Saturday, March 28, 2009

Get Motivated!... In Intercession, The Body of Christ (6)

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Get Motivated! by Tamara Lowe is about motivation being a uniquely individual force. "Everyone cannot follow the same steps to get the same results." Everyone has a specific motivational pattern. What motivates me will probably not motivate you. You first need to understand the four laws of motivation.
Law #1. Everyone is motivated differently. Everyone's motivated by something but it may be by different and sometimes self-destructive things.

Law #2. Each individual has a unique and distinctive motivational type. Your motivational DNA is so uniquely you. It's like your finger print. It's part of who you are. Reducing motivators to their most fundamental form. Lowe's team discovered six factors of motivation affecting all areas of motivation.
Law #3. What motivates one person can de-motivate others.
Law #4. No one motivational type is better than the other. A type A is not better than a type B, only different.

Motivational DNA is made up of Drives, Needs, Awards.
Drives are either a drive for production or for connection. These are internal forces that mobilize a person to act.
Needs are for stability or variety which are core requirements for a person to feel fulfilled. Awards, internal or external, are types of compensation or remuneration a person desires to reward achievement or encourage performance.

Thus, the six factors of motivation:
Connection, productivity (drives)
Stability, variety (needs)
Internal, external (awards)
We all have a preference for three of these motivators.

Answer these three questions to discover your three.
1. Do you tend to be more competitive or cooperative?
2. Do you prefer constancy or change?
3. Which would make you feel more valued at work....sincere appreciation without financial bonus, or a bonus without appreciation.

Drives that mobilize a person to act.
Production Drive. Focuses on achievement, results, leadership, thrives under pressure, persistent, energetic and confident.
Connection Drive. Moves toward affiliation and values relationships. Friendly, reliable, well-liked by others. Good listeners and are good sounding boards. Supportive, loyal, collaborative.

Needs that a person must have to feel fulfilled.
Stability. Enjoy routines, good with schedules, systems, and organization. Practical, methodical, responsible. Refine ideas and improve processes.
Variety. Enjoy change. Animated, persuasive, and spontaneous. Can shift gears quickly, fun loving and enthusiastic.
Stabilizers can experience paralysis by analysis. Variables(those who like variety) many times under analyze risks. Stabilizers may think too much and not act; whereas, variables may act too soon without thinking.

Awards. How a person desires to be compensated for achievements which includes the material, spiritual, and psychological currency a person wants to be paid for performance.
Internal rewards. Mission-minded people who need to make a positive difference. Generally prefers private vs. public recognition. Meaningful work and desire to feel about what they are doing.is primary importance.
External Rewards. Believe that winning should be rewarded. Enjoy public recognition by superiors. Motivated by salaries, authority, opportunity to advance. Internals are seen as selfless, externals as selfish.

So you have a combination of Drives, Needs, Awards working to make your motivational DNA. Which drive is you? What reward is you? Create the right combination and you get motivated.

From these combinations, you have the
Director (PSI...production, stability, internal)
Visionary (PVI...production, variety, internal)
Chief (PSE...production, stability, external)
Champion (PVE... production, variety, external)
Supporter (CSI... connection, stability, internal)
Relater (CVI... connection, variety, internal)
Refiner (CSE... connection, stability, external)
Explorer (CVE... connection, variety, external)
Success strategies of highly motivated achievers includes
being able to identify the motivating characteristics of others
and respond in a way that will be accepted (motivating) for them; find out what motivates you and then devise a plan that uses your motivational characteristics in the best way possible.

In order to get motivated and stay motivated, a person has to enjoy the activity and be able to do it well.

To find other people's motivator you can do it by passive observation.
Look for clues in their behavior which relate to the six factors...production/connection, stability/variety, internal/external.
Secondly, you can do it by friendly inquiry finding out about the things they enjoy and naturally excel at. You can use active presentation of this information and ask them to identify which area they see themselves. Lowe has an on-line test at her website to help you determine this.

In short, the clues are the producer talks fast, in a hurry with a commanding presence; the connector has a friendly presence with a calm pace desiring to talk to you; stabilizers are more concerned about order, schedule and sequence; variables are animated and expressive; internals want a sense of meaning or significance; externals are interested in pay, advancement and status. Then relate to them according to their motivational style or motivational DNA.

