RECOVERING YOUR POTENTIAL

Psalm chapter 103






Today we are walking in: Recovering Your Potential








Job 21:14


Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge H1847 of thy ways.




KNOWLEDGE



Today we look to the word-KNOWLEDGE- H847 da'ath--knowledge, perception, skill, discernment





The Torah testifies.....................


Genesis 2:9


And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.


Exodus 31:3


And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom,and in understanding, and in knowledge, H1847 andin all manner of workmanship,


Leviticus 4:8


Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.




The prophets proclaim..................


Nehemiah 10:28

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;





Isaiah 33:6


And wisdom and knowledge H1847 shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.





Jeremiah 3:15


And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.






The writings bear witness.............



Job 34:2


Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.



Psalm 119:66


Teach me good judgment and knowledge: H1847 for I have believed thy commandments.


Proverbs 1:7


The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.








Recovering Your Potential


It is always better to fail at something than to excel at nothing. Get up and try again.


A hush fell over the room as a petite, neatly groomed woman stepped to the podium. Unlike most of the others in the room, she was not clad in prison-issued attire. Yet she did not seem to be or to feel out of place. Those who watched her wondered at this, for they had observed many people in these weekly meetings. Most had a genuine desire to help the prisoners, but their actions and remarks often revealed that they were uneasy being there and that they did not truly understand what imprisonment did to a person. Although the prisoners were grateful for the concern and well-meaning of these visitors, they preferred those speakers who were comfortable within the prison walls. They often understood more accurately the particular needs and frustrations that prison life produced. Expectancy filled those who faced the woman on the stage.
Although they could not define why, they sensed that this speaker was different from the rest. She didn’t look any different, yet she was different. Perhaps it was the gentle compassion in her face as she looked out over the women who packed the small room. Perhaps it was her calm, assured manner that revealed an absence of fear or nervousness. Perhaps it was that she did not place any notes on the lectern. For whatever reason, the prisoners knew that this speaker was unlike the others who had come to encourage and strengthen them.
Her first words startled them. “I am one of you. I lived here for five years. I came here at the age of twenty, leaving behind my husband and my young daughter. Although it has been many years since my release, I still remember the intense loneliness and the consuming despair that filled my first days here. I can also hear in my mind the click of the gate behind me. I doubt those thoughts and feelings will ever leave me.
“I am here today because something very important happened to me here. I met the Yahusha HaMashiach, accepted His forgiveness for my past, and entrusted my future to His keeping. My life is very different because of Him. Through His love and mercy, and the support and encouragement of many brothers and sisters, I have finally forgiven myself for the wrongs that brought me here.
Today I am free because He freed me, and I bring to you the opportunity to find this freedom and forgiveness.
“When I first came here, I hated myself. All my life, my family told me that I would never amount to anything. I believed them.
When I landed in jail, I fulfilled their prophecies and my own expectations. I assumed that the rest of my life would continue to follow a similar pattern. I learned, however, that they were wrong, and I was wrong. Through the patience and faithfulness of those who helped me to survive within these walls and to make it on the outside, through my study of the Bible, and through my personal relationship with Yahusha HaMachiach, I have discovered that I am capable of far more than my family expected of me.
“This is true because The Most High created me for a special purpose and placed within me the potential to fulfill all that He planned for my life before I was born. The unfavorable circumstances that surrounded my birth did not change The Most High’s intentions, nor have the wrong choices, broken relationships, and painful experiences of my past destroyed who I yet can be. The talented, worthwhile person with distinct abilities that I have learned to see in myself was inside me all the time, but I had to discover her and release her from the guilt and self-hatred that consumed me throughout the early years of my life.
“I have also learned that my experience is not unique. The world is filled with men and women whose experiences parallel my own. Both in my counseling practice and after speaking engagements, I have spent hours listening to and sharing with people whose hearts and lives are as burdened as mine were when I first entered these walls. Yahusha HaMachiach has given me compassion for them and for you. He has also gifted me with the ability to express that love and concern in a wide variety of settings.
“Therefore, I come to you today as a friend who wants to help you become all that you can be. No matter what others have said about you, and what you have believed about yourself, you are a competent, gifted person. I know you may not feel that way, but your feelings are not accurate. You are the beloved daughter of The Most High, created by Him with meticulous care and endowed by Him with everything you need to bless yourself, your family, and, indeed, the entire world.
This potential hibernates within you, buried by the actions, attitudes, and lifestyles that brought you here, but it need not remain hidden. You can recover your potential.
