Today, I invite you to think about and embrace the wisdom of Heraclitus:  

“No man steps in a river twice.” 

Life’s essence lies in perpetual change, an ever-flowing river of experiences.  Each moment is unique, never to be repeated. 

Like a river, life may have twists, turns, and unexpected currents.  Instead of resisting, learn to flow with the stream of change. 

Embracing new challenges and opportunities is the key to growth.  Just as a river shapes its path, let life shape you.  

Every encounter, every obstacle, is a chance to evolve.  Don’t cling to the past; let it be the foundation for a stronger future. 

As you navigate the river of life, remember that every step forward is a step into uncharted waters.  

Embrace change, adapt, and let the current carry you towards new horizons.  Life’s beauty lies in its ever-changing nature; find strength in the flow.

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1.  Reflect on the idea that “No man steps in a river twice.” How does this perspective on life as an ever-flowing river influence the way we approach and appreciate each moment?

2.  In what ways can embracing change and adapting to life’s twists and turns lead to personal growth and the creation of a stronger foundation for the future?

“Steadfast Amidst Change: Finding Comfort in the Unchanging Nature of Jesus”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:8‬ ‭ESV‬‬
[8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Even in the midst of life’s uncertainties and  challenges find comfort in the unchanging nature of Jesus.  A rock on which you can stand.

When work issues create chaos, remember that the same Jesus who calmed the sea can bring tranquility to your life.

If a challenging diagnosis shakes you, know that the Jesus who healed the sick is there to provide comfort and walk through it with you.

Committing your life to Him ensures a steadfast presence; Jesus remains unchanged and will never leave or turn away.

He is the consistent God—unchanged yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Life changes.  Jesus does not. 

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1.  In the face of life’s unpredictable changes, how does the belief in Jesus as a constant source of comfort impact your perspective on challenges and chaos?

2.  What do you need to lay at his feet and let him help you with today?

Things change don’t they?  

Sometimes you can see change coming and sometimes you can’t.

Both can be tricky and difficult, but either way you have to adjust and get moving again. 

The key is YOU.  

YOU have to make some adjustments. 

Some adjustments may have been needed to be done, and some may be a bit more difficult to do, but either way to get moving in a positive direction again you will likely need to make adjustments.

Adjust your sails. Get the wind behind you again and make progress towards your goal and your destination.

Questions to Ponder and Pursue 

1. Reflecting on personal experiences, what are some examples of adjustments that were relatively easy to make, and how did they contribute to positive progress?

2. How does the idea of “adjusting your sails” align with the concept of resilience, and what role does resilience play in facing and overcoming changes?

Matthew‬ ‭8:25‭-‬27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

[25] And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 

[26] And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 

[27] And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Some of these disciples were experienced fishermen.  They had surely experienced waves before, but these must have been different.  

They had seen him perform miracles on people’s physical bodies, cast out demons, yet they still doubted that they would be alright. 

In the fall of 2004 my mom became ill with a mysterious illness.  We never knew what it was, but she was gone in two weeks.  The last week was in a medically induced coma and on a respirator.  

As the family stood in her room moments before they put her on the respirator, and we were dismissed back to the waiting room she said, “we’ll just have to trust Jesus”. 

Mom was in the middle of the storm.  A storm like she had never experienced and she trusted Jesus in the middle of it.  

What did Jesus do when the disciples woke him up?  He asked why they were afraid and lacked faith.  He’s got this.  

Jesus’ primary concern for those that follow Him is to trust Him.  Not just when you witness and experience the blessings, but also in the middle of the storm.  Even a storm like you’ve never experienced before.  

It may require a change of how much we really trust Jesus, but let’s pursue the trust we can rest in when the biggest storms come.  

Be Blessed! 

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1.  How does the disciples’ reaction to the storm, despite witnessing miracles, reflect a common struggle in trusting God in difficult circumstances?

2.  In the face of a personal storm, how did the narrator’s mother’s response of trusting Jesus challenge the conventional understanding of faith, and what can we learn from her example?

What is it that you want to accomplish?

Is there something that you want to change?

Are you willing to put in the work to make what you want happen?

Every big change, every goal that you reach starts with small victories stacked on top of each other.

Are you willing to commit 10-15 minutes a day working on what you are passionate about becoming or doing?

Maybe it starts with doing something 2-3 times this week, or committing to not missing two days in a row.

Maybe you need to adjust what you are doing to continue to get some personal wins. The most important thing to do is to get up and start moving toward the goal.

Here is a way I have adjusted my attempt at getting some personal wins in the Iowa winter. I used to have no problem getting over 10,000 steps per day as an Athletic Director, no matter what season it was. My new job, which I work remotely from home most days, makes it a bit more difficult.

Because of that, for the next couple of months I changed my goal and cut my daily goal in half, and am after 5,000 steps a day, most of those coming on our treadmill.

It seems like a drastic cut, but I would rather get some personal daily wins and change the goal, than keep the same goal I have in warmer weather and continually come up short.

One of my big goals this year is to participate in my first ever 5K. I am going to try and stack PW on top of PW, even if the steps are a little less. The goal is daily personal wins right now.

Whatever it is you want to do commit and start getting some personal wins, make the changes you may need to get them, and then stay at it, pursuing those personal wins that can lead to real, and positive, changes for you.

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. What adjustments can you make to your goals to ensure you experience daily personal wins, considering your current circumstances?

