partners in Christ

Do you have room in your heart to partner with others who are in Christ?

I believe one of the things that we miss out on is a true and genuine partnership with other believers. Partnerships are huge and I am not just talking about business partnerships. I am talking about partnering with other believers to encourage them, pray for them, and be there every step of the way.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. (Philemon 17)

As believers in Christ, we share the same experience in Christ Jesus of being saved.

Too often, our relationships with other believers reflect tolerance and not a partnership.

Now let me ask the question again. Do you have room in your heart to welcome other believers warmly?

I feel convicted when I ask myself that question because I don't know if I truly do that. I know that I need to make room to welcome other believers. We go through a lot as believers and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ who must be there for each other. We can't take what we experience together for granted.

We need to treat other believers as parters in God's grace and love, not just fellow workers. Let your common interests in Christ and your common feeling of gratitude for Christ's love knit you together with others.

good citizens

How we view, respect, and listen to those who are in authority is actually something that is very important for Christians. It's a soft world now, I have to be honest with you. One misuse of a word and you offend someone. If you say something out of context, it has the ability to blow up all over social media, or even through your friend groups.

It's everyone. I get offended, you get offended, we all do.

We have to start understanding that part of our Christian responsibility is to be good citizens.

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and always to be gentle towards everyone. 
(Titus 3:1)

As Christians, our first allegiance is to Jesus as Lord, but we must obey our government and its leaders as well.

Christians are not above the law. Obeying the civil law is only the beginning of our responsibility.

I have tons of respect for the people who respect the government and just keep their mouth shut. When people won't stop whining about it, they don't have my respect.

There are plenty of Christians who think that they are above the law. You know what that does for unbelievers who see that? It totally turns them off from the idea giving their lives to Christ. There is a certain gentleness component that relates to not being above the law that people are attracted to. If we respect rulers and authorities, and have something totally different about us, unbelievers are going to want to know more.

I fully believe that the way we view our rulers and authorities has a direct correlation to the impact that we have as believers and followers of Christ. My encouragement to you is to be respectful and to always be ready to do good.

Whether you like what is going on with our government or not, be ready to do good, slander no one, and be peaceable, considerate, and gentle towards everyone. THAT is the key to witnessing to more people than you can imagine.

lift MY eyes

Some of the very best lessons are the most simple.

The late great Kobe Bryant once said that he was the greatest because he was obsessed with the basics.

I believe that sometimes we forget the simplicity of life in an extremely complicated world. There are simple things that we can do on a daily basis to make our selfs feel good and to love others. I really want you to think about all of the things out there right now that are existing just to bring us peace, health, longevity, etc.

There are crazy diets, hot yoga, goat yoga, pure barre, zen, beyond zen, etc. You also have Instagram Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc. I promise I am not dissing those things because there are tons of benefits from those. I am just proving a point that we often look to things that we came up with as humans to help us.

Where does our help truly come from?

I lift my eyes to the mountains-
where does my help come from?
MY help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1-2) 

When was the last time you looked up and asked the Lord for help? Actually no...let me ask that again. When was the last time that you looked down at your phone for help? Yes. That seems more realistic!

We probably look to our phones for help 3,4,5,6, or 7 times a day. If not more.

Subconsciously we look to our phones and other things for help. When we don't have anything to do, get bored, or need a break, we took to our phones for help. We rely on other things to fill what we are missing.

I am not just talking about your phone either.

We can look straight ahead, to the left, to the right, and we can ask people for help. We sit at our desks and look at our computers for help.

If I am can be completely honest with you, I believe the last place we look for help is up. It's the most inconvenient for us because we don't an answer right away. If we look anywhere else, we do. I can google any question and get the answer I need...but when I want to know figure out how I can be fulfilled, I have to look up. When I want to figure out how to be a better person, I have to look up. When I want to figure out how to love others better, I have to look up. That is true help. Our true help comes from the Lord.

I challenge you to look up today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and forever. Looking up allows you to get rid of all distractions because what else is up there that is going to distract you? Nothing!

It's 6:45 in the morning right now and as I keep typing this, I just keep looking up every so often. Yeah, there is a ceiling right above my head, but I feel fulfillment when I look up because like I said there is nothing distracting me. When I look up I envision Jesus up in heaven looking down on me with open and loving arms...telling me that He will help me through all things both now and forever.

elder rules

An elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group. 

I don't believe that we are all called to be elders of the church, but I do believe that we should have the same standards as they do. It's like an executive board for a large corporation...all the employees should follow the same rules as the board does, but they might not ever get that opportunity to be on the board.

These positions of authority are things that we should strive to be a part of. I don't feel like I know enough to be an elder in a church, and I feel like my life is not what an elders life would look like. But I want to be like an elder and have wisdom that can help people.

There was one thing in particular that I came across this morning when I was reading Titus 1 about qualities elders should have.

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. (Titus 1:6)

What stuck out to me was this: not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 

There are parts of me that like some of the things of this world that I know I really shouldn't. Sometimes I like to have wild thoughts, I like to listen to rap music, and sometimes I oddly enjoy thinking as the world would want me to and not God.

