Be Of Good Courage

Be of good courage.  This statement is rehearsed many times throughout scripture.  In its most consistent context, it is found when God communicated to Moses, to Joshua, and to the children of Israel at specific moments where He invited them to embrace their destiny.

I often consider that life was easier in days of old.  Sure, we have modern conveniences.  We have a vast amount of improvements in our lives.  We even have improvements over our improvements.  We have tractors to work the fields, where we once had oxen.  Now we have air conditioned tractors.  I don’t care what you say: it is easier to plow a field in an air conditioned tractor than it is to plow behind a team of oxen.

So what was easier in early times?  The decision to move on with one’s destiny – to reach into the unknown – had to be easier.  I am not discrediting the courageous decisions of our forefathers, but hear me out.  How difficult was it for Seth (the son of Adam) to move out into his own dwelling? 

“Yesterday, I lived in my dad’s tent.  I ate food that we killed or grew. Today I live in a tent next door.  In killed something and ate it. Oh, and I planted something I can eat later.” 

It is a drastic overstatement, but with the intention of pointing out that the more complex life has become, the more difficult it has become to break free of that life to embrace any new direction to which you are called.

Generations after Adam, Jesus pointed this out.  To the rich, young ruler He instructed, “Sell all that you have and give to the poor.” He was communicating a need for the willingness to lay aside all that seems secure in favor securing your future and your destiny.  Sometimes you simply have to do that.

I live in America.  It is a nation that was birthed with exactly that sentiment in mind.  It is a nation birthed through the courage of men and women who were willing today all on the line to carve out a future and a destiny.

"With nothing more than the clothes on their backs, they came to seek a better life, where they could live as they believe".  

 That took courage.

Be of good courage.  It takes courage to step beyond the status quo.  It takes courage to reach beyond what is known.  It takes courage to build on your faith and belief system, especially when it means challenging things you have always known in the context that you currently know them. Yet, the Gospel and history itself have proven that such measure is often the necessary ingredient in fulfilling your purpose.

Paul the Apostle offered great challenge to both Jews and Greeks.  He challenged early believers who, in short order, fell into the status quo of Christian life and became lukewarm and irrelevant. Like Jesus, he challenged people to lay it all on the line and pursue with great passion that which God was placing before them, not allowing anything – life or death – to hinder them from pressing on to fulfill their life’s purpose in God.

Consider some of the courageous leaders of modern times. Their ability to succeed and do extraordinary things started with the ability to step beyond the status quo and reach beyond the limits of their current state in order to function in a greater capacity.  They were willing to reconsider how man interprets certain ideas.  They were willing to think outside the box. They refused to step away from truth, but instead were willing to let truth expand their thoughts, their faith and their walk in life.  They learned hard lessons and suffered failures among their successes, but they passionately blazed a path which changed the course of history.  Each one attributed to their success the attribute of courage.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.”

Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur who gave us Apple and negotiated Pixar into the Disney family taught, “Time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Each of these spoke of the courage necessary to be victorious.  But they also demonstrated that victory requires action as well as faith.  Dale Carnegie once said that “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

All this to say –  

Be of good courage.   

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

Do not allow another day to occur in your life that is less than full of passion for God and His Kingdom.  Each day carries with it a battle - sometimes against a principle that works in opposition with God.  Sometimes it is a personal challenge.  Sometimes it is simply a battle against mediocrity. In each case, there will be aspects of learned behavior and the current status quo of your life that can hinder you rather than help you.  Be willing to look beyond it to see more. In so doing, you will become one who does more than you ever dreamed possible…and…you will step into YOUR destiny.

About Your Head…

One day a few of years ago, I was working on a project in my house.  I was "milling" around doing "the man thing", which in this case involved a plethora of power tools operating at what a competent craftsman would call "a mediocre level of skill".  As I was demonstrating my prowess in artistic craftsmanship, I managed to run a power tool through a knot in a piece of wood I was working with.  The knot broke loose and became a projectile. It seemingly developed the power of a small missile whose trajectory was targeted at my forehead.  It found its mark with amazing accuracy.  I never could have done that on purpose. 

Performances of "the man thing" usually involve some level of personal injury.  They are actually part of "the man script".  Following any such injury is usually the mantra, 

 "I'm good! I'm okay!" 

  Groaning and grunts are also included in these moments. Sitcoms have made millions on the portrayal of "the man thing".  Another attribute about "the man thing" is that after one incurs such an injury and has declared his strength in crisis, he must duly continue his duties, albeit with one less eye, arm or leg.  To stop in mid project is to admit defeat and declare failure, or worse, to create another nameless evil which has its own mantra.  This one shouts, "When are you ever going to finish that thing?"  Needless to say, the project must go on.

