Christian wrote a post back in 2007 called "Whatever It Takes" and it rocked my world about how 4 buddies did whatever it took to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, because they knew if they could get their friend in the presence of Jesus, then their friend would become healed....
So that post in combination with Discipleship Moments on The Track with Christian, have inspired me to write this new series of posts.....
"Whatever It Takes," "You've Got To Want It," "You've Got To Live It, Eat It, Dream It..." These are some very common sayings we hear when it comes to being successful in life, sports, and business, which are all extremely important endeavors. The sad thing is though, I can not remember ever hearing these statements or anything close to them when it comes to putting Jesus Christ first in our lives...
We say Jesus is first in our lives, but then we skip Church to attend a practice. We say we love God and He is our life, but then we miss Sunday Worship because of a football weekend. We want to Pray every day but our daily routine is too busy that we make no effort to speak to The One who has blessed us with all the opportunity in the first place....We do "Whatever It Takes" in order to succeed in almost any area of life yet we are not willing to even put in the bare minimum when it comes to following and loving Jesus Christ with our Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength (Mark 12.30 NIV).
Perspective From The Track
Christian and I were talking the other day after an intense training session on the track, and he really hammered home the importance of putting Jesus Christ #1 and doing whatever it takes in building our relationship with Him.
I will bullet points some of the key issues in the next post, but Here's the deal. Don't stop giving it your all in sports, business, relationships, and in life. Please continue to go all out and do whatever it takes to become your best with what God has blessed you with...we are called to do everything for God's Glory (1 Corinthians 10.31)...we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2.10), but what we all must understand, definitely what I must understand, is that there is nothing more important than our life relationship with our Creator God, our Savior and Brother Jesus, and our Counselor The Holy Ghost.
So what is the solution? How do we balance what God has called us to do, using the talents and gifts He has Blessed us with, while at the same time maintaining our commitment to following Him and speaking with Him on a daily basis?
Tune in to part 2 of this post to find out more...
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Divine Download
I am 'MacAddict'...an 'AppleFreak'...I admit it, I am very intrigued by computers and what you can create and learn from them...
One of my favorite things to do is to download information and absorb it like a sponge, learning anything and everything I can about particular subjects so that I can then go and apply my new found knowledge out into the world...
Divine Download
Better than any information superhighway download is the download we receive from something that technology will never be able to measure up to: The Holy Scriptures - The Word Of God.
If you want to understand who you are to become and what your purpose in life is, then you need to log into God's Word and do a "Divine Download". Psalm 37.4 says:
You go to the beach, want to keep the sun from getting to your skin. You reach for the SPF 50 rub it in good, and boom, the sun is blocked from your skin. Can't get in. Nope, because you have on Sun Block.
I want you to put your name, the name of your family and friends in this following verse:
The Diamond of All Diamonds
Joshua followed all the diamonds of Psalm 37.4, but you know what His favorite diamond was. It was the diamond of obeying. Obeying is the key to becoming holy, the key to becoming prosperous and successful.
I will close with Joshua 1.6-9, and it is Loaded with diamonds: Strength, Courage, Meditating, Obeying. You must obey God, not so He can use you as a puppet, but so that He can free you to receive your desires. And focus on verse 9...realize that everything you do and everywhere you go, you have God Almighty with you. Just as I mentioned in Joshua 3.7, God is with you, Meditate on that and you will be able to fulfill the desires of your heart and you will be focused on what God desires, then you will be living in your sweet spot, the epicenter of God's Will for your life! Doing so will not only bring you into the promise land, but your family, friends, and community as well because you could be the person God is calling to lead your people into the land of milk and honey!
One of my favorite things to do is to download information and absorb it like a sponge, learning anything and everything I can about particular subjects so that I can then go and apply my new found knowledge out into the world...
Divine Download
Better than any information superhighway download is the download we receive from something that technology will never be able to measure up to: The Holy Scriptures - The Word Of God.
