As the Bible said in Proverbs 13, "The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." (upbeat music) - Welcome to Mind Matters with Dr. J. A. Jones. Dr. Jones is the head pastor of the Faith Community Church of God in Orange Park, Florida. Relationships, finances, our spiritual life, whatever it is, our problems start within, in our minds. Dr. Jones explores mental wellness through the application of God's word in our lives. It's just what the doctor ordered. Let's join him now and dig into Mind Matters because your mind matters to God. - Welcome to Mind Matters, the show where we explore principles that help us to lead successful and fulfilling lives. Now, today we're gonna get into the topic of productivity and effectiveness with a special emphasis on the formula for getting things done, a biblical perspective. So the bottom line is this, today we're gonna give you biblical wisdom for getting things done. We're gonna talk about some key principles from the Bible that can guide us into achieving our goals and making the most of our time. I'm so excited to have with me, Cindy Jones with me, and thank God for you. And I'm so honored that you're able to be here today with me. - It's a blessing to be here with you. Dr. Jones, such an honor. And I'll try to add my two cents as you call it. - Yeah, two cents, three cents, five cents a dollar. Hala. - Hala. - So, absolutely. So I'm excited and recently you had a birthday, right? - Oh, yes, I did. I did. - Right. - That's all I'm gonna say about that. - You had a good day. - Yes, I had a wonderful day. - But I think your husband helped you that day. He cleaned out your car, he vacuumed your car, and he swiped the dashboard down. - Yes. - And your husband took you to a movie. I'm pretty sure. And how was that movie and what was it called? - Inside out too. - Right. - Okay. - Yes, my husband was very accommodating that day. - Yeah. - Yes, so nice of him. - Absolutely. And I think that's so important. It's not just a one day thing, your birthday or a time that we do things together and honor one another and encourage one another. And support one another. And we've been together 46 years. So, and we're still excited to connect in different ways, in different seasons of life that God has allowed us to be in. - Right. Yeah, he was very gracious since my original plans for my birthday was not able to be fulfilled. - Because of the weather. - Yeah. - So, but he did really well, really well. Made it a good birthday. - Awesome. So, today is so important because there's so many people in our society that are stuck. They start a project, but they don't finish, right? It's not always how you start, but you gotta start. But it's more importantly, how you finish. - That is correct. - And it's so key. If you're a man, woman, husband, wife, grandparent, a business leader, whoever you are and what you do in life, in your work, in at home, certain projects that you wanna get done and things that you put on paper that you haven't started to do, it's so important. So, today, to me, is one of the most important things we can discuss and how we think about getting things done. But it's about biblical wisdom for getting things done. And the first thing is this, we gotta have Cindy, and I do believe that clarity of purpose. Because the first element of a formula for getting things done, you gotta have clarity of purpose. Now, I could call it formula for getting things done as well. A method, the formula is a method, right? So, knowing our why, WHY, gives us direction and motivation toward actions. - Okay, and so that clarity of purpose is why we're going to do what we're going to do? - Yes, you gotta have a why, you just can't do it. - The project. - The project. - Not necessarily our lives, a lot of times, when you say purpose, people think that's the purpose of my life. - Okay. - But it's the purpose of, you're talking about the purpose of why you're going to do a certain thing. - Absolutely, absolutely. But guess what? Whatever you do can lead to your purpose. You can discover your purpose because you realize I'm good at it, I'm bad at it, I enjoy it, I enjoy it. - Just me fulfillment. - Absolutely. - Yeah. - So, Proverbs says this, commit your work to the Lord, Proverbs 16 and three, and your thoughts will be established, or your plans will be established. The first thing is, as it relates to clarity of purpose, or we could have called it clarity of why, right? The reason we do what we do, most people just do things off of a whim, they just feel like it and they do it. We gotta get beyond our feelings. - Yeah, yeah. - And just understand reason and logic and understand methods and systems in order to get things done. So, the first thing is clarity of purpose. - Okay. - Guess what the Bible says in Jeremiah 29 and 11. "I know the plans that I think towards you," says the Lord. Thoughts of peace, or plans of peace, and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. 'Cause I do believe when you have a clear understanding of your purpose, it aligns your efforts and helps you to stay focused on what truly matters. - Mm-hmm. - The reason I say that is because you gotta know what truly matters. Now, this is Mind Matters radio show with myself Dr. Jones and my wife of 46 years. Most people don't do what really matters. They just do things. - Right. - And they move from this project to that project to be a work project, to be a home project. It could be a project with your finances, project with your help, people just get disoriented and they're not dialed in. When you have clarity of purpose, sir, ma'am, you can be dialed in, and that's important. - Okay. And the scripture talks about how man looks on the outside but God looks at the heart, too. - Yes, absolutely. - And so having clarity of purpose, and we should examine ourselves. Why are we doing what we're doing? And have that. Well, I guess hopefully I'm saying it right. But God knows the intents of our heart and why we're doing the thing. And we need to know that, so we don't compare ourselves to others or doing it because somebody else is doing. So we need to examine ourselves. Why are we doing what we're doing? - And have that clarity. - Right, and it's almost like most people have a navigator in their vehicle or GPS on the phone or whatever you want to, however you want to look at it. And it's so important, but just imagine trying to think to navigate without a GPS, okay? - We used to do that with a map. - Map, well, most people don't use maps, right? We did back in the day. - Yeah, hard time reading it. - But some people end up driving in circles because they trying to navigate without that GPS. And it may take longer to reach their destination. So when we have clarity of purpose, it's like having a reliable GPS guiding us straight to our goal. The second thing is this, planning and preparation. It's the second element because the Bible emphasizes the importance of being prepared and having a plan. I cannot say that enough. If I say it a hundred thousand times, some people, it may begin to register because most people don't plan well because they fail because- - They don't plan at all. They just jump out and start doing some things and then wonder why it don't work. - You know, those statement, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I mean, I think that's some truth. Validity to that, it's so important. This is what the Book of Proverbs tells us, 21 and five. The plans of the diligent lead surely to planning, but those of everyone who is hasty, right? Surely they will come to part of it, poverty, right? They will have lack, but the plans of the diligent, the consistent. - Yeah, and there's a scripture also that talks about, you can help me out on this when it talks about how you, how the man, before he starts to build a house, you gotta make sure that he has everything or enough to build it or- - Well, let me read a scripture. Let's read a scripture. Luke chapter 14, it says this. For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost. - Exactly. - Whether he has enough to finish it less after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock him saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. - Yeah, I know, I'm always on point. It's all good. I got an answer. - Now, you know, we have seen- - Every question. - We have seen, you know, projects around town where people started a project and stuff. And we was like, boy, that's been sitting a while. It's just been empty. - Absolutely. - And we wondered what's happened. Did they run out of money or what's going on? - I know, I know. It's been a while. Then we'll see them start it back up a year later, a year and a half later, they take a break. They probably ran out of money, you know, probably some bureaucracy and politics involved. Somebody didn't count the cost, the labor, the contractors. Maybe they had a bad contractor that took all their money. But either way, you gotta count the cost. And part of counting the cost, it's making sure you have the right materials, the blueprint and the right people to build what you're trying to build. Now, you gotta count the cost as we're sharing this particular segment of this platform today, Biblical Wisdom, for getting things done. I know you wanna get something done because God has a plan. - Yes. - And you gotta plan with purpose. - And, you know, I like to watch a lot of HGTV. - Yes, you do. And you got me watching it. Come on, right, watch it. - Well, you learn a lot, you learn a lot from watching those shows. - Absolutely. - And one thing I've learned that the builders do, or the contractors do, is they have what you call a contingency plan, well, a contingency budget, because things will come up. - Yes. - Unexpected things will happen. And so they set aside money because they know that they run into something unexpected costs for things, that they have that money set aside just for that. - Yes, absolutely. - But a lot of times we start doing things in life, and we don't have a contingency plan, or contingency, if this happened, then we got this here on-- - Yeah, in your home, or you're trying to work on a project, it could be at work, or whatever it may be, or something you wanna do personally, you gotta have a contingency-- - Well, you just still gotta have a contingency, because it's gonna rain in life. Things are gonna tear up. People are not gonna do what they say they're gonna