Posts Tagged ‘Reset Button’

How is your thought LIFE?

Posted: July 19, 2015 in Something to think about
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thoughts

Are you one of those guys who just absolutely LOVE’S competition? Over the years, I have found that I am a guy who turn’s pretty much everything I do into a contest…and I really can’t help it…I think it might actually be in my DNA because I so enjoy the thrill of competing or engaging an opponent. Whether it’s shooting dirty clothes into the clothes hamper with my son, throwing darts, or playing a competitive sport, I relish my opportunities to compete and be challenged.

That got me thinking about how we men have challenges beyond the physical that involve battles for our thought life. As strange as that sounds, have you ever considered that inside your mind is a war zone and there is a constant competition for who is going to win the battle over what you think about?

Think about that statement for a second…

Inside your head, there is a battle going on where good and evil compete literally every second of your day as to who will gain control.

Now, if you think I am over exaggerating this issue, I have the Bible to back me up. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Paul tells us that it’s our job to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”.

In other words, we are expected to be in control over what we think and if we have a thought that isn’t “Godly” we are to limit it and make it obedient to Christ.

Now, I may have lost some of you already because what I am saying is very difficult to do…even if we WANT to do it. If you are a guy reading this blog who walks with God then you already know that we are bombarded with images and situations that cause everyone of us to think thoughts that are NOT Godly…

By the way, in case you didn’t know this already, that IS Satan’s plan. You see the way to your heart is through your MIND and if he can gain control over what you think about, then he has you…that is why Paul said this 2000 years ago because he knew even then, that one way Satan would attack men…was through our thoughts.

Hey Guys…know this… there is a way to gain victory over your thoughts but like everything else we do, we have to work at it and most of all, be consistent. Its just like working out in the gym…when we skip a few days, its far easier to just keep on skipping until we never go at all…it takes a consistent routine, day in and day out, to make the physical progress as well as overcoming the mental part of just going in the first place.

Overcoming our thought life is exactly the same; it takes a constant effort on your part to gain victory. In this case though, we cannot skip days…we must be consistent each day and put on our armor knowing full well we are in a battle against and enemy who seeks to destroy us…

I put together 4 steps necessary to control your thought life to help you for the future.

  1. It takes Fortitude. Just like your Coach used to tell you, “you got to want it”. If you are sitting on the edge as to whether or not you want to control your thought life, then you have already lost.
  1. Be Consistent. Each day give your thoughts over to Him and then work to be conscious of what you are thinking about. Some of us allow our thoughts to drift off into what ever and that is a wide open door for Satan to walk through. Paul even tells us in 1st Corinthians that he “dies daily” to Christ, which simply means he hits the reset button everyday before he went to work.
  1. Hit the Reset button everyday. Paul even tells us in 1st Corinthians that he “dies daily” to Christ, which simply means he hits the reset button everyday before he went to work. We are going to fail…we just need to know that we can reset each day and begin anew…clean, fresh and sinless in Gods eyes.
  1. It takes a Team. Sometimes, and I know this is hard for men to do…but if we have a buddy that we can talk to during our weak moments…that just may be the difference between success and failure.

Guys, let me end this post this way. Please understand that even if you work to apply what I have said today, you are still going to mess up now and then.

HEAR MY WORDS!

 Do NOT give up. Keep fighting on. God Forgives and He FORGETS.

 Just because you screw up does not mean it is game over. Life happens and things don’t always go the way we want them to. In those times, we have to seek God even more.

 And He will extend His grace and forgiveness to you. You can count on that.

 You CAN do this…

 Until next time guys…

It’s time to hit the Reset Button

Posted: July 19, 2014 in Inspirational
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We recently finished a very successful Little League season that had us advancing to and winning our local city tournament. After a 24-game season and then a tournament where we faced 6 more local teams…to actually win first place, was very gratifying…

But I have to be honest it wasn’t always that way.

This season provided many of the normal low points that most seasons typically do with one exception; as a team, we discovered something we dislike universally…playing badly. But even more important, we discovered a way to stop this team from “falling off the cliff”. Honestly, this one simple moment truly saved us from being one of the worst teams into being one of the best.

I remember the actual game and frankly, the one particular inning where we literally could not do anything right. We could NOT get an out to save ourselves…hit after hit and run after run, we could not stop this train from certain destruction. When we finally hit the 10-run threshold and to many errors to count, I told the other coach “let me go talk to them”…he mumbled something completely incoherent because I honestly think he was in shock.

As I walked to the mound, I called the entire team over for a conversation. As I stared into those 11-12 year old boys faces, I saw tears and I saw anger but most of all I saw hopelessness. They literally had given up the thought they could do anything right. They were so upset and had completely lost their direction…does this sound familiar to anyone?

I told them “Guys, you are so much better than what I see here today. We have practiced these plays over and over again…frankly, to many times to count”.

“Here is what I want you to do, in this game right now…I want you to hit the reset button inside of you. From urlthis point on, we are starting this game over. We are playing from the beginning again…We are resetting”.

They all looked at me like I was crazy. Our shortstop Tyler spoke up and asked, “what do you mean coach?” “How do we reset?” I told him, “When you reset something, it clears the past or the previous from affecting the future”. Everything that has happened in this game is now over. We are each going to reset and focus on the next play, our next at bat and all of us are going to try our hardest to get out of this inning”

Our catcher chimed in at this point, “come on guys, we can do this, we have to reset. We have to hit the reset button”

So here is what I will tell you, we did not win that game. But we did get out of that nasty inning without giving up another run. More importantly however, the next time we had the beginnings of another poor inning, our catcher pulled the infield together and gave them the reset speech…and guess what, it worked…

As you can imagine, that simple life lesson got me thinking about you guys and the painful 10-run bad inning equivalents we have in our own lives. News flash: sometimes life hurts and it does NOT go our way. In fact, I firmly believe there are many of you right now reading this that are having a very hard time for a variety of reasons and frankly are just looking for some hope. Guys, I am not going to insult your intelligence by saying to just hit your internal reset button and everything will magically get better. We all know that is not the way anything in this life works.

What I will tell you though is if you hit the reset button with God…that will work.

Right now, God is patiently waiting for you to run to Him. He is not the God who will write in the sky, “Hey (your name here)…call me now and let’s fix this” we know He doesn’t work that way. Our God has a still, soft voice that is always calling…we are just too loud or too busy to hear Him.

Guys…today…take my challenge to you…

Hit the reset button with God by praying this prayer right now:

“God…things are not going well right now and I need you to help. Humbly I ask that you take over my life and cause me to reset my relationship with you. I can’t do this on my own. I need you to direct my steps and make my paths straight.

God, I trust in you and I believe in you and no matter what happens, I know you are in control. Please use your Holy Spirit to help guide me during difficult times and thank you for what you are doing for me right now”…

If you prayed that prayer and believe you hit the reset button with Him, I could not be any happier…congratulations. I would also ask that you leave me a note on this blog if you prayed that prayer. This blog has always been about encouragement and knowing you hit your reset with Him is very encouraging to me…

Until next time guys…