Excel Still More

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Alert - This is not an episode about weight, diet or exercise! Instead this is a snippet of a quote from a powerful illustration given by a professor to his students. The weight in question was that of a glass of water he was holding. His question: "how heavy is this glass of water?" The answer is surprise and needful!

The imagery of that presentation, mixed with a few others I'd like to make concerning both soda and lots of water... are designed to help you deal with three really, really heavy things: Harsh Life Situations, Intense Personal Temptations, and Unrelenting Spiritual Despair. I genuinely hope today helps you. Maybe the greatest thing to learn today is that you don't have to wait for those things to dissipate. Their weight doesn't matter... if you can learn about how to put the glass down. 

- What is the result of carrying something longer than you should?

- Does our stress more often come from the problem or how we carry it?

- How does a glass of water help us with harsh life situations?

- How does a wall of water help us deal with intense personal temptations?

- How does a pool of water teach us to come up from unrelenting spiritual despair?

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So today's title is a bit misleading. At least, we've got some things to cover before we get there. Below I have posted a poem titled "Let Them." It's about letting people go when they don't want to stay. This is extremely difficult for me, so this poem is helpful. But it does require some Gospel balance. We'll talk about that.

Also, there are two other categories that demand some attention. 1) "Let Them" with reference to the people who do want to be near you and help you. Some of us find that even more difficult than the first thing. 2) Let God do His work. Let God be your help. Let God have the presence in your life He wants to have. These things can help. So that when someone doesn't want to care about you and wants to walk away... you can... "let them."

“Let Them”

“Just Let them.

If they want to choose something or someone over you, LET THEM.

If they want to go weeks without talking to you, LET THEM.

If they are okay with never seeing you, LET THEM.

If they are okay with always putting themselves first, LET THEM. 

If they are showing you who they are and not what you perceived them to be, LET THEM. 

If they want to follow the crowd, LET THEM. 

If they want to judge or misunderstand you, LET THEM.

If they act like they can live without you, LET THEM. 

If they want to walk out of your life and leave, 

hold the door open, AND LET THEM.

Let them lose you.

You were never theirs, because you were always your own. 

So let them. 

Let them show you who they truly are, not tell you.

Let them prove how worthy they are of your time.

Let them make the necessary steps to be a part of your life.

Let them earn your forgiveness.

Let them call you to talk about ordinary things.

Let them take you out on a Thursday.

Let them talk about anything and everything just because it’s you they are talking to. 

Let them have a safe place in you.

Let them see the heart in you that didn’t harden. 

Let them love you. “

Author: Cassie Phillips

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Tension is:
Often Challenging and Difficult
Outside Comfort Zone or Settled Law
Demanding Humility and Openness to Learn
Carries Benefit in the Wrestling and Working Required
Presents a Choice: 1) ignore.  2) Reject.  3) Give in.  4) Study.
Challenges you to seek Balance when it is Easier to Fall to one side.

Unhealthy Tension is:
Always seeking to get out of the conflict.
Anxious or Angry until you do.

Healthy Tension is:
Finding Value in the Process for Growth.

Healthy Tension Truths:
Tensions are often unsolvable 
Just choosing a side won't work for long
Wisdom is often found in resistance 
Compromise is usually not the answer
"And" is a better word than "But"

4 CRUCIAL KEYS:
LOVE
HUMILITY
PATIENCE
FAITHFULNESS

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Please take a moment and check out the Balancing the Christian Life Conference.
It goes live as an online experience on July 27th through 29th.

If you are interested in the Excel Still More 3 Month Journal mentioned in today's episode, you can order through the link provided. 

I hope you'll go on this journey with me today of shrinking the idea lifetime into the form of a single day of living. The similarities are clear. But each day is more valuable than just building blocks to some desired future. The goals of a desired future work best when infused into every single day. I don't want to enjoy the fruit of devoted days one day later... I wanted to enjoy every single day right now!

- How is each day of life a microcosm of a lifetime? 

- Can you detail what priority list you'd like to see over your lifetime?

- How can you infuse each day with the same balance you'd desire for your life?

- Have you tried directional journaling? Where you address God and plan a good day?

- Are you willing to live in day tight increments for today's benefit as well as tomorrow?

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Spirit and Truth. Truth and Spirit. Two words Jesus linked together in proclaiming who will be a worshipper of God. But they can be so hard to balance. Spirit is personal, emotional, in some ways subjective. Truth is the opposite. It is objective, universal, the will and authority of God. Jesus is asking us to give them equal weight and that is hard.

Can I ask you: which of the two is more important? If you were going to be good at one and not good at the other, which would you prefer it be? We'll dig in deeply on that today by giving you a couple of examples to consider. Sometimes we lean toward truth as the center of everything. And I'd say it is. But do we also see that spirit, faith, and heart must wrap around the truth?  It may even mean: heart first, then truth, then more heart. Let me use the Bible to help you see that today.

In the end, we need to keep working on our hearts and attitude. We also need to be easier on people whose emotions are different than ours. And perhaps we need to see that our spirit can even be more fully developed than our understanding of truth. And that may be exactly the thing that saves us!  Join me on this journey to work some of this out and let's become even more sincere - "true worshippers."

