Category Archives: Life Application

Jesus Won’t Hesitate!!

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Last week was a real struggle for me. For 2 days I was so down and discouraged.  I was so frustrated with wearing this boot (2 months post peroneal tendon repair surgery.)  I was lonely.  I was depressed.  I was tired. I realized one night I had never turned the lights on in my house that day.  I am very blessed that I can work from home during this recovery period but it does get lonely.  I was definitely focused on my circumstances and seeing the cup half empty.  The Lord had put a journal on my heart all day Wednesday and I knew He was showing me the way out.

In 1986 I went on a Young Life Wilderness trip to Colorado and kept a detailed journal the whole week.  There was a very significant lesson I learned on the next to last day.  We had walked into a meadow to each spend time with God alone.  Then we would start hiking the trail again – alone.  There were probably 100-200 yards between each of us.  I could see the guide way down the trail ahead of me.  I kept looking down at the trail and found myself tripping on all of the rocks right in front of me.  But when I looked up and focused on the guide ahead of me, I never tripped.  It reminded me of the story in the Bible when Peter walked on the water in Matthew 14:29-31 (The Message).

   29-30 He said, “Come ahead.”  Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”   31 Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”

The same way I looked down instead of looking straight ahead at the guide is the same way Peter walked on water and then started to sink when he looked down at the waves around him.  Notice: Jesus didn’t hesitate!  He reached down and grabbed his hand.  Well, that is what He did for me this week.  I had my eyes focused on my circumstances and the things around me instead of looking at Jesus.  He didn’t hesitate!  He reached down and grabbed my hand and set my focus back on Him!  Where are your eyes focused today?  Are they on the temporal things around you and circumstances or are they set on Jesus?  I encourage you to cry out like Peter.  Jesus won’t hesitate to grab your hand and restore your focus on Him. When we set our focus on Jesus, we begin to see the glass half full and are filled with hearts of gratitude.

I find it amazing how God can use a 30 year old journal to breath fresh life into me!  I pray this will breath fresh life into you as well!

Are You Wearing a Thundershirt or the Armor of God?

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My older dog, a 10-year-old shih Tzu, has gotten more and more fearful of storms and loud noises in recent years.  About a month ago, I decided to purchase a “thundershirt” for her at the pet store.  It is basically a tshirt that wraps around the dog or cat’s chest and around the neck and is used for anxiety from a number of things like storms and fireworks.  The security of the shirt is supposed to calm the pet when storms come, etc.  I have put it on her a number of times during the last 4 weeks.  It takes a few minutes to calm her during storms and it didn’t work the best with July 4th fireworks.

What is your “thundershirt” when fear and anxiety come at you?  Maybe it’s eating, maybe other addictive behaviors, watching TV, exercising, obsessing with social media and things like Snapchat?  It could be a multitude of things.  Other options are to face it head on with God’s help or let it consume you.  How is your method working for you?  When you face fear and anxiety head on with God’s help, you need to be wearing the armor of God – that will protect you, calm you, and bring you peace 1,000 times more than turning to your own “thundershirt.”  So, you’re thinking, “this is a stretch.”  In reality, it really isn’t – we either turn to our own coping mechanisms or we turn to God.

armor of godThe armor of God consists of the following:

  1. Helmet of Salvation – don’t you know it is our salvation that allows us know God and wear the rest of the armor!
  2. Breastplate of Righteousness – we need this because Jesus is our righteousness.  This eliminates any requirement for performance, trying harder, or measuring up on our end.
  3. Shield of Faith – this is needed to trust God in our anxiety or fear or other emotions or situations.
  4. Belt of Truth – truth is critical because the enemy is out to feed you lies that cause the fear and anxiety in the first place!
  5. Sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God – the Truth!
  6. Sandals of Peace – Jesus is our peace and our mission is to spread that everywhere we go.

Have you ever thought about this?  You might not be able to turn to your “thundershirts” when you are donning the armor of God.  When you imagine wearing the armor, it would be mighty difficult to eat, drink alcohol, do drugs, engage in sexual sin and more.  When we don’t don the armor of God every day, we make ourselves vulnerable to the enemy and the lies he uses to steal, kill and destroy!

Whatever the emotion, belief system, situation, God and the armor He has given us will always be the answer!  When the storms of life come, what will you be wearing?

The Path to “Checkmate”

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chessI have been thinking a lot lately about how every choice or decision I make moves me either closer to or away from God.  There is no neutral move.  Kind of like the game of chess, every move is strategic with one goal in mind: to get the king piece on the opponent’s side.  The path to “checkmate” is packed with strategic moves, all to support this one goal.

My one goal is to know and experience the love of Jesus and to know Him – not just about Him.  It is also to honor and worship Him with my life and all that entails (spirit, soul, body).  Making strategic moves to reach your goal can apply to many areas of life (i.e. addictions, anger, people-pleasing, pride).  As an example, I have struggled with food and my weight most of my life.  Food is one of those addictions that is not so “cut and dry” because you have to eat to live.  I have been meditating on the idea that every time I eat a piece of food, my choice will either honor God in my body and bring health and life to me or it will not honor God in my body and it will lead to being unhealthy.  To reach my goal of worshipping God in my body requires that I make healthy choices each time I eat.  It is baby steps.  Just like chess is made up of many small moves to reach the ultimate goal, my goal requires the same.  Rarely is a goal achieved with one huge step/move.  Not only is strategy involved, but planning is involved.  I find I am most successful in the area of losing weight and eating right when I plan ahead and I strategically eat certain amounts of protein, carbs, and fats.

On a much broader scale, when we look at life, I have learned this.  God is  in control of every minute detail of my life and every single thing that happens today is a strategic move on His part for His glory and my ultimate good.  It is to this end that He allows or doesn’t allow things to happen in my life.  It is all for His glory!  That is His goal for my life.  The enemy will have his own strategic moves, but God will always beat him to “checkmate.”

One of my favorite quotes is from John Piper: God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.

What goals does this make you think of?  Do you see similarities in this analogy in your own life?