podcast

The devil hates the voice of God’s people. The last thing he wants is for Jesus loving radicals to stand up and share their message of truth. The creative life is all about stepping out and making some noise, so it’s no surprise that satan sends his best to the field to shut them up.

Slaying Your Giants

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You know, it’s a fact that we live in a spiritual world, we live in a world where there are certainly the things that we can see. There’s this visible world around us, but there is also an invisible reality that sits behind what we can see, touch, taste and smell. And we, as God’s people have been invited into to operate and to exercise our worth, our personality, our power, our strength, our voice in both of those realms, both the natural and the spiritual.

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But the truth is that the devil hates to hear the voice of God’s people. The last thing that he wants is for Jesus loving radicals to stand up and share their message. You know, the creative life really is all about stepping out and making some noise. You know, it’s really about making known outwardly what is happening inwardly, what God has placed inside, bringing it to the outside where other people can engage with it. And I’m not just talking about preaching sermons and things like that or standing on a street corner, although I’ve done I’ve done that many times and in many places.

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But it’s really about the God’s people standing up in every sector of society and bringing the solutions of heaven to the problems of the earth. You know, I really ride across the board. So it’s no surprise that Satan sends his best to the field to try and shut them up. You know, I’m thinking about the story of David and Goliath and how David picked up five smooth stones from the river. And I’m going to encourage you to go down to the river.

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I said I should start singing the songs, you know, but go to the river and pick up the smooth stones that I want to share with you today. You know, if you got these stones in your pouch, you’ll always have something to face of Goliath and his brothers when they come back with their intimidating tactics. You know, of course, they’re going to taunt you. Absolutely. There’ll be times where you want to run, but when you are armed and dangerous, you’re not comfortable in your own skin, not hampered by soles armour.

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You’ll run towards the battle, not away from it. Yeah, we need to remember friends that we are Christians. You know, we’re Christ failed giant slaying angel commanding forces on this planet sent from heaven. You know, and not only that, you know, it’s a double whammy for the devil because you are also a creative conduit. Yeah. For God spawned ideas and a shining, blazing light in the darkness that engulfs so much of what we see and hear today in the world.

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And I just believe it’s time, you know, really. I love I love the way that David responds to the challenge that stands in his way. I love the way that David refers to the giant that that really soared to Tower over him. He said, who is this uncircumcised philistine? Well, you know, we have a covenant friends. Who are these uncircumcised Philistines standing in our way? Is it procrastination? Perfectionism is a fear of failure that’s stopping you stepping out.

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Is it ignorance? Just not knowing what to do? Well, I can promise you there’s a smooth stone that will deal with that giant. Yeah. Is it isolation? Do you feel kind of lonely? Do you feel as though you need some affirmation, some encouragement. Yeah. You need someone to bounce things off again. There are ways that we can equip ourselves to succeed, you know, and there are no guarantees. You know, we’d be lying if we just said it’s just a matter of kind of ticking a few boxes, because there are all sorts of factors that are at play in the creative life.

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But but I promise you and I urge you and I encourage you and I I admonish you, you know, God has equipped you to succeed and prosper in what you put your hand to. And every one of these ugly things, every one of the. Seeming giants that may presently stand in your way, they’ll come a point where every one of them is on the dirt and you are holding a severed head in your hand. Sounds a bit gruesome, doesn’t it?

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But really, the way that their creative life stepping and pushing through our fears is really an aggressive undertaking. You know, it’s not something that happens by accident. It’s something that happens very, very intentionally and takes a great deal of courage and energy to do so. But I just want to say, man, it’s time to start to wage war against normality. Yeah, it’s time to bust through the status quo and just let that humongous light on the inside shine.

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Now, when we talk about this little light of mine. You know, we see some kind of a little matchstick type light, you know, envisioned in that children’s song. But I tell you, when you’ve got the king of glory living on the inside of you, we’re not talking about a little light. We’re talking about a light that will blaze from one one end of the heavens to the other at his return. This is no little light that we’re talking about.

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And I just you know, the conscription papers have gone out. You know, they’ve already been draughted. A revolution has begun. And an army of creative Christian artists, authors and entrepreneurs is gathering today. God is calling his people out, calling his people force. You know that today really is one of the greatest days of opportunity that the body of Christ has ever experienced were thrown off souls. Souls were remembering who and whose we are. And there is a call to artistic arms.

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You know, we’re being urged to uncompromisingly share our worth to the uttermost parts of the earth. And the Holy Ghost has seen fit to make sure that the framework and the technology for that to happen is in place in our generation. Ready for your use and are you are uniquely called by God to bring something awesome to the table and say, let’s head down to the river, you know, ready and willing to discover our own special brand of awesome and choose a few smooth stones, you know, that will sail through the resistance and leave whatever excuses we may have, whatever fears we may harbour dead in the dust.