The problem was as I continued on with the project, which had initially been progressing with some degree of success; I began to run into complications.  Measurements were not going quite right. Pieces of the project were not coming together. What started out as a perfect "man thing" was rapidly deteriorating in front of me.  My then four-year-old daughter happened to make her way out to the front yard where I was working, where she found me trying to control my anger over my incompetence.  I glanced up at her to find a look on her face that measured somewhere between surprise and concern.  She said four little words, "Dad, about your head…"  In the heat of the evening, combined with the heat of the moment, it had not occurred to me that the wooden knot missile that had targeted me managed to carve a niche in my forehead.  I was bleeding.  Amidst the heat, the sweat and the frustration I hadn't even noticed the cut and the huge lump that accompanied it.  Yet, it was there.  Little wonder I was having trouble concentrating.  I have enough holes in my head without adding anymore.  She did not ask if I was okay.  It was very clear to her that I was not okay.  While icing down my wound, I made a telephone call which returned my sanity and gave me insight on how to do the job correctly.

The purpose for this story is this.  People often find themselves in a position of having to do things in life that are not their greatest gift.  Learning to budget finances, developing productive family relationships, building effective communications skills or even for some, picking up dirty laundry all seem to bring some to a place of frustrated incompetence in their life.  It is guaranteed that in the mechanics of life development, sooner or later you will run a power tool over a knot and get hit in the head.  I have counseled many people over the years who have expressed exactly that feeling - that they have been hit in the head by their problems.  They become frustrated because their measurements do not go quite right.  The pieces of their life are not coming together.  Yet they continue to muddle along, trying to make it work when all the while the problems begin to compound. 

Before I continue, I must say this.  Give me someone who will do everything to press on through over someone who throws in the towel, sits down and quits ANY DAY!  If both lead to failure, the former is at least a noble failure and thus, worth celebrating.  The latter is just defeat and difficult to change.  Change must occur.  The determination to muddle through moment by moment without any real degree of true success is often an indicator that there is something wrong with your head. I am not suggesting mental incompetence but rather "stinkin' thinkin' ".  Somewhere along the way, you got hit with a problem and it created a bleed.  It created dizziness in your logic.  It made it difficult to work your way through the problem and you cannot even understand why.  Hey…about your head…!

 Consider the allegory.  View "the man thing" as your established way of thinking and doing.  View the project as life situations.  View the knot-missile as the occurrence or occurrences that shape or alter the way you are viewing those situations.  View the lump as unseen distraction.  View the blood as the feeling that life itself is seeping out of you.  Finally, ask yourself what you could have done to avoid this encounter.

For myself, I could have paid attention to the details and how they would affect the future of the project.  If I had looked for knots before working with the wood, I could have avoided the injury.  Failing that, if I had paid attention to the detail that I received a blow to the head, a little cleaning of the wound and a little ice would have been a huge benefit to the project.  A release of the pride that held me to "the man thing" might have persuaded me to ask someone more proficient than me to offer insight into the project.  This act alone could have helped ensure success. It is even interesting to note that the problem was so obvious to the outside world that the insight of a four-year-old child was capable of bringing change -- in short, I should have caught it myself!

Therein lies the problem.  In many situations in life, people are too close to the problem to catch it themselves.  People view failure as defeat.  But, people view the need for help as failure.  They struggle through major issues in their life, compounding problem after problem until they are too deep to break free. As I stated earlier, an alternative action is to quit and expect everyone else to do what you should be doing -- unacceptable.  The acceptable alternative is simple.  It involves two considerations: the release of pride that says "you have to do it alone," and accountability which always leads you back to considering the wisdom of someone who can see what you cannot see.  My four-year-old told me I needed to go clean myself up.  She was right and I submitted to that wisdom.  I even asked her if I did an acceptable job.  In an odd kind of way, I chose to be accountable to her wise counsel.

What problems are you encountering?  What kind of blood and sweat is dripping into your line of vision?  What kind of bump on the head is making you dizzy in your life decisions?  Who are you willing to hear?  What level of accountability are you willing to embrace?  Who can say to you, "Hey…about your head…!"

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

We are here!  The Christmas season has arrived!  Not the one that comes at W***Mart the day after Halloween, when all of the decorations go up for sale and the marketers go crazy bidding for who will get the bulk of your Christmas fund…

I am talking about the "Deck The Halls - Joy To The World - We Wish You A Merry Christmas (not Happy Holidays)" season where the ideals of mankind momentarily change.  While it is true that some find the holiday depressing, it is also true that it is not the holiday itself that is depressing.  Rather, for some the holiday can serve to accentuate the desperation of their daily lives.  I am fully convinced that although people say they want to avoid the holiday, they are really saying, "I do not want to be reminded of my situation."  Yet what most people do not realize is that the more they avoid the holiday and keep to themselves while the it continues around them, the more time they spend focusing on their pain.

I believe that in reality, people are not looking to escape a holiday; they are looking for a cure to their pain.  This has been defined even by the world for decades.  Consider all of the movies that have been created with sad and desperate people just like the ones I am describing.  It is amazing that they all find their way to a happy holiday ending!  In real life, people say "That's a fairy tale" and yet, all too often I find people secretly looking for a fairy tale to come true in their life.  They want a happy ending.

The way to a happy ending is to find joy in life, now.   

If you always focus on the bad things, you will never pursue the goods things.   

