Better Than Ever: Live on a Level You Never Thought Possible
By Dion Woods
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About this ebook
Author Dion Woods provides insight to help you identify and develop your God-given gifts and talents, connect with mentors and partners, and actively speak the truth of God’s Word over your life. Complete with Next-Level Concepts and Action Steps, Better Than Ever will inspire you to hold onto your dreams, accept all that God has in store for you and never settle for less.
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Better Than Ever - Dion Woods
Better Than Ever will powerfully position you to excel in life through God’s abundant grace. Dion Woods shares biblical truths that have marked his life with passion and far-reaching influence. You will be encouraged to embrace the divine influence that can and will equip you to meet your defining moment with success.
—JOHN BEVERE
AUTHOR/SPEAKER, MESSENGER INTERNATIONAL
If you’re ready to go where you’ve never gone before, then you’re ready for Better Than Ever.
— DR. DIMITRI BRADLEY
PASTOR, MOUNTAIN OF BLESSINGS CHRISTIAN CENTER
A clear and concise road-map to obtaining God’s exceeding, abundantly above in your life.
—MARK J. WADE, MD
FOUNDER, ARISE & WALK MINISTRIES FOUNDATION
BETTER
THAN
EVER
DION WOODS
BETTER THAN EVER: LIVE ON A LEVEL YOU NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE
by Dion Woods
Published by Creation House
A Charisma Media Company
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
www.charismamedia.com
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.
Note: Some NIV Scripture quotations were taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010, 2011, International Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1995 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked GW are from God’s Word, Grand Rapids, MI: World Publishing, 1995.
Scripture quotations marked NASU are from the New American Standard Bible-Updated Edition, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked THE MESSAGE are from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary English, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked TLB are from The Living Bible. Copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked WBT are from The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, in the Common Version. With Amendments of the Language by Noah Webster, LL. D. New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1833.
Copyright © 2011 by Dion Woods
All rights reserved
Visit the author’s website: www.nextlevel-living.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011936188
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-657-3
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61638-658-0
Editing and Concept Development by Vincent M. Newfield, New Fields & Company, P.O. Box 622, Hillsboro, Missouri, 63050.
www.preparethewaytoday.org
DEDICATION
To all the people who have helped me do Better Than Ever…
My beautiful wife Belinda, for supporting, praying for and loving me for more than nineteen years.
My awesome children for reminding me daily to not sweat the little stuff.
My parents for their sacrificial love and support.
My pastors, Dr. Dimitri and Nicole Bradley for daily showing me the heart of God.
John and Lisa Bevere and the entire Messenger International Staff for your tireless and contagious passion for God.
My prayer partners, Lewis, Dawn, and Mikalya. We’re going to another level.
Darren, for leading me to Christ.
Vincent, thank you for lending your incredible gift to this work and making it better.
To my heavenly Father, for loving me beyond understanding and giving me the opportunity to represent His name in the earth.
A NOTE TO THE READER
I am donating all of my royalties from the sales of this book to help young women and children who are victims of human trafficking. Your contribution helps in this important cause.
CONTENTS
Introduction: Exceedingly, Abundantly Above
Law #1: To Enter a New Level, You Can’t Be Content With Your Current Level
Law #2: It Takes More Power to Break Out of a Level Than It Does to Stay In It
The Power of Divine Design
The Power of Practice
The Power of Grace and Favor
Law #3: To Reach the Next Level, A Representative from the Level You Seek Must Show You the Way
Law #4: Your Level of Preparation Will Determine Your Level of Harvest
Conclusion: Your Next Level Is Never Just for You
Notes
About the Author
Contact the Author
The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance…
—DEUTERONOMY 1:6–7, NIV
Introduction
EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY ABOVE
YOU’VE BEEN STUCK at the same place in life long enough. It’s time to leave the way you’ve been living and pursue the life I always meant for you to live." This was the word God spoke to His people, the Israelites, almost three thousand years ago. But even after several millennia, it still rings prophetically true for us today. God is telling us to pursue the life He has made available for us. However, He isn’t bellowing the message from the top of a mountain that rumbles with smoke and fire as He did with the Israelites. Instead, He’s speaking it to the hearts of people who believe there’s more to life than working a dead-end job and just paying bills.
