Who’s Raising the Bar on Your Potential?

August 7, 2017

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
1 John 3:2

One of the key themes of the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit is building your capacity to fulfill your potential as a child of God.

It is one thing to grow in the knowledge of Christ—but quite another to grow in the knowledge of all you are capable of in Him.

John wrote that we would become like Him (see 1 John 3:2). Paul told us we are being transformed into His image (see 2 Cor. 3:18). Jesus said we would do even greater things than He did (see John 14:12).

Spiritual maturation requires a capacity building process.

Why is building capacity so important? 

Because your potential is only limited by your capacity to access it… 

God wants you to mature spiritually so you can maximize your potential to fulfill your purpose and do even greater works than Jesus did.

Listen to the 4 Points Broadcast replay to learn about the 6th Stage of Spiritual Maturation.

At each stage of spiritual maturation, there is a dimension of authority that is released to you.

God will give you access to limited amounts of spiritual power to see what you will do and whether He can trust you.

In other words, any level of authority you are exposed to in the maturation process is probationary. 

The stage we are studying now is called téknon: those souls who have,” according to Strong’s Concordance, “been nurtured and molded by wisdom.”

This stage places you in the prophetic process we call “mentorship.”

Mentorship simply means you posture yourself as a disciple or as a protege of someone who acts as your guide, advisor, or counselor. 

This individual—whether a teacher, tutor, mentor, or spiritual leader—is assigned to nurturing and molding you in wisdom.

In this stage of spiritual maturation, God is posturing you to enter a position where the world will recognize you as a son of God.

“Everything that has been made in the world is waiting for the day when God will make His sons known.”
Romans 8:19 NLV

Téknon infers a reciprocal relationship between someone you’re calling a “mother” or “father” or someone who is mentoring you.

You posture yourself as a pupil or disciple of a teacher or mentor whose objective is to coach, counsel, and cultivate your gifts and talents; they provide the discipline necessary for you to steward and sustain those gifts and talents for the glory of God.

In the first chapter of Jeremiah, we see where he is first introduced to his purpose: “Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

Purpose is different from destiny.

Purpose is determined by God, but must be discerned by you; it never changes.

However, your destiny is determined by you; it is attached to the decisions you make. The moment a decision is made, your destiny is altered. 

This is why you’ve often heard me say, 

“You are always one decision away from living the life of your dreams.” 

Your purpose dictates your relationships and timing.

If you don’t know your purpose, you’ll mishandle your relationships and misinterpret the timing of the Lord.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Purpose is attached to a divine time table.

This is why Israel had the sons of Issachar to advise them: they had an “understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

God will never take your decision-making ability or freedom of choice from you. 

But what He will do is give you a mentor to help you build your capacity by developing your character.

And when He develops your character, that character begins to influence the decisions you make.

Your core values will be tested…but they will ultimately determine what choices you make that will define your destiny.

Your destiny should be in alignment with God’s promises. 

It’s not an issue of whether or not you’ll climb the ladder of success, but whether you’ll compromise your Christian values to get there.

Most people sacrifice their future success for immediate gratification.

I would rather sacrifice who I am now—yield it to who I’m going to be—rather than sacrifice who I’m going to be because I don’t value the process that I’m currently in. 

Any adjustment or realignment will feel uncomfortable.

A mentor is anointed by God to cause you to readjust or realign to God’s best—to raise the bar in order to stretch your capacity.

Your mentor is responsible for putting you in a capacity building process by raising the bar just beyond your reach.

A mentor who doesn’t raise the bar just beyond what you are comfortable with doesn’t love you; they’re telling you they don’t believe you have the potential or capacity for more. 

A mentor will not allow you to be comfortable with yesterday’s successes. 

When you get to this téknon stage, your vision is going to be more important than your resume.

What do you have the potential to do? Who does God say you’re going to be?

This process is not about who you were yesterday or who you are today, but who you have the potential to become. 

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14

But just because you have the potential doesn’t mean you have the capacity to fulfill it.

Building capacity requires a degree of discomfort. It requires you to leave your comfort zone—to take risks and stretch yourself. 

There will be discomfort in this process. Look at Jacob; he wrestled with God and as a result, would never walk the same again…

“A man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.”
Genesis 32:24-25 NLT

God is about to change the way you walk.

He is going to upgrade your walk so you no longer walk according to your carnal nature, but “walk habitually in the Spirit…responsive to His guidance” (Galatians 5:16 AMP).

Find a mentor who will help you elevate your capacity to make the most of your potential, beginning with the Holy Spirit—and then be responsive to that guidance! 

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