I once heard a preacher say, “A man’s secret is in his story.”

The life of any sermon is not so much in the accuracy or eloquence, but in the life that sits behind the speaking. It is the secret heart, the man behind the suit and boots, that makes the difference.

Behind any product, service, or publication, is a person.

Whether you write, sing, act or architect, the vibrancy of your creative work will depend upon and be infused with the life that produced it.

https://davidleemartin.com/your-secret-is-in-your-story/

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Well, here we are, it’s a brand new day, praise God, very, very glad to be able to come and just share my heart afresh today. Every day is a new day. Every day has its own special opportunity for us to bring some value to the world and just gain a big Jesus up some. And today, I like about what’s what’s been kind of scratching my itch or whatever way you want to say it is something I heard a preacher say many, many years ago.

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But it really struck me. I don’t know why it was. You know, sometimes when you just hear someone say a particular phrase and it’s like it’s just as sticky, a sticky sentence. And this particular preacher said a man’s secret is in his story. You know, the power of the man in the pulpit is really an indication of the secret man, the hidden man behind it, you know, that private man it sets. And the story that leads up to that moment where someone is standing before other people and sharing that value in whatever way that may be.

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Maybe you’re a singer, you know, maybe you’re a writer, maybe you write screenplays, maybe you are an actor. Maybe you are and an author, a novelist or a non-fiction writer. Maybe you’re a coach. But really, what’s led to this moment is your story and your secret is really in your story behind every product, behind every publication, behind every service is a person. And for many of us, as entrepreneurs, if you’re kind of entrepreneurial in your pursuits, you know very well that there is a very real flesh and blood person behind what you’re bringing to the world.

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If you’re an artist and author, you know very well that there is a beating heart right there behind everything that you put out and make public. And, you know, I heard another preacher say one time a young guy had come up to him. He was an elderly preacher, told the story of an elderly preacher. And this elderly guy was was like just preaching. And the anointing was on him. And he just like this young man in the audience, was really quite awestruck by the presence and the power of God that attended the words of this older man.

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And he went up to him after the service and he said, wow, that was so amazing. How long did it take you to prepare that sermon? What day? Two days a week of prayer and fasting. And the old man, the old man turned to him and said, it took me sixty eight years to prepare the sermon because behind every store, behind every sermon, behind every book, behind every song, behind every painting, behind whatever it is you are putting out to the world, there’s your story and your secret is found in your story.

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You know, and hidden in your story, I believe is the is the highway to your success. And, you know, we can choose to emulate others, we can choose to learn from others, we can choose to grow from our relationship with others. But I think really sometimes we can make the mistake of always looking out and wanting to somehow try and discover, like, man, what’s my what’s my purpose? What’s the secret to my breakthrough?

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How am I going to see this happen? But in reality, I mean that the the real secret, the real power is inside you, it’s your story and just a few a few signposts, a few clues that you may want to kind of look for. And these are things that really can can help you kind of begin to dig in and discern maybe what was the secret in your story is what do you love to do apart from monetary reward?

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Yeah, you know, I calling a real calling a vocation as opposed to just an occupation. Yeah. It requires a great deal of resilience under trial. Anybody who has been in ministry, anyone who’s pursued any creative or entrepreneurial avenue, knows that it takes a bit of resilience. It takes a bit of patience. It takes a bit of steel, a bit of guts, some blood. And, you know, when we’re challenged in our pursuit and our growth and our move toward being a value and bringing value to the world, it can be quite challenging.

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And if you have just a very meagre purpose behind that, if money is your only purpose and I mean for some people, maybe money is is is enough. But certainly I found that, you know, there’s there has to be a great deal more to satisfy the soul and said, well, what what would what would you do even if you weren’t paid? I mean, I’m jumping on here every day sharing my love for Jesus, my my love for creativity, my desire to help other people kind of unlock their creative destiny and bring their awesome to the world.

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Because I want to because I desire it, because I love to do this, because I do it anyways. And, you know, by God’s grace, we’re able to build maybe a business around our passion, but it begins with passion. And sometimes that passion has you take you has to carry you through some pretty dry times. So, you know, another good question is, what do others ask you about? What is it that others, other people come to you and they, you know, an indicator of the value that you carry is often seen in the things that you will take for granted?

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You think, well, surely everyone knows this. No, they don’t. Surely everyone thinks like this. No, they don’t. Surely everyone finds this easy. No, they don’t. And what traits consistently show up as your as you plot your journey back through your life? What is that kind of thread that runs throughout all of the different things that you’ve done in life? I mean, I’ve always had this kind of creative leaning. I’ve always had a desire to create things, whether it’s pictures, paintings, books, films, whatever.

