it's okay to not understand

I believe that one of the things that hold people back from having a relationship with Christ is the feeling that they for some reason think they have to understand everything. I would even say this is something all believers struggle with. It can be really hard sometimes to not have an idea what is going on in your life and the plan that God has for you. 

Trust me, I have been there more times than not. I feel like there have been so many seasons in my life where I know that God has a plan for me but I have no idea what that plan is. Same with what God is trying to teach me. I know there are lessons out there for me and things to learn but sometimes I just can't figure it out. 

The most recent question that I have had for God is something I have been praying about since the summer. Everyday I ask him what is he is trying to teach me because I still don't understand. 

If I was a betting man, I would say that there are people who are going to read this who are thinking the same thing. 

I was encouraged by Daniel this morning when I was spending some time in Daniel chapter 8. My hope is that you will be encouraged as well. 

I have been spending the past few weeks in the book of Daniel and one of the many things that has been the most eye opening is the discernment and understanding that Daniel always seemed to have. Whether it was interpreting the dreams and visions of kings, or facing challenges like being thrown into the fiery furnace or the lions den, Daniel always seemed to have an understanding on what was going on and why. In fact, nobody other than Daniel could understand these things. It's amazing! I would encourage you all to dive into the book of Daniel. 

In chapter 8, Daniel had a vision of a Ram and a Goat. I won't go into the details of this vision, but it was so extreme and full of detail that it really troubled Daniel. At the end of Daniel chapter 8 it says: "Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterwards I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it." - Daniel 8:27

Daniel got up, and went on his day with usual. There are going to be many things we are faced with that we don't understand and that is okay! We just have to get back up, and continue to pray for God's favor and that we would understand at some point what God is teaching us. He is faithful and always has a plan for you. 

It's okay to not understand. I hope that encourages you with whatever you are going through right now. 

Why is there so much fear?

Why is there so much fear? Why do we let a couple powerful people in our country say things that causes us to change the way that we live our lives? Why? I certainly don't have an answer. I do think there are a couple sides to this though. Everything you see on your screens, whether it's your phone, computer, or TV can cause fear. We all look at those things a lot, so it's the perfect weapon for the enemy. If you are spending a lot of time out in the real word, and observing how people are living right now, you don't see as much of it. 

This is a little political yes. I used to run away from any type of political topics, but the truth has to be spoken. There isn't time to run away. 

I made my mind up that I am not going to live in fear. I know that God is faithful and has always and forever had a plan for my life. No matter what I have faced, God has always had a plan for me. At my worst of times and my best of times God is faithful. It's never about me, it's about the plan that God has for me. 

I was encouraged in the book of Daniel this morning. Daniel is one of my favorite books in the Bible. The story that encouraged me was the story about the blazing furnace. To summarize the story, King Nebuchadnezzar has issued a mandate that anyone who didn't bow to his golden statue would be thrown into the blazing furnace. There were three guys who didn't bow and their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The King was so furious that they didn't bow to the statue that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual! When the guards through the three men into the furnace, the guards died because of the heat. Once the three were thrown into the furnace, the King saw a fourth walking around in there with them and it was God. The King was astonished and amazed that God has saved the three men. 

There are a few things I want to point out. The first is that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn't give into the fear that everyone else had. They weren't going to conform to the world. They understand that their lives were dedicated to God and not man. How often in today's world do we see people doing things just to fit in? People making decisions because they have to and they're fearful of the consequences. I see it daily. 

The second thing I want to point out is that God was with them. The three understood that as well. They had faith that God would rescue them from the fire. Where is our faith? God is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere all of the time. Yet we fear greatly. 

I have fear. There are things that I have fear about daily. But my faith outweighs my fear. Sure I could be better, I could be way better. I've never been threatened to be thrown in a blazing furnace, yet there are times every day where I have more fear than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ever had. I am sure you feel that way too.

I am nowhere close to perfect. That's why I need Jesus in my life. I can't do it alone and I will never be able to do it alone. You can't either. I encourage you to think about the faith and the courage that these three guys had. When everyone was forced to do what the King deemed they should do, those three guys stayed true to who they were. 

My challenge to you is are you going to do the same? Are you going to stand up for what you believe in? Are you going to have faith greater than your fear? Are you going to remember that God is with you? Because he is!! He will never fail us.  