Lowe then goes through the six descriptions of motivational DNA and explains each in depth. She covers these areas for each: temperament, communication style, cognitive process, likely strengths, possible pitfalls, what they are like at work, play, in relationships, resolving conflicts, how they influence others, value, de-motivators and top-ten motivators for them, and advice each can use.

Here's a sampling of the communication style for each one. When talking or presenting to them keep this in mind and adjust your style to theirs.
Producers: edit thoughts before hand, be concise, talk fast and get to the point.
Connectors: slow down your pace, small talk first, be warm and friendly and give them time to finish thoughts, don't interrupt.
Stabilizers: have the facts, prove it's doable, present ideas systematically, use facts and figures to explain concepts.
Variables: be positive and enthusiastic, maintain eye contact, listen, show interest, express appreciation for their achievements. Use stories instead off facts and figures.
Internals: express interests in their interests, use "feel", "believe" as words, explain purpose of task, look for areas of agreement, allow them to voice opinions.
Externals: highlight benefits, compliment accomplishments, single out for recognition, offer big prizes, constantly affirm talents.

Sustain action.
If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Cooperate with their motivation style. What motivates one person can de-motivate another.
Get more motivation from Tamara Lowe at
http://www.getmotivatedbook.com/

In The Body of Christ, Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft discusses the church in intercession in Chapter 6. Historically, Spiritual movements have been more powerful with loose organization and strong commitment to each other... those centered around gathering daily in a routine environment. The main activity was prayer. Those proactive in prayer, when meeting continually, would find a mission begin to surface from their praying. God then equipped them with power as their cohesiveness grew. The more they met, the more they were led to creative solutions to problems they faced, saturated with the Power of the Holy Spirit creating a miraculous path.

The main references for this chapter are from the Scriptures in Acts 3 and 4. It would be beneficial to read these chapters first or after you read this summary.


By going away, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come and be in our meetings where prayer and the center of attention is Jesus-based issues. In John 16, Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit is at work in and among us. The Holy Spirit will convict the world, guide us, show us things to come, glorify Jesus, and take what Jesus knows and tells us. Jesus among us secures the Power of His Spirit at work through us and God's Spirit making Himself known to the world... in tangible ways.

In Acts 3 it says Peter went up at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour or middle of the afternoon. Prayer is the priority of all believers and even after great events like Pentecost, the Disciples always went back to prayer. Prayer is the priority of the believers all the time. Prayer includes all kinds of personalities with all kinds of customs. Tolerance was the rule of the day, most did not have a clear understanding of why each other did things a certain way. Love abounded and was the number one rule of the day.

When we pray, we can relate and find cohesiveness among many. When love and prayer are at the forefront, we accept each other and don't spend time talking about our different views on things. Prayer will foster unity in a group faster than anything else, as our focus is on God and not us. As we humble ourselves before God and others, the Power of the Spirit manifests in power to the level we will humble ourselves before God and to men.

Sin and unbelief blind us. They deaden our sensitivities. Our desires maybe misdirected for the wrong things. With Jesus Christ, as our mediator, we put our sins on the altar of God, forgiven, and our faith rises in belief because we depend on God's power and not ours. Prayer then becomes very powerful.

In agreement (centered around Jesus) being in harmony with each other, the Power of the Holy Spirit thrives under theses conditions.

In Matthew 18:19, the significance of In My Name stands out... "Where two or three are gathered In My Name there I am."

What is the significance of using His Name?
First, we are in harmony with the instructions of Jesus. There is perfect unity between Jesus and the Father. All the authority of God is transferred to the Son of God, Jesus. What importance did Jesus place in using His Name? There is reverence in the Name of God. Blessings and cures were attached to the Name of God. Not using the name of God in vain is a commandment. Jesus started His prayer with "hallowed be thy Name." We are standing on Holy Ground when addressing God, with the authority of Jesus with us.

