Invest in Your Prime Relationships - Part 1

What are your "Prime Relationships"? In this Relationship UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson encourages the kind of "investments" in these relationships that reap powerful results—so it's important to know what they are.

[Note: For a more detailed version of this post with scriptures, see my other blog: Heart Choices Today.]

Investments are not only about money. Investments are akin to watering what you want to grow! We can invest in relationships!

When we invest in someone's life, it likely to cost us something. But investing is wise!

• Someone invested invested in my life this year with her time, helping me with a project.
• Another someone invested in my life using her financial resources.
  
• And another invested encouragement, motivating me to see the big picture when I was so focused on one failing day.

I want to invest in others' lives too, with time, talents, finances, prayers, words, truth ... and so much more. I'm asking the Lord to help me see needs so I can "invest" wisely. How about you?

In this two-part post, I want to share some practical ways we can wisely and faithfully "invest."

These are the first two "investents."

          Investment #1. INVEST in YOUR LORD

Don't forget: this is your prime relationship! 

Jesus said, "...what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). 

We can store up treasures and yet not be "rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).

1. Know the Lord.

• Examine your heart. Do you really know Him, or just know about Him? 
• Seek Him. Pursue Him. Be intentional. 
• Grow in your intimacy with Him. 

2. Deposit Your Life with the Lord.

• Trust His character. 
• Appreciate His love. 
• Celebrate your security (in Christ). 

3. Seek to Please the Father.

• Yield Your body to Him. 
• Be obedient to Him.
• Follow Jesus' example. 
• Discover how to be like Jesus! 
• Bear good fruit! 
• Love others well. 

4. Cherish His Word.

• Use your Bible. 
• Stand for truth. 

5. Rely on the Holy Spirit.

• Don't Ignore God's Gift. 

          Investment #2. INVEST in  YOURSELF.

Viewed correctly and biblically this isn't selfishness.

If you don't invest in your own health and well-being, how will you find the strength to invest in others?

Loving others as yourself assumes you've learned how to love yourself biblically (Mark 12:30-31). 

1. Take Care of Yourself!

• Nurture your body.
  
• Move your body.
  
• Relax.
  
• Get some sleep .
  

2. "Paint the Barn."

• Maintain the Temple... reflect the beauty of the Lord who created you. 
• Style yourself for a simple, attractive appearance.

3. Expand Your Horizons.

• Discover your strengths and weaknesses ... your spiritual gifts.
  
• Develop some new skills and explore creativity options. 
• Expand your knowledge.
  
• Further your education.
  

4. Plan for Strategic Dreaming!

• Plan to decompress.
• Plan in daily "breaks" to rest and recharge.
  
• Give yourself permission and time to dream. 
• Be a FINANCIAL investor.
  
• Set aside some "dream" money.
  

5. Practice Gratitude.

• Look for things to appreciate. 
• Train yourself to notice God's goodness. 
  
• Be thankful for grace.
  
• Worship in thanksgiving.
  

We'll continue with three more "investments" in the next post. [Note: for a longer version of this post with scriptures, see my other blog: Heart Choices Today.]

Meanwhile, do you need to invest more in your relationship with the Lord, in your own well-being, or in your husband? Which of these tips might help today?

Dawn Wilson,  founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

3 Falls to Consider

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson suggests how considering three "falls" can help us grow in our relationship to the Lord.

We don't have to look far in our culture, and even in the church, to see the consequences of The Fall in the Garden of Eden; but there are two other "falls" that can have consequences—good ones—in our lives too.

1. The Fall of All Falls

Everything God made—man and woman, animals, plant life, the universe—was "very good," according to Genesis 1:31. Yet Adam and Eve doubted God's goodness and questioned His Word. They listened to the lie of the serpent. And it was a great fall (Genesis 3:1-24).

In "Lessons from the Fall," W. Phillips wrote, "... the serpent offered an alternative interpretation of God's motives" and called into question God's character and trustworthiness. The serpent "reduced God's Word to the level of a mere viewpoint," Phillips wrote, "while man became the measure of what is 'true for me'."

As a result, Eve deliberately decided to defy and disobey God's command (verse 6).

We see this same outworking of The Fall in mankind today.

Man questions God's Word and substitutes personal truth for God's Truth.

Because of The Fall, there are four truths still in effect today:

• What God says (God's Word) is still our measure for holiness. It's our standard for knowing and obeying the Lord and rightly relating to Him (1 Corinthians 15:45), not our viewpoints or some new standards we create.
• We still have a terrible sin problem. It's not what happened to us in our environment at any stage of life. (Even in a perfect environment, we still choose to sin.) Sin brings "death"—spiritual separation from God (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 5:12).
• Suffering is still an awful result of The Fall. Sin led to all the suffering in the past, and is at the root suffering we see today (Romans 8:20-22).
• Our only hope, our only solution, is still Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22).
  

