LifeLift

It’s impossible to ride a bike— at 20mph+ — while looking BACK over your shoulder. 

Straight up, if you try it, you’ll crash 90% of the time.

Same is true in life. 

It’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to live forward while constantly looking back over your shoulder. 

Here’s what that observation has to do with soul health… 

We’re designed to grow by exploring the world around us. But, we bump into painful experiences as we do. So, we create (often unconscious) rules to protect ourselves from future pain. 

In other words, we create a default mechanism, internally, to try and RIDE forward while steering based on the past…

That doesn’t make TOTAL sense (it makes SOME sense, for sure). The pavement in the past doesn’t always best predict the landscape ahead… 

Some of the “rules” and reference points we create ARE ACTUALLY functional (and help us), others are dysfunctional (and hinder us).

In this talk I reference three rules of human nature, related to soul health, govern how we uniquely approach the world.

Then, we’ll go farther. We’ll discuss how these rules can create ruts— both good and bad.

In the the end, we eventually get more of what we expect, creating a “flywheel” of momentum.

In other words, if we don’t work through the “triggers” we discussed in the previous video (linked below) also we often find ourselves constantly living from “soul memory,” something much like muscle memory.  

How does it fit with soul health?

Well, in the same way you can’t ride the cycle by always looking over your shoulder, you can’t drive through life by constantly staring over your shoulder. Peak back when you need to… 

But live “ahead,” leaning forward…

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Learn more at the link here— www.Jenkins.tv/freedom3 

Get the audiobook free by reviewing the app. Details at www.Jenkins.tv/LL

Video course referenced at www.SoulWholeness.online 

Brandon Lazarre is the founder of Your Purpose Coaching, and serves as a life coach with a unique angle towards helping you discover your specific design…

… that design, in turn, launches you into your purpose.

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Brandon uses the analogy of an arrow— and says we’ve all been created, like arrows, differently than other arrows.

Some arrows…

🎯 Explode and cause a big “boom,” like Rambo.

🎯 Others are like those with which you hunt deer— they resemble a precise surgical scalpel.

🎯 Still others are more blunt— like practice arrows.

But they’re all needed, each of them (and others) fulfilling a specific purpose.

His tagline is…

⭐️Everyone is created by God to create something that only they can create.⭐️

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Brandon outlines 5 characteristics which help you define your purpose— and see what your arrow is like (again, all of them being unique):

✅ Personality

He uses the DISC profile for this assessment, noting that each of us favor two of the following…

👉 D = Dominant / directive… prefer tasks, and work well with groups.

👉 I = Influencing / Inspirational… prefer to help people, and work well in groups.

👉 S = Steady / faithful… prefer to help people and do well alone.

👉 C = Detail oriented… prefer tasks and work well alone.

✅ Passions + Interests + Talents

Brandon likes to set these items “on the table,” too, so we can see the bigger picture and learn more about who we are.

✅ Spiritual gifting

This is what he refers to as the “X-factor,” and is where the supernatural kicks in…

… and it fits well with his tagline…

⭐️ Everyone is created by God to create something that only they can create.⭐️

✅ Struggles

Brandon breaks our struggles into two categories…

👉 Past brokenness shows us pain points the Lord can use from our journey to encourage, equip, and empower others…

👉 Barriers highlight temptations and fault-lines we might face in the present.

It’s important to be aware of both.

✅ The overlap of time + place + people

Finally, the trifecta here acknowledges that many things in life are an issue of sovereign convergence. When we see these things aligning, we can recognize the hand of God moving— especially when the areas above (personality, passions, gifting, struggles) all speak into the same situation…

Bottom line = you’re made for more. You’re designed for extraordinary, so don’t settle for ordinary.

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For more info…

👉 Brandon’s website = www.BrandonLazarre.com 

👉 Reach Brandon (call + text) = 205-362-1610

To learn more about your gifts + calling…

👉 Check my book LifeLift at www.LifeLift.online 

👉 Find balance and grow in each area of your life at www.Jenkins.tv/21 

👉 Join the #HilltopHangout Facebook group at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins  

My friend Randy has been working on a book, Immerse, for the past few months. This one is all about finding confidence in your faith, by learning who you really are…

… that, in turn, provides you with certainty.

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Randy and I began this conversation by talking about butterflies— and how a caterpillar enters a cocoon and emerges as something totally new— something so radically different that there’s no correlation between what was “before” and what is “after.”

So it is with us (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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That leads us to the first main idea of this discussion— faith is NOT about behaving a certain way, it’s about BECOMING who we really are, who we’re designed to be.

