Christ Following
I remember when I was just a grade-school boy. One of my favorite summertime activities was swimming. If I had a chance to be in the water, I would take it, even if it wasn’t terribly hot outside.
There was a community pool in our city, called Anderson Pool. For just 25 cents, you could spend the entire day there. I still remember the smell of the chlorine, the pre-swim shower that felt like needles against my sunburned shoulders, the stubbed toes, and the lifeguards continually telling me to WALK!
There were 3 pools at Anderson Pool. A shallow pool for small children, a 3 to 5 foot deep pool for kids like me, and deeper pool that you could jump off the diving board into.
I remember one summer when I really wanted to jump off the diving boards. I was still pretty small and swimming in the deeper pool required little guys like me to pass a swim test. I was with several friends but only a couple of us were brave enough to take the plunge (literally).
The lifeguard told us that we had to be able to swim from one end of the deep pool to the other. I had already attempted this the summer before, and failed, but this time I wasn’t going to give up. It felt like everyone was watching, and I wanted to look strong. When the lifeguard yelled GO, I jumped in and doggie paddled as hard as I could. I swam to the other end of the pool, and back again! I was exhausted but I passed the test. I was now able to jump off the diving boards!
I discovered that summer that the diving boards were the most fun thing at the pool! I never wanted to go back to the less deep pools ever again! I loved the feeling of plunging into the water, and that brief moment of weightlessness as tiny air bubbles surrounded me. I would spend hours jumping, diving, and flipping into the deep end.
Unfortunately, some of my friends wouldn’t take the test. They were afraid, or they just didn’t want to do it. No matter how many times I encouraged them, or told them how amazing it was in the deep end, they just wouldn’t do it. They were content with splashing around in 3 feet of water, or just sitting at the edge of the pool dipping their feet in while they worked on their tan.
I find following Jesus a lot like that. There is a deep end, and it’s amazing!
In the deep end is peace. In the deep end is purpose. In the deep end is revelation, intimacy, joy, wisdom, and adventure!
The deep end requires of us. It requires time in prayer, time in God’s word, silence, fasting, sacrifice. But, just like I never regretted taking that swim test, I’ve never regretted paying any price to go deeper in my faith.
Yet, there are some who are content in the shallows. They don’t really know what they’re missing, and they don’t feel like finding out. Just like I wish I could have gotten my friends to take the swim test, I wish I could get all believers to take the plunge into deeper, more meaningful experiences with God.
How about you? Are you still splashing around in the shallows? What’s keeping you there? Do you lack motivation? Are you afraid?
Push past those things, jump in, and discover the awesome adventure that is the deep end.
You won’t regret it!
life, Wisdom
“Get your $#!% together!” Has anyone ever told you to do that? I remember being in my early 20s and having a mentor tell me that. Those weren’t his exact words but the sentiment was the same. I complained constantly about my job, I wasted a lot of time watching TV, I didn’t put much effort into my physical well-being, and I was lucky to have any friends because I was so sarcastic all the time.
In a way, those words saved my life.
Now I have three sons between the ages of 14 and 22. Every day, I do my best to teach them things that will help them succeed, get along with others, and avoid unnecessary pain and frustration. I’ve noticed that I find myself repeating particular lessons to them more than others. They are a core of eight things that most of life’s problems seem to stem from. They’re the eight things that took me from frustrated and failing to fulfilled and succeeding.
Put these eight things into effect in your life and it will really help you get your $#!% together!
1. Spend time like it’s a precious commodity.
Here’s the thing about time: it’s deceptive. We usually THINK we have more time than we actually have. A quick glance at Facebook and, before we know it, 20 minutes have gone by. We put off writing that book, earning that degree, or taking that trip, and years pass without making any progress. The time that we waste watching one more YouTube video, reading one more Twitter post, or posting one more selfie to Instagram is time that we’ll never get back to spend on what really matters.
2. Never underestimate the power of your words.
People listen, and they don’t forget. Speaking out of anger, “venting”, and off-the-cuff insults will have consequences. Speak the truth in love, speak life, and build people up with your words, and those words will have consequences too (Good ones!) Manage your words well because they will steer the direction of your life!
3. Never stop growing.
If a plant stops growing, it means it’s dying. Many people complain that their faith doesn’t do much for them. Most of those people can’t remember the last time they prayed more than they looked at their phone, or read the Bible more than they read Facebook posts. A commitment to growing applies to EVERY area of life, not just spiritual life. Read some good books, take a class, set new fitness goals, get some wisdom about parenting, marriage, LIFE. Whether you’re 8 or 80, you should never stop growing!