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The first smooth stone, I believe, is faith. You know, this is the foundation of every successful endeavour and then inspiration the in breathing and powering breath of heaven, filling our being, the anointing, the voice of God at work, the partnership of God in our creative projects. The third the third smooth stone I would say is education. So we don’t just know what we need to to do, but were clued up how to do it.

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So often we hear what we should do. We know what we should do. Often we know what we want to do, but we just don’t know how God is raising up teachers in the body of Christ across the board to help and equip the people of God, the House of God for the works of ministry out there in the marketplace. The the fourth smooth stone is application being doers of the word and the work necessary to make your value viable and visible.

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Yeah, you’ll be out there. You will be out there on the field while others are cowering in the crowd. Seriously, so many people have stood there in the crowd just looking at Goliath and hearing his taunts and back off from their desire, their dream and their commitment. It just seems too big. It seems that they’ve got to overcome too much to actually make it a reality. I can promise you both from from the promises of the Bible and from my own experience, that although it does take courage to step out onto that field, it is worth it, although it does take energy to to run towards what what previously may have kind of frozen your heart with fear.

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I promise you, you can slay that giant. You can lay him in the dust. And then finally, the fifth smooth stone that I think. And be so effective and actually is just as important of all of these as all of these others, is celebration or community a community of like minded believers who share that journey and rejoice with everyone with your every step and and celebrate with you as you make your moves forward and put those giants in the dust.

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You know, this is this is what I’m talking about. This is this is really where my heart and my life is kind of laid down in service to the body of Christ, because I don’t believe it’s just it’s it’s it’s not just my voice that needs to be heard. It’s yours. It’s not just the voice of this sermonise or that sermonise who needs to be. It’s your voice that needs to be heard. There is an OK, an orchestra.

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Yeah. That God wants to strike up in the earth. And you know, your voice is just as just as needed. Just as relevant. Just as important, just as powerful as anyone else’s. And it’s not that we all have the same voice. It’s not that we all play the same instrument. It’s not that we all bring the same message. God’s wisdom is so multifaceted. You know, we couldn’t even begin to comprehend even the beginnings of the greatness and the majesty and the wonder that he seeks to bring to the world.

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You know, we can’t all cover off every single subject. He chooses us and specialises us to speak to particular groups of people and anoints us to reach those people and help them reach their breakthrough. You know, your aim is set to share your worth. Your gate is great moving forward every day toward your creative goals and your victory. My dear friend, my dear brother and sister in Christ is certain Jesus the King is partner in your prosperity. Well, thanks for listening, hopefully.

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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.

In the life of a creative there are two opposing forces. In one corner is procrastination and his tag team mate, perfectionism. In the other, inspiration and his/her coach called faith. Many a writer or artist has fallen prey to the raging battles that these inward foes wage with one another.

Inspiration vs Procrastination Smackdown – 3 Keys To Getting That Book Published

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Today, I want to talk about one of the things that I see as the biggest hindrance to people moving forward with their creative projects, whether that be publishing a book, whether that be starting a blog, whether that be singing a song, whatever it may be, actually, that the thing that stops us moving the wheels forward so we can actually get our work out to the world. And I think that there are really I’m like imagining I just watched one of the most recent kind of Rocky style movies recently called Crede, too.

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And of course, it’s all about these opposing forces in the ring. Yeah. Fighting against one another. And I see that there are two opposing forces often that are at war in the ring. And in one corner you’ve got procrastination and his team team-mate perfectionism, and in the other you’ve got inspiration and his or her coach called Faith. And, you know, many, many, many a writer and artist has fallen prey to the battle of these inward foes and the war that they waged with each other.

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And when the final bell sounds, it really will be the outcome of the skirmishes that these two forces engage in that will determine whether your value goes unrealised or not. You know, really, if you are a normal creative human being, you will probably be very much like most other people. Most of us are like the rest of us. And, you know, we don’t really want to find ourselves in the midst of an ongoing battle. And really too many potential writers, product creators, artists have really backed off from stepping into the ring because, you know, once we do all the questions about our self worth all of the doubt that we face, all of the insecurities that putting ourselves out to the world dredges up, all of the dreams that we put on the line, there’s a fear that they’re just going to be left in shreds on the canvas floor.

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And to be honest, sometimes in the journey from round to round, we want to go the full 13 rounds. I have made rounds. It is sometimes there are some rounds that we feel like we are like fighting a losing battle. That’s true, I believe, for anyone who has ventured into this life of courageous content creation. But I just want to share a three ways in which we can infuse the inspiration corner to turn things to our favour and lead us on to victory.

