The 2,000 Percent Nation--Chapter 15

Chapter 15

What Foundational Tasks

Individual Christians

Should Perform

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting,

get understanding.

Take firm hold of instruction,

do not let go;

Keep her, for she is your life.

— Proverbs 4:7, 13 (NKJV)

I address the subject of how to be at least twenty times more fruitful for God in 2,000 Percent Living. I repeat here summaries of those fourteen lessons for creating a personal foundation upon which God can expand your fruitfulness as you abide in Christ to improve your nation and any others you visit. If you would like to know more about how to apply any of these fourteen lessons, please read the full lesson’s description in 2,000 Percent Living. If you have questions after reading the full lesson, please contact me by e-mail at save_more_souls@yahoo.com and I will be happy to respond.

These lessons are intended to focus you first, last, and throughout on God and doing His will. Don’t think of these lessons as putting human reason or experience ahead of His will and guidance. Instead, see each lesson as directing you to follow in faith directions from the Holy Spirit.

Follow the Lord, Jesus Christ

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee,

saw two brothers, Simon called Peter,

and Andrew his brother,

casting a net into the sea;

for they were fishermen.

Then He said to them,

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

— Matthew 4:18-19 (NKJV)

Lesson One: Accept Salvation by repenting of your sins, believing Jesus is God’s Son and in His resurrection from the dead, and giving your life to Jesus Christ to do His will, not yours (or rededicate your life to Him if you have accepted Salvation but have not been walking with Him). Start every day by praising and thanking the Lord; repenting any sins you have committed; praying for what is righteous that you want done in the name of Jesus; and studying the Bible. Attend church whenever possible; make a weekly written commitment of added ways to follow His direction; and continually witness to others about your faith, seeking to help lead at least twenty people to whom you have been speaking to choose to accept Salvation.

Doing these things will let you better hear and understand the Holy Spirit Who will guide your steps toward the most productive directions on Earth for enhancing the fruitfulness of your nation and those you visit, will provide you with supernatural support for making Godly performance breakthroughs, and will help you earn eternal rewards to be enjoyed in heaven. As a result, you will have all the wisdom and power you need to do any righteous thing you want that is in God’s will. Isn’t that awesome?

Free Your Mind

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver,

but also of wood and clay,

some for honor and some for dishonor.

Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter,

he will be a vessel for honor,

sanctified and useful for the Master,

prepared for every good work.

— 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NKJV)

Lesson Two: Cleanse your mind of distractions, accusations, worries, fears, and annoyances through twice-daily meditation.

Most people have trouble accomplishing Godly breakthroughs because their minds are so full of idle, distracting chatter. Meditation can reduce the quantity, volume, and negative influence of irrelevant, useless chatter by at least 96 percent so that you can better hear the Holy Spirit and you can better focus on the righteous things that you want to do with your life. You’ll redirect lots of mental focus to work on opportunities that you’ve been ignoring or not pursuing actively enough.

Improve Your Goals

Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli.

And the word of the LORD was rare in those days;

there was no widespread revelation.

And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place,

and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see,

and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD

where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down,

that the LORD called Samuel.

And he answered, “Here I am!”

So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

(Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD,

nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)

And the LORD called Samuel again the third time.

So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”
Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy.

Therefore Eli said to Samuel,

“Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say,

‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’”

 So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times,

“Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

— 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (NKJV)

Lesson Three: Pick better life objectives through prayer and consultation with your family and friends.

Many people are working long and very hard to achieve results that aren’t going to please God, won’t be very productive and satisfying for their own lives, and will not be supportive of their relationships with family and friends. For example, one parent may be working long hours and traveling to the ends of the Earth in search of faster career progress so the family can have more possessions and vacations. However, the effect may simply be to undermine the family and its spiritual life by not providing enough time to be together in loving ways while drawing closer to Him. Talk to the people who know and care about you to get ideas for better objectives, pray about what you hear, listen to the Holy Spirit, and redirect your energies into far more fruitful paths for accomplishing His will.

Put First Things First

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

and all these things shall be added to you.”

— Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

Lesson Four: Increase by at least a factor of twenty the time you spend on your most important goals for serving the Lord.

What’s most important deserves top priority and more than enough attention. Instead, most people spend the bulk of their time attending to what others demand be done immediately, regardless of its Godly significance. By reorganizing and redirecting how you spend your time, you will soon have the ability to focus adequate attention and activity to make breakthrough gains aided by the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Learn from Others by Reading

Blessed is he who reads

and those who hear

the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things that are written in it;

for the time is near.

— Revelation 1:3 (NKJV)

Lesson Five: Expand your ability to read, comprehend, and remember by at least twenty times.

In order to make breakthroughs, you need to gain a lot of information you don’t yet have. Reading is very helpful as one source for gathering the missing information. No matter how well or how poorly you read now, there are methods to help you make great improvements in permanently capturing valuable information through reading. With the Holy Spirit guiding your reading of the Bible and other valuable sources, you’ll then be led to appreciate new things to do and how to accomplish old things in better ways.

Read Helpful Sources

When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.

— Acts 15:31 (NKJV)

Lesson Six: Select reading materials that will help you identify and understand the future best practices (the best ways anyone in the world will do that or any similar activity using natural means in the next five years) and the ideal best practices (the best ways anyone can ever hope to do that or any similar activity by using technology that will be available in the next five years) in those areas where you want to gain Godly breakthrough results.

One reason most people accomplish far less than their potential is that they are ignorant of what others already know how to do. It’s far more productive to start aiming for improvements after first drawing on the best knowledge that’s available. With that knowledge in hand, the Holy Spirit will show you valuable breakthroughs that serve God in improving your nation and those you visit.

Design and Implement

a Valuable 2,000 Percent Solution

And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

— Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

Lesson Seven: Learn how to identify stalls (bad thinking habits), to eliminate and to replace stalls with good thinking habits, and to design and to implement 2,000 percent solutions to serve others on God’s behalf by producing your first one.

Most people can develop their first 2,000 percent solution with between 60 and 120 hours of reading, study, and work under the Holy Spirit’s inspiring direction. If the improvement area is an important one, the increased performance gained from the solution will easily repay the time, money, and effort that were invested. You can learn to identify your bad thinking habits and replace them with good ones and gain the knowledge to develop 2,000 percent solutions by reading, answering the questions in, and applying The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook.

Multiply Your Access

to Valuable 2,000 Percent Solutions

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,

you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

— John 13:14 (NKJV)

Lesson Eight: Teach someone else how to identify and to eliminate stalls and to design and to implement 2,000 percent solutions that are attuned to the Holy Spirit.

The only thing better than creating your own 2,000 percent solutions is having others create them for God without you. When you teach someone the process, others and you gain the potential to create more Godly benefits from their work. At the same time, the Holy Spirit will help you deepen your understanding of the process. When you ask those you teach to teach others, you create the potential to enjoy a family, a circle of friends, an organization, a community, a region, and, eventually, a nation that’s so wonderfully productive for God that most important tasks require little time, attention, or expense.

Personally Create

More 2,000 Percent Solutions

For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth

that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.

— 3 John 1:3 (NKJV)

Lesson Nine: Apply the 2,000 percent solution process each year to one additional important activity that the Holy Spirit leads you to improve.

In this way, you will become more effective in designing and in implementing solutions and surround yourself with the benefits of having many more solutions. Otherwise, you’ll probably fall into your old habits of using far too much time, money, and effort to accomplish what’s needed, wasting your life and not fulfilling God’s purposes for you.

Improve 2,000 Percent Solutions

Again and Again

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, ….

— Jeremiah 31:4 (NKJV)

Lesson Ten: Repeat the 2,000 percent solution process annually to enhance benefits from the solutions you developed by at least an additional twenty times.

Most people never repeat applying the 2,000 percent solution process to the same performance area. That’s a big mistake in ignoring the Holy Spirit’s potential to make you more fruitful because the gains from the first repetition will be twenty times larger than the initial gains. And the gains from the second repetition will be 400 times greater than the initial improvement. And so on. In addition, repeating the process in the same solution area usually takes much less time than on the preceding occasion.

