It seems we now live in a society where blogging about something is considered changing the world. People with “passion” sit behind a computer screen, on top of a soap box and “like” every comment on facebook.
What happened to busting your butt for something you’re passionate about? Breaking a sweat or even shedding a tear? I think about everything my grandfather did regarding the issues he was passionate about! The man literally put sweat and tears into what God put on his heart!!
And no, Im not saying that blogging and encouraging people with social media can’t change the world… but most likely if you were offended by that, go ahead and get pissed off. You already know you need to get off your butt and start putting your money where your mouth is.
PASSION isn’t pretty. Passion isn’t something to make you warm and fuzzy all the time. You think you are passionate about something…. Let me ask you this, the movie “Passion of the Christ.” The story line, Jesus Christ dies… DIES for what he’s passionate about. This is eye opening and literally makes me think before I speak now! I’m having to change the way I live my life, regarding the things I claim to be passionate about!
Next time you click “like” or you decide to write about something… is it something that you would DIE for? And I’ll finish with this…
For All of you that believe Google is God: http://bit.ly/d8Hb2
For All of you that believe the word of God is Truth: http://bit.ly/cje5L0
I can’t say that I’ve been willing to suffer in any manner for the things I’m passionate about. I honestly can’t say that I’ve truly suffered in any regards to share my love for Jesus Christ with other people. It’s too easy to turn our passions into the next comfortable thing. I’m guilty of this.
Leaders are called to set examples. Biblically, we are leaders to a lost world; A generation seeking the Love of Jesus Christ! I struggle, but I’m striving to put Christ first and be seen as someone allowing God to work through me. To every young leader, everyone wanting to change the world… Find encouragement this morning in God’s word!! Except him as your savior. BUT, also except him as our Lord!! He tells us…
“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself as an example of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:12
And as I’m looking to him as Lord of my life, I’m excepting the challenge that my speech, my actions, how I love myself and others, the faith I walk in and my purity are nothing less than examples of who Jesus Christ is in my life!!
My left arm is completely tattooed from my wrist to my shoulder. Though it’s not completely finished yet, lately a lot of people have been asking me the significance of the tattoo and though it’s long, if you really want to know you’ll take a moment to read it:
What is your tattoo a picture of?
The upper part of my arm is a ship being tossed in the ocean. The concept came from The Storm on the Sea of Galilee: a 1633 painting by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
The lower portion of my arm is a picture of Jesus standing on water; pulling Peter out of the water. Based on scripture and the history that took place in the book of Matthew.
What does it mean to you?
K e y P o i n t s
I’ve always been mesmerized and captivated by Peter’s ability to walk on water when he asked Jesus. I studied history. I found meaning to the passage. It applied to my life in remarkable ways. I got it tattooed.
[] Points 1-4 are from Matthew 14:22-33 []
[] Point 5 is from John 6:21 []
1) Jesus finds the disciples struggling during the 4th watch. Defined as being between 3am and 6am. Meaning he found them in the dark.
2) When first seeing Jesus, the disciples were scared. Jesus immediately responded.
3) When Peter asked Jesus to command him to come to him, all Jesus said was“Come”
4) Jesus immediately grabbed Peter when he lost faith and began to sink in the water.
5) When the disciples willingly accepted Jesus, the boat reached it’s destination.
W h a t i t M e a n s t o M e
So often, we find ourselves in a dark place and we search for switches to bring things into the light. We try to turn on a light by ourselves. In this passage Jesus found the disciples in the dark. Signifying the importance of just sitting still sometimes and trusting God. He sent his son to be a light [] John 1:4-5[].
When the disciples first saw Jesus walking towards the boat, they thought it was a ghost. They cried out in fear. I know personally, sometimes I won’t understand the situation around me. I won’t know the who, the what and most definitely the why. But in this passage where the disciples are confused, Jesus says “Be of good cheer! It is I; Do not be afraid.” Which in my life, just assures me that even if I don’t understand the situation around me, I should always have faith and be cheerful, or praise God in all circumstances. When we claim to have a relationship with Christ, the world looks at how we react to all situations. So we can’t freak out when bad things happen.
This is where I feel really convicted concerning my own prayer life and know that I really need to improve.
When Peter asked Jesus to do something as crazy as walk on water… no, think about it. He is asking to WALK ON WATER. Jesus simply says “Come” and Peter does it. Peter doesn’t hesitate, he doesn’t ask why or how. He doesn’t ask if he is suppose to jump over, dive in, one foot at a time or anything. He just listens to Jesus. So often I pray for things and even if the opportunity arises, I step back and ask more questions and more of Jesus. I realized reading this, how many opportunities I may have missed because I didn’t have Peter’s faith, even for the things I ASK FOR!!
So Peter did have the Faith to step out of the boat. But as we all know, the wind became boisterous and things started to get a little crazy. This is when Peter cried out “Lord, Save Me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter. This is definite reassurance for me. I live a crazy life, I’ve done some things that others don’t understand. But I know that no matter where I start to fall or how fast, if I have faith and cry out to Jesus, he is going to Always be there to save me.
And the last thing, if you read the same story in John, I think it’s amazing that the text reads: “Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going” Wow… wow… it seems so simple! Every time a “storm” arises in my life I can’t even begin to tell you how long it takes me trying to fix things, calm things, over come things or anything else… before I realize I can’t do it. This passage shows that if you WILLINGLY accept Jesus into your problem, marriage, situations, LIFE… he isn’t just going to calm the storms, but he is going to get you to where you are suppose to be going!!!
So having said all that, this passage spoke to me like never before. It made me want to walk on water. To accomplish great things… and realize that to do so, I have to put my FAITH in Christ!!
My tattoo is a reminder each time I pray, taking into consideration [] John 14:12-14 [] And looking at the things I’m asking for or praying about… and KNOWING that I have the same power that Jesus did…. That He isn’t going to just abandon me when I step out in faith. Jesus is always here to pull me out of the water when I start to sink!!
** And some of you may have read parts of this from a blog dated 11.2008. But my tattoo is still on my arm, and it still means the same to me.
Tonight I had the privilege of having dinner with five guys that I’ve called friends for quite some time. It was a good dinner, my favorite restaurant, and just a relaxing evening over all. As we started to leave, rain began falling and we all rushed to our vehicle to avoid getting wet. Normal reaction I suppose.
As I started to pull away from Texas Roadhouse the sky lit up with different shades of blue and green and thunder shortly followed. I actually smiled and got excited that we were having our first real thunderstorm! I can’t explain it, but I’ve just always enjoyed sitting outside on my balcony, excluding myself from the world and sitting in the presence of God during thunderstorms!
Tonight was different though. Making my way over the Buchman bridge singing Shawn McDonald as loud as possible and laughing at people driving in the rain with their flashers on… The faces of those I met in Haiti started to come to mind. The children that fear the rain. The parents who wish they could protect those same children. The sickness and disease that’s starting to spread as water flows between the cracks of rubble, over the remains of those bodies still trapped and into the streets where people are now sleeping brought my laughter to an abrupt halt.
I started to tear up. I thought about how many people are sleeping under nothing but a canopy of clouds and stars. Not just in Haiti, but in our own backyard. The homeless. The less fortunate. Those with no roof. How many people, that as I get pissed off at the people driving slow in front of me, are praying that the rain stop falling so they can remain dry. I don’t think rain will always make me cry, but it will definitely always make me think. So many of us are so blessed while others are living in extreme poverty. Their hopes and dreams of one day having the life that we may or may not take for granted… is all they have.
So with that in mind; “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
For almost two years people could say that I have worked more than the average person. Owning and operating a non-profit, I’ve always felt the need to make sure things get done and I’ve never really trusted other people to get them done. Meaning I will work until the task at hand is accomplished, regardless of how much sleep I get. Prior to itsChance.com, I worked with Hurley, and prior to Hurley it was my own advertising and marketing firm. For each company, I literally worked myself like a rented mule.
From time to time my body would tell me that It had enough and I would sleep for 12 to 14 hours, but then I would be back on the grind for a week or two getting very little sleep if any at all. In my mind I knew it was unhealthy to treat my body this way, but I made the decision to keep doing it, no one forced me to.
As some of you may or may not have read, I blogged earlier this week on My Biggest Mistake so far this year. You can click the link to read it, but in general it’s changed my life in a lot of ways. It’s made me completely change my schedule. Change how I treat people, and ultimately includes my outlook on work. So for all the leaders, the business people and the go getters, here are two main lessons I have learned from living in an unhealthy work environment:
1) You have to put yourself before anything else, including work. When I say this, I don’t mean be arrogant or prideful and only think about yourself… but the reality of it is, if you aren’t healthy there is no way you can help anyone else become healthy or remain healthy! Healthy means:
- Jesus Christ is at the front of everything you do. You have to pursue God. If your spiritual walk is suffering, you aren’t going to be 100%. ( Matthew 6:33-34 )
- You are surrounded with healthy relationships! You have people speaking into your life and keeping you accountable for things. ( Proverbs 18:24 )
- You are eating and exercising. It may seem over rated, but if you really cared about your work, you’d want to do it for as long as you could, being in good health is a huge part of that. ( Galatians 5:22-23 )
2) You have to prioritize what is most important to you. When you drown yourself in work you begin to ignore and abuse the things God has intended for you. Yes, He want’s us to be hard workers, but he’s called us to fellowship with other people! This can be done in a bible study, on a softball team, or just hanging out. This could be a family member, a friend, a husband or wife or even boyfriend or girlfriend. But you have to really check yourself and find out what means the most to you. What are you working so hard for?? I know for me, it really hits home because:
- Jesus Christ wasn’t my main priority, meaning my “defense system” was down and Satan was able to kick me in the face. ( Mark 14:38 )- I wasn’t surrounding myself or rather giving myself, to those who were here for me. Truly being there for others! From family, friends, the closest men in my life, and even someone I claimed to love. ( Philippians 2:3-8 )- People that were expecting things of me, were let down because I would put work above their expectations. From commitments to help others, to be there for others and just be a friend. And therefor I was causing others to be angry, not addressing the issues and moving forward.. ( Ephesians 4:26 )
So really challenge yourself, what are you working so hard for? And are you willing to make changes even if it means admitting you’ve been in the wrong?? I know first hand that these things make a huge difference, because for almost two weeks now I’ve disciplined myself to waking up at 4:30am. Jogging and working out. Cooking a healthy breakfast. Being alone with God, praying and reading his word. I’ve left my computer at the office instead of taking it home. I haven’t stayed later than 6:00pm. I’ve gone and hung out with friends after the office. I literally turn my phone off at 9:00pm and I’m asleep by 10:00pm. And not everyone needs THIS particular schedule!! I just know last night I was at the office late, and it messed up my entire moral. It was harder to wake up this morning. I’ve struggled today to be on top of my game and here I am typing what I’ve learned at 9:43pm.
I can see a huge difference in striving to do it God’s way and being stubborn and accepting my way. God has so many incredible things for us, we just have to make him the reason we do everything! So if it isn’t God calling to you be a slave to your work…