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Yeah, or at least at least next time until we kind of climb in the ring again with these opposing forces that quite honestly do sometimes come across as very, very stubborn and say, I’m going to just share three briefly, share three ways that you can that will help you maybe overcome your fears and create something magnificently imperfect. You really just lay perfectionism on the on the carpet there Lee perfectionism on the canvas strike that knockout blow and just step out and do this thing anyways.

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Yeah. Number one, we need to recognise that the process is just as important as the product. And I witnessed this all the time that we get so hung up on perfecting the product or the publication that we never actually pluck up the courage enough to publish. You know, and just facing the fact that perfectionism is perfection is never something that we’re going to attain is really a good fact to face and to get over in order to set ourselves unattainable goals that no, quite frankly, no one has ever reached in a is really detrimental to us moving forward.

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Good enough really is good enough. And of course, we can strive for excellence. But at the end of the day, 80 percent good enough and published is way better than 98 percent perfect. And then sitting on your hard drive, scratching around, trying to find that final two percent tweak because it just doesn’t happen. At the end of the day, there’s so much to be gained from the process that carries a project from conception to. Publication that there’s value in the process, not just the end product, the creative lessons that we learn.

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Yeah, not really complete until the product is in the hand of someone else who can be helped by and benefited by it, you know, and these lessons are only learnt when we step beyond our comfort zone and put ourselves out there in rejections pathway. And I say rejections pass way, because really, if you are stepping into this creative life, if you’re moving forward in your creative projects, there is always going to be the possibility either of incredible success and victory or at times things may not work out the way we we expect or we want to.

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We’ve got to be in a place where we value enough the process, the creative process, not just the outcome, because if we fixate on the outcome all the time, we’re going to be hindered in our courage to actually just take those steps that are necessary. The entrepreneurial life, my dear friend, the creative life is one of continual risk. We put ourselves on the line on a daily basis, you know. And then secondly, number, to boil down your idea to an MVP and minimal viable product or publication.

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And instead of pouring all of your resources into one, make it or break it, product, publication, novel, online course or whatever. Break it down into something that is much more easily attained. Yeah. So instead of doing like some 600 page novel, why not just publish a series of short stories instead of writing the comprehensive, you know, one cause to rule them all type online course. Why not just do something that is laser focussed?

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Yeah, just a short one hour and 90 minute training that will help people with one aspect of your chosen subject instead of every single aspect of whatever that subject may be, you know, and in doing so, you may be able at a later date to bundle all of those short courses up into your own course to rule them all. And then finally, I think this is probably one of the big things for me is and it’s it’s a little more kind of philosophical, esoteric, spiritual, if you like, is that the Bible encourages us to count our days, teach us to realise the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom.

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Psalm 90:12. So teach us to teach us to realise the brevity of life, how short our time on this planet. And each day is a day in which you get the opportunity to make your dent in the universe, to affect a change, to leave a legacy, you know, and your legacy, the legacy that you leave begins today. What you produce now is really going to be the body of work that you leave to the world at your passing.

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And people may benefit and will benefit in the here and now, but they can also benefit way beyond kind of your exit. Yeah, to the next stage and the next the next chapter of your glorious life in Christ. So what are you going to leave behind and what are you going to do today in order to begin or to continue building that creative legacy? You know, if you don’t do it for yourself, you know, because you know, all of that all that God has placed within you to share with others needs to find expression, you know, before it’s too late.

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You don’t want all of your history, all of your rich experience, all of the wisdom that you’ve accumulated over the years to go into the casket with you. Yeah. You want to leave that for someone. You want to leave that for future generations. And so if you don’t do it for yourself, do it for others. You know, not putting yourself out there is not only selfish in some ways, but it robs future generations of the unique inheritance of wisdom and experience that only you can leave behind.

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You know, I ponder often this simple reality that what I put off tomorrow may never see the light of. If I don’t make the decision to discipline myself, to write today, to produce and publish today, the body of work that I could develop over the coming years will remain starved of what it could have been. And I just just for example. Yeah, if you throw your fear to the wind and just do it just 500 words a day, you know, whether get like maybe just start a blog, 500 words a day, 365 days from now, that’s one hundred eighty two thousand five hundred words that have been left for generations to come.

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That’s one hundred and eighty 2500 words that you can then share with the world, whether that’s a novel, whether that’s a book, whether that’s a series of trainings, blog posts, whether that’s a memoir. You can do this. You can dedicate a year of your life to commit to produce this kind of work. You know, really just if you’ve got whatever you’ve got in your heart, make the movie man, create the cause, post the blog, create the website, publish the book, sing the song, don’t hesitate seise.