I don't like to admit that, but I just have to be honest. I wish I didn't think that way, or enjoy those things. I really don't. I know those things can make me feel a little wild instantly. Whereas with God, I know I have to be patient and sometimes I am not the most patient human.

The point is...to be someone who others look to for wisdom, encouragement, and love, you have to rid yourself from the ways of the world. It does't matter how much knowledge you have of the bible, the popularity you might have, or insanely good habits, if there is a part of you that is open to being wild and disobedient you are cheating yourself out of fulfillment.

So don't cheat yourself. Honestly, I feel like I cheat myself daily.

If you are someone who still has a part of you open to being wild and disobedient, I promise you aren't alone. I am right there with you. I don't like that I am like that, but I also know that I am not perfect.

I would love to not be open to that idea and I hope you feel the same way. Let's commit to relying on God to fulfill all our hopes, dreams, and desires. Let's be believers that people turn to for wisdom, encouragement, and love.

It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it.

Pslam 119

I was on Psalm 119 this evening, I opened my bible, saw it was 176 verses and wrote down that I was going to read it tomorrow. I thought to myself...there is no way that I am reading all of those verses right now.

As soon as I saw there were 176 verses there was also a part of me that told me I need to read that tonight.

Here I am...sitting here having a boxing match in my head about what I should do.

I knew that voice in my head that told me to read it was the Holy Spirit...and the voice that told me just to put it off was my worldly self. I am a really big believer that when you do something you don't want to do at all, and then do it, you're going to be fulfilled. (when it comes to your faith and work ethic) There are things I don't want to do all the time that I don't need to do.

Let me ask you this question. How many times have you felt like you should read your bible and you don't you feel like it?

It's probably 90% of the time. It's something we have to go out of our way to do. It's usually not on everyones 'to do list.'

Here I am...sitting here writing this post about a small decision that lead to me being fulfilled. Psalm 119 is incredible, and it really was awesome to read, but I believe what I got out of tonight is to listen to the voice in your head telling you what is really right to do. The voice that often goes against your own agenda...

Do what you don't feel like doing and you'll reap the rewards. Take the away from this post tonight.

The 10 extra minutes it took to read Psalm 119 was all it took for me to be sitting here feeling extremely fulfilled and grateful for the word of God. 10 minutes of MY time given to God and I can't put it into words how I feel.

How much time are you willing to give to feel fulfilled? Because you don't have to give that much. God is so good!!!

the last days

Whenever I know that something is the 'last' it creates a sense of urgency in me. When I knew it was the fourth quarter of a basketball, it created a sense of urgency that it was time to win. I remember really getting into the show Friends right before they took it off of Netflix. I remember watching it the moment they took it off Netflix. I hadn't really watched much of Friends up until I knew they were going to take it off, so I was happy that I created a sense of urgency to watch as much as I could.

In 2 Timothy, when Paul references the "last days" he is revealing his sense of urgency. The "last days" began after Jesus' resurrection when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. The "last days" will continue until Christ's second coming. This meaning that we are living in the last days. Knowing that, we should make the most of the time that God has given us.

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Yikes. There are a lot of things in the list, and maybe some of those things describe yourself right now. Maybe, they describe some of the people that you spend your time around. If there is any part of you that is tied to anything in those verses, rid yourself. Pray that your heart begins to change. It's hard, there are a lot of things on that list and we are all sinners. Recognition is the first key ingredient to change.

If you find yourself surrounded by people who fit those descriptions, have nothing to do with them. Pray for them, but having nothing to do with them. Because most of the time, we become who we spend our time with. Whether we say that we are self-controlled and disciplined or not. If you keep spending time around people who are living in the way, you will become that.

Some might say...love everyone...love everyone...still love them. Don't not love them for some reason. Just having nothing to do with them. Don't get caught up in what they do or what they try to make you do. It hurts to say, but honestly sometimes, no matter how hard you try, some people are not going to change.

Pau's descriptive list of behavior in the last days describes our society-even, unfortunately, the behavior of many Christians. Check your life against Paul's list. Don't give into security's pressures. Don't settle for comfort without commitment. Stand up against evil by living as God would have his people live.

You might be a little upset about this post, thinking that I am telling you all to not be friends with some of your friends. But if you really strive to have an amazing relationship with Christ and feel like you want to honor him all in that you say and do, you might have to put your foot in the ground and commit to spending time with people who are always going to be uplifting, encouraging, and helping you in your pursuit of Christ.

We have the awesome ability of choice. It's up to us. We can choose who we are going to spend our time with. Are you more focused on what will last forever, or the days that keep you from reaching your full potential? It's really up to you.

I am here for what lasts forever. Who is with me?

My prayer is for everyone. We all want what will last forever. Eternity is written on our hearts, we just have to cut off what is holding us back and go for it.

no short cuts

I believe in order to get where you want to go, you cannot take short cuts. You will never accomplish your goals if you take short cuts. 

This relates to our relationship with Jesus. We have to embrace the suffering we go through in order to get to what we are promised. We can't just experience eternity in heaven without going through some things here on earth. Things that we are going to have to go through. Life isn't easy. There is no way around suffering other than a relationship with Jesus and embracing the fact that as believers of Christ Jesus, we are going to go through a lot of difficult things. 

"Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Simarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not recieve the victor's crown, except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to recieve a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying to you and the Lord will give you insight to all of this." (2 Timothy 2:3-7)

I don't really know a ton about soldiers, but I do know that they are going to do whatever their commanding officer tells them. Sometimes that is going to battle. No matter if the soldiers think they are going to win or loose, they are going to do what their commanding officer commands them to do. They can't really say no unless they want to take the coward's way out and just give up. 

As an athlete, if you don't compete by the rules, you not only loose the respect of everyone, but you cannot win. Every sport has rules and guidelines that you must follow that makes it all fair. It should be a natural inclination for athletes to follow the rules because typically, athletes are very competitive and want to win. In order to experience that feeling of victory, you just have to accept the fact that there are rules to follow. If you have kept up with the sports world lately, I am sure that you say the Houston Astros cheated when they won the World Series. They have lost the respect of everyone. Their bad decision making changes the entire MLB and every person of that organization has lost respect. As an athlete, you just have to embrace the rules that you have to follow.

The hardworking farmer must make sacrifices for his crops. It takes a significant amount of time to have a plentiful harvest. This might mean a little less family time, a little less time with friends. Generally, the farmer is going to have to make a sacrifice. For that sacrifice, the farmer should take the first share of his harvest in order to provide for his family. The farmer can't sacrifice all his time, to just turn around and sell his crops to make money and forget about the family. There are no short cuts. 

Take it as you will, but to get where we want to in life, we can never take short cuts. Anybody who has taken a short cut and continues to do so won't have my respect until they embrace the suffering. For those out there who are suffering, join with me and all the other believers who are also suffering. God is faithful and will never fail us, only strengthen us, to make us the very best versions of ourselves. Remember, we aren't going to suffer all of the time! God is so good and life is so amazing! So when we have those speed-bumps in the road, embrace it because you are going to get to the other side and become a better person because of those things.

One more thing: 

Reflect on what I am saying to you and the Lord will give you insight to all of this...

This is the perfect example of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to reflect on his words and he will gives us insight. If it wasn't for the Holy Spirit giving me insight to what I read and reflect on, I wouldn't have a blog. Every time I reflect on what I read, I am given insight to what I want to write about to encourage you all.

Let that be encouragement for you to really reflect on God's word. Don't just read it to say you did for the day. 

power, love, & self-discipline

Just Do It. 

Nike. 

That is Nike's slogan and it's recognized all over the world. I remember going through a stage in my life, I was probably like 12 or 13, and I was a weird kid. I didn't really know what it was like to be cool or what being cool was. I was just me. This was about when I entered into public school after being home schooled. 

One of the things my friends and I would always say is 'Just do it, just like Nike.' We always said this when we were doing whatever it is young teenagers do. We were just going to do it no matter anybody else around us thought. 

I don't remember what point it was in my life where it started to matter what other people thought of me and the decisions I made. Heck, I don't know what we all go through to get to that point. There just comes a time where we start to care what other people think about us and we easily become intimidated. 

Do you realize that being intimated by other people is almost insulting to God because it shows that we aren't trusting in him?

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

The spirit of God gives us power, love, and self-discipline. How awesome is that?

So why does it feel like it matters what people think about us all of the time? 

To be completely honest, that shows that we are not trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit and we are letting fear rule our lives. 

When we begin to trust in God all of the time, we are going to have a 'just do it' mindset all of the time. We start to realize that the opinions of other people don't really matter that much. 

I make this sound easy, but it's not. It's hard. I am like a 50/50 extrovert/introvert. In some environments I am super outgoing and others I am not. There are times where I get intimated all of the time. When I really sit here and think about it, I come to the realization that I am not trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to give me power, love, and self-discipline. 

Any time that I have straight up just trusted in God and didn't care what others thought, I was happy, confident, and fulfilled. Those feelings are what make me my most successful self. 

I am willing to work on this if you are. Lets commit to not being intimated and worried about what other people think. Let's commit ourselves to not insulting God's power because we aren't trusting him. Let's just do it. 

godliness contentment

One of the best ways that we can honor God is being content with what he is doing in our lives. It may not feel like it, but God is constantly at work in your life every day.

When was the last time your were content? If you remember, it becomes hard to depict whether you're content with things that have gone really well for you, or if you're content because what God is doing in your life.

What you have to remember is that usually when things are going well it is because God is doing those things in your life. Good doesn't happen out of nowhere. God is good to us.

If I relied on money, success, popularity, and nice things to make me feel content, I would never be content. I might feel really good about myself for a short period of time, but those things are incapable of making anybody feel content. I believe that there is a difference between feeling good and being content.

Contentment goes deeper than just a thought. Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction.

The goodness of God has the ability to completely satisfy out souls. We just have to become aware and realize that being content with what God is doing in our lives is key.

Think this through for a second..God is always working and moving in our lives...if we are content with what God is doing in our life...we are always going to be content.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

The more we are content with the work God is doing in our lives, the more it will benefit us for years and years to come. The more content we become with our lives, the more we are able to have something about us that is different, and other people are going to want that.

Then that is when we will be able to talk about Christ and share the gospel.