4. Don’t blame others for your unmet expectations.
Don’t blame the rich because your poor, don’t blame your boss for your lousy performance, don’t blame your unbelieving spouse for your spiritual condition, and don’t blame the poor behavior of others for your volatile temper. The sooner we take responsibility for our own actions, the sooner we can grow into people who live out their dreams instead of sitting around wishing.
5. Avoid laziness like the plague.
This one goes with number 1. Work hard, work smart, and don’t cut corners. Laziness leaves us open for all sorts of bad things. Poor health, difficulty finding or keeping a worthwhile job, frustration in relationships, financial hardship, the list goes on. The rewards for hard work don’t always come right away but they do come. No one owes you a thing. Success in life is NOT THE DEFAULT. We don’t just move toward success naturally. If you want it, you have to work your butt off to get it.
6. Treasure contentment.
My son owns three video game consoles. The other day, he told me he really wanted another one. Seriously?? Most Americans already have more than they need, and many of us even pay to store stuff in garages because there’s not enough room for it all in our houses. We throw away more than some countries consume and it’s pretty gross. What’s even worse is that some people can’t help others need because they’re too broke from buying crap they don’t really need. We need to realize when enough is enough, be content with what we have, and learn a better way of living than this excessive consumption. Contentment gives us financial margin and helps us to be generous toward others. It also lightens the burden of having to take care of so much stuff!
7. Great relationships take work but give back some of life’s greatest dividends.
Friendships, marriages, being a good neighbor; they take work! I thought being married was going to be easy. I was wrong. I’ve read books, talked to counselors, and gotten advice from those who have been married longer than me, but the rewards of working hard on my marriage are outstanding. At the end of the day, it’s the people in our lives that add the most value to it, and not the stuff we own. Work hard to be a good friend, spouse, and neighbor, and it will come back to you with interest.
8. Take risks.
You never really know what you can accomplish until you step out on a limb to do it. There are a lot of people with successful businesses inside of them but we’ll never see them because they won’t take a risk. There are other countries to explore, artworks to produce, and friends to be made if we just refuse to listen to fear and take risks. We won’t succeed at everything we try to do but we’ll fail at everything if we don’t at least try to do them. Take a risk. You might be taking the first step toward something amazing!
Well, that’s my eight. If you have any wisdom bombs that would help people get their $#!% together, then leave them in the comments. You might just help save someone a whole lot of frustration!
Giveaway
Do you love to read?
Me too!
Over the years, I’ve read more books than I can name and I look forward to reading many more.
A few years ago, I reluctantly bought my first e-reader. It was the first Amazon Kindle. I didn’t want to buy it because I enjoyed the tactile experience of holding a book and turning the pages. I even like the smell of books!
However, I have a tendency to read more than one book at a time. I also have the tendency to want to read on the go, like when I’m getting my oil changed, waiting for an appointment to begin, or… you know… in the bathroom. Have you ever tried lugging 4 or 5 books around with you every time you left the house? It’s a big pain!
Anyway, I’ve come to find my Kindle indispensable now. My wife upgraded me to a Paperwhite for my birthday this year and I LOVE it! It’s so easy on the eyes, so light and thin, and the battery lasts me almost a month before I have to recharge it!
In fact, I like it so much that I want to give one a way. I want to share my Kindle reading experience so that you can carry all of your books with you and not break a sweat. Just call me a Kindle evangelist!
I set up a little giveaway page where you can enter the drawing and get a chance for extra entrees by telling your friends. I’m also giving away a free ebook copy of one of my books just for entering! It’s a win win! But you better hurry, the contest closes in a few short weeks!
Best of luck to you!
Go to the giveaway page.
Autism
My middle son is 19 now. He is autistic. I wrote about him before, and about the lessons I’ve learned being his dad.
He likes to draw. Above is a self-portrait he drew, looking pretty BA. He’s actually a pretty nice guy, even though the drawing makes him look like he’s about to shake you down for that coupon you were going to use for a free ice-cream cone.
Over the past six months, his mother and I have been trying to help him navigate the online relationships he’d developed on a website that allows you to upload and share art and photography. He’s a huge Ratchet and Clank video game fan, and quickly found a group of users that were creating their own R&C fan art. The idea had him all excited at first, but then he noticed group members posting pictures of the video game’s characters in unsavory scenarios. This made our black and white thinking spectrum son very upset.