“I share my story with you not because I have made it by society’s standards, but because I have a passion to free women like us—women who have been bound not only by prison walls but also by years of negative opinions, poor judgments, unhealthy relationships, detrimental environments, and adverse circumstances. I stand with you as one who has found the way to peace, happiness, and fulfillment. Perhaps my story can help you find that way as well.
“I was born...”
Few stirred throughout the lengthy story. Occasionally someone nodded her head in agreement or sighed from memories awakened by the storyteller’s words. At times tear-brightened eyes overflowed from pain remembered or hope renewed. These were largely unnoticed, for all were caught up by the story of one whose life in some ways paralleled their own and in other respects was quite different. Hopelessness, bitterness, resentment, anger, and despair were certainly part of her story, but they were not the dominant themes.
Woven within the story of what the ex-prisoner had been were glimpses of what she had become and yet hoped to be. There were no dramatic adventures or shocking disclosures, just the simple retelling of the changes in a life touched by the love and power of The Most High.
Many women in that small room yearned for the trust and the contentment evident in the speaker’s words as they wondered whether their lives could also be redirected into the plans and purposes of the Creator. Was there hope for their potential yet to be revealed? As the speaker closed with a simple testimony to her current life in Yahusha HaMashiach, many hearts longed for the assurance that they too could experience changed, redeemed lives.
Change. The hope for something different. Each of us, at some point in our lives, has been dissatisfied with where we are and who we are. We have been keenly aware that life is not measuring up to our expectations. Some of you may still be there. Others of you, like the former prisoner, have found renewed hope in life. A life-changing encounter with The Most High through His Son Yahusha HaMashiach makes the difference. The Bible teaches us much about our need for this life-changing encounter and the path we must take if we would experience it.
Forgiveness
The journey to recovering your potential begins with forgiveness—The Most High’s forgiveness and self-forgiveness. The Most High’s forgiveness is an expression of His love for us. He offers it to all who confess their rebelliousness and accept His gift of new life through His Son, Yahusha HaMachiach. Becoming rerooted in The Most High takes care of this first aspect of forgiveness. Self-forgiveness, however, is often more difficult. The Most High forgives and forgets our sin as soon as we confess it:
The Most High is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:8-12).
We, on the other hand, often hold ourselves accountable for our wrongs for a long time. Indeed, many who have accepted Yahusha HaMashiach as their Savior still think and act as though their sins are not forgiven. Such behavior short-changes potential because it again places ourselves above The Most High and His word to us. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we disbelieve what The Most High has said.
The speaker in the prison must have been guilty of some rather serious wrongs to land herself in prison, but her journey to happiness and wholeness began with her ability to accept The Most High’s forgiveness and to forgive herself. In a similar manner, the apostle Paul could have condemned himself forever for those who died by his hand (see Acts 7:54–8:3; 9:1-2). Praise The Most High, he did not!
Remember, The Most High’s promises are true and His power surpasses all other powers. If The Most High says your sins are forgiven, they are forgiven. You are freed forever from their penalty and their power over you. No one, including Most High, has the authority or the right to change or dispute His decision.
The failure to forgive ourselves places us at risk for future sin. This is true because self-condemnation opens the door for hasatan and his forces of evil to work on us with doubt and guilt. Guilt prevents us from actively seeking The Most High’s power and wisdom because we are ashamed to enter His presence, and doubt enslaves us to feelings of powerlessness and unworthiness. Both deny the power and authority of The Most High in our lives and entice us to rely more on our feelings than the presence of The Most High’s Spirit within us. Both destroy potential.
Refuse, then, to allow self-condemnation to steal your potential in HaMashiach. If you have confessed your sin, you are forgiven and The Most High remembers it no more. Forgive yourself and move on. If you would love others and share your potential with them, you must first love and forgive yourself. This is an important step in the journey of recovering your potential.
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Your Past and Your Potential
A second step in recovering potential is the ability to move beyond your past and to use it to inform and improve your future. All of us have things in our pasts of which we are ashamed. While self-forgiveness takes away the sting of those confessed sins, it does not remove from our minds the memory of those wrongs. We must learn to live with our memories and allow them to be a positive force in our lives.
We must learn to live with our memories and allow them to be a positive force in our lives.
King David, after his sin with Bathsheba, most certainly was haunted by his wrong (see 2 Samuel 11:1–12:25). Overwhelmed by the enormity of his sin, he could have forfeited his potential to serve The Most High as the king of The Most High’s people. Instead, David confessed his sin (see 2 Samuel 12:13 and Psalm 51) and petitioned The Most High:
Create in me a pure heart, O The Most High, and renew a steadfast spirit within me....Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:10,12).
Today David is remembered as a man after The Most High’s heart and the greatest king in the history of The Most High’s people.