Use Complementary Solutions to Multiply

Exponential Benefits

Sow for yourselves righteousness;

Reap in mercy;

Break up your fallow ground,

For it is time to seek the LORD,

Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

— Hosea 10:12 (NKJV)

Lesson Eleven: Link together at least seven complementary 2,000 percent solutions to create multiplied, exponential Godly results.

This is a 2,000 percent solution for gaining more benefit from making 2,000 percent solutions by increasing the gain achieved from each solution by at least 63,999,980 times. How’s that for increased productivity on God’s behalf? The Holy Spirit will be essential to picking the right complementary solutions to work on. You can also read about some possible complementary 2,000 percent solutions for an organization in Chapters 10 and 11 of Adventures of an Optimist and in The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution.

Cleanse Your Heart

through Selfless Service

in Creating 2,000 Percent Solutions

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,

and to give His life a ransom for many.”

— Mark 10:45 (NKJV)

Lesson Twelve: Increase the benefits of what you do by twenty times to assist some of those who cannot help you.

Many people take the easy way out when it comes to providing for the poor and helpless, not heeding the Holy Spirit’s directions to serve others. As a result, they may simply write a check to help with the symptom of the person’s problems (such as buying a meal for a hungry person) while not helping to eliminate the source of the problem (which might be the lack of reading skills needed to get a good job). By using your 2,000 percent solution skills under the Holy Spirit’s direction to serve those who cannot help you, you improve the quality of your life by purifying your heart through becoming more humble. Otherwise, all your success with 2,000 percent solutions may make you prideful, spoiling your relationship with God, the Father, the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Connect Better with Other People

A friend loves at all times,

And a brother is born for adversity.

— Proverbs 17:17 (NKJV)

Lesson Thirteen: Approach others with fresh interest, warm gratitude, and a deep desire to draw twenty times closer to them.

Your successes with breakthrough solutions may isolate you from many people God wants you to be in contact with if you don’t take steps to offset that tendency. Begin by seeking the Holy Spirit’s help to become well acquainted with everyone who is near you (family, friends, neighbors, fellow churchgoers, coworkers, those who serve you, people you travel with, and those you see on the street). Then, find out how they look at life to find the views that you share with them. Encourage them to regularly pursue locating views they share with you and others. Appreciate them for who they are each time you see or think of them. Seek opportunities to be with them and to talk with them more often. Pray for them daily. Ask the Holy Spirit what else you should be doing with them. You can also read a number of ways to accomplish these results with little time, money, and effort in Chapter 9 of Adventures of an Optimist.

Stop to Consider

What You Are about to Do

from God’s Perspective

Let us search out and examine our ways,

And turn back to the LORD; ….

— Lamentations 3:40 (NKJV)

Lesson Fourteen: Examine your conduct before acting to see if it will be pleasing to God.

Throughout the day, look at your choices through His eyes before acting and ask the Holy Spirit to direct you. When you find that you’ve made a mistake, immediately repent and ask His forgiveness and seek to correct the error for those who are affected. Pray for guidance in how to do better next time. In addition, pray several times a day for a pure heart and to be acting in His will. The mistakes you avoid will save you from acting in rebellion to God’s will and wasting endless amounts of time. In addition, fixing right away whatever mistakes you do make will limit the damage so that you won’t have to do as much later on and can, instead, follow the Holy Spirit to the next Godly task you are intended to do.

*****

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

— 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NKJV)

Thank you for reading, praying over, and beginning to act on the words in this book. From your fruitful activities, many of God’s blessings will extend to those around you. Those who receive the blessings, in turn, can act more fruitfully and extend God’s blessings to others. And so on it will go. How far the blessings spread depends on the faithfulness of people in following God. Certainly, He will support those who honor Him with their actions, words, prayers, and thoughts:

His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:23, NKJV)

May God bless you, your family, your nation, and all you do in the name of Jesus. May you enter into and be filled with the joy of the Lord!

Copyright © 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Donald W. Mitchell.

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