Tag: purpose

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How is the Sabbath similar to Retirement

Finding your purpose outside of work


Those that read my blog regularly, know I led a group of men through Bob Buford’s book, Finishing Well.  It is a book that helps individuals transition from our working lives to how we will live our lives after we no longer are expected to show up at the office every day.  Bob Buford calls it the ability to leave the identity we found in our work to pursue a life of significance with the extra time given now that the daily work responsibilities have been left behind.

The one quote that got my attention was, “Life after we stop working is not meant to be lived on the front porch in a rocking chair waiting for the hearse to come”  This is where I started thinking about how the Sabbath can be compared to Retirement.  It started with a Sunday School class on the Sabbath.  My mindset has recently changed because of my decision to start the transition from full time work to retirement.  I started asking myself the question, what could I do that wasn’t work but allowed me to pursue God with the time freed up by not having to be in the office every day?


The Sabbath is supposed to be about rest so that you can go about your work the other 6 days of the week.  I am coming  to understand that the same can be said about retirement.  I don’t think there is any mention of retirement mentioned in the bible.  Everyone has different ideas of what are and not to do on the Sabbath and for that matter retirement. Although there are many, for this blog post, I want to focus on one general concept for taking a day or rest and for spending our time once we leave whatever has been our full-time work.

That concept is leaving work behind so that you can have the time to “Be Still and know that He is God.” https://biblehub.com/psalms/46-10.htm  On the Lord’s Day, we are to take the time to come to the Father with the intent of laying our burdens down.  https://biblehub.com/matthew/11-28.htm  Making the day holy as He is Holy.  The question that needs to be asked is, “How do I make the Sabbath a day that is different than the other 6 days?”  I am asking the same question now that my work life has changed.  “How do I make Retirement different that what I have done for so many years now?”

It comes back to the desire to live a faithful life which creates significance and allows me to finish well.  My hope is to not fill the extra time I now have with busyness but instead seek God in ways I haven’t sought Him before so that I can determine what purpose He has for me in this new season in life.  Isn’t that really what the purpose of the Sabbath is as well? Taking that 7th day to stop and reflect on the fact that God loves us hopefully encourages us to live a faithful life during the work week.  This rest and worship pause should help our actions have a significant impact on the lives around us.  

One thing is for sure.  I don’t want to be that person waiting on the front porch waiting for life to end.  I want to continue to practice the presence of God in my life so I can seek His purpose in all that I do.  I hope you want to do the same.  Brother Lawrence https://spirituallyhungry.com/practicing-the-presence-of-god/ sums it up this way.  “God has infinite treasures to bestow.  When He finds a soul penetrated with a living faith, He pours into it His grace and blessings plentifully. When He does, it will flow out like a torrent, finding a way around every obstacle; spreading out with extravagant and reckless abundance”  May your Sabbath and/or in Retirement, provide you this hope and desire.  I can be reached by email at [email protected]
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Does having a purpose driven life create pressure or motivation in your life

Last week I shared my word for 2023, RISE.  In the blog, I shared that I want to RISE UP/P this year.  I want to be Resolved, Intentional, Serving, Expectantly Unleashing God’s Purpose and Passion.  Interestingly enough, I had the chance to listen to a Podcast where my thoughts were challenged.  The guest on the show took exception to the concept of a Purpose Driven Life that Rick Warren wrote in his best selling book twenty years ago https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56495.The_Purpose_Driven_Life  She shared that America has been traumatized by the pressure that everyone feels to have a purpose and leave a lasting legacy so that one will be remembered.  There is no doubt that the pressure to succeed, to make something out of yourself, can eat you up and spit you out.  The lack of life balance has caused many to wake up one day with the regret and question of. “what have I done with this life?” 
I would like to offer you a different perspective on having purpose. 
Instead of it being seen as a negative, Knowing who you are meant to be can help free you up to live an enriched and fulfilled life. 
It can be as simple as leading others to a desire to make a positive difference in the world no matter where you are placed.  One can rise up to this endeavor no matter if they care for kids, bag groceries, run a company, etc. Whether it is personal or in business, it is about building relationships not being transactional.  Not trying to chase the deal or get something out of a friendship but instead asking the question how can I serve?  The negative pressure the podcast speaker spoke about can be alleviated if one finds something they love versus feeding their ego or doing something to appease someone else. 

Here is another way of looking at seeking wisdom on how your life is to be lived.  I am reading through Proverbs this month.  Chapter 10  challenges us to seek wisdom while also heeding God’s discipline to find the way life was meant to be lived.  Yes it is our life to live but verse 17 says by ignoring correction we can lead others astray.  https://biblehub.com/proverbs/10-17.htm You may not think you are a leader but others are watching how you do life.  