do. - Yes, yes. - You still gotta have a contingency plan. I like that because-- - To go point with your preparation, in your preparation. - Absolutely, part of that preparation, because a well-thought-out plan helps us to anticipate challenges and allocate resources effectively, setting the stage for successful execution. - Very good. - And that's so important, right? - Yes. - As we go forward. - Right. - Thank you for tuning in to Mind Matters with myself, as well as Cindy. I'm glad that you tune in, if you may be just tuning in. Today, we're discussing biblical wisdom for getting things done. We talked about number one, Clarity of Purpose, number two, planning and preparation. Now, I can't remember that statement, but sometimes when somebody else don't plan, they want somebody else to do what they should have done. - Right. - They come in and ask for a favor and ask for help, because they had bad planning and, you know, it's an emergency now. No, now they need to borrow money. They need somebody's tools. They need to come, come on. I know somebody know what I'm talking about, right? Because when somebody else don't plan well, sometimes you gotta tell them it's on you. You knew better, but you didn't do better. - Right, yeah, what's that saying when they talk about your urgency doesn't make an emergency for me or something. - I like that. Say, say it. Okay. - I don't know. I don't know. - That makes sense to me. - Yeah. - You know, your urgency doesn't necessarily mean it's an emergency for me. - Absolutely, absolutely. And I'm good with that. And I'm definitely good with that, because I agree because people have a tendency to be lazy. The Bible talks about a lazy man. - Sloughfulness. - Sloughness. - Procrastination. - Procrastination, they're right. They just procrastinate. They want you to drop all your plans and your life and what you got to take care of whatever you want them to do right away. - Absolutely, 100%. So that's why we're discussing today biblical wisdoms for getting things done. Hopefully this is an antidote for laziness and passivity and all of those things in life and they're just not going well and it could go better because we talked about number one, it's a clarity of purpose. And we're on number two, planning and preparation is key to getting things done, especially when you do it, God's way. 100%, 100. (upbeat music) - Dr. Jones is the pastor of Faith Community Church of God in Orange Park. Reaching a heart and world with the love of Jesus. We thank you for listening to Mind Matters and we encourage you to show support for the many community outreach ministries that Dr. Jones and Faith Community Church tend to. You can give at Faith Communities website faithccop.org or just text money sign and the amount you want to give to 833-435-8022. That's 833-435-8022. We are blessed to be a blessing. Now let's get back to the program. - Now, number three is this. Consistent effort. Success often comes from steady, persistent work rather than sporadic burst of activity. We have to be consistent. This is what the Bible says in the book of Galatians and it's a book of freedom. You know, you know, understanding that you don't have to be tied to laziness, passivity, but everybody have the ability to be consistent and let us not grow weary while doing good or in due season, you shall reap if you do not lose heart. Very, very important. - Lose height, lose height. - Right. - Lose height is what? If you don't keep doing it, don't get discouraged. - Right, right. - You keep doing what you do. - Right, right. - You keep doing what you do. And even though there may be some delay, some setbacks or whatever, you don't stop working. - Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, you just got to keep hammering at it. You just got to keep, you know. - Don't be discouraged. - Chisel in it. I mean, whatever it is, even though that's the whole goal, we're talking about how to get things done. - Okay. - A lot of time you discover what needs to be done when you're consistent. - Right. - And that's why the scripture encourages us don't grow weary in doing good. And that hopefully the project or the information that you're trying to achieve to make things better financially, spiritually, or even in your relationship, being consistent is so important because a lot of times you don't see the results and it happens later. It doesn't always happen right away. Because the Bible said in Proverbs 13, the soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Proverbs 13 and four. - I'm still thinking about the Galatians script. - Okay, you still, I'm good with that. - What came to mind was the butterfly. - Okay. - You know, the butterfly coming out of the cocoon. - Yes. - So it said don't grow weary and well doing. It's a struggle that's going on. - Right. - But you're becoming stronger. - Right. - In doing well. - Right. - You know, you don't get tired and say this is too hard or, you know, and you quit. But, and you don't get discouraged. But you keep going at it, do it. Keep doing it. Keep doing it. Keep doing it. - Right. - And you're getting stronger and stronger. And pretty soon you're flying. - Oh, absolutely. I believe I can fly. - Really? - I do, I do. And