One Life to Live.....

This morning my son came into my bedroom and asked, "Dad, why does God give cats nine lives but us only one?". After explaining to my son that "9 lives" was more about getting out of some bad spots in life, I told him that we need to make sure that we live our lives every day being our very best. "If we only get one life that means every day matters" I told him.

Are you living that way? Do you live your life in a intentional way with heaven in mind or just haphazardly go from day to day with only self gain in mind?

We are headed for eternity at a speed that is staggering. The Bible states that we shouldn't focus on gaining "treasures" on earth.

Matt 6:19-21

19 " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
NASU

It begs the question then, where is our heart? Do we long for heaven or do we long for further comfort here?

Bottom Line:

We do only get one life here. No do overs. Let's make today a day of storing up treasures in heaven rather than putting more in our closet that's ultimately not going to last.


Only Promised today,

Nathan

Do Overs....

What happens when you are hit hard with the reality that life has not gone the way you had planned it? The Play of your life has not played out the way you wrote it. People aren't reading their lines as you envisioned. Your friendships, your marriage, your family, your career...even you yourself have not turned out the way you wanted.

Sometimes things turn out better than we expected, but many times we find ourselves frustrated and discontent with how the cookie has crumbled. This discontent can leave marriages and families in ruins, careers in disarray and relationships struggling. I believe our life is made up of a combination of our choices, the choices of others and a sovereign God. While our circumstances can many times be a great motivation for us to move forward we can also end up spending way too much time looking at the past with regret and viewing the future as a fix. What we miss out on is the present. Don't.

Live the present,

Nathan

Getting Up from Failure

My friends, the list is long of instances when I've been an idiot and made poor choices. From the mundane to the profound, I've made some doozies. Picture this, I'm driving down the road on the way to the office and I see a Texas Longhorn sticker on the back window of a guy's truck. Being in Phoenix I don't see a ton of these so I decided let him know "I'm a Longhorn fan too!". I drive up next to him and proceed to give him the "hook'em horns" sign with my hand, but the guy is looking at me like I'm nuts. I'm thinking what's the deal, show me some love! What I then realize is that instead of the "hook'em horns" sign, I was giving him the "I LOVE YOU" sign (Thumb, forefinger, pinky). As he drives on I feel again my actions confirm that I'm an idiot.

Here's the deal, as I said before that story pales in comparison to some of the other things I've done in my life. When I look at the moments that I've fallen on my face and blow it there is always a wave of guilt and shame that rushes over me. It can be crippling and make me feel like I cannot move forward. Thankfully I've found God's grace to enough to cover those mistakes I've made. Bottom Line: Your Failure Does Not Have to Define You.

Time To Get Up,

Nathan

Pushing Through....

Two years ago I was at Fort Jackson, SC doing some training with some chaplains. One night in the pouring rain I was on a live fire course (where they were shooting real bullets over your head). I was crawling face down in sand, in the rain, with all my gear and armor plated vest....crawling for about 200 yards. At first when I came out of the trench I was pumped and excited and the adrenaline was flowing, but after about 50 yards my body caught up with my mind. Every part of my body was hurting (did I mention I had been up 32 hrs at this point?) I continued to push on for about another 100 yards and had another 50 to go when everything within me said, "I'm done". My heart felt like it was going to explode....my muscles were cramped and I rolled over on my back and cried out to God (literally) as these loud artillery shells were going off. As I gave my situation over to God I rolled back over on my stomach and dug deep and pushed through the pain, as I did that a Sargent at the end begin to call my name and told me to keep pushing, to keep pushing through the pain, that I could make it. Bottom Line: We must push through our circumstances and emotions. Submit and Worship God despite how you "feel". Secondly, Call out to those that our struggling. Tell them they can make it...be an encourager.

You heard Me,

Nathan

Don't Change a Thing....

I've often thought about what hell is going to be like......if it is as bad as I think it is, there will be infomercials. I continue to be amazed at the amount junk that is sold on television. One that I just got through watching was for a "fat burning" drug called Lipozene. It said that "fat accumulates on the body because of: having kids, stress, lack of exercise and poor diet. What makes this drug so great said the host is that, "You don't have to change any part of your lifestyle." This is crazy! But it hits home on key flaw of mankind that we want the benefits without the work. We desire the payoff without actual investment. If we truly desire change in any part of our life we must be willing to pay the price. Short cuts only produce temporary results and not those that are long lasting. Don't buy into an infomerical lifestyle. See the need, make a plan, execute the plan and stick with it.

Changing The Channel,

Nathan

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall

I've often heard in conversations someone referring to a person as an "old soul". Now I get what they are saying.....the person seems to be farther along the timeline in life then their age would suggest. This may be evident in how they interact socially, their cultural taste, maybe they're more reflective. But it got me to thinking what if someone gave you a magic mirror to show you your "age" on the inside in the following areas: Relationship building, leadership development, your walk with God. What would that mirror show? A thriving, healthy, growing adult or a withered Benjimin Button type with stunted growth that's dysfunctional? Bottom line: We are responsible for our own spiritual, social and emotional development. It falls on no one else.


Own It,

Nathan