Two-minute rule

Have you ever tried to start a new habit? But you find yourself procrastinating and not moving through with it?

I know I’ve been there. 

What I am sharing with you tonight is not something that I came up with, it’s something I read last night in a book entitled: Atomic Habits. 

James Clear, (the author) writes of one of the most famous dancers of all time...Twyla Tharp. Twyla said that she begins every day of her life with a ritual. She wakes up at 5:30 A.M., puts on her workout clothes and walks outside to hail a taxi. When she gets in the Taxi she tells the driver to take her to the Pumping Iron gym at 91st Street and First Avenue, where she works out for two hours. 

Twyla writes: “The ritual is not the stretching and weighty training that I put my body through each morning at the gym; the ritual is the cab. The moment I tell the driver where to go I have completed the ritual.” 

“It’s a simple act, but doing it the same way each morning habitualizes it - makes it repeatable, easy to do. It reduces the chance that I would skip it or do it differently. It is one more item in my arsenal of routines, and one less thing to think about.”

How awesome is that?? It’s not the workout that is the habit but the action that she takes in order to get to the gym every day. I know when I try to make new habits I often try way to hard at first and oftentimes I don’t follow through with it.

When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do. You’ll find that every habit can be scaled down into a two-minute version.

“Read before bed every night” becomes “Read one page.”

“Do thirty minutes of yoga” becomes “Take out my yoga mat.”

“Study for class” becomes “Open my notes.”

“Fold the laundry” becomes “Fold one pair of socks.”

“Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.” 

What you will start to train yourself to do, is that by doing these things over and over again you are going to discover that you mine as well make the most of it right? If it’s something you do over and over again, you might as well do the things that you set out to do. That is where it becomes natural.

If I read one page every night...I will want to read a chapter...then I will want to finish the book...then start another...

What we should really focus on is finding is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a more productive path. 

Putting in your running shoes becomes walking ten minutes...then walking ten thousand steps...then running a 5k...then running a marathon.

The point is to master the habit of showing up. 

I would encourage you all that whenever you are struggling to stick with a habit, you can employ the two-minute rule. It’s a simple way to make your habits easy. 

No one else

No one else can add to what Jesus did to save us; our past, present, and future sins are all forgiven, and Jesus is with the Father as a sign that our sins are forgiven. 

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to interceded for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

As our high priest, Christ is our advocate, the mediator between us and God. He looks after our interest and intercedes for us with God. Christ’s continuous presence in heaven with the Father assures us that our sins have been paid for and forgiven.

This assurance frees us from guilt and from fear of failure. If you are Christian, remember that Christ has paid the price of your sins once and for all. 

God knows your efforts

Being completely honest with you here...I think one of the most difficult things sometimes for believers and doing the right thing over and over again but there never seems to be an award. I specially remember times when I started growing in my faith pretty intensely and my friends would be talking about things I would normally participate in and I wouldn’t join them. I remember it was hard for me but I was so proud. It was hard to feel like it was worth it because everything seemed the same besides me not fitting in as much. 

As believers it’s easy to get discouraged, thinking that God has forgotten about us. But God never will.

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10)

God is never unjust. He never forgets or overlooks our hard work for him. Presently we may not be receiving rewards and acclaim, but God knows our efforts and love and ministry. 

I would encourage you as you begin the week to keep on furthering the kingdom of God. Keep being obedient and keep doing things that would please God. As hard and as presently unrewarding it might be, God will never overlook it. 

God won’t ever forget all the good that we do. Stay encouraged! 

Reverent submission

“NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS LORD.”

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5:7)

When Jesus was preparing to face death he was in great agony. Jesus cried out to God asking to be delivered. He was prepared to suffer humiliation, separation from his Father, and death in order to do God’s will. 

Fearing death, Jesus was still obedient because he wanted to obey God. How often do we bow out or give in when we face trails, or difficulties on daily basis?

At times we will undergo trails, not because we want to suffer, but because we want to obey God. 

There are going to be things that you are faced with in life that will be trails because of our faith in God. We have endure those out of obedience and belief in what God has promised us. We must let Jesus’ obedience sustain and encourage us in times of trail. 

We can face everything knowing that Jesus is with us. 

My challenge and what I hope you get out of this post is to understand that we are going to suffer. It’s inevitable that we will spend time suffering on earth before we spend forever in heaven. We we are facing things that we feel like we can’t get through we must remember this: not my will, but yours Lord.

