Down with the swamp!

I need a chipper kind of day today.

How about you?

Sometimes life just gives me the swampy willies – I feel like I’m stuck in a swamp and everything I’m encountering just gives me the willies (very overwhelmed and everything around me – like a job or people – just creeps me out).

Maybe I’m not describing that well. But, you know, it’s that feeling where you’ve had enough of the concrete jungle and you want to pack a bag and head to the refreshing, beautiful wild outdoors and leave the swampy willies behind while living in a cabin and communing with nature.

And you know what? Almost everyone around you is feeling the same way. If not at this moment, it will hit them.

And that gives you an opportunity to make the day more chipper for you and the person near you who is having a swampy day. No matter other differences or outlooks on life, in that moment you are kindred spirits who can relate to one another.

Down with the man! Denounce the swamp! I’m outta’ here!

Oh, yeah. Rally around those shared emotions and let loose with the Gospel!

“Hey, my kindred spirit. Do you want to know how I beat the swampy willies and power through the day? Let me share something with you…”

Mark 16:15 (KJV) – “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Now, disciple, I know it’s tough when you’re stuck in the middle of the swamp, but even swamp creatures are loved by Jesus. Share the way with them, and your day will be beyond chipper.

 3 Questions for now

The swamp or concrete jungle or whatever situation people are in can keep them feeling down and without worth.

How much more worthwhile would they feel in this world if they had salvation through Jesus?

Salvation is an eternal worth that overcomes all the bad in this world and delivers all the good from God.

Watch for that moment when someone stuck in the swamp is ready for something more, something better and make the time to share.

Here are three questions that could help you start a conversation:

31. When you face a difficult situation, what helps you keep going?

32. What gives you strength when you're feeling weak?

33. How do you handle setbacks or unexpected challenges?

Be kind. Love them. Be bold.

Be chipper.

Shawn’s noodling rant:

(“Noodling” is a term I swiped from my mentor. The meaning is to “ponder” or “think deeply about” a topic that God is challenging us with through scripture or the Holy Spirit, or both.)

Grab you helmet of salvation, renew your mind in Christ

Mindset.

We hear the term constantly. All the experts talk about working on your “mindset” to alleviate problems, perform better at your job, build relationships, etc. I’ve talked about it before in November regarding how to view your circumstances.

One aspect many people overlook about mindset is less about building up yourself and more about protecting your soul by guarding your mind.

In Ephesians 6:17 God tells us to “take the helmet of salvation” as part of the full armor of God.

The helmet of salvation provides us with a mindset that covers all the sins that cause all the problems and delivers forgiveness for all because we are saved through Jesus.

The helmet of salvation helps us think with the mind of Christ. This is the path to clearing our minds of anything that will distract us from God’s way of thinking.

Phil 4:8 (KJV) – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

This way of thinking gets us back to the basics of Christ – a grounded mindset in Him. Every swampy action or thought can be challenged with this verse.

Now, disciple, don’t forget the follow-on verse that delivers what most of this world stuck in the swamp is searching for deep in their hearts and minds.

Phil 4:9 (KJV) – “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Peace that conquers all the swampy willies and delivers peace of heart, mind and soul.