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Out of the Comfort Zone

Posted in God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Mission to Kenya, Orphans, Prayer, Service, Spiritual Growth, Travel, Trials, worldview, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In 2019 I traveled to Kenya to support some friends who were serving in an orphanage and Christian school in Nairobi.  It was an awesome trip, and I was greatly encouraged by the Davis family’s faithfulness in serving the Lord and the dozens of young people under their charge.  I told a friend afterwards that the trip was amazing, but somehow that word really wasn’t sufficient.  My wife and I travel for leisure a fair amount and seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends is not a new experience for me.  My common response is that a trip is “amazing”.  This was so much more than that.  It was inspiring.  It was hard work.  It was uplifting talking to LJ and Danee about the work.  It was wonderful to hear from the Lord frequently and be able to obey with the encouragement and activity that He directed.  It weighed on my heart to see the poverty, filth, and lack of opportunity that is so much more prevalent than in the USA (or any of the places we travel to for fun).  But as heavy as that was, the light of God’s goodness in the work being carried out stood out in stark, yet highly desirable contrast.  There are many lessons that I have taken from the trip.  Some were fully formed while I was there.  Some are still being processed.  The following are my keys take-aways.

Maturing in faith and becoming a seasoned Christian will always include steps out of our comfort zone. 

Growth as a believer is an on-going series of steps that progressively move us from a place of comfort and ease into new territory that will often be a little scary and uncomfortable.  But it is in stepping into the new that we learn to trust in Jesus’s presence and provision more than our own abilities and strength.  I used to think that the word comfort meant ease and leisure.  The actual root of the term comfort means “with strength”.  Com = with, fort comes from the same root as fortress or fortification – a place of strength.  When we are comforted, we are given strength to endure whatever difficulty, trial, or challenge we are encountering.  Being comforted is a good thing.  Being comfortable is in itself not a bad thing.  However, there are times when the good can become an enemy of the best.  And God wants the best for His children.

The path to intimacy with God isn’t always comfortable.

So, what is the problem with being comfortable and why does God want us to move out of our comfort zone?  The issue is not that God is a killjoy.  Joy, comfort, and peace are great gifts He provides.  But these are by-products not the end product.  The goal is a deepening relationship with Him and a greater intimacy with the lover of our soul.  It is God’s desire that each one of us grow to know Him so well that we live in constant communion with Him.  Prayer without ceasing is more than a pious platitude, it is an accurate description of the life God wants to lead us into.  Which is where our personal comfort zone can become a hindrance rather than a good thing.

The Creator of the universe is without limits.  His love is truly beyond our comprehension, but He wants us to experience it in ever greater amounts.  To do so often means we must let go of our current familiar and comfortable understanding to experience the next greater level of His love.  The same is true of His wisdom, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace.  Each time we let go of our current state of satisfaction and lean into a holy hunger for more of Him, we will experience a stretching and growth that reveals more of God’s nature, and a lessening of the negatives of the world’s perspective.  For me personally, this stretching often includes a letting go of self-reliance in some area to gain a greater God-reliance.

One family’s pursuit of following God in Kenya.

I saw this in Kenya.  It was evident in my friends LJ and Danee.  It was also true in me.  God’s specific word to LJ was “to prepare the land”.  The orphanage had fallen into disrepair.  Mismanagement had resulted in the loss of the license as a children’s home and much of the 14-acre compound was overgrown with brush and vegetation.  The entire family responded to the call to prepare the land. 

Now for many of us, traveling overseas can be a daunting experience.  That increases when the travel is to a third world country.  Raise it another notch when we are placed next to the 2nd largest slum in the world.  Oh, for good measure, take the entire family with children ages 15, 14, 13, and 9 in tow.  I know very few people who would be able to be stretched that far.  But the path the Lord has led Danee and LJ on has been a path of consistent next steps of trusting God as they go a little further out of their comfort zone, only to see Him provide exactly what was needed after each step.

