Path to Wholeness

Staying Focused on Jesus

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In my last blog, “Do you Believe God will Provide”? I reflected on the miraculous feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6). Several chapters later when Jesus wants to feed four thousand the disciples ask, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed these people out here in the wilderness” (Mark 8:4). Why would they ask this when Jesus had already provided food for 5,000?

Part of the answer appears a few verses later when Jesus questions them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you catch on? Are your minds closed? Are you blind and deaf? Don’t you remember? (Mark 8:17-18, NOG). Then he reminds them about both of the miracles he had done and all the food left over (Mark 8:19-21).

God spoke to my heart as I meditated on this scripture. I wanted to have a tender heart, instead of a stubborn one. I desired an open mind and a willing spirit that could help me stay in connection with God. I wanted to have eyes that were focused on him so I could see what he’s doing. And I wanted ears that were sensitive to hearing and recognizing his voice. What was their experience saying to me?

I believe the disciples were more concerned with what THEY CAN’T DO, instead of what JESUS CAN DO.  They have allowed their attention to shift from Jesus to their present challenge. Scripture is clear that it’s essential to keep our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2). Even the Psalmist says, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psa. 16:8, NIV, bold added). Staying focused on Jesus allows us to have a sense of God’s presence every moment. And it is the presence of Jesus that keeps the enemy at a distance and protects our heart from unbelief and anxiety.  Here are two things that help me stay focused on Jesus:

First, I use a hand exercise you can find in my book, “Peace in Anxious Times”. Put your Right hand in front of your face; this represents a focus on Christ. Then put your Left hand behind your Right hand; your problem is now behind Jesus and harder to see. Right?

Now when you get anxious about a problem, doing the hand exercise can remind you that you have allowed the problem to become your focus. Simply put your hands in front of your face (Left hand in front) and exchange the position of your hands so Christ will now be in front of your face and your focus. Remind yourself that with Christ as your focus, you will not be shaken (Psa. 16:8). Then breathe deeply and visualize Christ’s presence and peace flooding you. Your anxiety can then dissolve. Staying focused on Jesus is the key!

Secondly, I reset my schedule to prioritize a more consistent morning time with God, since being in his presence strengthens me for times when I might be tempted to lose my focus on Him.I was reminded of the illustration where you put some large rocks in a jar until it is filled to the top. You ask, “Is it full?” Yes! Then you add some small pebbles to the jar and they go into the small spaces around the rocks. And you ask? “Is it full?” Yes. Then you put some sand in and you fill all the places that the rocks and pebbles haven’t filled. Then you ask one more time, “Is it full?” Yes, yes, yes!

The rocks represent the priorities in our life, the most important things to do each day. The pebbles represent things we are able to do but they are not our first priorities. The sand represents the distractions and time wasters in our life. Unfortunately, the sand is where we sometimes spend most of our day. Things like, social media, running errands, watching TV, or allowing people and situations to demand too much of our time.

I would encourage you to sit down and make a list of what your rocks, pebbles, and sand are right now. And then, what do you want them to be? After that, come up with a schedule that allows you to prioritize the essentials and minimize the time wasters. I decided to schedule all of my appointments on one or two days a week when possible. Then I try to keep the other days open for things that are the most important priorities in my life. I can tell you that this has been a helpful process for me. There have been a few days that I couldn’t control, but overall I have been more effective in keeping my time with God and my other priorities. If you fill your day with pebbles and sand first, there will be no room for the rocks (your priorities)!

I also purchased a bible that had a lot of space for journaling, so I could not only read the Word but apply it to my life. I try to spend time each day thanking God (or writing in my Gratitude Journal), worshipping him with some worship songs on my phone, and doing 2-way journaling (between me and God) so I can hear God’s voice. It’s easier to just read the ‘words’ of the Bible, but that will keep God at an arm’s length in your life.

So, use the “Hand exercise” when you have lost your focus on Jesus. And be proactive in prioritizing time with God. Both of these will help you keep your eyes on Jesus! Always remember – Staying focused on Jesus is the Key!

(I’d love to know how you are doing as you try these two things. There is a place under the title of this blog for you to respond. (If you want to be aware of when I publish new blog posts, subscribe at “Get Updates” to be notified.)

Do you Believe God will Provide?

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Down deep, do you believe God will provide for you? Do you think Jesus can feed five thousand men with only a few loaves of bread? Well, there’s a story like this in the bible and it’s the only miracle that all four of the gospels record (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14). Maybe you’ve heard this story before, but let’s see if there’s something new we can discover from it.

Jesus felt sorry for the crowd when they ran out of food during his 3-day teaching & healing summit. The disciples had no idea how they were supposed to find enough food for 5,000 men, plus the women and children, in this isolated place. The reality was that they only had 7 loaves of bread and were far from any nearby town (Mark 8:2-3). But to their surprise, Jesus instructed the crowd to sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties and then for the disciples to feed the crowd.

Arranging them in an orderly fashion accomplished several things. It saved the disciples time in distributing food, it insured everyone would be fed, and it gave them the ability to know how many were served so that the miracle couldn’t be challenged by the Pharisees or other naysayers. But hang on, there’s even more to this orderly process.

Jesus cares about the whole person even their digestive system, which works best when mealtime is peaceful and orderly. Several women have shared with me the chaos they repeatedly experienced during mealtime. They revealed how their husband or father chose the family eating time to criticize and unleash his anger on them. They found it easier to keep their heads down, their eyes on their food, and focus on eating in order to avoid his eyes and the pain he was inflicting. Throughout life they struggled with weight issues, eating disorders, or digestive issues. Their bodies were in the fight-n-flight mode during mealtime, which caused their digestion to function poorly. But in this setting, Jesus offered the crowd a peaceful and well-ordered mealtime. Are your meals peaceful and enjoyable? Are you eating with a sense of thankfulness? Do you mindfully eat, noticing the look, smell, taste, and feel of the food? Or is your time spent checking your phone or watching a favorite TV show? 

