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Stop Focusing On The Finish Line And Run The Race

Stop Focusing On The Finish Line And Run The Race

Has life punched you in the face so much that you’re ready to give up?

There’s this huge temptation that will permeate your space where you (and others) will convince you that you’re finished. That somehow life is too difficult and will fuel this overwhelming feeling to quit before you’re done.

So many of us confuse quitting with failing.

Though my own battles I can assure you that everything God wants to start inside of you He wants to finish through you. The question is, how much inside of you is not finished yet? Some of us have our deepest regrets because there’s so much unfinished stuff inside of us.

Life continues to erode at our will to continue to move forward and somewhere along the way we lose our resolve, our determination, our courage, our faith and convince ourselves that we’ve lost our opportunity…and we quit. We often step into the narrative that if God wanted it to happen, it would happen, right? How many of us think this way to protect ourselves?

God never has a crisis of faith…He just has a crisis of us!

—Erwin McManus

Let’s step into the story of Caleb, around Joshua chapter 14 where we find him refusing to quit when everyone else was done. Joshua and his leaders have stepped into the promised land and have seen battle after battle and conquest after conquest. We pick up in the story line where Joshua is at the end of this era and begins to divide the land up.

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. —Joshua 14:6,7

Many of us want to camp out on the facts alone, but we forget that the facts are always wrapped up in us. Ever wonder how two different people come back with the same facts and walk two different paths?

…but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.” —Joshua 14:8.9

Caleb is reminding Joshua of when Moses sent them out together to spy on the land and they were the only two that came back with a good report. All the others didn’t want to go there because they were afraid of what they saw and convinced themselves that there was no future there.

“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war. —Joshua 14:10-15

There’s something here that I don’t want you to miss, “…then Joshua blessed Caleb!” Not sure you caught this, but Joshua blessed Caleb by giving him territory that was still at war. That seems a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Joshua blessed Caleb by giving him another battle that he could step into. So often we think that when God blesses us, He gives us peace and makes things easy for us. So, what have you resolved to? A land of peace where battles don’t exist or a space in turmoil where you can bring the peace?

Caleb shouts out with volume and vigor, “I’M NOT FINISHED YET!” — and neither are you! I’ve had to battle through being born with a broken leg, growing up daily being bullied, sexual abuse, divorce, and a bout of skin cancer, etc. And I have resolved myself to a place where I’m still standing because I’m not finished with facing life’s obstacles!

Without the anticipation of better things ahead, we will have no heart for the journey.

—John Eldredge

Before you think about giving up; remember that God left Abraham with his knife raised…ready to plunge into Isaac’s heart (and Isaac waiting for the knife to strike…yikes!); He left Joseph suffering for years in an Egyptian prison; he allowed the Israelites to suffer 400 years of bondage under the Egyptians and leaves those same Israelites backed against the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s chariots bearing down on them. He abandoned Jesus at the cross and does not rescue Him at all. And then there are those of us who are groaning under the weight of life and things that have gone very wrong, waiting for that same Jesus to return and sweep us up with Him in power and glory. We often shout out in our weariness, places of desperation and pain, “How long, O Lord? What the heck!” — forgetting the epic ending to these stories.

So many of us forfeit our future by camping out in the bitterness of circumstances, which just fuels the demand to live in the past. I know life’s tough, but here’s some wisdom I learned along the way; God wants to do something in you and through you. And you must believe that your resolve, your perseverance, your pain, your sacrifice and your wounds are the very materials that God is using to accomplish this. Remember that there’s a contribution that God wants to make through your life, so when you get knocked down, get back up.

If you haven’t figure this out yet, God often calls us to battles where the deck is completely stacked against us, just to add drama to the story. And there is this clear picture, even from God Himself, that He does this to demonstrate His own glory. You need to decide in your own heart that you’re not finished yet and you will continue to run the race! No matter what life throws your way, lean into God, face the battle and never give up!

heartstonePick up a copy of my book, Heartstone: A Journey out of the midnight of my soul.Heartstone is a journey of destiny, a story of a life turned upside-down for the best possible reason. Step into the story and discover what happens when a broken life has a head on collision with a broken world! [WARNING] This book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for those who have the courage to face life head on and walk it out with God!

July 17, 2019 Filed Under: Life Tagged With: broken, courage, divorce, faith, featured, God, hope, Jesus, journey, life

Will You Walk The Ancient Paths?

Will You Walk The Ancient Paths?

I have been walking the road of life for almost 50 years, pressing into God and seeking council from wiser men of character who have traveled the ancient paths that Jeremiah talks about.

“Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it. And you will find rest for your souls.” -Jeremiah 6:16

Through good times, hardship and the fathering mentors God has placed in my path; I have discovered a treasure trove of counsel and insight I offer to share with other men who are courageously choosing to become wholehearted courageous men of God!

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December 12, 2017 Filed Under: Life Tagged With: courage, featured, God, identity, Jesus, poetry

How To Find Strength In Our Brokenness

How To Find Strength In Our Brokenness

We all face and struggle with brokenness on our journey — because we are all broken and much of what troubles us comes out of the broken places in our hearts crying out for some sort of relief. When I was writing Heartstone, one of the most difficult chapters to write was telling the story of when I was born with a broken leg. Of course I only remember the event by the stories told by my parents and family members that were there when it happened, but it really sets up a life metaphor that I carried with me for far too long.

As Harold J. Duarte-Bernhardt shares, “We are all broken and wounded in this world. Some choose to grow strong at the broken places.” I discovered that more often than not, one’s suffering and brokenness amplifies our helplessness and truly exposes our need for a Savior. In my brokenness I found Jesus and here is that story…

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July 25, 2017 Filed Under: Journal Tagged With: broken, courage, featured, God, journey, life, story

Why Your Testimony Has Tremendous Power

Why Your Testimony Has Tremendous Power

“…for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” (Revelation 12:10-11)

Not trying to label followers of Jesus, but I have noticed two distinct camps. The folks in one camp enthusiastically shares or teaches Biblical knowledge to others and the folks in the other camp have a genuine testimony of what God has done and continues to do in their lives. The folks in the first camp are definitely genuine in their motive but are missing one essential ingredient to being effectively used by God – a testimony.

The power of testimony was prevalent in the early Church and during that time, people were able to give powerful testimony of events and experiences that could only be explained as a work of God. I didn’t know it at the time, but through the encouragement of one of my life mentors I filled up 6+ journals of my adventures/experiences during my divorce. I had no idea that someday these very scribbles would become a book.

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June 20, 2017 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: courage, faith, featured, God, Jesus, journey, life, story

There’s Only One Way To Face Life, And Here It Is…

There’s Only One Way To Face Life, And Here It Is…

I love the scene from J. R. R Tolkien’s “The Return of the King” where Aragon is desperately outnumbered. He looks fear right in the eye and finds the strength to inspire his men against what seems like an almost certain defeat against the massive forces of the enemy. Standing firm and riding in front of his army, he declares,
 
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship,
…but it is not this day! This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth,
I bid you stand…
 
Sounds so easy in the movies, doesn’t it?

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April 25, 2017 Filed Under: Life Tagged With: courage, crisis, faith, featured, God, journey

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Favorite Quotes

The only way to live in this adventure—with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes—is in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God -John Eldredge

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He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. -Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

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