Consistency … sticking with something, holding your course despite the pressures, the confusion, the exhaustion, the roller coaster of emotions that so often come your way … is a powerful driver toward success.

During the WWI Battle of Jutland, Admiral David Beatty led the British battlecruiser fleet against the German navy. Problem was, he frequently changed course and tactics during the early phases of the battle. That failure to engage the enemy consistently led to confusion, poor communications and ultimately, heavy British losses.

In short, Beatty’s inconsistency squandered the opportunity for a decisive British victory at sea that day.

At the other end of the spectrum, I read something recently that really quite intrigued me. It’s called the rule of one hundred. If you spend a hundred hours a year in any discipline (which comes out at less than seventeen minutes a day) you’ll be better than 95% of the world in that discipline. I don’t know how accurate that is but it makes a lot of sense.

So how consistent are you … let’s say, in your faith walk; in your efforts to follow Jesus, hmm?

1 Corinthians 15:58 … my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

Challenges, obstacles, exhaustion, flagging enthusiasm will all come your way as you follow Jesus wherever He leads along the highways and byways of life. So be strong. Give yourself fully to whatever He’s called you to.

Because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.

The development of communication technology over this last century, each new invention, has enabled us to be further apart whilst communicating ever more quickly and conveniently. These days, there’s pretty much nowhere on Earth where you can’t use technology to communicate.

Back in the 1950’s, when my father (who’d emigrated to Australia from post- war Europe) proposed to my mother (still back in Austria), it took almost three months for his letter to reach her and for her response to come back to him.

By comparison, I was recently in a ministry Board meeting in Sydney when a message popped up on my phone from our Africa director visiting a radio station in Zanzibar. It’s easy to take that for granted these days, but think about it – that’s amazing!

Yet the quicker and more convenient our communications become, the more isolated we are from one another, and the more abruptly, the more unthinkingly, we can end up communicating.

Some of the emails I receive, the text messages, the comments on social media, step over the line from being abrupt (fair enough, I guess) to being downright rude. It’s a real issue. So … time to take stock of our digital communications with some ancient words of wisdom:

Ephesians 4:29 When you talk, don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need—whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you.

Or, as one of my Facebook friends said recently, post wisely over these next few months. Contribute to discourse but not division. Check your facts. Resist cheap digs. Create beautiful content. Transcend the bitterness and be better, even when you disagree.

Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

In all that we think, say and do, it’s incredibly worthwhile to ask ourselves from time to time – why did I think, say or do that thing? Why did I have those negative thoughts about my sister? Why did I snap at my wife? Why did I splurge on that useless trinket or toy? Why?

The reason I share that with you today is that all too often we think, say and do things out of selfishness and sometimes out of pride. The average person is an incredibly selfish creature.

Think about it. One of the most important things to teach our children from an early age is not to be selfish. Because, as they grow up – as we grew up – that selfishness all too easily morphs into a sense of pride.

Be honest. In your dealings with those around you, to what extent have those two bedfellows – selfishness and pride – influenced your behaviour? Perhaps it’s time for a reality check.

Philippians 2:3-4 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honour others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

How do you deal with your selfishness and pride when they’re so hard to put down? After all, they rear their ugly heads all too often – especially when we’re under pressure, when we ourselves are hurting. Answer?

Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

It’s funny how selfishness and pride evaporate when we become genuinely caring, genuinely concerned, over the needs of others.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.