Greater Capacity Means Greater Responsibility - capacity is your potential for growth. It’s important because people who increase in competence are given greater responsibility in their work. All leaders are learners. The moment you stop learning, you stop leading. Growing businesses requires growing people. The moment the people stop growing, the business can’t grow. If you stop learning new skills and say, “That’s all I need to know,” you’re limiting your capacity. But if you keep learning, you’ll keep growing, and God will keep blessing. increasing your capacity often takes initiative and sometimes even sacrifice. Spend some time in prayer, asking God to show you how you grow personally and professionally

“Potiphar . . . made Joseph his personal attendant. 

"He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. 

"From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the LORD began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake.” - Genesis 39:4-5 (NLT)

What is your potential for growth?

Are you going to read any books in the next year? 

Are you going to take any seminars? 

Are you going to grow? 

Are you going to develop any skills? 

Are you going to learn any relationship skills? 

Or are you just going to be the same 10 years from today as you are right now?

Capacity is your potential for growth. 

It’s important because people who increase in competence are given greater responsibility in their work.

All leaders are learners. 

The moment you stop learning, you stop leading.

Growing businesses requires growing people. 

The moment the people stop growing, the business can’t grow.

I remember having staff members at Saddleback Church whose number-one characteristic was the ability to keep growing and learning. 

They didn’t insist on doing the same thing they had always done but instead tried new methods and came up with new ideas.

This is what happened with Joseph. 

He grew in capacity by stretching himself and learning and growing. 

Genesis 39:4-5 says, “Potiphar . . . made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the LORD began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake” (NLT).

Is God blessing the business you work for?

Is that church, that business, that organization prospering because you’re there? 

Do you have that kind of capacity?

When Joseph was put in charge, the Lord began to bless Potiphar for Joseph’s sake:

“All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished” - (Genesis 39:5 NLT). 

Why? 

Because Joseph had capacity.

When Joseph was first taken to Egypt as a slave, he wasn’t able to handle all that stuff. 

He had to learn how to manage livestock and a household. 

He had to learn and grow as he was given more responsibility.

If you stop learning new skills and say, “That’s all I need to know,” you’re limiting your capacity. 

But if you keep learning, you’ll keep growing, and God will keep blessing.

Talk It Over

What are some practical steps you can take this week to learn a new skill or gain new knowledge about your job or your field of work?

Increasing your capacity often takes initiative and sometimes even sacrifice. 

Why is it important for an employer to see these traits in you?

Are you considering a career change because you believe you’ve gone as far as you can go in your present job? 

Spend some time in prayer, asking God to show you how you grow personally and professionally.

By Rick Warren

Daily Hope with Rick Warren

Rick Warren was born in San Jose, California and earned a Bachelor of Arts from California Baptist University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kay founded Saddleback Church when he was just 26 years old and he continues to serve as the senior pastor. To many, he is Pastor Rick, but to his church, he is Papa Rick—a voice of wisdom, hope, encouragement, and vision.

purposedriven.com

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The Jewels of the Lord - God does take note of our times of spiritual fellowship with other believers especially when they occur during times of stress and worldly opposition. The jewels of the Lord are not rubies and diamonds but rather are “they that feared the LORD” and who “spake often one to another.” The word for jewels suggests treasure carefully guarded in a safe place. The word is translated “a special people unto himself.” Instead of being mounted in a crown or other adornment as precious stones would be, these jewels will be listed in a very special book. What a blessing it would be if, when we get to heaven, we should find our names written in that special book of God’s memories

One Flesh in Marriage - one flesh in a marriage creates a healthy marriage in which both husband and wife work together to ensure the success of their relationship no matter the circumstances

Once Saved always Saved - as believers we should continually take advantage of the means of grace that God has provided for His Children. As we cannot keep ourselves, we can humbly submit to the mighty keeping power of God within us 

The Purpose of Crucibles - the significant leaders who make the greatest mark for the Kingdom had to experience their own crucible and fire. Without it, the dross can never be removed from the human heart. Without it, the encumbrances weigh us down. God understands the human heart. He understands that for us to become all that He hopes for us, there are seasons of fire. The greater the use in the Kingdom the greater the crucible to prepare the right foundation. Some of God's greatest crucibles are found in the workplace where we live every day. Each of these is a test from God to find out how we will respond. His grace has been provided that we might pass the tests that He brings before us

"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." - Proverbs 17:3

This proverb describes one of God's strangest mysteries. 