In His Name, is saying we respect the agenda of Jesus and are praying in light of His Will. Jesus said what we ask according to His will, we can be confident He will answer us. Jesus did what He did in the authority of the God. God, the All Powerful Creator, responds to the requests of Jesus. We now share in Jesus' authority. What a powerful thought. When we walk as Jesus directs us to walk, and fulfill the Father in Heaven's will as Jesus did, we can expect miraculous results along the way.

Jesus said He would do nothing outside what the Father told Him to do. Jesus was so tuned into His Father's will that what He did was identical to the Father. Here's another outstanding revelation.... What we see in Jesus is God!

Jesus now commissions His disciples to do the same.
So in using the name of Jesus is using His authority, we now have in God as He had with God. Using His name demands we be in Christ as He is in us and in the same way the Father was in Him and He was in the Father. God is trinity. Trinity is Relationship. This reveals to us the value of relationship and effectiveness of relationship. That's why Jesus emphasized..."that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:22)

This is a very high calling. Anything less than this is religion without power, form without substance. The power they had did not come from themselves or what they had. Their lives were totally on the side of the Spirit... not material goods. When Spirit guides us we stretch out our hands to the needy, we share our bread in fellowship. Spirit turns loose the material. His blessing multiplies the bread.

All we need is the Spirit to move us, and we will experience His promise that if we agree together as touching anything that we shall ask, it shall be done.

The Spirit is manifested into the temporal, creating the tangible. This is in contrast to those who try through the material world to accomplish Spiritual ends. Our lesson from Jesus is that we should never attempt anything in our natural selves, but always begin with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then creates the material, changes the emotions, mends broken hearts.

We see the Church as it formed, that is the Body of Christ which emerged after Pentecost, does the same things as Jesus. Corporately, we are the same as Jesus, so unity as One is essential to see the release and manifestations of Power Jesus demonstrated on earth. His plan is to do it now through a Body of Believers... versus just one person. So we all need the interconnections and relationships.

The place for prayer is not geographic. It is wherever God's people assemble together. But, it is always where believers (two or three or more) are gathered together in the Name of Jesus.

The Prayer of Intercession begins in God. It is not in us to shape prayer. It begins in God and is God. Its focus is on what He wills and what He plans to do. The action of the enemy is not against men, but against the plans of God. We rely on God's power for continued power, miracles and victory.

We know God is available, when we are in one accord, one mind and in the Spirit of God. The results...the place is shaken when people intercede and everyone gets excited about what is happening. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. One filling is not enough. They went back to prayer for a continuous flow of Spirit in Power in their lives. Jesus, when going to the mountain to pray, was transfigured anew by God. We can have this too.

They spoke the Word of God with boldness, a result of their times in prayer and through the inner presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As they shared bread and fellowship, there was no difficulty in having success when God is working in the hearts of people. Sharing all things in common, this loving fellowship and communion with each other ripped open the gates of Heaven for all the Mighty and Power of God to be seen at work all around them.
Spirit manifested in everything, in every way.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Magnificent Mind at Any Age... the Practical, the Body of Christ (5)

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Magnificent Mind at Any Age by Daniel G. Amen, M.D., is about the natural ways to unleash your brain's maximum potential. Amen says the brain and mind are two different things although they interact with each other. Our mind not only affects problems as attention deficit disorder, anxiety, depression, addictions, anger, but also being more thoughtful, creativity, energy, focus and effectiveness.

The first key to a magnificent brain is a balanced brain. Failure is often related to a brain gone wrong. The brain is very fragile and physical blows to it can affect its ability to function well. Avoid contact sports where the head can have blows to it like football, boxing, soccer. It's important to increase blood flow and your brain reserve. Brain reserve is building up neurons in our brain. This is done through
Making positive social connections,
Engaging in new learning,
Maintaining a healthy died,
Taking daily multiple vitamins,
Taking fish oil supplements,
Learning music,
Exercising regularly,
Dancing,
Expressing gratitude,
Meditating,
Controlling and balancing life is vital while eliminating daily habits that hold you back.

