Sports psychologist will tell you that an important aspect of any game is the ability of the athlete to focus. Keeping one’s mind concentrated on the task at hand is key to performing anything at a high level.
The 2010 British Open winner, Louis Oosthuizen, employed a trigger technique to do just that. In the past, Oosthuizen would become very temperamental on the course and regularly lose his focus. His mind would get off track and his swing would be affected. Consequently, his scores did not put him at the top of the leader boards. In fact, in two previous PGA tour events, he did not do well enough to make the cut and play over the weekend.
Oosthuizen and his Mind Coach came up with a solution to his focus problem. He put a large red dot in a very visible spot on his golf glove. Each time he gripped his club, he’d see the red dot as a trigger and to remember to focus… to clear his mind of any distraction so that his mind was completely in the game. He believes it made a difference in how he performed during the British Open. I imagine he will continue to use this technique as a visual reminder, or trigger, to help him focus for the foreseeable future. Serious golfers and sports-minded people may enjoy reading more about Oosthuizen’s Mind Coach, Karl Morris, and this trigger technique.
Focus and The Christian Faith
I spent some time the last 24 hours reflecting on how this focus issue might be addressed for those who are trying to live out the principles of the Christian faith and might be stumbling, especially in their thinking patterns. My mind kept going to two scriptures.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.“ Philippians 4:8
To understand what God wants us to be doing, we have to have a mindset based on his guiding principles. Paul tells us in Romans that it’s necessary to renew our minds by knowing what God’s truths are and we do that by reading the Bible. We must replace what society, or the world, tells us with the principles of God. He inspired the authors of the Bible to share his truths with us by the written Word. (2 Timothy 3:16)
Then in Philippians, Paul instructs us what to think on specifically… the kind of thoughts that should be in our minds. The more our thoughts are of those that Paul suggests, the more likely we will have peace and live a victorious life.
Focus and Your Red Dot
So what behaviors or “triggers” can we employ on a daily basis to remind us to practice these principles? I’ll share a few of the things I do that help me. I generally listen to Christian music instead of secular music. Most every morning I start my day with a devotional and read some of the Bible. I pray asking God to help me think about things that will please him and that are praiseworthy. I read books about the application of the Christian faith. Most days of the week I seek out scriptures that are conducive to personalizing in the form of daily positive affirmations. (Read a blog post about the value of speaking affirmations using scripture.)
It’s been my experience that the more I am intentional about monitoring my thinking patterns, and therefore think as Paul recommended to the Philippians, I’m better able to be the kind of man God desires me to be. The fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control - are more apparent in my life.
So, I don’t use a visual type of red dot to help me focus on my walk with God. My main technique is monitoring my thinking pattern and by daily doing things that help me be reminded of the key principles of the Christian faith.
What’s your equivalent of Oosthuizen’s red dot that helps you stay focused on your walk with God?
“The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;
his ears are open to their cries for help.
But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;
he will erase their memory from the earth.
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.”
Psalm 34:15-17
God loves it when you cry out to him. He wants you to turn to him as your Source of strength and comfort and peace. When we cry out to God, we are humbling ourselves and we are admitting that we need him to help us with something. Scripture promises us that his ears are open and that he hears us when we call to him for help.
Do you need to take something to God and to cry out to him for a situation in your life?
It was a year ago this week that I last laced up a new pair of running shoes. That is until earlier today.
On July 9th of 2009, I made a blog entry about running shoes and the bible being two pieces of fitness equipment that I most frequently use. The Nike Air Max shoes I blogged about then and that I have enjoyed using for a little less than a year blew a tire so to speak. Two of the ‘air bubbles’ burst and this resulted in reduced cushioning. My daughter urged me to return them to Nike with a request for a replacement pair. The replacement shoes arrived this morning. The runner in me felt compelled to lace them up and take them for a spin… a slow four mile run along my favorite rural route. So, I then grabbed my iPod and headed out the door.
As usual, my thoughts wandered to many topics while I was running. One thing I thought about was walking. I wondered how many years of running I still had in my knees and ankles. I turn 60 later this year and have been running since I was 16. Thankfully, I made a conscious decision about 15 years ago to pull way back on my running in hopes that I’d be able to keep at it longer than I would otherwise. Who knows, God willing I’ll be able to run throughout my 60′s into my 70′s!
I’ve been meaning to blog about walking with God for a while and on the run, I was inspired to do it today.
The Bible tells us that Noah and Enoch both walked with God. It doesn’t say they ran with God… but walked with him. It’s interesting isn’t it? The picture we imagine in our minds of walking with God is certainly different than of running with God. Running suggests a quicker, more hurried pace. Walking suggests a slower, more relaxed and intentional pace.
David gives his account of walking with God in Psalm 56:13.
“For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.” Psalm 56:13
What does it meant to walk with God? There are two spiritual exercises that come to mind. One is that we will obey him. The other is that we will be in his presence.
Noah was obedient to God when he built the ark. By his obedience, his family was saved and the entire human was was able to continue here on earth. (See Genesis 6:8-9) Talk about the importance of following God! If you want to be reminded of the value of God’s commandments and of following them, read Psalm 119. In almost every verse in the chapter, we are reminded of why God’s instructions to us are important.
When we are walking with God, when we are obeying his guidelines, we are also living a Holy life.
“And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.” Isaiah 35:8
To walk with God is to be obedient to him and his ways.
