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You Were Born for This: Seven Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recieved this book in the mail a few weeks ago and I have to admit I read it with preconceived notions or judgments about what I would be reading. The title and little book blurbs caused great concern that what I was to read was The prayer of Jabez meets the Prosperity Gospel with a few words changed. I was completely floored when I got into that it was none of that.

This is a book that teaches you how to be open to God, how to listen for His prompts and or detours, and then most importantly how to act on it. So much of the Christian world these days is all talk and this book teaches you to take notice and the miracles God does and jump in and be a part of them.

I walked away from reading this excited and ready to be used by God.

I encourage everybody to read this book and read it with an open mind to what God has for you in your day to day.

This book is about seeing the miraculous around us and being a part of delivering and receiving those "miracles". I must confess, I have a very difficult time using the word miracle. People often mock me for that-- they assume it's a lack of belief in them or a discomfort with God so directly intervening in our lives. They are wrong. I am uncomfortable with the loose way the word is tossed around. We use miracle these days like we do love. We say we love ice cream, pizza, a good TV show, our friend, our mother, and our Lord. We also facetiously use it to say we love that which we do not. Miracle has become just as equally and liberally sprinkled over our conversation and I'm uncomfortable with it. I keep trying to teach myself not to misuse love and I don't want to get into the habit of saying that the amazing is a miracle.

I define miracle very strictly. To me, a miracle is a supernatural event that runs contrary to nature. So I'm even one of those obnoxious people who is not comfortable talking about the "miracle of birth". I don't see birth as a miracle. It is a carefully designed and orchestrated event that God set into the natural motion of living on this earth. It is marvelous, wondrous, amazing-- but it's not a miracle. Turning water into wine is a miracle. Feeding five thousand with enough food for four or five tops-- that's a miracle. Especially when you consider that there were LEFTOVERS. It isn't a miracle if you meet a need that you didn't know was a need. It's wonderful, God be praised and all glory to Him for leading you in that direction so He could bless someone through you, but it's not a miracle.

So, reading a book with the subtitle : 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles was kind of difficult to do. Somewhere in the first couple of chapters, I decided to see the words "every day miracles" as one word. It was a little mind game I played on myself, but it really helped me to read the book and give it a "fair shot" so to speak. I kept reading everydaymiracles and voila... it seemed to transform into a completely new word that was easier for me to follow. If you decide to read the book (and there truly is a lot in this book that I think Christians today need to read), if the word miracles used in this context bothers you like it did me, perhaps seeing it as one word or changing it to blessings or something will help you.

One of my biggest objections was the seemingly constant reference to The Prayer of Jabez. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I do not like most trends in Christian circles. If it's "spiritually popular" it usually means I'm not going to like it. I didn't like Left Behind, The Prayer of Jabez, The Purpose Driven Church/Life, and similarly popular things. I joked once that I expanded my territory by removing the book from my house. Instead, I bought The Mantra of Jabez from Canon Press and that now holds the place Mr. Wilkinson's book once did. Because of that, I nearly rejected the opportunity to read this book. I was afraid I wouldn't like it. But as I've said before, I LOVE being proven wrong, love being stretched and this book was an opportunity to do that. I'm very glad I did.

Mr. Wilkinson says something in the first few chapters that was a lovely breeze of fresh air over me. I loved it. He gave a picture of heaven (I won't spoil it for you) and my first thought was, "Finally someone sees heaven a bit more like I do." I'll admit, that one thing, combined with really inspiring stories about real people doing real things to make a difference in the lives of others, was worth reading even if nothing else he said was applicable to my life. (And yes, there were things I needed to take to heart, take to the Word, and ask the Lord where He wanted me to make changes-- the book is very encouraging that way.)

I would say my biggest objection in this book was a story he told about the death of a child. Without giving away the details, he quite plainly states that because someone didn't follow God's nudge, this child died and the implication (or was it more overt-- I can't remember) was that the child's death was the worst thing to happen to the child. I had several problems with his conclusion and one being that we do not know the mind of God. We don't know if this child was a Christian and was going home to be with Jesus or if he was lost forever. We don't know so much and to make the statement that he died as a direct result of some unknown (and possibly non-existent) nudge bothers me. I think it's wrong.

At the risk of being accused of quibbling, I also took issue with his assessment of his own story. He told about trying to do work and being interrupted until finally he decided to lay it aside and embrace the interruption and the result was heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time. He saw his determination to do "his own thing" as something wrong, but as I read the story, I saw it Divinely orchestrated. Had he not kept working when he did, the interest that the interruption developed in him and his work would potentially (actually almost certainly I would think) have never happened. What he saw as resistance to the Lord's 'nudge' seems to me more like the Lord holding him back from following it until the best moment. Quibble? Yes. But I do think it shows how easily we assume we're so pivotal in the Lord's work rather than the Lord's work through us as being what is so pivotal.