The Word isn’t dead

The word of God is fully active. It’s not just words in a book. I believe that too often we treat the Bible like just some other book, which is so insulting. It might look like another book because there is a cover, there are pages, and there are words in it, but it doesn’t act like one. 

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

You see...the word is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us. 

God’s word reveals who we are and what we are not. 

It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. 

It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. 

The demands of God’s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let is shape our lives. 

If you are at a time in your life where it’s easy to downplay the Word of God, I hope this post encourages you to not take it for granted. I used to downplay it. All the time. I think for a solid two years in college the Word of God was just another book to me. I knew it was significant and extremely important but I just kept putting it off. Until I made a commitment to really dive into the Word of God I never really understood the significance. I encourage you to dive in. Commit! Be a part, and take full advantage of something that is living, life-changing, and dynamic. 

I promise you won’t regret it. 

Today I will

Way too often I feel as believers we prolong action in our faith. For example: Tomorrow I will start reading my bible daily. Next week I will start to pray more. Tomorrow I will start to pray before I go to bed. Next time I see someone in need I will help them. Etc.

I am 110% guilty of this. There are always times that I want to keep putting things off because our relationships with Christ aren’t something where we receive instant gratification. I know that Christ isn’t going anywhere so I always think I have time to wait and put things off. 

But what I have learned this morning is that we must encourage one another on a daily basis. 

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that no none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

What actually ends up happening is that the more we continue to put things off the more we are alone in our sin. 

But God can give us new hearts, new desires, and new spirits. 

To prevent wanting to keep pushing things out, or waiting, we must stay in fellowship with other believers. We need to talk daily about our mutual faith, and be aware of the deceitfulness of sin, and encourage each other with love always. 

Today I encourage you to get started. If you read this and you feel as if your heart strings are being pulled, don’t wait any longer. Sit down and open the word today. Call or text a friend who you want to talk about your faith with. Don’t ever have a fear that everyone is doing this well. We all struggle and we are all not perfect. But I will tell you this, there is not a better time to take action than today. 

T.I.M.E

Do you pay close and careful attention to the smallest details in your life? Or do you just run a million miles an hour all the time and never step off the treadmill?

I know when I don’t step off the treadmill of life, I find myself less thankful and I also find myself more unaware of all the things that God is doing in my life. Every morning when I wake up it’s like putting on my running shoes to get on the treadmill. I have lots of things I want to get done and very little time to lallygag around. 

I believe it’s incredibly important to develop a routine where you are proactive and make sure you are really taking a step back and paying close attention to what is going on around you. 

Time has energy and places have memories. 

The best way that I have discovered to help me pay closer attention to what is really going on in my life is having a fulfilling morning routine. 

I have recently become a huge fan in Jay Shetty who just wrote the book Think Like a Monk. In the book he talks about a morning routine that consists of four necessary things we should do in order to prepare us for our day. 

He refers to this morning routine as T.I.M.E. 

Now a morning routine is a lot like putting on armor for battle. When you do your morning routine, when unexpected things happen to you during the day you are better equipped to handle them. If you don’t do your morning routine, it’s like not putting on the armor for battle. 

So everyday we need to make sure we put on our armor. 

(T) thankfulness 

Every morning we should really take time to thank God for all of the things that we are thankful for. When we do this, we cannot make it generic. We can’t just thank God for the sky being blue. We have to really describe in depth what we are thankful for and the reasons we are thankful for those things. For example, I am incredibly thankful for the people that I work with because they encourage me, make me feel special, and push me to become the best version of myself on a daily basis. 

(I) insight 

We need to take some time out of our morning to really dive into something that will provide us with some insight. Whether it’s listening to a podcast, reading a devotional, or bettering your knowledge about something that you really care about. Making sure that you are providing yourself with some insight is key to how you start to think and perceive the day ahead. Again, for me what I do is listen to a podcast and lately I have really been into the Ed Mylett podcast. 

(M) mediation

Prayer/mediating is huge. We need to make sure we take some time out of our morning routine where we are really stepping back and being completely at peace. I do this when I take my morning walks. To me, there is no better way to feel complete at peace and relaxed then when I am taking a nice 15 minute walk in the morning.

