Your Camels are Coming

I can safely assume that Isaac was heart broken after the death of his mother Sarah. I also believe that throughout life he was fully aware of God’s covenant with his father Abraham. With these assumptions in mind, I would think that Isaac began to ruminate negatively after the passing of his mother. We find him returning from Beer-lahai-roi, the well of the Living One who sees me, and walking along his fields. “One evening as he was walking and meditating in the fields, he looked up and saw the camels coming” (Genesis 24:63 NLT).

I’m sure during his time of “meditation” Isaac questioned God’s promise to his father, Abraham, in regards to being the “father of many nations.” He probably was emotionally beat down considering he had just buried his mother. This time of rumination probably led to some pretty nasty mental and spiritual battles.

Let's back up and look at where Isaac was coming from.

Beer-lahai-roi or well of the Living One who sees me

You may recall this location from a previous story, eight chapters earlier. Hagar, Sarai’s (Sarah) servant, had run away from her master due to abuse because she was carrying the first born son of her master’s husband, Abraham. An angel found Hagar beside a spring of water where he identified her situation and spoke life into her. Hagar named this location Beer-lahai-roi.

Fast-forward to chapter 24 and we find Isaac returning to his fields from this same well where Hagar sat in desperation. I just can’t help but think that he visited this place out of that same desperation, hoping to find the same God who saw Hagar in her time of need. After all, his mother had just passed, his father was elderly, and Isaac himself was around 40 years old without a wife and family. He was probably feeling a little hopeless, especially on God’s promise to his father Abraham.

In the mist of these spiritual and mental battles, Isaac looked up and saw camels coming. This convoy was carrying his future wife, Rebekah. “He loved her deeply, and she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother” (Gen. 24:67 NLT).

Your negative rumination about all that is wrong with your life will lead you down a dark road where fear surrounds you, loneliness inhabits you, and depression/anger/resentment/jealousy/anxiety fight for popularity amongst your emotions.

He feels your pain. He knows your battles. He’s the Living One who sees you.

Take heart, your camels are coming.

The Neural Pathway to Gratitude

So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die. (Ecclesiastes 3:22 NLT)

What we do with our hands, within the context of a job, is what we will do more than anything in life. We’ll never spend more time with family or friends. We’ll always work more than we sleep. Some will even work more than they spend time in His presence. Let me remind you that being in His presence doesn’t just mean you are on your hands and knees praying with worship music on, nor does it just revolve around your attendance at a church service. Learning to walk in His presence outside of those two contexts is a task that seems daunting, but it is the most valuable skill we can develop as Christians. We cannot allow external factors to be the sole determinant on our intimate relationship with the King.

Start with a mental focus on Him. Some easy exercises for changing your focus starts with intentional time set aside each day. The morning works best for me, to just sit and listen for the Holy Spirit to speak, to read His Word, and to pray. He may not be audible, but during this time quiet your soul, think about the qualities of God and how they apply to your life, and ask God to use you.

Now you are ready to implement some actions that really propel your momentum. An easy action is to just say “thank you Jesus.” I don’t just mean once or twice, but in every literal situation let these words leave your mouth. It doesn’t have to be loud, but verbalizing gratitude eliminates negative emotions. Getting gas? Receive bad news? Going for a walk? Washing your hands? Doing paperwork? Going to Walmart? It may seem silly to take a menial task over the top, but if you want to be different you have to be different.

When you develop a new habit, you create new neural pathways in your brain. Imagine walking along a path of grass through the woods or in your yard. Overtime, that path will become more and more visible, and easier to navigate. It also predisposes you to a certain walking pattern since you know the path so well. This same process takes place in the brain. When you are used to gossiping, but you are wanting to lean more into God’s will for your life, it is difficult because you are predisposed to that tendency. By participating in that exercise above, you will develop a neural pathway to gratitude. Just so you know, it's virtually impossible to have a bad attitude when you are full of gratitude!

I pray that you can create neural pathways that are concrete in their foundation and lead you straight to the fruits of the Spirit. I’m praying for Him to clear your mind and your path!

A Wednesday Prayer

Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalms 100:3 NIV, emphasis mine)

How hard it is to keep that first sentence in perspective. More often than not, it is so difficult for us to imagine God, being the all Supreme Deity that He is, as a relational entity. We typically just imagine this divine celestial being a million miles away that we intellectually recognize to be God.

However, according to Dr. Strong, that “know” in Hebrew is not in the intellectual sense. He defines this as, “to ascertain by seeing, observing as is.” [1] Spiritually and emotionally it is crucial that we know, in the intellectual sense, that God is God, but the writer in the Psalm wants us to SEE God as God. Sometimes the weeds get too tall, and the noise gets too loud, so we lose perspective. Ask Him for a new perspective today.