Continue to stand up for the truth. 

tend the sheep

You never know how far a little piece of encouragement can go for somebody. Sometimes the best encouragement is completely unintentional. I was on the receiving end of some of the best encouragement I have heard in months this afternoon. 

I had happened to run into one of my coworkers this morning who is actually more of a mentor and friend to me than a coworker..We were talking and catching up and asking me how things were going with my new position I started a couple months ago. 

After talking to him about it for a couple minutes, he asked me if I remembered what King David did for years and years before he become King. I had no idea honestly...but he reminded my that David kept tending the sheep every day. 

Although it was a mundane task, and maybe not the most thrilling and exciting, David stuck it out because he was exactly where God wanted him, 

Shepherding was menial, unpleasant, and lonely work. It was such a low level position that when Samuel came to anoint the next King, David wasn't even invited to the ceremony. Samuel anointed Jesse's sons who he though would be the next king, but God had other plans. he told Samuel that He looks at the heart and not a person's appearance or stature.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

I would encourage you all with this and this is for everyone! Never think because you are in a low level position or you are doing what others think is menial work that God cannot advance you. He is looking at how you handle your current responsibilities. He is watching your character. He is observing your commitments. 

Tend the sheep daily. 

Thomas family forgiveness

Aaron Thomas was the guest of my favorite podcasts earlier this week. (The Montgomery Companies Podcast) If you haven't checked out the show before I would highly recommend it. I was very encouraged by Aaron's story that he shared about his family. To make this post short, sweet, and to the point I am not going to go into detail, I just want to highlight the main point. 

As Aaron tells, on June 24, 2009, his father was murdered by a former player that he had coached in high school. Aaron's father was a legendary coach and a small town hometown hero. The murder was the first one in the town since 1923. 

It was later discovered that the man who committed to crime was suffering from severe mental illness. The man even came from a really good family. 

What inspired me is the way that Aaron, his mom, and brother responded to what had happened. Although being heart broken beyond belief, they forgave the man who committed to crime in the very first interview/press conference that they did.

That blew my mind but it was the most encouraging thing I have heard all week.

It just hit home to me because it seems like there are little things we hold over people's heads all the time. If someone says something behind are back, someone doesn't stay true to their word, etc. I believe it's time to forgive more often and quicker. 

I am not saying all wrongs are fine so just keep doing wrong and getting forgiven. But I believe that we can show the power and love of Christ Jesus better when we forgive others. Other than Jesus there is nobody perfect. Not one other human has ever been perfect in the history of mankind. It's time to stop expecting people to be perfect. We all make mistakes and we all sin. How are you going to respond next time someone wrongs you or someone close to you?

I hope you remember Aaron and the grace he showed next time you're in a situation that someone does you wrong.

cleanse ourselves

Sometimes we just need a complete cleanse. I know a somewhat popular cleanse might be doing something like a juice cleanse after a bad weekend of eating. Or maybe you are trying to change your diet completely. Rach and I are starting are sixth week of eating plant based this week. We haven't been perfect, but we both feel like we have cleansed our bodies with not consuming any meat. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling.

"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)

There are many things in this world that can defile our bodies and spirit. Things like the news, social media, people, food, and whatever we consume. 

We must always be working towards completely holiness. We aren't perfect so we will never be completely holy here on earth, but we can work towards it daily! 

Let's commit to filtering areas in our life so that work towards the common goal. One thing I have noticed in my life, is that one I start to cleanse myself in one area, it because easier to cleanse myself in other areas. 

Another thing I have learned is that you have to be on guard. When you eliminate a distraction or temptation out of your life, you're most likely going to be tempted in different ways. It's a constant battle towards holiness.

I hope as you reflect on this, you think back to times in your life where you may have done a cleanse in the past and you remember how much better you felt because of it. Let's do this! I can think of no better way to get the week started than with a fresh cleanse. 

'but' clause

There can always be a 'but' statement...

I am full, but I could still eat dessert.

I am busy right now, but I think I can make that work.

I am tired, but am willing to stay up a little later and watch another movie.

You can use it with everything. It's kinda like a safety net. Whenever you use the word 'but' whatever words you say before that nearly become meaningless.  There are both pros and cons to using the 'but' clause. I like to look at the pros because that's where we have the safety net.

