted time, the half-steps that get taken because of lack of trust, and the incomplete conversations that just suck energy out of an organization because the foundational elements for good conversations isn't there. If you sense that your company, or your team, department, function, etc. isn't having the right level of conversations, then today would be the day to start doing something about it.
When Saul asked back to the voice from heaven, "Who are you, Lord?", God could have easily said back to Saul, "I am who you think I am", or "Yes, I am the Lord", or even, "You don't need to know more than this Saul". But, that is not our Lord's way. He loves conversation with us so he allowed Saul to ask the question and then He answered with His grace, "I am Jesus." God puts it all out on the table with us each and every day and in every moment so that we can have the best conversation with Him possible. It's all up to us to to open up to Him and and not hold back. As we think about how we can strengthen our conversations with others, all in the hopes of bringing glory to Him in all we do, we can also spend the extra time this week to open our conversation with God more fully. He is calling our name, asking to know more, and putting everything out there and on the table for us. Now it's just up to us.
*For those who are reading this and want more on the conversation and conversion of Saul, I recommend you check out the current teaching series: Radical Change by Pastor Terry Brisbane at http://www.cornerstone-sf.org/tv/channel/messages/http://www.cornerstone-sf.org/tv/channel/messages/
Reference: Acts 9:5 (New King James Version)
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
day 1005: Conversations - Part 2: Knowing To Whom We Are Talking
"And he said, Who are you, Lord?"
As many of you know, I recently went through the crash of my hard drive. This was the first time this had happened to me since I working for someone else and had the entire IT organization at my disposal. When you sit inside of a large organization and your hard drive crashes, with just one phone call, you come back to your desk a few hours later and you are back up and running on the same hardware or it even becomes a good excuse to upgrade to the latest laptop, etc. It's really no big deal. But, when you are out here on your own, it becomes quite the ordeal. Fortunately for me the terrific team of my IT consultant Ryan and DriveSavers rocked it and within 10 days I was back up and running and other than being very expensive and very stressful, I am no worse than I was before. This time, though and going forward, I am always backed up. During the trauma days, the DriveSavers team kept me up to date with what was going on and went out of their way to calm and assure me. In fact, their Customer Support people also carried the title of Data Recovery Counselors. You see, they know and recognize how when someone is in a moment of crisis, that the answer is in knowing someone better than they know themselves to help them weather the storm. How many times do we desperately wish for someone to just know us so we can feel that the right thing is going to happen? When we are in problem resolution mode, 100% of the time. Our best and deepest conversations with our customers and consumers come when we know them and they know that back.
On the road to Damascus, Saul had heard the voice from the sky and his first reaction and response was to make sure he knew who it was that was calling his name. But, look closely at his response and see that he didn't just say, "Why are you?". He said, "Who are you, Lord?". Saul, knew who it was who was calling him, otherwise he would not have added the word, "Lord". Instead, what he sought to do, was to find out more before he responded or reacted. He didn't probably know he was doing it, but he was doing what we all do when we meet someone for the first time, we deepen the conversation by asking and wanting to know more about who it is we are speaking. Truly knowing someone is powerful. Taking the time to know them better, if sincere and without an agenda, usually is well received. How many times are we going to the extra step, taking the extra moment to just get to know someone a little better? This is called caring and when we do it, we are setting an example to follow.
Reference: Acts 9:5 (New Kings James Version)
As many of you know, I recently went through the crash of my hard drive. This was the first time this had happened to me since I working for someone else and had the entire IT organization at my disposal. When you sit inside of a large organization and your hard drive crashes, with just one phone call, you come back to your desk a few hours later and you are back up and running on the same hardware or it even becomes a good excuse to upgrade to the latest laptop, etc. It's really no big deal. But, when you are out here on your own, it becomes quite the ordeal. Fortunately for me the terrific team of my IT consultant Ryan and DriveSavers rocked it and within 10 days I was back up and running and other than being very expensive and very stressful, I am no worse than I was before. This time, though and going forward, I am always backed up. During the trauma days, the DriveSavers team kept me up to date with what was going on and went out of their way to calm and assure me. In fact, their Customer Support people also carried the title of Data Recovery Counselors. You see, they know and recognize how when someone is in a moment of crisis, that the answer is in knowing someone better than they know themselves to help them weather the storm. How many times do we desperately wish for someone to just know us so we can feel that the right thing is going to happen? When we are in problem resolution mode, 100% of the time. Our best and deepest conversations with our customers and consumers come when we know them and they know that back.
