TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS 5

DAY 5

GO BEYOND THIS:  MEDIOCRITY

Go beyond mediocrity – Pursue excellence, not excuses.

It’s not enough to impress a society with  remarkably low expectations.  
It’s not enough to be a stand out in the sea of mediocrity.  
To go beyond the limits is to focus not on the things that are impressive to 
others but on things that actually will challenge you and cause you to grow.

As "rebel"utionaries, it can be challenging when we set our sights on 
EXCELLENCE, particularly when we’re hearing that we’re already there.

 
How can we expect ourselves to GO BEYOND when we think we’re already 
at the height of our goal?

 
We must learn how to measure things using God’s gauge, not our very 
short-length yardsticks, not even other people’s stumpy scale. 

God had set his standards this high so we won’t make the mistake of 
AIMING LOW.

 
Doing hard things means fighting for greater levels of excellence because 
there is always something harder to do.

  
It is never a matter of arriving, it’s a constant battle for growth.

AN ELEPHANT LESSON
To keep the elephants from wandering off, the elephant owners in Asia take a small rope, ties it to a wooden post in the ground and attaches it to the elephant’s right hind leg.  Of course to the elephant, the rope is nothing more than a string.  One jerk and the rope would snap.  Yet the elephant stays put.  How does this work?  When the elephant is still young, the owner takes him from his mother and shackles him to a large tree – with a heavy chain around his right hind leg.  For days and weeks, the young elephant will strain and pull, trying to break free, but all he succeeds in doing is causing the shackles to cut deep into his leg.  Eventually he gives up and accepts the idea that he can’t go anywhere when there is something around his right hind leg.  Soon the owner can replace the tree with a post and the chain with a piece of twine.  There’s nothing but a piece of twine around his ankle, but there are heavy shackles around his mind.
Are you like that elephant?  

Is the world trying to trap you by its pathetic piece of twine around your ankle?  

Do you want  to break that twine and go beyond the limits it has created in your 
mind?

You can, today, as you renew your mind.  
It’s all in your mind.  

Remember our verse:
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”   Romans 12:2

You can break free from all the low expectations and limitations placed on you by 
choosing to believe that God has greater, higher, bigger plans for your life!  
Soar higher towards your true potential in ther Lord.  
With Him you can do hard things…go beyond the limits!


WRITE 3 THINGS YOU DESIRE TO DO THAT IS A VERY HARD THING:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

END OF THESE 5 DAY READINGS

YOU MAY GO BACK to DAY ONE here 

TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS 4

DAY 4
GO BEYOND THE LIMITS
HERE'S MORE

What to do to GO Beyond?

Go beyond the don’ts – Be known for the things you do more than for what you don’t.

Christian life is never just about avoiding “bad stuff” (taking drugs, drinking, 
doing sex, partying), but doing GOOD, HARD STUFF for God. 

We must go beyond SIMPLY AVOIDING THE DON’TS.

It’s not enough to be known for the negative things we don’t do, but we 
should also be known for the positive and difficult things we do.

To go beyond the limit, we must not only avoid sin, but we must pursue 
righteousness in a way that others will want to imitate.

To go beyond the limit, we must be like a confident warrior, yes with 
weapons of defense, but is directed towards offensive steps. 

No battle is won by just a mere stand of DEFENSE … but with actions of OFFENSE. 

WRITE A PRAYER ON WHAT YOU WANT TO START AND DO FOR GOD'S GLORY

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PROCEED to DAY FIVE here 

TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS 3

DAY # 3

COMPLACENCY

For many youth, the low expectations have become comfort zones.  
They do what comes easily, get away with less than their best and go with the 
crowd.  
They excuse their choices because that’s just what young people are supposed or 
expected to do. 
Sometimes the expectations placed on you may not be low because you are seen 
to be “above average” or an exception compared to the irresponsibility, 
immaturity and incompetence expected from teenagers.  

You are seen to be an exception!
But this can also a trap when you don’t live up to your actual potential in God.
  
Because of these (low expectations and exception trap), young people  easily 
become complacent. 

 
STORY OF NICK (show video of NICK)

CLICK here BELOW

Nick could have chosen to be complacent but he did not.
Complacency is defined as a smug feeling of satisfaction of who you are and what 
you’ve done.
The cost of complacency is tragic. 

“The complacency of fools destroys them.”

Proverbs 1:32

Complacency causes you to slide into habits of mediocrity and excuse making.  

Life gets boring and you’re not sure why.  
You just suspect that there’s a lot more you could do or be.  
Over time refusing to reach higher, try harder, and risk more robs us of the 
glorious purpose and wonderful future God has created us for
We waste some (even the rest of it)  of the best years of our lives and never reach 
our full God-given potential.