God is calling out to those who are looking for more. He’s seeking people who are desperate for purpose, desperate for change, and desperate for the kind of life that is worth living. Is that you? To those who have an ear to hear, the Spirit of God is again saying, You’ve stayed long enough at this mountain. It’s time to break camp and advance.
And God isn’t just suggesting that we do it—He’s commanding us! There’s a sense of urgency in His voice. It’s as if we’re a patient who has been wheeled into the ER on a gurney, and God is straddled over us, pounding on our chest in an effort to revive what has died on the inside of us. He’s commanding us to live! Live out the plan that I have for you,
declares the Lord.
The challenge we face is how to do it. Most people want to experience everything God has for them. They want to do better. They want to reach new levels of living. However, they’re unsure how to do it. We have repeatedly heard phrases like next level and new level tossed about at conferences, sporting events, and church for so long they have become more of a motivational slogan than an achievable reality. Even a search on the Internet for such terms generates almost 400 million different options. That’s one for every man, woman, and child in America! Yet with all our striving to reach another level, has anyone identified a reliable path to get there? Better yet, does anyone even know what the term next level means?
Next-Level Concepts
God is calling out to those who are looking for more. He’s seeking people who are desperate for purpose, desperate for change, and desperate for the kind of life that is worth living. Is that you?
THE BIBLE REVEALS THE ANSWER
I believe the Bible provides us with the answer to these questions in a statement the apostle Paul made to the Ephesian church. He said that God "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20, NKJV, emphasis added). In this statement are both the definition of the term next level and the instructions on how to get there. Specifically, God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above in our lives. He wants to see us reach goals and dreams that are beyond anything we’ve achieved in the past. By doing so, we will have, by definition, gone to the next level. The way this occurs is by releasing the ability that God placed on the inside of us.
Let me give you an example from the sports world to illustrate what I mean. In the 2006–2007 NBA basketball season, a promising young player named Rajon Rondo was signed as a backup point guard for the Boston Celtics. During his rookie season Rondo only started in about twenty-five games but produced the following results:
6.4 points per game (ppg)
1.6 steals per game (spg)
3.8 assists per game (apg)
.418 field goal percentage (ratio of non-free-throw baskets made to those attempted)
An assist
happens when a player passes the ball to another player who then scores. Based on these results, Rondo was deemed an average NBA player during his first year. Yet on the inside of Rondo was a higher level of performance than what he had been able to release. In fact, he carried a level of ability inside of him that was exceedingly, abundantly above what many people thought he possessed. However, it was hidden.¹
During Rondo’s second year, something began to change. Another level of ability began to emerge. In the 2007–2008 season, Rondo went from averaging 6.4 ppg to 10.6 ppg. He also increased his assists from 3.8 apg to 5.1 apg. His field goal percentage also increased from .418 to .492.
Then in the 2008–2009 regular season, Rondo improved again. His stats were:
11.9 points (ppg)
1.9 steals per game (spg)
8.2 assists per game (apg)
.505 field goal percentage
Next-Level Concepts
When you consistently produce results in your life that are exceedingly, abundantly above what you’ve been able to accomplish in the past, you’ve gone to the next level. The way you get there is by releasing the ability that’s on the inside of you.
Each year, Rondo found a way to release another level of ability that God placed on the inside of him. In fact, by the end of the 2009–2010 regular season, Rondo’s performance was exceedingly, abundantly above anything he had previously accomplished in the NBA. (See table below.) These results were not only unprecedented in his professional career, but they also officially placed him in a new category of exceptional performers. Everyone around the league began saying that Rondo’s game had gone to the next level. As a result, during the 2010–2011 season, people demanded and expected much more from him.
During the 2009–2010 regular season, Rondo was producing results on the basketball court that were not only uncharacteristic of his previous NBA experience but also far beyond the skill set that many people even knew he possessed. This is what it means to go to the next level. It’s when a person produces results that are exceedingly, abundantly above what they’ve been able to accomplish in the past. It’s when they do better than ever. And it’s all made possible by releasing the power God places on the inside of us.
Next-Level Concepts
Going to the next level is made possible by the power God places on the inside of you.
GOD IS ABLE
Most people have no problem with the concept that God