Go and Discover

Fearless

I've deployed multiple times into combat and dealt directly with survival and fear.  I experienced two types of fears, crippling fear and a guiding fear.  

The guiding fear was a helper.  It aided decision-making and helped me to stay alive and well in dangerous situations.  

The crippling fear was a killer.  This is the irrational fear which causes you to believe their is a gun pointed at you from every window and a bomb behind every rock.  It's not a useful fear and it overpowers the instincts you trained hard to instill.  

Here is how I know I should live fearless - God loves me.  God didn't create me so fear would stop me from doing what He has placed me on this earth to do.  There isn't any illusion or irrational fear that can stop me from boldly moving forward towards the things God has put in my heart.  

God proved His love when he placed his Son Jesus on a cross where he was tortured, died, and rose again from the grave.  No one else has done this for me.  Not my parents, not my wife - no one has demonstrated that type of love for me except God and Jesus.  

If you are struggling with crippling fear - right now pray to God to lift fear out of your life and show you His love.  Accept His love through Jesus and move forward.  Do this.  You will not regret it.

Source of Peace

The past few days I can't get the image of the Cross in the barn at Billy Graham's residence in North Carolina out of my mind.  The scene is so peaceful and quiet.  Here is this man living in peace but renowned by a bustling and chaotic world.  

Where did this peace come from?  Man has not been able to create peace.  Jesus himself said He brought a sword and would turn a man against his father. - Matthew 10:34-35.   

I've never met Billy Graham but I know where his peace came from.  His peace came from God through Jesus.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't peaceful.  It's about God providing His only Son to die for us so that we can be free.  If we believe this to be true, and we surrender our lives to God through Jesus, then we are free men and we live in peace.  We won't find peace through others, or from ourselves. 

Through Jesus we can live in peace even when the world around us is churning.  This peace brings creativity, perspective, wisdom, and many other fruits the world simply doesn't have a seed for.  

The seed for everything we strive for is Jesus.  The seed is already paid for and available to us right now.

If you're desperately seeking peace in your life stop what you are doing and ask accept Jesus Christ into your life.  Surrender everything you have to God and let Him bring peace into your life.  I promise - you will not regret this decision.

Revolutionary Conversations

The conversations we have each day reveal what is most important to us.  The way we discuss matters with others shows our intentions, hurts, fears and ambitions.  

If I have a selfish ambition, my speech is partial towards me.

If I am fearful of something, my speech is protective.

If I am over-confident, my speech is boastful.

If I am desperate or unthoughtful, my speech is hypocritical.

If I need to be right, my speech is jealous towards my own views.

Our speech is important because is drives our lives and builds the world around us.  When we speak with fear the world around us is built with fear.  

Let's use another approach to our conversations.  Let our speech be pure, peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical.  

If you're frustrated with the world you live in, change your speech.  Ask God to help you speak purely and watch how your world changes as the fruit of your speech grows all around you.  You will not regret it!!

Stupid and Strong

I learned a saying in the Navy, "If you're going to be stupid, you better be strong!"  This prophecy came true over and over throughout my military career.  A hasty plan, or an unthoughtful approach, would always increase our labor.  

2500 years ago an author penned this:

"If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success." - Ecclesiastes 10:10

Make your effort count and gain wisdom.  Fearing the Lord is the beginning of discernment and wisdom and our stubbornness will keep us from wisdom.  

If you are working really hard but not seeing the benefits of your labor, pray that you will trust in the Lord and ask He provide you wisdom so you prosper.  I promise - you will not regret this decision!

 

Keep your footing

Solid footing provides wisdom and righteousness.  You can find people standing on solid ground by their humble and considerate actions.  It's true that sometimes humble people are not as prosperous at the outset as those driven by selfish ambition.

But the prosperity of selfish and arrogant people is tied to the whims of people. And their footing is their own words. Whim and talk do not make good footing!

Don't sacrifice the good footing of wisdom and righteousness for a quick win. People change with the wind and your words will ensnare you to your end.

Humility and consideration of others always place you in strategic positions and open doors arrogant talk cannot.

Forgive and Live Free

Envy that boils over unchecked will find a way to crucify an innocent person.  Envy burns bright when comfortable people are challenged by someone demonstrating change and having success.  Those comfortable people will condemn the new way.  They will discredit and shame the momentum and movement.