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The day today, quit vacillating and stop excusing yourself. Just create something however magnificently imperfect it may be. Begin doing it today and don’t back off because you really don’t know where it will lead you and you don’t know where those seeds will land and bear fruit. 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.

I find myself way too often asking the “how?” question. It’s relevant, and not wrong to ask, but is only a few layers deep. Why do I say that? Because just knowing “how” never guarantees that we’ll do it, even when we do have the instructions.

Know Your Why

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So here we are at the head of another week, and as I was running this morning, I was thinking about the power of endurance. No, not that I’m an endurance runner by any means. I was probably reminded, reminded of the power of endurance because of the number of times I had to stop and catch my breath as I ran. But nevertheless, nevertheless, my mind went on to think about endurance and the importance of it.

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And as I sat down to write again, the Holy Ghost kind of brought to my remembrance something that is very, very familiar to most of us. And that’s the parable of the Soha. And Jesus says that this seed sowing story is a bit like the cipher that unlocks our understanding of so much else that is taught in the kingdom. Jesus said this in Mark 4:13 is recorded as saying, If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all of the other parables?

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So clearly there’s something in here, this story of a sower sowing seed into different grounds, the story of the word of God entering the hearts of people. That really is a key that allows us insight to the working of the kingdom. But there’s one facet of this parable that I want to just shine a bit of a light on today with regard to our creative life. And it’s really the part of the story where it talks about the seed falling on shallow ground.

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Yes, it’s sown on shallow soil. And this speaks really of a shallow experience of God or a cursory knowledge of his word that when challenged as soon withers away, you know, with with no root in himself, the scorching challenges of life swept in. And this particular person’s commitment to the purpose of God was really washed away in the storms of life. And, you know, so and I think that that’s why it’s so important that our creative life really does require a deep rooted why.

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And just to kind of fill you in on the various rabbit trails that my mind tends to run around to arrive at the things that I write. I was actually really my eyes were opened over the last few weeks, but we’ve been facing some who. Yeah, what do you do? But, we’ve been facing some challenges over the last few weeks and I found myself asking the question how very often. And I’ve also found that in my business and in my creative life and in my desire to bring myself to the world’s table and do what I can to help and serve others and discover that alignment of my vocation and occupation so I can be occupied with the things I’m passionate about, but also ethically profit, so I can finance what’s necessary for my family, for my life, for my growth, for ministry, for giving, for charity, all of these different things.

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And it’s very easy in the kind of deluge of responsibility to ask the question how? And it’s not a wrong question to ask, but it’s really only a few layers deep. And the reason I say that is because just knowing the how never really guarantees that will do it. Even when we do have the instructions. I see it so often in my own life and in the lives of people around me. Most of the time we may have a goal.

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We may even state that goal in public. But then we excuse our inactivity toward fulfilling that goal by pretending that we don’t know how. I mean, we pretend very sincerely, but we use it as an excuse not to take action. And I was asking myself why I do this. You know, it’s because most of the time I’ve found in my own life that I do know the next step that I need to take. The problem is, for whatever bizarre reason, I stubbornly refuse to.

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Take it, you know, the reasons for my inaction from my procrastination run deeper than just a lack of knowledge, it’s not that I don’t know how. It’s there’s something that runs deeper. When Jesus told this parable, he said of the man whose determination and commitment withered, that he did not have a root deep enough in himself. And I think that this is the thing, isn’t it? It’s not how that is weak. A lot of times it’s our why that needs the work, you know.

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For example. I mean, and this is just so practical. Yeah. We know that we should exercise. Yeah. But we just simply don’t do it. We know that we should eat well, but we simply don’t do it and say it’s not the house that’s in question here. It’s the why we know we need something that prompts us to purpose from a deeper place. And the same would be true for, you know, the would be book writer.

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So many people I’ve spoken to say, oh, God told me to write a book. And, you know, it begs the question, well, why if God, the king of the universe has asked you to do that, haven’t you done it? Or the Bud budding business entrepreneur? You know, he knows that they’re called to start a business and begin to take some risks and step out, but they stay within the confines of their corporate job, whatever that may be.

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You know, I craving for security and defined and definite outcomes often causes us to like don binoculars and look way off in the distance. And I think that this is part of the problem. You know, let’s take fitness again as our example. But the same is true of our creative projects. And I’m sure you’ll see the correlation, you know, instead of looking just for the next step, you know, a few press ups and a jog around the block, you know, binocular vision sees some bronzed Adonis way off in the distance that we think that the world is calling us to become.

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And then when we ask the question how thinking that we need to look like, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger or the Rock or whatever, gorgeous babe you may be looking at, you know, you ladies you know, we look at this this world’s ideal. And honestly, when we ask the how, you know, it just seems impossible and is impossible most of the time because most of those pictures that you look at, let me tell you, they’re not real.