Randy refers to the book of Ephesians, where Paul reminds us—

✅ We were dead (chapter 1)

✅ We are not only not alive, but we are God’s workmanship— His art— His artistic expression— to this world (chapter 2).

Furthermore, we were planned before time began…

This means that God had insight into our destiny long before our mess-ups, mistakes, and mash-ups. That is, grace is bigger than any blunder you’ve made (or even any blunders done against you).

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Our unique transformation— into who we are, restores what was lost with the Fall. Adam and Eve…

❌ Lost life (they eventually died, though not at that precise moment of their sin)

❌Lost light (they began walking in darkness, their minds clouded to the truth, confused as to what was really happening)

❌Lost love (they built barriers between each other and God, distance entered relationships)

Jesus uniquely restores each of these areas…

✅ We receive life from Him.

✅ We walk in the light with Him.

✅ We experience— and then share— His love.

Randy reminds us that each of these three highlight things John clarifies as “certainties” of our faith (see 1 John 5:13).

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Furthermore, John says that— as we walk into our new creation identity—

✅ We desire Scripture, and allow the Word of God to wash over us…

✅ We love others…

✅ We don’t love the things of the world— not because we “force ourselves not to,” but because our desires, our cravings, change.

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And there’s more…

We learn that…

✅ We’re forgiven (of all past, present, and future sin) (see Hebrews 10:14).

✅ We are brought into a household, the family of God.

✅ We have a different citizenship…

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Again, it’s all based on the notion that the same grace that saves us is the same grace which ALSO empowers us to live the life we’re created for…

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For more info…

👉 Find Randy’s website at www.BeRefreshed.org 

And…

👉 Download by free book, Redemption, about radical faith, at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

👉 Find balance and grow in each area of your life at www.Jenkins.tv/21 

👉 Join the #HilltopHangout Facebook group at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins 

Two of the joys we most crave— freedom from guilt & shame and authentic community— exist in the place which seems scariest, the light. Those who are willing to “go there” discover true freedom comes not in hiding, but in realizing there’s nothing more to cover-up.

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For years— probably a decade or more— I was told I needed to share my story with others.

“There’s power in it. And healing,” I was encouraged. “Your words will set people free.”

A family member felt certain that owning my story would set me free, too.

The problem was that my story was… well… I didn’t want to confront it. I didn’t want to admit what was there, buried somewhere between all the pages. In order to share your story with others, you’ve got to admit that it is, in fact, your story.

Parts of it were hurtful, painful, and self-incriminating. Parts of it were embarrassing. They were at the time, anyway.

I was afraid that in sharing I would suddenly find myself not accepted but rejected. And, as you might imagine from a guy who reveals that he’s “defensive” on a psych eval, relationships have been a fragile thing for me. I didn’t want to deal with the “distance” with which people often inflict punishment when you disappoint them. Rather than dealing with with truth— and moving into the light— I was content to live in the shadows.

As such, I got cozy there. I made my home in the dark for decades.

Trouble is, there’s no freedom in the places we hide— just a lot of fear. Whereas we think that walking into the light causes fear and that living in the hidden places provides safety, the opposite proves true.

1 John 1:7-9 is a passage that’s come to mean a great deal to me (NIV, emphasis added):

…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Scripture promises us that when we walk in the light (i.e., the “open”), two things happen: cleansing and community (John refers to “community” as “fellowship”)…

Are those not two of the things we most crave…

👉 A clear conscience?

👉 A community of people who, though imperfect, each hope and believe and call forth the best in each other, empowering the entire group to be who we’re designed to be?

Those two are found in the open, when we own our stuff, and begin stepping forward…

🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌

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Links

Take the PTSD Self-Check at www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

Learn more about the book, the video course, and more at www.Jenkins.tv/SW 

We each have a body, a soul, and a spirit. It’s easy to confuse the soul and the spirit, but distinguishing each from the other is essential to walk in total health.

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One of the most difficult aspects of navigating life is the constant tension between what we believe in theory to be true— and what we “know” in reality to be true.

For instance—

The Bible tells us we are complete in Christ (Galatians 4:19), but we often feel empty.

The Bible tells us we are forgiven and that God doesn’t even remember our past sins (see Hebrews 8:12), but we sometimes still feel guilty.

The Bible tells us God is doing something in us and that He will complete it (see Philippians 1:6), yet we often feel stuck— like we’re not really getting anywhere.

Oddly enough, the Bible actually embraces this tension. For instance, Hebrews 10:14 says, “... He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified...”