Lord help me to know you, not just as God, but as my Father. Help me to know you as Jehovah Rophe, my Healer. Help me to know you as Jehovah Shalom, my Peace. Father remove anything that is keeping me from knowing you. Search me God. Show me anything that is keeping me from all you have for me. Show me the idols I have set up and give me the strength to leave them behind as I pursue all you have for me. Your Word says that you must become greater, and I must become less, you must increase, and I must decrease. Help me Father to lay down my attitude, my emotions, my predispositions, my comfort, my lusts, my desires, my thoughts, and my habits. Lord all I want is to know you. I love you, Father. In Jesus name, Amen.

Dayenu

“It would have been enough”

This line is an excerpt from the chorus of the Jewish song Dayenu which is recited during the Passover festival. It is a song of praise to God for bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. The title of the song is translated to “It would have been enough.” Found in the stanza on miracles, verses 6 & 7 provides sufficient context to understand the gist of the ancient writings.

“If He had split the sea for us,

and had not taken us through it on dry land

It would have been enough!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,

and had not drowned our oppressors in it

It would have been enough!”

However, I also want to highlight the first and last verse of the song.

“If He had brought us out from Egypt,

and had not carried out judgments against them

It would have been enough!

…

If He had brought us into the land of Israel,

and not built for us the Holy Temple

It would have been enough!”

I would make the argument that He has done enough for you and I, however it is imperative that through diligent introspection you recognize this within your spirit. So that begs the question, has He done enough for you?

El-roi

There she was feeling abused, abandoned, and alone. Having been taken advantage of, used as a scapegoat, and abused by her former master, she ran. She ran as fast as she could because in her mind, her life depended on it. Little did she know, it did.

Let me set the scene and get you caught up. Hagar was the servant (handmaiden in KJV) of Sarai, who was the wife of Abram. Sarai and Abram were now around the ages of 84 to 86 respectively. They were past child baring age, however Sarai wanted children so bad that she decided to have her husband sleep with one of their maids, having her be a surrogate of sorts. However, this only produced resentment in Sarai. Her desire for something she never had cost her some the most important things in life. Each day as she looked at Hagar, bitterness, rage, envy, and indignation flooded Sarai’s emotions, simultaneously taking a toll on pregnant Hagar. Sarai’s emotions became unrestrained. She began abusing Hagar in many ways, so intensely that all Hagar knew to do was run.

As she sat by a spring of water in the wilderness, an angel appears to her. Though he probably already knew the answer, he asked her, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Gen. 16:8 NLT).

I want to ask you the same thing. Where have you come from, and where are you going?

Where do your predispositions to certain people, emotions, and desires come from? You must understand the road you have been walking on to understand where you are walking to. If you typically feel emotions of anger or resentment toward certain people in your day-to-day life, then you are walking down a road that will lead you to resent more people and eventually yourself. If you are anxious all the time, you need to understand that you will eventually start putting yourself in positions that limit exposure to your anxieties, which will eventually get to the point where you neglect all relationships, possibly even your relationship with God. If you despise waking up in the morning because putting on the fake smile is so difficult, then you must know this road leads to early death. Where have you come from?

Where is the destination set in your GPS of life? Odds are, if you know the path you are walking on and you know where you are going, then you have established some form of purpose in your life. If you have found your true God given purpose, you are on a path to freedom. However, if you do not know where the path you’re walking on is leading you, then odds are, you do not know your purpose. So, where are you going?

Hagar had to sit and think about this while in the presence of a divine creature. Imagine the pressure. Sheesh! But in all seriousness, she unlocked a revelation. You see, Hagar was born an Egyptian. Though she was a servant to a family who worshiped God, she was more familiar with lifeless pagan gods and kingly worship. She did not know the one true God. However, in one of her darkest moments, God met her where she was. The Creator was, and is, concerned for His Creation.

Her life depended on this singular event, and it changed everything. From this point forward, when Hagar referred to the Lord, she did so based on experience rather than perspective. She referred to Him as, El-Roi or “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13 NLT).

I pray that while you are answering these questions, you too have an experience like with El-Roi. I hope that you understand that He is running after you, regardless of where you have been or where you are going.

Call on Him today. He is faithful to meet you where you are.

Jabez’s Request for Influence

The life of Jabez is folded down into paragraph size that can be found in the first book of Chronicles. He is most famous in modern Christianity for his prayer, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from all trouble and pain!” (1 Chron. 4:10 NLT).

If we break down the prayer, we find that Jabez focuses on 4 areas of life: blessing, influence, presence, and protection. I want to briefly touch on his request for influence.

