Jump Start Your Day: Practical Insight for Everyday Living

By Pastor Bryan Carter and William Rollings

With our busy and hectic schedules, we often rush out the door without gaining the fuel needed to make it through the day. Start your day with a positive outlook and great attitude. Learn practical tips on how to successfully face the common situations of everyday life including how to get the most out of your job, reduce financial debt, seek great friendships, properly handle success, avoid compromise, overcome challenges, plan for your future and overcome physical burnout, bitterness, jealousy and anger.

Each lesson is contemporary, practical, and easy to read. Every lesson is organized by an interactive 3 A's approach - Ask, Answer and Act. As we face the daily challenges of life, we normally "ask" questions to gain insight concerning how to properly deal with our situation. Next, we expect to receive "answers" which provide us with practical insight and advice. Lastly, we "act" upon the advice received if we expect to fully succeed in our situation.

This devotional challenges readers to seek God's advice concerning their daily opportunities and obstacles. Readers will be inspired and motivated each morning to take charge of their day with confidence and strive for successful living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595840359

Pastor Bryan Carter

William Rollings and his lovely wife Grenna were married in Durban, South Africa in 2002. They have one beautiful daughter, Alexis, and now reside in Dallas, Texas. William is a native of Perry, Florida. His mission is to encourage and equip people to reach their God given potential through writing and public speaking. He earned a B.S. Degree from Florida A&M University and a MBA degree from the University of Texas in Austin.

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Copyright © 2006 by William Rollings

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN-13: 978-0-595-39632-0 (pbk)

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Contents

Acknowledgments

FOREWORD

1 Obeying God Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense

2 Looking For Rain on A Sunny

3 Knocking Down Doors

4 Good Opportunities vs. God

5 There’s A Giant Standing in My

6 This Isn’t What I Expected

7 I Want What They Have

8 Making the Most Out Of It

9 Are You A Workaholic?

10 Through the Storm

11 I’m Tired of Waiting

12 Jealousy—The Green Eyed Monster

13 Taking It to the Next Level

14 Burnout—Wearing Ourselves Out: Part 1

15 Burnout—Wearing Ourselves Out: Part 2

16 Dealing with Success

17 Keeping Our Dreams in Perspective—Part 1

18 Keeping Our Dreams in Perspective—Part 2

19 Becoming Better or Bitter

21 Be Careful How We Use Our Gifts

22 Is Sin the Source of My Storm?

23 What Do I Really Need During a

24 Motives—Why We Do What We

25 Take a Break Sometimes

26 Making Plans

27 Where’s The Gratitude?

28 When I’m Hesitant to Pray

29 Getting the Most Out Of Work—Part 1

30 Getting the Most Out Of Work—Part 2

31 When We Don’t Know What to

32 Friends—How Many ofUs Have

33 Doing the Right Thing is Tough

34 Dealing with Debt

35 Being the Underdog

36 From Saul to Paul——What a Change He’s Made in My Life

37 Struck Down, but Not Destroyed

38 Being a Blessing to Others

39 God is Pleased When We Help Others

40 It’s The Little Things

41 Anger Management

42 Get In the Game

43 Humility Is Not A Bad Word

44 Giving Back To God

45 I Am A Friend of God

46 Spiritual Growth—Get in Shape

47 Tell God About It

48 Dealing with Compromise

49 Be an Encourager

50 Listening to Advice

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere thanks to:

My wife, Grenna—for being an outstanding wife and mother. I thank God everyday for brining you into my life. You’ve been my best friend and the woman of my dreams. Thank you for allowing me to be your soul mate.

My daughter, Alexis—for making me the proudest father in the world. I look forward to seeing your precious face everyday. Your mother and I are so thankful that God blessed us with you. We love you so much.

My family: William Sr., Estic and Tedrick—for your love, encouragement and unwavering support that has extended from childhood into adulthood. You have always been on my side. When there was no one else to call, I knew that I could always depend on you.

My family in South Africa—for your long distance prayers and support. Thank you for accepting me into your family and sharing Grenna with me.

