To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power (2 Thessalonians 1:11)
There are two basic ways to pray for somebody. There are “issue” kinds of prayers, and there are “always” kinds of prayers. When somebody asks you to pray for his Uncle Jack because he’s having gallbladder surgery Monday, that’s an issue prayer. It starts with the reason, or the issue.
To stay in Your presence, with a heart full-ready to hear your voice…
Yielded and trusting as You’re breathing life into these old, dry bones…
Oh, what joy! This sweet surrender!
To watch for Your smile while the rest of the world is sleeping…
Dreaming with open eyes of the beautiful hope to spend endless days with You…
Oh, what hope! This sweet surrender!
I am that one who had lost his way, who spent his whole fortune in search of illusions…
But now I treasure the Faithful and True – the stubbornly real – the everlasting prize…
Oh, what life! This sweet surrender!
If I close my heart, may it be to my pride and selfish ambition.
If ever I fall, may it be into Your strong arms of grace.
Whenever I miss the mark, may I miss on the tender side of love.
If I dream the impossible dream, may it be in delicious faith.
If I do the ridiculous deed, may it be with contagious hope.
Whenever I miss the mark, may I miss on the sweet side of surrender. [click to continue…]
You can walk it out. You can stand there and look humble while people tell you that you’ve got it. You can make corrections when you stand convicted of the need for some changes. You can use it to plead with God or The Man (whoever that is) for justice or a raise or something. You can even dare to mention it when you run for political office.
But you are not equipped to be the architect or builder of an integrated life – yours or anybody else’s.
This is no self-improvement process, friends. You can’t build integrity into your life by getting more information, imitating somebody else, or rigidly keeping a code of conduct. You can’t get it with an extreme makeover, a friendly takeover, or a cosmetic rake-over.
Integrity is an inside job. It’s the result of a transformational process that takes your dis-integrated self and changes you through and through by a power that is not your own.
That said, just as an office building is designed and constructed according to a set pattern, so your Master Designer and Builder follows a blueprint for building wholeness in you. And while you don’t have the power to do this yourself, your faith and submission to His work can help speed the process.
Each of these stages builds on the other, and I believe the order matters. And yet, these are all lifetime pursuits that we’ll never perfectly achieve this side of heaven. Designing and building a life of integrity involves: [click to continue…]
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have written this word – much less said it (at least to myself). It was a complete waste of time.
I’ve kept a journal for 17 years now (something I highly recommend), and there’s no telling how many times I confessed to this feeling. But not once did it ever create my future, solve a problem, or breathe life into a situation. In fact, it’s more likely to be a sign of defeat, discouragement, or slow death.
It may be a legitimate feeling. But if feelings are designed to prompt us to action, the only thing this feeling ever prompts us to do is make excuses, whine, or wave the white flag. In small doses it may be a call to action. But in standard use, it’s emotional poison, and I hate it.
So I’ve decided to lock this word in a vault and reserve it for special occasions. I may let it out every once in a while, but only with a chaperone. I suggest you do the same.
Pam is a worrier. She knows she isn’t supposed to, but her underlying insecurity tends to frame every thought or situation in terms of what’s the worst thing that can happen. When people tell her it’s a sin to worry, she just worries more about that. She would like some joy in her life, but after a couple of times being burned or disappointed, she feels the need to protect herself from pain.
Pam is living in the tension of a core conflict. And so is her boss, Alex.
Alex lives his life in pursuit of excellence. Work excellence. Play excellence. Family excellence. Financial excellence. Your excellence if you get close enough. The problem is that everything has to be so excellent that most times nothing is. Because Alex can’t settle for ordinary in anything, he’s haunted by mediocrity in everything.
Alex is living in the tension of a core conflict. And so is his sister, Teri.
Teri is one of the walking wounded. Her life has been a vicious cycle of injury, followed by failure, followed by injury, followed by failure again. It seems that whenever she’s working on forgiving somebody else, she becomes haunted by her own past sins or consequences. These past mistakes and conflicts have left her fearful of trusting and shy of trying anything or anyone new in her life. She knows her version of “playing it safe” is only adding to the sadness. But she’d rather have a sad heart than a seared one.
Teri is living in the tension of a core conflict. And so is her son, Will. [click to continue…]
No one prepared me for how empty the Emptiness could be…
How vain the attempts would be
To fill it with things and times and feelings
That were never designed to satisfy.
It was like dropping feathers into the Grand Canyon…
Always wishing for a little more time and a little less wind.
(A few more feathers would be nice, too.)
But I would never have known the deep satisfaction
That only Your love could provide,
Had I not known the void created by a life
I tried to fill on my own terms.
But I know now I’m loved
With a love that fills deeply and completely.
And in this satisfied life… I’ve been blessed. [click to continue…]
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
(Giveaway alert: Keep reading to learn how you can win a free copy of John Smoltz’s new book, Starting and Closing.)
When I was in Virginia Beach a couple of weeks ago, I had a happy surprise. That Sunday afternoon I watched the Braves finish off a sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis in what may be their last win of the season. I especially enjoyed having a chance to hear John Smoltz as one of the broadcasters. I told my son later how impressed I was that this man, who our whole family has enjoyed as a professional athlete, had brought that same professionalism (and humor) to the broadcast booth.
Imagine my surprise when I’m roaming the hotel at midnight in search of something not made by Pepsi, and there, 928 miles from St. Louis, is John Smoltz, having a midnight burger and fries.
“Andy!” he said. “How long has it been?”
“Forever, dude!” I replied. “I just saw you on TBS this afternoon! What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for an interview in the morning. Hey, I heard you spoke at the Servant Leadership Roundtable. How’d it go?”
“It went well, I think.”
“That’s awesome. Hey, I’ve been keeping up with the LifeVesting blog. I read it every chance I get.”
“Seriously? Man, that’s awesome. Did you tell Tommy we named our cat after him?”
“Yeah, he thinks that’s hilarious. Says you ought to name your next dog after Maddux and call him Mad Dog.”
