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THE LIFE OF A CHAMPION

 IS CREATED WITH PURPOSE-INTENDED FOR GREATNESS AND CALLED TO
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Champions BYTES  

October 21, 2009 

Are Your In Decline?

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"But now [in this period since you began to build] I am not to the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts.  For THERE shall the seed produce peace and prosperity; the vine shall yield her fruit and the ground shall give its increase and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things.   And as you have been a curse and a byword among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing.   Fear not, but let your hands be strong and hardened.  For thus says the Lord of hosts: As I thought to bring calamity upon you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I did not relent or revoke your sentence, so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Fear not!" -The Greatest Love Story Ever Told  

 

In the place and season where you began to rebuild, God promises that your seed (efforts, dreams or vision) shall be prosperous. 

 

Obedience summons the encouragement, strength and fearlessness of God to build in area that doesn't look promising. 

 

In 519 BC, the Israelites were in decline when God came at the end of a recession (post-exile) and encouraged the rebuilding of His house (or the place of His Presence) as top priority in their lives. 

 

He promised that the future success of the modest dream (or project) they were building would be greater than their predecessors had built (in Solomon's temple) at the time of Israel's greatest wealth and power.

 

Obedience changed God's mind. 

 

They were once a curse; but now God was saving them out of decline and failure to become a blessing to those they once burdened.

 

When they built themselves out of decline, they gave God a purpose to do good in their future.

 

Decline is subtle, yet deadly.

 

What happens when you slip into decline?  I surveyed a group of leaders with this question and they replied:

 
  • We become common, conventional or familiar with God.
  • We become dull when we read the Word.  We no longer get excited or believe what God has promised.
  • We become empty-the fire or passion is gone to build creatively.
  • We become satisfied.
  • We fear failure or no longer take risks.
"AND THE word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath [against her enemies]." (Zech. 8:1-2)  

 

God is jealous for me with great wrath against those things that try to bring decline, destruction and death to the vision or anointing (potential) in my life.

 

He hates the (sinful) things (anger, lust, greed, sickness, disease, pride, idolatry, etc.) that try to rule, dominate and condemn our lives.

 

God is always on the rise.  And Paul wrote that everything in creation is subject to decay or decline without Him (See Rom. 8:20-21.)  

 

RIGHT NOW, have you forgotten what the catalyst of your success is?

 

Have you diverted your creative energy to new ventures rather than fix old problems (rebuilding?)

 

Are you losing passion and momentum in your daily work function or job search?

 

YOU ARE IN DECLINE.

 

What do you do when your boredom keeps your best creative ability, ideas and dreams on autopilot?

 

What would happen if you pursued your dream, purpose and destiny as if nations and your life depended on it?

 

You must never disrespect your potential and neglect the gift God has entrusted you to bless the world with.

 

Decline is a decision. 

 

To do nothing, means you have done something.  Dictionary.com defines that word decline as:

 

  • To follow a downward course or path
  • To fail in strength, character, power, value, etc.; to deteriorate
  • To fail or dwindle; to sink, fade away, bend, degenerate, decay, weaken, diminish or languish
  • To descend, as to an unworthy level; to stoop.

Interestingly, the opposite of decline is to rise or improve.

 

Are you improving your life?

 

As I was praying this past Sunday, God challenged me with this:

 

"Are we renewing our passion for souls and reaching people for Christ or are we on the edge of dangerously falling into the culture around us? Are we letting technology (emails, Facebook, Twitter, radio, TV, etc.) solely take the message God has called us to carry to the world? As leaders, we must refuse to hide behind our keyboard, lectern, studio microphone and TV camera. A dying world needs to know that we are prophetic, yet practical, and willing to get into the trenches with them to show them how to "reign" as kings in life through Christ Jesus." 

 

God called you, not your technology.

 

Today, we defy (and curse) every spirit of decline.

 

We pull the veil off spiritual, relational, emotional and professional decline.

 

We are free from the decline in our leadership, we are free from decline in our marriages; we are free from the decline in our dreams, businesses and ministries.  There will be increase.  We will rise and improve.

 

We will not ignore the numbers.

 

YOUR GREATEST PLACE OF INFLUENCE IS YOUR MINISTRY.  JOIN A CHAPTER TODAY! 

Copyright 2009, Ed Norwood