It is a description of God's formula to refine the human heart in order to bring out its finest qualities. 

The significant leaders who make the greatest mark for the Kingdom had to experience their own crucible and fire. 

Without it, the dross can never be removed from the human heart. 

Without it, the encumbrances weigh us down. 

God understands the human heart. 

He understands that for us to become all that He hopes for us, there are seasons of fire. 

Joseph went through many tests. 

Succeeding in the test qualified him for greater responsibility. 

The greater the use in the Kingdom the greater the crucible to prepare the right foundation. 

Some of God's greatest crucibles are found in the workplace where we live every day: the employee who betrays our trust, the client who refuses to pay, the vendor who falls short of our expectations.

Each of these is a test from God to find out how we will respond. 

What tests are being brought your way today? 

His grace has been provided that we might pass the tests that He brings before us. 

Should we fail, we need not fear. 

His grace is sufficient for this as well.

Ask God for the grace to walk with Him in whatever tests He has placed before you this day. 

He is able to accomplish what He wants for you.

Os Hillman

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

Os Hillman  is Founder and President of Marketplace Leaders Ministries, an organization whose purpose is to train men and women to fulfill their calling in and through their work life and to view their work as ministry.

marketplaceleaders.activehosted.com

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The Trial Of Our Faith - every challenge that comes your way is scrutinized from heaven and only what you can handle is allowed to hit you. The circumstances you face are there to test your faith, to remove the impure and prove the genuine. Just as gold is tried or tested by fire our faith will also be tried and tested. Fire represents adversity or challenges. It separates real faith from what looks like faith. Do not lose heart in the midst of that difficulty. Let the lion in you roar and bring to subjection whatever is challenge to your life in Christ

Tested and Strengthened - the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tested. Christ passed those tests and returned from them empowered by the Holy Spirit. Tests and temptations can bring strength and empowerment to a Christian’s life. God wants us to see testing as an opportunity rather than just a struggle. Tests provide the opportunity to learn to trust God more fully. They help us discover the strength God can provide for those of us who faithfully persevere. The Holy Spirit uses the tests and temptations of life to draw Christians closer to Christ

Sifted Like Wheat - some of you are being “sifted like wheat.” Your faith is being tested. You may feel weak and on the verge of giving up. In the Name of Jesus, resist Satan. You have the power and authority. Don't rely on your own natural strength. God has placed the Holy Spirit within you, giving you power over all the power of the enemy. Draw upon that Holy Ghost power. Your position during every test, trial, and temptation is one of power, confidence, and victory knowing that as you resist Satan, he will flee from you

Streams in my desert: Sometimes it's hard to understand adversity - but there's a purpose - let's learn from the trials and tribulations we go through because God has a purpose in them. We may not enjoy it, but when all's said and done, enduring trials faithfully will produce perseverance, character, and hope. when we understand there is a greater purpose involved, then we can pass through adversity with hope, expectation and steadfastness knowing these events are for our greater good. We truly can trust in the God who loves us with an everlasting love because He knows the direction we need to go. And He knows exactly how to get us there

Streams in my desert: Experience the testing of your faith - the trials we experience are experiments upon our faith. God allows our faith to be proven by experience and experimentally verified. Faith is not based on experience but on revelation from God. Its genuineness is tested by experience. And it ought to be growing through every trial, producing a deeper comprehension of God's faithfulness. Faith will be proven in, by and through the very hard experiences and realities of your life. This is not accidental but very much in the plans and purposes of the Lord

Streams in my desert: Embrace your fiery trials - persecution and trials are part of the Christian life, so we must understand how God wants us to respond to them. We learn the following principles that help us in our own fiery trials. Faithfulness to God must prevail over fear. The only things that are lost in the fire are the things that bind you. In a trial we discover new truths about God and ourselves. God is always with you in the fire. Our fiery ordeals benefit us, and God also uses our faithful attitude as a witness to others

