What is potential? Dormant ability.
Untapped strength. Unused success. Hidden
talents. Capped capability.
There's a wealth of potential within you. But
you must decide if you will deprive the world
or bless it with the valuable, potent,
untapped resources locked away within you.
Most men and women never realize their full
potential because they do not understand
the keys to a fulfilled, effective life.
Every manufacturer establishes the
specifications, environment, conditions and
operational standards for attaining the
maximum performance level of his or her
product. God our Creator and Manufacturer
has also established a plan for the
maximum performance and release of your
potential. Violation of these requirements
will result in the malfunction, distortion,
misuse and abuse of your precious
potential.
After careful study of the Bible—the
Manufacturer's Handbook—I have identified
10 major keys to releasing your full
potential:
1. You must know (be related to) your
Source. It is essential that you understand
the nature, composition and consistency of
your Source, for this is the key to
understanding the potency of your potential.
If you had a wooden table in your house, for
example, you would be aware that the table
is made of wood from a tree. The strength,
durability and nature of the table can only
be as strong and durable as the tree. If the
tree is weak, the table will be the same.
Therefore, the potential of the table is
determined by the potential of the source
from which it came.
The same is true for you. To understand
how much potential you possess, you must
understand the Source from which you
came. You and I possess the qualities and
nature of our Source and are capable of
manifesting these qualities. We also
possess an eternal spirit just like our
Source. We will live forever—not because He
allows us to, but because it's our nature.
A manufacturer's product must remain
related to its source in order to be
maintained and supplied with genuine parts
and authorized service. Manufacturing
companies call this relationship the
warranty/guarantee agreement.
This agreement requires that the owner of
the product be subjected to the conditions,
specifications and operational standards if
the manufacturer is to take responsibility
for the maximum performance, maintenance
and servicing of the product. Violation of
the manufacturer's conditions and stan
dards cancels the warranty/guarantee
relationship and places the product at the
mercy of unauthorized dealers.
The same relationship exists between God
and humanity . God guarantees the maximum
performance of our potential if we remain
related to Him and submit to the conditions,
specifications and standards set by Him. A
personal relationship with our Creator is a
key to the releasing of our full potential.
2. You must understand how the product
was designed to function. Every
manufacturer designs, develops and
produces his or her product to function in a
specific manner. Automobile manufacturers,
for instance, design their products to
function with gasoline, spark plugs,
batteries, pistons, oil, water and so forth.
No matter what you do, if you do not
supply the elements required for the
operational function of the product, it will
not perform and maximize its potential.
God designed human beings to function as
He does. You and I were created to function
by faith and love. These are the fuels on
which we run.
The just live—operate—by faith (Rom. 1:17).
Without faith, it is impossible to please God
(Heb. 11:6). And faith works through love
(Gal. 5:6) because God is love, and those
who operate in love abide in God and God
abides in them (1 John 4:16).
Our potential cannot be released without
faith and love. Fear and hatred short-circuit
our potential.
3. You must know your purpose. Every
product exists for a specific purpose. That
reason is the original intent of its existence
—the purpose for which the manufacturer
made it. Knowing the manufacturer's intent
is essential because the purpose for which
something was made determines its design,
nature and potential.
God created you and gave you life for a
purpose. Whatever that purpose is, you
possess the potential to fulfill it. No matter
how big the dream God gave you, your
potential is equal to the assignment.
Purpose gives birth to responsibility, and
responsibility makes demands on potential.
4. You must understand your resources. All
manufacturers provide access to the
necessary resources for the proper
maintenance, sustenance and operation of
their products. Resources and provisions are
to help sustain the product while its
potential is being maximized.
God, in His great wisdom, provided human
beings with tremendous material and
physical resources to sustain and maintain
us as we proceed in realizing, developing
and maximizing our potential. We are never
to worship the resources, nor are we to
become controlled by them. Idolatry and
substance abuse are violations of the Man
ufacturer's specifications and will lead to
the destruction of potential.
