A Quiet Heaven

Does it ever seem to you like God gets real quiet sometimes? Have you ever wondered why? There's really no one right answer to that question. Every situation is different. However when you've done all you can do to pray, believe, and stand your ground, it takes great faith to continue on when God seems quiet. Although I know it's wonderful when a prayer is answered; when you hear yourself say, "God, even when I can't trace you I still believe you" that's when you know there's real progress. You might be saying, "Oh great, Pastor. Maturity is exactly what I wanted!" I understand! I know that's not ultimately what you prayed for. However with every prayer, with every muttered request or boisterous appeal, there's an underlying contingency plan. God has the option to use that open door to teach you something that will go further than the answer you're asking for. God is strategic and rest assured, He has all of us in process. So, occupy yourself with gladness and focus on the work of believing. And then go one further and get used to it! It's the believer's job.

Gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most beautiful things I can think of. By extension, the lack of it is glaring. I remember asking God years ago, "Why aren't things better for me?" I went on to ask, no let me correct that, I adamantly informed God of what was missing in my life. Yes I had a car and it was a Cadillac. However, my car was one of those five-milers. It went about five miles then quit. But it was clean and it was a Cadillac! It's only fault was it just wouldn't run very well. I demanded that God give me the answer immediately as to why, among other things, I had to drive such an unreliable car. It was about that time that He reminded me that I was indeed driving a car of my own. That couldn't be said by some folks looking for a ride to the grocery store, the doctor, school, and work that day. My perspective shifted. Thankfully, what happened that day has stuck with me my entire life. God never wanted me to forget His answer; the answer He gave me despite my arrogant tone. He said, "Why would I give you more when you're not grateful for what you have?"

How many times do we step all over the things that he have just because they don't measure up in our mind as enough? Exactly what is "enough?" And who said "enough" was enough? That answer is subjective however I know this, there's nothing so inappropriate as an ungrateful believer. Those two words plainly contradict each other. Try to envision an ungrateful believer. You can't do it because one doesn't exist. If you're actively in pursuit of believing you can't be ungrateful. Believing, by definition, includes identifying the miracles found in every day life. It survives by being focused on the miraculous ordinary.

Can you take a moment to identify the miraculous in your ordinary? Your ordinary car, your ordinary job, your ordinary meals, family, friends, bank account, vacation plans, college dreams for your children, health, and memories that make your life story what it is? I think you get the picture. I know I do. Why? Because in spite of opportunities to the contrary I never allowed gratitude to leave me. I purposed to make God's answer stick. Allow that to go deep in your spirit and remember, if some "thing" defines you, you've lost your identity.

Transition

Transition is unavoidable. It can also be extremely painful emotionally. When I think of transition I think of when my children were born. Some of my wife’s most painful labor was when the baby was in transition. Our children were positioning themselves to be born and that was painful for my wife. But no matter how intense it was, the overwhelming joy that followed could not be compared. Birthing a new season in your life is kind of like that. But brace yourself! Life’s transitions take a while.

I encourage you to reach back and get everything you've been through and use it in your now. This race is not for the swiftest. It's for the ones that will endure the transitions. Just hang in there! You're about to win on a new level. This race is yours so just stay strong. Just keep praising, keep reading, keep praying, and do like the old folks used to say - "run on and see what the end's gonna be."

Relationship

If you think about it, everything in life is about relationship. It runs true even in simple momentary interactions like conversations with a waiter, a bank teller, or a parking attendant. An open heart and and open mind toward people in general is not only good for our testimony, it's good for our well-being. So what does that have to do with God?

The practice of accepting and loving people for who they are encourages us to "take God out of the box." Much like we do with people, often times we try to make God into what we want Him to be. By our actions, we try to tell God who He is. We tell Him what He needs to do, and how He needs to do it. We may not mean to however, when we really scrutinize our motivations we can see that sometimes we're not in faith when it comes to Him; we're in presumption.

God is exactly as He is. He is not as we want Him to be. Is God currently "in a box" where you've placed Him? If so, think about this, a box allows you to have the idea that you have some control over the contents but, it also has extreme limits. When it comes to God, neither idea is a good approach. And as long as you keep Him in that box, you're there too. Don't live a limited life. Enjoy God and be open to all that He is. I love you! Have a great day in Him!

