List or no list?

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. (Philippians 3:12-16)

Dewey reminds us, "Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another." A life lived without goals, a target in mind, is kind of like being set adrift on the open sea - hoping for the best, but totally unprepared for the worst! When I have large projects in mind, I usually write out a 'pick list' of sorts - telling me the supplies I will need to gather, large purchases I will need to make, and certain steps that I must take to ensure the project will go well. When I have something small in mind, like washing the dishes, I don't need a list - I just need to do it! Some of our actions need a bit of structure, like the list, while others are just going to happen because they are part of our habitual practices. We need both - some things being bigger and harder to undertake than others.

Have you ever just headed somewhere, but not been too sure where you were going? On occasion, my BFF and I like a day out, just going from hither and yon, in search of treasures. We may not have a specific 'place' in mind, but we 'set out', allowing the yard sale signs to guide us. We could not live all of our lives that way, though. We'd be in chaos if we did. We need some structure and 'pre-planning' to our lives. Focus is what helps us stay on track with our goals. Development of focus is something we must allow in our lives, but we must be cautious about 'what' or 'who' does that development within us. If it is the Holy Spirit, illuminating scripture, prompting us to take certain actions, then we are likely to be aiming at the correct target. If it is the influence of the world, through things we see and hear, then the target may be kind of a wishy-washy one.

The 'right track' is something we need the influence of the Word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us with. There are lots and lots of tracks we can choose - knowing which one is right for us to take today is not always clear. I have lots of projects in mind - knowing which one will yield the right outcome in the right season of my life is harder. Clear paths are not just 'found' - they are learned because there is a consistency in traveling them. God may ask us to take the same path over and over again until it becomes 'habitually traveled', but there will be times he will set a target out before us that seems a little 'less traveled'. That is where we need the clarity of his still small voice, confirmation of his direction through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the assurance of the Word of God to guide us. Just sayin!

Racers, start your engines!

Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. (I Chronicles 16:11)

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek." (Mario Andretti) Imagine a race car driver assuming the position behind the wheel of a highly powered auto, revving the engine several times, buckled in, watching intently for the flag to drop signifying the start of the race. What sense would it make for the driver to rev and rev, then putt-putt away from the starting line, lagging behind all those who are out lapping him? He has all the power he needs - he just doesn't tap into it! He knows the goal is the finish line, but he doesn't seem to be committed to the goal, just the ride. God needs individuals who are more than along for the ride - he needs those who will tap into the power he provides - using it fully to see they cross the finish line. 

Seek him - but when you find him, what will you do with him? What will you allow him to do for you? That racer has sponsors - those who will invest in him time and time again. We have one 'sponsor' - God himself - investing in us time and time again. Never tiring of making that investment - all he asks of us is the commitment to see the race through with all the power he provides. We have strength beyond our means, but will we use it? Whatever you are facing today that seems a bit like it might overwhelm you is kind of like what that race car driver faces when being 'out lapped' by a few cars. He doesn't just allow them to 'out lap' him - he pushes the pedal to the metal and taps into the power of that engine!

Continual seeking means we engage the 'engine' - we do more than 'rev' it a bit. We tap into the power God provides in our seeking and we take the laps with gusto. We may not gain much in one lap, but when we continue to face each lap by tapping into the 'super-powered engine' within us, we soon 'out lap' the doubts, fears, and disappointments of life. We don't know the potential within us, but when we do more than 'play with religion' and actually take on this relationship with gusto, we see that potential released full force! Just sayin!

Know Your Target

Michelangelo reminds us: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." Yup, this is so true - it isn't that we don't aim - it is that we settle for aiming low. What is your aim in life? Whatever it is, you always want to aim a little higher than your target if you ever expect to hit it. If your target is moving, you track a little in front of it because you expect that the target will move into your aim. The thing is that God doesn't give us 'moving targets' to aim at in life, so his target for us won't move into our aim - we have to adjust our aim to hit his target! The purpose of aiming is to hit something, not hope whatever it is will just happen into our aim!

