Prologue

Due to my trade in life, I often find myself building and repairing. Over the years, I learned the importance of using the right tool for each job. As I have grown older, my body appreciates tools that spare my muscles and joints. Tools are often misused, like using a screwdriver as a pry bar or a drill as a hammer. It may work, but prolonged misuse shortens a tool’s life.

Wrench trying to loosen a slotted round bolt. Meant to illustrate the importance in using the proper life tools.

Each tool has a purpose, and its use is necessary to reach completion. I have learned there is a deep connection in using tools. A pry bar may break something apart, but another tool must move the process forward. This is not an earth-shattering revelation. However, understanding this connection is crucial in navigating the toolbox of life.

If you seek practical answers and a foundation for living your Christian faith, you are in good company. Have you grown weary of life-changing books, only to feel temporarily motivated until life takes its toll? If so, we already have a kinship. This workbook contains scriptural tools God inspired me to use for renewal and transformation. My hope is that it provides a framework for you to apply in your own life.

Are Your Tools Working?Hands holding soil with a little sprout. Meant to illustrate tools in life to grow in God

Have you analyzed what you use in life to renew your mind and transform your character for His glory? There is no better time than now. These words come from someone just like you, seeking powerful ways to live the life of Jesus Christ. I, too, have grown tired of the ups and downs of life’s roller coaster. Please allow me to share a few thoughts:

  • Have you considered exercising your soul? You put things into your life, and things come out of your life.
  • Have you ever had a performance evaluation at work? They want to know if your job is producing income for the company.
  • When is the last time you had blisters from working? Your hands go through a process and become stronger.
  • If you teach others, do you deliver? You sow principles into lives, but is it really working?

The point is clear. Salvation is not earned by strength or merit. The fruit of our lives comes from our framework. Our heavenly Father fuels our framework so we can rest in His abilities. Resting in Him means abiding, soaking in His Word, praying with purpose, and being His hands and feet.

Is what you do daily leading to abiding in Him? Are you soaking in His Word in practical ways? Is your prayer producing fruit? Are you listening when He speaks? Our heavenly Father is not a corporate boss looking for profit. He is the head of the Kingdom and produces fruit for His glory. Luke 10:2 tells us the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Where do you stand?

Tools Are Connected: Why It Matters

I often think, “If I had seized that moment and spoken my heart, how much more fruitful could it have been?” I have also experienced frustration leading to anger, then irrational thinking, speech, and regrettable actions. The opposite is true when I express love to my spouse, child, or friend through words and actions.

I am a self-employed person who wears many hats—equipment repair, sales, accounting, and fieldwork. Wearing so many hats makes it easy to get lost in one. If I wear my sales hat all day but never install the work, money never comes in. If I ignore maintenance, machines break, and nothing moves forward. If I avoid paperwork, invoices go unsent, and bills remain unpaid. All these hats are connected; one does not work without the other.

Our walk with the Lord is the same. We must build on a solid foundation and recognize when we become unfocused. Understanding our purpose requires addressing the root of our desires. This connects to our thoughts, actions, time management, and perseverance. Many never reach a place of producing fruit for the Kingdom because they are constantly battered by life.

Where do we start? It’s simple—one step at a time. Renewal transforms our desires, thoughts, and actions. Begin soaking in and praying scriptures of renewal. Then, work on scriptures and prayer about desire. Everything in life comes down to the root of your desire. Every morning, meditate on the tools of seeking to focus on the Kingdom. Allow God to transform your life through this process.

Transformation Takes TimePicture of an old winding clock on a table. Meant to illustrate that transformation in life takes time.

When the Father’s nature and Kingdom become your desire, you will be drawn to grow in all areas. Do not lose heart. This is a process, and perseverance is essential. Keep feeding scripture and prayer into your life. This is spiritual exercise, conditioning your soul.

This journey will slowly build your spiritual muscles. Notice I said s-l-o-w-l-y. Be steady and disciplined. This is not a sprint but a marathon. You need to stretch, drink water, rest, and nourish yourself. Soak in the beauty of His ways and let His nature work within you.

Read this section as many times as needed for encouragement. The connecting tools of life in Him are simple and powerful. His grace and strength will lead to amazing and fruitful results for His Kingdom. Let’s go!