Living Wide Awake: Enjoy

Thrills, chills, and spills are ways I would describe the life I am privileged to live in Christ. A lot is packed into making this life thrilling. Meeting people, impacting people, and anticipating what is around the corner makes for a thrilling ride! Along with that comes the chills. Looking at how God connects the dots to lead people my way causes me to just be in awe and sends goose bumps up my spine. We all take a fall from time to time as we "learn". Sowing seed is always a learning experience, so the spills are expected. Regardless of the spills, they don't prevent the anticipation of God's interaction in my life.

These are a few of the reasons that the life of a Christian should be enjoyed. God has given us so much to appreciate that we often are going so fast on the road of life to "see the signs" that would lead us to appreciate. Or, we are slumbering around and are too "drowsy" to see anything of appreciation.

Sunday, we concluded our Living Wide Awake series by looking at enjoying life. Here are some applications to choose from to use...

1. Thank God for giving you this day - air to breathe, things to see, house to live, family to care for, job to go to, etc.
2. Ask God to make it known how you should be used this day/situation.
3. Look for opportunities to be uncomfortable for Him and see what impact you can make.
4. Open your eyes for people who may need your interaction - those having a rough day, losing a loved one, frustration, complaining, etc.
5. Feeling weak? Count your blessings and get strength from Him as you look for the joy that comes from being a child of His. (The joy of the Lord is my strength - Nehemiah 8:10)
6. Be joyous for someone else to lift them up so that their day may be lightened.
7. "Say 'Hey, it's a good day', even if things aren't going my way. Jesus is alive and I am saved so, say 'Hey, it's a good day.'" - A Line From a FFH song

Enjoying life energizes you and dreading life drains you. Which choice will you make? As you read this you may give your pat answer of choosing the first one. However, when it comes right down to it, in the heat of a matter, it will be more difficult to choose the first one.

One thing that energizes me a lot is to hear of people who God has been working through! Whether I learn from what they've done or are experiencing, or I am simply encouraged, I love both situations!

May you be able to enjoy life this week, more than ever, as you take time to see what is going on around you. Look for God to be putting you in places where you can make an impact for the Kingdom - some places/people you may not even realize the potential of impact you can make!

Enjoying Life Wide Awake...

Living Wide Awake: Focus

When do you find yourself having the most difficult time to focus? Is it when you are approaching a deadline? Is it when your kids are screaming around the house? Is it when you take too much on? Is it when there is noise, in general, going on that is not pertaining to the task you are trying to accomplish? Is it when things just aren't going your way (i.e. in a slump, crises, etc.)?

Focusing is important to getting something accomplished. When you have an idea (aka dream) and are following through with the idea, you have to focus in order to be able to bring it to completion. So you dream, put your confidence in Him, and focus. Notice that these are all things you must do - you have to be active. Living wide awake means that you are active in doing different things.

As I've said, too often, Christians, "sleep" in between church assembly times. Other things are on such a priority list that being a Christian is something you do "on Sundays". But living wide awake means that you are an "awake" Christian every chance you get.

Yesterday, we looked at the concept of focus. Keeping focused on Him, as we dream, is vital to accomplishing our goal. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Don't look down - Peter started walking on the water and looked down - Fright loses focus - This climbing phrase holds true when you are trying to accomplish anything of magnitude. Don't let your fears of getting higher, on the accomplishment scale, cause you to look down and see all that you've overcome and then get discouraged.
2. Keep focused on Him - That goes along with last week's word of confidence (in Him) - Everything you should be dreaming of doing is for His glory, not for anything to do with you.
3. Keep the Son close - Jesus' parents had an instance where they failed to keep their son, the Son, close to them, so when they left the feast, they didn't have Jesus with them. They were a days journey away before they realized that no one in their company of friends and family knew where he was. As you go through the day, don't forget to keep Him close to you and your daily events. Don't let Him so far away as to wonder where he is at in your life!
4. Keep Your Dreams Accountable - When you write down a dream, ask someone to hold you accountable for trying to do all that you can to make sure the dream is accomplished. This way, even if you slack a bit, you will have a friendly and humble reminder to keep working on it.
5. Rid the Noise - You may not have to cut something out completely, but you may need to turn off outside responsibilities once in a while to help make sure you are working on what you wrote down as your dream.
6. Praise God for the Accomplishments - As you go through life living wide awake you will notice that God is working. You may not see it right away because you aren't used to looking for Him in your every day. However, even if you look back and realize that God showed up in an unlikely place, give God the glory and tell Him "Thanks" for using you in that situation.
   

A friend of mine enjoys looking for God to show up in the media. From the time I learned of this interest, I started focusing in on shows to see when God shows up. Last Monday, on an episode of "How I Met Your Mother", God showed up (and not in an put-down-religion way). If you are not familiar with the show, here's a short synopsis. Three friends are sitting around a table, when another comes over, bragging he was just given a girls phone number. They discuss that there is a "three day rule" where you should not call her before three days. "Not the three day rule...that is stupid...who even came up with that?" are the comments that follow. The answer, Jesus. He was dead for three days before he waited to come out to reveal Himself. Hence, the reason to wait three days. There is much dialogue that goes on regarding this situation. I personally found the dialogue humorous. He wasn't poking fun at Jesus, but trying to prove his dating theory. Regardless, "Jesus" was spoken several times and the event that they were speaking of was a real event - the resurrection. I was impressed how God showed up. However, if you don't focus on looking for Him to show up in the media, you could have missed the greatness of this situation.

