So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes (John 12:35).
There is clarity (Light).
There is opportunity (a limited time).
There is action (walk).
Clarity without opportunity calls for waiting, not walking.
Opportunity without clarity calls for caution and connection.
When clarity and opportunity converge, this calls for action. [click to continue…]
Imagine your life as various points on the highway. Fast Lane, Slow Lane, Shoulder, Ditch.
And at any given time, in any given area, you can be in one of those four.
Living in the Fast Lane means you’re getting where you’re going. You’re fulfilling your purpose.
In the Slow Lane you have a lot of movement, but you never quite seem to get there, wherever “there” is.
On the Shoulder, your “engine” is running, but you’re not moving ahead at all.
In the Ditch means you’ve crashed or are stuck, and without help you aren’t going anywhere.
Having punched my card in all four locations, I can tell you we’re all a mixed bag. You can be idling on the shoulder in one area, cruising in another, and crashed out in a third. So let’s break it down a little more. [click to continue…]
A.W. Tozer, in commenting on the difference between a yesterday and a today faith, wrote this:
We habitually stand in our now and look back by faith to see the past filled with God. We look forward and see Him inhabiting our future; but our now is uninhabited except for ourselves. Thus we are guilty of a kind of [temporary] atheism which leaves us alone in the universe while, for the time, God is not. We talk of Him much and loudly, but we secretly think of Him as being absent, and we think of ourselves as inhabiting a parenthetic interval between the God who was and the God who will be. And we are lonely with an ancient and cosmic loneliness.
Your capacity to believe God is the gateway to a life of power, usefulness, and joy. And yet during his earthly ministry, nothing caught Jesus by surprise more than the “people of God” or so-called “believers” not believing – living with that cosmic loneliness that Tozer wrote about.
“Where is your faith?” He would ask. [click to continue…]
When everything around you seems unsettled, and old foundations, once-sturdy, have given way to more invisible calls for faith…
As familiar faces and customary graces distance themselves, each for reasons of their own – each creating their own sense of short-term grief or longing…
I pray that you will experience a fresh rush of God’s Spirit – manifesting Himself powerfully, touching your heart tenderly, transforming you beautifully, reminding you faithfully that you are never truly alone. [click to continue…]
God often speaks with an inside voice.
In fact, that’s His preferred method of communication.
Quiet.
Still.
Small.
It requires that you listen carefully, and in great faith.
Of course, there are different kinds of inside voices. [click to continue…]
Hold.
Such an ordinary, blue-collar word.
Industrial strength, geared for protection and defense, holding commands attention – not by rising to dizzying new heights of adventure or romance, but by remaining ruthlessly still…
Safe…
Steady.
Boring? Only when, in your desperation for a change, any change will do.
Oppressive? Only when you think the grass is greener somewhere else and you can’t get there.
Holding is a sign that somewhere there is someone or something that is stronger than you are – at least for the moment. You may be held back by your fears. Or held safely by that seat belt and airbag. Or held in the arms of someone who can comfort your heart.
But sooner or later fears subside. Belts are unbuckled. And people, however well-meaning, let go.
But there are everlasting arms and an all-powerful Strength that promises to hold you in love and peace long after all other sources are exhausted or used up. [click to continue…]
Marvin and Dick were brothers and business partners. Best friends too, if my suspicions were correct. Well into their retirement when I first got to know them, I caught them both together one afternoon when Dick was in the hospital. There Marvin was perched in a chair beside his bed and they were visiting.
“Come on in,” Marvin said. “We’re closing the books for the day.”
Turns out, through all their years in business together, every day at 5:00, the two would get together and evaluate the day’s business and plan for the next. They called it “closing the books.” This had become such a habit, when they entered their retirement years, they kept the practice going.
I’m pretty sure a cup of coffee was involved. But regardless, day in, day out, every day at 5:00, these two men would meet together and “close the books.” Even if one of them was in the hospital.
How about you? Do you have a way to “close the books” on your day? [click to continue…]
Did you know that a golf ball has a sweet spot? The next time you tee one up, position it so that you’re hitting the label… hopefully with the sweet spot of your driver.
Did you know that a Christian life has a sweet spot too?
I have made many discoveries over the years, and many of them have been impactful. But this is one of the most important, powerful, and life-changing principles I have ever made in 40-plus years of being a Christian. This is going to sound a little over-the-top, but if you master this one principle, the transformation in your own life, to say nothing of your influence and circumstances, can be breathtaking.
On a broader scale, if the people you worship and fellowship with could really get this as a church, there is no limit to the influence you display.
Getting this – I mean really getting it – can explain why you tend to sabotage yourself after you’ve made progress toward a goal.
It may explain why your relationships go in frustrating cycles – hot today, cold tomorrow… intimate today, lonely later.
It may explain why you may have a lot of money or no money and not be affected one way or another in terms of your happiness or joy.
Discovering and practicing this one simple (didn’t say “easy”) idea can give you a shortcut to solving problems, healing relationships, and moving forward in every single area of your life.
Interested?
At least curious?
Okay, check back tomorrow.
Just kidding. [click to continue…]
(Fumes, Form and Fashion, Part 4)
Phillip and Amanda are an item. Second marriage for him, first for her. Two kids together. Christians. Raising the family. Paying the bills. Doing life.
And they’re both exhausted. It’s more a case of life doing them.
Phillip, as mentioned here, is nearing 40 and finds himself yearning for a return to more structure and discipline that kept him in shape, both spiritually and physically.
Amanda, as mentioned here finds herself choking emotionally and desperate for some sort of life-energizing change.
They each have a sincere faith in God and are committed to each other. They each are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.
They need to hear the voice of God in a fresh way.
They both, but especially Phillip, need to go back to the basics.
They both, but especially Amanda, need a change in scenery, starting with that internal scenery we call vision.
And they both are on the cusp of something new and exciting.
And unbearably stupid. [click to continue…]
(Fumes, Form, and Fashion, Part 3)
Suffocating. That’s how Amanda describes it. No, the office walls aren’t literally closing in on her. She isn’t fighting with anyone at work, home, or anywhere else. In fact, everything is really calm. Predictable. Safe. Consistent.
Or, to hear Amanda describe it, boring, ritualistic, depressing. Yes, suffocating.
Everything on the outside speaks of steady in an unsteady world. But something inside the 33-year-old wife, mother, and loan processor at the local bank is screaming for something new. Different. Something alive.
Amanda needs renewal.
What she may not realize is that with the urge to resurge, she’s standing at a dangerous fork in the road. More on that in a minute. [click to continue…]