When we know that we are in God’s presence, we are in a special place spiritually. Lingering in God’s presence while reading the Bible, or praying, or listening to inspiring music, or by walking outside in nature is a great place to be in. The more I sense his presence, the stronger I feel spiritually. Being in God’s presence enables me to better handle the difficult times and bumpy roads that come my way. As David writes in the Psalm above, walking in God’s presence gives us life.
Another image I have when I think of walking is a path, not unlike the picture I have added in this post. A path is a way we take to get from one place to another. This reminds me that there is one path, one way, to God in heaven – to be assured of an eternal life. Jesus tells us what path to take in John 16:6 – “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It’s pretty clear here that the only way to be connected with God the Father is through his Son, Jesus.
Finally, the last book of the Bible tells us of an outcome of “walking in God’s way” on earth. We will walk with God in heaven.
“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.” Revelation 3:4-5
I don’t know about you, but I want to be walking with God in as many ways as I can. There sure are numerous benefits while we are on earth. And, I want to be dressed in white walking with God in heaven some day.
Questions to Reflect On:
Are you walking with God?
Are you running such a fast-paced life that you don’t leave time for personal time with God?
Psychology in the Spirit, Contours of a Transformational Psychology, published by InterVarsity Press and written especially for those doing psychology and counseling, is an excellent book. John Coe and Todd Hall do a terrific job of addressing key principles of the Christian faith as it relates to human nature and personal growth. I don’t think I have ever read such a faith-based, detailed and clinical work on human nature and personal wholeness.
Coe and Hall present a new model of psychology using their knowledge of counseling principles along with biblical truths. I especially enjoyed the section of the book that addresses the nature of the self, sin and psychopathology, and psychological health. I also enjoyed reading the material about attachment filters and the impact that our previous relationships, especially those between a child and a parent, affect our emotional health as adults.
In the chapter, The Person as Spirit, they write “existential loneliness is perhaps the core sin-condition and pathology that plagues humankind in original sin.” And of the importance of being in union with God – “Here in the light, in the love of God, in union with the Holy Spirit, having been reconciled to God through Christ’s atoning work on the cross, my identity is resolved. Here I am at shalom, wholeness, peace, well-being.”
Psychology in the Spirit will help the reader better understand “sin habits of the heart” and the impact that our earthly parents have on our ability to experience a healthy relationship with our Heavenly Father. It also gives great insight into the process of spiritual formation from a psychological health perspective.
Counselors, professional life coaches, professors and clergy will benefit from reading the book. Be prepared to read some very technical and clinical language. ( I looked up a several words in a dictionary because they are not in my everyday vocabulary.) Maybe some day the authors will write a comparable book for individuals not involved in a related profession as anyone who would like greater insight into their own psychological health could benefit by the information that Coe and Hall write about.
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
This week, the East coast of the states will be experiencing record high temperatures. Health experts will recommend that people living there should drink lots of water to replace what they lose trying to stay cool through perspiration. Yes, that is excellent advice for our physical health and well being. The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight. Blood contains almost 70% water, body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water.
Many of the water products on the shelf are using the word “life” in their marketing of the water. Nestle suggests that their purified water is “Pure Life.” When I see this printed on a bottle of water, I’m reminded of the truth of the matter. The Bible tells us that there is one source that provides us true life – Jesus, the Living Water.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Revelation 22:1
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:10-14
After I have been working in the yard on a hot day, I’ll typically go to the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water to quench my physical thirst and to replace the water I’ve lost through sweating. Drinking pure water is probably the best way to satisfy the need to rehydrate physically. But what about satisfying spiritual needs?
Sometimes we try to meet our inner spiritual thirst through external means that do not satisfy like food, alcohol, drugs, gambling, or other forms of unhealthy or addictive behaviors. These earthly things will not truly satisfy the need that God has given each of us for a Savior. Only Jesus can satisfy this need.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.‘” Jesus in John 7:38
Questions to Reflect On
Do you have a deep inner thirst that has not yet been quenched?
Are you daily drawing on Jesus as your Source of Living Water?
Oosthuizen and his Mind Coach came up with a solution to his focus problem. He put a large red dot in a very visible spot on his golf glove. Each time he gripped his club, he’d see the red dot as a trigger and to remember to focus… to clear his mind of any distraction so that his mind was completely in the game. He believes it made a difference in how he performed during the British Open. I imagine he will continue to use this technique as a visual reminder, or trigger, to help him focus for the foreseeable future. Serious golfers and sports-minded people may enjoy reading more about 
On July 9th of 2009, I made a blog entry about 
When we know that we are in God’s presence, we are in a special place spiritually. Lingering in God’s presence while reading the Bible, or praying, or listening to inspiring music, or by walking outside in nature is a great place to be in. The more I sense his presence, the stronger I feel spiritually. Being in God’s presence enables me to better handle the difficult times and bumpy roads that come my way. As David writes in the Psalm above, walking in God’s presence gives us life.
This week, the East coast of the states will be experiencing record high temperatures. Health experts will recommend that people living there should drink lots of water to replace what they lose trying to stay cool through perspiration. Yes, that is excellent advice for our physical health and well being. The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight. Blood contains almost 70% water, body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water.
After I have been working in the yard on a hot day, I’ll typically go to the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water to quench my physical thirst and to replace the water I’ve lost through sweating. Drinking pure water is probably the best way to satisfy the need to rehydrate physically. But what about satisfying spiritual needs?
Let’s Connect!