“If you don’t hurry then you’ll miss out.” That’s the fear many of us are living under.
But it’s only half true.
Yes, you can do more if you hurry. But you won’t enjoy the experience very much and you won’t be keeping in step with the Spirit of God.
1. What if I told you that Jesus’ easy yoke is unhurried?
Jesus smiles at us and says, “Be unhurried with me.”
If we stay yoked to Christ then our only hurry will be to listen to God and obey Him.
My favorite way to help me slow down and be peacefully unhurried with Jesus is by praying a Breath Prayer. (My book on Jesus’ easy yoke gives you 10 different prayers from Scripture with breathing rhythms to help you slow down and relax.)
Let’s try one now…
👉 Breathe in the peace and grace of Christ as you whisper or think: “In Christ be easy…"
👉 Breathe out your pressure to do more as you whisper or think: “Don’t hurry…”
You’ll find this Breath Prayer especially helpful if you pray it as you anticipate a situation that tempts you to hurry. Then pray it in that situation, while resisting hurry, submitting yourself to the Lord and resting in His love.
I struggle with perfectionism. And probably you or someone you love gets caught in it too.
Perfectionism is an anxious striving to do and be better because we don’t feel good enough on the inside. We don’t feel lovable as we are.
It suffocates our soul with worry about details of our performance, what people think, and doing what’s right.
The word of hope in the Bible for perfectionists is grace.
Grace is God’s favor and power that comes to us through relying on Jesus Christ. It’s God acting in our lives to do for us what we cannot do on our own.
And ironically, it’s God’s grace that perfects us!
It’s by relying upon God’s grace that we are free to be ourselves before God and then by His power through Christ to become more than ourselves, to become like Christ.
Instead of trying to be perfect in the image we project to other people we can rely upon the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep working at who we are, perfecting (completing) our character (Philippians 1:6).
Oh what a relief and joy it is to behold the warm smile of God in Jesus and rest in being “good enough” 🤍
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself — it’s thinking of yourself less.”
But what does that really mean? In actuality, “thinking of yourself less” may prove to be the same thing as “thinking less of yourself” (or thinking badly of yourself).
Many Christians think they’re being humble by disregarding their emotions, needs, and self-worth to focus on other people. But that’s not true humility and it doesn’t work.
Nobody is helped when you think poorly of yourself!
If you judge yourself as “too needy,” “too emotional,” or “too bad to be loved” then you’ll just push your feelings down into your unconscious mind, burying them somewhere in your body. This drains your energy and confidence and makes it really hard for you to be compassionate and kind to other people and to worship God.
Furthermore, when you think less (or badly) of yourself you’re probably thinking of yourself a lot — that’s not humility, it’s pride!
Pride doesn’t just come from an inflated ego, it also comes from a deflated ego. It means you’re thinking about and relying upon primarily yourself, rather than upon God.
True humility is not self-deprecation — it’s faith in the generosity of God that enables you to be your genuine self.
The goal is not to be occupied with our sins or weaknesses, but to be occupied with God.
If we’re occupied with ourselves (be it self-praise or self-judgment), it’s the opposite of a heart of humility.
But if we’re occupied with God we’ll learn to depend on him, submit to him, abandon outcomes of situations to him, and find our source of identity, joy, and strength in him alone. We’ll see that without God we have nothing, but with him we have everything.
That’s what a true heart of humility looks like.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s the source of the truest happiness, of a joy that nothing can destroy! 😊
Breathing is important! Not just physically, but psychologically and spiritually as well.
When we’re anxious we breathe rapid, shallow breaths from our chest. But research shows that being intentional to practice slow, deep breathing from your stomach can help you relax.
God has made us such that relaxed breathing is part of being at peace in His presence.
In addition taking longer and deeper breaths, I find it’s especially helpful to pair this rhythm of relaxed breathing with a phrase (or paraphrase) from Scripture. I call this a Breath Prayer.
For example, I like to pray “Peace... Be still…” when I’m feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
These are the words Jesus speaks to calm the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:39). In the same say, we can look to Jesus to speak peace into the storm(s) inside of us and/or around us.
