Elevate Your Day with Andi and Brian Hale

Know What You Believe

Can you explain why you follow Jesus in non-churchy terms? When I ask others why they follow Jesus, I often get answers like “because he loves me.” While that answer is true, it doesn’t explain things very well to people who don’t follow Jesus.In Mark 5:1–20, Jesus has an encounter with a man filled with an army of demons. Jesus heals the man, but a herd of pigs die in the process. The people of the region don’t want Jesus to stick around, so they ask him to leave. As he is leaving, the man who was freed of the demons asks Jesus if he can go along. Jesus answers, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (v. 19)Why didn’t Jesus let the man come with him? I think Jesus told the man to stay there because only that man could reach those people. The same applies to the people you interact with each day in your work. Most of your customers and coworkers wouldn’t be very interested in what your pastor has to say. If they did, they’d probably attend your church.
Jesus saved you and sent you right back to your workplace. He sent me back, too, even though I begged him to put me ‘in ministry.’ I later realized we are all called to full-time ministry; however, only a few of us need to leave our jobs and go work for a church. Because many of us will not go into ministry full-time, that means we will encounter many unbelievers. We need to know what we believe when we do.
Prepare to Answer
As you pray for, appreciate, and serve others, they may have questions about what you’re doing. If you work late to help someone or use your own personal time or money to make a difference for someone else, they will be curious. Maybe they will ask you why you went out of your way to help them. How will you answer?In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter tells us to respond with gentleness and respect. To me, the best way to answer with gentleness and respect is to answer in the 1st person. Pretend that someone has asked you why you are a Christ-follower. Give your answer using “I” or “me” statements. That way, when you actually receive this question, others will know that what you believe is personal to you.
Make it Quick
Remember that most people are in a hurry. They don’t want to listen to you explain your "why" forever. And many won’t trust the Bible either. So, try to boil your answer down to one minute. Doing so will show the other person you’ve thought about it and can provide a meaningful but concise answer that doesn’t make demands on their time. Then allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest of the work.
Practice, Practice, Practice
The more you think about and rehearse your one-minute answer, the better prepared you will be when someone asks. Even consider asking a friend who is also a believer to join you in this exercise. The more versed you are, the more comfortable you will be when answering. God will use you as you practice. Wait for him to bring people who are curious.
 

Appreciate Others

Our ‘stuff’ won’t travel with us to heaven. Eternal treasure isn’t about possessions; it must have something to do with the people who join us there. Jesus came to seek and save us. He laid aside his glory and majesty to come as a humble baby. He went on to live in submission to his parents, to learn, grow up, teach, serve, suffer, and die for us. Everything he did was for us.
I am tempted at times to think of others as obstacles. Often, my interest in others is only in what they can do for me. In traffic or in a shopping center, I catch myself hoping people will get out of my way. I’m not proud of this attitude. It’s something I battle.
But notice how important people were to Jesus all throughout the Scriptures. If we want Jesus to join us in our workplaces and our schools, we must ask him to help reprogram our minds. One way to do that is to ask God to help you appreciate the treasure in others. Everyone we meet and everyone he brings to our mind is valuable to him and should be valuable to us.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds the Corinthians that love matters more than anything else. If we do all the right things but don’t love others, nothing else counts. Appreciation is just business-speak for love. We want to help others feel appreciated, we want to act on their behalf and in their best interests.
As Christ-followers, we understand that Jesus died for others because God loves every person. So why don’t we love people more? We can start today. You can begin by asking God to bring someone to mind and rise to the occasion by sending them a text or an email. You can mention the qualities God most enjoys about them. Even if you don’t love them very much, ask God to help you get to know them better and grow in your love for them. Ask questions. See if you can find what God enjoys about them. Allow yourself to enjoy them, and ask God to give you a greater appreciation in your heart for others.
Today, do anything you can to show appreciation to them and to help them move closer to Jesus.
 

Pray Daily

5 Daily Habits to Integrate Faith and Work
Day 1 – Pray
Jesus is active right now in the life of every person you know, meet, see, and interact with. Throughout this reading plan and every day thereafter, we want to challenge one another to make ourselves available to God daily. We’re available for him to use us to do whatever he suggests in the life of every person we meet.
Our first step is to pray. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, there is an outline for how to pray. We are to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything.
In our journey as workplace ministers or missionaries, there are three prayers that seem to be particularly relevant in our daily interactions with others.
Here I Am
The first is to tell God you’re ready for him to put you to work. There is biblical precedence for divine availability. Six people in Scripture responded to God with “Here I am” or “Here am I”:
Abraham in Genesis 22:1 and 11
Jacob in Genesis 31:11 and 46:2
Moses in Exodus 3:4
Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:4–11
Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8
Ananias in Acts 9:10
Jesus wants you to make yourself available, too. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus extends the call to everyone. At the end of the letter to the church at Laodicea, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”
“Here I am,” tells God we’re ready and on duty. It also reminds us that we’re on duty for whatever he wants us to do.
Thank You
Gratitude to God in everything influences how we respond to surprise, disappointment, or inconvenience. Gratefulness gives God the chance to insert himself into our response before we allow our flesh to have a say. How we react to difficulties will change if we begin each day thankful for whatever happens. We can choose to be grateful in our circumstances, no matter how challenging. Ask God to show you how to be grateful for everything that happens.
God's Favor
When you or I speak a blessing to someone, things may or may not happen. But when God speaks, universes appear. Ask God to bless (grant his favor to) everyone you meet. Whether a family member, customer, vendor, boss, subordinate, server, anyone who comes to mind, or anyone on your calendar, ask God to use you to bless them.
 

