Life from the Inside
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" - King Solomon (Proverbs 4:23)
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." - King Solomon (Proverbs 16:9)
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of hat for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." - The Apostle Paul (Philipians 3:12)
In my mentoring group, we have started to read through and discuss "The 9 things you simply must do" by Henry Cloud. It is a book about learning to embody the principles and traits that people who are successful (defined as "life works for them") employ. This is actually a re-read for me and I've enjoyed discussing and applying the principles from the book into my own world and bouncing ideas off of the guys in the group.
One thing that I keep coming back to often is this idea that "What exists in the visible world always originates in the invisible world of the soul." Or, stated in another way, "life flows from the inside." What I am realizing as I noodle through this and think about my own inner life... that of dreams, motives, desires, emotions, etc is that there is so much POTENTIAL stored up in my heart (and yours too). In the brokenness of our lives, there is potential... and in the God-breathed dreams and desires placed within us so much potential for greatness.
The question is... how am I guarding this thing called my "heart" (or soul, or true person... probably a better way to define)? We get SO busy (at least I do) with what's going on with urgent life stuff that it's so easy to put my life on cruise and go seasons without nurturing it... kind of like Adam Sandler's character in the movie "Click" where he fast forwards his life and while he's there physically he isn't there experientially. Is this a disservice? Am I paying attention to what's going on in my inner world and cultivating the potential for greatness and weeding out the negative? I for one would rather pursue my dreams wholeheartedly than just exist... there seems as if there's so many opportunities for "existence" out there though that the "click" FF button can run rampant... and in the process am I missing out on cultivating my potential?
Not on this watch. Why settle for mediocrity? Especially when God has great things in store for us that he has given each of us dreams in our hearts for that once dug up from our hearts and cultivated can turn into something beautiful. I believe that He wants us to participate in this great adventure that is His story and that He has given us dreams to pursue our part in it through a relationship with him... one that He is inviting us to participate fully into. And the prize... to reclaim more of the potential we have and make God smile as we live out what we were created for.
Heck - even Paul knew the best was yet to come. And look what he did with the life he was given :-)
that's my thought from the bottom of the Cold Stone cup for today.
chris <><
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." - King Solomon (Proverbs 16:9)
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of hat for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." - The Apostle Paul (Philipians 3:12)
In my mentoring group, we have started to read through and discuss "The 9 things you simply must do" by Henry Cloud. It is a book about learning to embody the principles and traits that people who are successful (defined as "life works for them") employ. This is actually a re-read for me and I've enjoyed discussing and applying the principles from the book into my own world and bouncing ideas off of the guys in the group.
One thing that I keep coming back to often is this idea that "What exists in the visible world always originates in the invisible world of the soul." Or, stated in another way, "life flows from the inside." What I am realizing as I noodle through this and think about my own inner life... that of dreams, motives, desires, emotions, etc is that there is so much POTENTIAL stored up in my heart (and yours too). In the brokenness of our lives, there is potential... and in the God-breathed dreams and desires placed within us so much potential for greatness.
The question is... how am I guarding this thing called my "heart" (or soul, or true person... probably a better way to define)? We get SO busy (at least I do) with what's going on with urgent life stuff that it's so easy to put my life on cruise and go seasons without nurturing it... kind of like Adam Sandler's character in the movie "Click" where he fast forwards his life and while he's there physically he isn't there experientially. Is this a disservice? Am I paying attention to what's going on in my inner world and cultivating the potential for greatness and weeding out the negative? I for one would rather pursue my dreams wholeheartedly than just exist... there seems as if there's so many opportunities for "existence" out there though that the "click" FF button can run rampant... and in the process am I missing out on cultivating my potential?
Not on this watch. Why settle for mediocrity? Especially when God has great things in store for us that he has given each of us dreams in our hearts for that once dug up from our hearts and cultivated can turn into something beautiful. I believe that He wants us to participate in this great adventure that is His story and that He has given us dreams to pursue our part in it through a relationship with him... one that He is inviting us to participate fully into. And the prize... to reclaim more of the potential we have and make God smile as we live out what we were created for.
Heck - even Paul knew the best was yet to come. And look what he did with the life he was given :-)
that's my thought from the bottom of the Cold Stone cup for today.
chris <><
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