The groups of hundreds and fifties were described in an interesting way. They “looked like a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on the green grass” (Jn. 6:39, Amp). This reminds me of the words of Jesus when he spoke of the lilies of the field, “Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They do not work or weave or sew, and yet their garments are stunning (Matt. 6:28, Voice). Do you know why? It’s because their heavenly father takes care of them and will take care of you too. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else… and he will give you everything you need” (Matt. 6:33, NLT). Do you try to meet your own daily physical and emotional needs? Does this result in a life of busyness and exhaustion? Do you believe God will provide for you?

When the meal ended, everyone had plenty to eat and was fully satisfied (Mark 6:42). The Greek word for satisfied is ‘chortazo’ which means ‘to be full’ or ‘to supply food in abundance’. Chortazo is also used in Matt. 6:42 when Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be (‘chortazo’) satisfied.” That day on the hillside Jesus was just as interested in feeding the multitude’s spiritual hunger, as their physical appetite. And in the process, their emotional needs of feeling loved, cared for, and connected to others were satisfied as well. Is your spiritual, emotional, and physical appetite being ‘chortazo’ satisfied or are you always looking for something else to fill your needs? Do you believe God will provide for you?

Before Jesus had the disciples serve the crowd, he took the loaves of bread and did an action that he would repeat in the upper room right before his death. “Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to His disciples who distributed the bread to the crowd (Mark 8:6, bold print added). I believe that when they would hear these words of Jesus again, they would recall how he had multiplied the bread that day in order to feed their hunger. But a new twist to the story, another miracle, would have taken place as well. That bread would now represent his body that would be broken on a cross for them. It would be God’s provision for them and for us? In my next blog, we will reflect more on this miracle. As Paul Harvey used to say, “Stay tuned for the rest of the story”!

Managing Anxious Times

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Managing Anxious Times: A Holistic Approach

Managing Anxious Times is not easy! My book Peace in Anxious Times was finally published in November 2016! You can purchase it on Amazon.com in a kindle or print format. cover-sample-2

Today we are experiencing a lot of anxiety in the US and around the world! However, I have some ideas for managing anxious times in this fast-paced world!

Anxiety has physical symptoms, as well as emotional. It can appear as a sense of fear and worry or a feeling of being overwhelmed. It can cause our body to go into “fight & flight” mode, which is unhealthy when it happens too often.

In Peace in Anxious Times, I offer you multiple ways for managing anxious times. Here are just a few.

Ways for Managing Anxious Times 

  • Your breath is always accessible and should be your first awareness when you become anxious. Breathing exercises can activate your body’s relaxation response and help your body go from the fight-or-flight response to a relaxed response. 
    1. Allow your breath to flow UP one side of your body as you inhale in through your nose
    2. Then exhale as you go down the other side of your body
    3. Repeat four times; then reverse the order, beginning on the other side of your body
  • Make sure you are drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy foods that offer you vitamins like magnesium, Vitamin B, Omega 3 fatty acids, and calcium, which assist you in staying calm.
  • Begin thanking God for everything you can think of. It’s hard to be anxious and thankful at the same time!
  • Mindfulness and meditation are also excellent practices to do. They help you focus on God, as well as help you stay in the present moment where his help and power are available.
  • Music is another wonderful resource for anxiety. You may want to listen to music, play music, sing, or even move to music. They all have wonderful benefits that can help you.
  • Physical exercise can be helpful. It releases hormones called endorphins, creating a more positive feeling within us.

My book, Peace in Anxious Times will also give you a 30-day interactive spiritual formation experience that uses God as your power source. It will also offer you stories of real people who have found ways to deal with their own anxiety. I invite you to join me in finding peace for your anxious times!

Forgiveness Challenge

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A Forgiveness Challenge can be harder than climbing Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain! “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive” , states C.S. Lewis. Have you found that lovely changes to ugly when someone hurts or offends you?

There are a number of ways to deal with an offense. First, you ignore the situation and act like it didn’t bother you. Second, you refuse to forgive. Third, you attempt to forgive but sense your resentment coming back again. These three responses will probably have no affect on the person that hurt you, but can cause disease, health issues, and a rise in your own stress hormones. Holding on to a resentment can be compared to carrying a corpse on your back. It will eventually cause your healthy tissue to rot and decay, literally eating away at your own skin at some point.

Maybe a better way to see forgiveness is as a “shift in thinking” (Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky). Forgiveness is not necessarily so much for the person who has hurt you as it is for you. I once had a counselor say that the person who betrayed me was “my best teacher”. Did she not bring out in me the things God most wanted to change? Good point, I said! My thinking shifted that day to seeing it as a benefit instead of a detriment.

When you forgive, you must cancel the debt. This means you do not go collecting on it at a later time or continue bringing it up. You will know that forgiveness has taken place when your emotions are no longer stirred when you think of the person or situation.

The old English word for forgive means to “give completely”. Instead of holding on to a hurt we “let go” of it, releasing the effect it has on us personally. In other words, it is a “gift we give ourselves” (Tony Robbins). True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” (Oprah Winfrey)

crossDuring this season we are reminded of Jesus who came to earth to die, “letting go” of his rights in order to offer us forgiveness…even when we didn’t deserve it. This reminds us that we can forgive the inexcusable in others because God has forgiven the inexcusable in us. I encourage you to take the Forgiveness Challenge today!