Being content is honoring and pleasing to God. My challenge for you is to be content with your life and everything that God is doing in it.

practical honor

Practical honor is priceless. One of the best ways to provide for you and your family is by being a good example. It doesn't cost anything to set a good example, to be good role models, or to do the right thing.

I believe we tie the idea of providing for our family a little too much to the monetary side of things. We think that is the best way to provide, when in fact, it is not. True provision isn't found in money, because money isn't going to last forever. We can't take anything from earth with us when we go to heaven.

If making sure your family had enough money was the only incentive that you had to get to heaven, you'd get a lot of people in heaven with not that much integrity and character. I hope you're understanding me correctly. I am not saying that having a lot of money and really taking care of your family is a bad thing. The only time it's a bad thing is if you view that as the main way to provide for your family. If you are relying on your finances to provide for you family more than what you say or do and what you teach your children or spouse, then you are in the wrong.

"Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:8)

Healthy homes remain the best training environment for children.

When it comes to caring and honoring parents, children take most of their cues by watching mom and dad honor their grandparents and each other. When children observe that, they are able to understand the importance of such honor.

Healthy, practical honor becomes a priceless gift that one generation gives another. Disrespect and lack of care provide harmful examples that will eventually turn on us.

Look at the verse...when you don't provide for your relatives, you are denying your faith and that is worse than an unbeliever....

When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, we are accepting the duty to provide for our families as God provides for us. This is one of the very best ways to honor God and strengthen our relationship with him.

My challenge for you is to rethink how you view the idea of providing for you and your family. It goes way deeper than your finances. I hope this post was able to teach you that and encourage you to really set example for your relatives and those who are closest to you.

Practical honor is priceless...

spiritual fitness

Physical fitness attracts everyones eye but what about spiritual fitness? I bet you have never thought about it that way before.

I came across one of my favorite verses this morning, and I will never forget the first time I read it. 

"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourselves to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance." 

(1 Timothy 4:7-10)

I believe I was a sophomore in college at the time, fighting back from the knee surgery I had. I was putting every part of me into rehab and getting back to playing as soon as possible. No matter how many hours I put it, or how hard I worked, I still had pain. 

It was probably the toughest year for me, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I came across that verse and my entire mindset began to change. I was putting every part of me into my physical fitness and nothing into my spiritual fitness. 

What stuck out to me from that verse was that godliness trains and prepares you for the present life and the life to come. The life to come...That is what got my attention. The life to come is eternal life, which is forever. My competitive basketball playing days are over already and I am 23. I was putting every part of me into something that wasn't going to last me my entire life. 

Let that challenge you. What part of yourself are you putting into things that aren't godly and won't prepare you for the rest of your life and the life to come? 

In our society, much emphasis is placed on physical fitness, but spiritual health is even more important. Our physical health is susceptible to disease and injury, but faith can sustain us through any tragedy. To train ourselves to be godly, we must develop our faith by using our God-given abilities. 

We commit way too much ourselves to certain things that don't need every part of us. I encourage you to start committing yourself to godliness. That's one of the most valuable commitments we have the ability to make. When else you do you have the opportunity to commit to something that is going to be of great value in your life right now and your life to come? 

what works for me

For many years in my life...I kept asking myself the question 'how do I grow closer to God.'

For years, it seemed like I would never find the answer. I would try different things all of the time. I would try praying more, reading my bible more, listening to worship music, journaling, meeting with mentors, etc.

Looking at that list I just put down, you're probably thinking that those are ways to grow closer to God. Yep. You are 100% right.

I believe it's how you utilize those things and what works best for you. Before I go any further, my challenge for you is to answer the question 'what works for me?'

Ultimately, the best way to grow is reading your bible. That is what has worked the best for me and that's what I have heard many other people say. Again, it's how you figure out how to read it where you will grow the most.

Think about it this way....think about all the places that make cheeseburgers. Especially all the fast food restaurants. Each and every single one of those restaurants is still in business because they figured out how they are going to make their cheeseburgers special. See, all of the restaurants make good cheeseburgers, just like how as believers, we are all believers. Just like how the restaurants figured out what works best for them, as believers, that is what we are supposed to figure out as well.

We all want to grow right?

The Holy Spirit has to power to help us all grow in so many different ways...we just have to trust God and figure out what works the best, and where we are most fulfilled.

Quick Tips: (this is how I do it)

1. Reading my bible every day

- I will aways read two books at a time and and one chapter each. For example, this morning I read 1 Timothy 3, and Psalm 113. It usually takes me 10-15 minutes tops to do this. I found it to be extremely beneficial for my growth to read less but focus more. I've been reading my bible this way for the past 4 years and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

2. Journal what I read about

- journaling has been huge for me. If I didn't journal I wouldn't remember as well what I had just learned from reading my bible. I journal in the same format every time I read my bible. I leave a couple lines to write my: thoughts, application, favorite verses, questions, and a prayer. I will jot down 3 or 4 bullets points about what I thought about the scripture. I always jot down 3-4 bullet points about how I can apply this to my life immediately. Then I will also write down my favorite verses. One of my favorite parts about my journal is the question and prayer lines. I always write a question that I would have if I was talking to God. Then I write down a specific prayer that I have for the day. You don't have to journal a book in order to grow, you can also make this short and sweet.

