Steve May, Author at Steve May

Schedule Your Priorities

Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) said …

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

Effective leaders make that which matters most the top priority, each and every day.

No doubt you already have a long list of items today that must get done. But what about those things that merely need to get done? When and where will they fit in?

When Jesus visited his friends in Bethany, Martha spent the morning doing what had to be done: cooking and cleaning (and then complaining).

Mary, however, did what matters most: she spent the morning sitting at the feet of Jesus.

When Martha objected, Jesus said, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

We all have Martha-type chores to do. They can’t be ignored forever, or even for long. Eventually, they must get done.

But don’t forget that which is needed. Today (and then tomorrow) before you get to what must be done, get to what needs to be done.

Consider doing first that which matters most. Schedule your priorities. You do so with a promise: it will never be taken away from you.

Directed by the Deep

In the frigid waters surrounding the island of Greenland there are countless icebergs, some tiny, some gigantic. If you watched them closely you would see that the smaller chunks sometimes move in one direction, while the larger ones move in another direction.

Why is that?

Small icebergs are driven by surface winds; the large are directed by deep ocean currents.

Of course, you can’t see the currents, but they’re there. If an iceberg has sufficient depth, it can be carried by the current, in spite of which way the wind is blowing.

It’s the same for people like you and me. Those with sufficient spiritual depth aren’t swayed by the breeze of public opinion or ideological fashion. Neither are they driven by any gust of random circumstance.

Instead, they’re directed by the deeper current of God’s Word … by faith in his promise: “I am with you always.”

For this reason, the goal of the believer is to become firm in their knowledge of Jesus Christ …

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. (Ephesians 4:14)

This means that job one each day is to take steps in knowing him more: Spending time in his Word, spending time with him in prayer. This is where spiritual depth begins.

This daily routine, more than any other, establishes the believer in the Christian life, enabling them to be directed by the deeper current of faith, not the ever-changing winds of chance.

Today’s post was updated from a previous post.

Lamentations: Never & Every

It was a spiritual turning point for me when I decided to take God at his Word. It was two words, actually: Never and Every. In Lamentations 3:22-23 …

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

When I most wanted to give up, when I was all but convinced that God would surely give up on me, I decided to believe that the words never and every are true.

NEVER. His love never runs out. Neither his mercy. And by the way, in the original Hebrew, the word translated never means never.

EVERY. His mercy is new every morning. Like this is Day One.

This means that you can open your eyes each new day in a right relationship with God, if that’s what you want. Not because you were perfect yesterday, but because this day, like every day, he extends his mercy brand new, to all who dare to ask. Just like Lamentations says.

Thank God for never and every.

Starting Today

An ancient proverb says…

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is today.”

Looking back twenty years, it’s easy to see all the trees that should have been planted: Where we should have invested more and saved more; studied more, prayed more, laughed more; spent the day with the kids more and appreciated others more.

Just to name a few.

Today it’s easy to see all the trees we failed to plant back then. And it’s tempting to dwell on all the potentially good things that were left undone.

God, however, has forgotten them. Your sins of omission have been cast into the same sea of forgetfulness as all your other sins.

And so we must be about the business of planting trees today … starting today.

Paul said, “Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT)

Yesterday will never be any different than it was, but today’s pages are still blank.

Today is the day of salvation; today is the day to plant a tree.

This memo, Starting Today, is taken from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Today’s memo (a repeat from a few years back) is about a man with a decades-long history of failure.

His name was Charles. You really can’t say that his friends called him Charlie because he got to the point where he didn’t have any friends.

After failing in business, Charles borrowed some money from the bank to pursue a new idea. But the new idea failed.

He borrowed money from friends, and failed again.

And then he borrowed from relatives, but he continued to fail.

Pretty soon he owed money to everyone he knew, with no way to pay it back.

He believed he was on the verge of a major breakthrough, but found it difficult to focus on developing his ideas because he was constantly hounded by creditors.

Charles sought protection through the bankruptcy laws, but failed to keep his payment arrangements, ultimately landing him in jail. During this time, with fewer distractions, he was able to make progress, developing his idea almost to completion.

A few more years, a few more loans, a few more mistakes, and eventually he attained the success he had sought for so long.

Charles’ business invention had to do with a process for vulcanizing rubber. His last name, by the way, was Goodyear. His elusive idea helped you get to work today.

Early in life, Charles Goodyear made a decision never to quit — to try again, and then again, as many times as it takes. He wasn’t particularly good with managing money, and he often stretched himself too thin, but he never let failure — or his own faults — hold him back.

He refused to give up, long after everyone else had given up on him. Finally, Charles Goodyear’s persistence paid off.

It’s a decision only the truly courageous can make: Allowing no fault or failure, personal or professional, to persuade you to quit, or prevent you from getting back up and reaching for the prize one more time.

This is where great lives are made. It’s where breakthroughs are achieved.

It’s where the rubber meets the road.

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. (Proverbs 24:16)

Today’s memo is from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.

Sabina: The Movie

Sabina: Tortured For Christ (The Nazi Years) is a new film from Voice of the Martyrs. The story follows VOM founders Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand through the first years of the marriage, their conversion to Christianity, and the early years of their ministry to those who suffer persecution.

The movie is available to stream online for free.

You can also host a showing of the movie at your church. VOM will send a DVD, promotional materials, and a special gift to all in attendance.

More information can be found here.

How Can I Say Thanks?

