{"id":1857,"date":"2020-02-25T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2020-02-14T07:23:17","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T12:23:17","slug":"how-to-do-things-well-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/02\/25\/how-to-do-things-well-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO DO THINGS WELL IN YOUR LIFE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u201cPeople were overwhelmed with amazement. \u201cHe has done everything well,\u201d they said. \u201cHe even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.\u201d Mark 7:37 NIV<\/em><\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to do everything well, reflect Jesus more.&nbsp; Jesus did everything well.  He did everything counter culturally.&nbsp; He loved instead of hated.  He forgave instead of seeking vengeance.&nbsp; He told the truth instead of lying.  He fulfilled the law we can never fulfill.&nbsp; Jesus is the way to do everything well.  But is it Jesus we\u2019re really trying to reflect?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cOur problem with following Jesus is we\u2019re trying to be a better version of us instead of a better reflection of Jesus.\u201d&nbsp; Bob Goff<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus looks at the heart.&nbsp; He looks at the intent of why we do things.&nbsp; We\u2019re not fooling Him when our intentions aren\u2019t pure.&nbsp; The selfishness we were all born with is a constant battle in our efforts to follow Jesus.&nbsp; Who are we really trying to promote: ourselves or Jesus?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Who are we really trying to promote: ourselves or Jesus?<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God has been teaching me about intent this past year.&nbsp; He\u2019s taught me about purifying my heart.  I started writing daily devotionals in January of 2018.&nbsp; Nothing has purified my heart more than daily digging into God\u2019s word and writing about it.  Even this morning, I did not want to write.&nbsp; Each devotion I write is an emotional process God takes me through.  Trying to stay on task, keeping my focus on God can be challenging.  In my women\u2019s group this week, one of the young Mom\u2019s talked about Christian writers.&nbsp; She referenced a popular book, she made the point it was about the author, not about God.  I responded to her and said, \u201cAs an aspiring writer, the hardest challenge I have is keeping it all about God.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We all face that challenge, whatever our calling is on our lives.&nbsp; Each morning, we have to choose again who we are going to follow.  We have to set our intentions for the day.&nbsp; We have to remind ourselves, life isn\u2019t about me, it\u2019s about Jesus.  Then, as the hours slip by in our days, we have to keep ourselves on task.&nbsp; When we falter, we have to forgive ourselves, refocus, and keep going.  I\u2019m still mad at myself for getting upset in the tennis tournament I played last week.&nbsp; I lost focus of Jesus at that moment, I missed an opportunity to love a stranger.  But I have to let it go, I have to forgive myself.  The world doesn\u2019t revolve around me, it revolves around Jesus.&nbsp; When I let Him lead, I have no regrets.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Have you been trying to make a better version of you or reflect Jesus?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Further Reading:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Leviticus+16%3A29-18%3A30&amp;version=NIV\">Leviticus 16:29-18:30 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Mark+7%3A24-8%3A10&amp;version=NIV\">Mark 7:24-8:10 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/niv\/Ps%2041.1%E2%80%9341.13\">Psalm 41:1-13 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Proverbs+10%3A15-16&amp;version=NIV\">Proverbs 10:15-16 NIV<\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cPeople were overwhelmed with amazement. \u201cHe has done everything well,\u201d they said. \u201cHe even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.\u201d Mark 7:37 NIV If you want to do everything well, reflect Jesus more.&nbsp; Jesus did everything well. He did everything counter culturally.&nbsp; He loved instead of hated. He forgave instead of seeking vengeance.&nbsp;&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/02\/25\/how-to-do-things-well-in-your-life\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">HOW TO DO THINGS WELL IN YOUR LIFE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1858,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions\/1858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}