These bad habits affect you at all ages: Lousy diet, lack of exercise, risking brain trauma, chronic stress, negative thinking (worry, anger), poor sleep, cigarette smoke, excessive use of caffeine, alcohol, TV, video games, computer, cell phones, aspartame and MSG, and exposure to environmental toxins. All these, especially in excess, affect your brain's ability to function at its optimum.

The four circles of optimal health are your biological circle, psychological circle, your social circle and your Spiritual circle. Keep these in balance and active. Natural strategies for optimizing the brain are Multiple vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acid. Amen shares other natural supplements to aide ADD, anxiety and depression, insomnia, memory and pain.

Ignite new passion in life. Review what turned you on in your life, excited you or game you maximum fun in life in your past and present life. What would give you the same feelings in the future. Note them in these areas (your balance of life areas): relationships, work, finances, physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual life. Use this as your plan to follow to make your own miracles, to use your brain to define your dreams and make it a reality.

The rules to follow are to define your own success(specifically defined by you), success is a feeling and you must feel it, success at any price may not be success, it is a process that occurs in steps, success must be balanced, learned, defining success too low or too high will derail you, and success is having the ability to be honest with you. Now use the balance of life areas above. Tell your brain what you want and match your behavior to get it. Use your prefrontal cortex to plan it, do it.

Create a One-Page Miracle with the balance of life areas. Simply state what you want and what you are doing to make it happen.

In these areas, know when to put your brakes on. Know what is not taking you where you want and have the courage to say no. Saying no is okay if it takes you away from what you feel you want or need to be. Learn to use the phrase, "Let me think about it. If I want to do it, I will get back to you."

You don't have to live someone else's life. Know what you want and live it.
Embrace the truth and liberate yourself from the lies that pollute your brain. Amen calls these your ANTs... automatic negative thought. These negative thoughts may come in these ways. Always thinking and overgeneralizing, focusing on the negative, fortune-telling (predicting a negative future), mind reading or assuming you know what the other person is thinking, thinking with your feelings, guilt beatings, attaching negative labels to yourself and others, personalization which allows innocuous events to take on a personal meaning, and blaming other people for problems in your life. Each time any of these occur, turn on your internal logic part of your brain. Tell yourself and others the truth. Be a merciful judge to yourself, and express gratitude for things in your life and to others. When you do this, your brain actually works better.

To get unstuck, you can grease your brain by balancing your brain... consider herb and vitamin supplements, come back to problems later, think through answers before automatically saying no, write out options when you feel stuck, seek counsel, don't overreact to opposition, use reverse psychology on yourself.

Develop mental toughness and cultivate a resilient brain. Ten ways to do that are to gather informatoin on all issues, develop a personal sense of control by being proactive in solution action and not dwelling on mistakes of past, build self esteem telling yourself nice things about yourself, keep pleasure centers healthy, clear up traumas, face your fears, deal with adversity, use positive emotions such as laughter, rely on a moral compass, and nurture social support.

Brain trust grows when you enhance your social network. One of the best antidepressants is relating. Relating is an acronym for responsibility, empathy, listening, assertiveness, time, inquiry, noticing what you like the most, connecting with great groups. Be a maverick thinker and stop anxiety from allowing others to run your life. Maverick thinking is independent thinking, not accepting the norm just because it is the norm, creative thinking different than others, and the passionate belief you can make a difference.

The brain builds nerve cell networks tagged with names of people we see as honest and trustworthy or lying and unreliable. We can rebuild those brain connections by staying consistent and honest in our behavior. Behavior wins out over words and in time we can restore trust relations. This empowers the brain to know we are trusted. Your behavior tells the story.

For more indepth look at how to make your magnificent brain click to
http://www.amenclinics.com/


In Practical Ministry, The Body of Christ by Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft, he says that everyone hungers for reality. We must go beyond theory. The program for practical ministry in the Scriptures is expressed in Acts 2:41-47. When Jesus' disciples gathered,


they were centered in the Scriptures. They continued steadfastly. It means they devoted themselves to the study of God's Word. We are to be doers of the Word, James 2:22 , and not just hearers. To accomplish this daily devotion is necessary. A personal discipline is required with specific times set aside just for this... every day. A personal Bible reflection time done daily is just as important as group discussions of the Scriptures. Their goal was to learn and obey the Scriptures. Deuteronomy 6 says we were to do this all day long, and then all would be well with you.

