Book: Multiply Your God-Given Potential
Rating (1-10) –
“Let’s hold nothing back and die empty, pouring ourselves out completely as a gift back to God. . . . This is when we’ll truly come alive and experience life to its fullest.”—John Bevere
Do you ever feel like a spectator in God’s kingdom? Perhaps you know there’s something you should be doing, but you just can’t pinpoint it. Most of us want to make a big impact with our lives, but struggle with questions like:
• How can I be sure I’m not missing God’s will for me?
• What role do my unique gifts play in building God’s kingdom?
• How do I make sure I live up to my God-given potential?
• Is my calling less significant if I’m not in “ministry”?
• How do I balance resting in God’s grace with meaningful actions for His kingdom?
• How do I break fear and move forward even when it feels uncertain and risky?
In this profound book, best-selling author John Bevere relies on a careful exploration of Scripture and uses powerful stories to help you think differently about your calling and why it’s so important to God. As you turn these pages, you’ll be empowered to multiply your God-given gifts and step into your potential.
If you’re ready to trade inaction for greater purpose, your journey begins here.
Book Review –
Notes:
Chapter 1 – Connecting the Dots
- We were created to do something. We lose our strength when we get off mission.
We can miss the things that God had planned for us before the beginning of time.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
We SHOULD walk in them. It’s a choice for us to walk in the works God has prepared for us. But we could also choose not to walk in them. This is the free will God gives us.
John gives a great example of a city planner that plans out all the intricacies of building a section of a city. The planner plans everything beforehand and assigns the work to different people needed for the job. However, if someone doesn’t complete their job, the planner must find someone else to do the job.
God works the same way. He has plans for the world and it involves us. But if we don’t do what we’ve been called to do, God will find someone else to do it.
When God opens the books on judgement day, one of the books could be your life story that God had intended and compared to how you actually lived with the God gave you.
Proverbs 9:10-12 “ Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom…Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.”
I never saw this before until John points this out. “Wisdom will MULTIPLY your days…” That doesn’t mean that it will add days to your life because that is already covered in the second part of that sentence, “and add years to your life.” What is means is that you’ll be more productive each day with wisdom.
Reflection – This chapter terrified me but in a good way. I don’t want to miss doing the will of God by becoming bitter and angry with the Lord. The Lord is good. I also want to follow the Lord regardless if what I’m learning about the Lord is against popular culture or even the culture within my immediate circles.
Chapter 2 – Imparted Abilities
”Your destiny, which God prepared for you, is beyond your natural ability!” We have to depend on the wisdom that only comes from God to accomplish our purpose.
You’ll know when you’re walking in your purpose when you’re fulfilled. Even those that are non-believers that are able to accomplish a lot but they aren’t following the Lord won’t find true fulfillment (my own interpretation).
We are all given abilities. They could be given at birth or supernaturally during a later period in our life.
Chapter 3 – Assess Yourself Honestly
“Happy and blessed is the person who knows their gifts and operates in them. Miserable and stressed is the person who tries to operate in someone else’s gifts.”
Listen to the word of God. God is speaking.
Chapter 4 – Stewards
Chapter 5 – Faithful
”Larry” didn’t multiply because he didn’t know the character of Christ. He was fearful of Him and believed he was harsh and took advantage of people.
The grace that we need to multiply is only accessed through believing.
God is more Capitalistic in nature (in some senses of the capitalism) than Socialist.
John does an incredible job of explaining that God tends to be more capitalistic than socialist in terms of using your gifts and resources. The parable of the talent explores God’s nature by giving people unequal amounts of gifting. The people that use their gifts well are given more. The ones that don’t use their gifts and resources well, lose it all. If God were more socialistic, he’d take from the ones that produced more and gave to the ones that produced nothing but that wasn’t the case.
This might seem like a counterintuitive take on Christ. It even seems controversial in light of our current political dialogue. However, God rewards those that make use of their gifts and talents. It’s also in God’s nature to care for those with less. The ones that have more are able to give to those who have less. It’s not about how much someone is given (each servant in the parable of the talents were given different weights of talents) it’s what they do with it. God doesn’t punish someone for starting out with less. He frowns upon those who don’t do the best with what their given.
Chapter 6 – Diligence and Multiplication
Even in disappointment, if God urged you to do something, do it. Let Him determine the outcome.
Chapter 7 – Great Multiplication
Chapter 8 – Strategic Ideas
God gives strategic ideas that lead to multiplication. We have to ask for wisdom (strategic ideas) and believe wholeheartedly that God will give you the ideas necessary to multiply.
Chapter 9 – Investing
Invest in the Kingdom of God. The more we’re able to do the more we can give to grow the Kingdom.
Those that give to get fall into covetousness.
A religious spirit is when people use God’s will to execute his own will.
Chapter 10 – The Catalyst
The catalyst is serving.
Chapter 11 – Imitate Me
I’m at a place where I need to make a decision about giving equity away the store I own. I’ve been praying about direction about it but I still don’t feel sure. John talks about how Peter was always out of sync with what God wanted. He used the example of Peter selecting a new apostle. It wasn’t how Jesus did it. It was after fasting and prayer.
I feel like I wanted to rush a decision pushing the Lord for an answer. It seems the best approach is to fast and pray about it.
Chapter 12 – Hindrances to Multiplication 1
- Not knowing the character of God is the first hindrance to multiplication.
When you know the character of God, you operate from a place of strength not weakness. You know God is for you. He loves you and wants you to operate powerfully in the gifts He’s given you. He is for us and not against us. When we know that, we can trust his guidance.
We know God, we must spend time with Him in his Word. We must purposefully get to kno w Him and truly follow his mandates. If we died to self and live for Christ, it’s no longer you who live but Christ in you. If make God our master, then we must do as He says even if we don’t want to. The good thing is that God is a good God and has our best interest in mind. He knows us more than we know ourselves and he’s omniscient. He knows everything and can lead us to what is best for us better than we think we can.
If we operate from fear, it’s usually precipated by not knowing God. We should not have a spirit of fear. But we should have holy fear of the Lord. A reverent fear that drives us to do His will above our own.
Chapter 13 – Hindrances to Multiplication 2
- Fear is the second hindrance to multiplication.
Fear can hold us back from doing anything of significance. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of humiliation.
Fear can completely derail us from our calling. God will send someone else to do what we were afraid to do.
Chapter 14 – Discover and Develop Your Gifts
Ask God to show you your gifts.
Ask your wise friends about your gifts.
- What are you naturally good at?
- What energizes you?
- What are you drawn to?
- Who are you drawn to?
Develop your gift when you discover it. Practice and cultivate it.
Chapter 15 – Anointed
By wholeheartedly following the Lord and obeying Him, your work will be anointed and multiplied.