[God’s] the only person who belongs at the core of your heart and spirit. Nobody else knows you and loves you like Jesus, nobody else deserves your heart’s primary allegiance and worship, and nobody should hold the place of influence He holds in your life.” (Keep Your Love On)
The health of our relationships flows from the health of our core.
The health of our core flows from whatever it is connected to and drawing life from.
And there is only one Person who provides the life and health our core needs.
This is why every person who hopes to participate in vibrant, life-giving relationships, healthy families, and honoring leadership cultures must be passionate about building a deep, strong connection with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is this connection that provides us with the template for doing relationships as they were designed—and the grace and maturity to live in it.
However, the reality for all of us is that building this connection involves going on a journey of repentance and restoration. We all come to God not as blank slates, but as orphans with broken relational templates that must be healed and replaced. Therefore, if we are to be passionate about our connection with God, we must also be passionate about inner healing and being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
Throughout the Gospels, we see that getting close to Jesus will always involve some kind of confrontation with the wounds and misbeliefs that hold us back from experiencing life and relationships on His terms.
As a counselor, I’ve had a front row seat for many of these confrontations. Most often, they occur because a person has made some kind of relational mess that has landed them my office. I always begin the conversation by asking, “What is the problem?” Eventually, it dawns on the person that I am not talking about the behavior that is wreaking havoc in their relationships—the adultery, porn use, drinking, or angry, violent outbursts. I’m trying to help them find the “broken spot” that has led to that behavior—the lies they have believed, embedded through painful experiences, that must be replaced with truth and healed. Without exception, every one of those lies is connected to what they believe about God and how He sees them. And, in every case, the problem can only be solved through an exchange with God, the source of truth and healing.
Jesus promised, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). There is nothing more thrilling than seeing a person set free because they hear the truth from Jesus Himself. Time and again, I have watched hurting, defeated, broken-down people be filled with hope, joy, and peace as the bondage of years is lifted. It is miraculous. But even more incredible is watching that person begin to walk in greater intimacy with God—and all the fruit of that—as a result. Healing our connection with Him brings healing to our whole lives.
Meet Tony Stoltzfus, Jesus Connection Coach
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of partnering with people who have developed some of the best resources and tools for building a strong connection with the Lord and inner healing (the fuel for our relational health). One of these people is leadership coach Tony Stoltzfus.
Tony is the Founder and Director of Curriculum Development for Leadership MetaFormation Institute (LMI), an organization that trains leaders with a coaching approach centered around building a healthy connection with Jesus and others. I’ve had the privilege of working with Tony on the Global Transformation Institute and developing leadership programs targeting self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and manager training. We have also worked on ten conferences together.
Tony has a remarkable way of helping people overcome obstacles and grow spiritually. He is compassionate and fearless in stepping into the dark, difficult places where people are struggling and leading them out into freedom. He radiates joy and hope—the fruit of his own connection with Jesus and of seeing breakthrough after breakthrough in others. Tony’s coaching and resources are some of the first I recommend to people—not only because I’ve seen the impact they’ve had on other people, but because I use them and have been impacted myself.
The Questions for Jesus eCourse
When we started the Life Academy, one of our goals was to create a series of eCourses dedicated to this area of strengthening our devotional lives and inner healing—and to bring in experts like Tony to teach them. And now [drumroll], I’m thrilled to announce that next month, Tony’s Questions for Jesus eCourse will be coming out on the Life Academy.
This eCourse is based on Tony’s book, Questions for Jesus: Conversational Prayer Around Your Deepest Desires. It lays out a biblically based prayer model built around a series of questions to ask Jesus—questions that help move you, in Tony’s words, out of the “business” style of prayer and into a relational exchange where you actually hear Jesus speak to your heart. As person after person has discovered in going through Tony’s book, inner healing and the renewal of the mind are at the heart of this prayer model, because it inevitably confronts the things we believe about ourselves and God that aren’t true.
After counseling and coaching people for over thirty years, I can’t think of anybody who shouldn’t take this course. Whether you are just starting to build connection with Jesus or have been walking in one for many years, I am fully confident that Questions for Jesus will help you tap into the truth about how God sees you, interacts with you, and leads you. It will free you from lies that have been creating chaos or destruction in your emotions or decisions, and equip you to connect to God at a heart level you’ve never experienced. I think you’ll discover that Jesus is a lot more easy-going, easy to talk to, and loving than you’ve thought!
No matter where you are on your journey with God, Questions for Jesus will take you deeper. Please join us!
Peace,
P.S. If you would like to be notified when this track launches please subscribe to the list below at the very bottom of the page.