My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

My eyes are on the crown - this is a clearly defined target, is it not? The first thing we have to know about aiming is that there needs to be a target. Without a clearly defined target, we will just pursue anything that moves into our view. If you have ever watched any of the special forces train for their missions, they are repeatedly practicing to hit the 'right' targets. They are presented with targets symbolizing the ones they want to hit and the ones they need to purposefully avoid. In other words, they learn to be aware of their environment at all times and they adjust their focus so as to be able clearly identify the right target in their path.

I want to win the race - we are now given a little insight into what is behind hitting the target. There is a strong desire to acquire the target. A target in our focus is not enough - it must be acquired and then achieved. In the military we spent hours on the practice ranges learning how to differentiate between the environment and our target, then to actually acquire it in our scope, and fire upon it with accuracy. Those hours of practice were not so much focused on just our aim, but also on helping us to differentiate the right target - to spot it when it seemed to 'blend in' with the environment around it. What we wanted to do was acquire it before we were stopped in our pursuit.

We need to be proficient at differentiating between the targets that distract us and those that we are really supposed to acquire. When we acquire the right ones, we take aim. We pursue that target with purpose. What target has God placed before you? Chances are that specific target is going to get you closer to achieving the main objective he has designed for your life. Ignore the right targets and you will find yourself aiming at arbitrary ones that are doing little more than confusing your life. Focus on the right one, being attuned to how it presents in your life and what it is you need to do in order to hit it - then you take aim with the intent of hitting it spot on. Just sayin!

Aiming requires more than a target

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)

Directed - it means more than just being guided. Did you realize that being 'directed' also carries with it the idea of being 'regulated' or 'managed'? Yes, we are subject to receiving guidance, but we are also submitted to doing whatever that guidance requires of us. "Guided" people don't usually stumble over too much, do they? There is an advantage to being guided, but if we are fighting every step of the way to just be in control, to not be 'managed' through the obstacles of life, then we will catch our toes on all kinds of stumbling places!

A 'directed' person is one who has a determined aim in life. Did you ever stop for a moment to consider what one must do to achieve 'perfect aim'? In the military, they trained me in the use of a firearm, but let me assure you it took some doing to move from a familiarity with the many parts that made up the weapon I was issued to actually learning how to hit the target almost every time I fired it. A lot went into aiming the weapon, including my steadiness of grip/hold, my ability to focus on the target through the site, and the ease at which I pulled back on the trigger. The quieter I was in my stance, the better the aim. The more relaxed I was in my breathing, the better the aim. Learning to aim was hard, but without the advantage of 'aim', the weapon was merely a loud piece of equipment that may or may not do what it was intended to do.

Learning to use that weapon well also meant I had to learn to focus on what I was aiming at. There were a whole lot of 'targets' I could have shot out there on the practice fields, but only some of them were the ones I was supposed to be focusing on. In life, there are lots and lots of things that are out there for us to focus on - to aim at. Not all of them are the right things for us to be 'targeting' in life, though. There are just some things we don't want to mess with. There are other things that are someone else's 'focus' right now and we aren't to be aiming at those 'targets' because they are in someone else's sights! God isn't interested in us hitting every target ahead of us - just the ones he intends for us to focus upon.

As you might imagine, getting familiar with the 'right' or 'wrong' targets is a little bit of a challenge for most of us. We don't spend as much time fixing our focus on the right stuff some times and that means we are aiming at 'whatever moves us'. The problem is that 'whatever moves us' may not always be something we should be attentive toward because we will miss the things that required our more immediate attention. I became an expert marksman in the military, but today I am out of practice. I haven't used those skills in a long, long time. Did I forget what they taught me? No, but have I used these skills lately? No. What is not used is oftentimes lost - so don't lose out on what God has given you in the way of 'discrimination of targets' in life. He wants us to not only know how to hit the target, but to aim at the right ones, too! Just sayin!