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You know, there’s always been this this yearning on the inside and something that just wouldn’t let me kind of rest until I actually put my hand to the plough and made something and created something. My kids are exactly the same. Jim and my sons, my daughter, all exactly the same. And they’re just like like these creative factories just and and, you know, just left to their own devices for no other reason other than the fact that it is who they are, not just what they do.

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They will be either dancing or writing or acting or creating or making something. What is it that you do, what is it that kind of when you look back, you think, man, I’ve consistently this keeps turning up where whichever way I turn, this particular activity, this particular desire, this particular pursuit or leaning seems to crop up all the time. What natural gift things, it certainly seem natural to you what natural gift things are second nature to you, but seem to be amazing or unusual to others.

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You know, sometimes when we look in the mirror, we’re so familiar with ourselves, we’re so familiar with our history, our story, our gifts, what we can do, what we can bring, that we don’t even see it anymore. But other people, I promise you, may well perceive many of those things as unusual, unique or incredible. What is it that sets you apart from the crowd? What are those unique things? There is these peculiar things, you know, that set you apart.

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And and if you don’t know, ask someone I put on I put a post out on Facebook. A while ago, just asking, you know what? What what do you think is unique about me? What can I do and seem to do easily that, you know, maybe others find difficult or I can’t even remember how exactly how I worded it, but basically asked people that I know that in my circle of friends and acquaintances, you know, like, hey, who am I and what do I do?

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Well. You’d be surprised what comes back and hopefully encouraged with what comes back. Another great question, another kind of thing that can signpost this uniqueness, OK, is what do you read and listen to that feeds the craving on the inside? You know, you are a hunger will always seek out something to satisfy that hunger it will pursue until it is satisfied and satiated. And our mind and our heart is exactly the same. You know, I love I love to read about prayer, for example.

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I love actually. Now, believe it or not, I love to read about business as long as it’s not too kind of no crunchy. Yeah. There are certain kinds of business that stuff that I love, inspirational, like strong men who understand and women who understand the entrepreneurial mindset and pursued and desire and and trust that’s in the heart of someone who wants to make a dent in the world and wants their business to make a difference. I love reading stuff like that.

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It scratches something on the inside that needs to be scratched. What is it that you read, what is it that you listen to? What is it that you switch on when you when you want to feed yourself and feed your desire and feed something on the inside? You know, God, spit the scriptures, speak of how God gives us the desires of our heart. Now, that can be read two ways. Either he’s giving you what you want or he actually places within you the desire that then calls out and goes to seek and goes out to find what he has planted within you.

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For me, there’s this incredible hunger to equip Christian people to fulfil their creative destiny. I mean, it’s just like it. I would say it eats me up, but that’s not true. I ate it up, man. Like Jesus said, he said, man, I’ve got some food that you don’t know of. I feel like this is my food. I get I get sustenance from this stuff. Because God placed that desire within me and in Larna my wife, we’ve always pursued seeking to build and equip and release God’s people so they can flow in their gifts.

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What is it that you seek, what is it that you listen to, what is it that you desire? What is it that you talk about when you’re in a conversation that’s more than just kind of, hey, how are you? I’m fine, thanks very much. Bye. But like a real conversation where you’re talking at a deeper level, when you’re talking heart to heart, what what subjects do you engage with? What subjects do you find exciting and invigorating?

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All of these things can reveal to us and be like signposts that point toward our destiny and our purpose in life. Your life and your story will leave clues. And I just encourage you to do a little kind of sleuthing, you know, get the Agatha Christie and get your Agatha Christie on man, get your Miss Marple on and do it d d d I’m seeking out. Do some sleuthing, do a little a little digging, consider your own story, consider your own passions, consider your own, and ask others what they consider to be your gift things and your talents and your leanings and those unique things that make you who you are.

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And in that, I believe that oftentimes we can begin because it’s an ongoing thing. It’s not something that it’s not like, oh, wow, look, I found my purpose. It was lying on the floor in my in my lounge. I must have lost it somewhere along the way. It’s it’s not it’s not just like finding kind of your lost coin. Or, you know, whatever it is, you lose your your pair of spectacles, that’s usually what I lose.

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It’s an ongoing thing, it’s a voyage of discovery. And I my prayer today is that you will in your amazing story, in your wonderful, amazing story, that you will discover your awesome and you’ll discover your incredible. I’m in. Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today, if you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.