If you are discovering the life God has for you then you have a 100% chance of people shaming, ridiculing, and discrediting you. It will happen. For sure.

When these people lash out at you - smile and forgive them.  Realize they are proof you are really living in freedom.

Envy's Decay

If prosperity's first step is humility, then calamity begins with envy. Humility places others in higher regard than ourselves and  opposes selfish ambition.

Envy pushes us to elevate ourselves above others.  Envious hearts direct actions that will absolutely result in disaster for you and anyone depending on you.  Envy drives us to achieve things we were never intended to achieve.  Envy drains our peace, energy, and happiness.

You were not designed to rule over people, to run someone else's race, or to have someone else's life. You were designed to put your gifts and talents to work helping others. You were built for a challenge only you can overcome. You're built for a life far better than any you could copy.  Fulfilling your own purpose refreshes, energizes, and increases joy in your life.

If your decisions are hurting you more than helping, stop what you're doing and ask God for help. Read James Chapter 3, and ask God to show you the steps to get on track fulfilling the purpose He designed in you.

Ask First

Have you sacrificed greatly to achieve something? Has someone told you once that everything good requires sacrifice? They lied (or were just mistaken).

Often our checklist to achieve something includes a sacrifice. The biggest sacrifices we tend to make are involve time and money - we never have enough we think. We may cut back to save our money and free up our time. Sometimes we give up things we know we'll regret later and lie to ourselves we will recover the time later.

In my 26 years of military service I witnessed and expressed many forms of sacrifice. The most terrible sacrifice I think service members make (besides death) is missing time with loved ones. The time to prepare for a deployment combined with the deployments themselves can rob years from time spent with family. It stinks. And I wish there were a better way.

A friend of mine lost several years' time with his family after several years of this type of sacrifice. Ultimately, his family was destroyed. He did not want or intend to see his family fall to pieces, but as he left the team all he could do was cry and express regret. This image is burned in my memory and I vowed to never put my family in a similar position.

I rested on a single verse to help guide me through many deployments and decisions about where to spend my time on active-duty. 3 John 2 is a prayer John makes for his friend Gaius' health, prosperity and soul. I 'operationalized' this verse in my life and prayed all would go well in my life even if I did not put in extra hours before a deployment. Or, if I missed time with my family. I had to trust God for all to go well in my life even though I did not have all the time I wanted to prepare for deployments and spend time with family.

This prayer worked. All my deployments were successful and my family is stronger than ever.

Before you decide you need to give up something, ask God to help you first. You will get what you need to do exactly what He designed you to do and you can trust Him to provide. You will not regret the decision to ask God for help!

Your Dream is Real

You were created for a purpose and those things you are exceptional at are evidence your dream is real.

The purpose you were born with is inside of you and the talents you have are evidence of this purpose.  The lie people believe is they aren't good enough, or they need to manipulate to achieve their dream.  Another lie is you need to work hard and sacrifice all other aspects of life to achieve your dream.

The dream you have was deposited inside of you to help you and to make you prosper.  It's already in motion, you don't need to earn it, and the sacrifice has already been made.

If you're struggling to achieve your dreams and the people you look towards for inspiration are only causing frustration - turn to Jesus.  Sit still for a few moments and surrender all your work and craftiness to Him.  It's already yours.  The life everyone is searching for is in Him and ready for you.

Families

Beware of organizations who want you a part of their family culture.  Some organizations only want the benefits you bring.  They don't actually want to treat you like family. 

God views families differently than the relationships we have in our careers and the communities we live.

Matthew 12 verses 48 and 50 explain that God's family isn't limited to our relatives, but anyone who does God's will.  Relationships between Christians are sibling relationships, like our brothers and sisters in our families at home.  But relationships outside that family require a different approach.

Jesus told his disciples when he sent them out into the world to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and drive out demons, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Jesus was sending his disciples into the world to preach the gospel.  He warned them they would be flogged and jailed for upsetting the religious systems of the day.  He also didn't arm them with ransom money, weapons, or guards.  This is why Jesus said they were like sheep among wolves.  Jesus gave the disciples detailed instructions on how to handle people who wanted to kill them, as well as people who would welcome them.

If you're struggling with relationships inside or outside of your Church family, read Matthew Chapters 10, 11, and 12,  and ask God for help to understand.