Paul endured a lot of hardships during his ministry. More than we have ever faced! Check out how he uses the word 'but' when he writes. 

We are honest but they call us imposters. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we will always have joy. We are poor but we give spiritual riches to others. (2 Corinthians 6:8-10)

If Paul doesn't use those 'but' clauses these verses are extremely negative. I love the honesty and how opportunistic Paul is. That's what I hope you take away from this post this morning. Things are never as bad as they seem. When you are faced with difficulties today, think about what else is going well. There is beauty in every situation. 

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See: Rosemary Fisher

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

 

Who remembers that song? Back in the day, when I was a little kid, we learned that song in Sunday School. I don’t know if little kids are still learning this song or not? If you’re not familiar with it, It goes like this:

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

 

And there’s other verses about your hands and what you do, and your feet and where you go. Feel free to take a quit break and go listen to it!

 

Earlier this spring, this song came to mind, specifically the verse on ears: Oh be careful little ears what you hear. There had been something going on in our community that a lot of people had been talking about and I had chosen not to engage in any conversation about it. For one, I did not want to participate in gossip. But also, I did not want to listen to one side of a story and form an opinion without knowing all sides. But more than anything, I know that once you hear something, you can’t un-hear it, and I didn’t want my opinion of someone/or a group of people, to be impacted by what I was hearing others say about them.

 

 I’ve heard people, including myself, say flippantly, “Oh I can’t un-see that…” after seeing something gross or traumatic. But in reality, this is true. Once you have laid eyes on an imagine, it can always be recalled. Wouldn’t the same be true about what we hear? Once we hear something, isn’t it put in our brain and able to be recalled?

 

When my kids were very young, someone once challenged a group of us at church with these verses: 

Psalm 101:2-3

I will lead a life of integrity

In my own home.

I will not look at anything vile and vulgar.

 

I took this to heart, big time! If you ask my 2 sons, they will STILL laugh and roll their eyes at this, but I would order children’s DVD’s that were edited, so that the movies were even more “clean.” (I think Luke has blogged about this in the past!) But we are talking G-rated movies, like Toy Story, etc. But also, PG movies, so any cuss words or inappropriate scenes were removed. Even into high school, we would have movie discussions about what is appropriate to watch and what I would ask them to avoid. We would discuss movies, and I would look them up online to view content warnings before giving approval for them (and myself) to see.(www.pluggedin.com) I personally don’t like watching anything with cussing, nudity, or any sexually inappropriate content. But more importantly, I also wanted to model what I was teaching my children. 

 

I love Philippians 4:8

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

 

Is this hard to do ALL the time? Of course it is!! VERY! We live in a fallen world where sin and corruption is all around us. Often it seems unescapable. But that is where we must be intentional- not only in what we are thinking about, but what we see, hear and do. 

 

This all came back to me this morning. A few days ago, I had heard a clip of a song on someone’s Instagram story that I thought was really catchy. It had a nice beat, and I’m always looking for songs to put on my running playlist. This morning I looked the song up on Spotify, and it came back with an E for explicit lyrics. I have my Spotify setting locked against explicit content. Really??? Yes, I do. I just turned 50 a few weeks ago, and I STILL have safeguards in place in my life to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and not HEAR things I don’t need to. I admit, I actually clicked on it to listen and determine if that was the song I was looking for, and a prompt came up, telling me it was blocked but I could go change my settings. I sat for about a nanosecond and debated doing it. Then everything I have written in this post came rushing at me. Verses flooding at me, specifically the ones above. I was quickly able to shut off my phone and avoid temptation because LONG ago I had decided what my decisions in these situations would be. A quote I heard a couple years ago says this: “For the person with true conviction, certain decisions have already been made.” I love that. And I have told a few graduating high school students this quote as both an encouragement, and a challenge, as they head off to college That knowledge does not make a person free from temptation, but it does give us a way out. Long ago I made up my mind about these things, and I’m not going to cave just because I liked the beat of a song and it might energize me when running.

 

What are your safety measures? Do you have anything in place to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus? Have you decided how you can avoid temptation when it is staring you in the face?

Oh be careful little eyes what you see…

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear…

 

Perhaps you have other verses or methods that have worked for you. Feel free to share in the comments if you have a way to encourage others!