Genesis - Bible in 90 Days!

This was our first Wednesday night discussing The Bible in 90 Days challenge at TOP! It’s a lot to read I know but, it’s an hour a day to accomplish what many Christians find to be an integral part of their walk with God. I think it’s important to know what we believe. This is a very good place to familiarize yourself with that on a deeper level. If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll join us.

This week we talked about the theme of Genesis. The theme includes the loss of God’s presence because of man’s disobedience and His effort to re-establish it. Chapters 1-11 discusses the advance of sin as God saw that the thoughts and intents of man’s hearts were wicked. That’s never more apparent than when men decided to rely on their own ideas to re-establish contact. In their minds they believed they could build a tower so high that the gods could descend out of heaven to talk with them face to face. This thought process shows that sin had caused a distorted view. A wrong concept of God had perverted men’s reasoning. As we know, their idea didn’t work. And, in Chapters 12-50 we see God initiating His plan to reveal himself to people that were truly in pursuit of His presence. This is where we see Abraham’s entrance.

Many of us associate circumcision with Abraham. Thinking about circumcision I asked God why He initiated something as severe. His answer surprised me. He said, “Because I knew every day, every man would touch the covenant. I knew they would be very familiar with that part of their body. And I knew that anyone else who touched that part of their body would also be very familiar. In a similar way a man knows his own body, I wanted him to know me.”

God isn’t trying to hide from you. Just how intimately do you want to know God? Enough to be so familiar with His provision, His covenant, that you accept it as you do your own body? Is it so present on your mind that you purpose to make it a necessary part of your daily life? My prayer is that it is and that your life is the proof.

Is God our Audience?

"Do you think God sits in a box seat?" the Message Bible asks us that question in Matthew 6. Sometimes I think we try to impress God like we impress one another. But you know what I've realized? He's not impressed. Why? Because He already loves us. We don't have to prove anything to Him to be loved. So why do we do it? Why do we try to impress Him? I think it's because we don't consciously realize that our Father's nature is unobtrusive. Think about it, every time He answers our prayers He's a gentleman, He's relational, and He's loving as well as confident in our love for Him. Because we're human, I think we often forget to take on His same demeanor. We'd do well to change our perspective and ask ourselves much the same question the Message Bible asked of us. Why wouldn't we need to have His same attitude when we go to Him in prayer? We were created for his fellowship and friends who fellowship speak the same language. They've already "impressed" each other. He appreciates being approached like a friend just like you do. I encourage us to step away from the methods and motions of prayer. There's just so much more to this relationship with God than that. I hope you'll join us in reading the Bible in 90 days! When you do remember the scripture, "Your words were found and I ate them..." from Jeremiah 15.16. Approach your reading like it's a conversation with God. Quite literally, it will become your spiritual and relational daily bread.

Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Have you ever heard of a "tryin' prayer?" It's the one that never gets much done. We're in hot pursuit of the "determined prayer!" It's the one that's fully purged of false pretense. It's also the one that gets a desired answer! For too long so many of us have approached God in a way that's apathetic. "Well, I'll try this God but, I'm just not sure if it's your will so..." can you imagine if you were God? Would you answer such an uncommitted prayer? I wouldn't. Or what about this approach, "God, I've done everything I'm supposed to do and I've been a Christian for years now and I deserve this answer and I deserve it now!" Have you ever noticed that's about the time the Heavens fall silent? God desires that we approach Him with the humility of a child and the tenacity of a bulldog. He understands that sometimes we're flawed in our approach out of ignorance. But when we have understanding, He also knows we've been given the Blood, the Word, and the Name and we have a right to ask, and ask, and ask again for what we have His direction on. Sometimes that takes tremendous determination and tenacity. But when we're equipped with a Word from God we're up to the challenge. Knock, knock, and knock again with an attitude of humble perseverance. Be like the friend in need at midnight in Luke 11 and don't let up until you get an answer. I challenge you!