When I swim, I sink like a rock.

I’d like to think it’s because I’m a solid mass of muscle. Isn’t it common knowledge fat floats and muscle sinks. ;)

But lately I’ve been trying to counteract that tendency. I’ve been going to the local swim club to improve my swimming technique.

One of the biggest hurdles I’ve encountered is how terrible my breathing becomes when I start to get tired. I can feel my body tense up. I start to panic. The mechanics of my stroke start to change. Overall, everything about what I know to do starts collapsing.

So often we can get overwhelmed with life.

You can’t find a job. You don’t know how you’ll pay the bills. The kids are driving you crazy. A past relationship is throwing you in a frenzy. You’ve been breathing from your reserve oxygen tank, but you sense it’s starting to run out.

It’s getting harder to breathe. You’re losing faith and trust in God.

But you know what was interesting about my swim practice the other day? You’d think my breathing would become more labored as I progressively got more tired. But it actually improved.

The reason?

I got better at staying calm when I got tired. I kept myself together instead of collapsing. I remembered to breathe.

That’s exactly what God wants us to do when we feel overwhelmed, confused or in a world of chaos. To remember to breathe.

But not on our own.

God wants us to increase our capacity to breathe through Him.

Rather than struggle and fight through a seeming lack of oxygen, we need to realize we have a God who will breathe for us.

Daniel 10:17-18 (NIV)
…My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”

¹⁸ Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.

Just as I learned to breathe when I wanted to panic, we need to learn to rely on God whenever our current situation has us scrambling for breathe. We need to learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and say “God, I trust you” with my current situation. (Click to tweet.)

When you want to quit, learn to take a deep breath, exhale and say “God, I trust you.” Deep breath. Exhale. “God, you are the source of my strength.”

Photo courtesy of ontwerpplus.

But this year I’m trying something different.

What’s the purpose of fasting? To me, there’s two components of a fast.

1. Denying your physical needs/temptations so that you can . . .
2. Be more intentional about seeking God.

The problem I’ve experienced with myself over the past seven years of fasting is that I spend an overwhelming amount of time focused on #1.

What type of fast am I going to do? Daniel, liquids, water-only? Full, partial? Am I going to incorporate a non-food fast like social media? And then 99% of my fast is focused on trying to find fast-approved recipes, avoiding social media and honoring the fast I’ve chosen.

But what’s the missing piece?

Seeking God.

Whoops.

There’s a lot of intentionality about the type of fast, but none when it came to how I’m going to seek God more. How do I always lose sight of that? I have no idea, but it’s so easy to let what you’re fasting completely overshadow why you’re fasting.

The hope is that what you’re fasting provides more margin in your life to seek God. Whether that be an extra meal during the day or time saved not on social media or watching TV. But, more than I care to admit, God doesn’t generally get that extra time.

Which is why I’m reverse fasting this year.

What’s a reverse fast?

Instead of focusing on #1 first, I’m going to focus on #2. Reverse the priorities. Instead of figuring out what I’m not going to eat, I’m going to figure out how to seek God more. How can I give him more of my day?

So this year, I’ve decided to do the following:

• Morning (15 minutes): Read a devotional from My Utmost For His Highest. Marinate on it.
• Lunch (30 minutes): Come home for lunch (no eating out). Before eating, spend this time praying for people in my life.
• After Work (30 minutes): 15 minutes of personal prayer/worship. 15 minutes of listening for God’s voice.
• Before Bed (15 minutes): Read from my chronological reading plan.

And I won’t be doing any type of food-related fast.

Instead, I’ve looked at my normal daily routine and identified areas that waste time. So instead of food, I’ll be fasting from these time wasting activities. Time I can then give to God.

• Hitting the snooze button. Seriously, I waste 30 minutes a morning.
• Watching TV shows on Netflix before bed. Easily saves 1 to 1.5 hours.

So there you have it. My reverse fast. I feel this change puts the priority and focus back on the right thing (God).