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Yeah. We throw in the towel before we do our first wrap. We look in the distance and see the best selling author life that we long to lead. And we fail to just look at the first paragraph of Chapter one that we could conceivably sit down and write today. You know, and of course, I’m not wanting to minimise the power of dreaming and visionary framing of the future. All of that has power. But I’m just pointing out that sometimes these inflated expectations of what we expect of ourselves leave us floundering emotionally.

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We feel ill fitted for the task and inadequate in so many respects. But and so that’s why I kind of often real things back in to, well, what can I do today? You know, I may not I may not be able to become the world’s next biggest thing, but I can certainly become bigger today than I was yesterday. You know, it makes it a little more attainable and a lot less intimidating and a lot more likely to be acted on.

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And so breakthrough, I think, can come when we feed our way with this, with reality. You know why the you know, again, just picking up on the silly kind of fitness idea here, why this Adoni stream? Why the dream of the perfect life? You know, it’s really because television, magazines, media have painted such an unrealistic picture of what constitutes manhood or womanhood or success or lack of it. You know, the big dream of stage fame or musical glory prevents us from just singing a song today to the audience that presently stands before us.

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The measure of the world really always will parade numbers often preceded by dollar signs as a measure of your worth, and it’s just not true. So and I think that this is why I why must run deeper than just some of the outcomes we hope for and that maybe we’re working towards. And it doesn’t make those outcomes unattainable. It doesn’t make those outcomes wrong. It just means that we can uncouple in the moment, we can uncouple from those outcomes and make decisions that just move us toward that next step and that next stage and actually understand that we are becoming there’s that there’s an identity question at work as much as there is.

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What should I do? Question there’s a why work here, not just a how. You know, you are designed for a significant purpose on this planet, and it’s given by God himself, you know, and unfortunately, the world thrusts its inch deep reasons on you and me and everyone else through social media, movies, magazines, cereal packets, posters, until we until our resolve is so drowned in the noise that we can hardly hear our own heart speak.

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And I ask my question, why do I write? You know, is it for the dollars and the fame? You know, and I’m exaggerating here, but you’ll understand why you ask my 15 followers if it’s for the dollars and they’ll tell you, you know, ask my bank like how the money flows out to care for my kids and my daily needs as quickly as it pours in. And they’ll let you know whether it’s fame and fortune that drives the wheels of my desire to turn up every day and share like I do.

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You know, art and passion are not counted in pennies alone. Now we need the pennies. Don’t get me wrong. But again, deep, deep, deep into deep reasons. My friends, my creative Christian, blessed, anointed voices in the wilderness. I am calling you out. You know, I’m blessed to be able to say I pay my way with my words, you know, because I’m a head and heart man, not a handy one is just as well.

00:12:35.560]
You can ask me to build a website or write a book, and I’m the man, but ask me to hang a shelf and, you know, you’d better have someone else’s number ready so you can call them in to rectify the disaster that I leave behind after trying to do it, you know, but once you get beyond the basics and the bills are paid, you know, you’d better be sure you have an enduring sense of purpose that goes beyond just meeting those immediate needs, you know, and then when your securities are challenged, his assets have been recently or criticism comes, you’ll have a deeply rooted why undergirding your business and the way that you show up in the world.

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You know, and I’m saying all this because storms will will blow. Challenges will come. The artistic entrepreneurial life isn’t a millpond. It’s an ocean. And there’ll be times where you lay out on your back and contemplate the stars and the wonder filling your heart. And then there’s there’s other times where you’ll be hunkered down, shielding yourself from the driving rain, wondering why you even considered setting out from the shore. You know, in these moments, in these moments and when the boat is being thrown around, it will be your wife that keeps you afloat.

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Why do I. Right. Why do I share these podcasts? Because words are my world. God has called me and anointed me to penetrate hearts with truth and beauty, bringing his kingdom to bear on the reader’s soul. I’m called to equip Saints for ministry and lead the unbeliever to repentance and recognition. My words are his works emblazoned on a page. He is my muse and I am his ready writer. I’m God’s Cuil. My joy is his glory to lift his name and accept and express who he is made me to be for you.

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It may be song paint on canvas YouTube videos. It could be cakes on plates or hats on heads. God is not limited in his expressions. The only limitation he faces is our willingness and our obedience or our lack of it. You know, are you going to be true to your heavenly calling and I can think of no deeper Y than God and his purpose at work in our hearts? Philippians 2:12 and 13, says, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for its God that works in you both are willing to do of his good pleasure.

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Work out what he is working in and all will be well. 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.

Remember, as a Christian Creative you are a life giver! The vitality of your creative output depends on one key thing.