3. Writing a blog

- so I am not telling you to all start a blog because it's how I grow, but it's been one the most special ways that I grow on a daily basis. Typing out what I read about and sharing it with others is a great way to apply what I learned to my life right away. Plus, I just want others to grow and be encouraged as well.

4. Bible App

- I was completely unaware of this until Rach asked me a couple months ago if I wanted to start doing a bible app plan together. So if you have the bible app on your phone, there is an option to do plans and have friends do them with you. This has been one of the ways in which Rach and I grew the most. These plans get you thinking about things that you might not ever talk about right away. One of the best things about the bible app is that the plans don't take very long. I am going through a plan with my friend Cole right now, and this morning it took my 3 minutes to read the devotional, the verses, and type out what I was able to take away from it. The type out your response section is the coolest, because then you are able to apply and share what you learned right away.

I am not perfect. I am a sinner, I don't think I am the best person to take advice from by any means....but this stuff works. It's not about how much you do, but doing what works for you. What works for me is all very time efficient and it's just being disciplined.

I don't have the relationship with Christ that I do because I've written a few blog posts, journaled a couple times, and read my bible here and there. I have the relationship with Christ that I do and the crazy faith that I have because I do these things on a daily basis and have been for years.

I figured out what works best for me and I do it a lot....that is my challenge to you.

(ps. there are days where I can't do all of those things...but it's always something.)

Just like you can go find a good cheeseburger almost anywhere, there are people out there who have their own ways of doing things super well. You just have to learn from others, figure out what works best, and take off and run with it.

titanic myth

A hole in the boat is a hole in the boat.

A lot of people segment their lives and think they can live with integrity when they are harboring sin in one area of life as long as it doesn’t affect the other areas. I call this the Titanic myth. The Titanic was supposed to be the first unsinkable ship because it was the frost ship to segment and compartmentalize the hull. Theoretically, if the boat took on water in a certain area, you could batten down the hatch, and it wouldn’t sink the whole ship.

When it comes to your life, a hole in the boat is a hole in the boat, eventually it’s going to sink you. That little area you thought you had under control will eventually take you down. And, it will affect the people around you, because while sin is personal, it is never private.

We are not perfect and God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. God does expect us to have integrity. The starting point with integrity is owing up to your sins.

I know that’s deep and maybe a little heavy for a beautiful Valentine’s Day morning, but a major factor in our relationship with Christ is our integrity. Same way with whoever you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with.

Confess your sins! It’s what God wants. If you sin, just admit it because we cannot be perfect and we are not perfect, not even close. It doesn’t do any good for anyone to not confess them. A hole in the boat is a hole in the boat...

Confess your sins and will will be forgiven.

task vs. opportunity

Every task is disguised as an opportunity.

I listened to a speaker yesterday that totally changed my mindset when he said that.

Think about everything that we view as a 'task.' Tasks are usually things that we really don't want to deal with. It's usually just another thing on the list that we have to check off. There is nothing attractive about the word 'task.'

When you view almost everything as a 'task' you never get any fulfillment out of anything that you have to do...because you feel like it's just something that you have to do.

Now think about opportunities...an opportunity is something that can take you in a million different positive directions.

When you view everything as an opportunity, you put more effort, love, and care into the things that you do. We generally care about the opportunities that we have and we always want to make the most of them.

I've never heard anybody say that they want to make the most out of the task at hand...

We can find fulfillment in opportunities every single day.

When you begin to view everything as an opportunity you can change your entire life.

I get the opportunity to serve God and honor him in every aspect of my life every day.

I get the opportunity to love Rach and make her feel like the most special girl in the entire world.

I get the opportunity to serve my clients every day.

I get the opportunity to be around amazing people every day.

I get the opportunity to be a good friend every day.

I get the opportunity to be a good son every day.

I get the opportunity to be a good brother every day.

You see what I did?

Change your language from saying 'have to' to 'get to.'

When you switch up those words, everything becomes an opportunity for you.

My homework for you is to write three things down that you have the opportunity to do on a daily basis and share those with me. Once you get this figured out, your life will really change. Because you will literally start to view everything as an opportunity.

find your circle

One decision that we are fortunate enough to have the ability to make everyday is who we choose to spend our time with. 

We can choose to be around people who are uplifting and encouraging or you can spend your time with those who are idle and disruptive. Did you know that God actually warns us about spending time with those who are idle and disruptive? 

"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and who does not live according to the teaching you received from us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

Paul is actually writing about those who are lazy. Paul actually writes 'the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.' There's a difference between leisure and laziness. Relaxation and recreation provide necessary and much needed balance to our lives; when it is time to work, however, Christians should jump right in. We should make the most of our talent and time, doing all we can to provide for ourselves and our families. 

One of the things that I have learned is that for some people, a lack of activity will lead to sin. With not having much to do, that is when our minds tend to wander, and we begin to become deceived and fall into temptation...

I met with a couple friends who are still in college this morning and one of the questions they kept asking me was what it was like not having a community around me all of the time like I did in school. 

Without hesitation, I told them that we have the ability to choose who we spend our time with. If I want community, I can choose it. If I don't, then I don't.

