Nae's Notes

The world throws so much at us each week. Some weeks are easy and our faith is strong. Other weeks are tough and our faith takes a hit. How often do you do a faith check and what does that look like? Our faith level not only affects us but those around us also. Consider this analogy. In football there is a space called the red zone. This is the area inside the opponents 20-yard line where you are expected to score a touchdown. This task seems easy enough, but something happens with the defense in this zone. The defense tightens up to keep the other team from scoring 6 points. Strategies change and a toughness and determination show up that wasn’t there further down the field. The defense is strong when they are on the field, but a different toughness and sense of urgency appear when the other team is close to scoring.

It is like our lives. We live by faith because that is what we are supposed to do each day. However, our faith changes when the enemy enters “the red zone” and there is a greater eminent threat to our family. The faith that worked in our normal days is not going to sustain us “in the red zone” or through the trials. We must lock arms with God and raise the intensity of our faith in order to keep the threat from overtaking us.

So, do a faith check. Where are you right now? Is there an eminent threat or just the daily trials? What can you do to daily strengthen your faith to prepare you for “the red zone”? Remember, God doesn’t want you to just survive. He wants you to thrive and lean on him to help you keep the enemy from scoring!

Everyone loves to get recognized for success. What do you do when you don’t get recognized in the way you think you deserve? In 1 Samuel 16, we see King Saul go through this very situation. King Saul and David returned from battle with the women dancing and singing in celebration. They said that King Saul killed thousands and David tens of thousands. They didn’t do anything other than mention the different numbers for King Saul and David, but King Saul took that as they were going to try to make David king. This caused him to be jealous and suspicious of David, when David hadn’t done anything wrong. It changed their relationship forever.

It can often be the same with us. Someone gets recognized more than we do and instantly we put up a wall. The other person hasn’t done anything wrong, but we act as if they wronged us. It taints our relationships and causes us to lose focus on our real purpose…serving God. We turn our focus to how we can gain recognition from people and not use our talents to serve God. This causes us to struggle and feel like we are merely surviving until the next recognition opportunity. Taking our focus off of ourselves and back on God’s purpose will help us thrive and get recognition and blessings from God.

Walking with God isn’t always easy. There is a misconception that when you follow God, you will not experience any difficulties or hardships. It would be great if we never experienced any trials, but we live in a fallen world where trials will come to us. The good news is God does not intend for us to live in a mindset of defeat. Proverbs 2:7-8 says, “He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones,” (NIV) We have a promise that God is looking out for us and protecting us. When trials come, we have an opportunity to lean into God and let him help us through the difficulty and bring something good from it. He doesn’t want you to merely survive. He wants you to thrive!

Every day we make choices. What route should I take to work? What should I have for dinner? How much time do I have to exercise? We make those choices based on time and what would fit best into the time available. We also make choices about what items are the best. Think about the produce department at the grocery store. How long do you spend examining the fruit and vegetables to find the best one? This idea also transfers to people. Remember when you were in elementary school and someone had to pick teams for recess games? That was an exciting time if you were athletic. You knew you would be chosen early. It was a stressful time if you were not athletic. Nobody wanted to be last. Even today when teams are chosen at work, the leaders think about each person’s level of skills and how it would best contribute to the project.

That is not the case with God. Ephesians 1:4 says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ,” (MSG). Webster’s 1828 dictionary lists “to pick out, to select, to prefer” as definitions of the word choose. Before God created anything, He picked you to be His. He selected you as one of His own. Since He picked you, He has good plans for you. He is ordering your steps and guiding you along the way. But only if you let Him. He doesn’t want you to survive. He wants to lead you to walk in His plan and thrive!

Some days are so hard. You think you know where you are going and what you are supposed to do, and then life happens. Those can be some of the hardest days. You find yourself scrambling to keep moving forward because obstacles keep coming at you. At first it’s easy to refocus and get back on the right path. Then there is another obstacle and another and another. All of a sudden you feel like the Israelites wandering in the desert wondering if there was something you missed, some act of obedience that you didn’t execute. The desert isn’t always disobedience. Sometimes we’re just not ready for what God has. Sometimes there are still lessons that need to be learned or situations that need to be handled differently then how they would be handled before we started our journey.

Don’t give up if you heard from God and are on His path for you. There is a prize at the end of the journey. However, don’t get so focused on the end that you miss all the lessons and blessings during the journey. Those will make the arrival that much sweeter. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you,” (NLT). He personally goes before you and He will not fail you. Don’t stop where you are and decide to survive. Keep going and following God, so you can thrive!

