Has this ever happened to you?

You’re driving along listening to a CD. All of a sudden, the disc starts to wobble and the words come out garbled. Did the CD just suffer a mini-stroke?

What would you do?

My first instinct was to check the surface of the CD for scratches. None.

Could there have been a glitch in the recording process? Possibly. How do you verify it, though?

So I took it out and replaced it with another CD, after a thorough inspection for scratch marks.

The first couple of tracks played perfectly. Then the symptoms started to re-surface–skipping, sliding and slurring. What was going on? Could it be a flaw in the professional recording and/or manufacturing process? Not likely.

Upon repeating the process one final time with yet another specimen, my inner rocket scientist could finally concede that the problem was not with the recorder, but with the player.

At the suggestion of a friend, I got a cleaning CD and ran it through a couple of times. Voila! No more mini-strokes.

Jesus says in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice.” No ifs ands or buts. No riders attached. Every follower (sheep) of Jesus (the Good Shepherd) hears his voice. Period.

So, if we are not able to hear his voice clearly, if we experience interruptions in the flow, if there is any kind of hindrance, interference or uneven modulation…is it fair to say that the problem is not with him but with us?

Isn’t it possible that there is something in us that needs to be removed? The dirt of sin, residue from past hurts, dust particles of doubt, _____________(feel free to fill in the blanks), etc.

As Jesus said: “First clean the inside.” (Matthew 23:26)

Methinks it would be wise to check the player before we blame the recorder.  Whaddyathink?

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Our pastor friend Deborah Borozny of Eagles Nest Christian Centre recently pointed out that when 12 year-old Jesus chose to stay back in Jerusalem while his parents headed back home, he was totally captivated by his “Father’s business.” (Luke 2:40-52) Obviously this continued over the next 18 years.

Because something happens at age 30 when he embarks on his earthly ministry. After preaching just one sermon, as Jesus is walking along the seashore, he calls Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. Scripture records that they left what they were doing “immediately” and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-22)

Jesus has not performed a single miracle. He has not delivered the Sermon on the Mount yet. The text of the one sermon he did preach consisted only of one point delivered in one single sentence: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Not exactly the kind of eloquence that would galvanize an audience into obedience!

Jesus did not launch much of a recruitment campaign either. He made no sweet promises. He had no compelling slogan. He gave them no vision or mission statement. Yet, these fishermen were so captivated by Jesus that they were willing to walk away from their previous calling and follow him.

May I suggest to you that it was because the disciples could see in Jesus the Father who captivated him. Later on, it was said of these same disciples: “These men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) Clearly, they had been captivated by Jesus!

Who captivates you? Be careful! Because it determines who will be captivated by you. As an old hymn puts it:

“By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.”

Our friend Regine Hüttner was describing the last leg of her journey to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro earlier this year during the Freedom Climb that she made along with 46 other women to raise awareness of the evil of human trafficking.

“I had nothing left in me physically,” she recalled. “It was more a test of whether or not I had the mental strength necessary to take the next step upward.” The beckoning peak looked too difficult to scale even at such close quarters.

How did she make it up to Uhuru, then?

She chose not to focus on making it to the top. Instead, she simply decided to take one step first, followed in slow succession by the next step and then another one. She described how when she decided to take that first step, it was as though God took over and helped her take the next step. This process continued for three agonizingly long hours before she could experience the exhilaration of reaching the summit.

Her experience reminded me of the words of a beloved hymn:

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead Thou me on:
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene–one step enough for me.

If you are not able to see “the distant scene” today along the climb to your destiny, perhaps you, like Regine, just need to take the next step. And the next step. And the next step. And, before you know it, you will have made your way to Uhuru (a Swahili word that means “freedom”)!

You’re the first car facing a red light at an intersection. What do you focus on while you’re waiting for the light to turn green? The traffic signal immediately in front of you? Or the opposing one?

I must admit that more often than not I look at the other guy’s light waiting for it to go from green to amber, so I can start revving up to zoom right through the nanosecond his light turns red and mine turns green. C’mon, fess up, you’ve done it too J

I also have to admit that sometimes I get so distracted by the opposing light that I miss it when my light turns green. It is only when the driver behind me toots a blaring reminder (sometimes accompanied by a single digit signal) that I realize what has happened! Of course, there are times when I’m the one giving the reminder (minus the hand signal, of course!). Between you and me, I feel really good doing it too!

Sad but true that we sometimes miss what is happening directly ahead of us, because we are so focused on what is happening around us.

We wait for someone else’s circumstances to change as our signal to move forward, rather than wait for our own to turn green.

In the process, we can miss an opportunity to move forward. We can end up delaying the fulfilment of our destiny.