(E) exercise

I can’t stress the importance of this enough. We need to exercise on a daily basis. Whether it’s for 5 minutes or 15 minutes. There is no better way to implement healthy habits than by exercising. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy either. You could take a walk, do some yoga, or pull up your favorite workout from home YouTube video. For me, I watch the anabolic aliens workout channel. I can find a 5 minute workout that really gets me feeling energized in the brief time I spend doing it. The past couple months, with working from home has been such a blessing. I am able to carve out about 50-70 minutes to workout on a daily basis and that’s helped me so much with just how I feel both physically and mentally.

Why have a routine like this? Having a routine like this allows you to take a step back and to pay close attention to all that God is doing in your life. This is important because God is always doing something in your life and is always at work. The more that we take a step back and pay attention to those things, the more aware we are of the power of God. 

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1) 

We have to pay attention our we will just continue to drift away on this busy and crazy thing we call life. 

fair justice

When no justice can be found, rejoice in knowing that justice will triumph because there is a God who will judge with complete fairness. 

The Old Testament is filled with references to justice, and is a key topic in the psalms. Unfortunately in ancient times, many leaders, judges, and rulers took justice into their own hands because they liked having power. What the often led to, was corruption over all the earth. 

Still today, earth's judges are corrupt and there is little hope of justice in this life. 

But God loves justice, and those who obey him will experience perfect justice in eternity. 

In times like this...if you feel as if you are not getting the justice you want, or others are not getting the justice they need, remember where fair and complete justice will come from. 

It's not going to come from one person, it's not going to come from a group of people, etc. People have power to implement change and have a voice but someday God will judge us all with complete fairness. 

I really hope we all remember that in crazy times like these..

A good citizen

One thing that I always keep my mouth shut about and don’t like to talk about is politics. Once in a blue moon I will bring up something that is political and even than, it’s a stretch for me.

In a time full of the unexpected, and during an election year, everything that is political is being shoved down your throat. We can’t get away from it. It’s everywhere.

In the midst of the craziness, I would encourage you to remember this verse: “Remind 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 toward everyone.” (Titus 3:1-2)

That verse might cause a lot of people to feel a pit in their stomach - and I believe that’s a good thing. That’s conviction. 

In a time where it’s so easy to not like or disagree with people of authority, remember that as Christians, it is our responsibility to obey the laws and have respect for the people in charge. I know that is hard for most people, but our relationship and unity with God and the church comes before anything that is political. 

As Christians, our first allegiance is to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Don’t be afraid to correct others

How often on daily basis do you see someone you care about do things or say things that you know are wrong or that they shouldn’t be doing? How often do you want to encourage someone or help them and you just let it go?

I believe that too often we don’t give constructive criticism because we are scared of hurting others feelings. I know that I don’t do a good at this because I don’t want to make people mad. What I have realized though is that the times where I did correct someone or pushed them in the right direction, they always appreciated it and I always felt better about myself. 

I understand that this has a lot to do with personality. Some people are really good at this and others aren’t....but the fact of the matter is that sometimes the most difficult conversations turn out to be the most rewarding. 

There have been numerous times in my life where I have had co-workers, friends, parents, and coaches do this for me. Specially, I think about a lunch I had with one of my best friends back when I was in college. If he would have been too scared to hurt my feelings, my life could look completely different than it is today. Yeah, I remember it initially hurting when he first started talking to me, but I quickly realized the people in your life who are willing to have those extremely difficult conversations with you are the ones who typically care about you the most. 

One conversation can change the course of someone’s life. 

These, then, are the things you should teach encourage and rebuke with all authority. Don’t let anyone despise you. (Titus 2:15)

We must teach, encourage, and correct others when necessary. 

I encourage you to have that mindset this week. It doesn’t have to be a life-altering conversation. If you become aware of something in someone’s life that you care about that will improve their outlook, outcomes, or positivity, tell them! Don’t just be a spectator expecting them to make changes on their own. Obviously, there will be times where you can’t just barge in and correct someone. I would highly recommend praying about it before you do it in the first place. Pray for God’s strength and wisdom so that you have the right words to say. 

This week, let’s attack it with a mindset that we are all on the same team. Everybody loves everybody and everybody wants to see everybody succeed.  

700.

700.

This is the 700th blog pot that I have written. It honestly doesn't seem like it. It's become such a habit for me and writing has become such a great passion of mine. As I was reading my bible before I started writing this, I didn't realize that this morning was number 700.

