A thirst for God

Our lives depend on God. When we feel lonely, depressed, stressed, or anxious we need to meditate on God's kindness and love.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I can and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night. (Psalm 42:1-3)

This afternoon I 110% hit a stressed and anxious breaking point. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be going wrong. I had a closing meeting over the phone at 4:30 so I had to merge a client and a colleague over the phone. I decided to get in the elevator and the called completely dropped. It was just about 5 o'clock and my client showed up for our 5:40 meeting 40 minutes early and I had a 30 minute drive. I needed my navigation to drive to my meeting and couldn't use it since I was on a phone call.

Everything seemed to be going wrong at this point...my phone was dying and I had no idea where I was going. For those of you who know me, I am normally very calm but I was at the point where I just screamed in the car.

I had been in this spot before in my life and I always know that there are two ways in which I can handle it. I can either continue to wallow in my self-pity and be super negative or know that all I need to do is rely on God and have my soul thirst for him.

The most amazing thing happened during this time. I was on the phone with Rachel and in the midst of me rambling about all the negative things that were happening she told me that we should pray.

As soon as she started to pray I felt all of the stress and anxiety go away. It was the most amazing and super natural feeling ever. It was one of the most refreshing feelings I had felt in a long time. My thirst was being quenched and I was so fulfilled.

In that moment I was reminded of how thankful I am that we serve a God who does that for us and to have such a perfect person in my life to help steer me towards Christ everyday.

I encourage you all to remember that God quenches are thirsts no matter what we are going through always. So no matter how bad your day is going or how amazing it is, the only thing that can truly make you feel fulfilled is God.

Right living

There is a right way to live...we just have to learn to live in the right way.

I am writing this post a little later in the night than I normally would like to, but this is the most fulfilling part of my day so I couldn't go to bed without writing to encourage you all.

I believe that we are trying to figure out the right way to live all of the time. We want to find the perfect routine, we make our to-do lists, and always feel like there is more that we can do. It's like we have a couple pieces of the puzzle but we are missing the corners. 

My hope is that what I share briefly with you tonight will be those missing corner pieces that you need because what pieces do you usually look for when you first start building the puzzle? The corners! 

Once you figure out what the corners are it's way easier to figure out everything else. 

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 3:1-2)

I love those verses and there are so many good thins in there that I want to map out for you...in order to understand the right way to live.

1. be subject to rulers and authors - As Christians our first allegiance is to Jesus as Lord, but we must obey our government and its leaders as well. This goes far beyond that as well. Listen to whoever is teaching you. Listen to whoever might be above you at work. 

2. be obedient - simply do what is right. Most people have a good depiction of this because deep down we normally know what the right thing to do is vs the wrong thing. Most importantly though, do what is obedient in God's eyes and live a life that reflects Jesus in all that you do. Live out the saying: 'What would Jesus do.'

3. be ready to do whatever is good - Do good things all of the time. Be polite. Be kind. Be loving. There is so much good out there waiting to be done by awesome people like yourselves. What good are you going to be ready to do when you wake up tomorrow morning? 

4. slander no one - If what you have to say does't benefit the person that you are talking about don't say it. That is judgment and that is gossip. Speak highly of others and if you don't have anything positive to say, then don't say anything. This is a big one because when we fall into the trap of slandering others we don't realize that we might be making the same mistakes. Speak life. Speak love. Speak truth.

5. be peaceable and considerate - Have peace in all the interactions that you have on a daily basis. Be considerate of others. Don't focus on just yourself everyday. Put others needs before your own. People want to be around people who make them feel at peace.

6. always be gentle towards everyone - Gentleness to me is love. When we are gentle towards everyone it becomes easier to love everyone. Jesus was gentle in the way that he lived his life and we should be too. Gentleness is one of the most underrated qualities that a person can have in my opinion. I can't really name too many people that I know who are naturally gentle. I encourage you to really work on that because I believe that it will benefit both you and so many others. 

I encourage you to live in the right way. I hope you realized that all of these things are the corners to our puzzles and the key to living a right live. 

Live what you learn

One of the most powerful and impactful things that we can do is living out what we learn. A couple of weeks ago I had coffee with a gentlemen from the area and during our conversation he was telling me how many people he will meet and they tell him that they are going to do something and they never do. He told me that people are asking for his business cards all the time and he basically doesn't hear from any of them and he recognizes that.

Now imagine what God goes through. Think about all of the times in our lives we have tried to get rid of certain things and tried to stop doing certain things. I remember for me, I would say "this is the last time," and it never seemed like it was. Even on a deeper level...think about this...most of the time people are only getting a taste of heaven on Sundays because all the others days of the week they can never get in a good routine. He won't hold it against us but I wonder what God thinks about that.

There is great importance in living what we learn. What would be the point in learning if we never lived in that way. I feel like life is stale when we don't live out what we learn. Not living in that sort of way is like trying to run up backwards on a treadmill...you just can't do it.