- Why did Jesus say both spirit and truth are necessary to belong to God?

- What is this "spirit" and how different is it than the "truth" that follows it?

- Okay, personal question - be honest with me - which is more important?

- Is David's "new cart" example in II Samuel proof that obedience matters more than heart?

- How do we start with heart, reach for obedience, and keep the heart going forward?

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How do you see Jesus? We are called to cast our eyes on Him. We are told to see Him and we are given descriptions of Him. For me, for a long time, most of my images of Jesus had Him on the throne at times, but often looked back into His ministry on the earth. Maybe Jesus healing people. Maybe Jesus on the cross. Those are great ways to visualize His love. But those are past events. Those are earth bound events. They don't exactly picture where He is now, or fully embody who He is. 

So let's give some attention to the book of Revelation. John is show a representation fo Jesus, and it is both comforting and terrifying. We are asked to take in two converse ideas of Christ: slain lamb, and yet powerful and wrathful lamb. Let's see Jesus in His present place, and perhaps find ourselves on our faces like John being lifted up by the soft yet firm hand of our Savior and King. 

- If I asked you to picture Jesus, what image would come to mind?

- How can seeing Him on earth be a slightly limited view of Jesus?

- How does Jesus look to you if you imagine Him presently in heaven?

- How do you balance the view of a pure and loving Christ with flaming eyes?

- How will it shape your faith to see both the shed blood and the pertruding sword?

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You are going to love this episode! Yes, you get a tip on how to get let go from jury duty, but don't stop there. More importantly, you will hear the beautiful testimony of young ladies who have turned to faith. These Oklahoma Sooners are leading with their love for Christ, and they have the baptisms to prove it! 

Behind this cultural change is their head coach, who has been more vocal about her faith in the last 13 years, leading to many new believers in their program and a culture of focusing on the promises of Jesus Christ. I hope you are as inspired, encouraged, and even admonished a little, by this story as I am. It doesn't get much better than this!

- What does faith look like in our culture? In homes, school and sports?

- Is it just setting a good example, or should we actually be saying Jesus' name?

- How can a consistent example lend to conversations about Jesus?

- If you have social media, and people checked it out, would they find a baptism?

- What is the difference between joy and happiness and which one do you daily seek?

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The devil will try anything to keep us from honoring our Lord. In centuries past he could keep people in the dark in terms of knowledge. Maybe keep people from getting a Bible, or keeping the preacher from making it to town. Maybe people had questions but couldn't get answers or help.  That is not the case anymore, at least certainly not in America. We have information everywhere and available in seconds.

So how is the devil to hurt is if he can't hide the truth from us? Well, he has a powerful tactic for times like these, times of health and security and ease. He pushes the narrative of time. We have plenty of time. There is no urgency. We can do right later. These are his messages - and really the message of his that exists in our culture. 

- How do you plan to instill urgency into the daily process of start, stop, continue?

- Why do believers, who know the truth, sometimes put off doing what is right?

- How is the myth of plenty of time a trap that catches people forever?

- What would change in your life if you lived it with daily spiritual urgency?

- If Jesus came back today, are you ready?

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Today I get to share some things that have continued to have deep impact in my life. These two ideas are separate, but equally powerful. I hope to weave them together for you so you can implement each by implementing both together.

Firstly, as we've talked about in different ways over the years, you have to see the value of a single day. Today is such a powerful gift! Each day is like a mini lifetime, with a beginning, middle and end. And yet, we get to restart and stack those days into a life, into what I pray is a rewarding and wonderful life!

Secondly, we need a proper strategy to modify and maximize days. Just a tag line like "seize the day" means nothing without a means by which to strategize that day. Let's take a look into the business world today to learn about three simple questions that can make a difference for a day, and for a lifetime.

- What is your general attitude about the day when you get out of bed?

- How is the goal of mastering a single day the ticket to a better future?

- What does it mean to be aware of your recent past and it's pluses and minuses?

- How can you use that to strategize a better today?

- Isn't effort easier when you believe it is the best possible thing you can do?

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Thank you for your feedback and support after last week's episode! Talking about sexual abuse was hard. And from the large amount of feedback I got, I know it is hard or people to think back on the abuse of their past. But I pray we can bring awareness and activism in terms of fulfilling the kingdom mission to protect the innocent and rescue to oppressed. 

For today, we need to head back to the topic of forgiveness. We will look at how little of it there seems to be these days, and what we can do (must do) to Bring Forgiveness Back! How can we go about normalizing again the willingness to confess sins? How about the humility to forgive someone who has done you wrong? We will need both parties to think about what God would have them do. But the people who know them may play much larger roles than they realize. Gossip takes division and widens it. But constructive, kind, helpful speech among peers can lead to healing. Everyone plays a role in bringing forgiveness back!

- Why do people find it so hard to ask someone to forgive them?

- Why are some people so hard to approach to ask for forgiveness?

- How important are friends and family in affecting forgiveness?

- How can you play all three roles in the Philemon story?

- How dominant is the grace of Jesus Christ in your spirit with respect to others?