Centuries ago, William Law wrote:

“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world?

“It is not he prays most or fasts most, it is not he who lives most, but it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.”

In 1 Chronicles 16 David sings a hymn of thanksgiving. As I read these words, I think of the Andre Crouch song, My Tribute, which begins:

How can I say thanks for the things you’ve done for me?

This Song of David in 1 Chronicles 16 suggests some ways we can say “thank you” for God’s goodness — things that we, in the midst of keeping busy in the work of ministry, sometimes forget to do.

• Give him praise today. (v. 9) “Remind” him (and yourself) of all the wonderful things he’s done in your life.

• Make him part of your conversation today. (v. 24) The most compelling Christian I have ever known was a man who talked continuously about God — not about himself, not about his church, not about your sins and mine — but about the goodness of God. It was irresistible. No wonder his spiritual life was so dynamic, and no wonder he made such a difference in the lives of others.

• Give something back today. (v. 29) Though the idea of burnt offerings is obsolete, the idea of presenting an offering to God will never go out of date. Whatever we give back to him — our money, our time, our hearts, our lives — may seem so small, but they are pleasing to him.

What kind of offering can you give to him today? A good place to start: look for someone to serve.

These small steps begin to answer the question we would do well to ask each and every day: How can I say thanks?

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. (1 Chronicles 16:8)

Today’s post was updated from a previous post.

How Deep is the Sea?

You’ve seen Titanic, no doubt. And you remember when Rose lets the Heart of the Ocean slip into the depths of the sea.

As the priceless jewel drifts slowly to the bottom, you know without being told that it’s gone forever. Never to be recovered. The ocean is far too immense, and the diamond — though of great value — is far too small.

It’s the same with your sins. When you bring them to God, he tosses them into the sea, where they sink to the bottom and disappear into the ocean floor. No matter what you think their price should be.

Still, we have a habit of diving after them, reliving the shame and feeling again the pain that sin has brought into our lives.

That’s how the accuser makes his living — he comes around from time to time to remind you of your past: “I’ll never let you forget. I’ll make sure you remember your sins forever.”

That’s what the accuser says, but God has said about your sins: “They’re gone. They’re lost in the deep blue sea. And I will remember them no more.”

He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)

Today we can celebrate God’s forgiveness, deeper than the ocean, farther than the east is from the west, greater than our sin.

Today’s post is from a message featured at Preaching Library.

Greatness Within Reach

A quote from Martin Luther King to remind us what greatness really is.

“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love…”

His words echo the words of Christ…

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” (Mark 10:43)

Today, and every day, we each have the capacity for greatness, for one simple reason: We each have the capacity to serve.

Success may be ever elusive, but greatness never is. It’s as simple as doing something for someone other than yourself, as often as you can: your family, your co-workers, customers, and clients, and even those you may never personally know — greatness exists in your willingness to serve.

Today’s post was adapted from a sermon at Preaching Library.

Check the Date

Several weeks ago I decided to update my planner for the coming year, so I went to that big website everyone uses, made a quick search, clicked on the first result, and was this close to completing the purchase when I realized that something wasn’t quite right.

It was the date. This was a daily planner for the year 2021.

No wonder the price was good.

It made me wonder: Why would a merchant think there’s a market for a 2 year old planner?

Maybe the merchant knows us that well — and our inclination to dwell on days gone by.

Can you imagine purchasing this planner and filling each page with the items you could-have and should-have done back then? How futile would that be?

Actually, it’s not so hard to imagine, because we’re all somewhat inclined to do it…unless we make it our determined intention to do otherwise.

The Apostle Paul, who wasn’t exactly proud of his past, said this…

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

This must be the determined intention of each new day: To put the past behind and fully focus on what lies ahead.

God has a plan for your life in the coming year, and it won’t be found in a calendar long out of date. It will be found and can only be fully experienced in the day you’re facing this day, and in the days that lie ahead.

So let’s put the past behind us, just as God has exhorted his people to do…

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Before you invest your life in any day, check the date. Make sure it’s today.

C.S. Lewis: The First Job Each Day

A good thought from C.S. Lewis to begin the New Year…

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.

It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.

And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.

Jesus said…

A kernel of wheat of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone — a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernel — a plentiful harvest of new lives. (John 12:24)

As we begin the New Year, we need to remember this principle: Each new day must begin with a death: our own, to self. We must do the hard work of putting aside the things we want, and set our minds on that which he wants.

From there comes the plentiful harvest.

Taking Care of Business

The principle of first things first. The best leaders live by it.

Thomas Carlyle said, “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

Vision is essential to leadership, as is seeing the big picture—no doubt about it. But great leaders also have the ability to see and do what is necessary today.

Solomon said it as simply as it can be said: Develop your business first before building your house. (Proverbs 24:27)

This is what great leaders do. Where many flounder week to week, effective leaders make sure that, before anything else, top business gets done each day.

And they do this every day.

What’s your business? I mean your real business? What matters most to you? Is there anything on your agenda today that reflects this priority?

Long term vision is great, but we also need to make a habit of taking care of today’s business today.

How would you complete these two sentences?

1. My real business is __________.

2. I will develop it today by doing this: _______________.

If your real business is following Jesus, then do something today that makes you more like him. Give. Love. Serve. Forgive. Show mercy.

This is where the first things first way of life begins. Develop your business (your real business) first, before doing anything else.

This memo is taken from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.