When he talked to us about it, we told him simply to not look at those pictures, and block those particular group members so that their drawings wouldn’t show up in his feed anymore. This lead to one of the most difficult parts of parenting an autistic child, and leading him into adulthood. He couldn’t NOT say something. He felt like what they were doing was wrong, and that he had an obligation to point it out. In his mind, It was an injustice that had to be confronted.
As you could imagine, pointing out the immorality of others’ drawings, with the grace of a rusty fishhook, only led to ugly backlash. It’s not like the users of the website had any idea of his developmental limitations. They just saw a self-righteous kid passing judgement on them. They cursed at him, told him to mind his own business, and leave them alone. Then it got worse.
I’ve learned that the idea of “leaving it alone” is one that’s impossible to expect from some autistic kids. He escalated, intensified his attack on the unrighteous use of his beloved characters, and (gasp) was blocked by three of his “friends”. Then it got even worse.
To say that he developed an obsession for winning those friends back is an epic understatement. For four months, he lost sleep, shed tears, made heartfelt appeals, and tried every day to talk mutual friends into talking those angry users into unblocking him. In the process, he even lost some mutual friends because they were tired of hearing about it. Everyone was telling him to let it go but he refused.
I told him many times to learn from the experience and move on. His continual pressing the issue online was only stirring up a beehive. He was becoming a pariah on the website. I tried to get people to rally around him and show him how loved and supported he was. I even went on the website myself and asked the group to cut him some slack. It all came to a head when another member of the R&C group posted a long, detailed status update about all of the ways my son had made her hate him. There were over 50 comments on the post tearing him down, cussing him out, and accusing him of being the worst kind of person possible.
It broke my heart.
In the end, I had to block him from the site. His refusal to follow wise counsel was hurting him terribly. Some autistic kids are actually incapable of learning from experience, and unable to anticipate others’ reactions to their words or actions. Imagine the impact that would have on your ability to make and keep friends! It would be like playing chess but forgetting your past moves and only being able to see your own pieces. I asked him if he ever gets confused. He said, “All the time.”
So, from here we’re looking for an opportunity for him to start over, either online or in person. We’re hoping that, against the odds, he will learn from this. If he’s ever going to transition to an adulthood that resembles a form of grownup independence, he’s going to have to learn the skills of extending grace, accepting rejection, and letting go.
It’s a long march to that place.
Christ Following
Today’s post is a guest post by Christian writer and blogger Charles L. Stanley. Charles is a seasoned Christ-follower who writes weekly devotions that encourage people to deepen their knowledge, passion, and experience of God.
Charles wrote a 7 day devotional eBook that he’d love to give you for free. You can grab it by clicking here.
Enjoy!
Exodus 34
The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” …
10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you…
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
We are more secure as believers in Jesus Christ than we know. At the core of that security is the core of God’s name, “steadfast love and faithfulness.”
This is the same steadfast love and faithfulness that existed between the Father and the Son when the Father promised that the Son would be King forever. Psalm 61:6-7.
God is 100% for you
Steadfast love is a translation of the Hebrew word, Hesed. Edmund Clowney, former President of Westminster Seminary, translated it “covenant devotion.” We can easily understand the devotion between the Father and the Son. Did you realize that this Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is devoted to you? He is completely for you!
God’s eternal character
This has always been God’s character from before the beginning. In John’s Gospel, we see that Jesus Christ brought “grace and truth,” the New Testament equivalent of “steadfast love and faithfulness.” Hebrews 13:8 says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.” At his core, he has always been and will always be, ”steadfast love and faithfulness” or “grace and truth.” Remember, we have one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one Bible, both Old, and New Testaments. He is the same, always and everywhere.
The cure for your anxieties
This truth about God has had a profound effect on me. It has largely erased my fears, worries, and anxieties about the future. The New Covenant in Christ is God’s covenant that includes me in Christ. God’s character is such that I have no worries. My Almighty Savior is trustworthy to perform all he has promised, both in this life and in the next on the New Earth.
Take a moment to think about the fact that God in Christ is fully devoted to you. Is that a new thought to you? Does it impact how you think about yourself and your life? Your family? Does it help you to think more in eternal terms?
“Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” ~Psalm 63:3
Please take a moment to share the thoughts you have about this truth from God’s word. How has it affected your life? This is our chance to minister to one another as fellow readers and members of the Body of Christ. Thank you for participating.