If you want to understand who you are to become and what your purpose in life is, then you need to log into God's Word and do a "Divine Download". Psalm 37.4 says:
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
How about that for a fast download! Do you want the desires of your heart? Then delight yourself in The Lord! Erwin McManus paraphrases this verse as, "Love God, then do what you want." If you are truly a Christ Follower, then you will begin to desire what God desires, and what you desire is what He will give to you. He is your Creator, not only physically, but also through creating the desires of your heart.
The "Diamonds" of The Divine Download
I like to meditate on what I call "Pearls of Wisdom." In this case though, I am going to use "Diamonds" in place of "Pearls" for the "D Cubed" Title of "Diamonds" of The Divine Download.
The Diamonds are the key words, the nuggets, of How to access this download...the "enter" button on your keyboard that allows the download to start...
Take a look at the surrounding Scripture to Psalm 37.4 and you will see the Diamonds I'm talking about:
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. (Psalm 37.3, emphasis added)
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this: (Psalm 37.5 emphasis added)
trust in him and he will do this: (Psalm 37.5 emphasis added)
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
(Psalm 37.7 emphasis added)
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
(Psalm 37.7 emphasis added)
You must Trust The Lord, Commit heart, mind, body, and soul to Him, and then be still and watch for His works. One of the biggest issues we deal with is thinking that we have to be in control, so we end up freaking out at a franctic pace. One of my favorite quotes is from the great UCLA former Championship basketball coach, John Wooden, who said:
Don't mistake activity for achievement
Just because you may be busy and doing stuff, does not mean you are achieving anything. You may be doing things that are keeping you from doing things...important life changing things.
Ask yourself if you are really trusting in The Lord. Sometimes I feel like God is saying, "Your name here, I would love for you to finally free up your schedule so that you will allow me to work in your life...now would be a good time."God created you, I think it is wise to believe that He can create circumstances in your life. So let Him. By all means, do your part, Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you, but dude, at some point you have to take Psalm 37.7 to heart.
Sun Block and Sin BlockYou go to the beach, want to keep the sun from getting to your skin. You reach for the SPF 50 rub it in good, and boom, the sun is blocked from your skin. Can't get in. Nope, because you have on Sun Block.
It's the same way for sin. If you are saying that you are doing the Divine Downloads and living out the Diamonds of Psalm 37 but your desires are not being fulfilled, then it could be that there is a Sin Block in your life. Sin is keeping you from entering your Promise Land.
Only two men from the original Israelite's entered the Promise Land. Why? Because sin and immaturity were blocking the entry of those who would not stop complaining. Fast Forward to Joshua...God calls Joshua to lead the people to enter the Promise Land and has Joshua say:Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
The word Consecrate means "to be set apart," to be "other than,"...in essence, to "be holy."...i.e without sin...to have righteousness..Psalm 37.6 says, He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (emphasis added)
Focus on that, He is making our righteosness shine. He is not making our sin shine, or our fear shine, or our lust shine. He is making our righteousness shine and the justice of our cause shine like the noonday sun! The importance of being holy and righteous come from The Mouth of God......for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy - 1 Peter 1.16 (NIV). You see, we are to be holy, because He is holy. If we want to experience the desires of our heart, we must be holy and get rid of the sin in our lives, the sin block that is putting up a wall of division from God Almighty. God can not be in the presence of sin. That is why He sent Jesus to die and resurrect for us so that we could be in His Presence. Jude 1.24-25 says that we are presented before God, in His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, because of the power and authority of Jesus Christ.
God With YouI want you to put your name, the name of your family and friends in this following verse:
And the LORD said to _____, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.
This is what The Lord said to Joshua as He lead him through the Jordan River and into the Promise Land. Joshua was consecrated, holy, set apart. He delighted in The Lord and received the desires of his heart. Because of his Trust, Committment, and being still, he was then able to activate his faith and use the military gifts God granted him to take action and enter the Promise Land, bringing all his people into their Promise Land and dividing the land so that they all could benefit as well.The Diamond of All Diamonds
Joshua followed all the diamonds of Psalm 37.4, but you know what His favorite diamond was. It was the diamond of obeying. Obeying is the key to becoming holy, the key to becoming prosperous and successful.
