Basic Reminders

Slow down right now and imagine this…

an explosion in your heart of epic proportions filling your heart with Christ’s light and love. Shaking lose and purging any sin, foothold or stronghold Satan may have had. You are left with nothing but his light and love filling your heart to overflowing. Meditate on this reality right now for Christ has done it for you just be still . (Part 2 is coming tomorrow)

Part 2 - Guard Your Heart “Above all else, guard your heart for from it flows the springs of life.” Prov 4:23 It is done! And Christ will fill our heart with His love and light daily upon our request so be filled and guard it to maintain the outflowing of His love, light & grace to others. Biologically the heart keeps the mind alive and our bodies full of energy to run the race. Spiritually our hearts keep the body of Christ alive. Our hearts are the source from which we can consistently love and encourage others. Christ said, “I have come that you might have LIFE abundantly.” Let us guard our hearts so that we stay ALIVE and give LIFE to the body of Christ. To God be the thanks, praise & glory. Amen.

Part 3 - Your Mind Kept alive by your heart, the mind is central command. It is subject to everything we see and hear . It is where we take in and process this information, react with emotions and form beliefs. Let God transform your mind so that it is built on the rock of Jesus/Truth and can withstand any attack. Satan attacks directly and covertly. The mind is the gateway to your heart and you must be on guard so that Satan never gets a foothold in your heart. Be MINDFUL (thoughtful and intentional) and alert to the Devil’s schemes putting on your spiritual armor so that you do not fall.

Part 4 - Your Body Our temporary earthly vessel by His design for His purpose and glory. Think of your body as your uniform in the Lord’s service. Issued by Him and for Him. Unlike a shirt, we cannot take off this vessel so do not get entangled with earthly things (2 Tim 2:1) and chase pleasures of this life (Jam 4:4). Take care of your body and use it as an instrument of His peace (John 14:27). You are His and the power in you is stronger than any powers in this world (1 John 4:4). Yee haw!

Part 5 - Others

Our hearts are full and guarded. Christ’s stronghold is secure and deeply rooted in our heart & mind. Our bodies are disciplined and obedient to God (our commanding officer). Now, operating from here we can freely love one another, period, no exceptions. Fruits of the Spirit running rampant showing the love of Christ in every encounter God set up in advance for us to love one another, love one another & love one another.

Let's talk about fruit...

Imagine a well pruned orange tree full of fruit. 

Now imagine a poorly cared for tree that is scraggly, out of control and yielding sparse and inconsistent fruit. 

Who doesn't want to be fruitful?

This morning I was reading John 15 and am reminded that GOD WANTS US TO BE FRUITFUL probably for two reasons: 1) it glorifies Him, builds His Kingdom, draws others to Him and 2) we will be happier and more fulfilled if we are fruitful. 

(vs 1-2) I am the vine, my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so that they will produce even more. 

(vs 4-8) Jesus encourages us to REMAIN JOINED TO HIM AND HIS WORDS so that we will be more fruitful. 

(vs 9-17) Jesus reminds us of his great love for us and that He wants us to remain in that love which will bring us joy. He goes on to remind us to love each other and that we can be his friend if we obey and remain in his love. 

PART 2 - Let's look for fruit...

Gal 5:22 "...when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will product this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."

These fruits are the result of remaining joined to Him, in His love, knowing His word and obeying His call on our lives to remain in Him and love one another. Let us do that more and more today. 

Phases of Life - let's think about it

So I'm 48 now and reflecting on life phases...

Hopefully this encourages you to think, reflect & ponder who you are, where you are now and where you are going. 🙂

(I'm skipping birth-18 and limiting my scope to after high school graduation)

INVEST: This is typically a selfish phase of investment in self (such as college). In this phase you are tested to see how you do on your own (you don't have to listen to your parents if you don't want to). You will have many choices and freedoms and you will reap what you sow (Gal 6:4-5,7). I hope you choose/chose wisely, but if you didn't, at least you learned! (Heb 12:11)

ESTABLISH: During this phase (early/mid 20s?) we usually select housing, a job and what we do with our time (hobbies/passions/interests). Also during this phase we inform our decisions based on our lens and how we see the world and our place in the world. For me, I established that I'm a beloved child of God, that is passing through this world with the purpose of loving others and sharing Christ. 

BUILD: On the foundation we established and the beliefs we have, we build, build, build. Hopefully in fruitful joyful labor, but the slippery slope in America is to accumulate (more, more, more). Society tells us that we can have it all, do it all, be it all and we can fall into the trap of building our own personal kingdom (life). We make many choices to establish security (retirement) and joy (entertainment/pleasure). I want to battle the busy rat race and remain in the peace and purpose established above. 

CONTENT: (40s?) For me, I think I'm in this phase. I recently left my highly compensated and secure job to do work that is much harder for a fraction of the compensation (Marriage & Family Therapy). I did not sell all that I have to follow Jesus (Matt 19:21) and still live comfortably in a nice home and I have nice things. The milestone/change of this phase is to stop building your personal kingdom and focus more (more, more & more) on things of eternal value. No one on their deathbed wishes that they spent more time at work, so keep this in check. 

CONTENT PHASE 2: (50s & 60s?) During this phase, we start to feel our age more, which reminds us to focus on the truly important and let go of things that don't matter. 

CONTENT PHASE 3: (70+) If you haven't already, in this phase you'll experience more loss as people (friends/family/community) pass. Yet another reminder of what really matters. 

So my takeaway as I reflect on these phases is how important our day to day decisions are! I'd argue that during invest, establish & build we can and should be content and focused on the truly important. 

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And here are a few semi-related resources to consider:

1) Wild At Heart - stages of manhood (John Eldridge) link to Amazon

2) Primal Path - rite of passage to develop boys to men (12-20 yrs) https://primalpath.co/

3) Heart of a Warrior - men's spiritual development cirriculum https://www.heartofawarrior.org/

4) Raising a Modern Day Knight - (Robert Lewis) https://rmdk.com/

5) Resolute: men's ministry to develop spiritual mentors (Vince Miller) https://beresolute.org/

6) The Intentional Father (Jon Tyson) Amazon link