It feels almost sacrilegious... throwing out a Christian book. Yet, right now my desperate situation is forcing me to do just that. If you’ve seen my broadcasts you know what my office looks like, a library! Hundreds of books lay lifelessly strewn across my office floor. The secular ones went first but then the second round started to produce some Kingdom casualties.
So what books didn’t make the cut?
1. I noticed the books that got tossed first tend to focus on personal development, personal vision, and personal potential.
2. The next books to hit the floor were theoretic writings on spirituality or bringing the Kingdom into the world. The key word here is “theoretic.”
3. If the book is really profound, I keep it. By profound I mean it has a timeless quality. Too many books are caught up in the trending topics of the time and the era when it was written. The funniest ones are prophetic books, especially all the nervous “next millennium” books written before the year 2000. Remember Y2K?
4. I also noticed that I tend to keep books that touched my life, and books written by students and friends. It’s like the artwork done by your kids - it’s sentimental - doesn’t have to be profound. If in some way I helped that person grow I feel connected to the book. Likewise, if it’s a book that personally touched my life.
Now, I don’t believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution, but the idea of “survival of the fittest” does have its place when it comes to making space in your closet - or life. I feel like this all says something about your life in 2019. Cleaning out my library is a picture of the pruning process. Life with its commitments, relationships, and adventures is another area where you and I all need to take an inventory to get clear and more focused moving into 2019.
It’s Time to Get Clear and Focused
The end of the year is a time to reflect deeply and refine your focus. It’s time to prune the tree. This year has been one of massive shifts and change. Therefore, you want minimum baggage and maximum flexibility.
We all have this in common: limited energy, strength, time and material resources. More than money, it is time that we discover is our most limited resource. You can store up money but not so with time. We all must decide what stays and what goes. If you fail to do the pruning now, the devil will be sure to clutter your life with distractions, people, and meaningless projects that will zap your strength and cloud your focus.
So, what stays and what goes?
I used to think that the person in the parable doing the pruning started by cutting off dead branches. I was wrong; dead branches take care of themselves. Pruning involves selecting and cutting off the “good” branches to divert maximum sap, energy, and nourishment from the tree into the most fruitful branch. Remember these resources are limited.
So ask yourself, what is the most wildly important and productive thing (or idea) that God has put into your life? What is Heaven wanting to manifest through you now in this season? Divert all available energy into that branch and feed it!
Your best strategy for 2019…
A friend named Brian Klemmer once gave me this priceless tip: Remember the “80/20 Rule.”
This rule states that 80 percent of your profits are driven by 20 percent of your customers. 20 percent of your wardrobe you wear 80 percent of the time. 80 percent of your fruit comes from 20 percent of your activities. Every New Year, Brian made a list of the top 10 relationships that God brought into his life. Those top 10 relationships got special attention because he knew that if they were properly cultivated, those 10 could result in an 80 percent increase in his fruitfulness!
Take a look at 2019 and make your top 10 list of people and projects you’re going to intentionally move towards this year… I hope to be on your list and be one of the people who is making that 80 percent increase happen in YOUR life - because you are on my Top 10 List.
I want you to know that this year our ministry has been able to reach hundreds of thousands of people through our speaking and media outreach - all of which wouldn’t be possible without your support.
Our teams have met with numerous US heads of state and we have taken a front-line position in the battle over the United States and other arising Sheep Nations in Europe, Central America, and Asia. This is only possible because of your prayers, involvement, and generous support!
To continue to feed people with cutting edge truth and press forward, we need monthly co-laborers to come alongside with prayers, gifts, and partnerships. Would you consider supporting us on a monthly basis in 2019? I ask this with a thankful heart and much gratitude that our heavenly Father has given us each other to walk out His Kingdom journey together.
2019 will be a year of unprecedented opportunity. LOOK FOR YOUR GREATEST HARVEST... and invest in it. If you are over 50, all your life has been a preparation for this moment. If you are under 50, what you are doing right now is setting the trajectory of the next 30 years of your life. Aim carefully.
Your Friend,
Lance Wallnau
Lance Wallnau
