The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - 10 Ways To Refuel Your Optimism

Episode Date: October 9, 2020

It can be tempting to lose hope and optimism in a chaotic and divisive world. Today, Jeff offers us 10 practical ways to ignite our optimism and keep our gaze fixed on the victory of Jesus Christ. Snippet from the Show In dark times, let us keep our gaze fixed on the victory of Jesus Christ who has already won the battle and sits on the throne of glory. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, Episode 187, 10 ways to refuel your optimism. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kavan Show. Well, the weather is changing. It is certainly changing. Right now it is October, deep in the woods of Minnesota, sitting out here looking over the lake right now. And I know that things are changing all over the world. They're changing in your life. They're changing in our culture, politics, the church. Everything is about change right now. You know, as I'm looking out over the lake, and this time of year, usually we will get, literally thousands of ducks and thousands of Canadian geese who will land on the lake every evening. And then by the time you get up for morning prayer, they're gone. It's like, they're gone. But this year, it's a little bit different. As I'm looking out at the lake right now,

there are not a lot of ducks and geese on there, but there are some strange birds that I did a little research on. They're called the cormorant, the cormorant, and they are kind of a gangly, double-crested bird, kind of a prehistoric-looking bird, and I did some research on them, and I found out that these birds are not appreciated by the other birds, and they kind of go out and destroy the small fish, and they kind of just destroy the feel of the lake, or if they're on a pond, and, you know, things can seem a little, a little down from the rest of the birds, and it's a little sad that the other birds are not here. I'm guessing it's because of the cormorand. If you're a bird expert, let me know. But either way, it is different this year,

and I know that it's different in your life, and maybe you need a little boost as far as your optimism goes. Look, I know we've been going through a difficult time, and I was just talking to some friends this morning who they haven't been counting on all of this in their schedule, you know, with working from home, the children going to school at home, half time and half at the school, doctor's appointments in the middle of it. I need the computer. No, I need the computer. We're stressing the internet. Who's watching movies? It's just, it's a difficult time. But let me encourage you today. I'm going to give you 10 ways to refuel your optimism. Now, when I say this, refuel your optimism. I want to be clear that the purpose of this show is not about you and me.

It's about God. It's about Jesus Christ and his triumph. It's his victory. It's his mercy, his kindness, his plan. And so while we talk about refueling your optimism, which I'm sure you need, I know I need that from time to time, it really is about Jesus. And that's really where we get our optimism from is Jesus and to worship Jesus, to serve Jesus, and to celebrate and give him amazing praise. Hey, before we get into those 10 ways to refuel your optimism, notice next June 2021. Next June, Father Mike Schmitz and I will be going to Israel, along with a number of great singers like Ali Alia, Taylor Tripodi, and we've got the Swaffords going with us, and that's going to be June. the first two weeks of June of 2021, go to my website, jeffcavens.com, and you can get on the list.

You've got to save yourself a place because this last year, they were sold out. They were sold out this last year, and of course it got canceled, and we're encouraging those who didn't make it last year to go in June of 2021 to the Holy Land. Father Mike Schmitz and myself, it's not like any other trip. It is so, well, I'll use a Greek word here, it's cool. It's just plain cool to go into the Holy Land and travel, teach, pray, praise, meet new people. Father Mike and I have been doing this for years, and I know it's going to be the best trip you've ever taken, the best pilgrimage you've ever experienced. When you go to my website, if you sign in, you're going to get a special document that we're going to send your way. And that document is about, it is about how much time it takes to read each book.

of the Bible. That's jeffcavens.com. Are you ready? We're going to look at 10 ways that we can refuel our optimism. And I'll start off with number one, and that is that if we're going to be successful in serving God and worshiping God and carrying out his purposes, number one, you need to put your hope in God. Put your hope in God, not cures, not politics. That's not where our our hope belongs, but our hope is in God. And I have said this many times on the show before, but hope, biblical hope, is looking at the future based on God's attributes, the future based on his faithfulness, looking at the future based on his power, his wisdom, his plan. That's where my hope is. My hope is in God. My hope is in Jesus Christ. It's not in President Trump.