5. You must have the right environment.
Environment consists of the conditions that
have a direct or indirect effect on the
performance, function and development of a
thing. Every manufacturer specifies the
proper conditions under which he or she
guarantees the maximum performance of
the product. In the manual, the
manufacturer will caution against violation
of that specified environment for maximum
performance. The right environment is the
ideal conditions needed to maximize the
true potential.
God created everything to flourish within a
specific environment. Plants and animals all
need a specific environment in order to live.
When the proper environment is violated,
the potential for life is disrupted and
possibly destroyed. This is also true of
humans.
God designed humans to function in the
garden of His presence, in relationship with
Him, free from sin and in daily communion
with His Spirit. Human potential needs this
positive environment of fellowship,
relationship, love and challenge in order to
be maximized. You can never be all you
could be in any other environment.
Humanity's fall contaminated our
environment and poisoned the atmosphere
of our potential. It produced abnormal
behavior and the malfunction of the human
factor. The key to releasing your true
potential is the restoration of God's original
environment. Jesus came to restore us to
the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to restore
our internal environment.
6. You must work out your potential.
Potential is dormant ability. But ability is
useless until it is given responsibility. When
God created Adam, He planted in him the
potential to subdue, rule over and care for
the earth and everything in it. His potential
was predetermined by this purpose. Adam
had inside of him all the potential necessary
to fulfill the assignment. But he was not
aware of his potential, even as you may not
be aware of what you can do.
So the first thing God gave Adam was not a
wife, but work (Gen. 2:15). He made
demands on the potential of Adam's mind
by commanding him to name the animals
and stimulated the potential of his body by
commanding him to cultivate the garden.
The Lord gave Adam insight into the
potential of his spirit by commanding him
to dominate the whole earth for God's glory.
Work is a major key to releasing your
potential. Claiming a promise does not
make it happen. You must apply the
principle of work. The land was promised to
the children of Israel, but they had to walk
it out to possess it (Deut. 11:24). Good
ideas do not bring success. Good hard work
does. To release your true potential, you
must be willing to work.
7. You must cultivate your potential.
Potential is like a seed. It is a hidden ability
that needs to be cultivated. You must feed
your potential the fertilizer of positive
company, give it the environment of
encouragement, drench it with the water of
God's Word and bathe it in the sunshine of
personal prayer. Read materials that
stimulate your faith and nourish your
dream.
8. You must guard your potential. It's tragic
when a tree dies in a seed or a person dies
in childhood. It's sad when what could have
been becomes what should have been. With
all the wealth of your potential, you must be
careful to guard and protect it.
The Bible calls your potential a treasure in
an earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7). You must
guard your visions and dreams from sin,
discouragement, procrastination, failures,
opinions, distractions, traditions and
compromise. Satan is after your potential.
Be on guard.
9. You must share your potential. God
created the heavens and the earth to
operate on this principle: Potential can only
be fulfilled when it is shared. Nature
abounds with this truth. The sun does not
exist for itself. Plants release oxygen for us,
and we provide carbon dioxide for the
plants. The bee receives nectar as it
pollinates the flowers.
No potential exists for itself. This is also
true of human potential. The true measure
of fulfilled potential is not what is
accomplished, but who receives benefit from
the accomplishment. Your deposit was
given to enrich and inspire the lives of
others. Remember, the great law is love.
10. You must know and understand the laws
of limitation. Freedom and power are two of
the most important elements in our lives.
Potential is the essence of both. Potential is
power. But freedom needs law to be enjoyed,
and power needs responsibility to be
effective. One without the other produces
self-destruction.
Every manufacturer establishes laws of
limitations. These laws are not given to
restrict, but to protect—not to hinder, but to
assist and guarantee the maximum
performance of potential.
God has set laws and standards to protect
our potential and to secure our success.
Violating these laws limits the release of
your potential. Obedience ensures protection
and maximization.
Commit yourself to obeying the
Manufacturer. Then watch your life unfold
as you discover the hidden ability that was
always within you.
