Month: September 2014

Practice the Jesus Pace

Read below for another example of the email devotionals you will receive from me if you sign up for the 12-Day Addicted to Busy Challenge.  To get these short and encouraging emails for 12 days, sign up here.

 

We can learn a lot about how to pace ourselves if we look at how Jesus paced himself. In this step, we’ll look at a few simple ways to live at the Jesus Pace tomorrow:

  • The Jesus Pace is rhythmic. Take a look at your schedule for tomorrow, keeping in mind Jesus’s propensity to engage, engage, engage, and then withdraw. In the course of tomorrow’s plans, where will you withdraw and allow yourself to rest? Go ahead and block the time or times now. Decide when you will withdraw, and then tomorrow, commit to doing just that.
  • The Jesus Pace is relational. Specific quiet times alone with God are great, but even greater is a constant flow of communication over the course of a given day. Just for tomorrow, see if you can’t raise your awareness of his presence and his power, and then chat with him as you go about your day. Tell him what’s on your heart as you walk from one meeting into the next. Ask him for discernment as you engage in conversation with a friend or associate. Practice chatting with God all throughout the day, and see if the interactions don’t work wonders for your spirit by the time you lay your head down that night.
  • The Jesus Pace is resolute. As you walk through tomorrow’s agenda, insist on choosing peace. When your toddler is throwing a tantrum, take a deep breath and simply choose peace. When your boss is demanding an impossible deadline, simply choose peace. When there is traffic and construction and the guy behind you is laying on his horn, choose peace. When the annoying family member calls or the needy friend texts, take a step back from the situation and determine in your heart to choose peace. Say the words aloud if that helps you: “I. Choose. Peace.” But whatever you do, make peace your choice.

 

Get ready: once you’ve practiced the Jesus pace for a day, you will want to do it more often.

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Breaking Busy – Step One

This is the first devotional I am sending to anyone who signs up for the 12-Day Addicted to Busy Challenge. You will get a similar email every day encouraging you to embrace the rhythms of life modeled by Jesus. If you want to sign up, click here.

We are all spread too thin, taking on more than we can handle, trying to do so much—almost as if we are afraid that if we were to take a moment of rest, we might discover that all our busyness is covering up an essential lack in our lives.

But God never meant for us to be so busy. God desires for us peace. God desires rest.

The first step to breaking your addiction to busy:

Acknowledging unhealthy rhythms

Even the healthiest and holiest people have some rhythms that don’t serve them well.

Maybe you chronically sign up for more than your soul’s capacity will allow. Perhaps you need to be needed. Maybe you consistently neglect to carve out time to spend with God each day, or you “come down” from a workweek in a less-than-stellar way.

Think about your own life—your own daily ebbs and flows. What rhythms aren’t serving you well? Which could stand to be adjusted or altogether removed?

What to do:

On a sheet of paper or in your journal, jot down the unhealthy rhythms that come to mind. Don’t worry yet with how to change them; we’ll deal with that later. For now, simply get them down in writing so that they’re top of mind as we walk through this together.

 

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