This same restorative power of The Most High can move you beyond the negative opinions, poor judgments, unhealthy relationships, detrimental environments, and adverse circumstances of your past. No sin is too great for The Most High to forgive. No relationship is beyond His restoration. His healing touch can reach into your worst experiences and show you something you can learn from them. His transforming power can redirect your misguided and harmful actions and enable you to remove yourself from the destructive environments and crippling circumstances that threaten your potential. No memory is too deep for Him to heal. No problem is beyond His blessing and power.
No sin is too great for The Most High to forgive.
No relationship is beyond His restoration.
No memory is too deep for Him to heal.
No problem is beyond His blessing and power.
The key to moving beyond all that haunts you from your past is allowing those memories to empower you instead of destroying you. If you were addicted to drugs and you know firsthand the destructive forces they unleash, use your experiences to help those who are at risk today of experiencing the same pain you’ve survived. Make friends with a teenager whose father has walked out on his family. Support a local teen’s club. Speak in your child’s school about the dangers and the deceptions of doing drugs.
If you have a history of getting into fights, learn what sets you off and how you can respond more appropriately to the anger-provoking situations in your life. Find supportive people who can encourage you and help you through tough times. Look for the insecurity in yourself and others that destroys self-esteem and incites verbal and physical exchanges.
If you quit high school because you were pregnant, go back to school and get your diploma. If you did time in prison, befriend a newly released prisoner. If the pressures of being a young single mother caused you to abuse your child, offer to help another young mother who is going through experiences similar to your own.
Discouraging, defeating experiences may be part of your past life, but there is no reason why they must continue to discourage and defeat you. Indeed, they can become stepping stones to the releasing and maximizing of your potential if you are willing to acknowledge your past, to learn from your mistakes, and to allow The Most High’s transforming power to turn your loss into gain. With The Most High’s help, you are capable of rising above your shortcomings and of redeeming your less-than-perfect decisions. He has not given up on you. He’s waiting to see what you will do with the rest of your life. Protect the present and the future from the past by facing the past and moving beyond it. This is an essential element of the journey to recover your potential.
Redeeming the Days of Your Life
The third step to recovering our potential is to redeem the time that is left to us. We cannot undo what is past, but we can make the necessary changes in our lives to permit the wise use of the remainder of our days. Time is The Most High’s gift for accomplishing our purpose and fulfilling our potential. It begins the day we are born and ends when we die.
The length of our physical life matches the days required to fulfill our purpose because The Most High planned for the maturing of our lives within the total days He has allotted to us. Therefore, we have sufficient time to maximize our potential. The question is, Will we waste or use wisely the days The Most High has assigned to our lives? Time is The Most High’s gift for accomplishing our purpose and fulfilling our potential.
The apostle Paul instructs us to “see then that [we] walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV). In other words, we must find our purpose and use our potential to accomplish it. Likewise, we need to consciously refuse to allow procrastination, discouragement, and the other enemies of our potential to induce us to waste even one day of our lives. Whenever we use our time to do things that neither release our potential nor help us progress toward the accomplishment of our purpose, we forfeit or delay the opportunity to reach the excellency and completion The Most High intended for our lives.
Accepting The Most High’s forgiveness and forgiving yourself, moving beyond your past, using your past to inform the future, and redeeming the remaining days of your life are the necessary factors that will permit you to recover your potential. Like the former prisoner who forgave herself for her past and used it to bring life and hope to others, you can replace the hopelessness, bitterness, resentment, anger, and despair in your life with peace, happiness, and fulfillment. Her journey of recovery began when she met Yahusha HaMachiach and accepted His forgiveness for her past. You too must begin to recover your potential by accepting Yahusha as your Savior and by allowing Him to change you. Return to your Manufacturer/Creator for a reassessment of your true potential and begin again. You can replace the hopelessness, bitterness, resentment, anger, and despair of your life with peace, happiness, and fulfillment.
Just as a seed is full of promise and potential, so your life is abundantly loaded with untapped power and purpose. Likewise, just as a seed needs to be related to the soil and to be fed nutrients to maximize its fullest potential, so you are in need of a personal relationship with the Source and Creator of your life. Only The Most High our Abba can restore you to your original purpose and dream, and only He can provide the grace and resources you need to experience true fulfillment. Every product needs to remain related to the manufacturer if it is to maintain its guarantee and warranty. It is more important to be yourself than to be the best.
Principles
1. The Most High created you for a special purpose and gave you the potential to fulfill it.
2. You are a competent, gifted person.
3. You must experience a life-changing encounter with Yahusha HaMachiach if you want to recover your potential.
4. The journey to recovering your potential must include:
• accepting The Most High’s forgiveness,
• forgiving yourself,
• moving beyond your past,
• using your past to inform your future,
• redeeming the remaining days of your life.