Being in Sync With God Changes Everything
This week in the Dispatch:
Some new Quick Hits
Tap Code is a special book
The Awesome Marriage Podcast deals with expectations
In Insights, “Who Are You?”
Challenges to think about
A final thought to get “in sync” with God
This Week’s Quick Hits:
Thoughts can’t be erased, they have to be replaced. You have to create a new track to your life’s soundtrack and let that be praise. Let that be worship. Let that be faith, not fear, because fear is faith in the enemy.” Levi Lusko, Take Back Your Life
Nancy and I are playing “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” on Alexa each day. We are playing as a team. So far, our best is four questions away from the big one!
I think this site is interesting concerning COVID-19 testing: https://www.rapidtests.org/
BOOK
Tap Code by Carlyle S. Harris
This book is special. It tells the true never-before-told details of underground operations during the Vietnam War. Captain Carlyle “Smitty” Harris was the sixth American POW captured during the air war over North Vietnam. The story of confinement, torture, and abuse at the “Hanoi Hilton” is horrific but is overshadowed by the bravery, ingenuity, and strong will of these amazing soldiers. The book is twofold. As Smitty tells his story, his wife, Louise, also tells hers. As one of the first POW wives of the Vietnam War, she became an advocate for her family and a strong role model for other wives. It’s a story of the horrors of war and the love of two people. From the first pages we know this captivity will last eight years but that is only the beginning of the story. I was equally fascinated by both Smitty’s story and Louise’s. This is a book that will impact your life for a long time.
Podcast:
Awesome Marriage Podcast
This week's topic on the Awesome Marriage Podcast is “4 Rules For Expectations.”
Unmet and unclear expectations can do major damage in your marriage and are a main source of conflict. Join Christina and me as we share some tips from our friends at Emotionally Healthy Leader that we think will help you better understand and implement healthy expectations in your marriage. This is a podcast you don’t want to miss!
Insights:
Who are you? I mean, who are you really? If all the people in your life wrote down their description of you, what would they say? What would your coworkers say? What would your kids say? What about your spouse? What about the checker at your grocery store? Then there are the people in your church and those in your small group. Don't forget your neighbors. If each of them organized their description of you into bullet points, what would that look like? Would the lists be the same, similar, or very different? Of all the lists, whose would be the most positive and whose would be the most negative? If you listed the relationships in your life in the order of importance to you, would their lists reflect that order of importance?
That’s a lot of questions. Maybe I lost you at “who are you?” This is an exercise that I do every so often. Honestly, I don’t do it because I want to! I do it because, for me, I need to. I start with me. Who am I? Who is the person that only God and me really know? Is that the person God created me to be? I usually spend a lot of time on that question.
There are times in my life when I believe that I am really in sync with God. I feel close to Him. Doing His will for my life is a no-brainer. It’s like I really get it! Then things change. Instead of feeling close to Him, I feel distant. Doing His will for my life takes a backseat to my will for my life. I don’t get it. Do you ever feel this way? The guy named Paul who wrote most of the New Testament felt that way. He asked himself, “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do and not do the things I know I should?” That doesn’t solve my problem, it just puts me in good company.
The more I am in sync with God, the more the lists of the people in my life are the same or similar. It’s the ripple effect. If I am living my life for God, everybody in my life sees that. That is who I want to be. That is what I strive for every day. Some days I make it and others I don’t but whatever happens God's love for me does not change. He is right there each day to help me get back on track. You see, He never moves or changes. The moving and changing is me. Now back to you. Where are you with God today? Where do you want to be? In this chaotic world we are living in today, being in sync with God may never have been more important. The people in our lives need to see Jesus in us. They need to see that being in sync with God changes everything. If every Christian was in sync with God, this world would be a different and much better place. It starts with me and you. Are you in?
Challenge:
How do you answer the question, “Who are you?”
How would the people in your life answer that question?
What does being “in sync” with God mean to you?
Final Thought
Being in sync with God happens when we spend time with Him. It is a process of learning, talking and listening. Commit to three things every day that will get you in sync with God.
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