Notice the two— seemingly opposite— realities:

The work is complete (“He has perfected…”)

We are in process (“…those who are being sanctified.”)

Though this sounds like one massive contradiction, it starts making sense once we understand there are multiple “layers” to us. As we learn to live from the right “part” of us, we find ourselves empowered to move through the lenses of the invisible truth rather than focusing on the visible reality staring us in the face. That, in turn, begins changing what we see.

I know. It sounds super-confusing.

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We must recognize there is an “outer person” and an “inner person” to each of us. In some sense, we do. But, most of us don’t realize the Bible also teaches that we are comprised of a body, a soul, and a spirit— and that the soul and the spirit are two different entities. That is, the “inner person” can be subdivided even more.

We intuitively understand that in order to be healthy we must take care of our bodies. That’s a given. But we’ve also got to take care of both aspects of the “inner person.” In other words, health involves not only spiritual wholeness but also soul wholeness, because the body is different than the spirit and the spirit is different than the soul.

We often confuse “soul” and “spirit” as the same. They are different. Hebrews 4:12 says (emphasis added),

For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

According to this passage, the Word of God “divides us,” so we can effectively discern what is spirit and what is soul.

It’s easy to separate the “body” from the “spirit” or the “body” from the “soul.” But delineating the “soul” from the “spirit” sometimes proves a bit more difficult.

The word piercing in the Hebrews verse in the original Greek language is more akin to a precise surgical scalpel than a wieldy William Wallace-like battle sword bludgeoning someone. That is, sometimes it requires close and careful attention to discern which part of us is soul and which part is spirit. Reality is far more nuanced than “black and white.”

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Let’s briefly discuss the differences between the spirit and the soul— because this concept is foundational for walking in soul health…

The Spirit is the part of us which immediately renews when we awaken to God’s grace. As well, it is the part of us that is “one” with Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us, “Whoever is united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit” (NIV).

This spirit is the true “inner man” we want to live from. It is the key to pulling the unseen world into the visible world around us. The problem is that the spirit is often hidden beneath or behind the soul.

And, whereas the spirit is quiet, steady, and humble, the soul can become aggressive, outraged, and opinionated. Quickly. In other words, the soul is the internal part of us that’s still “in process.”

The soul is comprised of the following:

* The mind, which includes our thoughts

* The will, which includes our desires

* The emotions, which includes our feelings

Are those not the parts of us that cause the most problems and create the most chaos?

In this talk we break it down and begin stepping towards total health…

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Links for this talk =

The Soul Wholeness book + other info is available at www.SoulWholeness.com 

The 5/7 online event info is at www.SoulWholeness.online 

Join the Facebook group I mentioned, the #Hilltop Hangout, at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins  

The resurrection isn’t only something that happened to Jesus, it’s something that also happened to you.

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Here’s why and how…

Jesus not only died in our place, He also lived in our place…

That is, He gives you His death and He gives you His life… and more— that’s actually just the tip of the iceberg.

Let me explain…

500 years ago, Martin Luther taught that Jesus walked among us and lived as a man from birth all the way to age 33 in order to capture the essence of being a truly alive human, one who lives fully to the glory of God. He lived a lifetime of obedience that neither you or I have.

Then, at the Cross, He doesn’t just give us His death, sacrificing His blood for ours. No, He gives us His life, too— the resurrected life.

Further, He doesn’t only gift us that resurrected life, He offers us full credit for all of His obedience, thereby taking all of our sin on Himself in the process.

This, Luther concluded, is what Paul meant when he penned, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).

Luther called it "The Glorious Exchange.”

Or, as some translators term it, "The Wonderful Trade.”

For sure, it’s a trade-up for whatever we’ve had…

And, once you understand it, it TOTALLY changes how you see your identity, who you are...

Paul says that— in light of the bigger reality of Jesus’ work on our behalf, everything we’ve been included in— we should no longer “regard” anyone according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16 ESV)…

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

That is, we shouldn’t value people based on what they look like in their mortal bodies-- the surface appearance.

(That's what everyone looks at-- the "outer shell"-- but there's so much more, so Paul tells us to look deeper, go internal and look eternal.).

How could we? There’s obviously so much more that’s true that we can’t see!

Jesus continues calling us to look at the things that are eternal, to the places in each of us where He’s already done that greatest work. He intends to infuse all of our lives, every bit of reality, with that…

You see, our physical bodies are simply our containers, the temples that carry around the Spirit-beings we truly are, the more-real-than-real versions of ourselves that transcended time and participated in everything Jesus did.