One of my favorite points in his 5 point list of things to do to "experience an everydaymiracle" was the last. Number 5. "Transfer the credit." I get very frustrated with formulas to follow for "success" in Christianity, life, or anything else for that matter. We're people-- humans. We're diverse, unique, and formulas while great in the kitchen and the laboratory do not work so well in people. I know why he wrote it with his little bulleted lists and numbered steps. Modern people, particularly Americans, like their "steps to" success. We want a brief to-do list with everything carefully outlined and summarized for us. It's who we are as a culture and I understand that. I think, to a certain degree, he had to write the book that way, and I don't fault him for it. However, that last "step"... transfer the credit, it spoke to me because it is the one thing you rarely see in these kinds of lists. It was like a reminder-- stating the obvious, yes, but a reminder. It took the sterility out of the formula. I loved it.

A buzzword he coined "God Pocket" blessed my socks off. I have a tendency to be what is kindest to call "thoughtlessly generous"-- generous without giving thought to if it is how the Lord would want me to give. I'm a need meeter. If I see a need, I have the funds/ability, I try to meet it. I love to try to help meet needs. However, just because there is a need, and just because I can meet it, doesn't mean that I am the best one for it and it's hard to know when/where/how. His idea of the "God Pocket" really encouraged me to become deliberate in preparing to meet needs rather than reacting to the needs in front of me. I think it is what I'll take from the book and use/value the longest.

So, as I finished the book, I really examined my heart. Was I willing to ask the Lord to let me be a part of the everydaymiracle that Mr. Wilkinson encouraged? Did I want that? Was I willing to risk the kind of vulnerability that it requires? Did I think it was what the Lord wanted of me? I really prayed about it because I've known people who lived lives very much like the author describes and they are wonderful lives. However, after much prayer and wrestling with desire over expectation, I truly thought that instead of praying for something to come my way, I'd ask the Lord to prepare me if He chose to bring something my way. Then the words of Isaiah came back to me and I realized that I did want to be sent-- even if just once. So I prayed again and I have asked the Lord for just one moment-- one everydaymiracle to remind me of how God works in the lives of people, through His people, and as He is glorified, we are blessed.


If you want to be encouraged and see what the Lord is doing around us, read the book. If you need to see how the Lord might want to use you in your every day life, read the book. If you want simple ideas for how to see life through a new perspective, read the book. It isn't theologically flawless. I took issue with several things. However, with its faults, this book had a focus that I can sink my teeth into-- doing all to the glory of God, stepping outside our comfort zones to serve others, and seeing opportunities where once we'd have seen nothing.

I love this book because it is one that you will not want to put down. A book filled with hope and inspiration, refection and personal challenge. I have read all of Bruce's books and can easily say he is a great teacher of Christian principles.

What I learned the most from his book is how to be a unique, personal conduit for good in helping another fellow man. I have received many miracles in my lifetime and have witnessed others being blessed by someone's generosity towards them. But to experience being a part of a divine appointment for someone else and seeing them reap a blessing by bestowing seeds of kindness, meeting physical and emotional needs, plus uplifting and encouraging another person is truly a wonderful feeling of fulfillment and purpose as to why we're here and what's life all about really.

I could relate to the everyday miracles shared in Bruce's writings. This book will inspire you as you read about real stories of how just one person can make a difference in someone's life. What grabbed my heart was the simple outline and guidance on "how to" go about meeting another person's need. What makes this particular book a winner is the dynamic duo force of universal identity (I have a great need) and the application (God's work through you).
1 need + your part = a miracle... 5+ stars! I highly recommend this book to you!

Galations 5:25 "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the spirits leading in every part of our lives." In the book, You Were Born For This, you'll learn to recognize God's gentle nudges to be a blessing to others!

If you haven't heard of The Prayer of Jabez, you run in different circles than I do. The bestselling book took two obscure verses from a genealogy in the Old Testament and tried to tell readers how "to discover how they can release God's miraculous power and experience the blessings God longs to give each of us...Readers who commit to offering the same prayer on a regular basis will find themselves extravagantly blessed by God, and agents of His miraculous power, in everyday life."

Now, four years later, Bruce Wilkinson offers us You Were Born for This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles. Wilkinson says:

The Prayer of Jabez showed ordinary people how to ask God to greatly expand their opportunities to serve Him. You Were Born for This shows ordinary people how to be intentional about and skilled at inviting the miraculous into the midst of that larger life.

Think of You Were Born for This as Jabez to the miracle power. [!!!]

My wife knows I wasn't a big fan of Jabez. Was she ever surprised to see this book on my bedside table.

Here's what's good about this book: it's a good challenge to our low expectations. Reading this book reminded me of how much I tend to live as a functional deist. I needed the reminder in this book to rely on God's power and to expect him to work in ways that can't otherwise be explained.

On the other hand, this book has significant weaknesses.

It's formulaic. Reading "Four Keys to a Life of Miracles" and "Five Signals That Guide a Miracle Delivery" makes me cringe.

It trivializes miracles. One definition of a miracle - from someone who believes that miracles take place today - is this: "A miracle is a less common kind of God's activity in which he arouses people's awe and wonder and bears witness to himself." Even in Scripture, miracles are not everyday occurrences, and they are more than what Wilkinson describes in this book.

It's simplistic. What about when miracles don't happen? A Christianity Today article in 1996 reported that Wilkinson quit his ministry in Africa in frustration. I'd love to hear more of this. I'm skeptical of a book that speaks of everyday miracles, but doesn't explore those periods when God doesn't appear to be moving. We need a theology of suffering to go with our theology of the miraculous.

Finally, I'm afraid this book feeds into our selfishness. Wilkinson writes, "My mission has been to awaken you to the largest, most promising life possible in your walk with God." I'm afraid that many will read this book as another how-to manual on how to get our best life now. That's not the message most of us need.

We certainly need to experience more of God's power in our lives and ministries, and to live in ongoing dependence upon God's power. You Were Born for This reminds us of these needs, but left me disappointed.

You Were Born for This by Bruce Wilkinson is a intriguing follow-up to the best-selling Prayer of Jabez. Wilkinson wants readers to know that the Age of Miracles didn't end with the New Testament. Miracles are happening every day all around us, and God wants us to be a part of them. He has countless more miracles He intends to create, but He wants to act through each of us. Wilkinson uses powerful tales of miracles he's been blessed to be a part of to illustrate the five points of being a Miracle Worker. Of course, he keeps the emphasis on God and the working of the Holy Spirit in us, but it is vital for us to open our eyes to the possibilities around us and make ourselves available to His call. Wilkinson paints a beautiful picture of a world in which we are all on a mission from God seeking to serve each other; it sounds a lot like Heaven on earth to me! The book is perfect for small group or personal study.

For most Christians, to serve God is an ongoing desire of the heart that can languish in secret for years. We have in our minds and hearts that we will serve Him whenever and wherever he calls. We daydream about the these encounters, gradually raising the heartbreak quotient that will shade the moment. We'll gladly help the downtrodden, the persecuted, or those who just need a little help as long as it doesn't require risk on our part. We wait and we wait on God but sometimes act out of our own conscience when he doesn't seem to be forthcoming with any tasks for us.

But what if we're just missing the message? What if we stopped sitting idly by waiting for God to deliver miracles and took to heart the messages our pastors have been teaching us for years, that we are the vessels through which God wants to work?

What if this is what we were born for?

In Bruce Wilkinson's new book You Were Born for This he takes us on a journey of revelation where, right off the bat, we discover that miracles are much more than the overwhelming workings of God in which seas are parted and thousands are fed from meager supplies. They are, as Wilkinson writes, the everyday appearances and interventions in the lives of the people that God loves. In our initial steps, the first idea that we take to heart is that you and I are intended to be the delivery mechanism for these miracles. The journey of miracles is about learning to recognize the subtle nudges and signals that God sends our way and then having the courage and the confidence in His power to deliver the gifts that He's sending.

You Were Born for This is not a cultic, Course in Miracles type of book. It is about how you and I can actively participate in the delivery of everyday signs of God's love to others who have come to His attention. Wilkinson lays out seven keys that are necessary to our active participation. The first four, the Miracle Light Keys, are those that we need to internalize in order to participate in this life and miracles. The last three, which Wilkinson calls the special delivery keys, applied to very specific needs such as forgiveness, money, and a life's purpose.

