Date: 19th. June. 2021
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At Vineyard Church Banda, everyone gets to play and we build a team that lasts forever
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Keys to Fulfilling Your True Potential
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us… Apostle Paul (Ephesians 3:20)
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"Potentials are dormant untaped abilities within us"
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GOD’S INSTRUCTION MANUAL
We are excellent, complexly designed, tremendously built, intricately put together pieces of equipment. But we don’t know what we can do. We can’t even imagine the full extent of our potential. Knowing this, God sent us a manual that contains a description of our parts. He said, “Now this first part is your spirit and the second part is your soul and the third part is your body. Now here is what the body is supposed to do…here is what the soul can do…here is what the spirit can do.” God also tells us the potential of this equipment called human beings. In His manual, He lists all the things we are capable of doing.
When God first presented this piece of equipment called man, something went wrong. Instead of taking it back to the manufacturer to be fixed, we took it to a second-rate, second-class, unskilled technician. And look what he did. He muddled the job. We submitted God’s equipment and product to satan, who is an unauthorized dealer with no genuine parts.
But God loved us so much that, even though the warranty had run out, He decided to take back the product. Though someone else has tried to fix us and has messed us up, God is starting all over again— and He’s putting in His own parts. God is rebuilding and remaking us. He knows us better than anybody else, because He is our Creator. His Word, the Bible, reveals much about His attitude toward our potential.
GOD’S WORD ON YOUR POTENTIAL
You have the potential to be in God’s class.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).
God sees you as being in His class. Because He made you in His image, you have the potential to be in the God class—which is spirit.
You have the potential to operate like God.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) When God made you in His likeness, He did not make you to look like Him. He made you to function like Him. That’s what likeness literally means. When God created you, He made you to operate like Him. If you are not functioning like God, you are “malfunctioning,” because God wired and designed you to function like Him. How does God function? His Word says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). God functions by faith. You and I were designed to operate by faith. Our potential therefore needs faith in order to be maximized.
God sees in you the potential to dominate, rule and subdue the whole earth.
[God said] “…let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” … God blessed them and said to them “…Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:26,28). God created you to rule over all the earth and everything that creeps in it. He will never demand anything of you He didn’t already build into you. Thus, if the earth in any way is dominating you, you are malfunctioning. You were not created to give into cigarettes or submit to alcohol. God did not intend for you to be controlled by drugs, sex, money, power, or greed. If any of these are governing you, you are living below your privilege. Because God has already declared it to be so, you have the ability to dominate the earth. Everything in the earth must be under your subjection, not mastering you.
You have the ability to be fruitful and reproduce after your kind.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Again God is calling forth something that’s already in you. He didn’t tell the man and the woman to try to be fruitful, He simply told them to do it. He knew they already had the ability to multiply and reproduce and fill the earth. You too can reproduce yourself. He always places the potential inside before He calls it forth. Whatever God calls you to do, He has already built in.
You have the ability to imagine and plan to do anything.
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6). God gave you the ability to imagine and plan and bring into being anything you desire. Now if you read this passage in its entirety, the people to whom God was talking had planned to build a tower. God didn’t stop them from building a tower by cutting off their potential. He stopped them by confusing their language, because He couldn’t stop their potential. You have the same potential God saw in those people. If you decide to do something, and you believe in it hard enough and commit yourself to work for it long enough, nothing in the universe can stop you. That’s what God is saying. If you want to do anything, God already said, “You can do it.” Only if you lack the commitment to follow after your dream will your dream remain unfinished. The potential to do and plan anything is in you if you will believe and persevere.
You have the potential to believe impossibilities into possibilities.
Everything is possible for him who believes (Mark 9:23). Not only are you able to plan, but you also have the ability to believe something that seems impossible and actually make it possible. If you can abandon yourself to an idea and sacrifice all you have for that idea, God says, “It’s possible for that idea to come to pass.”
You have the potential to influence physical and spiritual matter.
I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).
Jesus is talking here about your power to influence what’s on earth as well as what’s in heaven. If you bind something on earth, it will be bound in heaven. You have influence in heaven. Likewise, if you loose something on earth, heaven has to do the same thing—loose it. You have the power to influence things in both realms of earth and heaven. You may never have imagined that you possess that kind of power. But Jesus says you do. You have the potential to receive whatever you ask.
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (John 15:7).
God says you have the potential to receive whatever you ask. That’s frightening. You have a blank check—but there is one condition on the cashing of that check: You must abide in Christ, and His words must abide in you. If that condition is met, you can ask anything in Jesus’ name and it will be done for you. Jesus wants to knock the limits off your mind. But first He requires that you stay hooked up with God. Then He says, “Go ahead and ask me for anything. I’ll do whatever you ask.” What potential! That’s God’s word on you.
You have the potential to do greater works than Jesus did.
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12).