The early church learned the apostles doctrine through kerygma.. the proclamation of Jesus. We learn it, become the Word and the proclamation is natural when it's naturally part of us.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9. Instruction is vitally important to make the Scriptures a walking, living, breathing part of us. "Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." It is vital to be a powerful proclaiming group. We proclaim it to each other and all we come in contact with.

Staying continually in God's word and God's presence yields great power. It transforms our minds to be Minds of Christ. The apostles spent 10 days in prayer. Peter gave a 3-minute sermon and 3000 people were converted that day. In the modern day we may give a 3-minute prayer, have ten days of preaching and not have one convert. We may very well be doing things backwards. Prayer must precede and exceed our proclamation times.

Then in addition to being centered in God's Word, they continued in fellowship. Their fellowship was immersed in the power of Spirit. It was an unconditional sharing, sacrificial love. They were gathered together in His Name. Jesus promised when we do that, He will be among us, in person, right there with us. It made koinonia possible... the intimate sharing of fellowship.

People were more important than property or policies. Needs were common. Communion is more than a ceremony to acknowledge Jesus as part of our lives. The sharing of bread with those who are in need is the spirit of communion. The bread the world wants, is hungry for, is both physical and spiritual. When it was necessary to meet the needs of others they sold their possessions. It's not as important to know how they met needs but that they did it. Their willingness to do it is what stands out. Such willingness proved the unselfishness of those members of the Body of Christ.

The role of Koinonia is found in Ephesians 4:2,3 and 1 Cor 1:9,10. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." (NLT)

Some think just having a place to meet fosters koinonia. The assembly is just ecclesia. The Church centers around koinonia... a close knit sharing of all things in common, and looking out for the well being of everyone there. It's not a legislated thing. But it comes from Spirit in and among each other as expressed in Love they have for each other. They are gathered together in His Name.

It is important again to remind us that unity is what is important; not the specific number.

In Acts, there were a number of homes mentioned where they met. The home was their central meeting place. They met together in the Word and in the Name of Jesus. He was there. They were internally and externally blessed. They faithfully went from house to house, breaking bread, and eating with gladness and with singleness of heart. It is most dramatic to see the sacrificial love they had.

Paul found such sharing in as well with the Macedonian Christians. They were people persecuted and disenfranchised. With no source of income, they had to find ways to feed themselves. In the midst of this abject poverty they were willing to share with other saints. When they needed to, they would liquidate a portion or all of their assets for the benefit of the dependent members of the fellowship. They did not consider what they had as too valuable to sacrifice for those in need. The real truth that should shine through all this is the spirit of sacrificial sharing, the willingness to give up our self-interests was the top priority.

"If anyone should come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

An expression in the early days of the Pentecostal movement was "being sold out." Being sold out was that you held nothing back. To hold something back illustrated our selfish priority. It meant physical death to Ananias. It means Spiritual death to us. These people recognizing their desperate need, sold their possessions as they saw the desperate need of the community to know Christ in a living, vital relationship. Is it any wonder they had such a response from the people?

In the midst of sharing they were praising God and enjoying their food with gladness. This puts into perspective the unity of the mind of each and all. They were not split between the sacred and secular. The supernatural result of people who are sold out, committing all that they are to Him, is that many come into the Kingdom of God. This is the supernatural result of koinonia. Such love was a magnet that drew people to Christ. Power exuded all around them. With great power they gave witness of the resurrection.

The unity of the believers in koinonia caused the presence of the Lord to draw near. As they acted in unity, they became the manifestation of the presence of the Lord. The early life of Jesus was the bodily form of God on earth.The unity of the believers becomes a new body of flesh where God manifests himself in the world, now in the place of the physical presence of Jesus. We, as a unit, now walk the earth as the physical presence of Jesus. That's why unity is essential to see the power of Jesus, when on earth, to be manifested now.

"The works that I do, you will do even greater works than these."
(Jesus)

This new man of Jesus, the believers unified in the Body of Christ, will do the works even greater than Jesus when He was on earth.