Psalm 126:5 reads. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."  Sowing and reaping are a daily part of everyone's life.  You are constantly planting something into someone, whether it is a material thing or a thought or idea.  What this verse indicates is that even during the darkest of seasons, you must continue to live your life.  Find something good -- some good ground -- and invest your life into it.  The sorrow may rest in your heart.  The tears may occasionally stream down your face.  But, in the end, you will find joy! 

How does one do this?  You have to choose what is important to you.  You must remember that God did not just take delight in us.  He chooses to delight in us.  He chooses to get excited over us.  He does not quit when we fail, but delights when we overcome that failure.  He keeps pressing on even when we disappoint Him. We are to be like that.  Rather than waiting for the "Christmas Spirit" to sweep you away, choose to embrace it.  Don't hide from the holiday, embrace it.  Find a way to share the joy.  Remember the greatest gift that was given to us; the life and love of Jesus.  As He gave us life, we should also give life to others. 

So DO IT!  Deck the Halls!  Offer Joy to the World!  Wish someone a Merry Christmas!  Choose to reach for a little joy in your life by investing some in someone else's life.   

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY!

LIFE…The Journey

You hear it all the time. "You're going to another level."  You sing it.  "Another level, another harvest, another day for you to manifest your promises…"  I often hear people offer the same sentiment I have uttered from my own lips:  I am tired of getting there.  I want to be there. 

"I want to be there!" While this may sound great, it does not truly reflect the design that God has for you.  To be there means that at some point, you no longer need to grow. It means that you have arrived at your destination as a person.  People often say, 

"I don't want to wait forever for the blessing that is supposed to be my life."  They forget that they have been raised in the "instant generation." Television media has brought America to a six second attention span.  Microwave ovens have staged and upscale mugging of the family dinner table.  We measure our success by what we achieve.  We constantly rush to get where we are going.  We forget that life is not about the destination.  Life is about the journey.

We forget that when God built His church through the teaching of His Son, Jesus, that He was very careful to build it over time.  I think that we could all agree that as Jesus was anointed enough to draw crowds of thousands, he could have chosen to launch His church in a much quicker fashion.  Instead, he chose to impart to twelve men who would be given the responsibility to carry it forth -- without the benefit of telephones, computers, e-mail and satellites - or even a tour bus. 

If you read the communication of the Apostles to the early church, you will recognize that the church did, in fact, begin to emerge quickly once the work was started.  You will also discover that it was plagued with many problems - most of which could be chalked up to spiritual immaturity.  Perhaps we should consider that God in His infinite wisdom knew that in order to have a glorious church, men and women of Christian maturity would have to be raised up 

to develop and disciple it.

Discipleship is both one of the simplest and most complex attributes of life.  In its simplest form, discipleship is training.  Through a combination of teachers, mentors, parents, both physical and spiritual, and Holy Spirit, there is an education process that ultimately is supposed to lead you to spiritual maturity.  However, the complex portion of discipleship is that all of this education is never truly embedded until it is tried.  Life lessons then become one of the greatest tools of discipleship.           

The problem for many is that once they have a dream, a vision, and some education, they develop this understanding that they are ready to take on the world.  They are pretty much prepared for anything.  And, if they encounter anything they are not prepared for, God will surely protect them.  While it is true that God will protect you and guide you through such times, you usually create circumstances in those times which will be a permanent part of your life.  Abraham got ahead of God and ended up with Ishmael.

You must remember that with the development of your Christian maturity, your ultimate teacher, mentor, and spiritual father, is God.  His perspective is so unique because His ways are higher than yours.  His thoughts are greater than your thoughts.  He can truly see the alpha and omega of your life on earth.  What's more, He understands how and why He created you.  His motive for being a part of your life is to see you fulfill what He carefully created for you to fulfill.  Since He is not bound to the limitations to which every natural teacher, mentor, and parent is bound, he has the added benefit of connecting your education to life lessons in a way no other can connect them.  In other words, he may keep you from prematurely stepping into your destiny because he knows that there is something you need in your life that you do not yet have and cannot yet see.

Abraham was an old man before the promise of a generational seed, and a son came to fruition.  Jesus was thirty before He was released into His three short years of ministry.  Wanting it now may not always be the best course.  Having it now can place you in the position of damaging your life or others.  A fifteen year old girl can become pregnant and give birth to a child.  She can probably raise that child and both of them survive.  However, the opportunity for her to make irreparable mistakes in her life, the child's life, and in every other relationship she has, is greatly increased because she is not mature enough to handle to handle those situations.

This holds true for every area of life: ministry, business, family, etc.  That is why you must recognize that for God, His focus for you is the journey.  Your Amazing Life is about the journey.  The destination is a motive to keep you moving on the journey.  When you get there, I promise you there will be another destination in front of you because - LIFE'S A JOURNEY! Do not let impatience rob you of your true destiny.  Do not allow yourself to sacrifice the process for the prize.  If you do, when you arrive, you will be more "stuck" than you can possibly imagine.  And, the only thing more frustrating than having to wait at the starting gate is waiting for the wrecker to drag you out of the ditch.

God is bringing you through each day, placing in you all that you need to fulfill His plan…in His time.  He gave you an Amazing Life.  Enjoy the journey.