Untapped strength. Unused success. Hidden
talents. Capped capability.
There's a wealth of potential within you. But
you must decide if you will deprive the world
or bless it with the valuable, potent,
untapped resources locked away within you.
Most men and women never realize their full
potential because they do not understand
the keys to a fulfilled, effective life.
Every manufacturer establishes the
specifications, environment, conditions and
operational standards for attaining the
maximum performance level of his or her
product. God our Creator and Manufacturer
has also established a plan for the
maximum performance and release of your
potential. Violation of these requirements
will result in the malfunction, distortion,
misuse and abuse of your precious
potential.
After careful study of the Bible—the
Manufacturer's Handbook—I have identified
10 major keys to releasing your full
potential:
1. You must know (be related to) your
Source. It is essential that you understand
the nature, composition and consistency of
your Source, for this is the key to
understanding the potency of your potential.
If you had a wooden table in your house, for
example, you would be aware that the table
is made of wood from a tree. The strength,
durability and nature of the table can only
be as strong and durable as the tree. If the
tree is weak, the table will be the same.
Therefore, the potential of the table is
determined by the potential of the source
from which it came.
The same is true for you. To understand
how much potential you possess, you must
understand the Source from which you
came. You and I possess the qualities and
nature of our Source and are capable of
manifesting these qualities. We also
possess an eternal spirit just like our
Source. We will live forever—not because He
allows us to, but because it's our nature.
A manufacturer's product must remain
related to its source in order to be
maintained and supplied with genuine parts
and authorized service. Manufacturing
companies call this relationship the
warranty/guarantee agreement.
This agreement requires that the owner of
the product be subjected to the conditions,
specifications and operational standards if
the manufacturer is to take responsibility
for the maximum performance, maintenance
and servicing of the product. Violation of
the manufacturer's conditions and stan
dards cancels the warranty/guarantee
relationship and places the product at the
mercy of unauthorized dealers.
The same relationship exists between God
and humanity . God guarantees the maximum
performance of our potential if we remain
related to Him and submit to the conditions,
specifications and standards set by Him. A
personal relationship with our Creator is a
key to the releasing of our full potential.
2. You must understand how the product
was designed to function. Every
manufacturer designs, develops and
produces his or her product to function in a
specific manner. Automobile manufacturers,
for instance, design their products to
function with gasoline, spark plugs,
batteries, pistons, oil, water and so forth.
No matter what you do, if you do not
supply the elements required for the
operational function of the product, it will
not perform and maximize its potential.
God designed human beings to function as
He does. You and I were created to function
by faith and love. These are the fuels on
which we run.
The just live—operate—by faith (Rom. 1:17).
Without faith, it is impossible to please God
(Heb. 11:6). And faith works through love
(Gal. 5:6) because God is love, and those
who operate in love abide in God and God
abides in them (1 John 4:16).
Our potential cannot be released without
faith and love. Fear and hatred short-circuit
our potential.
3. You must know your purpose. Every
product exists for a specific purpose. That
reason is the original intent of its existence
—the purpose for which the manufacturer
made it. Knowing the manufacturer's intent
is essential because the purpose for which
something was made determines its design,
nature and potential.
God created you and gave you life for a
purpose. Whatever that purpose is, you
possess the potential to fulfill it. No matter
how big the dream God gave you, your
potential is equal to the assignment.
Purpose gives birth to responsibility, and
responsibility makes demands on potential.
4. You must understand your resources. All
manufacturers provide access to the
necessary resources for the proper
maintenance, sustenance and operation of
their products. Resources and provisions are
to help sustain the product while its
potential is being maximized.
God, in His great wisdom, provided human
beings with tremendous material and
physical resources to sustain and maintain
us as we proceed in realizing, developing
and maximizing our potential. We are never
to worship the resources, nor are we to
become controlled by them. Idolatry and
substance abuse are violations of the Man
ufacturer's specifications and will lead to
the destruction of potential.