2. Are you willing to adapt your goals to better align with your present situation, even if it means taking smaller steps towards your larger objectives?

How you live your life serves as a testimony to others. Some may deliver a sermon with their words, but we all deliver one with how we live our life.

In this passage Paul is urging the Christians at the church in Thessolinica to live their life in such a way that pleases God, as well as displays their godly character.

In the beginning of Chapter 4 he tells us to “abstain from sexual immorality”, and then speaks to how we can show brotherly love.

He instructs the people to lead a peaceful life, mind their own business, and to be industriousness in how they work. In other words, don’t expect others to provide for them.

So then, let’s get personal. Is there something in that list in Chapter 4 that you may need to be better at?

Something you could use some daily personal wins with? Don’t try to do any of it on your own. You can’t do it on your own.

Ask God for the strength, commitment, and resolve to change what needs changed. He promised he will send a helper in the Holy Spirit to help you if you just ask (John 14:26).

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. Reflecting on Chapter 4, are there specific aspects such as abstaining from certain behaviors or practicing brotherly love that you feel you could improve on for your personal growth?

2. In your pursuit of positive change, have you considered seeking guidance and strength from a source beyond yourself, such as asking for help from a higher power as mentioned in John 14:26?

Do you remember the “old days” when you had to get up and physically change the channel on the TV that got three channels, plus public television?

If you were a kid in the house, you were the remote. You can now use your smart phone, or even tell Alexa to run the TV.

The TV viewing experience has changed a lot in the last 50-60 years, but changing the course of your life has not.

Don’t like where you’re at, what you’re doing, or how you’re doing it?

It’s really just like the old days. Get up and change it. Nothing will change unless you get up and do it.

There isn’t an app or remote to make change easy. The change you want is up to you and what you choose to do to make it happen.

Make the effort to change what you want to change. It’s the only way.

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. Are there things you need to change in your life?
2. What steps, even though they may be difficult, do you need to start taking to make?

James‬ ‭4:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬
“Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.”

At first glance it looks like James is telling you to live a lifestyle of despair and sadness, but that is not the case.

He is referring to what your response should be to repenting of how you may have been living for a period of time.

Have you ever known and realized you were wasting time doing things that didn’t really matter?

How about things that were not good for you and kept you from being all that God has in store for you?

When you realize, and then admit, that you have wasted so much time, energy, and effort pursuing things that were worthless it should cause you to mourn as you think about the things you missed when you turned your back on God.

God has not changed. He still has plans for you. He always has. He never gives up on you. It would be a different feeling if it was past tense (had) instead of a present tense (has).

Changing your pursuit back to the things that truly matter will bring you back to living the life God has intended you to. Abundantly (John 10:10) and victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. How does the concept of mourning over wasted time and turning back to God resonate with your own life experiences?
2. Reflect on a specific moment when you realized the value of redirecting your efforts toward meaningful pursuits and how it impacted your overall well-being.

Change is hard. Some days it starts first thing in the morning as you try to get out of bed on a cold winter morning, especially this January in Iowa. 🥶

Deb used to live in an old farmhouse. She said it was so comfortable under the warmth of the blankets. She knew that the moment she get out from under them it was going to be a shock to her system and was going to be uncomfortable for awhile.

But what eventually happens when you get out from under the comfort of the blankets like Deb did?

You get used to being up, your body forgets about being tucked under the comfort of the blankets (hopefully), and you move on with your day.

The moment you accept the fact that change needs to happen, is going to happen, and that being uncomfortable for awhile is part of the process, the sooner you can move on with whatever changes may need to happen.

To grow, to be better today than you were yesterday, you need to accept the comfort in being uncomfortable. If you are uncomfortable you have an opportunity to be better.

Embrace being uncomfortable. It’s the only way to truly experience the changes that you need and desire.

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. Is there a difficult change that needs to happen in your life so you can grow and move forward?

2. What steps can you take today to begin pursuing the change(s) you need to make?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:3‬ ‭ESV‬‬
…“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

You want and pursue many different things in your lifetime. Don’t get me wrong. They aren’t all bad and many times have positive benefits if your atittude, and heart, are in the right place.

Before Jesus quoted this scripture the disciples were asking who was the greatest among them. It’s nice to feel needed, successful, and good at your job, or other hobbies that you have, but that is not the most important things for you to pursue.

Jesus said that we need to pursue being humble, being teachable like children, and in Mark 9 He says you need to be a “servant of all”.

In a world driven by ambitions and accomplishments, Jesus’ call to embrace childlike humility serves as a timeless and a sometimes counter-cultural message.

Going against what culture may view as “normal” can be uncomfortable, but uncomfortable is necessary for growth, but more importantly, it is what is needed and required by God.

As you navigate the complexities of life, may you heed the words of Matthew 18:3, turning away from some of the self-centered pursuits and embrace the simplicity and purity of a childlike faith.

By prioritizing a humble and teachable heart, you align yourself more and more with what God calls you to be, and that is worth pursuing.

Be Blessed!

Questions to Ponder and Pursue

1. How can you intentionally cultivate a childlike humility in your daily life, considering the pressures and aspirations that often drive us toward success and recognition?

2. Reflecting on Jesus’ emphasis on being a “servant of all” in Mark 9, how might your interactions and relationships change if you prioritize humility and a willingness to learn, echoing the qualities of a child, in your roles at work, within your family, and in your community?