that's why I consistent everything. It's so key. Yes, yes. You know, I growing up, I used to think I could fly. Maybe that's, you know, you remember that? I tell you, you know, being on me for a hot minute. - Yes. - I do. I used to jump from trees. I can fly. - Yeah, you'd be splining your dreams. - I was flying in my dreams as well. I don't know what happened. But that, to me, that was a picture of later on in life. I was going to fly. I mean, I was going to soar like an eagle. What's based on what the Bible says? Because the Bible said they, they wait up on the Lord. He said renew your strength. You should mount up as wing of eagle. You should walk and I faint. Amen. You should run and I go where we have it. I know I paraphrase, phrased it. But it's so important to know that we all can soar, you know, like an eagle. And when we are consistent, right? Just consistent effort without any results because you don't already, number one, because you have purpose. Right? - Right, clarity of purpose. - Number two, you've already been planning and you have already had preparation. - Yeah. - So just continue to knock that wall down. - That's right. - Continue to knock that thing out and move forward. Because that's so important because small, consistent action builds momentum. And guess what, it leads to significant progress over time. - Yeah. And sometimes you have to continue to plan during the process too. You may have to alter those plans. - Yes. - Yeah, change them up. - Yes. - Don't think you're gonna, well, this is the way I said it's gonna be and this is the way it's gonna be. Sometimes you got, especially when you're dealing with people. - Yes, absolutely. - If people are involved in your plans, you're gonna have to make some alterations and some adjustments and so forth. - Right, right. I mean, it could be a husband and wife. Got a project going on. They could just think about it. - Just in a family plan. - Just imagine, I remember when I was in the military in active duty, in order for me to do my job, I had to wait for someone else to do their job. I think we all can relate as relates to our work environment or even at home. I remember that clearly. I got my paperwork already prepared. I got everything ready, but I need this person to come and sign so I can move the paperwork on to help this soldier, to help this individual get what they're trying to accomplish, right? It could be they need to get paid. They didn't get paid for somehow. The system dropped them out. Whatever it is, it's amazing when we wait for somebody else because most projects are done with people in mind. Or somebody that is connected to you, it could be work, it could be home, it could be things you need to do at church, right? You have to coordinate, but still do your part. - Right. - Do your part. Be consistent, maybe you have to make the phone call. You have to call them. You have to text them. You know, so they, what's going on? - Communicate. - Communicate, communicate because consistent effort could involve communicating, communicating, right? - Right. - But when we are consistent, that is God's plan because if we're lazy, that means you're not gonna be consistent, the Bible says that you have nothing if you are a lazy person. That word soul means your mind, your will and your emotions. We all have that. The soul consists of how we think, it consists of the choices we make, and it consists of the emotions we feel because of the moment we're in. - Yeah, what you're willing to do. - Say that again? - What you're willing to do too. - Okay. - The soul level of a lazy man, they don't wanna do nothing. - Right, because they're thinking lazy. - That's why they have nothing. - Because they're thinking lazy. - Right. - Because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. - Yes. - And that's so important because we all are a product of our thinking. - Correct. - Consistent thinking. - And if we have that, we have, I guess I can't say that, but it seems that we have raised a generation of people that feel entitled. - Okay. - Okay. - You have the mentality of I'm entitled to this. I don't have to do this, and I don't have to do that. You should give me this, and you should give me that then. Well, it says the soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing. - Right, absolutely. Now, that's bad because who wants to have nothing? I think we all wanna have something. - Oh, they wanna have something, but they don't have nothing 'cause they're lazy. - Well, I think what I'm getting ready to say, most people on the planet know this statement. If not, if you're the first time you're hearing it, amen to that. Whatever that statement is. (laughing) - Oh, do you flip your mind? - So what is the definition of insanity? - Expecting something different and doing the same thing. - Okay, let me clarify that. - Okay. - Doing the same thing, but expecting different results. - Right. - That's insanity, right? - Right. - Most people have said it, they've heard it. So if I'm lazy in my thinking, I'm gonna be lazy in my choices, in my choosing. - You can choose thinking, everything comes easy. - Right, if I'm lazy in my thinking, I'm gonna be lazy in my choosing, and if I'm lazing in my choosing, I'm gonna have a bad emotion attached to it. 