Have you ever been handed a project or a packet of things to do and felt completely overwhelmed? The first thing we do is start sorting through the requirements or looking at what we ultimately want to accomplish. All the tasks cannot be completed at once. There is an order in which the tasks need to be executed for the project to be successful. Getting one piece at a time would be less stressful.

That is how our life is. If God handed us everything he has for us at once, we would be completely overwhelmed. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven,” (AMP). Some of the seasons and times are enjoyable and some are trying. Each one has a purpose and an order. No matter what season you are in, know that it is under God’s plan and working to strengthen your relationship with Him and move you to the next season. It is easy to thrive when you are in the easy season. Most people just want to survive the difficult seasons, but God is still with you and can bless you in that season too. Instead of just surviving, look to God’s word and let Him help you thrive!

No professional athlete wakes up one day and determines to play professionally and then not work or practice until draft day. No lawyer wakes up one day and determines to be a lawyer and does no preparation until walking into the courtroom to try the case. People on the outside of the lives of those mentioned above only see the glamorous part of their lives, the fruits of their labor. Most people don’t see the countless hours of practice, studying, and preparation that led them to their success. The athletes spent hours in the gym conditioning their bodies, hours learning plays, and hours prepping meals to eat healthy to maintain their progress. Lawyers spend hours studying the laws, hours evaluating previous cases, and hours learning all the details of their cases. This doesn’t even account the amount of money those groups invested in their preparation.

It is similar with our faith in God. You might wake up one day and decide to be a follower of God and ask Jesus into your heart. That does not turn you into super-faith Christian overnight. Our faith is built over following God through everything that comes into our lives. Think about Moses. In Exodus 3:10 God tells Moses he heard the cry of the people and is sending Moses to bring the people out of Egypt. Moses proceeds to argue with God about sending him through the rest of chapter 3 into chapter 4 verse 17. Throughout this exchange, God performs some signs for Moses to help him when he meets with Pharaoh. Moses had to obey God and trust him with every step to achieve success. He had to persevere through the doubts to reach the goal. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” (NIV). It is normal to have doubts when things get tough, but don’t just survive. Open the Bible and look for encouraging words from God to help you build your faith and thrive!

In today’s world it’s hard to find something that doesn’t change. Sometimes we even seek the change if our current circumstances are not favorable. God brings about changes in our lives to help us grow as we serve Him. Even though He brings things to help change us, He doesn’t change. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever,” (NASB).” Most of the time when you cross reference different versions of a Bible verse, you find the general message to be the same but with different word usage. This is not the case with this verse. Most of the versions use the same words as the version listed. The Amplified version adds “eternally changeless” and “always”. The message version uses basically the same words but adds an extra sentence, “There should be a consistency that runs through us all,”. That consistency is Jesus. He doesn’t change. Even though we change, He is the consistency that steadies us through our changes. We have to stay close to Him and consistent in our pursuit of Him to allow Him to work through us and bring us to the promises of God. Instead of just surviving, stay consistent in your relationship with God and thrive!

It easy to get wrapped up in the things around you. We get busy. We get involved in things we need to do to keep moving forward every day. Some days don’t go as planned and that’s where there is a choice about how to view your life. Some people tend to lean toward the negative side when they get stressed. They only see all the bad things about what is around them. But we have a choice.

Colossians 3:2 says, “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective,” (MSG).

The end of the first sentence made me stop and read it again. “Act like it.” Too many times, we run around acting just like everyone else. That is not what God wants us to do. No matter what goes on around us, He wants us to act like we have Him as our hope and our future. That simple act speaks more to the people around us than our words most of the time. You can survive the expected twists of each day, or you can act like you live for God and thrive!

Most vehicles today have backup cameras that allow you to see what is directly behind the vehicle, which helps avoid any objects that are in the way. Some of the new, larger vehicles also have a camera that gives an overhead view of the vehicle, which shows the exact position of the vehicle from overhead. This is like what a bird would see when flying over the car.

What would it be like if we had a bird’s eye view of our lives? We all know what is behind us and can see what is in front of us in the immediate future. A bird’s eye view would also show us a broader scope of everything that is around us and what is further down the road. That is like what God sees from His vantage point. He can see a much broader view of our lives and things that are ahead that we are not able to see yet. Remembering that He sees a bird’s eye view of our lives is what helps make sense of things that happen that don’t immediately make sense to us. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good,” (NLT). He sees all the things we can ‘t see and can help guide us and make sense of things that are unexpected and don’t make sense. We can spend our time surviving and trying to figure things out, or we can thrive and trust God to lead us with His bird’s eye view.