Is this the on-ramp?

Henry Ward Beecher reminds us, "We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started." A thing we often forget is that every journey requires a starting point. We sometimes get all caught up in the journey and forget from whence we came. We see the 'finish line', but completely disregard we had to cross the 'starting line' to even be on our way to the 'finish'. 

But He knows the course I have traveled. And I believe that were He to prove me, I would come out purer than gold from the fire. My foot has been securely set in His tracks; I have kept to His course of life without swerving; I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have valued everything He says more than all else. (Job 23:10-12)

I have not always traveled in a straight course - veering on occasion into places where complacency take me without even noticing. I have resumed my course on occasion without much effort, but at others I have found the effort it takes to resume when I have stopped is harder than I want it to be. Think about the last time you got away from a healthy eating plan. Now, think about how hard it was those first couple of weeks to get back on it. The 'starting' is hard, but the 'starting again' is even harder. Why?

It may be because we equate having to start again to failure. We didn't keep going, so we think we failed. The starting line never moved - neither did the finish line. We just got off-course a little and all we need to do is re-enter the path! My foot isn't always securely on the course he would desire me to take, but he knows the course I am traveling. Is it that he didn't 'keep me' from complacency? No, it is that I chose complacency because it was easier! 

How do we re-enter when we have drifted from course? Well, I think it is requires us to realize where we started to begin with, then where we will start again, and where that finish line lies. We look to where we started because it reminds us we really did come a good ways before we veered off-course. We look at where we will re-enter the course because it is a milestone (a marker) of where we chose again to 'enter into' obedience. We look to the finish line because it helps us remain 'forward focused'.

God knows your course as well as he knows mine. He has prepared for us to re-enter the course exactly where we veered from it in the first place. The thing we need to remember is that we take the first step back onto that course! He doesn't take it for us. Yes, he is right there to help us back up, giving us the wherewithal to actually move again, but we take the first step back onto the course! Let's not forget where we started, but let us also not expect 'excellence' every step of the way. We get distracted on occasion and need to remember God's grace is enough for us to re-enter right where we left off. Just sayin!

Am I being targeted?

If God were to point out something in your life that needs a little changing, what would that be? My attitude stinks at times toward certain people or situations and that needs a little adjustment to get back into alignment. On other occasions, my commitments get pretty overwhelming, requiring an adjustment in my schedule. At still others, my physical health requires some attention because I have let myself pack on some pounds again, or backed off on the healthier eating choices. God isn't going to point out stuff that doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. While the attitude adjustment may not seem all that important to you, he knows it is important to me because to continue with that attitude 'out of whack' would mean I might allow bitterness to take root - when that issue roots, the fruit begins to be pretty bitter, as well! God isn't pointing things out just to make us feel 'guilty' or 'ashamed'. He wants only the best for his kids, so he 'parents' us with an eye on those things that will have an influence on how we 'grow up' in his family.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24 TLB)

As I said, it isn't that God is 'made sad' by the stuff we do that needs a little changing in our lives. It is that he knows exactly how that 'stuff' will make it more difficult to find and stay on the path of life! The path of life he has planned for us to travel isn't one of heartache, remorse, or regret. He wants us to travel the path of joy, peace, and assurance. That said, any time he takes advantage of those moments when we will actually tune in and listen for his voice, he might just use those words that seem to bring conviction into our lives - these are his parenting moments. He is revealing his love in more than the warm fuzzies - he is revealing it in the moment of discipline, instruction, oversight, and encouragement. While all of life isn't going to be filled with 'parenting moments' per se, when they come, we need to tune in and listen just a little closer!

