Passion Week Devo - When did Jesus move? [Wednesday]
If I oversaw Jesus’ timeline, I would have made a couple of significant timing decisions differently.
First, what was up with his ministry not going public till he was thirty? Was he not ready? Did the world not need him till then? What was the holdup?
And then once he started forwarding the kingdom full-time, Personally, I think he should have stayed around a little longer. If I were on the leadership team determining whether the disciples were ready to “take it from there” I would have voted, “No” quite adamantly.
Good thing I wasn’t in charge!
Galatians 4:4 shows us the Father was in charge of the timing. “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”
John 5:19-20a says, “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.”
Jesus moved when the Father showed ...
Is The Scale The Answer?
What your scale tells you is just data. It gives you a fact - the honest truth about your weight.
The scale can be your friend if it tells you something you like, or your enemy if it doesn't. But the truth is the scale is just a tool to help you see what really is.
For me the scale is motivation!
If I like what I see it is motivation to keep up the good work, and if I don't like what I see it is a reminder that true change will take intentionality.
That's the bottom line really.
Change rarely happens by accident. It's hardly ever a surprise.Â
If I don't like what I see I have two options, well three maybe.
1) I can choose to do something about what I see.
This will include making a plan for an alternative outcome. It will likely include some trial and error, some intentionality and grit, and will probably require a realistic look at a reasonable timeline for effecting change.
2) I can avoid seeing and just not weigh myself anymore.
This plan will avoid acknowledgment of anyth...
Working Genius & Coaching [Tenacity]
We're on the home stretch now! The final letter in Working Genius is T for Tenacity!Â
Working Genius says this about it. "The natural gift of pushing projects or tasks to completion to achieve results."
This is one of my geniuses and I have a love/hate relationship with the concept. I mean I don't go out of my way to notice things not getting completed, I just can't help but see them and have a strong desire to see things through.
Most often this is a gift and a value add, but sometimes it isn't perceived that way or received well, or it is just too much.
Once I was called a "pusher" by a well-meaning colleague, and it stung a little. I mean I wouldn't have to push if things were being completed right? ... just saying...
Working Genius has helped me so much! Having Tenacity as a genius can be used for good as a means of follow through making sure things don't get dropped, but it can also be a handful. It's truly hard for me to just let things go without express direction.Â
That'...
6 Ways Coaching Makes Disciples (not dependents) Are you making disciples?
Jesus was rarely a "teller", and when He was it was mainly to the religious leaders when He was telling them off in no uncertain terms.
Think about it when you are reading the gospels. Jesus often responded to questions with questions, or sometimes with stories. We also have the beatitudes and many word pictures about what the kingdom is like. Most often, He encouraged people to decide what they needed to do next.
When we tell people what we think they should do we risk getting in the way of their personal connection with God. Of course, there are moral boundaries and we would never encourage someone to "decide" if those were right, but here are a few examples of where coaching questions could help someone make healthy choices:
- who to date
- whether or not to go to college and where
- how to decide if you should stay with a certain job/role
- choosing where to volunteer
- how to move toward a specific goal, and even if you should
Just to name a few.
Coaching makes disciples by hel...
The Shadow Side of "Niche" Coaching
Some people say it rhymes with "stitch", others tip toward the French and say it with a long "e" and a "sh" at the end. I think there are even some combo folks out there who would say it rhymes with "squish" or "screech".Â
However you say it, having a niche may, or may not be an asset in coaching.
Good coaching, as defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), or Christian Coaches Network International (CCNI), does not include the coach sharing their expertise in a niche field as the means forward. Instead, good coaching draws out from the coachees the best way forward.
Having experience, or education, in a particular field is not always beneficial to good coaching.
If the coach has a certain bent toward how they think the plan should roll out, they tend to ask leading questions to prompt the client toward their own preferred outcome.
Sir John Whitmore in his foundational coaching book "Coaching for Performance" shares about an experiment he conducted where he studied wh...
Which Four Letter Word Is Your Go-To?
There are two four-letter words we are going to focus on today.
The first is: lazy. (Probably not the first four-letter word you thought of.)
