Do You Go Alone or Do You Invite God?
This Week’s Quick Hits:
Awesome Marriage Online Men’s Retreat
Guys, do not miss this: Faithfull, our first Online Men’s Retreat. One of the great things about this retreat is that you can watch the sessions on your own time whenever it works best for you. Our line up of great speakers includes Jeff Zaugg, Jim Burns, Rich Millentree, Larry Hagner, David Cherry, Greg Gunn, Colby Taylor, Dan Lugis, Demario Tucker and myself. These amazing speakers will challenge, teach, and equip you to take the next steps to becoming who God created you to be. It all begins on June 15th, but registration is open today. See you there!
Cyber Security
Cyber security continues to evolve. Much of that can be attributed to new threat after new threat. Hackers are not going away, in fact they are becoming more proficient. It is interesting that the need for cyber security jobs is growing faster than other tech jobs. It is predicted that by 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary factor in deciding whether to conduct third-party transactions and business transactions. It is a challenging field but offers very nice six figure incomes. The opportunities to work in this area seem almost endless. (Thanks to research done by Nikita Duggal)
Interesting true facts:
Here’s an experiment you can test at home: Lemons float, but limes sink. (Limes are denser than lemons.)
Samsung tests their new phone’s durability with a butt-shaped robot. Since people stash their phone in their back pockets, Samsung created a robot shaped like a butt to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure. Believe it or not, the robot even wears jeans.
Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks. During World War I there was a cotton shortage. The Kimberly-Clark company developed a thin cotton substitute, which the Army tried to use as a gas mask filter. The war ended before the material was ready to be used, so the company redeveloped it as facial tissue.
One Tough Trivia Question:
Before the Beatles were formed, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George
Harrison were originally members of which group? (Answer below.)
This Week’s Quote:
Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1976 and was forced out in 1985. He returned as CEO in 1997. It was not until 2007 that the iPhone was released.
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” - Steve Jobs
“How to Develop a Healthy Parenting Perspective”
Awesome Marriage This Week:
AM Podcast: “The Right & Wrong Ways To Apologize To Your Spouse”
As Lindsay and I continue our summer podcast break, we share some of our best and most popular podcasts from the past. Being able to apologize to your spouse will grow your marriage. Why do so many of us struggle with this? Join us as we look into this issue.
AM YouTube Channel: “Money Saved”
Very few of us have enough money in savings. That can cause stress in a marriage. Having no emergency fund when there is an emergency will cause a problem. Where will the money come from? Join me on the AM YouTube Channel for this week’s video!
AM YouVersion Plan: “The Sandwich Generation”
Research estimates nearly half of adults are assisting a parent AND raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child. If that’s you, welcome to the club. In this plan, we meet a couple with two children at home plus a parent living with them. They felt God leading them to open their home to Kimberly’s dad. We’ll look at the challenges and blessings of this decision.
Dr. Kim’s Insights:
Do You Go Alone Or Do You Invite God?
I love the daily devotional “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp. I look forward to reading it each morning and have learned so much from it this year. I recently read this: “...independent strength is a delusion. This means that your weakness is not the great danger to you that you think it is. Rather, the great danger is your delusion of strength, because if you think you’re strong, then you don’t seek the help that you desperately need from the One who is the ultimate source of strength of every kind.”
It wasn’t that I had not heard something similar to this before because I had. What concerned me was how often I leave God on the sidelines and quarterback my life alone. I have what I think is a great idea and run with it. I don’t consult God until I hit a snag or remember that I never sought God to see if this idea was on His agenda for me. The consequences have been great ideas that flopped. It's not that I do not know better, because I do. It’s that at times, I still believe it is all about me.
Superman has been my favorite superhero since I was six years old. Now I am not blaming Superman for my independence. They are still my choices and my decisions. But I really identified with Superman and his strengths and abilities. I even took it so far that I jumped off the roof of our home thinking I really might be able to fly. I couldn't and learned a valuable lesson about gravity and sprained ankles.
Honestly, I think most guys go through a stage of feeling invincible and that we can conquer anything. Some of us stay in that space longer than others and some of us, like me, keep going in and out of that delusion. Today’s Insights is as much for me as it is for you. I like to be independent. But I am learning that when I try to be independent from God, there are all kinds of problems I get myself into.
Being independent with God at my side is different. In fact I think it is the absolute, best version of independence. Remember when we first meet David in the Bible? This young boy; small in stature, kills the biggest and baddest Philistine there ever was. Right before launching the stone that killed Goliath, David says these words, “Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!” (Proverbs 17:45-47) David had confidence and independence with God at his side.
Would David have been able to kill Goliath in his own strength? I don’t think so, but with God he did the impossible. David was an independent young man with God at his side. Being independent with God allows us to stand up to the forces of the enemy. It allows us to lead our families. It allows us to be confident in everything we do because we are seeking God and He will always be with us.
As you go through today, will you go alone or will you invite God to go with you? I have tried it both ways and know that being independent with God always works and being independent without God never does. We have a choice every day. What will you choose?
Next Steps:
What is an area of exercising your independence where you usually leave God out?
What does being independent with God mean to you?
How will you put God first in your independence?
One Tough Trivia Question Answer:
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison were originally members of The Quarrymen!
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