A Word from Pastor Greg Ball, Destiny Church
Greetings my brothers and sisters, what a privilege to share with you this month. I am so blessed to be a part of the Southwest Florida Pastors and Leaders team.
My wife Bobbie and I moved to Florida from Lorain, Ohio about 14 years ago to launch Destiny Church in Naples. My heart for Destiny Church and the Southwest Florida Pastors and Leaders is that we all develop into Fully Devoted Followers Of Christ.
I also want to help equip the church to live our best life now! Our best life is not lived alone. Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. NKJV 3 strands is God’s design for relationships. This is how we are designed. This is our DNA.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important relationship we will ever have. We are designed for meaningful relationships with the creator and others. God is to be first in our lives, we also need Christ centered relationships. That’s why it is important for us to stay connected through Southwest Florida Pastors and Leaders.
When there is a minimum of 2 people with Christ in the center of the relationship it becomes a 3-stranded chord that is not easily broken. When our relationship with God is correct vertically then horizontally our relationships can fall into place. Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. You show me who you are investing your time, treasure and talents in and I’ll show you what your destiny will look like.
The enemies most effective weapon is isolation. We are all built for relationships. When you are in a right relationship with Jesus and connected to others in Christ centered relationships the best version of our life and ministry begins to surface. In other words, that’s when we see the best version of you. When we are not in a right relationship with God and others our capacity is diminished. The key to finding the best version of you is discovered through right relationships! I want to say it again the best version of you is experienced as your life is centered in Jesus Christ and connected with others through Christ-centered relationships. I guarantee it!
Everything in life is based on who you know! When we are not in a right relationships with God and others our capacity is diminished. In fact, God the Father, Jesus His Son, and His Holy Spirit show us such a harmonious example of a 3 strand life. God created us with a hunger for relationships! At our very core we are relational”. In John 17 Jesus records his final prayer: It is sometimes said that when someone faces death, one’s conversation reveals his or her deepest passions, hopes and dreams.
That’s why we go out of our way to honor dying wishes. In his final hours, Jesus gives us clues to His chief concerns” John 17: 20-23 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” NKJV
The unity of the church is a big deal to God. He wants us to be in right relationship with Him and with others. Loving each other is a big deal to God. He wants to us to show the world a 3 stranded life. He wants His glory on His church. As Pastors and leaders we need to eliminate isolation. In a study of suicides they found the predominant risk of suicides is because of social isolation. Yet, our fallen human nature is to drift toward isolation. Unacceptable! The cruelest form of human punishment is solitary confinement. It’s been medically proven that if you isolate a human from human touch and human voice we go crazy. No one plans to live in isolation. But it’s the devils plan. If God’s desire is oneness, connection and unity then the primary work of the enemy would have to be disunity, division and isolation.
An isolated life produces a loss of perspective. When we isolate there are no outside objective voices. No one can speak into our lives. An isolated person’s theology often gets weird. When we are not in alignment spiritually and we try to build meaningful relationships around us we become a target for the enemy.
An isolated life produces a leader who is vulnerable to attack. “Sheep are never attacked in herds, they are attacked when isolated from the flock” Predictors attack the isolated. An isolated life produces a fear of intimacy. Isolated leaders who don’t have meaningful relationships tend to be more fearful to open up their lives to others. They fear rejection and they shut down. They have trouble having heart to heart conversations. An isolated Pastor or leader will often become selfishness and refuse help from others. Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. NKJV
A study on relationships that tracked the lives of 7,000 people over a nine year period found that the most isolated people were 3 X’s more likely to die than those with strong relational connections. People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity or alcohol use), but maintained strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated. In other words “ it’s better to eat Pizza with friends than eat broccoli alone”
I want to encourage us not to isolate because doing life together is a more productive life! Ecclesiastes 4: 9 “Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.” NKJV Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”” NKJV
When Christ is at the center of our lives there is more productively in business, ministry and personally. When we have Christ in the center of our lives and we have Christ centered relationships It’s a better life!
We can also recover from failures faster. I have discovered it’s not if you fail, it’s when you fail. As Pastors and leaders we all know life comes complete with face plants and we need each other. Ecclesiastes 4: 10 “For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.” NKJV Which means the weakness in me requires your strength and your deficiency requires my surplus. When you are weak God wants someone next to you who is strong.
We need each other because an isolated heart is a cold heart. The fire of God cannot be maintained by ourselves. When we walk together in a 3 stranded life we will experience more spiritual victories. Ecclesiastes 4: 12“Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” NKJV
I love you more than Pizza,
From your friend,
Pastor Greg Ball