Streams in my desert: Rejoice As You Share Christ's Sufferings- if you are in the midst of an excruciating season of life, hold on. The Lord is not finished with you. You may think you are alone in your predicament, but all along God has been storing up blessings for you that you never dreamed of. His glory is going to be revealed through your trial. "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you . . . But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." God’s favor follows you

Product Testing - Jesus never yielded to pressure. He never made decisions based on outcome. He always made the right decision. He always performed the same no matter what the circumstance. He lived a life based on absolutes, not circumstances. As God entrusts us with more and more responsibility, He brings more and more pressures into our lives, to make sure that He can give even more responsibility to us. This process helps us see where we are in our maturity and determines our level of future responsibility

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! 

"'You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. 

"'Come and share your master's happiness!'" - Matthew 25:21

Testing allows one to discover how well a product is made when placed under extreme stress. 

Increasing the pulling pressure between two objects reveals the amount of tension that can be withstood in a chain link. 

Eventually, the "choking" point occurs. 

In sports, we ascertain the "choking" point for athletes by putting them into a pressure situation. 

At what point will the athlete lose concentration and collapse under the pressure? 

It is under these stressful times that we discover how well we have been trained to withstand the pressure and make right decisions regardless of outside influences.

In my younger days I played sports.

I came to observe that we fail under pressure usually because we reach a point where our ability to focus on execution yields to concern about outcome. 

This worry about outcome forces us to lose our concentration. 

The fear of failure begins to rule our emotions and actions, which ultimately results in our failure. 

What we fear has come upon us. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In life, we see giving in to pressure in the form of compulsive behavior, withdrawal, anger, abuse, moral failure, and dishonesty, to name just a few manifestations.

Jesus never yielded to pressure. He never made decisions based on outcome. 

He always made the right decision. 

He always performed the same no matter what the circumstance. 

He lived a life based on absolutes, not circumstances.

He never gave in to "situational ethics."

As God entrusts us with more and more responsibility, He brings more and more pressures into our lives to "test the product," to make sure that He can give even more responsibility to us. 

This process helps us see where we are in our maturity and determines our level of future responsibility.

Are you a product that can withstand the product test?

Will you perform as the Maker designed no matter what outside pressures come? 

Know that you cannot perform well unless you are continually in relationship with and obedient to the one who made you.

Trust the product developer today. 

He has made you to perform well under pressure.

Os Hillman

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

Os Hillman  is Founder and President of Marketplace Leaders Ministries, an organization whose purpose is to train men and women to fulfill their calling in and through their work life and to view their work as ministry.

marketplaceleaders.activehosted.com

You might also like:

Sifted Like Wheat - some of you are being “sifted like wheat.” Your faith is being tested. You may feel weak and on the verge of giving up. In the Name of Jesus, resist Satan. You have the power and authority. Don't rely on your own natural strength. God has placed the Holy Spirit within you, giving you power over all the power of the enemy. Draw upon that Holy Ghost power. Your position during every test, trial, and temptation is one of power, confidence, and victory knowing that as you resist Satan, he will flee from you

Embrace your fiery trials - persecution and trials are part of the Christian life, so we must understand how God wants us to respond to them. We learn the following principles that help us in our own fiery trials. Faithfulness to God must prevail over fear. The only things that are lost in the fire are the things that bind you. In a trial we discover new truths about God and ourselves. God is always with you in the fire. Our fiery ordeals benefit us, and God also uses our faithful attitude as a witness to others

Tested and Strengthened - the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tested. Christ passed those tests and returned from them empowered by the Holy Spirit. Tests and temptations can bring strength and empowerment to a Christian’s life. God wants us to see testing as an opportunity rather than just a struggle. Tests provide the opportunity to learn to trust God more fully. They help us discover the strength God can provide for those of us who faithfully persevere. The Holy Spirit uses the tests and temptations of life to draw Christians closer to Christ