It takes a certain amount of courage to actually ask God to point out any area in our life that actually isn't going the way he'd like to see it go. It takes a certain amount of stubbornness to NOT ask him to point out these areas, as well! I can be as stubborn as the next gal - not wanting the stuff that needs attention to be focused on because it might just mean I will experience a few 'growing pains' if they are! Since God's desire in 'parenting' us is to actually get us gracefully through life's challenge, we can probably count on the fact there will come moments when we don't always 'like' him for pointing out those areas that need adjustment. Although his desire is to gracefully move us from one path to another, our impression may be that we are being targeted and his 'pointer' finger isn't letting up!

Remember God's desire in parenting isn't to scold his kids. It is to bring graceful transition from one phase of growth into the next. There will inevitably be growing pains along the way - count on it. Yet, no good growth actually takes place without oversight and a whole lot of work. God's style of parenting isn't to dictate our path, but he will challenge us to consider any path we take that is outside of the areas he has prepared for our good growth! Just sayin!

Adjustment necessary

Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us that we "aim above the mark to hit the mark." We might think to hit the mark we merely aim at the mark. The truth is that the only way to hit it is to really be 'on the mark' in life. The mark? Christ himself! Can we really aim higher than Christ? No, but to 'hit' the mark, we keep our focus upward, not merely on some 'point' within the bulls-eye! We aim at the highest point 'within' the mark and then we proceed to move in that direction. There is no greater 'aim' in life than to follow Christ's example - doing that by living 'within the grace' he gives us.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.  (Romans 12:3 MSG)

Our aim isn't to just 'be like Christ', but to allow Christ to become alive within us so that we have the very fibers of our lives transformed by his grace. Hitting the target is not merely our work, it is God making that 'target' alive in us - making it possible for us to 'hit the target'. Our part in this is to keep our eyes on the excellence of Christ and then we respond to God helping us 'adjust our focus' as necessary so that we are always proceeding toward the 'bulls-eye' of his excellence.

Part of what God does to help us 'hit the target' is to give us an accurate picture of what each of us really is and where the adjustments in our lives need to be made. We can look in a mirror and see a reflection of the target behind us, but that isn't the most productive way to view the target. We view the target 'head-on'. What happens is we view the target in a mirror? We are also very much in focus, not just the target! God helps us the most by turning us around so that the thing we see the most is Christ and not us! This is what helps make our aim right and true.

The target cannot be behind us, nor is it somewhere off to the side, but right in front of us. I have watched bow hunters try to take aim at something 'on the run' from them. The adjustments that must be made when something is moving away from the point where you first take aim requires that you continue to adjust your aim. They don't just aim at the animal, but slightly above the present position of the animal because it is on the move. Jesus is always moving our focus just a little bit higher, sometimes because he moves a little, causing us to make those adjustments to our focus. Those adjustments get us moving again.

We all need adjustments from time to time - because we'd just hunker down thinking we could hit the target each and every time from where we are at presently in our walk with Jesus. The fact is that we have much more 'adjusting' to do to consistently hit the target. So, Christ moves us from beyond the blind of our present faith out into the open sometimes. We aren't always able to remain 'under cover'. There are times and seasons when God will take us out of the comfort of our 'cover' and cause us to adjust our position so we remain on target with him. We should not resist this movement, because it is keeping our aim right! Just sayin!

You got those basics down yet?

Ever trip over your own feet?  You are just walking along, oblivious to the world, and then all of a sudden, you find yourself sprawling forward, lunging out of control and looking like a complete fool!  When you attempt to reconstruct the event, you simply cannot see the "reason" you fell.  In essence, you accept the excuse of having tripped over your own feet.  My last fall was similar - just walking along, then in a moment's time, I found myself sprawled over the gravel, mortified to have fallen in the very front of the hospital while on a walk with a friend.  You have probably already heard this story if you follow the blog regularly, but my immediate response (and I mean IMMEDIATE) was to reach out for my friend's hand and return to a standing position as quickly as possible!  It wasn't so much because I wasn't feeling a little pain, or because I didn't like the warm feel of the rocks.  It was out of shame!  I was out in plain view, with who knows who watching my fall, and I was mortified!  I wonder if this is how we face our spiritual and emotional "falls", too?  We find ourselves just kind of oblivious to the events of the moment, then almost without notice, we find ourselves face down, sprawled in some pretty hard places, and mortified!  Shame enters in and all we want to to is "duck and cover".  What is often missing in those moments is the helping hand of a friend!  In fact, we often fall because we don't have the right balance of accountability friendships in our lives!

