This coming weekend is an important one for my work in Kenya, and you can read about it here. I have announced the dates for the 2016 trip - February 25 to March 11 - so if are interested in going, you must let me know now. The first informational meeting for those going is next Sunday, August 30. Also, it's school fees time in Kenya as the children return to school and we always need help with their sponsorships. You can read about the need and give below.
Also, 114 people took the free purpose assessment on my website last week. Are you one of them? If not, click on the picture and take five minutes to complete it today!
In this week's Monday Memo, I want to take a look at your shadow side, but it's not what you think. To find out what it's about, you obviously have to keep reading - so go ahead, don't put it off.
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In psychology, there is a concept called your shadow side. It is a side of your personality of which you are unaware or choose to ignore, yet that doesn't mean it isn't active. People may encounter your shadow side every time they come in contact with you - something like your sarcasm, competitiveness, need to control, fear, or greed. You can see why you tend to ignore those things, for they are not positive at all. Until you can bring those shadows into the light, they continue to operate and can damage your relationships, work and ministry.
Yet, did you know you have a positive shadow? It's the residue you leave whenever people have an encounter with you. While the psychological shadow is usually harmful, your spiritual shadow can be positive and leave a lasting impact for good. You can read about the Apostle Peter's positive shadow (even though his negative shadow had caused him to overestimate his loyalty to the Lord and led to his denial of Jesus): "People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by" (Acts 5:15).
People get too hung up on the spooky spiritual side of this story, but for me, I take it to heart by praying, "Lord, help me recognize my negative shadow, so my positive one - all the encounters I underestimate or aren't even conscious of with others, can impact them for your purpose and glory!" Will you join in that prayer and then work to maximize every encounter you have with others for Him?
But wait, there's more. Look at this unusual story found later in Acts: "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them" (Acts 19:11-12). People went into Paul's workshop, took his work apron, allowed people to touch it and they were healed. That leads me to another prayer: "Lord, I want my work to touch people whether I am present or not. Use my life - my writing, speaking, teaching, and every other activity - in a way that brings healing to peoples' lives, whether physical, emotional or spiritual!"
My goal is to be a God-carrier wherever I go and in whatever I do. I want my shadow and my work - the extension of my purpose - to go with me, before me and remain after me so God can use them for His purpose. if that means I must make myself personally available for people to touch my shadow or my apron, so be it. My life is His and I will not worship at the altar of privacy if God wants me to go public.
I urge you to join me in praying those two prayers this week, and then develop your shadow and your work to such an extent that God can use them both to bring healing to hurting people. Thanks for reading, and have a blessed week!
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KENYA: The children return to school in Kenya the first week of September and we need your help to send our orphans to better schools. Please read my posts to get caught up on the news from Kenya and then give generously by clicking o the red button or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.
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