I will close with Joshua 1.6-9, and it is Loaded with diamonds: Strength, Courage, Meditating, Obeying. You must obey God, not so He can use you as a puppet, but so that He can free you to receive your desires. And focus on verse 9...realize that everything you do and everywhere you go, you have God Almighty with you. Just as I mentioned in Joshua 3.7, God is with you, Meditate on that and you will be able to fulfill the desires of your heart and you will be focused on what God desires, then you will be living in your sweet spot, the epicenter of God's Will for your life! Doing so will not only bring you into the promise land, but your family, friends, and community as well because you could be the person God is calling to lead your people into the land of milk and honey!
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Monday, September 8, 2008
Embrace Uncertainty
The following are excerpts from "EXTREME FAITH" in the series, "Extreme," written by Mark Batterson.
Andy Stanley wrote, “There will always be an element of uncertainty. Generally speaking, you are probably never going to be more than eighty percent certain. Waiting for greater certainty may cause you to miss an opportunity.”
It’s hard to explain, but that released me from the second-thoughts I was having. Most of us want certainty—we love 100% money-back guarantees. But the problem with that is this: there is no such thing as risk-free faith.
In his book, Divine Appointments, Erwin McManus says, “Don’t wait for God to remove all the uncertainty. Realize He may actually increase the uncertainty and leverage all odds against you, just so that you know in the end that it wasn’t your gifts but His power through your gifts that fulfilled His purpose in your life.”
Andy Stanley wrote, “There will always be an element of uncertainty. Generally speaking, you are probably never going to be more than eighty percent certain. Waiting for greater certainty may cause you to miss an opportunity.”
It’s hard to explain, but that released me from the second-thoughts I was having. Most of us want certainty—we love 100% money-back guarantees. But the problem with that is this: there is no such thing as risk-free faith.
In his book, Divine Appointments, Erwin McManus says, “Don’t wait for God to remove all the uncertainty. Realize He may actually increase the uncertainty and leverage all odds against you, just so that you know in the end that it wasn’t your gifts but His power through your gifts that fulfilled His purpose in your life.”
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Thoughts: Faith and Fear
The following are excerpts from "EXTREME FAITH" in the series, "Extreme," written by Mark Batterson.
God's Goals
"...until they recognized Jesus’ voice inflections and heard him say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
That phrase—“don’t be afraid”—is the most repeated phrase in Scripture. The significance of that is this: one of God’s primary goals is to help us overcome our fears!
I love the way John Ortberg says it. “God has an inextinguishable habit of asking people to do things that are scary to them.”
Fear Makes Us Feel Alive
It’s tough to describe, but there’s something about fear that makes us feel alive. I like the way David Whyte said it. “The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears.” I think another way of saying that is this: the alternative to fear is boredom.
Following Christ is anything but boring! John Ortberg says, “The choice to follow Jesus is the choice for the constant recurrence of fear.”
Unlearning
Let me give you a definition of faith. Faith is the process of unlearning your fears. If you look in a medical reference book you’ll find about 2,000 classified fears or phobias. There is even phobiaphobia— the fear of phobias. Here’s what’s interesting. According to psychologists, we’re only born with two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. That means that every other fear is learned. And that means that every other fear can be unlearned.
And that’s where God enters the equation. God is in the business of bringing us face-to-face with our fears so that we can unlearn them. I John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out all fear.” In other words, as we grow in our love relationship with God, we unlearn those fears that paralyze us emotionally and relationally and spiritually. And we learn to live by faith.
Matthew 14:29 says, “Peter got out of the boat, walked on water and came toward Jesus.”
God's Goals
"...until they recognized Jesus’ voice inflections and heard him say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
That phrase—“don’t be afraid”—is the most repeated phrase in Scripture. The significance of that is this: one of God’s primary goals is to help us overcome our fears!
I love the way John Ortberg says it. “God has an inextinguishable habit of asking people to do things that are scary to them.”
Fear Makes Us Feel Alive
It’s tough to describe, but there’s something about fear that makes us feel alive. I like the way David Whyte said it. “The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears.” I think another way of saying that is this: the alternative to fear is boredom.