It's kinda mind-blowing, but we'll make it super-simple and pleasantly practical in this talk...

… recorded Easter Sunday, sitting in the office, reflecting on the weekend…

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Links for this talk =

Some of this info is in chapter 3 of my LifeLift book-- learn about the book at www.LifeLift.online or purchase it on Amazon— https://amzn.to/2Zyvz6F 

Join the Facebook group I mentioned, the #Hilltop Hangout, at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins 

Jesus did what He saw the Father doing. He was the exact replication of the Father such that when we see Jesus, we see the reality of what God is like through both His words & His deeds.

God doesn’t simply reveal truth to you so that you can study it; He reveals Himself to be encountered and experienced.

When He shows you another facet of Himself (in this book or anywhere else!), He's inviting you to receive it. And, I guarantee, God is better experienced than merely explained.

Moreover, He invites you to receive it— in full— right then, in that moment. There’s no waiting, and He doesn’t give Himself in pieces (see John 3:34). He gives Himself— and His gifts— completely.’

We often think (because we’ve been taught) that we must “step it up” and “believe harder” in order for the Lord to do a great thing in us. I’ve heard some pastors at a well-known church say, “Dig in deeper” and “go after God.”

But, the Bible tells us clearly that faith isn’t something we generate— it’s something that comes to us (see Romans 10:17).

The gifts we receive by faith come from a faith that is also a gift in and of itself!

Galatians tells us we actually live the life we live now by the “faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

Look at the King James Version. Most other translations miss this one and suggest that it is faith in the Son of God. The KJV rightly denotes that God Himself places the faith there. It is His faith working in us!

The gifts we receive by faith come from a faith that is also a gift in and of itself!

If the Lord places within you a desire for freedom, it is His invitation for you to receive it. And it is His faith alive in you which makes it happen!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Download the free ebook on this website at https://www.jenkins.tv/R 

Buy the paperback on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2EdbdKD 

Join the free Facebook group at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins 

In the final talk in our Life Planning series we discuss time management— and the reality of tradeoffs.

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We’ve got to be honest with ourselves; we can’t do everything.

And, a yes to one thing is most often a no to something else (and vice versa— a no now empowers us to say yes later).

We shouldn’t see this as restrictive, but as freeing…

… so freeing that we actually place things on our calendar.

You see, our calendar reflects our stewardship of our most valuable currency, time. In the same way our bank statements reveal what we value, so also do our day planners.

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So, if it’s important, protect it… budget it… steward it…

Just like money.

Although, here’s reality, time might be an even MORE valuable asset that cold card 💰, because you can always make more money— yet no one has found a way to develop, save, find, or create time…

This talk will help you define— and then focus on— the things which matter most, so that you can build a life that truly matters.🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌

Links mentioned in this talk—

If you just dropped in on this talk, review the previous talks...

Download the free PDF of the planner— www.Jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF 

Purchase the Advance paperback book mentioned in this talk on Amazon— https://amzn.to/33Hy0ZU 

Join the Oola group at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins 

Wherever we focus our time + energy will grow— for good or bad. So, it’s important that we focus on the things we want to grow.

In talk #3 we dive deep into the law of the harvest, that is, sowing and reaping. And, we see that it works in every area of life.

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Sowing and reaping is a principle implemented on the 3rd day when the power of seed bearing plants were spoken forth by God (Genesis 1:11). You know the principle: like begets like based on something already inside the first of the “likes.”

Somehow, we've just assumed that “seed” only works in biology. However, “seed” is a principle of creation which works in every area of life.

This is what Moses meant when he taught “Whatever you put your hand to prospers” (Deuteronomy 15:10).

Here’s how it works…

✅ You reap WHAT you sow…

So plant the right thing.

✅ You reap it WHERE you sow it…

So plant it where you want the seed to grow…

✅ You reap MORE than you sow…

So, rest assured— for good or bad— your efforts will be multiplied!.

✅ You reap AFTER you sow…

So don’t delay. Start now. The sooner you sow, the sooner you the harvest comes.

Plus…

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Though we cannot control the harvest (like a farmer), we can manage the cultivation process. We can faithfully do the work set before us, even the unglamorous and simple…

Small actions doing regularly, over time, have incredible results. So, we should never underestimate the power of simply showing up with our best selves and faithful tending to our field.

🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳

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Links mentioned in this talk—

If you just dropped in on this talk, review the previous talks, beginning...

Download the free PDF of the planner— www.Jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF 

Purchase the Advance paperback book mentioned in this talk on Amazon— https://amzn.to/33Hy0ZU 

Join the Oola group at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins