A Tale of Two Souls
One of my favorite things about being a life/spiritual growth coach is that I get a raw and unfiltered look at the practical, psychological and spiritual condition of peoples' lives. This Friday gave me an amazing "compare and contrast" opportunity with 2 men: one of whom I met with for breakfast and the other just a couple of hours later.
The breakfast guy is 46 and he told me he was coming off the best year in his life. I asked him why this was and he said that in late 2016 he committed himself to three simple daily disciplines that he would engage in no matter what was going on in his life:
He would read the bible every single day first thing in the morning no matter what
He would journal every single day no matter what
He would "say yes to any promptings" that surfaced from these 2 disciplines. (Not promptings on big crazy decisions, but promptings on things to do relative to work, relationships, health, parenting, and finances.)
He said that he has never felt more grounded, focused, and at peace in his life. He saw more miraculous movements of God in one year than in any year previously.
The man I met with right after that told me that he has been reeling for four years because of a few bad business decisions. He's been scrambling frantically to recover and build his nest egg back up so he can finally retire and go live the life he really dreams of. (BTW - He makes way more money than the breakfast guy.) He confessed that God seemed distant, he hasn't been consistently in the Word, and work was a grind. (I had a pastor once tell me "If you're feeling distant from God, guess who moved.")
The difference in the level of peace and joy that I witnessed in the span of just a few hours was the best blessing of the week for me. As I often say, most of the keys to an awesome life come not from new information, but from new reminders.
Here are 3 reminders for you today:
1. There are two realities in the world: The Hollywood/Madison Ave/Wall Street Reality and The Kingdom of God Reality. The one you choose to believe in will make all the difference.
2. You can't trust and obey the Kingdom of God Reality if you don't know the rules of the game. The gift of eternal salvation and a life of love and fearlessness right now is available to all of us. But like a gift under the Christmas tree, you have to get up, unwrap it, read the instructional manual and act: Read/listen to the bible. Listen to great sermons. Listen to worship music (I love Third Day!) Read/listen to great Christian books. Manage your thought life with diligence!
3. Obedience ALWAYS precedes blessing. God has arranged the world to work in a certain way. There are ways of Being (i.e, understanding God, relating to God, managing the posture of our hearts, perceiving the world through a Kingdom lens) and ways of DOING (managing our time, talent, treasure, temple and tribe) that lead to blessing. As you learn about the rules of the Kingdom of God Reality, live by them. Simple as that.
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"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God." Romans 12:2