You must take care of yourself!

3 No Fail Ways to Fill Your Creative Tank

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Well, good morning, everyone, or good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are in the world, I want to talk today about three, three and no fail ways to fill your creative tank, three ways in which you can ensure that your tank remains a full enough to continue pouring out to others and bringing valuable content and help to other people. Because it’s so important that we as creative ministers, creative Christians, men and women out there in the marketplace looking to bring value to others.

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It’s so important that we ask self do what we can to stifle, you know, really, we don’t want to be in a position where we are serving up just the scraps of our emotional energy on a plate. We want to be in a place where we are a life giving fountain. Yeah, that there is a flow from the inner man that pours out toward others. And the development and the vitality of our creative output really does very much rest on one key thing, and that is that we must take care of ourselves as creatives.

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It’s something that sometimes is we don’t readily do, Jim, and we’re wired to output, were wired to create, were wired to give out. But we can end up in some kind of martyr ish kind of cycle where we just keep pouring out until our emotional book bucket runs dry. And then even then, we still kind of squeeze in the mop to try and get out the last few drops. But I am certain my my artistic, entrepreneurial friends that that’s not God’s best for you.

00:02:05.920]
He wants your stewardship of his creative gifts to come from an overflow of his life feeling and coursing through your being and through your being. His plan is for you to become a rich fountain that never runs dry. You know, writers, artists, dancers, singers, filmmakers, actors, painters, poets, preachers, teachers, whoever you are. And however you’re turning up in the world, you are valued. Your contribution to the world really does need to be nurtured and protected, you know, and we need to diligently not just look how we can serve others, but also consider how we assess how we can take care of ourselves.

00:02:58.300]
Jesus said when he was asked about kind of the foundations upon which we build our Christian life, he said, Love the Lord, your God with all of your strength and love your neighbour, but then says, Love your neighbour as you love yourself and say, you know, we sometimes it’s easy for us to love God, love others, or at least kind of expend ourselves in an effort to do that, but failed to really love ourselves.

00:03:34.720]
You know, and I’m not talking in a kind of survival type mode. You know, we all kind of cave in on ourselves sometimes where we become our own universe like a black hole sucking everything in. I’m talking kind of in those more kind of more ordinary moments if you if you know what I mean, where we are aware of those around us, aware of the world around us, and we’re seeking to turn up in the best way we possibly can.

00:04:08.500]
And, you know, even as artists, we are really in one way, in some ways continually giving in and say there needs to be an opportunity for you to refill your tank so you can keep moving and keep giving and keep contributing. And these are three ways in which I personally recharge my creative batteries. And I would be so interested to hear what you do to a man. How do you recharge? How do you kind of replenish your creative energies?

00:04:49.450]
Now, first of all, no one is just to pray and meditate, just heart to heart time with God, heart to heart, time with Father, Son and Holy Ghost. You know, it really. It’s no surprise that if we want to be creative, we need to stay plugged in to the creator, that he is the source, he is the vine, we are the branches. And if we want the juice to flow, we’ve got to remain connected in a in a vital way.

00:05:18.830]
I love the Bible in basic English is not one that I read often, but I do love Ephesians three 10 in the Bible Bible in basic English translation it says Make clear through the church and that’s you. And I say not not some organisation or some meeting somewhere. You know that through the church, God’s people make clear through the church the wide shining wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is wide shining, you know. And just like a flower needs sunlight to flourish, your spirit needs his light, his wide shining wisdom to nourish, to nourish your inner man so you can turn up outwardly in ways that are helpful to other people.

00:06:15.020]
The second way in which I look to kind of fill my tank is to let nature do its perfect work here. Right at the beginning, you know, we find Adam and Eve in the garden and they were placed and not in a city. They were placed not in a in amongst a heap of busy madness. Yeah, they were placed not in an officer’s sports hall or a movie theatre. They were planted in a garden, you know, and and, you know, the Bible also speaks of trees lining the banks of the river in the new creation whose leaves and fruits feed and heal the nations.

00:06:54.350]
And, you know, so but we don’t need to wait for that healing, feeling abundance to touch our soul. We can get a taste of it here. Certainly not the fullness, but we can we can begin to imbibe of the world to come because we’ve tasted the powers of that world. We can taste them right here. And one of the ways I believe that God communicates love to us is through nature. You know, it’s a I’m always amazed how loudly in a tree can speak to your spirit.

00:07:28.340]
And and believe me, I’m not I’m no tree hugger. Do you, man? I’m not bad. But, you know, I know that when I get out in nature, when I get in the woods, in the forests, on the hills or whatever, it doesn’t take long before the tumult of my soul subsides and I begin to drink in something of the father’s grace, goodness, generosity and love. And then finally, I number three, the third way that I try to fill my and look to fill my creative tank and just keep things moving.