It's not in the Republicans. It's not in the Democrats. My hope is not in some Hollywood star who thinks they know how to run everything. That's not where my hope is. It's not in a talk show host. My hope is in God. The Hebrew word is Tikva. Israel's national anthem, Ha, Tikva. The hope. And I love what Paul says. He says this to the Ephesians in chapter 1 in verse 18. And a little little message here. You can get all of the show notes, all the show notes. All you got to do is type my name in, Jeff Kaven's, one word, J-E-F-F-F-C-A-V-I-N-S, and you can text it to 33-77-7. Very easy. 33-77-7. And we'll get you all the show notes. I got some scriptures for you and some catechism references for this show. So number one, Paul says, he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know, the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. I love that. He says, Paul is reminding us that he's saying, I'm praying that your eyes, the eyes of your

heart would be enlightened in order that you may know something. What is that? He wants you to know about the hope to which he has called you. Again, is your hope based on your limited power and wisdom and plan and scope, or is your hope, that casting of the future based on God, on Jesus Christ, and his power, in his wisdom, and his insight? So number one, if you want to refuel your optimism at a time where people are just plain frustrated, and they kind of have lost hope in where our country is going, but your hope in God, number one. Number two, and I love this, it's from the catechism of the Catholic Church. Remember this. Number two, God has a plan.

God has a plan. You say, yeah, I know. I know God has a plan. No, he does have a plan. He's got a plan. And in fact, that is the way that the catechism opens up. You know, when you look at the very first paragraph in the catechism, you would think, wow, that's important. That's got to be important.

This is setting the table for the entire outlay of the, the faith. So it says in a very first paragraph, listen to this. Mine is a mechanicism is getting a little marked up here, especially paragraph one. Here's what it says, God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. Isn't that beautiful? There's more. I'll read it in a second, but let's just pause there for a minute. Isn't that beautiful? God. So the whole thing starts off God, not me, not you, God. God infinitely perfect and blessed in himself in a plan of sheer goodness, not just a plan, but a plan of sheer goodness freely created you to make you share in his own blessed life.

And so for this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man, he calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men scattered and divided by sin into the unity of his family, the church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, his son, his son, his son as redeemer and savior. In his son and through him, he invites men, he invites you and you and you, he invites you and me to become in the Holy Spirit his adopted children and thus here it comes heirs of his blessed life. So the second reason that we have reason, we have reason to be optimistic and we can refuel our optimism is the fact that God has a plan. He has a plan. Number three,

this is a really important one. If you are walking around with your head hung low and you're saying, wow, I just don't know what the future is going to be like. And I say to you, well, walk with Jesus, walk with Jesus. A lot of people say, well, I think I am. I hope I am. I thought I was. Well, one way you can ensure that you are walking with Jesus is to act like he's real. And that's my third point.

And I know this is a little bit different, but hear me out, act like Jesus is real. if you are pessimistic right now and you feel down because of the state of our union right now, I want you to act like Jesus is real. What do I mean by that? Well, here's what I mean. Act like he's real. People will say, well, I do believe he's real. No, I didn't say believe that he's real. Act like he's real. But I do think he's real. Now, I didn't ask what you think. I said, act like he's real. when you're in the car and you're the only one in the car, act like he's real. When you're with your family in the evening at dinner, act like he's real. When you're tempted to do something that you know you shouldn't do, act like he's real.

If you are down and you are looking to him and saying, Jesus, I'm confused. I don't know what is going on in the world today. Even our politicians seem different and odd. Act like Jesus is real. That means we carry on a conversation with him. a real conversation, and we treat other people the way Jesus would treat them. Why? Because Jesus is real. You know, it's amazing how much of your life would change if you would act like he's real. Your conversations, the way you spend money, where you go, your attitudes, all of it.

Your board meetings on Zoom with the company. Your children, dealing with your children, you're with Jesus. You're a disciple of Jesus. Act like Jesus is real. That way. will be a key to refuel your optimism. And number four, establish your prayer life. I'll put all this in the show notes for you, but establish your prayer life. I don't know how we can be optimistic about life and the future beyond this world. I don't know how we can be optimistic if we don't have an established prayer life, a time and a place to meet with Jesus, to talk to him as in point three, like he's real. But I promise you this, and I know this is true in my life, and my wife's life, and hundreds and hundreds of people that I have known over the years, those that have an

established prayer life tend to be more optimistic. They tend to be more optimistic. They think about tomorrow through the lens of Jesus, because they are in the plan and walking in the plan that he's established. He is real, and they're treating him that way. And so they meet with them every single day. So I would really encourage you to, I know it can sound a little, I don't mean it to be judgmental or anything, but the most common response when you ask people, how's your prayer life, is they say, well, it could be better. And so my response typically is when people say that to me, I say, well, then make it better. Establish your prayer life. How can you be optimistic? How can you be filled with joy in purpose if you're not in connection, in

