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Tag Archives: christian living
Work Diligently
One of the moments I remember most from high school was being in a locker room in Waco, Texas before the basketball state championship. Everyone was nervous feeling the weight of the game we were about to play. Coach walked in with The Dallas Morning News newspaper folded up. He said, “I want y’all to hear this article. It says, ‘The State Championship is a mere formality for (our opponent). (Our school) lacks the height and the talent to keep up.’” Something happened in that moment. He said, “Go prove them wrong!” We started banging on the lockers and screaming. We came out of that locker room a force to be reckoned with and won the game. We were all of a sudden motivated to win, but it was the discipline we learned in practice that gave us the victory.
Motivation is a good thing, but it doesn’t keep you going. When we first accept Jesus, find our calling or discover our God given purpose, our motivation is high. When it comes down to working it out, getting things moving or bumping into roadblocks on the way, motivation does very little to keep us on the path. It’s the daily disciplines that do that. Motivation is emotional and depends on success to stick around. Discipline is willpower and depends on determination to move despite how you’re feeling. God gives us the mountain top, emotional experiences because we need the motivation from time to time, but He expects us to be disciplined to continue through the valleys of not being able to hear Him or sense His direction for our lives.
Proverbs 30:25 says, “The feeble ant has little strength, yet look how it diligently gathers its food in the summer to last throughout the winter” (TPT). He keeps working for the future despite the present, and is a good example for us. You may have lost your motivation along the way to doing what God called you to, but let me encourage you to begin small, disciplined steps to move you towards it. Find five things you can do daily that will keep you moving towards the place where God is calling you, and do them no matter what. The ant is considered wise and a hard worker in this Scripture because he does the necessary work before the winter arrives. So you and I need to be working while we can towards the place God is leading us. Motivation may give you momentum, but discipline will keep you going when you’re not feeling it.
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The Treadmill Of Worry
In one of the classes I train, the participants take an assessment that pinpoints areas of unproductivity in their job. One of the big one that shows up often is Goal Diffusion. This occurs when a person has several smaller goals that distract them from their big goals. What happens is that they spend and focus their energy on things that don’t move them forward. They may feel somewhat accomplished because they are doing things, but they find that they aren’t advancing. It’s like being on a treadmill. They’re putting out a lot of energy, but they’re not moving. Instead of being laser focused on one goal, they’re dispersing their energy in a lot of different directions. The correction is to refocus on what matters, to choose a large goal that will move them forward and then to channel that all their energy in one direction.
The same thing can happen to us as believers. Many times we feel like we are busy for the Lord, but we’re going no where. We have our energy diffused by all the little things we’re doing or are worried about. Our enemy is pretty good at using worry and smaller goals to keep us distracted and unproductive. Worry takes up a lot of energy and strength. It also takes our eyes off of what matters and refocuses it on things that seem big, but in reality are not. When we spend time thinking about those things, we waste precious energy that could be laser focused somewhere else. The end result is that we are mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted. We also feel like we’re doing a lot, but we don’t feel like we are accomplishing anything with all of our efforts. Just like I mentioned before, the correction is to refocus on what matters and channel our energy in one direction.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude” (TPT). It goes on to tell us that when we do that, we will have the peace that passes understanding and that we need to keep our thoughts focused on what matters (verse 8). What are the things that are pulling you in different directions? What are the things that are creating worry in your life and changing your focus? The correction that all of us need to make is to become more saturated in prayer in our lives. Prayer not only helps us give our worries to God, it helps us refocus on what matters, put our problems in perspective and channel our energy in a direction that moves us forward. Stay focused on the things that matter, stay in prayer, seek God’s Kingdom first (Matthew 6:31) and then you will find you’ve gotten off the treadmill of worry and are moving forward.
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Finishing The Race
In my opinion, one of the greatest moments in sports happened in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Derek Redmond had won his heat in the 400 meter dash and was racing in the semifinals. About halfway through the race, he tore his hamstring and grabbed the back of his right thigh. He could hardly move as he knelt to the ground. The other runners crossed the line to cheers, but then Derek stood back up and began hobbling towards the finish line himself. As he kind of skipped along, his dad ran out of the stands, put his arm around him and helped him finish the race. Derek had prepared his whole life for this moment. He was determined to finish the race, and he did.
Paul referred to the Christian life as a race in 2 Timothy 4:7. He said he had finished his course with all his might. He had been fought mentally his entire race as he had been one who had killed Christians for their faith. He had been fought physically as he had been beaten for preaching the Gospel. He had been fought emotionally as jealous people opposed him and the message he preached. Despite all these roadblocks, he continued to run his race. He didn’t let anything stand in his way. Instead, he kept his eyes on the finished line and pressed toward the mark for the high calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13). The way he ran his race of faith is how we are to run ours.
