I was asked to lead a breakout session on a topic of my choosing at the last debrief my squad had in San Jose, Costa Rica. It has been on my heart and mind for most of the race to talk to my squad about persevering in their relationship with God after the race. Much of my squad is younger than me, and I often see my younger self in them at times. There are many things I wish I had known about being a Christian in the ‘real world.’
This blog is going to be a recap of the talk I gave my squamates. Sometimes it is difficult to put into words what was originally spoken as a conversation. I’m going to try. Here goes..
I am a work in progress. Please submit everything I say to the Lord and ask Him if you should apply it to your life. I’m going to give you some practical info and share some of my journey in hopes it’ll help you in your journey. I am going to break this up into three sections: personal, social, and professional. Some of it is very practical, and some of it is just some things I have learned and think is wise. My heart for each and every one of you is that you’d be passionately in love with Jesus all the days of your life and to walk with Him your whole life. That you’d always want more of Jesus, never give up, and always press into Jesus no matter what season of life you are in. That you’d partner with God in everything and invite God in to every area of your life. That you’d always be hungry for more.
Psalm 92: 12-15 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.”
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Personal: is about us living out of delight and love for God. It is just pure relationship with God.
- The greatest commandment is to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. So practically, I will try to tell God daily, “I love you, God.” Or “God, have I told you that I love you today?” It is just about falling more in love with God.
- Time with the Lord is always time gained, never time wasted. Sometimes I ask God to do time multiplication tables and multiply my efficiency and time. There have been seasons of my life where my schedule logistically just didn’t make sense. God blessed it though. The Bible also makes reference to redemptive time.
- From time with God, we really solidify our identity. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus, you are a son or daughter of God. God is Alpha, Omega, Almighty King. You don’t have to do something to prove who you are, you are a son & daughter of God. A lot of times Satan comes at us with ‘what are you doing? Look at what you’re doing.’ It is not about what we are doing. It is about who we are. As a daughter or son of God, you are royalty, and time with God teaches you who He created you to be, how to act and live life.
- When we look into God’s eyes, we see who we really are.
- God put you in Jesus and Jesus in you so he’s always satisfied and pleased with you. God is NOT mad at you or sin. Jesus took care of God’s anger towards sin by dying on the cross. Sometimes I get frustrated with myself, it’s good to recognize the difference though. That I’m frustrated with myself, but God isn’t mad at me.
- to live a life of worship. Worship has so many different forms. It’s not always churchy things. Inviting God into every area of our lives, the mundane things, like washing the dishes/cooking. Our praise and worship should be increasing ever year. When children of God start to worship, demons flee and heaven comes.
- God knows our hearts as we go thru different seasons of life. In PA school, I was reading and studying all day every day. I had no desire to read anymore than I was already reading. So I would read one verse or one chapter a day in the Bible and ask God to use that time and bless it. No legalism, just ebb and flow relationship with God.
- PA school was a VERY stressful time in life. So much anxiety, worry, and stress. So I basically wrapped myself in worship, cocooned myself with worship music so to speak because the spiritual warfare was so strong. In my apartment, in the car, or studying, anytime I could listen to music I’d have worship music on. Just bathed in worship to have peace in such a stressful environments. It got to a point that coming home in the Spirit it was such a safe place, like a beautiful lush life-giving garden/forest.
- really sitting with the Lord and asking God, what are my standards?
- Being above reproach (Romans 14:13-17 Scripture about causing others to stumble).
- Putting to death our own darkness and slaying our own darkness to live righteously. It is about being honest with yourself and acknowledging your own evil and bringing it before God. God is the safest person to show our messedupness and darkness to. To conqueror evil out there in the world, we have to conqueror it within ourself first. You cannot give others what you haven’t given yourself or conqueror in the world what you haven’t concurred within yourself.
Practical habits to implement:
- daily time with God, ie praying, worshipping, reading the Bible
- church weekly
- memorizing Scripture (has given me strength to overcome sin and challenges in life that I otherwise did not have the strength to do.)
- fasting weekly (even if it is just one meal, God can use it)
- Spiritual retreat/conference yearly.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anythings,” but I will not be mastered by anything.” 1 Corinthians 6:12
“Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.” 1 Corinthians 6
Social:
- My Granddad always told me, “You can never have too many friends.”