There are basically two kinds of lazy.
One is intentional -Â it includes rest, like a Sabbatical or a Sabbath, a nap, or even an extra good night's sleep. It could be taking a walk, listening to some good music (I recently discovered smooth jazz and only wish I would have known about it sooner), having a slow conversation with a good friend, or enjoying a special meal.
The other is unintentional. Unintentional laziness is when you didn't set out to slow down or neglect an area of your life, you just drifted into being stuck by accident. Unintentionally. At my home church, we recently heard a message that identified a type of laziness I had never thought of before. Our pastor talked about how being busy can be a form of laziness. (You can check the message out here if you like.) Usually, when we think of laziness, we think of someone being slu...
Heather Shertzer, the Fiverr Guy and you
Storytime:
I had been working on the dating book for years and was on the home stretch when I realized that if I wanted to complete it well, I would need to hire a graphic designer for the cover. When you invest that much time you want to have the end product be something you love. So, I contacted my friend Heather Shertzer and she accepted the challenge.Â
She made a cover I am proud of and as a bonus, she redid the cover for Eric's recent book as well. She understood just what it would take to upload them for publishing and how to handle all the necessary parameters for both books. (Be watching for a new cover for Traction soon as well!) Without Heather, I would have spent hours trying to figure out what was needed and probably had a design I was just okay with if I did it myself.Â
She is a professional and she was/is a godsend!
So then I go to publish the book. What a milestone! What an exciting event! I order myself a copy and find a few things I want to change. The font was too...
Discerning: Is it a Lie, a Learning or should you just Let it go...
Ever have a recurring thought?
Maybe you are second-guessing a decision, or feeling bad about something you haven't done yet.
Maybe self-doubt is haunting you, but you wonder if there really is something you need to adjust in your life.
Recently I read John 9:42. It's the last verse of the story where Jesus heals the blind man by putting clay on his eyes and telling him to wash it off in a certain pool. Then the Pharisees don't want to believe it and they grill his parents and then him about the healing. Jesus finds the man who was healed and reveals His deity to him. He tells him He came to make the blind see and show those who think they can see that they are blind. The Pharisees are indignant and ask if He is saying they are blind. Then the final verse says,
“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see."
When I read that verse I had an Aha moment.
God's Spirit is always offering insight, connection, and A...
Dealing With “That” Song... when your reality doesn’t line up with the promises
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes when I sing a song that says something like “He won’t fail” it kind of sends me into a bit of a tailspin. (Or maybe it’s the one that says, “God is good, good, so good...”)
I think of so many situations that still really hurt, or are confusing, or didn’t happen, and it makes me feel awkward singing a song like that. Â
Here are some situations that come to my mind:
- The accident that took young parents from their children.
- The couple that birthed a still-born child after years of infertility.
- The man who prayed for healing but still deals with chronic pain.
- The family who felt like God was guiding them to launch a business, but it’s been years and the business is just making it.
- The person who faced a trauma well, but then slowly drifted from active faith.
- Someone waiting ... for a transplant, or a husband, or a baby or ...
- The woman who is diligently trying to make an impact but often feels put off and misunderstood.
And the list could go ...
Follow Your Heart! But On The Other Hand...? [PENDULUM POST]
I'm learning to discern more. You'd think I'd be better at it by now, but it turns out I'm still learning. For me, following my heart means having the "courage" to call things out when I see them. I have the compulsion to set things right. I feel culpable to say what I see, especially as a leader. I almost always feel I am missing the mark if I don't say something when I hear or see something out of line.
(Feels kind of judgy when I say it like that... maybe because it sometimes is judgy and that's where the Pendulum Process needs to come in!)
Is it always right to say something?
Is it never right to step in?
Sometimes it is "courage"Â that is needed and I do indeed need to speak up. After all, Proverbs 9:8b says,
"... But correct the wise, and they will love you."
 Yet, at other times we are encouraged to be wise by not speaking up. Proverbs 10:19b says,
"...if you are wise, you will keep quiet."
So what's a gal to do? Let's take a look at the Pendulum process.
The Pe...