Pastor Steven Furtick shared his “pregame” ritual this week during his preaching marathon. I thought I would share with you guys what I pray every Sunday before I preach. It varies a little but it goes something like this…

I truly believe that tomorrow is going to be an unforgettable day at Fusion!  We’re going to be wrapping up the Road Trip series and it’s going to be crazy great.  We’ve been building up to this Sunday for six weeks and the payoff tomorrow is going to be astounding.  I just know that God is going to blow us all away.

I’m going to be talking about what to do when your back is up against the wall and I’m telling you right now that this message is for you!  It’s also for your friends.  Do whatever you’ve got to do to get them to come with you to Fusion tomorrow.  Seriously, call them right now and invite them.

Come ready for God to speak to you!

See you tomorrow!

I’ve been getting some questions about my twitter and facebook fast.  To me the basic idea behind any fast is to give up something so that you can focus that energy and time on the Lord.  Recently, I felt like the Lord asked me to stop reading facebook and twitter for a season and instead use that time to draw closer to Him.

So far, the fast has been going very well.  I’m spending as much time as I can through my day either in prayer or in the Word.  I’m digging it.

Of course, as you can see I’m still blogging.  I’m doing that largely because I have a desire to share this “journey” with anyone that is interested.  I just want to share what I’m hearing and learning so I post stuff here and it, in turn, gets automatically tweeted and posted to facebook so in a way I guess I’m still posting stuff all over the place.  This all allows me to share without getting sidetracked by what else is going on in the social media sphere.

The only problem I have is that people keep sending me questions via private messages on both twitter and facebook and I have to log in to respond to those but I try just to log in, respond and log out.  It’s not a big deal.

So, now you know the whole story.

Joy, real joy, lasting joy, doesn’t come from things.  Joy comes from relationships.

I get an enormous amount of joy from my wife and kids.  Sometimes I look at them and it feels as if my heart will exploded.  I don’t always feel that way though because, sadly, I can get easily distracted with the busyness of my life but, in those moments when I truly pause, survey and reflect on my life, I feel blessed beyond measure and great joy fills my heart.

In that same way, there is an almost indescribable joy that comes from walking in a relationship with the Lord.  You may not always be aware enough to sense it but it’s there just past your stress or worry or busyness.  It’s there is good times and in bad.  It’s there whether you’re up or down.  It’s there if you will just lay aside the cares of this world long enough to grasp it.

Not only is this joy always available to us but with it comes great strength.  There is a profound sense of stability, encouragement, and empowerment that comes when we staunchly lay claim to this joy that is rightfully ours.

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

He’s with us every moment of every day.  We may not feel it but that doesn’t matter.  The truth is that He’s there and He cares.

Every time we face a difficult decision, an overwhelming task, a lonely temptation, or a weary moment, we should acknowledge His presence and draw on the strength, grace and mercy the readily flows from Him to those He loves.

We should also do the same on the easy days, lazy afternoons, and peaceful breaks; ignoring the temptation to only seek Him when we are bankrupt.

The idea is for Him to be with us always and for us to depend on and enjoy that fact, and Him, always.