Balancing Act

The first words of 1 Peter 5:8 in the Amplified Bible say simply, “Be well balanced…”

Those three words have been rattling around in my brain for a few weeks now with a multitude of ideas about how they can apply to almost anything.

With this being Super Bowl week, I thought about how each team has to prepare a well balanced game plan for their offense and defense. The sports guys call it a balanced attack. If one team’s offense only passes or only runs the ball, the other team will figure it out and shut them down. Same goes for the different types of defensive schemes each team uses.

What’s that got to do w/ our game plan to (BE)TTER? We have all heard someone say, “Everything in moderation,” right? Well, there is a lot of truth to that way of thinking.

It helps when we realize that our whole lives are made up of only about 7 main areas. So for example, if we spend all our time at work and focused on money, then our health, emotions, relationships, spirituality and everything else gets neglected. We may get off balance and get knocked over.

My point: Spread the love. Focus on the big picture to bring balanced Better Life.

Too Hard To Handle

More lessons from the dentist’s chair…

Thinking I heard the dentist wrong, I asked him to repeat it. “You’re brushing your teeth too hard,” he said. “Really? Too hard? I didn’t even know that was possible,” I said. ” Yes. It is. You’ve been brushing the enamel off of them. It’s best to just brush them very lightly.” Ah, who knew? I thought I had been doing good by scrubbing ‘em like there’s no tomorrow.

Sometimes I think we try too hard to be perfect in some areas of our lives. We end up stressing out, worrying ourselves sick because we aren’t as far along as we want to be, which actually does more damage than good.

An enlightening idea on how to handle that heavy trip comes from 1 Peter 5:7 where he says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

That’s good advice. Let’s quit being so hard on ourselves. Learn to loosen that tight grip, let go and let God’s Spirit lighten our load, that way we will
(BE)TTER.*

Do or Don’t

Sitting in the dentist chair after my check-up as Dr. Fang (yes, that’s his real name) told me I had 2 new cavities made me feel a bit irresponsible. He said the fact that the bad spots were in between the teeth indicated I had not been flossing like I should.

He was right. That’s what got me. Flossing? Sheesh! Since I was in kindergarten I’ve known I should floss. The whole drilling and filling extravaganza could have been avoided if I would’ve just taken the time to do what I already knew to do.

James 4:17 in The Message says, “In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.”

There is our lesson. So many times in our quest to (BE)TTER, we already know inside what we should or shouldn’t do. If we just keep taking it one day at a time and training ourselves to follow those instincts, we will avoid bad spots and find fulfillment.

Work It

I was thinking about how the whole idea to (BE)TTER can sometimes become a little too much for us. We think, “What’s wrong with the way I am? I don’t need to change. There are too many rules. It just seems like a lot of work.”Those are the times when we have to pause and realize we’re making it way too complicated. Jesus had a knack for explaining things in such simple terms, like when He said in John 6:29:”The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”Pretty simple, right? He was referring to Himself – the One the Father sent to earth to BE the Better Life for us. When we make getting better too much work, you and I have to remind ourselves to simply believe in Jesus. We all believe in something anyway. Even if you say, “I don’t believe in anything,” that is your belief. You might as well put your belief to work on something instead of nothing.An old saying we all probably heard a parent or teacher tell us at least once while growing up is, “Anything worth having is worth working for.”In this case, our work to (BE)TTER is as easy as making a regular habit of expressing our belief IN Jesus TO Jesus. It provides Him with an all-access pass to escort Better Life through every arena of our lives.Make a quick work of it by simply saying, “Jesus I believe in you. I need you to please help me to (BE)TTER.”

Mind Over Matter

Sitting in Green Bay’s Lambeau Field Sunday night, I’ve never felt such a huge wave of disappointment as when 72,000 people sat literally frozen in stunned silence as their Packers lost in overtime. A trip to the Super Bowl lost, everyone then slowly shuffled out of the stadium with muted despair and disbelief hanging in the frigid air above our heads. Its almost like a wet blanket was thrown over the whole state’s pre-planned celebration.

This brings up a good question: As people trying our best to (BE)TTER, What do we do when things don’t go the way we planned?

As always, the Bible’s got an answer. Psalm 42:5 says:

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.”

It is completely natural to feel down about undesired outcomes for a little while. But it seems to me when that frustration lingers in our mood too long, we need to exercise our minds over the matter. We  have to decide to ditch the despair and, like the old song says, “put on a happy face.”