That is why Solomon penned these wise words in Proverbs 4:25– Focus your eyes straight ahead; keep your gaze on what is in front of you. Or, as the Message Translation puts it: Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.

We would do well to follow this advice. Amen?

I heard a story about a very wealthy man who was deciding what to do with his estate. There were only two beneficiaries in the picture–one beloved son and one beloved servant. In the end, he told the son: “You can have your choice of one thing that belongs to me…just one thing…and the rest goes to the servant.”

The son was now faced with a decision. Should he choose the golf course? The mansion? The island? The investment portfolio? After some time, he made a choice that resulted in him owning everything that belonged to his father.

Can you guess what he chose?

Solomon had just become king of Israel. In I Kings 3 we read about how the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” “Whatever” gave Solomon quite a lot of latitude. What would he choose? Wealth? Fame? Power? Military success? A larger empire?

Of course, Solomon asks for “a discerning heart to judge the people and to distinguish right from wrong.”  God is so pleased with his request that he promises to honour his prayer and as added bonuses, offers him riches and honour! Small wonder then that he writes in Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.”

A number of years ago, I had the chance to ask a Christian businessman who had achieved phenomenal success in his field this question: “What all did you pray for along your journey to success?” His answer consisted of one word: “Wisdom.” When I pressed further, he said: “Well, if I had God’s wisdom to make the right choice whenever I was faced with a decision, I knew that I would be successful, because I would not make mistakes along the way.” I was very impressed with his answer.

Yes, if there is only one thing you could pray for…choose wisdom. It is the principal thing.

Okay, let’s end the suspense now. The beloved son had obviously prayed for wisdom. For, the one thing that belonged to his father that he chose was the beloved servant!!!

May I suggest a daily prayer that will propel you faster to your destiny?  “Father, grant me wisdom to make the right choices in every decision I face today.” AMEN.

Are you familiar with Interval Training? It is one of the most effective ways to cut out stubborn fat that accumulates in your body in highly visible places, such as your belly. Simply put, in Interval Training you do intense cardio in short bursts followed by a lengthier period of rest. So, for example, after warming up, you pedal your bike really  hard for 15 seconds until you are out of breath, rest for 45 and repeat the process 5 or 6 times. You are also advised to do Interval Training no more than 3 times a week.

In other words, it only takes about 10 minutes (including warm-up and cool-off time) to complete a workout. Do the math and you will discover to your surprise that it takes a total commitment of just 30 minutes per week to blast belly fat off! This is in stark contrast to most cardio routines where you sit and pedal for 30-60 minutes at a time, and still don’t make much of a dent in your fat content.

Needless to say I was skeptical when I first heard about this method, but having seen enough proof that it would produce the promised results, I decided to give it a try. The first week that I was consistent with Interval Training, I must admit that I saw no visible results. My waist size was still the same and my weight had not dropped significantly at all.

When I went back and re-read the workout instructions, there was a word of advice there, something like: “Don’t expect instant results. Don’t measure your weight or your waistline until you have consistently done I.T. for at least two weeks.” Duh!

Much to my surprise, at the end of the third week, I started noticing some visible results. My pants were fitting a bit more loosely around my waist and I had indeed shed a couple of pounds.

By the time I’d stuck to it faithfully for 6 weeks, I had to add extra holes in my belts, because my waistline had shrunk significantly!

The whole exercise taught me a valuable lesson on the power of The Cumulative Effect. Let me give you another example.

My wife Sulojana has been getting up an hour early, reading the Bible and spending time in prayer every day for quite a few years now. The first year or two, I could not honestly say that I noticed a significant difference in her. But, around the third year, I became aware of an increase in her spiritual strength that would sometimes catch me by surprise. Today not only does she know her Bible much better, but she knows the heart of the Father much more intimately as well. I know that it was the sheer power of The Cumulative Effect that was responsible for this amazing change.

I also recall how when I first started to deliver destiny words to others in a small group, the accuracy of the words I delivered was nowhere close to some of my peers in the same group. When I learned that there was a direct relationship between Intimacy with the Father and accuracy in hearing His voice, I started Soaking for a few minutes a day, every day. (Soaking is simply staying still in His Presence, with quiet music playing in the background).

Once again, there was no discernible difference for the first few months, but, gradually, I began to notice a positive change in the accuracy of the words. There was no other explanation than the power of The Cumulative Effect.

May I encourage you to realize and harness this power in your life as well? Whether it is with physical exercise, a spiritual discipline or skill development, please do not get discouraged when the results are not readily apparent at the outset. As the apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:9: “We shall reap in due season, if we do not give up.”

Just keep on doing what you need to do and let God help you experience the powerful blessing known as The Cumulative Effect.