Here’s a rhythm of breathing to help you pray this:
👉 Breathe in, filling your lungs as you whisper, “Peace…”
👉 Feel the word “peace” echo inside you as you hold your breath awhile...
👉 Breathe out as you whisper, “Be still...
👉 Let distractions slip away by re-focusing on breathing your prayer over and over...
By repeating this prayer in this physical way you’re renewing your mind in the Word of God and seeking for his words and him to govern your whole person, seeping down from your thoughts into your emotions, your body, your social connections, and your soul.
Try it! That’s the best way to understand the value of Breath Prayers.
Rely on the Spirit of Christ to assist you, helping you to make use of this prayer or find a different Bible phrase to pray and to get into a good rhythm with it.
Jesus wants to hear from you! He cares about what’s going on in your life. He wants to listen to you share your feelings, thoughts, needs, and desires.
There’s nothing too big or too small to talk about — Jesus takes interest in every aspect of your life. He wants to be in relationship with you. He wants to hear about what’s going on in your life and how it’s affecting you.
Take some time today to reflect on the prompts in the image above. As you do, ask Jesus to reveal where he was with you this week.
It might help you to journal your responses and prayers as you do this. Or it might help you to talk to a soul friend or spiritual director who can listen and minister God’s love, empathy, and grace to you.
As you process and share with Jesus, remember that his heart is open to you. He’ll never leave you. Never shame you. Never reject you. His eyes shine with delight in you. He smiles in your presence. He enjoys knowing you and being your friend. And he loves you more than you’ll ever comprehend ❤️
The most important thing in your life is that you see that Jesus smiles at you. Then a smile will come to your face and to the people around you.
2. Do you see Jesus smiling at you now?
A smile is a powerful prayer.
It can help you to overcome discouragement, worry, fear, frustration, loneliness, or boredom — really.
Jesus welcomes you to come closer. He’s interested in how you’re feeling and what you’re doing — he enjoys knowing you and being your Friend. And to have the Lord God Almighty as your Friend is the best blessing!
Jesus opens his heart to you. He forgives your sins. He wants to encourage you and to guide you on the path of life with him.
Follow Jesus and then you can exclaim, along with the Apostle John, I am the disciple Jesus loves! (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20).
To help you live in the smile of God I’d like to share with you a favorite Breath Prayer of mine: “Jesus delights in me… I delight in you my Lord” (It’s inspired by Psalm 18:19; 37:4, 23).
You might try using this breathing rhythm to help you meditate on and absorb into your heart the wonderful healing image that Jesus smiles at you:
👉 Breathe in (with a smile!) as you whisper or think: “Jesus delights in me…”
👉 Breathe out (still smiling!) as you whisper or think: “I delight in you my Lord.”
You might try it for a few minutes now, slowly and softly repeating it over and over…
Then as you go about your day you can breathe this prayer as often as you can remember.
You can also pray this for a relationship you’re in: “Jesus delights in us… We delight in you my Lord.” Or for intercession, praying for people by name: “Jesus delights in _______… May ________ delight in you my Lord.”
One breath. One prayer. One smile! 😊
It may seem like a little thing to appreciate that Jesus smiles at you, but it can help you to do whatever you’re doing with and for Jesus — and do it with joy.
3. Did you know Jesus set boundaries?
Most people are surprised when I show them examples from the Bible of Jesus setting boundaries and practicing personal soul care.
(It’s no wonder we overdo, get worn out, and even burnout!)
This understanding was surprising for me too. It’s something I wasn’t taught in church. But I looked prayerfully at the life of Jesus in the Gospels and discovered that Jesus set boundaries repeatedly!
For example:
👉 Jesus accepted his personal limits and needs. He got the sleep he needed, took naps, ate food, took time to relax, and did a lot of walking (Matt 26:18, 20; Mark 1:16, 3:23, 4:38; Luke 7:36; John 10:40, 12:2).
👉 Jesus said no to inappropriate behavior. He didn’t heal those who were too proud to trust Him (Matt 13:58). He didn’t give in to the religious leader’s baiting questions (Matt 21:23-27, 22:15-22). He said no to Peter and the disciples who had an agenda for him to a political king or military warrior (Matt 16:23).