My pastor and friend, Rev. Bryan Carter—for being a good friend and outstanding senior pastor. Your testimony has served as a source of encouragement for me and many other young men striving to reach our God-given potential.

My Concord Church family—for allowing me to serve with you on the battlefield for Christ. Special thanks to the elders, deacons and other leaders who supported me on this project.

My friends Tan Mayhew and Kayla Barre—for your timely suggestions and editorial support on this project.

My friends Steve and Kim Webb—for your encouraging words and support during this journey. Your accountability helped me to stay on track.

FOREWORD

Our devotional times are the most intimate times of the day and I truly appreciate how William has provided meaningful and inspirational devotionals on each day. The title Jump Start Your Day is reflective of a well-written and Biblical devotional. This devotional is bubbling with spiritual encouragement and insight. Some devotionals have a strong beginning but lack the ability to maintain the punch throughout. This is not the case with Jump Start Your Day, it grabs your attention and creates a sense of expectation for each day. The Ask, Answer, Act format is extremely beneficial in gaining the essence of the passage of study and applying it to life. Thanks William for such a well developed and passionate work.

Pastor Bryan Carter

Senior Pastor

Concord Missionary Baptist Church

Dallas, Texas

1

Obeying God Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore…He said to Simon, Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Luke 5:2—6

Ask

I know that God is calling me to complete a particular task. However, it doesn’t make any sense to me. Should I ignore God’s calling?

Answer

This was not your average fishing trip. These men came to test their fishing skills, but Jesus wanted to test their obedience. Jesus wanted to know if they would trust Him even when life didn’t make sense. Have you ever been hesitant to obey God when things didn’t make sense? What can we learn from this story?

1. We become exhausted—In verse 5, we discover that the fisherman worked hard all night. They were willing to put forth the effort to reach their goal—to catch fish. However, they became exhausted in the process. In verse 2, we find them washing their nets. In other words, they were ready to quit. Likewise, we often find ourselves in similar situations. Whenever God calls us to do something, we persevere and keep trying. After we’ve made several attempts with no success, we’re ready to throw in the towel.

2.   God gets our attention—After reading this story, I realized that God’s timing is awesome. If Jesus knew that the men wouldn’t catch any fish, why didn’t He warn them in advance? He could have saved them a tremendous amount of time and effort. Is it possible that Jesus allowed them to go through this situation in an effort to gain their attention? God knows that some of us are more willing to listen to Him only after we’ve tried it our way and failed. After we’ve exhausted all of our options and resources, we’ll say to God, Now I’m ready to listen.

3.   We may still question God—When Jesus asked the men to cast out into the deep, I’m sure that they were doubtful. I can hear them saying to themselves, We’ve been here all night and caught nothing. What’s going to be different about this attempt? Likewise, we may also say to ourselves, I’ve been down this road before. I’ve tried so hard in the past but came up empty handed. Why should I try it again? In the past, we’ve tried to lose weight, find a new job or fall in love with no success. As a result, we question if it’s really worth our time.

4.   Despite the odds, we obey God anyway—In verse 5, Simon responds to Jesus by saying, Because you say so, I will let down the nets. It didn’t make sense that God would ask Noah to build an ark when there was no rain in the forecast, but he did it anyway. It didn’t make sense that God would ask the people to knock down the walls of Jericho with the sound of a trumpet, but they did it anyway. It didn’t make sense that God would ask His Son to die on the cross for a crime that He didn’t commit, but He did it anyway. I challenge you to trust and obey God even when it doesn’t make sense.

Act

•   Is God asking you to do something that doesn’t make sense? Trust and obey God anyway.

For encouragement, read the stories about Noah and the people at the wall of Jericho.

2

Looking For Rain on A Sunny

Day

And Elijah said to Ahab, Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain. So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant. And he went up and looked. There is nothing there, he said. Seven times Elijah said, Go back. The seventh time the servant reported, A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea. So Elijah said, Go and tell Ahab, Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you." Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

1 Kings 18:41-45

Ask