by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 4, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Money and Finance, Motivation, Prayer, Self-Leadership
Welcome to Day 3 of our #PrayFirst Campaign!
For One Week, we will pray for One Minute every hour about One Topic as One Church to One God! Pray for the first 60 seconds of every hour and watch God bless the other 59 minutes! There is power when God’s people pray in unity. Join us as we answer Jesus’ prayer “May they be ONE” (John 17:21).
If you’d like to know more about our #PrayFirst Campaign, you can click HERE. Also, you can read our Day One Devotional on Faith HERE and Day Two Family Devotional HERE.
Get Rich or Go Broke Trying
Rich a subjective term. It’s an ever-moving target. It’s like trying to nail jello to the wall. Defining“rich” is as personal as taste preferences of food or fashion. Many times, even when you are considered by others to be rich, you don’t think of yourself that way.
Why? It’s all about perspective. The problem is you don’t “feel” rich. For the sake of this devotional, I won’t define rich…I’m leaving that task to you. I will, however, share a tip that’ll help you “feel” rich regardless of your income.
Fire The Jones’
We all know “that” family… the happy, perfect family who seems to have it all. Everyone has a “Jones” family on their block, and while some shrug their shoulders and don’t care that the “Jones” just brought home a new Mercedes, others feel as if they need to not only keep up but to outdo this neighbor or even friend.
Occasionally, we make questionable decisions to impress the others. The earlier we recognize our self-worth isn’t tied to our possessions, the sooner we’ll reach financial freedom. There’s no shame in driving a second-hand car with a few miles. You don’t need the pressure of working extra hours just to cover credit card payments.
Pray for Your Finances
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
Lord, I surrender my financial affairs and concerns about money to your Divine care and love. I ask that you remove my worries, anxieties, and fears about money, and replace them with faith. I know and trust that my debts will be paid, and money will flow into my life. I have only to look to nature to see proof of the abundance you provide. I release all negative thoughts about money and know that prosperity is my true state. I commit to being grateful for all that I now have in my life. I learn to manage my finances wisely, seeking help where needed. In Jesus’ name. Amen
by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 15, 2015 | Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership
I recently discovered why I’m feeling flu-like symptoms…It’s because the election season is almost in full swing.
Soon we will be inundated with endless commercials persuading us to vote for a particular candidate. Honestly, I am not interested in hearing another narcissistic self-serving pitch.
I’m more interested in hearing how they’ll get back to serving the people. The world doesn’t need new leaders cut from the same self-serving cloth. We need to help them discover the best kept leadership secret in plain sight – Servant Leadership.
The Best Kept Leadership Secret Hidden In Plain Sight – Be a Servant
Being a servant is often frowned upon. Instead life is all about being successful and that doesn’t quite equate to being a servant. The world tells you to have ambition and drive so you can one day lead as CEO. But self promotion seldom results in effective leadership.
If you are only focused on what you want, if you rise up through manipulation and power play, only you benefit. As a result, that leadership is seldom influential. A truly effective leader is defined by a different heart attitude.
It reflects in the success of the people that they work with and manage. It is evidenced in the organizations they lead, and it impacts dramatically on a business’ bottom line. Their secret is simply that they lead people by being a servant to them.
[shareable cite=”CE Stowers”]The Best Kept Leadership Secret Hidden In Plain Sight – Be a Servant[/shareable]
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 5, 2015 | Empowerment, Leadership, Motivation, Networking, Self-Leadership, Servant Leadership, Social Media, Success, Vision
I love adding value to church leaders, pastors, and marketplace leaders.
In an effort to add value to their lives, I decided to attend Pastor E. Dewey Smith’s One Day Leadership Summit in Atlanta, GA.
It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of John Maxwell. In fact, his 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, along with Bill Hybels’ Leadership Axioms travel with me everywhere I go. Attending conferences that equip me to influence the influencer fulfills John Maxwell’s 15th Law – The Law of Contribution – Growing Yourself Enables You to Grow Others.
I must confess that in the beginning, my motivation for personal growth was selfish. I wanted to grow, so I could be successful. There were goals I wanted to accomplish and milestones I wanted to achieve. But along the way, I made a life-changing discovery. My progress in personal growth also opened the doors for others.
Therefore, I’d like to share the top leadership lessons from one of the greatest leadership minds in Christianity, Dr. E. Dewey Smith, Jr. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 16, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Encouragement, Motivation, Self-Leadership, Spiritual Growth
People who live in Chicago know this: Our seasons are uncontrollable and unpredictable.
The same is true about life. It’s unpredictable and include good times and bad times. There are four weather seasons, but there are many seasons in the seasons of life, especially the Season of Loneliness.
Some of you are thinking, “I can stop reading now because I’m not lonely.” Keep reading because one day you’re going to need this message. Loneliness in an inevitable season of life. You will go through it many, many times.
What Causes Loneliness
It is not good for man to be alone. Gen. 2:18
Genesis 2:18 says God made us to need each other, that we are made for relationships. When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, He had every single thing he could want. There were no stress or problems. God looked at Adam and said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.” The very first thing that God said is not right about the earth is loneliness. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 9, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Encouragement, Motivation, Self-Leadership, Success, Tools, Vision
Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.
The real question is what are you doing with your time?
Each day the average American spends between one and two hours driving to and from work. Yearly we spend well over 300 hours of our lives in our car. It’s the equivalent of 38 work days of driving. Another way to look at it is 13 straight 24 hour days.
[shareable]Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.[/shareable]
We Spend a Lot of Time Commuting
The average commute in the U.S is 45 minutes, with New Yorkers having the longest trek to work with an average 73-minute commute. Chicagoans came in second spending 64 minutes a day commuting, followed by San Francisco residents with 56 minutes, while those in Los Angeles have an average 55-minute commute, according to CNN Money. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 2, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Self-Leadership, Success
In Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace study, 70 percent of those who participated described themselves as “disengaged” from their work.
Translation: 70 percent of Americans don’t like their jobs. Yikes!
There’s a reason King Solomon is considered one of the wisest men who ever lived. Thousands of years ago, he posed a question that’s even more relevant today. He wrote:
What do people really get for all their hard work? Ecclesiastes 3:9
King Solomon is asking, “Why do you work?”
Do you work to pay your bills? Do you work to get rich? Do you work so that you can retire? Since studies show you’ll spend 40% of your life working, maybe it’s time to think about the real reason you work.
Let me put it another way: If you’re an average American, you’ll spend about 150,000 hours of your life at work. That’s a long time considering how many people don’t like their jobs. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time understanding why people spend their lives doing something they don’t like.
Again I ask, “Why do you work?” (more…)