👉 Jesus spoke the truth in love. For example, he told the Rich Young Ruler that he couldn’t help him until he gave away the money that was controlling him (Matt 19:16-21).
👉 Jesus had expectations for people in need. For example, the blind man had to walk a long way to get to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud out of his eyes (John 9:7).
👉 Jesus offered grace and truth according to the individual’s need. For example, to the woman caught in adultery, he offered grace: “Neither do I condemn you” and truth: “Go and sin no more” (John 8:1-11).
👉 Jesus taught us examples of how to set boundaries: spend time alone in prayer (Matt 6:6), be honest and direct (Matt 5:37), set priorities (Luke 16:13), and please God, not people (John 5:44).
If this is new to you, I encourage you to look up these Scriptures, study their contexts, and other related passages from the Bible. Reflect and pray. Ask Jesus to teach you to live your life in the way that he would if he were you.
We’ve buried the Jesus of the gospels under intellectual religious doctrines that he’s omnipotent and omniscient. We’ve lost touch with his real humanity and his raw emotions.
Jesus cried (John 11:35). He got angry (Mark 3:1-6). He was anxious about the cross (Luke 22:44).
He felt impatient when his students were pig-headed and hard-hearted (Matt. 6:30, 8:26, 16:8).
He got frustrated and angry and had to put the brakes on the train of his emotions by abruptly breaking into prayer (Matt. 11:25-26).
Sometimes he didn’t know what to do (Luke 6:12-13).
Sometimes he was too tired to work (Mark 4:38).
He had to grow in grace each day (Luke 2:40, 52).
He had conflicts with his mother and family that left them feeling unloved (Luke 2:41-50; Mark 3:20-21, 31-35).
When he was put into an inquisition by the religious authorities he needed time to feel and think before he answered (John 8:2-7).
There were some life lessons he couldn’t learn except through suffering (Heb. 5:8).
Often he was tempted to sin but always he chose to love God and people, including himself (Matt. 4:1-11; Heb. 4:15).
Most of all, Jesus the Nazarene had a tender heart and was sensitive. He had emotional antennae out to feel what other people felt and to sense the leading of the Spirit of his Father (Matt. 9:36, 14:14; John 5:19, 11:28, 33, 38).
What challenges are you facing today? What’s making you feel pressured or insecure? What’s tempting you to sin?
Imagine the human Jesus in your skin and walking into your life situations. This Jesus rose from the dead and breathed his Spirit into you (John 20:22). He’s the Son of God and the radiance of God’s glory (Heb. 1:3).
Right now Jesus feels what you feel. He wants to be with you and to help you (Heb. 4:15-16).
He’s talking to the Father about your needs (Rom. 8:34). He’s the Lord of angel armies and is calling in reinforcements to protect you and give you strength to persevere in God’s love (Matt. 26:53; Psalm 91:11; Heb. 1:14).
Everyone experiences disruptive feelings and impulses — particularly in relational conflicts, work setbacks, criticism, or rejection.
But if we stuff our emotions, react impulsively, confuse our feelings with God’s voice, or linger in shame, resentment, anxiety, or depression we’ll get stuck.
When we aren’t regulating our emotions we’ll be more likely to react to stress and conflicts with depression, anxiety, anger, hurtful words, or addictive behavior.
These outbursts can damage people’s hearts and diminish our credibility.
That’s why it’s important that we learn to manage our emotions in ways that are healthy and effective.
Managing our emotions comes under the Biblical virtue of self-control or self-discipline. As the Apostle of Grace taught, we are to train ourselves to be godly (1 Timothy 4:7).
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It’s also a core characteristic of emotional intelligence.
To be emotionally healthy means we know how to regulate our emotions so we can return to joy and move forward with wisdom and grace.
In the image above we’ve listed out several suggestions for how you can regulate your emotions.
As you read through this list, I invite you to consider which of these things have been helpful for you in the past and which things might be helpful for you to try the next time you’re experiencing some challenging emotions or circumstances.
Jesus is full of God’s fatherly love and exuberant with joy (Luke 10:21).