What is influence? Dr. John Maxwell gives credit to influence as the primary quality of a leader.[1] You may say to yourself, “I’m not leader” or “I have no influence.” You would be wrong my friend. Everyone has influence, but those who utilize become leaders.

Jabez’s request for influence was not coming from a mindset rooted in pride, but rather survival. He was not just asking for a handout. He was asking God to prosper what he was a part of, so that he could give God glory. Jabez was seeking to exalt God whether that be at work or at war.[2]

What would it look like if we prayed for influence, not for our advancement, but for Gods. What would it look like at our jobs if we were able to lead people with the blessing of God on our lives? What would it look like if we asked God for influence in our prayer life? Would you be waging war, having the confidence that God is your banner of victory? Would not more influence command the enemy to take 2 steps back?

A God-sized dose of influence on your life could change everything. Why not ask for it?

Bibliography

[1] John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader within You 2.0 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Leadership, 2018) 3.

[2] Mathew Henry, Mathew Henry’s Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 1960) 436.

A Wednesday Prayer

Hey listen, I know by this time of the week you’re buried up to your ears in work. You’re tired. You want it to be Friday so bad, it’s all you can think about. I’ll address that self-degrading mindset another day, but today I want to encourage you with prayer.

Father, thank you. I am almost through another week, all because of your grace and mercy. Thank you for every opportunity you have given me to reach someone for Name’s sake. Thank you for every opportunity I have had to lead someone, and for using me as a vessel to display your attributes. Lord, forgive me for when I do not seize those opportunities. Help me to recognize them. Open my eyes to see the needs of others, my ears to hear your still voice. Fix my mind on Heavenly things, and equip my hands to fix the world around me. Position my heart to be humble, and ever willing to tend those who need a touch from you. Today is not the halfway mark to the end. Today is a new day that you have made Father, and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for assigning me to this spot in history. I was made for this. I love you, Father. In Jesus name, Amen.

Go be the person God made you to be.

P.S. Here are some scriptures regarding identity just in case you need a reminder!

Genesis 1:27

Psalm 139:14

Isaiah 43:4

Jeremiah 1:5

John 15:16

Romans 6:6

Galatians 2:20

Ephesians 2:10

“In the beginning God…”

“In the beginning God,” is a verse highly recognizable to most Christians, but most often underrepresented. Of course, the entire Bible is not in a chronological layout, however the creation story does mark the beginning of time as well as the beginning of the Scriptures. It is also notable to understand that God references Himself as “the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13 NLT).  

I know what you are thinking. So what? Why does it matter? Well, if the Good Book starts with God, perhaps you should too. Begin the New Year walking with the Holy Spirit. Start your day with God’s Word. Create a new life with Jesus at the center!

How arrogant it is of us to think we can do it alone. How foolish it is of us to not set priorities in life and give Him the time He deserves. How hard it is to start a new habit, lifestyle, or even a relationship. What if I told you the only thing keeping you from God is you? Could you fathom that YOU are your own roadblock? I couldn’t. I was blindsided by the fact that I was in my own way. I thought for sure that I was being held back by others, or even the Devil. I mean after all, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12 NIV). It is much easier to put blame on something we can’t even see.

Let’s run through some scenarios. If I challenged you to start your year with God, what is your knee-jerk reaction? Let me guess, “I don’t even know where to start,” “When would I have time?” “What if I can’t follow through and can’t even make it to February?”

Starting your year with God requires broad thinking, unfortunately allowing the details to seem like a sea of uncertainty. So, let’s refine our search a little more. If I challenged you to start your day with God, what is your knee-jerk reaction? Let me guess, “I don’t have time since I have kids,” “I can’t wake up early enough,” “I would have to change my whole morning routine.”

Trying to plan a bunch of details requires intentionality. You probably don’t like the sound of that, but it is true. Practically speaking, it is hard. Tactically speaking, it is the most useful and fruitful trait you can acquire. So how do you start training your “intentionality muscle?” Find someone that you trust, ask them to pray for you and give them specific prayer focuses. Let them know you want to grow but are just having a hard time.

Now, let’s ruminate for a minute on why we are having a hard time growing in our faith. How are you in your own way? What roadblock are you putting up in front of yourself? Where are you placing blame? How have you tried in the past to be intentional in your faith? How long did you try?

I have found that you cannot do effectively what you do not do consistently. Growth takes time.

Before you leave, here are some practical resources you can use to grow in your faith.

Church of the Highlands has a One Year Bible that is accessible on their website.

Ramsey Solutions has a short article on 5 Simple Steps for Successful Time Management.