And that brings me to the second "fall."

2. Our Need to "Fall" before the Cross

When Adam and Eve sinned, God provided the means for rescue. Genesis 3:15—known as the "protoevangelium" (first gospel)—is God's promise of the time when Satan (the serpent, see Revelation 12:9) would be crushed by "the seed of the woman," a future savior. Many Bible teachers consider this a direct reference to Jesus.

Just as Adam represented all mankind, and sin brought death, in Christ—the believer's representative head—brings life (1 Corinthians 15:22). Galatians 2:20 says we were "crucified" with Christ ... and it's not our life we enjoy now, but His!

Life from death. Old Testament saints looked forward to that redemption; and believers today look back to the cross.

I say we must "fall" at the cross, because coming to Christ takes the true humility, the bowing of our hearts before Him. We acknowledge we have "gone astray," turning to our own way (Isaiah 53:6). We admit our understanding is "darkened" and our hearts are hard (Ephesians 4:18).

God calls us to fall before Him (in our heart, if not our body) in repentance and faith (Acts 11:18; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-13).

Falling at the cross means fully embracing God's amazing grace.

In the words of an old hymn:

Upon that cross of Jesus Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One, Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears, Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love, And my own worthlessness.

I remember well the night I more fully understood what Jesus had done for me. I fell to the floor and wept ... and arose from that solemn time smiling with new-found joy, so grateful for the grace of the Lord.

It's once-and-forever salvation. But that doesn't mean we're never broken over our sin again.

3. Fallings of Surrender.

There have been many "fallings" since that evening I fell "Beneath the Cross of Jesus." These are the fallings of surrender—of giving up, letting go.

It is the choice to die, like a seed falling to the ground and "dying" so God can bring forth a great harvest (John 12:24). It is the choice to yield my rights to my Lord.

Falling in surrender involves acknowledging weakness. It is dying to self-suffiiency too. It says, "In me dwells no good thing" apart from Christ (Romans 7:18), and without Him, I "can do nothing" (John 15:5). It's for broken people who know we can't handle everything, in spite of our silly attempts to prove we can.

Falling in surrender is radical self-denial—losing our life for Jesus' sake (Matthew 16:25).

Surrender is not an option for true disciples. But, and it's not surprising, this is the "fall" many reject. Our entire culture promotes self-effort and self-sufficiency. We recoil from showing weakness and admitting needs.

Surrender is often equated with failure, because our definition of success is skewed.

Yet Jesus still invites us to fall in surrender, because He knows that's where the miracles of life happen. That's where we yield to His control, where He moves in, and where He begins to use and bless us.

We want abundant life. It all begins with our recognition of sin, our receiving of the Savior, and our relinquishment of our weakness to His great strength.

In Christ, we're given life and then continuing abundance as we fall before Him in sweet surrender—resting in His grace.

When you consider the three falls, what does the Spirit of God speak to your soul?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), andUpgrade with Dawn. She is contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Your Roots Are Showing!

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson is not talking about hair roots showing and in need of coloring. She says, "Far more important than hair roots are our spiritual roots, and they do show!"

The story is told of a tree in California called the Dyerville Giant. According to Elliott Almond in the San Jose Mercury News (June 18, 2001), in 1991, after growing tall for more than 1,500 years, the 370-foot tree fell over. (You can see a photo here.)

It didn't fall because of a storm. It simply fell because its root system was no longer healthy. As its weakened root system failed, it could no longer anchor into the soil or receive much-needed nourishment. Top heavy but not grounded, it couldn't support its own weight. *

If we don't want to "fall," we need healthy roots too.

Healthy spiritual roots are made up of many things:

• A relationship with the Creator, the maker of all life;
• Grounding—strong convictions—in the fertile soil of the Word of God;
• Resilience developed through wise interactions with people; and
• Strength built in struggles and trials (tough circumstances).

Let's look at each of those individually.

1. We need to be rooted properly.

We need to be rooted in the right place ... more specifically, in the right Person!

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him ... (Colossians 2:6-7a, ESV).

We need to "abide" in the Lord (John 15:4) so we can be healthy and bear fruit.

2. We need to be grounded in faith.

Our faith must be in the Word of God so we will be established. This will not only bring us a sense of gratitude and well-being (healthy attitudes), but it will also help us not fall into various "religious" and cultural lies that could destroy our walk with God.

"... and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition..." (Colossians 2:7b-8a, ESV).

3. We need to be "tended" with love.

Roots must be protected with good soil, water and nutrients.

Likewise, through wise interactions with godly people and accountability, our lives are "tended"—protected and cared for—much like we care for a plant and nurture it.

It helps to have "a multitude" of wise counselors (Proverbs 15:22) and encouragers so we can learn from them and develop the resilience necessary to weather life's storms.