The Lord is so radiantly winsome with divine life that 32 times Luke says crowds of people gathered around him to be close to him.
Again and again people press through the throngs to touch the Heavenly Man.
👉 Four men cut into a roof to drop their sick friend at Jesus’ feet (Luke 5:17-20).
👉 A rejected women forced into sex slavery breaks into a house full of religious men, falls at Jesus’ feet weeping, and pours her alabaster jar of expensive ointment on his feet (Luke 7:36-50).
👉 A sick woman crawls in the dirt between people’s legs to touch the hem of his garment (Luke 8:42-48).
👉 Zacchaeus climbs a tree to get above the parade of people so he can see Jesus, and then he jumps down to have dinner with him (Luke 19:1-10).
These are just a few of the people who were captivated by Christ Jesus. And each were blessed beyond their wildest dreams!
The same is true for us: when we look closely at Jesus’s life in the Gospels we too want to be near him to receive his blessing and share it with others.
4. How’s your energy level these days?
Have you been feeling tired or worn-out?
If so, it’s important to pay attention to what things are draining your energy. If you wait too long to give attention to your depleted soul you’ll burn out.
Jesus warned us that if we’re not careful we can lose our soul (Matt. 16:26). He wasn’t talking about going to hell—he was talking about living on earth today without a vibrant soul.
Sadly, it’s easy to lose our souls by getting pulled down into the swirl of our soul-less society.
But if we ignore our soul then our life will stop working.
Think of it like the check engine light on the dashboard of your car: you pay attention to that indicator light because you don’t want to damage your engine and have your car stop running.
The same is true for your soul. The longer you go without looking under the hood of your soul, the worse the damage will be. If you wait too long, you’ll burn out.
So friends, I have a little soul-care practice for you to try today to help you with this:
1️⃣ Make a list of the things in your life that are stealing your energy. (See examples in the image above.)
2️⃣ Make a list of the things that give you energy and rest. (Swipe to see examples in the image above.)
3️⃣ Consider how you can set aside more time for your energy-givers and less time for your energy-drainers.
4️⃣ Pray and invite Jesus to guide you in this. You may also want to talk to a friend for empathy and support.
Human willpower for doing disciplines and moral muscle for keeping rules have the appearance of wisdom, but they’re not enough to sustain loving attitudes and behaviors (Col. 2:23).
Instead of forming us to be more like Jesus, they lead us to use the wisdom and practices of Scripture as a self-help project where we rely on our own abilities and energies instead of Jesus.
But self-help is a mirage. It leads us to become prideful, dogmatic, legalistic, and judgmental.
Our Lord and Teacher warned us about the folly of self-help projects:
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am… Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self” (Mark 8:34 MSG).
God delights to bless you, but if you go into a self-help project you’re actually walking away from Jesus’ smile and outstretched arms.
Instead, listen to this invitation from Jesus:
“Re-think how you’re living your life in light of your opportunity to start living with me today in the Kingdom of the Heavens” (Matt. 4:17 paraphrased).
Or in other words: let go of life on your own terms, stop trying to make your life a self-help project for success or to get all the blessings you want. Instead, simply submit to the Lord’s loving, righteous rule.
Enroll in Jesus’ school of discipleship and learn how to live submitted to him in all things as you draw upon the resources of being part of his kingdom.
As you do this, you’ll learn how to live your ordinary life today in the reality of the heavenly realms, loving God and your neighbor as he loves you.
This is the best life—and it’s available to you today!
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Mental health is not all in your head. It has a significant impact on your body too!
When we’re struggling with things like anxiety and depression it almost always manifests with physical symptoms.
That’s because our mind, body, and emotions are all closely intertwined. What effects one affects the others.
(Of course, these physical symptoms are not exclusively caused by mental health issues. They can also be related to other physical health challenges or circumstances.)
Paying attention to how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally can be a helpful sign that it’s time to slow down, relax, feel, and look to God and others to give you empathy ❤️
To benefit from God’s Word we need to open our hearts to Jesus.
We need to allow Scripture to work its way through us, drawing us closer to the risen Christ in our midst and deepening our dependence on God in all that we do.