That answer almost sounds too simple, but it's totally true. Your community is what you make of it. The people I work with are my community now. I say that because they're encouraging, uplifting, and make me a better person when I am around them. It's easy to know that they care about me. If I didn't like them, I could find a community elsewhere. 

I challenge you all to be smart when you choose who you are spending your time with. I can't stress how important that is. If you feel down after you spend time with a group of people or an individual, then maybe start spending a little less time with them, or even no time. Once I learned how important it is to make sure you are around the right people, I became so much happier and more particular about who I was spending time with. 

Find your circle...I promise it's there. If you can't think of anyone, then think about who makes you feel the best about yourself and who really cares...that is your circle. 

worthless help

Seems a bit contradictory to think of help as sometimes being worthless doesn't it?

It's time to stop relying on others to help us get through things, and to start relying on God. Don't get me wrong, it's important to have a circle of people in your life of whom you can go to when you really need to talk to someone. I have some people like that in my life. They're great, and really listen to me, care for me, and want to help me. But they can't actually get me through whatever struggle I am going through.

The only way to actually gain victory is through Christ.

I think about my relationship with Rach, she's helped me so much in my life, and has been there for some of the most important moments. She's been there at my worst too. Like when I couldn't pass my licensure exam and when I struggled with getting through last basketball season. She's always been there and she is the first person I call when I am struggling. But she wasn't the one who actually helped me. She didn't give me some magical advice, (she kinda did) to help me pass my test or to preserver through the end of the season.

The only way I go through those things was through her pointing me to God. I couldn't have gotten through those things without God's help.

It's been that way my whole life. Those are just two of the most recent examples.

It's great to have amazing people in your life, but they shouldn't be who you turn to first.

I can't tell you how many times in my life something didn't go well and the first thing I would do is find somebody to vent too. That is just not a good use of time! I should've been turning to God first my entire life.

It's hard though, when you vent we have people respond to us right away. With God, you don't really get that immediate gratification. You have to wait a little bit...but what I have found is that when I turn to God first, before anyone else, I feel more fulfilled and like I made the right decision on the inside. In my heart, that felt more natural to me than hammering someone else with everything that is going wrong.

"But we ought always thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

God chose you at firstfruits to be saved. We can't be saved and experience salvation based off of our own merit.

See, worthless help comes into play when we turn to others before we turn to Christ who ultimately decides our salvation. Allowing someone else to try and fill that void that we are missing is worthless.  I am not saying get rid of all those people in your life, I am telling you to stop relying on them to make you feel better. They can help, but they don't have the eternal healing power that God has, or the salvation that God has to offer. They can make you feel good for 30 minutes, but God will fulfill you forever.

our calling

Do you ever wonder what your true calling is?

Sometimes I wonder if I have found mine yet. I see people all around me that seem like they have found their true calling. I see experienced finical advisors on a daily basis and the work I see them do is incredible. Everything they do just seems so natural. Everything in me wishes I was at that point. But I am just not there yet...

I am sure you feel that way at your work place as well. Especially for those of you who read this that are just beginning their careers. We are so new to everything, it's hard to answer the question if this is our calling or not.

While we often relate our jobs to our calling, I believe our true calling goes deeper than that.

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worth of his calling, and that by his power may he bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deep prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our God Lord Jesus may be gloried in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

Our "calling" from God, as Christians, is to become like Christ.

This is a gradual, lifelong process that will be completed when we see Christ face-to-face.

To be "worthy" of this calling means to want and to do what is right and good.

We aren't perfect yet, but we are moving in that direction as God works in us.

Our "calling' is a lifelong, gradual journey. We can't all of a sudden decide to be like Christ and it happens. To be "worthy" of his calling is the first step. We must want to do what is right and good....that is where it all starts.

I encourage you to really pray about doing what is right and good. When you begin to do that you become more worthy of God's calling, and that will lead you to becoming more and more like Christ...which is our true calling.

key to ministry

The key to having a significant impact on someones life isn't about how much knowledge you have or about how popular you are, it's about sensitivity.

I read this morning that the key to ministry is in fact sensitivity.

You hear a lot of things about personalities traits that people have and how sometimes you need to become a little bit like their personality to really get to them, but I don't really believe that to be entirely true.

In certain circumstances, it's absolutely true. When you are trying to motivate a leader, peer, or teammate, sometimes you really have to know what motivates them in order to get under their skin a little bit.

When it comes to our faith, the best way to encourage/motivate someone is to be sensitive.

The people who have encouraged me the most in my life are the ones who were always the most sensitive. Sensitive to the point where they showed me grace, respect, gentleness, love, and kindness. These people were always able to sense what condition I was in and that allowed them to properly handle it. It really showed them how they could help me. I could tell those people had a genuine heart based off of how sensitive they were when they talked to me.

I am sure some of those people come to your mind when you are reading this post as well, and my prayer is that those people come to mind. If someone comes to mind, reach to them, encourage them right back, and thank them for playing a significant role in your life.

When it comes to our faith in Jesus people are more attentive to those who are more sensitive. The last person I am going to listen to is the person who is going to try and shove the gospel down my throat and make me feel bad for the life that I lived.

Sensitivity is a trait that Jesus had and you read about it all over the bible. I find it to be one of the most undervalued personality traits...