communication with the author of life, the one who overcame the enemy. That's important to establish your life in prayer. Number five, number five, this is going to be a little bit more intense, this one. This is going to take a little bit more time, but I'm telling you, if you want to refuel your optimism, you're going to have to do something, and this is something that would last for three months. And what am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about an exercise of reading the Bible. I'm holding in my hands right now a well-worn Great Adventure Bible, and it is a beautiful Bible. It's a Bible that will take you through Salvation History as a narrative and as a story. And on Roman numeral 29, that's at the beginning of the Bible. There is a Bible timeline

reading plan, and that Bible timeline reading plan takes three months. Here's what we do with the Great Adventure, if you haven't heard that before, is that we divide the entire Bible up into 12 periods, color-coded periods. Currently, on this date in October 2020, I am teaching on Wednesday nights. I'm teaching thousands of people, the whole Bible in seven weeks. And so we divide it all up into 12 periods. And then out of the 73 books, we choose the 14 books out of the 73 that are narrative as far as the literary genre. They're narrative. What does that mean? It means that these are the books that keep the story moving. So at the beginning of the Great Adventure Bible, we have a reading plan which takes those 14 books to read through the entire Bible as a

story. And if you will read, it's a checklist in the front of the Bible. And if you will read, I'll give you the books here in case you don't have the Bible, but if you read four chapters a day, you're going to get through it in three months. And what's the point of doing this? Well, here's what I recommend to people is that over the next three months, read four chapters a day and take a marker and a book and start to chronicle all of the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness of God, those stories, those descriptions of God that really accents God's faithfulness. You'll be surprised at what it does to you when you are face-to-face with God's amazing faithfulness. Now, if you want to know those books, it's very easy.

It's Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, First and second, Samuel, First and Second, Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, First Maccabees, Luke, and Acts. That's it. Those are the 14. I'm not going to repeat them because you can always just go back and pick it up again. But if you will read those 14 books and focus on God's faithfulness, it's amazing what your optimism will do. You can go straight from a pessimistic attitude to an optimist. somebody who is looking brightly at the future and what God can do in our lives and the lives of our children and our grandchildren. I've got five more for you, and we're going to cover those right after this break. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Every one of us is made in the image of God. We are unique,

worthy of love, and called to greatness. In this world, though, we can be distracted from that truth. and begin to doubt God's love is real. You see, we live in a world that tells us we are not smart, attractive, thin, or rich enough. It is easy to focus on the ways we fall short of worldly perfection and forget that we are already made perfect. We are already enough. I'm Danielle Bean, author of You Are Enough,

what women of the Bible teach you about your mission and worth. You Are Enough dives into the stories of women in the Bible so that you can fully see God's plan for your life. To order, visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon. Ah, you're back. I was optimistic that you would still be with me here. See, I'm doing what I preach. We're talking about 10 ways to refuel your optimist. to ignite optimism in your life, not just so you can be happy, but why? So that you can truly focus on God's work. And listen, God's work, Jesus' work in salvation history leads to victory.

It leads to the Lamb's Supper in the Book of Revelation. In fact, I got to tell you, you want to talk about being optimistic? Let me get you in on a secret. I read the end of the book. We win. We win. Fantastic. Okay, there's five more ways to refuel your optimism. Number six, and I think this is something to remember every single day when you are facing battles in your life, and that is this. Number six is remember that Jesus is on the throne. He's on the throne in heaven. The Holy Spirit has been sent to you and me. We're empowered by the Holy Spirit, thanks to confirmation, one of three sacraments of initiation. You've got baptism and you've got confirmation and the Eucharist.

You have the power of the Holy Spirit, but Jesus is running the show from the throne. I love the insight that the book of Revelation gives us, it's one of my favorite books, Revelation 321. It says, the one who conquers, God says, I will grant him to sit with me. on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. There's two things in there that are really important. One is you get to sit with Jesus on the throne, the place of power and victory and the place of pure holiness. You get to be there with him. And you notice what he says there in Revelation 321. He said, he said that you're going to be with him on the throne as he says, as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Do you get that?

He has conquered. Do not be sad. Do not be pessimistic about a battle that has already been won. Act like you're a winner. I'm not saying that as like, you know, go get them tiger and pop psychology. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about act like you're a winner as a disciple who's following the winner. the one who's on the throne, the creator of the world, your creator, your redeemer, the love of your heart. Jesus is on the throne. Number seven, receive the Eucharist as food for your soul as often as you can. Very, very important point. I think some people have got a little bit slack, you know, and I know that some parishes are not completely open around the country. Others are kind of open. Yesterday, I took one of my, one of my one of my daughters, we went to a church that's open, and we went to confession yesterday.