00:08:09.620]
So I’m not just kind of expending all the time is to allow the overflow of other people’s creativity to pour into you. You know, if you’re a writer, read if you’re a painter or an artist, go to the gallery and view someone else’s work. If you’re a musician, you know, like go to a concert, you know, work on the noise, cancelling headphones and spend an hour. Just been transported by the sounds and songs of someone who is in your world of music making songwriting.

00:08:49.520]
You know, and the key here really is not to not to read or look or listen, to learn, OK, or to criticise, but just to be an open unjudged mental receiver. You know, we’re not here to assess, measure or compare. We’re just doing it for sheer pleasure and just doing things for enjoyment. Doing things simply because we enjoy doing them does tend to our soul. It fills us in it ministers to us on the inside.

00:09:29.330]
So today I just want to encourage you to love yourself a little, you know, and you’ll certainly thank yourself if you choose to do so. 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.

I have learned something over the past 15 years as I have pursued business and wealth generation through my writing and creativity. Less leads to more. What do I mean by that? Listen and find out.

Why Less Leads To More

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00:00:02.710]
Well, as always, it’s great to be with you. Thanks for tuning in. And today I want to talk about the power of glass and how less can often lead to more. I certainly over the past kind of 10 to 15 years, as I’ve particularly pursued business and wealth generation through my writing and creativity, this has been so true. I mean, I do produce a lot of content. So it’s it’s not that, you know, that there is a there’s a necessity to put yourself out there.

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There’s a necessity to bring value to the table and expressions of your creativity out where people can purchase them, where people can benefit from them, where people can be blessed by them. So what do I mean by less leading to more? What I’m really talking about today is the power of focus. You know, there’s there’s a scripture that I often quote because I see it at work, not just in the church walls, but just really it is.

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But it’s not really not really a great word to use right now. But it’s pandemic and it’s a pervasive influence. And in 2 Timothy 3:7, Paul said that he he spoke of like a great company of people who were ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. You know, and obviously the context in in Paul’s letter is referring to someone spiritual life. But this but this principle, I see it at work all over the world.

00:01:58.030]
And I, I especially see it in kind of the creative sphere and where people are looking to discover ways to make money online, discover ways to kind of extend their influence, build a business, whatever it may be. And in the context of that, so often we find people consuming product after product and buying course after course, but never actually doing anything with the information that they accrue. You know, they’re just ever learning, if you like.

00:02:34.370]
Oh, he is the new course. He is the latest thing that every Tom, Dick and Harry is advertising, you know, and we’re even we’re even all aware that much of the advertising that takes place really happens not through a genuine recommendation, but more because there is an affiliate competition happening behind the scenes. And so, you know, but we there’s like a willing a willing blindness that we can enter into because it does make us feel better.

00:03:11.110]
We feel as though we are doing something, when we buy something, when we get another course, when we buy another tool, it’s some head for for a very, very short moment. It relieves us of that awful sense that we are not acting on what we know, that we are not taking action, but taking action, buying something is not really taking action and buying something. Although the rhetoric that surrounds these kind of things where, you know, people talk about investing in yourself or, you know, that take massive action by my course, that in itself is not really a massive action.

00:04:00.580]
If that course or that product or that training or that coaching just sits on your hard drive doing nothing as something has to take place beyond that initial kind of door step entry point. And over the years, I have certainly been guilty of this. And I suspect if you’re listening to this and these kind of podcasts are of interest to you, I suspect that to whatever degree, it’s probably true of you, too. And I just want to kind of come in and sit round the fire for a few minutes and just talk about the power of where we actually stop chasing after things and really give ourselves to intentionally consider and give thought to who we are and what we want to do.

00:04:55.990]
I mean, certainly for me, one of the biggest breakthroughs that I ever. Ernst was very much when I sat down and asked myself if the things that I was doing really honestly aligned with the future that I desired and the values that I hold, not that I was doing anything that was untoward or outside of kind of my Christian worldview. But really, I was asking myself, you know, do I really want to be doing this five years from now, 10 years from now?

00:05:31.090]
And is the trajectory that I’m setting myself doing, the things that I’m doing today, is that trajectory very clearly going to take me where I desire to be several years from now? I’m going to throw another scripture out, if that’s OK, because there’s so much wisdom to be found in the in the book. As we know, again, Paul is speaking and he says in 1 Timothy 4:16, the first part of that verse and I’m reading from the amplified Bible and I’m just pulling out a little soundbite from that scripture.

