I have this in my calendar so it shows up on my phone every morning at 8am: "Be the man God wants and needs you to be, not the guy people are distracting you through their brokenness with. Show your humility. Be God's grit."
It's a reminder to set the pace while I am at work (and elsewhere) to focus on God with eyes fixed "up" on His plan with steadfastness vs. permit the world to generate division with egos, pride, and distractions.
What are ways you integrate God into your day, faithfully chase down Jesus, and build healthy rhythms?
Thinking on this simple reminder in my calendar, I began looking at other methods I've found beneficial to inviting God into your day. Here's 12 rhythms I encourage you to check out, and hope you find helpful:
- Trust & Choose Joy - Make the declaration to decide to have the posture of God's purpose and path for your day, as you'll begin notice how there's various attacks to steal & devour the joy you are intended to experience, and wired & built for. Be covered in God's joy, and allow His love poured into your heart. Trust He has good things for you, and your best interest for growth at the forefront. Smoothing out the crooked lines may not always be easy, but it's worth it - no matter the peaks or valleys.
- Prayer board and Prayer List - Have a 'board' of images, vision building, friends, family, etc. in the home office, along with a list of specific items to pray over.
- Daily bible readings (at morning prayer with family at breakfast and dinner with a devotional, Bible Gateway, etc.). Don't just glance over the words, but really digest what is being said through true study.
- Community - Connecting with others to build faith & sharpen each other during the week (coffee, lunch, Huddle, Mothers or Fathers Group, Woman or Man Camp). Be in community. We are built for this, and do not thrive in isolation. Lift each other up. Have each other's backs. Speak life into each other. Be aware of your influences.
- Listen - Have your antennas aimed "up" with your eyes fixed on Him. Fine tuning the ability to recognize throughout the day where God is the source of situations, or where He is not with spiritual listening.
- Ask - Are the actions and thoughts you're leading being the hands and feet of the Lord's work? Be aware and thoughtful. Seek it, find it, be about it, behave like a conduit or magnet for it!
- Participate - Weekly (bible based) church messages. Take the learnings with you beyond the service to go and be the hands & feet of the church. Find ways for them to have application real time.
- Utilize technology - Worship notes in phone, bible verse apps, calendar reminders, etc. Sure, in today's world tech can bring distractions, but you can also discover ways to leverage it for good.
- Bind up & cast away lies - Notice what you dwell on, is creating fear or anxiety, are patterns, repeatedly going through the mind, or are concerns that generate shells around the heart. See what may be placing blinders on you, where you can remove pride & guilt, false judgment, or have chains to be broken for your family, or others to make good decisions. Be prayerful on these situations, and be of humble grace. Debunk lies, and shed away shame. The devil wants you confused and stuck. Un-stick yourself from stalemate and take ground forward. Receive God's grace & goodwill, be kind, and don't let the world get you all tangled up. God can restore & make all things new. He is the ultimate redeemer. He is your identity. Don't permit life to keep knocking you down, get up with willpower to win, thrive, laugh, have fun, and enjoy the fruits of what you sow & reap.
- Challenge & Balance - Ask "Is this true?". Is what you're witnessing of God? Be mindful of your attitude, words, thoughts, and actions. Is what you're doing rooted in brokenness or pride? Or, are you balancing truth & grace, and invitation & challenge? Be conscious of how you invest your time, and get the appropriate amount of sleep, and breaks within your day for building a healthy spiritual balance in your rhythms. Challenge yourself to be less timid, to have the right tone for situations, and moderation through the actions in your day. Consider your influences.
- Pursue freedom - Challenge where you notice strongholds or patterns to break chains from, and be willing to pray anytime anywhere. A good model for structuring prayer is with the P.R.A.Y. model. P - praise, R - repent, A - ask, Y - yield. Thank God for your blessings, lay your brokenness at His feed, ask for help, healing, support, protection, or what you need, and surrender with full trust that He will provide while you are taking action. He doesn't just call the equipped, He equips the called. And you my friend, are called, as He has big plans for you.
- Rest - Take a pause to reflect. God instructs us to not only work hard, but also intended for us to rejuvenate with rest. There is a difference between resting and being lazy. We were designed to have fun, laugh, and experience joy. We are also designed and built for purposeful work. Having a balance is key. As there are many battles during the day, we were not meant to live in a state of constant stress. Go to God & connect via a brief walk, workout, break at work, speak with spouse, and other ways to chat with the Almighty.
”As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
B
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