Praying, hoping and trusting that even though a door closed, God will open a new window of opportunity promotes a Better Life. Make sense to you?

Completely Covered

The other day I saw an article called ‘The Doom Boom’ about how pop culture is increasingly interested in apocalyptic themes.  Evidently people enjoy being scared by various portrayals of the end of life as we know it.

Even if it is not the end of the world, we often go through life-altering events that leave us feeling slightly unsettled and nearly paranoid.

Aware that we would encounter heavyweight bouts with impending doom, God detailed the comprehensive coverage of His insurance plan for us in the Amplified version of Isaiah 41:10:

“Fear not, there is nothing to fear, for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you, yes; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand of rightness and justice.”

The end of the world may make for a fascinating book or movie plot, but that or any other catastrophic event in this world doesn’t have to be frightening when we’re doing our best to (BE)TTER by staying close to God. Knowing we have nothing to fear brings a reassurance what we are covered and quiet confidence comes from knowing “He’s got the whole world in His hands.”

Our better lives are in better hands than Allstate’s.

Hope Chest

Lately hopelessness has been bringing a lot of good people down. So many of us have this picture in our minds of the way we wish things were but almost get depressed because in reality we feel so far away from it. Numb as we go through the motions of life, the dull ache in our chest grows as the hope in our heart fades.

Occasionally we all need a little reminder that the road of life is not always a smooth ride paved with gold, there are pot holes and pit stops along the way.

There are points in the journey that are genuinely golden like milestone achievements and new opportunities, but our challenge is during the rough patches and long stretches in the road where nothing on earth even seems to be happening. That is when disappointment and frustration can set in and cause hope to falter.

To x-ray our chest pains, look what God said in Isaiah 49:23: “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

So the question is, where is your hope?
In order to melt the pain and (BE)TTER, we have to make sure the hope in our chest is not only in things on earth, but it’s anchored in heaven.

Close Enough

Something I’ve been thinking about is what is the best way for us to know what we are supposed to do in life? How can we make, not just the major decisions like who to marry or what career path to follow, but how can we feel good about every choice we face – those extra large ones and the everyday ones?

I am so glad we have the Bible because it always seems to answer my never-ending stream of questions. Jesus was asking His disciples about who most people of that time thought He was and they gave various descriptions based on what they had heard. Then in Matthew 16:15,16 He made it personal:

“But what about you?” He asked, “Who do you say I am?” Simon answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Others had a different view on who Jesus was but Simon was close enough to have developed a personal understanding of who Jesus really was. After Simon declared that he knew Jesus was God’s Son, Jesus re-named him Peter and revealed to him part of his overall purpose and what he was supposed to do in his life. Peter’s purpose was to help establish the church by speaking, healing and teaching others the way to have a Better Life.

So the way I see it, as you and I decide to (BE)TTER by getting closer to God, He reveals more and more of His purpose for our personal lives along with the specific paths to choose  to make it happen.

Critical Cure

Are you like me, acting as your own harshest critic, often being too hard on yourself from the inside?

I think it is good to be self-correcting but I also think we take it way too far at times. We often willingly ride the downward spiral of negativity to the point of sapping life and energy from our own selves. With help from the enemy of our souls whispering destructive suggestions to us about why we are a loser, stupid, lazy or selfish among other ugly traits, our self-image can take a serious beating.

How do we combat this sick cycle to
(BE)TTER? Jesus told us in John 5:24:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Probably one of the most significant findings in psychology in recent years is that we have the ability to change the way we think. Our thoughts are not just the reactions to what we see and hear; they actually change what happens next.

The most effective way I have found to rise above getting down on myself is to read God’s words, then choose to think and act as if they’re true. That way I can quit thinking thoughts that are killing me and resume living my Better Life.

Preferential Treatment

I spoke at the wedding of a good friend of mine this past weekend and one of the Scriptures I read from Ephesians 5:25 resonates with a key to Better Life:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

The context is that when a couple gets married, the husband’s love for his wife should be so expressive and evident that he would lay down his life to save her if the situation called for it. What a wake-up call for so many of us men to raise the level of tangible evidence of our love of the one we married.

The principle is applicable beyond just marriage relationships and really should be our standard for any and all human interaction. We show love to our God by showing love to our spouses, friends, family and anyone we encounter.

Maintaining a mentality of preferential treatment of others over ourselves is a theraputic way to (BE)TTER in every area of daily life.