Honestly, as of late I have questioned whether or not I want to continue to write. I love it...I really do. But oftentimes I struggle because my posts don't get as many views as they used to. 

Sometimes that gets me down. Why put in time, energy, and effort to not get the results or the views I would like? 

This morning while reading Titus it hit me.

I do this because it gets my mind focused on Christ on a daily basis. 

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. (Titus 1:15)

There are some people who see good all around them, while others see nothing but evil. What's the difference? Our souls because filters through which we perceive goodness or evil. 

Whatever you choose to fill your mind with will affect the way that you think and act. We need to turn our thoughts to God and his Word, and you will discover more and more goodness, even in this evil world.

A mind filled with good has little room for what is evil.

As I sit here and think, as much as I write these to encourage other people, this is just as much for me. I don't mean that in a self-conceded way either. I need this time on a daily basis to keep me true to who I am and that is trying to be the best man of God I can be. 

I've come to learn that by filling my mind with time in the word, journaling, and then writing, I am more conscience about the things I say, think, and do. I know I am not perfect, but I have just become more aware of what the right way of living looks like. (The God honoring way) The more disciplined that I am in my faith, the more it is easier for me to resist living in the ways of the world. 

With that being said, I encourage you to find something that really gets your mind focused on Christ on a daily basis. Whether it's praying for 5 minutes, journaling before bed, or reading your bible everyday. When you start to build those habits you will start to become more positive, happier, and healthier. 

Remember: a mind filled with good has little room for what is evil. 

Oftentimes I am asked about why I remain so calm...why am I laid back...why am I so relaxed...etc. It's simple. I've trained my mind and my heart to focus on what is good and the more that I have filled up my mind with good, the less room there has been for evil and negativity. 

Preparation is key

Have you ever shown up for something you were a part of and weren’t prepared at all? 

Have you ever been in a situation that came up where you know if you would’ve prepared better things would’ve gone smoother?

For me. I answer yes to both of those questions. I can think about one time in college, I wasn’t unprepared for a group presentation. I had completely forgot about it and I was so embarrassed. I also think about a few of the games that we lost when I played in college. There were a handful of games that we should’ve won, but sometimes we would have a poor week of practice leading up to those game. I know if we would’ve had a great week of preparation, the outcomes would’ve turned out differently. 

See - preparation is key to everything that we do. It’s pretty hard to get through life being completely unprepared for all situations that we ever face. 

Paul writes: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:2)

In this context, Paul is instructing Timothy to be ready to preach at all times. Because there is going to be a time when nobody follows the sound doctrine anymore. 

I believe that message directly correlates to believers today. We have to be prepared at all times to share our faith and the work of Christ. We just can’t be ready to share our faith only on Sundays. We have to be ready every day of the week and from hear on out. 

My encouragement to you is to constantly prepare yourself. Read your bibles, pray, have quite time, etc. We can never be over prepared when it comes to our relationship with Christ. I believe that when we prepare ourselves when it come to our relationship with Christ we will start to become more prepared in all other areas of our lives as well. 

Seeking purpose

One of the things that I believe not only Christians need to attach to, but all people is seeking purpose behind everything that we do. As humans, there are many things that we do on a daily basis. I will use myself as an example. Everyday I wake up, I exercise, I have a lot of phone calls and video calls, I read, I write, I exercise some more, and I eat. 

Pretty basic things - I am not extremely unique. Pretty normal honestly. But everything that I do I attach a person behind it because I know that if I don’t have a purpose to the things I do on a daily basis, that they’re almost meaningless. 

If I workout just to say I workout, I am not going to feel healthy and active. 

If I make a lot of phone calls to fill my schedule just to be busy, I am just going to be busy. 

If I read just because I heard it’s good to read, I am not going to learn anything.

Do you get what I am trying to say here? I could do everything that I wanted to do everyday but without a purpose, I am just keeping busy. I am not growing...I am not living a healthy lifestyle, and I am not impacting others. 

By attaching a purpose to everything I do, I start to become who I want to become. 

Paul writes this in 2 Timothy chapter 3: “Always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7)

Here Paul is warning those who are wanting to become subject to the way that the world works. Yeah, it looks pretty stinking good for someone to always be learning...to always be busy...to seem super active in all areas of their lives. But again, what is a being a busy body going to get you? 