- The Lord lately has been telling me to, “Love deeply.”
- Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Loving yourself completely in the midst of all your shortcomings and failures. So when someone else rejects you, you’re not devastated because you fully accept yourself not matter what. I even tell myself, “I will ALWAYS be with you and love you.”
- the main friends or I’d possibly go as far to say the only friends in your life should be only people who encourage you and speak life over you. I like to think of it as “No rocks in your pockets.” Lol. Life is hard enough at baseline without people pulling and weighing you down as well. Sometimes it’s better put certain people in the balcony and love them from a distance if they are continually hurting you or bringing you down. (Open and honest communication is key to healthy relationships though. If one is not communicating their wants/desires/needs from the relationship, then there will likely be difficulties. This is difficult to entirely cover/discuss right now. I’d recommend just asking God for wisdom on your community.)
- Some people will only walk a portion of your journey with you, and they may purposefully choose to leave your life, even Christians. And that is okay, even though it maybe very hurtful. I’ve heard before, “Rejection is God’s protection.” And God moving someone out of your life is because He doesn’t want them in your future.
- Jesus not being surprised by man failing him (ex of Peter in Matthew 16:23). Us having proper expectations of people.
- prioritizing Christian community.
- Take inventory of your life, what needs to stay and maybe be more or less of and who needs to go?
- Psalm 1:1 “ Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take.” and bad company corrupts good character
- making sure to always be encouraging and equipping others (ie, making disciples) so God can and will pour more into you. My host in South Africa told us, “The goal is always to have more of God.” That’s so true. Often times, God will give us more because He trusts us to give away what He has given us.
Practical habits to implement:
- small group/Bible study weekly
- sowing seeds and pouring into your core group (ride or die people) every week (for me I have 4 people that I pretty much talk to every week)
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” -Romans 12:9-10
Professional: what is success for you?
- determine what is success for you
- setting up your professional life so that it allows you to live the personal and social life you want to live
- A saying we would say at my last job was, “You live and die by your schedule.” Getting a schedule out and setting your schedule up to live and thrive by it.
- time management. There’s 168 hours in a week. Subtract the time you need to sleep, eat, work, workout, social life, church, serving others, etc. Then look at your schedule and determin if it your schedule sets you up for success by what your definition of success is. I’d definitely pray a lot about this.
- living by a personal culture of honor that flows into your professional life
- could be tempted to compromise your core values as a person. Luke 16:10-12 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own.”
- Deciding you’re going to do it Gods way before you even start making decisions or plans and then when options come up, you’ve already decided and you just pick WWJD
- Deciding how you will live before you live. Excellence and integrity in everything (stewardship, we will all have to stand before God one day and give account for our lives.)
- Being afraid of disobedience, getting to a point of surrender, wanting to surrender, co-laboring with God.
- Sometimes God let’s us decide the what and He navigates the how. Follow peace.
- still doing things outside of work that refresh you. Don’t get on the rat race. Money comes, and it goes. The only thing you can’t get more in life is time. I try to aim to do one bucket list item per year.
- Tithing 10% of gross income. God can do more with 90% of my income than I can do with 100%. There have been times in my life where my finances didn’t make sense or logically add up. Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” I think this Scripture can be applied to time as well.
- I highly recommend reading: Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The last 2 aren’t Christian books per say. I like the authors mindsets though.
- I think a lot of people, even Christians, have a poverty mindset and that is NOT of God.
Practical habits to implement:
- set boundaries on work (ex. I will only work ____ amount of hours per week)
- setting aside time each week to serve others
- Tithing 10% of gross income
Philippians 2:12 “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling , for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these times will be added to you.”
My Dad has always told me, “It’s not about how smart you are. It’s about what choices you make.”
What will you do with your life? Will you seek God and His Kingdom?
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My team and I are currently in Panama City working with a branch of CRU, called Student Led Ministry. We will be here till the 27th. It’s rainy season here in Panama, and it rains approximately 3xs per day. The people are very nice here.
Keep your head up! You are loved.
Blessings and Love,
Amanda
