Summary:
- The best possible life is filled with uncertainty.
- The Best Possible Life the book came out Nov. 7th. There’s a once-per-lifetime sale available this week of only $5.49 (before going to the regular price of $12.95). It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever worked on, with perhaps some surprising things you’ll learn (like the best possible life has one foot in joy and one foot in suffering).
- The YWAM Homes of Hope Inner Excellence Retreat was life-changing! (As expected ❤️).
Note: Please continue to pray for ceasefire in Gaza and donate to humanitarian organizations like Amnesty International to help those suffering and dying in the genocide as well as in Syria and Lebanon, Ukraine, and East Africa. Please also pray for those who lost their lives and families who lost loved ones in the South Korean airliner (Jeju Air) crash on Sunday.
Also: If you’ve already read The Best Possible Life, would you consider rating it on Amazon?
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The definition of The Best Possible Life (BPL) is two-fold:
- A life of deep contentment, joy, and confidence–no matter what.
- A life overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This life has several unexpected traits. Here’s two:
- The best possible life is a life of uncertainty, with many more questions than answers.
- It’s also a life with one foot in joy and one foot in suffering.
Before we get into that, we had our 2nd ever YWAM Homes of Hope/Inner Excellence retreat Nov. 7-11, 2024. It was amazing. We were in Mexico building a house for the Rodriguez Reyes family. Watch the video below (and turn up the volume)!
The basic sentiment from everyone that went: “It was life-changing.” The next scheduled YWAM house-build/Inner Excellence retreat combination is April 24-28, 2025. Please pray that the funds will come in by February to make this happen. Join us on the next one here!
Ok, back to how you can live the Best Possible Life (BPL). This life, the BPL, is a life that has an empowering purpose that goes beyond self, and a clear vision tied to that purpose. In short, it’s a life that walks by faith, not by sight.
Every extraordinary life that’s ever lived, was one filled with faith and belief. Faith is the certainty of things unseen. Or said in another way, faith is being certain about how you will act and who or what you will trust when things are uncertain.
But how can we believe in what we cannot see, or have confidence in becoming someone we’ve never been and do things we’ve never done?
There’s something that every one of us has access to and it may be the one thing that everything hinges on:
Courage.
Courage is crucial to confidence and faith, to belief and becoming your best. We need courage to fail, courage to act in the face of doubt, courage to look foolish. We need courage with so many unknowns and countless doubters and maybe even haters.
Courage is crucial to The Best Possible Life, and interestingly, uncertainty is crucial to courage. Without uncertainty, there’s no courage. It’s the same with faith. Faith is crucial to the BPL, and problems and challenges are necessary for faith.
Perhaps the biggest limiter to courage is lack of vision, and lack of vision comes from lack of purpose (beyond self).
As we leap into the new year, please know that if you have doubt, uncertainty, and perhaps fear, you’re in good company–in step with the best lives that ever lived. What made their lives great was not because they were filled with confidence and certainty, but because they acted in the face of uncertainty, doubt, and countless unknowns.
They had courage because they had a purpose that may not change the world, but it could certainly change the lives of those around them. They were willing to look foolish and sacrifice their ego to share something good with the world–even if no one responds, even if it didn’t work out.
As you journal on your purpose this year and how to live it next year, remember this:
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Love Jim
PS
If you’ve already read The Best Possible Life, would you consider clicking here to rate and review the book for others to hear about it? This link takes you directly to the rating page.