The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game
One of the most adorable challenges that went viral on TikTok was the Fruit Snack Challenge, also known as the Patience Challenge or Candy Challenge. Basically, this game encourages parents to test their child’s self-restraint.
It’s simple; parents put a bowl of snacks or delicious treats in front of their kids and tell them they can eat it once they get back to the room. The parent leaves and the game begins. What makes this most amusing is the undetected camera recording the kid’s every move. I must say this made for fantastic TV. Some children epically failed and forfeited the rest of their snack while others passed their patience test with ease enjoying their savory reward in exchange.
My absolute favorite of this challenge was a baby girl named Niko. While undergoing the delayed gratification challenge, there was a moment when her countenance fell as if her time to indulge in her favorite snack would never come. The best part came at the end of the video when she randomly looked over her shoulder and a spark of enthusiasm prompted her to start jumping in her seat. We, the viewers, didn’t know why her patient stance turned into pure joy, but we later learned that Niko heard her father before she saw him and knew it was time to feast on the promise.
It is clear from this story that patience is indeed a virtue, but what was most satisfying was Niko’s reaction when she realized her father didn’t forget about her. Yes, the wait seemed long, especially for a young child—five minutes feels like five months to them. Nevertheless, when it was all said and done and she heard her father approaching, her expectations grew. It was worth the wait!
Winning the waiting game of life takes patience as well. But while you are waiting, know, without a shadow of a doubt, that your heavenly Father has not abandoned you. You are not forgotten. Just listen for the sound of your Father and soon you will look over your shoulder and shout with glee in anticipation. Not to mention, you might even get to relish some yummy fruit snacks for passing the test.
In your wait . . . release the weight of impatience. God has not forgotten you. Trust His timing and wait with expectation.
Prayer
Abba Father, forgive me for the times I have been impatient, for You are not slow in keeping your promises. Help me not to jump ahead of Your plans out of frustration. Increase my ability to tolerate the wait with the understanding that You are orchestrating the perfect plan for my life. I am not forgotten. I am not forsaken. I will patiently wait (in expectation) for Your goodness. Amen.

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek
From The Game Of Life by Dacia James Lewis
“. . . Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Ready or not, here I come.”
That was the indicator for every player to expedite their plan and be securely tucked away in the best hiding place so that they are not found by “it” (the seeker). You know the game. Hide and Seek! The human scavenger hunt that every adolescent loved to play.
Does it ever appear to you that God is playing a game of Hide and Seek? When you are faced with insurmountable disappointments and begging God for clarity, does it feel like He has found the best hiding place ever? I don’t know about you, but there have been times during my waiting season when God’s presence appeared to be nowhere in sight. It felt like He was playing a Divine game of Hide and Seek if you will, and the more angst I was about a situation, the harder it was to find Him.
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. – Proverbs 25:2 ESV
With minimum words of confirmation, we can easily misconstrue God’s silence for absence. The truth is, God longs to be sought out and it is in our wholehearted pursuit that God reveals Himself. Sometimes it’s as easy to find God as seeing a hider’s feet sticking out from behind the curtain. Other times it takes a while to find God, not because He doesn’t want to be found, but He wants us to dig deeper.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
Essentially, every hider in the game wants to be found. It is the very essence of the game. God wants to be found; and just like a snicker or giggle in the game of Hide and Seek that exposes a hider’s whereabouts to the seeker, God always makes Himself known. When you don’t hear Him, when you don’t see Him, when you can’t feel Him, perhaps it is time to jump in a game of Hide and Seek with the Master, watching and waiting for Him to reveal Himself to you.
But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. – Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV
In your wait . . . release the weight of uncertainty. Seek God with all your heart. He will make Himself known.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. – Matthew 7:7 ESV
Prayer
Father God, when I can’t find You, remind me of Your steadfast and immovable spirit. When I am faced with the uncertainty of Your presence, show me that You are near. Your Word says that when I draw near to You, You will draw near to me. Therefore, I commit to seeking You with my whole heart. I will consistently ask You for Your guidance. I will diligently seek Your ways. I will persistently knock on Your door until You answer with Your plans or Your presence. God, I make You my quest and I will pursue You today, and every day of my life. Amen.