In Philippians 1:27, he encouraged other believers by writing, “Whatever happens, keep living your lives based on the reality of the gospel of Christ” (TPT). Like Paul and Derek, we must not let the things that happen to us keep us from reaching our goal. We must press on despite the roadblocks that stand in our way or the circumstances that trip us up. There have been times in my life when I was hobbling in my faith and others came along side me to help me along when I couldn’t advance on my own. If you’re hobbling or struggling, ask a friend to help you along and pray that God will strengthen you to help you finish the race. We all go through those times. The important thing is to keep living your life of faith no matter what comes your way, and you will receive the crown of righteousness. Don’t stop. Keep pressing on. Finish your race.
Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash
If you’d like to see Derek Redmond run his race, click here.
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Empowered For Victory
Fear. Worry. Addiction. Self destructive thoughts and patterns. Insurmountable odds. Our past. These are things that many of us battle on a daily basis. They are mentally and physically taxing. It’s hard to sleep when these battles loom over us because they’re all we think about. The idea of getting free of them rarely enters our mind anymore because we’ve given up hope of overcoming them. They are powerful and make us feel powerless against them. We yield to them because we know it’s useless. So we live under their cloud in a defeated life without hope of winning victory over them.
If you struggle with these things, you’re not alone. Millions of people live just like that believing they’re the only ones going through it because the enemy of their soul has lied to them. He knows if he wins these battles, he can sideline you for a lifetime. But God has not given you a spirit of fear, nor has He abandoned you. He has given you the strength and the tools to break every chain and every stronghold that tries to hold you down and keep you from the life He created you to live. Remember that our weapons are not carnal, but are mighty through God (2 Cor 10:4)!
Psalm 18:35 puts it this way, “You empower me for victory with your wrap-around presence. Your power within makes me strong to subdue, and by stooping down in gentleness you strengthened me and made me great!” (TPT) Yes, you were made to be great and victorious through God. When we spend time in His presence through prayer, reading His Word and in praise and worship, He envelops us with the power we need to overcome. You don’t have to be a prisoner to these other things because you’ve been empowered for victory. Capture the thoughts that are not from God, and change them to what God’s Word says.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.
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Strength Building
When I was in Physics class in high school, the teacher had us build a bridge out of popsicle sticks. We were going to suspend the bridge between two tables and add weights until it collapsed to see whose was the strongest. I built a truss bridge thinking it would look good and be strong. When I went to test it, it wasn’t as strong as I thought it was or needed to be. A friend suggested I could strengthen it by adding eyelets and string turning it into a suspension bridge. He was right. By adding to my existing structure, I was able to strengthen the bridge to hold a lot more weight than it ever could have on its own.
In Ephesians 6, Paul was giving some final instructions to the Christians at Ephesus. In verse 10 he wrote, “Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power” (GNT). He was telling us that we’re not strong enough to handle a lot of what comes at us, so we need to add things in order to increase our spiritual strength. Those things he mentioned that we need to add are: the belt of truth to help you stand in victory, the breastplate of righteousness to protect your heart, the Gospel of peace on your feet to give you stability, the shield of faith to protect you from the enemy’s attacks, the helmet of salvation to guard your thoughts and the sword of the spirit, which is the spoken Word of God, to help you advance.
We need to be adding and doing these things daily in order to build up our spiritual strength. A weightlifter doesn’t get strong by going to the gym once or by going every once in a while. They go daily, and so we must have these spiritual disciplines in order to build up our strength. Take time each day to speak the truth in love, trust in Jesus’ righteousness instead of our own, read the Bible to put it in our heart, take steps of faith often, ask God to guard your thoughts and pray the Bible verses out loud. When we do these things, we become a lot stronger than we ever could be on our own. We become infused with God’s strength and will be able to stand up to any attack the enemy brings against us. Strength building isn’t passive. It requires action, time and discipline.
Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
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Momentary Prayers
I’ve always had a heart for missions and missionaries. I love when they visit our church and share their stories. The church organization I grew up in would have missionaries return to The States every few years to share what they were doing with the sending churches and to raise more funds. They would pass out these business cards that usually had their picture on it and the words, “Pray for us.” I remember hearing several tell stories of when they were in certain situations and they could feel the prayers of someone on the other side of the world. I knew then how important it was to pray for missionaries and others whom God put on my heart. I decided at a young age to make it a point to pray for someone at the moment they asked or in the moment God brought them to mind.