  
We never attempt things that would stretch, grow and strengthen us .  
We end up weak and unprepared for the amazing future that could have been.
We like the freedom that low expectations give us, but in reality we are really 
being robbed (of God’s best for us).  

Do not waste your teen years.  

Fight complacence.  It’s high time you go beyond the limits.

WHAT ARE THE LIMITS?

GO BEYOND THE LIMITS ....
1. Go beyond the average – Do what’s hard for you.

A revolutionary takes time to identify the areas where he or she could 
accomplish more by STEPPING ACROSS the line of what comes easily and COMING OUT from behind past accomplishments, complacency and low expectations.

  
To go beyond the limits we must go beyond the doing the regulars, things that any ordinary man can do, things that are but normal and natural. 

To go beyond the limit, we must set our feet upon the line of God’s standards, not ours or other people’s low standards.

To go beyond the limit, we must FOCUS not on what you cannot, not even on what you can, but on WHAT MORE YOU CAN DO for God.

WRITE A GO BEYOND PRAYER FOR YOURSELF 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PROCEED to DAY FOUR here 

TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS

TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS

=== DO HARD THINGS ===

Day 1
BEYOND LIMITS

How to Do Hard Things that Go beyond what is Expected or Required.

One of the limitations in our lives is expectations (ours or of people around us).

There were 2 classes that were tested.  

One was in a public middle school in San Francisco and the other at a Bible College in Portland, Oregon.  Both studies were set up the same way.  Teachers were given two classes of randomly divided students.  However, the teachers were told that one class were made up of the best and brightest students at the school and that the other class was made up of the slower to average students.  

With that, the teachers began to teach.  And guess what happened? 
All of the teachers’ interaction with the students were tainted by their expectations.  

When the teachers worked with a student in the “bright” class, they persisted with the student until he or she found the answer.  But when a student in the “slow” class didn’t find the answer right away, the teachers moved on to another student.  When a student in the bright class struggled, the teachers brushed it off, saying that the student was just having an “off-day”.  But when the students in the slow class struggled, it was just because they were slow.

Don’t miss this: statistically the classes were exactly the same.  

The only difference was in what their teachers expected of them.  

Soon, the students began to meet those expectations.  

The “best and brightest” class began to excel, and “the slower to average” class began to lag behind.

THE POWER OF EXPECTATIONS
Expectations have consequences.  
They are a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
(When you think you can, you can.

When you think you can’t, you’re right.)  

When expectations are high, we tend to rise to meet them.  
When expectations are low, we tend to drop to meet them. 

WRITE A PRAYER or TAKE AWAY .... pls email to all TAKE AWAYS to joebert44@gmail.com _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PROCEED to DAY TWO here

TIME TO GET READY MY TEAM DAILY READINGS 2

DAY 2
OUR PRESENT CULTURE’S 

EXPECTATIONS OF THE YOUTH

If we Google the words teens and expectations, we will find the following:
"teens and drugs,  teens and alcohol,  teens and smoking,  teens and drinking,  teens and marijuana,  teens and cell phones"

  
Even Google has low expectations for teens!

  
An author of an article called “A Parent’s Guide to Surviving the Teen Years” listed suggested expectations for teens:

For preteens and younger teens (10-14)
Make your bed everyday
Be able to take a message on the phone
Clean your room every week (with help from Mom and Dad)

For older teens (15 and up)
Do a daily chore (just one) like taking out the trash
Make sure the gas gauge stays above a quarter of a tank
Clean your room every week (with no help from Mom and Dad)

The article includes an encouragement to parents about the list:  

“Please do not feel that your teenager should be doing all of them.”

WHAT EXPECTATIONS SHOULD WE LIVE BY?
The Bible tells us not to live by the expectations of this world.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Instead of allowing the cultural expectations to become your standard, let God’s standards as revealed in His Word be your measurement in how you live your teen years.  
When you do this, you will be able to go beyond the limits and reach your true potential in Him.

WHA T THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BEING YOUNG
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in  purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12

God has high expectations for those who are considered to be young!  WOW!

  
When some might look down or excuse young adults, God calls them to be examples!  WOW!!  

Greek culture placed great value on age and experience.  
Timothy was young by the standards of that culture, but God expects him to lead.
Where our culture might expect little, God expects great things!!! WOW!!!

COMPOSE a PRAYER for YOU TO BE EXTREME for the PURPOSES of GOD:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PROCEED to DAY 3 here