I was initially skeptical as I read the book for the first time. As I read and thought about the first four concepts a second time, I came to realize that this was the life that I had preached and written about for many years. For example, the Master Key uses your fervent prayer to God asking to be sent to serve another. We have all delivered this prayer up to heaven in the abstract but, more than likely, we have not made this a daily affirmation. Wilkinson shows how, if we integrate this intentional practice into our daily routine, we become more and more receptive to the gentle nudges and whispers that God sends to move us as servants. The other three Light Keys follow logically from this concept. Once you have expressed your willingness to serve, the People Key aligns your heart with God's agenda and expels any lingering desires for the glory of the miracle. You turn over your heart to Spirit and rid yourself of any thoughts that miracle you are going to deliver is from you instead of God. With proper humility, Wilkinson says that you are ready to approach the final step, the Risk Key, which builds in you the ability to be intentional about taking risks in faith. It is your commitment to God that, despite your fears and hesitancy, you will trust in His power to deliver the miracle that He wants to send.

You Were Born for This is a volume that you will keep on your desk or nightstand for many months as you ponder and practice the concepts. Wilkinson's stories of the miracles he has been privileged to be a part of will get your heart pounding to partner with God in the same types of situations. You may be skeptical at first, hesitant to dive in thinking that the material might be some kind of Gnostic text or a light-weight treatise on how to change the world but give it a chance. Read it through a couple of times and then put it aside and think about it some more. Read the Bible and then come back and see if what Wilkinson is saying isn't true. Better yet, decide that today is the day that you will say to God "Please, send me!"

I was skeptical when I first read about this book. I wasn't sure how there could be a formula for making miracles happen. But after reading it and implementing what he outlined, I have seen a difference in my life. But I have to say that what I loved most about this book was that it wasn't "how to get miracles for myself" but rather "how to help other people receive the miracles they so desperately need". This book should be on your "must read" list.

The jacket for Mr. Wilkinson's latest book, You Were Born for This, states that it is written in the same "engaging style" as his previous work. I remember hearing criticism about the message conveyed by "The Prayer of Jabez". Having just read this new book, I believe I can understand why some readers might have misunderstood the author's intentions and misinterpreted the purpose of the prayer. Let me explain.

You Were Born for This, co-written with David Kopp, is subtitled "7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles". Its basic premise is that God desires for His children to deliver miracles to those around them and that He will empower all who are willing to do so. The book is filled with Scripture references that substantiate this idea. Mr. Wilkinson goes on to describe what he calls Four Miracle Life Keys, Five Signals that Guide a Miracle Delivery, and Three Keys to Special Delivery Miracles. By implementing these techniques, Christians can unlock their "miracle potential".

With no disrespect intended, I have to confess that when I read the words "miracle potential", I immediately heard echoes of infomercials offering me keys to unlocking my "fat burning potential" or my "money making potential". And therein lies the problem I had with this book. I felt as if I was trying to be won over by a pitchman, rather than being taught Biblical principles. Let me immediately follow-up by stating that I firmly believe the author's objective in writing this book was completely honorable. And I feel certain this style of teaching will appeal to an enormous group of believers, as evidenced by the success of his previous works. If you've learned anything about me, you know I love a good story and this book is filled with many accounts of amazing, supernatural events. But I found the continual use of phrases like "partnering with God" to be distracting and, quite frankly, irritating.

I completely believe in the idea that Mr. Wilkinson is selling. I just have trouble with the idea that he is, well, selling. I'll be anxious to hear what other readers have to say about this book.

"You Were Born For This" is a good read by Bruce Wilkinson that goes against the grain of many Christian books that focus on "feel-good" self-help theology. Instead, You Were Born For This challenges the reader to instead be a blessing to others for God's glory.

The book is organized as follows:

1. How to see your life and the world in a new way so that you may be a blessing to others.
2. What keys are necessary to deliver a miracle (Master Key, People Key, Spirit Key, and Risk Key).
3. How to know the signals and steps that lead to a miracle delivery.
4. Keys used to deliver a miracle (Money, Dream, Forgiveness).

These are just the highlights - Wilkinson goes into much more detail on each area.

Read the book and be challenged to get outside yourself and be a person used by God to be a blessing to others!

Recommended.

I had the blessing of interviewing Dr. Wilkinson and learning somne of the principals of "You Were Born For This", and had experienced
the "sacred delight" of delivering several miracles before I even read the book. Now that I have read and studied the principlss enough to apply them better, I wake up every morning wondering what miracle God might deliver through me on any given day.
Just as the Prayer of Jabez" expanded my territory for ministry and service in so many areas, "You Were Born for This" has added
another great dimension to living out my life in Christ.
"You Were Born for This" is another testimony to Dr. Wilkinson's God given communication gift to bring Biblical truth into the lives
of ordinary believers with practical applications for enjoying the good life that God desires for all His children. I like this book so much I am giving it to my children and my friends. Can't wait to read about all the Miracle reports that will be coming in on the
youwerebornforthis web site.