My question: What are God-worshipers like?  Your answer: Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s-eye.  They settle down in a promising place; their kids inherit a prosperous farm.  God-friendship is for God-worshipers; they are the ones he confides in.  If I keep my eyes on God, I won’t trip over my own feet.  (Psalm 25:12-15 MSG)

If you sometimes don't feel like an arrow aimed at God's bull's-eye, I totally understand!  There are definitely moments, sometimes days, when I just feel like I cannot get on track and I see myself wasting opportunities, drifting without a paddle, and kind of lost in the motions.  I have to ask the question: Who's going to be in your circle of influence this year?  If you are wise, you will include at least one person in whom you can confide, find wise counsel, and who will be there for you when you are sprawling out of control.  Yep, we want to get close to God in this new year, but we also need those who will challenge us to be closer to God, to not settle into the warmth of the rocky places, and to refuse to give into the shame of our falls.

I took a couple of semesters of archery in High School and got pretty good at hitting the target with ever-increasing accuracy.  Eventually my aim helped me to land more bull's-eyes and less of the other concentric circles on the target. Today, I am not sure I could hit the broad side of a barn!  It has been that long since I picked up a bow and arrow!  The principles are still the same, though.  You need a steady arm as you grip the bow, a slight rotation of the bow with your elbow out to avoid smacking your inner forearm with the string, and the ability to line the arrow up with precise accuracy.  I gave myself a whole lot of bruises on my inner forearm before I ever learned that "rotation" part! In fact, the stinging sensation reminded me each and every time of my need to "adjust" my grip.

Until I realized the slight rotation of my elbow actually prevented the string from attacking my forearm, I didn't realize the other benefits of this subtle maneuver.  I could only focus on not experiencing the same pain over and over again.  In reality, this subtle change in how I held the bow provided me more stability to aim and release the arrow with just a little more accuracy.  I focused on eliminating the pain - my coach focused on me finding stability with my shots.  I think this is what God has in mind when he gives us good friends who walk along with us in this journey of faith.  They help us see when our grip is wrong, our aim is amiss because of how we are holding onto things incorrectly, and what to do to correct it before it causes us so much pain we abandon it all together!

The slight rotation of wrist and elbow made all the difference in eliminating the "sting" of the bow and improved my ability to hit the target.  As I also learned to keep my thumb pointed directly at the target, I saw how much this also influenced where my arrow would land.  It was as I followed the "basics" offered by my instructor that I improved my stance, grip, release, and eventually my aim.  What I didn't realize, and this almost made me not want to pursue this sport at all, was the inability to hit the target for quite some time until I had pretty much mastered the basics.  We sometimes are willing to give up way too soon, aren't we?  We don't want to take the time to master the basics in this Christian walk and we find ourselves giving up just about the time we'd finally be able to hit the target with accuracy.  My first shots were haphazard, most falling way short of the target.  As I learned to pull the string to my cheek, hold the bow with precision, and of all things, control my breathing, my aim improved.  The basics made all the difference.

When we are put off by the failures, we often don't want to go back to the basics to see where we need to make adjustments, but this is exactly where we need to start - with the basics.  What my coach told me made all the difference - don't focus on the bull's-eye - focus on hitting the same spot on the target each and every time.  When you are able to do this, you then only need to make subtle adjustments of your arm up or down to find the bull's-eye.  It worked!  When I stopped doing the things which caused me pain, focused on the elemental stuff, and just consistently did as I was taught, I hit the mark every time.  It isn't the "mastery" we need to focus on, it is the "basics"!  Just sayin!