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak by patient and everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

Don't loaf around with the idle; warn them. Don't yell at the timid and weak; encourage and help them. At times it can be difficult to distinguish between idleness and timidity. Two people may be doing nothing - one of them out of laziness and the other out of shyness or fear of doing something wrong.

Like I said above, the key to ministry is sensitivity; sensing the condition of each person and offering the appropriate remedy for each situation. You can't effectively help until you know the problem. You can't apply the medicine until you know where the wound is.

I encourage you to sense the condition of those around you...once you understand it...we have the power through the Holy Spirit to effectively help. Please don't ever fear the idea of being sensitive.

a quiet life

We have the both fortunate and unfortunate ability to make a lot of noise. If we want someone to notice us, we can easily make a social media post that will have the ability to stir up a lot of noise. If we feel a certain way about something and we want others to hear about it, all we have to do it is get our little twitter fingers ready. If we live this awesome life, and do all these cool and exciting things, we can make a really big deal about it. If you're prestigious and extremely successful, you can make your success known almost instantly.

We can also live a quiet life. A life where we keep most things to ourselves and are very happy without seeing and feeling the need to have others praise our success. It's a lifestyle where you are completely content with what you have and those around you. Sometimes the most successful people achieve their success because of living a quiet life.

Think about any horror movies that you may have seen before. The people who usually get captured by the bad guys are the ones who make loud noises just to be noticed by their peers. Most of the time, that comes back to get them, literally. The characters who are quiet, and keep to themselves are usually the ones who make it out alive.

When I think about this idea of a quiet life, I think about the movie World War Z. (hopefully some people have seen it) The virus that was turning everyone into zombies was after people who were loud and would freak out. The people who were not losing their minds were the ones who were left untouched by the zombies....There is a scene towards the end of the movie where Brad Pitt is literally face to face with this zombie and all he does is act calm and he walks right past it...

"and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)

There aren't many things that come across more appealing to me than when somebody minds their own business. It's like a breath of fresh air. Everybody is always caught up in each others business for no reason.

When we mind our own business that will earn the respect of outsiders...it might not earn you fame, clout, or gratification...but it's going to earn long lasting respect. To me, respect means a whole heck of a lot more than people seeing how well I did something.

Another important thing is that when we live a quiet life, and win the respect of outsiders, we will not be dependent on anybody. When we live a loud life, for others to notice, we depend on other people to praise us, talk us up, and fill us with confidence.

My encouragement to you is to live a quite life. Do what you're supposed to do, and what you want to do everyday. Continue to mind your own business. The only approval that we need is God's. Once you get that figured out, your life becomes so much better and more fulfilled.

The more we depend on God through our quiet lifestyle the less we will depend on others.

wanted results

As a society, we naturally want results from whatever it is that we do. Getting results is a big reason on why people do things. We set goals to get results, we work to get results, we live to get results. Have you ever done something and got the results you wanted? Or on the other hand, have you ever done something and not got the results that you wanted,

With this post, I hope you become more aware of how you can always get results. Especially the results that you want.

When I think about the results that I am after, my motives play a really big role. Am I wanting to please just myself, others, or God? I often wrestle with that idea in my mind.

Whenever I have tried to get results that would just benefit me, I failed 99% of the time. The failure was not just me not getting the results I wanted, but I also wasn't fulfilled and I cut my self short because I was only focused on me.

I often reflect on my basketball career. I would rather play as hard as I can and score 2 points in a win, then play as hard as I can, score 25 points and loose. I was fortunate enough to accumulate a lot of wins since I first began playing basketball. Every team that I played on, for the most part, was focused on team success vs. individual praise. We knew that as long as we kept winning other people would notice.

In order to get the results that we want, we must keep Christ first in our lives. When you keep Christ first, you might not get the exact results that you want...but you are going to get results. That is what is most important. I have wanted to see many people I know come to Christ and play a part in their decision...has that happened the way that I wanted it to? Nope! I've seen it happen once and that is a result. Our timing will always be different than God's timing. I believe that even if we don't actually see a result, we will feel it. We will feel it because we are doing things for the right reason, and we are keeping God above all.

"You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results." (1 Thessalonians 2:1)

We can learn a lesson from Paul about how we can get results.

"For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests are hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles in Christ we could have asserted our authority. 
(1 Thessalonians 2:3-6)

When we speak as approved by God...we are trying to please God.

When we don't do things looking for praise from people, we are going to get results that are fulfilling and lasting.

Looking back at my college basketball career...we were 98-36 in the four years that I played, and I think I averaged 8 points. I was fulfilled looking back on it, because I know how many wins I was a part of, and the success we got to experience as a team.

Now If I averaged 25 and our record was flipped and we almost lost 100 games, I would look back and not be very fulfilled because we didn't have any success.

When you do things for a greater purpose, you are going to get results. I believe there are a lot of believers out there who are living their lives for Christ every day, but haven't really seen the results they wanted. I promise you, there are results. Don't be discouraged. I bet you are extremely fulfilled, and have a great relationship with God.

For those who aren't believers, if you want results in your life, start living for Christ and you will start to get results. You will begin to understand your purpose, why you were made, and why you are here on earth. Slowly, so many questions will be answered.