Jesus sees in you the potential to do greater things than He did. And He means what He says. For many years I didn’t want to read that scripture because I knew that what Jesus said and what was really happening were two different things. But if Jesus says you have that potential, it’s in there somewhere. Remember, whatever God says, you can do. He won’t ask you to do anything He hasn’t already wired you to do. God believes in you. He knows the vastness of your potential. If He gives you an assignment, He’s already given you the ability to fulfill what He asks. Along with His demand always comes the capability to meet that demand. But remember: To release your potential, you must be related to your Source. Only as you are connected to God, can you fulfill and maximize your true potential.
SAY “YES” TO JESUS CHRIST
Sin, or rebellion against God, clogs up our potential. Disobedience to God may have stunted your capacity for growth. But God sees and cares about that problem. He sent Jesus into the world to die for you. Jesus doesn’t have a problem knowing who He is and what He can do. You have that problem. Jesus came to die so you can know who you are and what is the fullness of your potential. He came to open up the capacity of who you are—to unclog your true self. Calvary is God’s way of providing the means to unplug your true potential. Because disobedience has capped off your potential, God offers you forgiveness and hope through Jesus Christ. In your plugged up state, you can’t begin to touch your true ability. Only after you say “yes” to Jesus (and your spirit begins to communicate and fellowship again with the Holy Spirit) can you start the journey of fulfilling all the potential God planted within you before you were born.
It is my earnest desire that you will realize the awesome wealth of potential residing in you. But more important than this potential is the necessity that you understand your need for a personal relationship with Your Creator through the agency He has provided, Jesus Christ. I encourage you to pray the following prayer with me in faith:
Dear heavenly Father, Creator and Manufacturer of my life, today I submit my life to You, totally surrendering the product of my whole life to You for complete repair, maintenance and renewal in Jesus Christ. I confess Him as the only Savior of my life and submit to Him as my Lord. By faith I this moment receive the Holy Spirit, who, by His power, makes me an eternal citizen of Your Kingdom of Heaven. I commit myself to serve and acknowledge You in all my ways as I endeavor to maximize my potential for Your praise and glory…
This I pray in Jesus’ Name
Amen.
RELEASING YOUR POTENTIAL
At this point, you must be aware of the tremendous wealth of potential locked away inside of you crying out for exposure and fulfillment. I believe you have heard the voices of your childhood dreams and the many visions, goals, and plans you once had screaming out for resurrection. Now the big question remains: How do I release this potential? Every manufacturer establishes the specifications, environment, conditions, and operational standards for attaining the maximum performance level of his product. God our Creator and Manufacturer has also established a plan—environment, conditions, standards, and specifications— for the maximum performance and release of your potential. After many years of careful study and practice, I have identified ten major keys to releasing your full potential. Violation of any one of these requirements will result in the malfunction, distortion, misuse, and abuse of your precious potential. The keys to releasing your potential follow:
1—You must know (be related to) your Source.
It is essential that you understand the nature, composition, and consistency of your Source, because this is the key to understanding the potency of your potential. If you, for example, had a wooden table in your house, you would be aware that the table is made of wood from a tree. The strength, durability, and nature of the table can only be as strong and durable as the tree. If the tree is weak, the table will be the same. Therefore, the potential of the table is determined by the potential of the source from which it came.
The same is true for you. To understand how much potential you possess, you must understand the Source from which you came. You and I possess all the qualities and nature of our Source and are capable of manifesting these qualities. We also possess an eternal spirit just like our Source.
We will live forever—not because He allows us to, but because it’s our nature. But where you spend your forever is determined by you. A manufacturer’s product must remain related to its source in order to be maintained and supplied with genuine parts and authorized service. It is this relationship that manufacturing companies call the warranty/guarantee agreement, in which the product has to be subjected to the conditions, specifications and operational standards set by the manufacturer if he is to take responsibility for the maximum performance, maintenance, and servicing of the product.
Violation of the manufacturer’s conditions and standards cancels the warranty/guarantee relationship and places the product at the mercy of unauthorized dealers. The same relationship exists between God and man.
God guarantees the maximum performance of our potential if we remain related to Him and submit to the conditions, specifications, and standards set by Him. A personal relationship with our Creator is a necessary key to the releasing of our full potential.
2—You must understand how the product was designed to function.
Every manufacturer designs, develops, and produces his product to function in a specific manner. Automobile manufacturers design their products to function with gasoline, sparkplugs, batteries, pistons, oil, water, etc.
No matter what you do, if you do not supply the elements required for the operational function of the product, it will not perform and maximize its potential. God created man and designed him to function like He does.
You and I were created to function by faith and love. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. These are the fuels on which we run. That which is not of faith is sin for us. The just live (operate) by faith. Our potential cannot be released without faith and love. Fear and hatred cause the short-circuit of our potential.
3—You must know your purpose.