Paul started off in 2 Corinthians 1 reminding Christians that when we go through painful times, God is right there with us giving us comfort. He does that so that we can come alongside others who are going through difficult times to bring comfort to them. He reminds us that he experienced a lot of suffering for Christ and therefore had lots of comfort to offer others. When we go through a season of difficult times, it’s often an opportunity for God to fill us up with empathy that others will need. It also shapes how we pray for someone. When we’ve gone through something painful or traumatic, it shapes how we pray and what we pray for. Those prayers are felt by those whom we pray for because they’re born out of the comfort we’ve received from God in our time of need.
In verse 11, Paul writes, “Because there are so many interceding for us, our deliverance will cause even more people to give thanks to God. What a gracious gift of mercy surrounds us because of your prayers!” (TPT) Your prayers surround others with gifts of mercy. Who has God laid on your heart to pray for? Don’t pass up the moment to pray for them or try to dismiss what God is asking you to do. Your prayers matter and have a powerful effect (James 5:16). Whether it’s a missionary in another country, a friend or family member, when God asks you to pray, do it. Just like there are moments when you need someone to be praying for you, others need you to pray for them. Sometimes it’s the difference between life and death. Don’t discount your prayers and the effect they can have.
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Repairing The Altar
Have you ever had anything around your house or yard that broke or fell into disrepair? Did you ever let said thing just sit there? Many of us do. We put off what could be done today until tomorrow. The next thing you know, years have passed and that thing is still sitting there broken. Your spouse may ask you to throw it away, but you insist that you’re going to repair it. Part of the problem is that when it broke, you created a workaround for not using it. You turned to something else that may not be as effective, but you got used to it. The truth is you forget the other item until it’s brought up again, and again, and again. Then one day, you repair it and you wonder why you let so much time go by before you did.
After Solomon died, there were a series of kings in Israel. The kingdom split in two where Israel was in the north and Judah was in the south. Judah contained Jerusalem where the Temple was. However, there were many kings who didn’t follow God’s Law and the Temple fell into disrepair. Then Asa became king and He pleased God with how He lived. When an army attacked, he turned to God for help and God gave them a victory when defeat was certain. After they returned to Jerusalem, the prophet Azariah came and told Asa that for a long time they had abandoned God. If they would return to Him, He would continue to protect them, provide for them and reward them. When Asa heard this, he got rid of all the idols in the land. Them 2 Chronicles 15:8 says, “He also repaired the altar of the Lord that stood in the Temple courtyard” (GNT).
When I read that, I couldn’t help but think of my own life. There are times when I quit relying on God and do things myself. I create work around for the power of God in my life and I walk past the broken altar to Him doing things my way instead. I believe we all go through these times, but God is calling me and you back to repair the altar in our life. He’s drawing us back into the prayer closet, back into quality time with Him, back into His Word and back into relationship with Him. Like Asa, if we will return to that place with God, His promises will return to our life. It’s time that each of us go back to the altar, repair it and draw closer to God. I believe the time is getting short and we can’t afford to serve Him just using our work arounds or solely out of habit or ritual. We must return to our first love and serve Him whole heartedly, and that begins with returning to the altar of the Lord in our life and repairing it.
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Relationship Goals
When I was a teen, someone told me, “You become like those you run with.” When I was a young adult, someone told me, “You show me who your friends are, and I’ll show you who you are.” Then several years later, someone told me, “If you want to soar with eagles, you can’t be scratching around in the dirt with turkeys.” All these reminders have been about the importance of choosing who you choose to hang out with. Either the group you’re with will hold you back or help you get to that next level.
As I’ve lived my life, I can honestly say that these messages are true. Close relationships are the greatest influencers of your success or failure. If you’re constantly failing and are stuck in a bad place, you need to walk away from the relationships that are holding you back. Your life will not change until you change your relationships. If you want your life to improve, associate with people who are ahead of you and are moving in the right direction. This works for spiritual and economic growth as well.
As Paul was grooming Timothy to be a leader, he gave him the same advice. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Strive for righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help” (GNT) Paul wanted Timothy to understand it’s difficult to grow on your own. You need other like minded people who are headed in the same direction to help you get there. Proverbs 27:17 tells us that as iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. You need people around you who will make you sharp.
When coaching or counseling people, I let them know that they need someone ahead of them that they can follow. They need someone beside them that can challenge them. They also need someone behind them that they can help get to the next level. Finding the right relationships is one of the most difficult tasks in life. That’s why it’s preached to you since you were young. It’s never to late to make the changes you need to make. If you’re ready to soar with eagles, spread your wings and leave the turkeys behind.
Photo by Frank Cone from Pexels
Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.
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Devotions by Chris Hendrix 