Living what we learn comes from wholesome teaching. But how can we recognize wholesome teaching?

"You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine." (Titus 2:1)

When a teaching is sound, it combines correct knowledge and understanding with consistent practice. You can't teach something good one time and then never teach anything good the rest of your life. When I started my blog I made a commitment that I was going to write as many post as I could and I was never going to stop. I could've wrote one really good post, but what in the heck would be the point to only write one encouraging post to you guys and then leave you out to dry? To be a good teacher you must practice consistently.

My favorite professors in college didn't give one good lecture and then chill the rest of the year. Every day they brought it because they cared about our class and wanted to teach us in the best most effective way possible.

Sound doctrine must be found in the bible. Sound doctrine keeps Jesus central, and that results in consistent good behavior and actions.

As believers we must be grounded in the truths of the bible. Not anything from the outside. Our world has a way of trying to make us grounded in worldly truths...I don't care how good some of those 'truths' might sound, none of it will last you for very long. I mean think about all the studies that come out all of the time.

I feel like every couple years a new article comes out about how a certain food is all of a sudden not good for you and then in a few years it probably will be. The world is full of inconsistency but yet we believe it?

Those who are teaching the truths from the bible must practice sound doctrine and help others understand it as well. We need to live what we learn.

I encourage you to live out what you are learning...that is when your life will begin to change and the lives of others around you because they are going to be watching you from afar and thinking to themselves...'I want to live a life like that.'

Your most important qualifications

Who struggles with thinking that they don't have enough skill or knowledge to be able to do their job or anything in life?

I bet there are a handful of people who struggle with that belief. I used to be one of those people. I still am sometimes. I didn't get a finance degree and I am beginning my career at a financial representative. There is so much that I don't even know yet and if I believed that lie in my head from Satan telling me that I wasn't good enough I would fail solely based on the belief in a lie that I didn't have enough skill or knowledge. 

I believe that the world forces us to believe that if we don't have enough skill or knowledge to do a job that we won't ever be good at it. None of us have the perfect amount of skill because we are human and we are simply imperfect. 

Your most important qualification is your character. I will say that again, your most important qualification is your character and NOT your skill set or knowledge. 

In Titus 1:5-9, Paul briefly talks about some of the qualifications that the elders or the overseers of the church should have. Paul says that they must be blameless, faithful to their wives, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain, hospitable, loves what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. Lastly, they must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that they can encourage others. 

There isn't one word in there that Paul wrote that has anything to do with skill or knowledge. Those are all character traits. Our lifestyles and relationships provide a window into we are as people. 

Who we are through Christ is what will make the biggest impact on others. Not the skills or the knowledge that we have. I could be the best writer in the world, but if I wasn't living in such a way that all my posts reflect than I would never do any good because I was being fake. 

Another belief that I have is that when we have good character, and live in such a way that Paul talks about, the skills and knowledge that we might need to have will naturally come easier to us. The number one thing that we should all be focusing on is who we are in Christ before anything else. Once we have that figured out things will fall into place. 

I am not trying to be big-headed here but I believe that I will do really great things because of who I am in Christ. I trust God with everything and without God nothing I do would be possible. 

I encourage you to not get down when you don't have the most skill or knowledge because that is not what's important. We who we are people is what matters. So focus on your growth every day and I promise you that things will slowly begin to workout in your favor. Even the skills and knowledge, that will come too. 

Constant preparation

I want you to think about all of the things in life that you have ever cared about accomplishing. Those things probably had one thing in common and that is preparation.

I am going to take a trip down memory lane and tell you a story about how preparedness helped me accomplish my biggest goal...

In 7th grade it became my dream to play college basketball. I had gotten connected with the right coach down in Lima and after going through some of his workouts, he saw a lot of potential in me and told me that he believed I would be playing in college someday. That coach is actually the father of Michigan’s starting point guard. I remember coach Q telling me that if I outworked everyone and continued to do the extra work that anything was possible. He would also tell me that all the work I was doing was going to prepare me for my future.

Lima is a little less than 2 hours away from Archbold and my parents would drive me down their for workouts a couple times a week. Those workouts are what made me into the basketball player that I became. I had never worked so hard for any coach and he was the first coach I ever had that believed in the type of player I could become and who believed in working us out to exhaustion. I am not joking when I said his workouts were hard. There were times I could hardly make it to the car because my legs hurt so bad. I also never wanted to eat after practice because my stomach hurt so bad. For those who know me, this was a big deal because I love to eat.

When it came to playing games for coach Q I knew that we were going to be prepared for every situation. We were prepared because of the insane amount of work that we put in and how we did it.

What I learned from coach Q prepared me for the off season as well. I knew the work that I needed to put in all year around in order to accomplish my goal of becoming a college basketball player.

Did you know that Christ wants us to be prepared both in and out of season? Much like coach Q wanted the best out of me and to be prepared for every situation, God wants us to prepared all of the time.

