Your Fullest Potential

I will never forget the words he said to me. One reason is that they are written in a book he gifted me. During the summer of 1997, I traveled with the late Bishop Michael Lee Graves to Garden Grove, CA. We attended the late Dr. Robert Schuller’s conference, Your Church Has a Fantastic Future. I purchased my copy of the book Your Church Has A Fantastic Future. On the plane returning, Bishop Graves requested to see my book. I gave it to him, and minutes later, he returned. It wasn’t until I returned home that I read what he had inscribed in the book. These are the words:

Breonus, my Son, do not let anything or anyone, including yourself, prevent you from reaching your fullest potential.

What powerful words! I wish I could say that I have held up to that challenge. But there have been times when I haven’t. Some of those times were due to things beyond my control. But, more than often, it was my fault. Are you performing at your fullest potential?

Luke 9:40 is a sad moment for those Jesus had called. A father’s only son has a spirit that seizes him; he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth, severely bruising him. He brings his son to the disciples, begging them to cast out the spirit, but THEY COULD NOT! According to Luke 9:1-6, Jesus had prepared them, and they were “bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.” But in this moment, they failed.

I return to this miracle often because it exposes my performance. Why do we fail to perform at our fullest potential? I think it is because we approach things with the business-as-usual mindset. The disciples didn’t recognize that demon possession is not a disease. They attempted to perform the same practices they used for diseases on a demon or spirit. I am not writing about demon possession. I am writing about how often we fail to perform at our fullest potential because we approach new challenges as business as usual.

I am learning that fresh wind is what I need more in this season of my life. The danger is that the late Myles Monroe said, “Whenever something has worked in times past, we like to keep it.” What worked in the past or other situations will not work in every case. I want to encourage you to perform at your fullest potential by having discernment for your current situation. There is so much more God wants to do through you, but you can’t use yesterday’s practices.