And it was really interesting because when we walked in there, I saw the great lengths that they were going to to make confession, the sacraments available to the faithful. And kudos to them. I appreciate that. I really, really do. And so many pastors have gone the extra mile to get the Eucharist to you. I would highly recommend that you receive the Eucharist, especially if you're living in that pessimistic world. Receive the Eucharist as much as you can because that's the source of grace.

That's the life of God. Body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. That is truly important. I mean, don't take my word for it. Take Jesus' word for it. In John chapter 6, which I'll put all these in the show notes, as I said, in verses 47 through 51, Jesus said, truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life i am the bread of life your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die i am the living bread that came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever and the bread that i will give for the life of the world is my flesh when jesus Jesus comes inside of you and empowers your life and gives you hope and causes you to become

more like him. I'm telling you, you are on the road to optimism and out of the pits of pessimism. Number eight. Number eight, I love this. Paul says in Philippians, and I'm going to get to that here in just a second. He says something so beautiful. So often we try to do things in our own strength. you know what I'm talking about? We try to do things in our own strength. And Philippians, Paul tells us something in Philippians chapter four. He lets us in on a secret. And that secret is, he says, you know, I have done with a little. I've had a lot, but I have learned the one secret. And that secret is that I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, who strengthens me, Isn't that a beautiful scripture? I'll put it in the show notes for you. It's Philippians

chapter 4 and verse 13. The next time you feel so low and you're kind of wondering which direction to go, remember, you can do all things not on your own, not through the help of talk show hosts on television. You can do all things. Just say that once. Just say it. See what it feels like to say, say right in the car, wherever you're at, I can do all things. Now the next part, through Christ. Through Christ who strengthens me. Just say that. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that assumes you have a relationship with God. By the way, if you're listening to this show and you are not Catholic and you are interested, I really recommend you call your local parish in your area and tell them, I'd like to become a member of the household of

God. I'd like to be Catholic. And they will tell you about the RCIA program, which is the initiation rights for adults. And you can be a part of that. And you can have access to the grace of God in your life. It's amazing. And Jesus came and he died for you. He had a plan and he died for you that you might have everlasting life. But it's all about Jesus. And number nine, I got two more here. Number nine is one that I have found over the years has really changed my mind and my attitude

when I find myself more pessimistic than optimistic, and this will refuel you. And that is, encourage one person a day. Encourage someone else, one person a day. and say, wow, that sounds like a lot of work. Well, it's really not, but I'll ask you, how bad do you want to be turned around here? I mean, you know, how serious are we at wanting to be turned around, and we want to begin to live an optimistic life because of Christ? Well, encourage one person a day.

You want to be encouraged? Then sow it. So encouragement into others. As you do unto others, they're going to do to you, right? It's going to happen to you. So encourage one another. years ago, a lady came to me and she said that she was really, really depressed. And I was going to go to the hospital to visit some patients at a particular hospital in Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul.

And I said, well, if you want to meet, you can meet me at the hospital. And I can talk to you there. I'm going to be down at this particular hospital. And so she did. And I said, well, I have to talk with a couple of patients. I have an elderly lady in room so-and-so, room 304, whatever it was. Would you mind going and just talking to her for a few minutes before I get there? She said, sure. And this lady was really, the lady that I was meeting was really down in the dumps. She really was. And so she went and she talked to this elderly lady.

And then I got there. And then we stepped out afterwards. And the lady said to me, she said, I feel so good after encouraging somebody else. And I said, great, do it every day. She goes, oh, I couldn't do that. All right. Then go back to your life. But if you want to raise that optimism level, encourage one person today.

And number 10, pray for our leaders in the church and our politicians. Paul said to Timothy, first of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we. We may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Let's pray, shall we? Pray for our president. Pray for our vice president.

Pray for our leaders in the church. Pray that all would come to a knowledge of the truth, not a truth, but the truth. oh boy that's a good one isn't it first timothy two one through five i'm going to put all that in the show notes there's 10 things that you can do 10 ways to refuel your optimism let's pray in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit lord jesus we love you lord we love you and i lift up my friend to you right now whatever they are going through i pray lord that that by by focusing on these 10 things. They will become more optimistic as they focus their life on you. Thank you for all that you have done. To you be praise and glory. To you be honor forever and ever. We love you, Jesus. Thank you.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Remember, you can get all these show notes. Just type my name out, one word, and send it off to 3377. God bless you, my friend. I love you. you have an amazing week.