The (above mentioned) speaker and I are in agreement on one thing for sure.  Our life should be one that is stress free and without the pressure of measuring up in some way.  God promises peace and joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances.  How can that be you might ask.  My answer from both the old and new testament is quite simple.  He calls me to love Him with all my heart and love others as He loves me.  https://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/passage/?q=matthew+22:37-39  The life of peace and joy free from the anxieties of the world comes when we live our lives doing these two things and then letting go and trusting Him with the outcome.  

Thanks for reading this blog post.  It means more than you know.  If you haven’t already please subscribe so you can receive email notifications when new content is posted.  I can be reached by email at michael@mrg7175,com
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Life lessons from golf (Part 2)

Many of you know I started a golf fellowship group earlier this year. I wanted to being people together who loved Golf and wanted to learn more about life with God. We call it FORE! It stands for Focused on Reconciliation for Everyone. This week was my turn to share what it means to walk with God using golf analogies. My blog post this week summarizes what I shared that led to a great discussion. My thoughts came from reading a chapter in the In His Grip https://www.inhisgripgolf.com/ devotional book, More than a Game.

The golf scorecard and the yardage book brought some ideas to mind. Every time to go out and play, you get a new one. No matter how you played the last time out, you get a chance to learn from the past round so you can improve on the upcoming one. God gives us the same opportunity. The bible in 1 John 1:9 https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1-john/1/9 reminds us when we make mistakes one day, we can start the next day with a fresh slate. As I wrote a few months back https://thankfulinallthings.com/what-golf-teaches-us-about-life/ God’s Word like a golf course yardage book instructs us where to and where not to hit the ball so we stay out of trouble. We get into trouble when we don’t pay attention to the book or think we can do it a different way then how God design life to be lived.

Another golf thought is how crazy is it the a 6 inch putt counts the same as a 300 yard drive. Interestingly, our sinful nature is judged the same way by God. Big or small, A sin is a sin and creates imperfection that only God’s grace and Mercy can redeem. https://biblehub.com/romans/3-23.htm

The third parallel thought is everyone has a different golf swing. The challenge of being a good golfer is learning to be your best with your natural swing. In our faith journey, we are called to be the best person we can be versus trying to be someone else. This is where a golf instructor can be so important.

During a lesson, the pro can figure out the flaws in your swing which allows you to improve. It doesn’t make sense to practice if we are just going out and continue to do the wrong things. In life, we need friends that, like a golf pro, can point out our blind spots. We need folks we can trust to share when we can’t see what we are saying or doing is wrong.

Finally, Golf is both a mental and a physical game. You need to study the course and improve your swing to have a successful round. Life is the same. I believe God’s Word teaches us how to best live our lives. Someone can know the bible backward and forward but if you don’t practice what it teaches, you never know all the Lord has in store for your life. John 10:10 says God wants us to experience an abundant life filled with peace and joy not a mediocre one where we wonder shouldn’t there be more. Read the scriptures and find someone who can guide you along the way. Give them permission to be honest with you. I am confident that only good will result when you do.

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We all think we know what we want, but do we?

Our move back to Charlottesville has given me the opportunity to become friends with many UVA coaches. One friendship resulted in my serving as a character coach for the UVA Men’s tennis team for four years. During that span they won 3 National Championships. Several coaches here have also led their teams to National Championships. When I talked with them after the excitement died down, each made a similar comment. They were surprised how quickly the high they felt in reaching the pinnacle of their profession, turned into a feeling of “Is that it”? Each of them spoke of being discouraged because, the exuberant feeling they had worked so hard to achieve, only lasted for a very short period of time. For those of us who have never had that kind of success, we might wonder how that could happen. The answer is quite simple…….

Although they had a worthy goal, it did not fill the void that has been created in each of us. The void that can only be filled with God. St, Augustine explained it this way. “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you (Confessions 1.1). When we seek to fill our hunger for God with anyone or anything but God, no matter the success, we are left wanting for more.” It is like the childhood toy that is a ball or a box that has different shapes cut out.

The goal is to find the shapes and fit them through the appropriate shape until they are all inside. No matter what achievement or great relationship with someone, it will never allow you to fulfill your true purpose in life and as Augustine teaches, your heart will remain restless.