Ultimately it will lead you down an endless path where you’ll never feel completely fulfilled. 

Imagine having an understanding of the truth. The truth being that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and love your neighbors as ourselves. Imagine making that your purpose in all that you do. 

I am active when it comes to working out because I want to honor God with good health. 

I make a lot of phone calls, I have a lot of meetings, and keep extremely busy with work because I love building relationships with people and having an impact. 

I actively read because there are things that I learn every time I open a book that I know I can use to encourage others. 

I write pretty consistently because I have a lot of things to say that I believe are encouraging to others.

I am passionate in my walk with Christ because I understand that without Christ I am nothing. 

My encouragement for you is to attach a purpose to everything that you do. Don’t just live a life where you learn a bunch of things and never understand the truth. Live a life that is impactful, and furthers the kingdom of heaven. 

Gentle instructions

There are a lot of ways out there to have a profound impact on someone’s life. I believe that one of the most important ways is through gentleness. Regardless of the type of person who are and how you are either motivated or encouraged, there is something about gentleness that triggers certain aspects of your heart. Across the board, a gentle spirt can go a long way.

Somewhere along the lines I think someone forgot about gentleness. Somewhere a misconception came to be. Violence and forcefulness is not how you have a profound impact. It just typically makes things worse. 

Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:25-26) 

Opponents must be gently instructed...when was the last time you gently instructed an opponent? Or did you lash out at them? Letting them know how wrong they were and how right you are. 

In a time full of many unknowns...my encouragement to you all is to have a gentle spirit about yourselves. There are going to be people who agree/believe the same things as you, and there will always be people who disagree with what you believe. The best way to settle these disputes is honestly a gentle and peaceful understanding of each other.

I know that nobody is perfect. Even the people I agree with and support. I also know that the people of whom I might disagree with aren’t perfect either. We are all sinners. We all have a chance to be saved through believing that Christ Jesus died for our sins. 

Let’s let our gentleness lead us all to a mutual understanding that we all need Jesus. 

We can’t neutralize God

It’s amazing how many times on a daily basis we neutralize God. It’s even more crazy because you probably don’t even realize when you do it. 

Every time we let someone intimidate us, or let the ways of this world play a crucial role, we neutralize God.

Why? 

It’s a good question that I really don’t have an answer to. My hope with this post is not to necessarily answer that question but to help make you aware.

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

The power of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome our fears. 

I can’t tell you how many times I unintentionally let a part of my day intimidate me. Whether it’s a meeting I have, a phone call I have to make, or just looking at my calendar thinking about my day. Every time I do that I neutralize God. 

A good way to fix that wold be to be extremely thankful for all those things. Be thankful for the challenges  I face. Be thankful for the mess. Be thankful for people to have call. 

Thankfulness and faith in God allow us to not neutralize God but to utilize Him. 

You can’t put your hope in wealth

 When I think of wealth the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously money...

Here is how wealth is defined: an abundance of valuable possessions or money

Do you know what possessions and money have in common? They’re not eternal. We come to the earth with nothing and we can’t take anything with us. We can acquire valuable possessions while we are here but we can’t take any of it with us. 

I believe that we too often put our hope into things that won’t last forever. We live in a society where wealth is praised. If you have money you can do the things you want to with it. It doesn’t even have to relate to money to be completely honest. People who are not extremely wealthy can have things that are valuable and mean a lot to them to. Regardless of how much ‘wealth’ someone might have, it’s still something we can’t put all of our hope in.

What happens when you hope for things that are valuable? 

I know for me I am often disappointed. I remember as a kid wanting certain materialistic things for Christmas...things that all my friends would have...and sometimes I wouldn’t get them and I would always be so bummed out. (I am thankful I didn’t now that I look back)

But seriously though, it’s crazy how much we are mentally and psychologically triggered by wealth. It’s NOT everything. 

We need to start putting our hope in Christ.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)

My encouragement for you is to live a life where not everything relies on your next paycheck...please stop relying on the things that you have or want to dictate how you feel and how you act around others. Start to put your hope in God, who will provide us with everything for our enjoyment. 

Also..really quick I want to be clear, I am not saying that nice things are bad. We should enjoy life! We just can’t rely on our possessions or our wealth to fulfill us.