"... encourage one another and build one another up..." (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

4. We need to grow stronger.

Have you ever seen a plant grow in the cracks between slabs of cement, or protrude through a brick wall? That's a picture of how we need to be persistent in difficult circumstances—relying on the Lord and believing He has great purpose for us in hard times (Romans 8:28).

We build strength (and a lot of other wonderful qualities) as we struggle through the trials of life (1 Peter 1:6-9).

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4, ESV).

What I've discovered in life is this: my "roots" show to a watching world.

When I go through tough times, people learn pretty quickly where my foundations lie. They see whether I am grounded and strong.

And your roots are showing too!

Let's make sure our roots are healthy in the Lord and His Word, well tended and growing stronger each day.

Which of the four necessities for healthy spiritual roots might need some tender loving care in your life today?

Dawn Wilson, founder of Heart Choices Today and Upgrade with Dawn, is a contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

* The Dyerville Giant tree story was related by Barbara L. Roose in Enough Already (Abingdon Press), p. 109; See also news report. 

Invest in Your Children

A simple Parenting UPGRADE quote from Charles R. Swindoll:

Our children hear our words, but more crucially, they watch our lives. Be sure your words and life agree (it's called "integrity").

Dr. David Jeremiah wrote,

"In the bustle of life it is easy to forget the most impactful tool available: who we are and who we are becoming."

It's certainly a powerful tool for parenting.

How are you investing in your children's lives?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is the creator of three blogs:Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is on the board of Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry (NEWIM) and is a contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic: morguefile

Go for Breadth ... and Depth (Part 2)

In my previous UPGRADE post, I (Dawn) encouraging people to remember both breadth and depth in life, and we focused on Breadth.

Once we get the Big Picture--a broader perspective and biblical priorities, we're ready to tackle the details.

CONCEPT #2:

GO for DEPTH!

What does focusing on details include?

1. Appropriate Strategies

• We need to block off some time alone with God in order to think clearly with Him and clarify where we're heading. Spiritual roadmaps help us arrive where we plan to go.
• Envision the goal. For the Christian, a worthy, biblical goal is to become like Jesus (Romans 8:29; 1 John 2:6). So, what is He like? What would He choose? How would He operate? (1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 2:10)
• We might want to prepare ahead of time so we're not tempted or distracted by things that disrail us from our goals. Simply eliminating some options (Romans 13:14) can make the path to success clearer.
• Identify some actionable steps to take right away. Brainstorming with others will help generate creative ideas to move forward. Spiritual success comes step by step, choice by choice.

2. Accountability Stimulation

We have to find what motivates us to stay on target.

• It might be as simple as a weekly check-in or a chart to fill in.
• Or it might be a progress report or an evaluation conducted by someone in charge.
• For others, it's a promised reward!

3. Advocating Supporter

• We can all use a trustworthy "buddy" to bounce our ideas back and forth — hopefully a wise one who can help us recognize foolish thinking.
• We all need people who will encourage us, advise us, even fight for our success (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 10:24).
• In other words, we need some positive "cheerleaders" in our life.

For example, in the case of my dietary program:

• I have a number of strategies—some supplied by the nutritionist and some created on my own—to help me "stick with the program." I cleaned all the tempting food out of my cabinets and refrigerator and made choosing wisely a simple process.
• For accountability, I have regular meetings with my nutritionist and a worksheet sheet I've filled in that shows the foods I've eaten and the exercise I've done during the week.
• My nutritionist is a wonderful supporter of my efforts, and I have several encouraging "cheerleaders" in my family as well.

It's a process that will work for any Big Picture goals, whether it's tackling a bad habit or pushing toward a personal dream or ministry project.

The process is:

Strategize well - Stay accountable - Seek support!

As a Christ-follower, my best strategies come from God's Word and I am ultimately accountable to Him (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Even if no one on earth understands my struggle and comes alongside to cheer me on, I know the Lord is with me, desires my spiritual success and blesses me as I honor Him.

Sometimes we'll see results in the here and now. But when we don't see immediate results or those we seek, we must go back to the Big Picture where we know there will be lasting victories, fruitfulness and reward.

I struggle with a "besetting sin," as do all of us. Although I get small victories here and there and I see clear evidence that the Lord is changing my heart and behavior, I still mess up. I'm still human. I'm still a sinner.

But someday the final victory will come. God's Word tells me so! (1 Corinthians 15:57; Philippians 3:21a)

God the Father is making me like His Son. Having rescued me from sin's power, He is enabling me now to choose not to practice sin, and someday I will be completely transformed and free from even the presence of sin.

So if you are struggling today with your own "I still mess up" problem, consider these two questions:

Do you have the big picture clearly in mind? How can you tweak your strategies, design accountability that will motivate you, or find more support?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is on the board of Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry (NEWIM) and is a contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.