This is our source of power, joy, and unfailing love.
But sadly we sometimes miss the opportunity to let the Bible shape the kind of people we are and how we actually live our lives.
Jesus confronted the Pharisees for reading the scripture in a way that was harmful — they studied it diligently but refused to let it lead them to engage personally and lovingly with Jesus as the Christ (John 5:39-40).
How readily we make the mistake of putting our Bible reading on a To-Do list that we check off with a sense of accomplishment like the Pharisees.
But reading to get through the Bible is a waste of time if we’re not letting the Bible get through to us. We need to submit to it, or more accurately, we need to submit to its author, the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), but is our reading inspired by God? Are we listening to and relying upon the Spirit as we read? (1 John 2:20,27).
The bottom line of our Bible reading, as in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, is that we hear the word and put it into practice (because we learn by doing) — that’s a life built on a strong foundation (Matt. 7:24-27).
Since good fruit grows from a good tree (Matt. 7L17-18), let’s lean into Bible reading that will draw us closer to Jesus and help us yield a bumper crop to God’s glory!
What do you do when you’re overwhelmed? When you have too much to do and not enough time to do it all?
Maybe you run from thing to thing frantically trying to get everything done. Or maybe you multitask and try to get everything done at once. Or maybe you try to avoid your responsibilities by watching TV or scrolling on social media.
I’ve sought comfort in these ways, but they don’t really care for my soul when I’m overwhelmed. They don’t help me connect with the compassion and strength of Christ where I need it most.
Instead, here are some things that I’ve found to be helpful when I’m feeling overwhelmed:
👉 Pause and take some slow & deep breaths
👉 Talk to a friend about the things that are making me feel overwhelmed and receive empathy
👉 List out my priorities
👉 Set boundaries (say no to things I don’t have time/energy for)
👉 Be kind to myself
👉 Focus on one thing at a time
👉 Ask for help
👉 Thank God for his grace that’s sufficient in my limitations
Dear Lord, you alone are the Good Shepherd who provides rest for our souls when we’re overwhelmed. I pray that when we’re too tired or too stressed to keep going you’ll help us experience your peace, strength, and guidance. Teach us to navigate our daily responsibilities in your rhythms of grace, walking freely and lightly alongside you. Amen.
The greatest opportunity in life is to learn to live in the moment with Jesus!
Always God is present with us — even living within us once we’ve put our confidence in Jesus — but often we get distracted from appreciating the blessing of having the Spirit of the risen Christ in our midst.
Maybe we relied on our own strength instead of the Lord’s.
Maybe we wanted something other than to glorify God by enjoying and serving him.
Maybe we weren’t trusting in the goodness and kindness of God.
Regardless of what’s distracting you, I have good news:
God is present with you right now! He wants to strengthen you and bless you with his love. You don’t have to live distracted from his presence — you can learn to keep re-directing your mind onto God!
Let go of living life on your own terms, stop trying to make your life a success or to get all the blessings you want. Instead simply submit to God’s loving and righteous rule.
As you do this, you’ll learn how to live your ordinary life today in the reality of the heavenly realms, loving God and your neighbor as he loves you. Then you’ll find your joy in the Lord Jesus Christ in your midst (Ps. 37:4), delighting in him and finding his sufficiency to meet all your needs (Phil. 4:19).
This my friends, is the best life!
Practically, here are some ways you can do this:
1️⃣ Start your day in prayer: linger in bed for a few extra minutes and ask Jesus to help you experience his presence as you go about your day.
2️⃣ Re-direct your mind onto God throughout the day: listen for his voice, praise him, ask for his help, imagine his smile, or just connect with him as you go about each task or activity (big or small).
3️⃣ Pray a phrase of Scripture throughout the day: pause, breathe, and pray a short prayer form the Bible like, “Jesus delights in me… I delight in you my Lord” (inspired by Ps. 18:19; 37:4, 23)
4️⃣ Talk to a soul friend or spiritual director: share how you are (or aren’t) experiencing God’s presence with you. Absorb their listening, empathy, and presence as an expression of God’s love and care.