'Cause we're talking about the soul, right? A lot of times people are not consistent because they feel bad, because they didn't have a purpose, they didn't plan, come on, they didn't plan, they didn't prepare for the rainy day that is coming, just like a contingency fund or an emergency fund. The rain is going to come. Bad things are gonna happen sometimes. We gotta prepare by having, as relates to finances, having emergency fund, three to six months, at least two or three months in the beginning, or $1,000 in your savings account. Statistics says, probably 60, 70% of the people don't even have $1,000. - Well, I was just thinking, you know-- - What were you thinking? - Many times, a lazy person, they do have a plan. - Oh, they do? - But the plan doesn't involve work. - Okay. - They plan, they have things to manipulate the person that they plan to get to do the work for them. - Really? Only get them what they want. - That's a deep thoughts, Cindy. (laughing) - Well, it's usually true. I mean, they're going to manipulate you to see how they can play on your emotions and so forth to get you to do what they want you to do. - Okay, I got you. - Okay. - I think I said that right. - But it's all good, however you said it. We're gonna get it. - But they have a plan. - But they have a plan. - It just doesn't involve physical labor or to go out and do the hard work to get what you need. - Right, maybe they were raised that way. Maybe they grew up in a certain culture and certain mindset. - And they worked with them as a child, but now we gotta put away childish things. - Right, you said it worked for them as a child. - As a child. - And the Bible does says that in the book of Corinthians, when I was a child, I did childish things. Now I'm a man or I'm maturing. I must put away some childish things or all childish things. And one of the things we're addressing, which is point number three, which is still there, as it relates to being consistent in our efforts. - Yes. - And that's so important because we must not underestimate the power of daily discipline effort. - Right. - When you're consistent, you discipline yourself. - Yes, it goes together. - It goes together? - Mm-hmm, you gotta discipline yourself to do it. - Right. - And do it consistently. - Right. - Whether somebody else around you is doing it or not. - Oh, absolutely. - You know, a lot of times we say, oh no, you know, you've heard these stories where you say, no, don't be doing all that. You know, you gonna make me look bad. - What you talking about? When somebody at work? - Yeah, on the job. - Okay. - They don't want other people to work because they make them look bad because they're not doing anything. - Okay, true, true that, true that. Very important, very important. But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. - The soul of the diligent shall be made rich. - That's when it said diligent. I think about a responsible person. - Okay. - If somebody reliable, you can count on. They gonna do what they need to do and they will be made rich. - Okay, so does that depend on age? - Not necessarily, no. - No, 'cause I've seen some younger people more responsible than some older people. Okay, well, you know, maturity has nothing to do with age. Right? - Not right. - Okay, so people can be mature at 20, they can be mature at 30 and 40 and 50, or they can be immature at those ages as it relates to life and understanding how things need to be done. - Yes. - But as we're talking about being consistent, think about this, think about the tortoise and the hare. The hare started fast but burned out quickly while the tortoise with his steady pace won the race. Slow and steady truly wins the race. And I think that's so important as what we are discussing as it relates to consistent effort. We all must be consistent. So anything else you wanna share before we-- - Yeah, that quickly, we just seen that in the Olympics. - Okay. - That young lady from the Netherlands. - I know. - At the end, she came right on up. - Right, right, I know. And we'll discuss this, you know, moving forward because I think it's so empowering, as well as powerful for us to have that clear understanding. Now, I'm excited for you being with me today. Thank you for being with me. - Oh, it's been a pleasure. - And thank you, audience. Thank you, everyone. Ed, Michelle, I know y'all watch and will actually hear us. You can't see us at the moment, but you hear us faithfully every Sunday. Well, thank you, everyone for joining with me on Mind Matters. And we look forward to seeing you next week as we continue part two on biblical wisdom for getting things done. - Thanks for tuning into another episode of Mind Matters with Dr. J. A. Jones. Be sure to tune in next Sunday at 5 p.m. Right here on Praise 107.9. For more insightful discussion about how God's word can get our minds right. You can also hear Dr. Jones preach in person Sundays at 11 a.m. at Faith Community Church of God at 1268 Gano Avenue in Orange Park, Florida, 32073. Thanks again for listening. Stay mindful and keep striving for improvement because your mind matters to God. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) You