Every product exists for a specific purpose. That reason is the original intent of its existence—the purpose for which the manufacturer made it. This is an essential key because the purpose for which something was made determines its design, nature and potential.
God created you and gave you birth for a purpose. Whatever that purpose is, you possess the potential to fulfill it. No matter how big the dream God gave you, your potential is equal to the assignment. Purpose gives birth to responsibility, and responsibility makes demands on potential.
4—You must understand your resources.
All manufacturers provide access to the necessary resources for the proper maintenance, sustenance, and operation of their products. Resources and provisions are to help sustain the product while its potential is being maximized. God, in His great wisdom, provided for human beings tremendous material and physical resources to sustain and maintain us as we proceed in realizing, developing, and maximizing our potential.
Resources were created to live on and with, but never for. We are never to worship the resources, nor are we to become controlled by them. Idolatry and substance and drug abuse are violations of the Manufacturer’s specifications, and will lead to the destruction of potential.
5—You must have the right environment.
Environment consists of the conditions that have a direct or indirect effect on the performance, function, and development of a thing. These conditions can be internal and external.
Every manufacturer specifies the proper conditions under which he guarantees the maximum performance of the potential of the product. In the manual, the manufacturer will caution against violation of that specified environment for maximum performance.
The right environment is the ideal conditions needed for the maximization of the true potential. God created everything to flourish within a specific environment. Plants, animals and fish all need a specific environment in order to live. Potential is nullified, aborted, and destroyed when the environment is violated or disrupted. This is also true of man.
God designed man to function in the garden (His presence), in relationship with Him, free from sin and in daily communion with His Spirit. Man’s potential needs this positive environment of fellowship, relationship, love, and challenge in order to be maximized. You can never be all you could be in any other environment.
The fall of man contaminated his environment and poisoned the atmosphere of our potential. It produced abnormal behavior and the malfunction of the human factor. The key to releasing your true potential is the restoration of God’s original environment. Jesus came to restore us to the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to restore our internal environment.
6—You must work out your potential.
Potential is dormant ability. But ability is useless until it is given responsibility. When God created man, He planted in him the potential to multiply and fill the earth and subdue, dominate and rule the earth and everything in it.
Man’s potential was predetermined by this purpose. He had inside him all the potential necessary to fulfill the assignment. But he was not aware of his potential, even as you may not be aware of what you can do. Therefore, the first thing God gave the man was not a wife, but work (Genesis 2:15).
He made demands on the potential of man’s mind by commanding him to name the animals, and stimulated the potential of his body by commanding him to cultivate the garden.
God gave man insight into the potential of his spirit by commanding him to dominate the whole earth for God. Work is a major key to releasing your potential. Potential must be exercised and demands made on it, otherwise it will remain potential. Claiming a promise does not make it happen.
You must apply the principle of work. The land was promised to Abraham, but he had to walk it out to possess it. Good ideas do not bring success. Good hard work does. To release your true potential, you must be willing to work.
7—You must cultivate your potential.
Potential is like a seed. It is buried ability and hidden power that need to be cultivated. You must feed your potential the fertilizer of good positive company, give it the environment of encouragement, pour out the water of the Word of God, and bathe it in the sunshine of personal prayer. Read materials that stimulate your faith and nourish your dream.
8—You must guard your potential.
It is tragic when a tree dies in a seed or a man dies in a boy. It is sad when what could have been becomes what should have been. With all the wealth of your potential, you must be careful to guard and protect it. The command to protect was among the first commands God gave to Adam.
The Bible calls your potential a treasure in earthen vessels. You must guard your visions and dreams from sin, discouragement, procrastination, failures, opinions, distractions, traditions, and compromise. Satan is after your potential. Be on guard.
9—You must share your potential.
God created the entire heavens and earth with the potential principle, which can only be fulfilled when it is shared. Nature abounds with this truth. The sun does not exist for itself. Plants release oxygen for us and we give carbon dioxide to the plants. The bee receives nectar as it pollinates the flowers. No potential exists for itself.
This is also true of man. True potential and fulfillment in life is not what is accomplished, but who benefits from them. Your deposit was given to enrich and inspire the lives of others. Remember, the great law is love.
10—You must know and understand the laws of limitation.
Freedom and power are two of the most important elements in our lives. Potential is the essence of both. Potential is power. But freedom needs law to be enjoyed, and power needs responsibility to be effective. One without the other produces self-destruction. Every manufacturer establishes laws of limitations for his products. These laws are not given to restrict but to protect—not to hinder but to assist and guarantee the full and maximum performance of potential. God has set laws and standards to protect our potential and to secure our success. Obedience is protection for potential.
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All of these keys and principles are proven throughout human history to be true. Any violation of these laws limits the release and maximization of your potential. Commit yourself to obeying the Manufacturer. Then watch your life unfold as you discover the hidden ability that was always within you.
*You are never the same now!
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