00:06:09.880]
It says, look well to yourself, to your own personality. Now, to me, that is a big key. I talk about the WHO before the do. And, you know, we really need as people, as Christians, as Christian creatives in particular, to find a pathway that fits and aligns with who we are as people. Not just what we do, but who we are is the key thing that we want to kind of centre upon here are discovering our call in our vocation has more to do with discovery of who we are as people than it does than it does with the skills that we can exercise out in the marketplace.

00:07:00.850]
Now, where there’s an alignment of the two, that’s where the real power and connexion can take place. For me, it was writing. It was also a friendship, if that’s the word, if that’s even a word I’ve heard it used. But, you know, I’ve done and just to be clear, it’s not like, you know, some people may have kind of a lucid arrival at an early age as to what they want to be and who they are.

00:07:33.580]
But for me, it’s been a rather long journey. You know, I’ve done my boot camp in search engine optimisation. I’ve run a local website companies. I’ve made thousands of dollars over the years and affiliate commissions I’ve done, affiliate marketing. I’ve kind of all said several best selling information products and made great money through that and helped a lot of people through that. I’ve done video marketing to a degree and membership sites. As some of you may know, I’ve actually written and run an online Bible school.

00:08:13.750]
That’s how I got my feet wet in the online space in the first place. So essentially what I’m saying is I’ve been there, seen it, done it, got the T-shirt, you know, and a shiny million treh a gazillion shiny training products that I’ve purchased along the way, teaching me how to do everything from sell T-shirts to I don’t know what else. And so why do I say this really? Just to let you know that most of us are like the rest of us, you know, it’s the way we arrive at who we are.

00:08:51.850]
The way we find our voice is often just by using it. We often kind of mistake our way into ministry in the sense that we find ourselves as we explore the opportunities and the possibilities that are around us. But there comes a point really where we have to make a decision. You know, it’s not that we don’t try new things. It’s not that we’re not open to opportunities and possibilities. It’s not that we close ourselves off to things. But there does come a point where really there is a necessity to narrow the focus.

00:09:30.670]
And, you know, because we can make money and we can have an impact in so many different ways, but you’ll only truly begin to make a mark when you narrow your focus down so you can go deep, not just kind of inch thick. Wide. Yeah, we want to go deep. We want to really exercise our in a powerful way to impact the world around us in our. And so, you know, despite my success in other things, one thread ran throughout the mall and it was always the writing and publishing side of things, and it may be that as you’re exploring your possibilities, you’ll see kind of common common traits.

00:10:18.360]
So common threads that run through much of what you do in your creative life. And it’s then really seeking God for wisdom to know how to exercise that gift and crystallise that into something that you can then share and sell and bring to the world. And so I guess I decided that I wanted to live by design, not by default, not just reacting, not just jumping from one thing to another, not not just burning myself out in a direction of directionless pursuit of something.

00:11:00.960]
Quite honestly, oftentimes I didn’t even really want if I was honest about it, you know, and, you know, to quit hustling and to start hearing. And as Paul said in that that scripture, to look well to myself and to my own personality where what sits well with me, where do I operate most powerfully, I asked what I really wanted to do, not just what I wanted to do now, but what I wanted to be doing five and 10 years from now.

00:11:33.720]
And after asking honestly, asking these questions, then being as intentional as I possibly could be in making decisions that would chart my course in that direction. As I say, it’s been for me, it’s been to really focus on the writing side of things, both books and blogs. And, you know, writing really centres in pretty much everything that I do. Even these podcasts really arise from the things that I write. You know, this is just an audio, kind of an audio expansion of what I’ve put as words on a page oftentimes.

00:12:13.110]
And Larna and I, we now run a six figure Christian publishing company, which we’re extremely thankful for, and and continue to explore the possibilities of where our writing can take us. You know, and I just want to encourage you to do the same. Do you? I mean, it’s like if you feel as though you’re chasing your tail, if you feel as though you’re running in every direction, you know, you’re just spilling all of your energies all over the place and just focus in, spend some time, take some time with the Holy Spirit and ask him, Lord, where I may be occupied with all of these many things.

00:12:55.980]
But where will where is my vocation, what is my God given call and purpose on this planet? What have you called me to do so I can begin to live with my focus just on one or but a few things and really make those things my passion driven focus. And so, yeah, God bless you. Hopefully this may have helped. I’m not sure. I guess you’re probably aware that to a degree this is an ongoing journey, even for me, an ongoing discovery as I as I continue to expand as a person.

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And I still have to be really careful not to be caught in the trap of running after the next big thing and really focussing consistently upon the things that I believe will bring the most value to the people that I serve. And this podcast is just one way in which I’m seeking to serve you and and serve whatever audience would choose to take that journey together with me. God bless you. Have a great day. And I look forward to speaking again tomorrow.

00:14:16.890]
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.