 

our goal is to please him

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not be human hands." (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The first part of 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 is about awaiting a new body from Christ because our earthly body will one day be destroyed. Paul said that we will one day have a heavenly home that is unlike anything on this earth. 

Paul also writes about how God is rebuilding a house of eternity in Heaven which He is preparing for us. He said that when we are in our earthly bodies, we are burdened by things of this world. That, according to Paul, is why people crave for their new heavenly dwelling. 

When people are with their earthly body, they are away from the Lord. That is why people who are in Christ would prefer to be with the Lord and away from their mortal bodies. They are the ones who live through faith rather than only by what they can see.

These are the true believers who have accepted Christ. When the Day of Judgement comes, Paul wrote that each person must come before Christ and receive what is due to them. 

"For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Our ultimate goal is to please him.

All the things we do are going to be judged so let's please God while we are in this temporary body while we await eternal glory. 

slow down and look up

I believe that one of the best ways to give God glory is to take a pause, and be thankful for all that he has created. This morning was the perfect example of it for me..

I am fairly sure I have a type A personality. I'm not a perfectionist, but I am go-go-go. I can hardly sit still. I am really bad a watching TV shows because I can't pay attention. In all areas of my life I am that way. No matter how much time I have in the day, I am always filling it up with things to do. I don't think it's bad, but I don't give myself a chance to slow down and appreciate God's goodness and creation.

The past few nights, it seems like serious thunderstorms just keep ripping through Northern Indiana. I run really early in the mornings and I don't usually let anything stop me from running unless there is a very serious storm..I really don't want to get struck by lighting or have a huge tree get blown down on me. But today was a little different. There was a storm coming but I had time to get my run in before it hit. This mornings storm had me in awe. The sky was filled with beautiful lightning. For about 45 minutes lightning  would flash through the sky has the storm approached. It was breathtaking.I wanted to stare at the sky the entire time. 

It was the perfect morning run. Except for one thing, the storm was behind me as I began my run. So the only way I could watch the lighting was to keep turning around every couple minutes. I didn't have any problem doing that, but I was highly motivated to get to the halfway point so I could run into the storm on the way back. 

As I turned around and finished my last couple miles towards the storm I was in awe. I still don't know how safe I was, but I didn't care because it was the most beautiful lightning I think I had ever seen. After a few minutes, it started to rain and the wind started to pick up. I don't mind running in the rain, but it was raining so hard that I could hardly keep my eyes open and could barely see the lighting anymore. 

So quickly, everything changed. If I wouldn't have taken the five minutes before my run to take everything in, I would've been disappointed in myself.

How much is our relationship with God like that? All we need to do sometimes is slow down and take the time to get into the word, pray, be thankful, and give all the glory to him! But life throws distractions and things that get into our way all the time. My encouragement for you is to slow down...I have talked about Jesus pace before, but I mean it so much. Even if you just give yourself 5-10 minutes before you leave for work or get your day started, your day will start and go so much better. 

Slow down for what matters most...and that's a relationship with Christ Jesus. 

like a sweet perfume

One of the most flattering things my wife does is wear her nice wedding perfume on all date nights and special occasions. Leading up to our wedding we wanted to get each other a gift that was going to be really meaningful, and for us that was expensive cologne for me and expensive perfume for her. Our sense of smell is one of our most powerful senses, and every time we smell the cologne and perfume we are brought back to our wedding day. 

Her perfume is the greatest smell in the world and it's so powerful when she wears it...

Did you know Christ wants to use us to spread the knowledge of Christ like a sweet perfume?

"But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God." (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

I'll be the first to admit, I don't do a good job at spreading the knowledge of Christ like a sweet perfume. It's almost the opposite. Whenever I put on my expensive cologne, I know Rachel loves it but it also gives me this weird amount of confidence because I know I smell really good. I where it for Rach, but at the same people, I want other people to be able to smell it as well. I am sure we have all been in the situation where someone gets on an elevator or walks past you and they smell so good. That feeling gets us excited! That's how we should be with the knowledge of Christ. 

Unfortunately, it seems to be the opposite. In a way, using this example again, it's like me getting out of the shower, leaving the apartment and not wearing any deodorant or cologne. Whenever I do that I feel like I need to stay in this small shell so no-one is near me. That's how I seem to treat God and I just have to be honest! My mindset is so focused on..."If someone asks I will share, or if the conversation comes up I will speak." That's wrong.