If you aren't focused your frazzled. If you are frightened you're going to lose focus. If you dream, you're going to look higher and when you get there, don't look down! You'll be amazed at how high God can take you when you team up and see what you can do together in your every day!

Focusing on Him in my every day...

Confidence - II Corinthians 3:4-5

Confidence can be exhibited at many levels. The sports star that led the league in a number of categories last year, received a contract extension, and is injury free. The business person who has a company that is doing quite well and their family is healthy and happy. The student who is liked by most and is receiving good marks. The married couple who have had a great marriage for years.

All those are possible areas of confidence. However, what happens when you take something away from the situation? The sports star suffers a rare disease and has to have his leg amputated. The business person has to close their doors due to a recession. The student who is hit by a car and has to go through therapy to even learn how to remember again. The married couple, where one spouse learns they have a tumor, so advanced, only weeks to live.

Where is the confidence in these situations, after these things have happened?

Confidence was higher in the first paragraph because each of those scenarios were about what the person did. None of it had to do with putting their confidence in God. It was their successes. Their situations.

When we fail to put our confidence in Him, any other confidence is empty. Yesterday, we continued to talk about the idea of living wide awake. To live wide awake, for God, means that we also must put our confidence in Him, as He leads us through life. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Appreciate the opportunities that come your way as ways to reflect Jesus to someone or some situation.
2. Tell someone how much you enjoy being a Christian
3. Reflect on the strengths you have and not the weaknesses
4. See that you are incompetent without Him - acknowledge and accept
5. Do not look at situations that come your way as obstacles in reflecting your faith, but as opportunities.
6. Pray for opportunities for those you teach and their parents, those you work with and their families, for your customers, for your neighbors, for your household (if someone in your household doesn't know Christ), for ____ (you add anyone else)
7. Look forward, with confidence from Him, to these opportunities to open up!

Waking up each day and looking forward to how God will use you is a little bit of what it means to live wide awake. If you are still going through your day, figuratively, under the covers, WAKE UP...get out of bed. There is whole world of opportunity out there waiting for you to be a "fragrance" of Christ to them!

If you're guilty of putting confidence in yourself, then you need to change it around. Change it so that you are appreciative of the talents you have, but understand that if something happened your confidence would not diminish because you already started putting your confidence in Him, not you.

I love the kind of mindset that looks for seeing how one can reflect Christ in everything they do and everywhere they go. I like to learn people's names, so that when I see them, then I can call them by name or ask, by name, how their day is going. This seems to be especially effective to those who have the "thankless" or menial jobs. Sometimes I will leave a note of appreciation for a maid in a hotel, that is one example of a thankless job.

Reflect Jesus with confidence!

Looking forward to the opportunities that will come my way...

Living Wide Awake: Dream - Mark 10:46-51

What did you dream about last night? Was it scary or pleasant? Do you remember at all? I don't recall anything from last night's sleep, but I am sure there was some type of dream. You may not be able to control how much you dream at night or even what you dream. However, you can make a conscious decision to dream for God.

As I shared yesterday, my dream for the church is that everyone, from youngest to oldest, will be so passionate about their faith that they will look for God in everything they do. As I am about to start a new "cycle" of praying for every member, that is going to be on my prayer for each person.

I love to be inspired to dream. I enjoy thinking about no-holds-barred kind of future possibilities. When we limit ourselves, we are limiting God. As Jesus was able to use fish and loaves to feed a five thousand, what could He do with us?

This series is from a same-titled book by Erwin McManus. I haven't read it, I just came across it through an article in an e-mail subscription. We're going to be focusing on reshaping our thought process by seeing that God does put possibilities in our path, every day. Too often we miss that. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Write down a dream you have for the church...what do you want to see happen? The possibilities are endless!
2. Pray about your dream...how are you going to be an instrument in making it happen? Ask that it be His will. Thank Him, in advance, for working out this dream - whether it comes to fruition or not (in your time).
3. The next interaction you have with someone, ponder why God may have timed that interaction the way He did...How did you reflect Christ to them?
4. Then, ponder the next...the next...the next...
5. Look forward to the open doors that may come your way as you look for God in these situations.
6. Pray for God to open doors for you in your school, workplace, neighborhood, appointments, etc.
7. LIVE WIDE AWAKE...don't hide under the covers!

I spent too many years staying under the covers for God, not seeing the life that was waiting for me out there. There were times I may have got out of bed, but those were the typical "Christian" times. The every day times, I generally was staying in bed. However, when I realized how much fun I could have by living wide awake and looking forward to seeing God in my day, I looked forward to the next hour with great anticipation. I learned about the fact that being a messenger for Him was so much fun. Nothing is ever the same in Kingdom work! Everyone's different, so every interaction is different.

I hope you enjoy your opportunities that God brings to you!

Anticipating...