Following Christ is anything but boring! John Ortberg says, “The choice to follow Jesus is the choice for the constant recurrence of fear.”
Unlearning
Let me give you a definition of faith. Faith is the process of unlearning your fears. If you look in a medical reference book you’ll find about 2,000 classified fears or phobias. There is even phobiaphobia— the fear of phobias. Here’s what’s interesting. According to psychologists, we’re only born with two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. That means that every other fear is learned. And that means that every other fear can be unlearned.
And that’s where God enters the equation. God is in the business of bringing us face-to-face with our fears so that we can unlearn them. I John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out all fear.” In other words, as we grow in our love relationship with God, we unlearn those fears that paralyze us emotionally and relationally and spiritually. And we learn to live by faith.
Matthew 14:29 says, “Peter got out of the boat, walked on water and came toward Jesus.”
Friday, September 5, 2008
Burden, Passion, And The Will Of God
God was determined to start over when He saw the wicked and self-serving nature of mankind...so He uses Noah to build an ark
Israelite's are held in captivity as slaves under Egyptian rule...God uses Moses to lead them out
God needs leaders to bring His people into The Promise Land...He calls upon Joshua and Caleb
God needed a warrior to take down the Philistine army...David accepts the call
Humanity needs a Savior...enter Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, The Messiah
Do you see the pattern. Where there is a need, where there is a burden, a purpose is created.
What Is Your Burden?
Do you have a burden for something or someone? What are you passionate about? Where is there a need that must be filled?
Answer these 3 questions and you can find God's Will for Your life! Ask God what is His Passion...what is His Burden...what is His Will...
All you have to do is listen and then obey. Noah, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, you name it, all had those 2 qualities in common. God needed them so they listened and obey.
Pray
Pray for God to give you a burden...a passion...a need to be met...keep your eyes open to culture and to yourself...notice what it is that gets you all worked up...listen to God and obey His command!
God created you to fulfill a need...His Will for your life is to fulfill that need. God's Burden will become your burden...will become your passion, and His Will is for you to see His Revelation of that passion and then act on it in Obedience and in Faith!
Israelite's are held in captivity as slaves under Egyptian rule...God uses Moses to lead them out
God needs leaders to bring His people into The Promise Land...He calls upon Joshua and Caleb
God needed a warrior to take down the Philistine army...David accepts the call
Humanity needs a Savior...enter Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, The Messiah
Do you see the pattern. Where there is a need, where there is a burden, a purpose is created.
What Is Your Burden?
Do you have a burden for something or someone? What are you passionate about? Where is there a need that must be filled?
Answer these 3 questions and you can find God's Will for Your life! Ask God what is His Passion...what is His Burden...what is His Will...
All you have to do is listen and then obey. Noah, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, you name it, all had those 2 qualities in common. God needed them so they listened and obey.
Pray
Pray for God to give you a burden...a passion...a need to be met...keep your eyes open to culture and to yourself...notice what it is that gets you all worked up...listen to God and obey His command!
God created you to fulfill a need...His Will for your life is to fulfill that need. God's Burden will become your burden...will become your passion, and His Will is for you to see His Revelation of that passion and then act on it in Obedience and in Faith!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Pleasing People or Pleasing God?
One of the best lines in the movie "Speed" comes from Dennis Hopper who plays the antagonist of the film. He is an expert with explosives and creates bombs throughout the city. He gives Keanu Reeves, the protagonist, the hero, hypothetical's about how he would respond to different situations of how to handle a bomb situation...he essentially challenges Keanu and says:
1. You are in a circle of friends or colleagues and they are gossiping about someone across the room. You can laugh along with them and degrade the person, or you can call them out and make them aware of what they are doing, or you could also simply leave the room and choose not to be a part of that trash....What do you do?
2. You are at a crossroads of a BIG decision and you know the right thing to do, but you are tempted not to offend anyone. You know what to do and what will please God, but you are tempted to please people instead of pleasing God...What do you do?