I am a sinner and I am not perfect. 

I need to have a Christ-like fragrance that is rising up to God! I need to be excited about what God has done in my life and be willing to share and talk about it. Just like how we all love an expensive fragrance, we need to love the aroma of Christ the same way. 

I hope you find this encouraging and I hope this makes sense to you. I am very self-aware of the things I do wrong and I am committed to being better! It's a relentless consistent approach, and I will never stop working on it. I hope you feel the same way. 

relentless consistency

I listen to a ton of podcasts and all the guys I listen to are typically men of faith who are extremely high performers and great leaders. A common theme that I hear all of them talk about is relentless consistency. Relentless consistency is a huge reason why all those guys have made it to where they are today. 

I strive to be like those dudes. I know that my identity and happiness isn't wrapped up in another person like that, but if I can take away things that they say and ways they live I know I will be a much better person. 

If you know me, I don't know if I would completely call myself a high performer at this stage in my life. But I do know that I am relentlessly consistent. 

All my life, everything that I have ever accomplished has been because of my values and identity. One of those being my relentless consistency. I was never the most skilled basketball player, I was never the most gifted athletically, I was never the best student. But I became a college basketball player, had a successful career on amazing teams and I also graduated with two degrees. Why? 

I knew that in order to accomplish those goals, I had to grind everyday. No matter how sore or tired I was, whether or not we were on vacation, how much I worked etc. I had to get after it daily.

Same goes with my running, I know I talk about it all the time in my posts but running is such a great example of what our lives are like. I have relentless consistency when it comes to running. If I was asked what you need to do in order to become a better runner, I would tell you to be consistent. Do it daily! Listen to your body, but do it daily. I believe our bodies adapt and evolve when the environments that we place them in. 

My body last year at this time was used to 10-15 miles/week of running. Nothing crazy, but about 10-15 miles more than what it was at the beginning of 2020. Now my body is used to 35-40 miles/week. I feel great! I am probably close to being in the best shape of my life. I adapted and evolved because of relentless consistency. In the last 11 months there have been no more than 5 days where I haven't ran my daily goal of 5-6 miles. 2 of those days were due to traveling, and the other three I had hurt my hip and needed to switch to biking. 

I know when September 18th arrives, and I run my marathon, I am going to crush it because of my relentless consistency. 

This doesn't just relate to physical activity. I want to be consistent in who I am at work. I write hand written thank you notes, I send follow up emails to tell people I appreciate how they help me, I am going to do the things that might seem a little boring because I know this consistency will help me grow so much! 

Most importantly, having relentless consistency in what I do daily to grow closer to Jesus is everything. Reading my bible, praying, journaling, etc. I need to be consistent with those things or I will never grow. 

Guys, I am not perfect, I sin, I don't do all these things perfect everyday other than running. There are days where I will send an email rather than writing a hand written card. There are days where I won't pray as much as I should. There are days were I prioritize everything before reading my bible. I need help and I am not perfect. Just like the rest of you! 

If you took away one thing, I hope you were inspired to be consistent in all you do. Keep doing what you do daily in order to accomplish your goals and I promise it'll change your life. Without consistency, I don't even know what type of person I would be. It's kind of funny, about every time I see my sister-in-law, she always asks my wife..."how is he even human?"... and to me that's a greater compliment than anything because it's wrapped up in who I am, not what I do. 

Relentless consistency is everything. 

helping each other

Sometimes I look at other people and the impact they are making on others in the world and I don't feel like I can compete. I know it's not a competition, but sometimes I look up to these people and I just think that I can never be like them.

We are all different. We all have our own unique gifts and talents so how can I let those doubts get in my head? If I had the answer to that, I'd be ecstatic! But for some reason, we all seem to fall into a never-ending comparison trap.  

I believe the best way we can serve others and love the Lord is through our gifts. But what if we don't have gifts and what if you feel like you don't have any? Impossible! We all have a spiritual gift..and some people have more! 

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." (1 Corinthians 12:7)

A spiritual gift is given to each of us! I have one, you have one, we all have one! 

The best way we can ever help each other is by using our spiritual gifts. Imagine all believers using their spiritual gifts to serve...it's beautiful! 