Preach the word; be prepared in and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)

At all times we must be prepared to preach the word. We never know what sort of encounters we might have where we have the opportunity to share the gospel. I believe that we are capable of preaching the word through both our actions and words. You don’t need to be on a street corner preaching in order to be prepared. You don’t prepare for moments like that.

The things that we do on a daily basis are what prepare us to preach the word through our actions and words everyday. Some of the things we have to do is read our bibles, pray, love others, trust in the Lord, and worship. Doing those things everyday will change your life.

Actions speak louder than words. You could stand on the street corner and preach all you want but until you are living in such a way that is obedient and your actions are a reflection of Christ I don’t know info you’re really prepared.

Being constantly prepared is an idea that you can use in all areas of your life. Faith, family, work, relationships, etc.

If I’m not prepared when I go into a meeting or don’t have the right answer to tell somebody what I do, what good will I ever do with my practice?

What good will you ever do if you are not constantly prepared?

Have nothing to do with them

Growing up, there were friends that I had that my parents always let me hang out with and friends that they were always a little bit indifferent about. At the time I never understood why that was the case.

I remember one time in 7th grade there was this dude that I started hanging out with around school. He was cool with me and it seemed like we were really good friends. We were just school friends, we had never seen each other outside of school. One day I asked my parents if he could come over to our house and they said no, at the time I was so upset. I don’t think I talked to my parents for the rest of the day.

A couple days had finally passed and my parents told me that they didn’t want me to have anything to do with that kid. Which sounds harsh, but it’s really not. The Bible talks about how there are people out there that we should have nothing to do with.

I am sure we have all had those people that we spent time with but it probably wasn’t the best use of our time. Mainly because those people were horrible influences. The things they said, did, and thought were contagious. At certain points in our lives it’s easy to conform to those people and their ways.

My belief is that our conforming nature comes from us not being confident in who we are in Christ. That’s where insecurities come from. We conform to fill the gaps that we are lacking because we don’t really know how else to feel fulfilled.

I’m telling you though, once you understand the fulfillment we can feel from Christ it becomes so much easier to not conform to the ways of the world. I am not saying that I am perfect and make the most perfect decisions all the time, but I understand what the right thing to do is and what is honoring and pleasing to God. I strive to do those things because I know that the fulfillment I have through Christ is all that I need. I don’t need the approval of others, I don’t need things to make my happy, I don’t need short term pleasures, I have experienced the fullness of a God to the best of my understanding and that is enough for me! My prayer is that you will begin to feel that as well!

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)

We are not supposed to have anything to do with these sorts of people. We will miss out on so many things when we think that those are the people that we need to be around. It’s not cool to be any of those things from the verses above. It’s actually pretty dumb. What’s cool is standing up what you believe in and having complete confidence in Christ. It might stink to not be like everyone else sometimes, but deep down those people notice you doing the right thing and admire you for it, they just don’t quite understand it yet.

Some people might argue and say that those might be the people we need to be around to witness to the most, which is partially true but the Bible also says this: all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

All scripture equips us for every good work. If the word of God instructs us to having nothing to do with such people , I am going to be obedient and have nothing to do with them. I will do this. I will pray for those people because they need our prayers. We can’t change others, only God can them and he listens to our prayers.

I encourage you to not conform to this world and to stand up for your belief in the fullness that Christ has to offer.

Allow me to reintroduce myself

A little over two years ago, I wrote my first blog post and in a couple of days I will write my 500th post. Why am I reintroducing myself? Why the rebrand? It has been so long since I have explained to readers why I write these posts nearly everyday. I am reintroducing myself because in my heart, I want more and more people to see what I am writing. Not for me, but because I believe that what I am writing really can add value to your life.

I also hope that more people learn that I have a blog. Not because it makes me look good, but because I truly believe that everyone can learn something from the words that come to me in each post. It's all the work of the Holy Spirit. Whenever I go back and read through a post, I don't feel like it's ever something that I wrote.

I don't believe that I can bring value because I am a good writer, I believe that I can bring value because every post that I write is based off the word of God.

A couple months before I began this blog, I made a commitment to God to read my bible every day. No matter what mood I was in, I was going to read. I was discovering so much that I had forgotten about. God was blowing me away with things I was finding by digging deeper.

I was so on fire for what I was learning from the bible that I couldn't keep it to myself. All my life, I was looking for that spark and fulfillment that we are "supposed" to feel when we are Christians. I tried reading devotionals, praying more, reading books, etc. Those things were all good for me, but there was still something I was missing. I knew when I started reading my bible that I had figured it out.

I wanted to share what I was reading because my hope is that everyone can start to read their bibles on a daily basis. It took me 21 years to figure that out and I don't want other people to have to wait that long.

I have heard my whole life that reading the bible will really make a difference, but until I made the choice to do so everyday my whole life changed.

My purpose in writing is to encourage others to make the same commitment that I did.