I believe the only way to know that we will always get results is to live our lives for Christ and not other people. To live a life for Christ you are going to have to put in the work...The best effort we can give is to read our bibles, pray, love God, and love others. Build up those habits, become disciplined, and you will get results.

not your Joe Shmoe

The gospel isn't just a bunch of fancy words that you can make sound really cool. The gospel isn't your average book, newspaper, magazine, or article that you read. The gospel is power.

I often think it's easy to view the word of God as just another book. It's something we have, lots of people have it, if we want to read it we will, if we don't it's not going to go anywhere...

That's what I thought. Sophomore year of college when I don't think I moved my bible off of my desk.

You know the gospel is powerful when you can't even bring it to some countries. When I went to China, we all brought our bibles to Los Angeles the week before so that we had them during training camp, but as soon as it was time to fly across the world we had to mail our bibles home...That is power in itself...I bet you could bring any other book you wanted to over there.

I promise you that you will never be able find another book that came to you with power.

...because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

The gospel is so powerful! Whenever the bible is heard and obeyed, lives are changed! Christianity is more than a collection of interesting facts; it is the power of God to everyone who believes.

What has God's power done in your life since you first believed?

The word of God is not just your Joe Shmoe...I can attest to that when I came to the realization of the power of the gospel, my life really did change. I've tried to find fulfillment in many other parts of my life, but nothing fulfilled me as much as the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit changes people when they believe the gospel. Whenever we tell others about Christ, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to open their eyes and convince them that they need salvation.

God's power is what will ultimately change someone - not our cleverness or persuasion. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, words are meaningless. The Holy Spirit not only convicts people of sin but also assures them of the truth of the gospel.

I encourage you to come to the realization of the power of the Holy Spirit and really to depend on the Holy Spirit for your personal growth and the growth of other believers.

beauty of being stuck

The beauty of being stuck is that God is always moving.

We get so caught up in being stuck that we don't even realize that God is moving. Think about the earth right now, it's moving. It' been moving since long before you were even here. It's the same thing that God is doing on our lives. He has been moving in us long before we were even thought about it. God is nonstop moving in our lives.

The problem with humanity is that we are stuck. As soon as we put ourselves in sticky situations, hang around the wrong people, do the wrong things, we get stuck. We get comfortable where we are at because that is what we are used to. God didn't create us to just be stuck all the time....

Think about the people that you surround yourself with. Do those people encourage you? Love you? Pray for you? Really deeply care about you? Or are they stuck. Looking to find fulfillment in what won't ever bring them true fulfillment.

The point of life is to change. I can't really tell you how many times I have been asked..."why are you like this now? What happened to you? Why aren't you like you used to be?"

That's a trap in itself. Those who are stuck, want others to be stuck with them because they see the change but don't know how to change.

When people start asking what is different about you, take that as a win!! You changed! God is always on the move and we should be too. Everything was created to move..

For those of you who feel stuck, I can promise you, the Holy Spirit will make you feel a way that you have never felt before.

Yesterday morning when I was down in Nashville at church with Rachel we were overwhelmed by the worship music yesterday...to the point of tears. I am talking about some ugly crying..

We talked afterwards about it a lot and we had never felt the Holy Spirit's presence so much in our lives before. The worship at the church we go to down there, (The Belonging Company) is wild crazy good. Everyone has their hands up, everyone is singing away, it's powerful.

We had been there plenty of times before but yesterday was the most powerful service of them all. While we were singing, I remember seeing Rach out of the corner of my eye with her hands up singing away, and I remember just lifting mine up and being so fulfilled. I had never felt closer to heaven in my life. There was no one other thing in my head that I was thinking about other than worshipping God. It was like it was only me, Rach, and the presence of God in the room. No one else. Every single need that I ever felt was met. I was so fulfilled that I cannot put it into words.

...and knowing that is how we have the opportunity to feel for all of eternity makes me tear up while I type this. I want everyone to feel that! I want as many people as possible to feel that forever and ever. It's why I want to bring change, it's why Rach and I want to be different! We got a taste of what heaven is like, and it's everything and so much more.

We don't want to spend our lives being stuck around stuck people. We are change. God is moving in lives. There isn't a need to spend time in a stuck place when God is always moving. If you're stuck with a group of people around you aren't brining a positive light into you life or others, God will bring new people into you life who will! Movement and change is good! It's what we are meant to do! Don't get trapped in being stuck just because you are comfortable. Don't get caught in the cycle of being stuck...to movement...back to being stuck. If you feel yourself changing, good! Be a voice of change! Encourage others right along side of you! Change is good! Put all your time, energy, and effort into those who are going to do the same for you. You're going to be pushed out of your comfort zone and won't remember that feeling because you are going to be so overwhelmed and fulfilled by the Holy Spirit!

I know that's a lot a just threw at you, but after feeling what Rach and I did yesterday, along with so many other people in the church...the fulfillment that the Holy Spirit brings is all that I want. I know that because nothing on this earth will ever make me feel that way. Not even close. Why put time into things or people that won't ever make you feel that way? Why do things to make you feel good for only a short amount of time? It's what stuck people do.

Be the change! God is always moving. If you feel stuck, I promise that God is moving in your life. You just don't know yet, and it's a beautiful thing.