How about you? What’s been your experience with fasting? How do you structure yours?

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) tells us to go make disciples. But what exactly is a disciple? I asked myself that recently and went on a quest to find out. Turns out if you search the Bible for the phrase “my disciple” you get some amazing results.

Here are four characteristics of a disciple along with some questions to ponder.

Bear Much Fruit

John 15:4,8 (NIV)
⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Do people look at your life and want to pick your fruit?

That question sounds kind of like the start of a lame pick-up line, but it’s valid here. ;)

Would people want to eat the fruit of encouragement they see from your life? Would they see how you’re slow to speak and quick to listen and want that fruit in their life?

Or would they take a bite from the fruit of your life (e.g., pride, selfishness) and want to spit it out immediately?

Love One Another

John 13:34-35 (NIV)
³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Have you been demonstrating the love of Christ to the co-worker who annoys the crap out of you? Are you cussing people out, flipping them the bird when they piss you off on the road?

Remain Faithful to Jesus’ Teachings

John 8:31 (NLT)
³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

Being “faithful to my teachings” means put it into practice. Consistently.

James 1:22 (NIV)
²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Can you honestly say the Word of God regularly impacts your life? Or that you even read the Bible regularly, let alone have it consistently affect your actions?

Are you quick to obey Jesus’ teachings? Even when it’s uncomfortable and seemingly not beneficial to you?

Follow Jesus

Luke 9:23 (NIV)
²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Following Jesus is not a casual decision (cf. Luke 14:25-35).

Are you willing to leave behind and give up everything in pursuit of Jesus? Even your spouse, your family or your own personal success?

So, Are You a Disciple?

These four characteristics really gave me some tangible things to think about. Do I demonstrate these characteristics in my life?

I hope they did the same for you.

What do you think about this list? Anything missing? What’s it mean for you to be called a disciple?

I realized last year that I spend tons of time researching dev [tech] related things on the web, yet I don’t spend anytime using it to learn about the Bible, Jesus, etc.

Ouch. Zing. *hangs head in shame*

I know that’s me.

What’s even more embarrassing is that last Thanksgiving (or was it the one before last?) I was most thankful for the Internet because of how much it’s enriched my life through the wealth of information instantly available.

True story. ;)

But 95% of my Internet usage is not for spiritual growth. It’s more for growth in other areas I’m interested in (writing, technology, personal development, etc.).

When you look at your time spent online, could that also be you?

How much time do you spend checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest compared to searching for spiritual content that will challenge you to grow, develop and become more like Jesus?

The truth is content on the Internet is overwhelming. Which is why I’m extremely excited about the launch of Grace Letter.

It’s a weekly newsletter that links to the best spiritual articles, videos and stories across the web – delivered straight to your inbox! It does all the hard work of sifting through the web’s noise and shares only the stuff worth checking out.

I highly recommend you subscribe.

Grace Letter is run by Kale Davis (the guy who sent me the email I quoted above). He’ll be the one scouring the web for spiritual gems to pass along and has a proven track record for delivering high quality links in the tech-newsletter he also manages (which I happily subscribe to).

His other newsletter is definitely the one I read the most regularly and get the most out of.

So I’m super confident Grace Letter will be of the same caliber.

</end Grace Letter plug> :)

Where do you go online to find spiritually yummy food? What are some blogs, pastors, podcasts, Christian authors you read regularly?

Maybe some of your suggestions will make it into an issue of Grace Letter!

If we want to see victory in our lives, we have to engage in regular wrestling matches. But oftentimes, we fall short of victory. How many times have you given up? Things got a little too tough for you to endure, and you walked away?

How can we experience victory and the work of God in our lives more often, and give up less often?

Read the rest of my guest post on baaaaa.com: Winning.

I’ve heard it said before, this can be your best year ever if it’s your best year spiritually.

But I hate it. I hate fasting.

I don’t deny it’s a great way to start off the year. Praying, fasting and seeking after God. What I hate about it is what it reveals about myself.

