"When we turn from the lures of the world to the person of Christ, we discover the magnet that draws, the anchor that steadies, the fortress that defends, the light that illumines, the treasure that enriches, the law that commands and the power that enables"

-Alexander Maclaren

So often in my prayers, I find myself asking God to do this for me or to give this to me. When I find myself in a rut of self-serving prayers of petition, I am often reminded of the words of one of my favorite old hymns, "Take My Life and Let It Be". Standing in contrast to "give me" preoccupied prayer, this hymn instead asks God to "take" from me. What would my life look like if everyday these words became my heartfelt prayer? That is what I am trying to live out through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Take My Life and Let It Be - Frances R. Havergal 1874

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee;
Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee;
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise;
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

I have long been a fan and a follower of John Maxwell. A few years ago I even had the opportunity to meet him personally and have a conversation with him. If you haven’t ever read any of his books, you’re truly missing out. As we’ve probably all heard it said before, “If you want to be a leader, you have to be a reader”. I have a whole shelf in my library stocked with Maxwell books and materials. One of my favorite Maxwell books is, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Here’s a quick summary of the 13^th Law of Leadership (I've been thinking about a lot lately). It's based on 1 Chronicles 20:4-8. 

The Law of Reproduction: 

1. It takes one to know one. (We tend to see what we posses ourselves). 

2. It takes one to show one. (We cannot model for someone what we haven’t done). 

3. It takes one to grow one. (We cannot train someone until we’ve done it ourselves). 

No doubt King David (in 1 Chr. 20:4-8) was an awesome example of a leader who reproduced leaders. Who are the leaders that you have personally recognized, raised up, resourced and rightly released? It’s what leaders do. Too much of the church has a 'hire in' mentality, instead of a 'raise up' mindset. If you can't think of anyone, maybe it's time to step up your game and grow as a leader. You'll be glad you did!

I saw the following post on a blog that I frequent by Mark Batterson. Even though it's directed at those in full-time ministry, there's a lot that can, and should, be applied to those working in the marketplace as well. If you'd like to check out Mark's blog for yourself, you can find it here.

"One of the quantum challenges leaders face is this: as the organizations they lead start experiencing organizational growth they stop experiencing personal growth. Why? Because of the demands of the organizational growth. They start leading the organization and stop leading themselves. And that is when the blessing turns into a curse. Growth will grind to a halt. In fact, it will probably implode. You lose spiritual margin. You lose intellectual margin. You lose creative margin. And you stop growing. No Margin = No Growth. 

The key to continued organizational and personal growth boils down to this: margin. You need margin to think. You need margin to play. You need margin to laugh. You need margin to dream. You need margin to have impromptu conversations. You need margin to seize unanticipated opportunities. You need margin. 

One of the primary responsibilities of leaders is creating margin. It almost seems selfish. But you are doing everybody you work with a disservice if you give them everything you've got. You need margin. And it starts with time management. If you don't control your calendar, your calendar will control you.  

Here are a ten ways to create margin: 

1) Use all of your vacation days. You owe it to yourself and your family.

2) Protect your day off religiously.

3) Don't schedule meetings on certain days or before certain hours.

4) Delegate more responsibility.

5) Only check email during designated times during the day.

6) Get up earlier in the morning.

7) Schedule meetings with God and yourself.

8) Turn off the TV.

9) Get out of your organizational context and go to a conference.

10) Hit the gym. You don't have enough time or energy NOT to work out."