My Pastor, Chris Hodges developed two prayer resources, the first being the App Pray First. He also wrote a book titled, Pray First: the Transformative Power of a Life Built on Prayer.

Pastor Craig Groeschel authored the book The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most.

The Bible App is a foundational piece of technology that can help you grow if you maintain a high screen time.

A New Day or Just Another Day?

I love the excitement around the New Years. Everyone is motivated for the next chapter of life and ready to make it the best yet. Unfortunately, I find the excitement to fade, and the motivation dwindle as time goes on for most people.

However, I wonder what it would look like if we didn’t lose that yearly shot of excitement that we always hoped would propel us forward into the life God called us to. A life where we know God, walk in the Blood of Jesus, and talk to the Holy Spirit like we’re best friends. A life where we are chasing after our God-sized goals with gazelle intensity. A life where we lead others to freedom, whether that be salvation, financial freedom, or just a life free of the mundane.

This concoction of cortisol, dopamine, and adrenaline can be put on tap. However, your environment is key to being able to do this effectively. Your environment, or culture as you’ll find it referenced here, is the number one area keeping you from living the life you dream of at the beginning of each year. We can dissect culture into three different areas: our people, our activities, and our mind. As we go over each one, be honest with yourself about the environment, or culture, you are a part of.

Our People

You ever heard that phrase “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future?” While it is a cliche, it is abundantly true just as it was nearly 3000 years ago during the reign of King Solomon. The wise king once wrote, “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray” and “One who walks with wise people will be wise, But a companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 12:26 New International Version, 13:20 New American Standard Bible). Ask yourself, are my friends leading me to freedom? Do my classmates lead me with my best interest at heart? Is my workplace propelling my development or acting as a lid? It is sometimes hard to comprehend the right answer when we are blinded with bias. So, I challenge you, go ask someone you trust to analyze these or similar areas, and allow that person to be honest with you. Your future is dependent upon the reality you choose right now, as Dr. John Delony would say.[1]

Our Activities

Once again, Solomon knew how important it is to do something meaningful with our hands, writing, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth” (Proverbs 10:4 NIV). God designed each of us with a purpose to live out here on earth that brings Him glory. What is your purpose and how are you using it to glorify God?

Our Mind

You must decide to give each day to God, just like you have to decide to choose what to eat for breakfast. Will you choose to consume things that are poison and deteriorate life, or will you consume things that are good and give life? There are a variety of poisons of which we can choose. Alcohol, controlled substances, porn, processed foods, social media, and red-dye number 40 just to name a few. However, there is only once source of life and that’s Jesus. The apostle John recorded Jesus saying, “No one can come to me unless the Father who send me draws them…” (6:44 NIV). Only God will lead you to life. What or who are you drawn by?

My church developed a simple deck of cards, dubbed Culture Cards, that promote a positive culture. Card number 01 states, “It’s a privilege to be on this team. Thank you God for choosing me.”[2] Want to change your culture? Start with gratitude.

Bibliography

[1]John Delony, Building a Non-Anxious Life (Franklin, TN: Ramsey Press 2023)

[2] Church of the Highlands

Rumination

Well, here we are. God gave us another day. One lunar cycle after the other, and we have found ourselves together again. We are alike in many ways, perhaps more than you realize. We both were created by the Creator. We are both considered “Masterpieces,” however I think it’s up for debate on which of us is a true Michelangelo (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). Kidding, of course.

Have you ever wondered? Let me ask a different way. Where has your wondering taken you?

Its definition is not fun. In fact, its quiet gross when finding out what it generally references. Merriam-Webster defines Rumination as to “chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed : chew the cud.” For those visual learners, imagine a cow eating grass. That 1500 lb hunk of beef will chew that grass, swallow it, throw it back up into its mouth, chew it some more, swallow it, and do it again. I don’t know how long it does this for, nor do I care to find out. However, I do know that humans do (almost) the same thing.

No, of course we don’t regurgitate things during digestion like a cow. Though, while we might not ruminate in our digestive system, we do in our mind. Every day we are just throwing up the mundane and cycling through what we’ve learned, experienced or participated in. Other days, we regurgitate the best things in life, and hopefully, give God the praise He deserves. Though sometimes, we drift in our rumination. Our wondering takes us to the same places it took Job when he was being tormented by Satan.

This is a project that God put on my heart about 6 months ago, though I never understood how it would come to fruition. This blog is designed to be a place that will inhibit positive rumination, and help course correct any negative wonderings. This will be a place that I pray will help you focus on Jesus, refine your mental fortitude, and develop skills that enable you to lead others to do the same.

One more thing, just know that I pray for you, everyday.