It always show show incredibly undisciplined I am (maybe that’s why “discipline” is one of my words for the year). How I’m consumed with hunger for food. How I’ll cave to temptation and cheat on my fast. How I’ll compromise and change the fast to make it “easier.” How it becomes less spiritual and more diet.

What I hate about it is how a season/time of denying the flesh and focusing on God becomes just the opposite.

A time of focusing on the weakness of the flesh.

So this year I’ve made a conscious effort to use that to my advantage. Whenever I feel the weakness creeping up, I use it as a reminder that weakness is where Christ wants me (2 Corinthians 12:9). That as my body hungers for Pittsburgh steaks, it should really hunger for a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ.

And that is where I find myself. Craving all sorts of food, but being reminded that my hunger should truly be for Christ.

For all you fellow fasting peeps out there, what are some ways you keep disciplined and focused on the right things when you fast?

Rather than resolutions which tend to focus on a specific areas, these words represent broader themes that will help me define my goals and experiences for 2012.

Here are my three words for the year.

Explore

This is a word that is completely opposite of my natural tendencies. I don’t explore. I don’t get outside my comfort zone.

But this year I want to get off the couch/Internet and explore the diverseness of life. Create new memories, experience new sights and entertain new hobbies.

Rise

Not too long ago I asked a handful of people some feedback questions. One question was “What could I improve?”

This was the common thread.

I honestly feel like there is so much more to you then you ever let out.

You have a lot to offer. Sometimes it seems like you hold back…

It’s all true. And I don’t know why. Why I tend to shrink back. Not rise to my potential. Why I hide from embracing leadership responsibilities.

So the word “rise” is a charge to rise to my potential. Be on the offensive. Attack rather than retreat. Embrace the fear.

Discipline

There are a lot of things I’d like to do in 2012. Explore life, rise to my potential, write two ebooks, develop a useful web app, etc.

All that requires discipline. The discipline to start, follow-through and finish. The discipline to show up every day regardless of feeling or motivation.

How about you? What words will be driving themes for you in 2012?

I am not a very confident leader when I don’t have all my ducks in a row. A clear mental map of what I’m trying to convey, how I’m going to do it and a structured order of events. <– that’s the ISTJ in me.

I do not lead very well having to think on the spot and navigate a flexible, unknown environment.

I get panicky. Anxious. I can sense physiological changes in my body.

So it was much to my surprise when I found myself having to lead a group of leaders today not knowing exactly what I was going to say or really what the take home message was supposed to be.

I was scared I had called this meeting and was going to waste people’s time; ruining any potential momentum.

But God showed up despite my insecurities and weakness and revealed these verses to be true.

1 Corinthians 2:3-4 (NIV)
³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
…my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I told people not to waste their lives, but instead, to live them focused on leaving an eternal legacy for Christ.

But I didn’t say any of it. It was a surreal, “holy moment” (for lack of a better description).

God’s Spirit, Christ’s power spoke through me more eloquently, confidently and with more conviction than I could have ever spoken on my own with a month of preparation.

One of those “holy crap, what just happened?” moments.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

http://tinysong.com/Ikde (click to listen)

…and soak up these lyrics.

In the midst of madness, chaos and life, sometimes we just need to slow down and sit at the feet of Jesus.

And let him remind us of this…

The More I Seek You (Kari Jobe)

The more I seek you,
the more I find you.
The more I find you,
the more I love you

I wanna sit at your feet,
drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breath,
feel your heart beat

This love is so deep,
it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace,
it's overwhelming

Do you remember the first time you kissed someone? How awkward was it for you? How did you feel afterward?

I bet you felt on top of the world. You had conquered a mountain. And the next time you went in for a kiss, you went for it confidently!

When was the last time you experienced that first-time rush?

Do you ever feel stale in your relationship with God? Like it’s been awhile since you experienced a rush of excitement with God?

If so, check out my guest post on baaaaa.com: Was Your First Kiss Like Mine?