I know a common question might be...well how can I figure out what mine is?

There are spiritual gift tests you can take online. The link below is the same website I have used in the past to see what mine were because I was really curious and just not 100% sure what my gifts were.

(https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/)

I know we are all sinners and we aren't perfect. That's just a fact. One thing that I really do believe is that deep down, people want to help people. We just often get scared, care too much what other people think, and just don't do it. I am encouraging you today that the best way you can help people is by using your spiritual gifts. 

Finding a common ground

"When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessing." (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)

One of my favorite things about Paul was the sacrifices that he was willing to make to spread the Good News. He sacrificed everything, and he found common ground with everyone. Life changed more for everyone in the past 2 years than ever before. To find common ground is extremely difficult. 

Right side, left side, mask, no mask, vaccine, no vaccine...to name a few. These things have caused more division than they ever should have. This post isn't about these things, it's just an example on how truly difficult it is to find common ground and see eye to eye with everyone. 

Paul was willing to do this though. He was willing to do whatever it took. His one mission was to spread the Good News and share in its blessing. His mission wasn't selfishly motivated like most peoples are today. He was focused on one mission.

What sticks out to me the most in these couple verses is that Paul writes that he was willing to do everything he could to save some...to save some...He knew he wasn't going to save everyone but he was willing to do whatever it took to save some. 

For me, I think I often hold back because I want to be able to help everyone and understand that's hard. What I say and what I do isn't going to encourage everyone, but it might encourage some. When I try to find common ground with people, it'll mean a lot to some people, but probably not all. 

My encouragement to you is exactly what Paul is saying. Do everything you can to save some. It doesn't have to be everyone! Just some..

where ya at

I remember when I was really little, my grandma would always tell me that I had ants in my pants. I was a good kid, but couldn't sit still. I would play with one toy, and then I was ready for something else. It was a vicious cycle. Whenever my grandma would tell me about the "ants in my pants" I'd always help me slow down.

I think we all have a lot of that in our systems. The society that we live in causes us to live and feel that way. Nothing ever feels like this is where we are supposed to me. There is always a next step, there is always something new, there is always an upgrade. 

Now I am not saying these things are all bad. It's good and healthy for us to continually adapt and evolve throughout our lives. Where some red flags come up is when we become so fixated on where we think we should be next, we don't enjoy where we are at right now. 

I'll use myself as an example for this. I have been in training with my new job for eight weeks now. That's a long time! If I was just worried about what's next, I wouldn't ever get anything out of training. I would show up to work everyday with just a surface level mentality...A surface level mentality might work for some, but you can't have deep meaningful relationships with people when it's surface level. You also don't have an impact with a surface level mentality. 

"Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you." (1 Corinthians 7:17)

When I read that verse earlier this morning it was the perfect reminder for me and gave me a fresh new perspective on everything. Where you are at right now, is where God wants you. You might be living an amazing life working your dream job. You might have a terrible job where you aren't happy and bad things seem to keep happening. Both places...are where God has you right now. 

This life isn't meant to be sunshine and rainbows all the time. God has an amazing plan for all of us. What gets me through the difficult times is understanding that God is faithful and never fails. Every rough patch I have ever been in, was because I needed to be there and rely on God to get me through it. Over and over again. 

Remain where you are at right now. Take full advantage of every opportunity. Trust in God and have an open heart and mind. Where you are right now probably isn't where you'll be forever. Let's do this together! 

lofty words and impressive wisdom

I am going to be honest, I have been a believer for 19 years now and I know for sure that one person has came to Christ because the Holy Spirit gave me the words to say to him. That's a lot of years and days for only one person...I don't want that to sound negative either! One of things I struggle with all the time is fighting the internal battle in my mind trying to decide what I should and shouldn't say. 

I try to make it way more complicated than it needs to be. I think we all do really. There is almost an unnecessary and unfair pressure that we put on ourselves. It's like we feel like we need to use lofty words and impressive wisdom.

I was greatly encourage by Paul again tonight while reading further on this topic..

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness-timid and trebling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians  2:1-5)

How encouraging is this?! 

It's something we all need to hear. Paul forgot everything except Jesus Christ when he was preaching the good news. I want to feel that way. I long to be able to witness to someone and forget everything. I don't want to care what people think about me, I don't want to care whether or not I am saying the right thing, I want to only have Jesus Christ on my mind. 

