In How to Reach Your Full Potential for God, acclaimed pastor and speaker Charles Stanley connects readers with the plan and purpose God envisioned when He created them.

"Things are never going to change" or "This is just the way I am--I'm never going to get better" are just a few of the damaging lies Christians believe about themselves, their situations, and their walk. But Dr. Stanley shares the real truth as God sees it.

In this powerful and inspiring message, readers reconnect with the grand vision God had when He uniquely created them. They learn that regardless of setbacks, failures, and frustrations, there is a better path based in His Word, one that's full of freedom and purpose. This book takes them to their specifically designed path to become exactly who the Father made them to be and achieve exactly what He designed them for.

How to REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL for GOD

What You Must Learn From The Bold Confrontations Of ChristBy Charles F. Stanley

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2009 Charles F. Stanley
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4002-0092-4

Contents

Chapter 1 Do You Want God's Best?......................................1Chapter 2 Don't Settle for less........................................5Chapter 3 Ready ... Set ... Pursue Your Potential!.....................21Chapter 4 Essential #1: A Clean Heart..................................35Chapter 5 Essential #2: A Clear Mind...................................53Chapter 6 Essential #3: Using Your Gifts...............................87Chapter 7 Essential #4: A Healthy Body.................................119Chapter 8 Essential #5: Right Relationships............................149Chapter 9 Essential #6: A Balanced Schedule............................169Chapter 10 Essential #7: Taking God-Approved Risks.....................201Chapter 11 The Ongoing Pursuit.........................................223Chapter 12 The Best Is Yet to Come!....................................235

Chapter One

Do You Want God's Best?

I awoke suddenly one morning about three o'clock. I had been soundly and deeply asleep. But in an instant, I was sitting up in my bed wide awake with this question burning in my spirit:

Do you want to reach your full potential?

I have experienced similar encounters in the past and have come to recognize that when something like this happens, God is trying to get my attention. More importantly, He is about to impart to me something I need to know or something I need to preach.

Immediately I replied, "Yes, Lord!"

I didn't hesitate or ponder the question. Without a doubt I want to be and to do all that God has created me to be and to do! That is my deepest heart's desire.

I reached for the pad of paper and pencil that I keep by my bedside for just such words from the Lord, switched on the light, and began to write as He spoke into my spirit. If you truly want to reach your full potential, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, a balanced schedule. Within a matter of minutes, I had completely outlined the content of the book you are holding in your hands.

Then I turned off the light and fell back into a sound, restful sleep knowing that I had heard directly from God.

When morning came, I got down on my knees and prayed about the words that the Lord had given me during the night. I knew with certainty that I was to preach His message-a message not only for me, but also for the entire body of Christ.

I could hardly wait for Sunday to arrive so I could launch into this wonderfully rich area of the Father's concern-reaching your God-given potential.

The truth is, many people are not pursuing their potential. They are not factoring God into their decision-making or into their goal setting. They cannot clearly and succinctly say what they believe to be the Lord's foremost purpose and plan for their lives. They will stare at you blankly if you ask, "What do you believe is God's will for you? Why do you believe He created you? What is the Father leading you to do next in your life?"

Let me assure you at this book's outset of several great truths:

First, God has a will, plan, and purpose for your life individually and personally. He has a broad will, plan, and purpose for all of mankind, and He has specifically designed you and equipped you to fulfill a portion of that bigger will, plan, and purpose. You are not here by accident. You are not on this earth merely to live a certain number of years, months, and days, and then die. You are here to accomplish a job that God assigned to you from eternity past.

Second, your heavenly Father has already embedded into you all of the gifts and talents you need to complete the work that He has assigned, prepared, and provided for you to do. God has already embedded into you all of the raw material necessary for you to come into a relationship with Him and to develop the character of His Son, Jesus Christ. Your job is to discover the talents that God has placed in you, to develop them, and to begin to use them as the Lord brings opportunities for service or ministry.

Third, nobody can be who you are, nobody can replace you, and nobody else on this earth is capable of fulfilling the Father's plan for you. Nobody else can do the work He has gifted you to do, know the people He is leading you to know, or offer the praise and prayer that He is giving voice to. You must be and do what God made you to be and do.

Fourth, you must establish firm commitments in various areas of your life in order to pursue and begin to reach your God-given potential. It doesn't unfold accidentally or automatically. The pursuit of your unique potential and purpose requires you to seek God's very specific help in very specific areas of your life.

The question I ask you at the outset of this book is the same question the Lord asked me:

"Do you want to reach your full potential?"

If your answer is yes, then this is His message for you.

Chapter Two

Don't Settle for Less

Are you excited about your life?

Or do you feel as if you are merely existing?

Are you moving with confidence toward a desired goal?

Or do you feel as if you are drifting along from day to day without any sense of purpose or direction?

Perhaps there was a time when you were excited about your life, but now the excitement has faded, and you are asking, What has happened to me? Why am I so apathetic about my life? What happened to my inner drive?

People have said to me, "When I look at my life and the way the world is today, I just don't see much to be excited about."

Some think about their vocations or jobs and say, "I can't go any higher, do any better, or go any farther. I can't do more than I'm doing right now."

Others feel as if their lives have gone stale. Perhaps their marriages aren't as dynamic as they once were, or they have lost all interest in hobbies and activities that once gave them pleasure.

Some people tell me that they feel inadequate or unprepared for the future.

Still others say that they feel plagued by their lives-stuck in their circumstances, wondering, What's it all about? What is my life worth? What happened to my joy?

There are reasons we feel stuck, discouraged, or adrift.

There are reasons people lose their enthusiasm for life.

There are reasons God's people lose their hope, their sense of purpose, and their joy.

There are reasons life becomes just one long bore.

In my opinion, the foremost reasons are: (1) people have lost sight of who God made them to be and what He designed them to do; and (2) as a result, people are not actively, intentionally, and purposefully pursuing what the Father has planned for them.

If you truly want to pursue and reach your full potential, then you must face up to these two truths:

Truth #1: God has placed more within you than you realize.

Truth #2: You likely have settled for the life you have now.

ARE YOU LIVING A SETTLED-FOR LIFE?

Through the years, I have met countless people who are living what I call a "settled-for life." Someplace along the journey, they became complacent and content in their circumstances. They settled for what they believed was...