On the road to Damascus, Saul had heard the voice from the sky and his first reaction and response was to make sure he knew who it was that was calling his name. But, look closely at his response and see that he didn't just say, "Why are you?". He said, "Who are you, Lord?". Saul, knew who it was who was calling him, otherwise he would not have added the word, "Lord". Instead, what he sought to do, was to find out more before he responded or reacted. He didn't probably know he was doing it, but he was doing what we all do when we meet someone for the first time, we deepen the conversation by asking and wanting to know more about who it is we are speaking. Truly knowing someone is powerful. Taking the time to know them better, if sincere and without an agenda, usually is well received. How many times are we going to the extra step, taking the extra moment to just get to know someone a little better? This is called caring and when we do it, we are setting an example to follow.
Reference: Acts 9:5 (New Kings James Version)
Monday, September 19, 2011
day 732: Clean Energy
“Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul... And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him”
Every business has a certain "energy" about them that we could call the mixture of their reputation, brand appeal, and consumer confidence. Those that are at the top of the heap are usually also the companies that we consider, "clean". That is that they provide high quality products or services, are ethical, treat their employees well, have good taste, and don't engage in activities that embarrass or create negative news about them. Ironically, these are also the companies that the media and other companies are always looking for ways/reasons to knock them off of their pedestal. I think about Apple. Apple is beloved right now by consumers around the world. As Steve Jobs left his position as CEO last month he left one of the highest employee approval ratings Glassdoor.com had ever seen (a company that I am on the Board of), and yet, at the same time, the media loves to stir the pot with stories of Apple's overseas labor practices and what happens in the plants in China. The point is that the more any business works to be blameless the more others will try and bring them down. But, this is no reason to not work to be pure and blameless. Wouldn't we rather have that approach first and worry about the rest later? I'll choose "clean energy" companies over others all day long.
God tells us something about what happens when in our lives we also try to bring across "clean energy" and when we do that through our walk with Christ. What happens with David and Saul says it all. When we try and walk a blameless life we will have others who will not like us and will try and get us to trip up so that they can either point out our contradiction and hypocrisy to cover up their faults, or because they don't want to see others who believe succeed. Let's be honest with ourselves, it can get rough out there and our workplaces are the roughest places of all. Only the lowest dive bars and taverns would allow the kind of language and behavior that can happen daily inside a conference room. We need to be prepared that if want to exude clean energy, clean living, and be an example of Jesus' life, then it comes with the opposition. That said, we know that if we go further into the David and Saul account that God removed Saul from David's presence when it got too heated. God will protect us if we are standing up for Him and living and working "cleanly".
Reference: 1 Samuel 18:12-15
Every business has a certain "energy" about them that we could call the mixture of their reputation, brand appeal, and consumer confidence. Those that are at the top of the heap are usually also the companies that we consider, "clean". That is that they provide high quality products or services, are ethical, treat their employees well, have good taste, and don't engage in activities that embarrass or create negative news about them. Ironically, these are also the companies that the media and other companies are always looking for ways/reasons to knock them off of their pedestal. I think about Apple. Apple is beloved right now by consumers around the world. As Steve Jobs left his position as CEO last month he left one of the highest employee approval ratings Glassdoor.com had ever seen (a company that I am on the Board of), and yet, at the same time, the media loves to stir the pot with stories of Apple's overseas labor practices and what happens in the plants in China. The point is that the more any business works to be blameless the more others will try and bring them down. But, this is no reason to not work to be pure and blameless. Wouldn't we rather have that approach first and worry about the rest later? I'll choose "clean energy" companies over others all day long.
God tells us something about what happens when in our lives we also try to bring across "clean energy" and when we do that through our walk with Christ. What happens with David and Saul says it all. When we try and walk a blameless life we will have others who will not like us and will try and get us to trip up so that they can either point out our contradiction and hypocrisy to cover up their faults, or because they don't want to see others who believe succeed. Let's be honest with ourselves, it can get rough out there and our workplaces are the roughest places of all. Only the lowest dive bars and taverns would allow the kind of language and behavior that can happen daily inside a conference room. We need to be prepared that if want to exude clean energy, clean living, and be an example of Jesus' life, then it comes with the opposition. That said, we know that if we go further into the David and Saul account that God removed Saul from David's presence when it got too heated. God will protect us if we are standing up for Him and living and working "cleanly".
Reference: 1 Samuel 18:12-15
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