When we do that, and rely on the Holy Spirit, amazing things are going to happen!! My encouragement to you tonight is to keep it simple. Keep only Jesus on your mind and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus pace

I am nut for motivational leaders, speakers, and authors. Especially those who are believers! One of my favorite people that I listen to is David Nurse. Something he talks about in nearly every podcasts I hear him on is about having a Jesus pace about our lives. 

Jesus wasn't in a rush when he walked the earth...he walked from city to city, town to town, and village to village. He took is time, he was patient, and never hurried. It's such an admirable attribute that Jesus had that I often overlook.

Seriously think about your life though, what percentage of your days are you in a hurry? It's up there for me! We are in a hurry driving to work, waiting for a meeting to finish, driving home from work, etc. There is always something that we can be doing. 

Hurry causes disruption and destruction. One of the things I have started to do is just reminding myself to pause and take a deep breath. That helps me sit back and take everything in. If I didn't do that, I think I would go crazy and not realize all the blessings around me.

There is a book I would highly recommend about hurry called: The ruthless elimination of hurry and it's been the best book I have read all summer. 

I was reading the end of Romans this evening and something that stuck out to me was that Paul's visit was delayed to the Romans because he was taking his time preaching the good news. Preaching the good news took precedence over everything in Paul's life. Enough to delay a visit! 

Imagine getting ready to leave for vacation, having everything planned, and then just going a couple days later because we were preaching the good news to people. Unfortunately that goes against how we are wired! It makes me cringe thinking about the hassle that would cause. 

Let's start to live with Jesus pace. Now I am not saying go all out, with the demands on some of our lives, that's really really hard. But start to do it a little bit. When I was wrapping up work this afternoon, one of the team leads stopped by the office to talk, and I could've left right away, but I decided to spend time talking with the team lead about our lives rather than just being in a hurry. I didn't preach the good news to her, but I would like to think that it meant a lot that I spent time asking questions about her and her husband, and getting to know her better. 

Jesus pace is something we can apply in so many parts of our lives. 

What's the big hurry anyways? I always get a kick out of when someone blows past me on the highway. Even when I am speeding, someone just vrooms past me! It's so dangerous sometimes. Then 30 seconds later, I get to the same stop sign and that car is in the same place I am. Like what's the point?

I believe that by incorporating Jesus pace into our lives, everything that we do will become more meaningful because we are taking our time and being intentional. When we take our time, we are more aware of all that God is doing in our lives. 

personal accounts

I believe that one of the most negative instances that plays serious roles in our lives in speaking negatively. That's a very broad topic that I could definitely write about, but I want to narrow it down to talking negatively about other people. 

I don't know what it is about our brains and minds that triggers us to think this way, but whenever I am around someone who is speaking negatively about someone else, I immediately think the same thing about the person they are talking about before I even meet them...

This happens all the time! I hear all these negative things about someone and then I meet them and no matter how much they seem to prove that point wrong, it's hard to look past it. 

If you're reading this and are like "ya that's never happened to me" I want to meet all these make believe people in your life because it's impossible. 

Speaking negatively is kinda like running over a nail with your car...and then a couple more nails...then a whole bunch. When you first run over the nail, your tire will loose air slowly, but as your run over more, it's almost difficult and expensive to fix. 

When we start talking negatively about someone, we have to stop before it gets out of hand. 

Check these verses out: "Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble or fall. (Romans 13:12-13)

We are going to give God a personal account to God. You, me, everyone. 

When I give my personal account to God, the LAST thing I want to go through is to tell him about all the people I have talked negatively about my entire life. I can't even imagine how hard that would be. Condemning others is the complete opposite of loving one another. 

Let's love one another. Let's humbly prepare for the account we will give God someday. Let us always have that in the back of our minds because it's real and it's going to happen. 

true encouragement runs deep

Jacob...

Two years ago, when I was really working hard to save up money for an engagement ring for my wife I was working two jobs. My second job was working at a local smoothie business and I really enjoyed it! Anyways, one of the guys I was fortunate enough to work with there was named Jacob. Jacob and I probably didn't have any more than 5 shifts together and I enjoyed it when we did. We hadn't seen each other for well over a year and last night I ran into him at Target. 