3. You have been offered a joint at an office party, everybody else is getting high. What do you do?
Pre-Choices
I will tell you one way to give you a head start on situations like the aforementioned. It's called a "Pre-Choice." You must make the decision ahead of time that you will please God instead of pleasing people. You must choose ahead of time whom you serve: God or people...
But Daniel makes a choice. He would rather offend the king than offend God. I’m not sure what situations and scenarios you’ll find yourself in, but here is what I do know: God rarely uses a person whose main concern is what other people think. But there is no limit to the way God can use someone who refuses to offend God even if it offends others.
Bottom Line: You are going to serve someone or something. You are going to please someone or something. God or people....What do you do?
"What do you do?"
Allow me to give you some hypothetical's:What do you do?
1. You are in a circle of friends or colleagues and they are gossiping about someone across the room. You can laugh along with them and degrade the person, or you can call them out and make them aware of what they are doing, or you could also simply leave the room and choose not to be a part of that trash....What do you do?
2. You are at a crossroads of a BIG decision and you know the right thing to do, but you are tempted not to offend anyone. You know what to do and what will please God, but you are tempted to please people instead of pleasing God...What do you do?
3. You have been offered a joint at an office party, everybody else is getting high. What do you do?
Pre-Choices
I will tell you one way to give you a head start on situations like the aforementioned. It's called a "Pre-Choice." You must make the decision ahead of time that you will please God instead of pleasing people. You must choose ahead of time whom you serve: God or people...
"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
No Limits
I want you to meditate on the following excerpt from "Pre-Choices," part 3 of the series, "Choices," by Mark Batterson of National Community Church.
I want you to meditate on the following excerpt from "Pre-Choices," part 3 of the series, "Choices," by Mark Batterson of National Community Church.
But Daniel makes a choice. He would rather offend the king than offend God. I’m not sure what situations and scenarios you’ll find yourself in, but here is what I do know: God rarely uses a person whose main concern is what other people think. But there is no limit to the way God can use someone who refuses to offend God even if it offends others.
Bottom Line: You are going to serve someone or something. You are going to please someone or something. God or people....What do you do?
Make The Decision
The following is an excerpt from "Big Choices," part 2 of the series, "Choices," by Mark Batterson of National Community Church.
The Third Temptation
Once you examine the walls you’ve got to make a decision. The worst decision is indecision.
I recently read Patrick Lencioni’s bestselling book The Five Temptations of a CEO. I found temptation three fascinating. It’s the temptation to insure that your decisions are correct. That seems like a good thing, but Lencioni delineates. He says, “It’s the temptation to choose certainty over clarity.” Some people fear being wrong so much that they wait until they’re absolutely certain about something before they make a decision.
One of our core values is everything is an experiment. We aren’t afraid of making mistakes. In fact, if we aren’t making mistakes we aren’t trying enough new things! You’ve got to overcome that fear of being wrong.
I think the three most powerful words you can say are “I love you.” But next to that, the three most powerful words you can say are “I was wrong.” And the only way you get to say those words is if you make a bad decision!
Theodore Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Some people live in suspended animation —they try to avoid the anxiety of saying yes and the guilt of saying no by living in indecision. Make a choice!
The Third Temptation
Once you examine the walls you’ve got to make a decision. The worst decision is indecision.
I recently read Patrick Lencioni’s bestselling book The Five Temptations of a CEO. I found temptation three fascinating. It’s the temptation to insure that your decisions are correct. That seems like a good thing, but Lencioni delineates. He says, “It’s the temptation to choose certainty over clarity.” Some people fear being wrong so much that they wait until they’re absolutely certain about something before they make a decision.
One of our core values is everything is an experiment. We aren’t afraid of making mistakes. In fact, if we aren’t making mistakes we aren’t trying enough new things! You’ve got to overcome that fear of being wrong.
I think the three most powerful words you can say are “I love you.” But next to that, the three most powerful words you can say are “I was wrong.” And the only way you get to say those words is if you make a bad decision!
Theodore Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Some people live in suspended animation —they try to avoid the anxiety of saying yes and the guilt of saying no by living in indecision. Make a choice!
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