5. You must have the right environment.
Environment consists of the conditions that
have a direct or indirect effect on the
performance, function and development of a
thing. Every manufacturer specifies the
proper conditions under which he or she
guarantees the maximum performance of
the product. In the manual, the
manufacturer will caution against violation
of that specified environment for maximum
performance. The right environment is the
ideal conditions needed to maximize the
true potential.
God created everything to flourish within a
specific environment. Plants and animals all
need a specific environment in order to live.
When the proper environment is violated,
the potential for life is disrupted and
possibly destroyed. This is also true of
humans.
God designed humans to function in the
garden of His presence, in relationship with
Him, free from sin and in daily communion
with His Spirit. Human potential needs this
positive environment of fellowship,
relationship, love and challenge in order to
be maximized. You can never be all you
could be in any other environment.
Humanity's fall contaminated our
environment and poisoned the atmosphere
of our potential. It produced abnormal
behavior and the malfunction of the human
factor. The key to releasing your true
potential is the restoration of God's original
environment. Jesus came to restore us to
the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to restore
our internal environment.
6. You must work out your potential.
Potential is dormant ability. But ability is
useless until it is given responsibility. When
God created Adam, He planted in him the
potential to subdue, rule over and care for
the earth and everything in it. His potential
was predetermined by this purpose. Adam
had inside of him all the potential necessary
to fulfill the assignment. But he was not
aware of his potential, even as you may not
be aware of what you can do.
So the first thing God gave Adam was not a
wife, but work (Gen. 2:15). He made
demands on the potential of Adam's mind
by commanding him to name the animals
and stimulated the potential of his body by
commanding him to cultivate the garden.
The Lord gave Adam insight into the
potential of his spirit by commanding him
to dominate the whole earth for God's glory.
Work is a major key to releasing your
potential. Claiming a promise does not
make it happen. You must apply the
principle of work. The land was promised to
the children of Israel, but they had to walk
it out to possess it (Deut. 11:24). Good
ideas do not bring success. Good hard work
does. To release your true potential, you
must be willing to work.
7. You must cultivate your potential.
Potential is like a seed. It is a hidden ability
that needs to be cultivated. You must feed
your potential the fertilizer of positive
company, give it the environment of
encouragement, drench it with the water of
God's Word and bathe it in the sunshine of
personal prayer. Read materials that
stimulate your faith and nourish your
dream.
8. You must guard your potential. It's tragic
when a tree dies in a seed or a person dies
in childhood. It's sad when what could have
been becomes what should have been. With
all the wealth of your potential, you must be
careful to guard and protect it.
The Bible calls your potential a treasure in
an earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7). You must
guard your visions and dreams from sin,
discouragement, procrastination, failures,
opinions, distractions, traditions and
compromise. Satan is after your potential.
Be on guard.
9. You must share your potential. God
created the heavens and the earth to
operate on this principle: Potential can only
be fulfilled when it is shared. Nature
abounds with this truth. The sun does not
exist for itself. Plants release oxygen for us,
and we provide carbon dioxide for the
plants. The bee receives nectar as it
pollinates the flowers.
No potential exists for itself. This is also
true of human potential. The true measure
of fulfilled potential is not what is
accomplished, but who receives benefit from
the accomplishment. Your deposit was
given to enrich and inspire the lives of
others. Remember, the great law is love.
10. You must know and understand the laws
of limitation. Freedom and power are two of
the most important elements in our lives.
Potential is the essence of both. Potential is
power. But freedom needs law to be enjoyed,
and power needs responsibility to be
effective. One without the other produces
self-destruction.
Every manufacturer establishes laws of
limitations. These laws are not given to
restrict, but to protect—not to hinder, but to
assist and guarantee the maximum
performance of potential.
God has set laws and standards to protect
our potential and to secure our success.
Violating these laws limits the release of
your potential. Obedience ensures protection
and maximization.
Commit yourself to obeying the
Manufacturer. Then watch your life unfold
as you discover the hidden ability that was
always within you.
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