One of the first things that Jacob told me was how encouraged he was by what I write on my blog. He told me that he appreciated the time, thought, and effort I put into writing it and that he gets excited to read it..

I think in that moment when he was encouraging me, my heart was about beating out of my chest because that meant so much to me. It was one of the most thoughtful and encouraging things anyone has said to me about what I write. It was genuine and he meant it. 

Why do I share this? I don't share it to brag or boast about someone encouraging me. I share it because true encouragement runs deep! I believe we have became professional fake encouragers. He could've just said "Hey Luke, I really enjoy your blog." Yes, that would've been nice, but that doesn't even come close to having the same meaning as what he actually told me. 

Next time you encourage someone, and I hope it's today, attach something else to the encouragement. Be truly genuine. Don't be afraid to sound weird by letting your feelings out. 

I would also encourage you to encourage in person! A text, direct message, or email is super nice, but saying something to someones face is extremely powerful.

My interaction with Jacob last night really got me excited to write more posts and get back after with my writing. Let's encourage others today. 

Saul: my chosen instrument

I believe that way too often we let our past dictate the role that God plays in our lives. It’s easy to look back at who we were before we became believers and think about how much we sinned and cringe about the things we said and did. 

Even if we believe with all our hearts that we are made a new creation through Christ, those doubts often don’t leave. It might be like an accidental tattoo for some, there really is no getting rid of it. 

I think about my past, there was never anything crazy that I was doing that was causing me to live a life completely removed from Christ. I just always put things before my relationship with God. 

I was greatly encouraged this morning reading the story about Saul’s conversion. Saul was the ultimate persecutor against Jesus and believers.  He was having believers killed, and he was going door to door having believers thrown into prison. He was a bad dude and really had no remorse for what he was doing.

I won’t summarize the entire story of Saul, but essentially one day he has his crew were walking to Damascus and out of nowhere a light from heaven shone down and Saul fell to his feet. A voice from heaven spoke to him and he was made blind for three entire days! Jesus then sent someone to heal his eyes and when he could see again, he got baptized and immediately started preaching! 

Because so many people saw how Saul persecuted so many believers, his story was almost unbelievable and because of God using Saul, there were more believers than ever! 

Here is what the Lord said: “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)

I share this with you this morning because we are God’s chosen instruments. We are sinners saved by the grace of God. Don’t let your past play a role in discouraging you, let it encourage you because the work God is forever doing in your heart is something more powerful and greater than we will ever be able to fully understand. 

"No" is completely fine

I believe that for anybody who lives, breathes, and walks...it's difficult to say no. Why? It's so much easier to say yes! Saying yes makes people feel good. When you say yes you're usually helping someone else out or doing something with someone else because they can't do it alone. 

One of the things I struggled with right when I entered "adult life" was saying no. When opportunities came up at work, or someone needed me to do something for them I would always say yes. In moderation though, that's fine to an extent. If a coworker of mine asked me to get lunch with him when I should be networking and not catching up, that's when I should typically say no. 

Across the board, no's are powerful. Whether they have to do with your career, friends, or even family. 

I believe the most powerful no in history came from God. In John chapter 12, Jesus was predicting his death and one of the things he was contemplating was this: "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray. 'Father, save me from this hour'? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name." (v. 27-28) 

Jesus seemed to be at a point where he was thinking to himself...is this all worth it? 

Briefly after Jesus said this, a voice from heaven spoke and said: "I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again." (v. 28)

That is the most powerful and important no in history. Because if God said: sure, I will save you from this hour..." we wouldn't be here and Jesus wouldn't have died on the cross for all our sins. 

God just always seems to work in the most unique ways...I was listening to a podcast on Sunday when I was on my way to pick up my wife from the airport and a lot of what I just wrote about was talked about in that sermon. For the life of me I couldn't figured out where that passage was in the Bible, and my daily reading for today were those exact verses. 

I don't know if God is using this because I need to get better at saying no, or because someone who is reading this right now needs to. My encouragement to you, is that it's okay to say no. 99% of the time when you say no to somebody, they're going to give you grace and understand. They might jokingly give you a hard time, but they're going to be okay with it. For the small percentage of people who are upset with you, maybe it's a good reason you said no and shouldn't be associating with people like that.  Please don't put too much on your plate for saying yes all the time.