Jim Denison made this point when writing about the great sportscaster Vin Scully after he died this past week. “You may not be as legendary as Vin Scully in the eyes of society, but your soul matters to God as much as if you were the only person who had ever lived. His Spirit is ready to fill the “infinite abyss” that only he can fill.” https://bit.ly/vinscully We need to stop chasing what is only temporal and focus on the things that only God can provide us. https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/4-18.htm

The Lord is our strength, He directs our lives, and He is our deliverer. There is no substitute for our need of the Lord. Our tendency is to live life our way without looking to Him. We may experience temporary and short lived happiness but as Psalms 1:4 reminds us,

“it is like chaff that dries up and the wind blows away.” Proverbs 17:3 says this about where our purpose lies. “The crucible is used to test the purity of silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.”

What will God find when He tests your heart? The world’s successes and blessings are great but the reward of His presence on earth and the eternal glory to come, is our true life’s purpose https://www.shortform.com/blog/the-purpose-driven-life/and, unlike the feeling of a National Championship, will never disappear.

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”  Fredrick Buechner

Thanks for reading my blog. Please subscribe if you want to receive email notifications when new content is posted. I can be reached by email at [email protected]

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Thoughts on how to remain thankful

Bruce Pulver shared how he thinks of the word Hope. That led me to respond this way.

Bruce Pulver
“HOPE.
Have
Overwhelmingly
Positive
Expectations”
My response/add on
Having Hope allows us to remain
FOCUSED
Focused
On
Creating
Unbelievable
Success
Every
Day

Having this kind of mindset allows me to make the most of each day so I, by God’s grace, can be a better person tomorrow. Another way I look at it is with the two words RISE UP which comes from the verse Isaiah 60:1-3

60 “Rise up and shine, for your light has come. The shining-greatness of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For see, darkness will cover the earth. Much darkness will cover the people. But the Lord will rise upon you, and His shining-greatness will be seen upon you. 3 Nations will come to your light. And kings will see the shining-greatness of the Lord on you.

God calls us Each and every day to RISE UP/P
Resolved Intentional Striving for Eternal things. W Unbelievable Purpose/Passion. Over this past month or so, I have been trying to live out Gregory Boyd’s Exhortation to live out my life knowing “God is in the Now” and when I do it makes the [Present Perfect] (the name of his book)
When I can stay in the moment it pushes away all the distractions, discouragement, and challenges so that I can live a life of gratitude. It is not that the adversity disappears. The story of Peter walking on the water In Matthew 14:22-33 illustrates this very point. The storm was raging while he was out there. It wasn’t until he took his eyes off of Jesus that he realized the wind and the waves. When he did, he immediately sank. Isn’t that just like us. When we start trying to do things on our own power the stuff comes flooding back in leaving us discouraged and defeated. We just need to choose to remember that God loves us and that is all that matters. When We go out into the world virtually or in person with that thought process it is much easier to be thankful and as Miles McPherson encourages, strive to honor those who cross our paths.
How do we stay in the Now? Here are a couple things I have done.
1) I have set a reminder on my phone at 6am, 9am,noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. It comes up at BSKIG. Be still and know that I am God. When I see the notice, I stop and recite The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23. I try to add things into both that bring up things that are going on in my life at that point in the day. An example is below.
2) I try to commit to honoring every person I encounter whether on the phone, via zoom, or in person. A quick prayer, “Lord, let me honor this person in this interaction so that they might see You in my conversation with them”

These simple things have helped me greatly in remaining thankful during these mind boggling times. I hope they will in some way help you as well. If it has, please forward it to others and ask them to subscribe so they can receive an email when Impost new content. You can reach me via email at [email protected].

My Quarantine version of Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

As I navigate the lonely paths of Covid19, The Lord will be my guide and His presence is all I need 

Whether I think it is needed or not, I will use this time for rest and quiet reflection. 

So that my soul can be refreshed 

As He guides me where He wants me to be used bring Glory and honor to His name. 

Even though I walk

 through the valley of people wearing masks

I will fear no evil,

He gives my faith confidence so that I can go or do wherever He feels the need to send me. 

 Knowing even in self-isolation you are with me and won’t forsake me. 

Like the shepherds’ rod and staff, your Word and the Holy Spirit will teach and comfort me. 

Even in the midst of my adversity, You will abundantly provide all that I need so that I will it be afraid. 

Like an anointing, You will bless and protect me from whatever evil that wants to prey on me. 

You will fill me with your spirit so that cup of love you want me to share overflows. 

I count and trust on the contentment of your love for as long as I am to live.

This assurance brings joy knowing that I will be welcomed and will forever dwell in the house that you went and prepared for me.