While I was there, I witnessed LJ assuming the new role of overall Operations Manager for the entire compound.  By his own admission, LJ is a country boy from rural South Carolina.  He did not aspire to running an orphanage and school, but as I witnessed while I was there, LJ and Danee are faithfully doing whatever is required in leading, guiding, and serving the community.  And the land itself is beginning to flourish.  A ¾ acre vegetable garden is up and growing.  Soon it will be a major supplement to the food provisions for the 84 children getting their meals at LifeSpring.  The livestock are multiplying.  The third fluffle of rabbits are being nurtured and rabbit hutches were built while I was there.  Chickens roam the grounds during the day with baby chicks sticking close to mama hen for protection.  Goats graze on grass where brambles once grew.  To support the growing campus, LJ has hired widows and young men in desperate need of employment.   The land is well on its way to being prepared.

LJ’s work as an instrument and controls technician prepared him for some of the work.  I chuckle though because Google has come to the rescue many times as they encounter new situations they have never dealt with before.  (Like letting me know that a group of baby bunnies is called a fluffle!)  In one instance they were talking to one of the widows who had been hired to tend the garden.  In Kenya all the schools are in English, so if you have had the benefit of attending school you are liable to speak decent English.  This widow, who cares for her grandchild in the Kibera slum, knows zero English therefore she has never been to school.  Trying to communicate to her that LJ had bought four tin sheets to replace the plastic she was living under in Kibera was both humorous and deeply touching.  Google translate had to translate into Swahili so the widow could understand that some men would be coming by to help her.  Kenyans don’t cry.  Stoic persistence to survive doesn’t leave room for expressing much emotion, but the emotion flickered on her face when she realized the act of kindness being done for her. 

LJ and Danee went to Kenya following the Lord’s clear leading.  But following the Lord’s leading and knowing all that we are getting into are often two different things.  In some cases, the Father will give us a degree of insight into what’s ahead. 

The Bible’s witness to life outside the comfort zone.

I think of Paul heading to Jerusalem where he would be arrested.  God clearly told him to go to Jerusalem.  And he was also clearly told that difficulty was ahead.  But God gave Paul an assurance that walking this difficult path was God’s will and that God would be with him.  Paul was called out of his comfort zone over and over again.  In stepping into God’s call out of the comfort zone and into the unknown, Paul grew into the apostle God created him to be.  Today the Church is blessed because of Paul’s faithfulness in living outside of his comfort zone since much of the New Testament was written by Paul.

As the Lord opened my eyes to the reality of our growth as believers being tied to stepping out of our comfort zone, I realized that all the saints mentioned in the Bible were taken out of their comfort zone.  Abraham left his family, his land, and ventured many long and difficult miles (and years) to a “promised” land.  There was comfort in the land of Haran, but God’s call was to step out and follow Him. 

Mary was a young teenager engaged to a kind carpenter, when an angel said you have been chosen but it will take you out of your comfort zone.  Mary said “let it be done to me as you have said” and she stepped out of her comfort zone and into God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. 

Jesus was a good Jewish lad, well versed in the law, but God had a plan and a call upon His life.  Jesus was unique.  He was fully God, but at the same time fully human.  Being fully human, He experienced a degree of comfort as a carpenter son, then apprentice, and finally working as a carpenter in His own right.  But when God said step out of your comfort zone and into my call upon your life He did. 

Jesus ministered for 3 years outside of His comfort zone – forty days fasting in the desert, speaking to crowds that wanted signs and wonders, but not necessarily the all-in life with God He was espousing, doing battle with the persons of power and influence who chaffed at His familiarity with God, and finally suffering a painful and humiliating torture and execution at the hands of both Roman authorities and Jewish leaders.  Jesus modeled a life of stretching our human boundaries of comfort in faithful response to God’s call to something better, something richer, to life in union with God and His unique plan for each person.

What next step outside your comfort zone is God calling you to?

Friends I am deeply stirred that God has a call upon every person into a life that is beyond amazing.  He has a call upon you.  But it is a journey that will frequently take us out of our comfort zone.  God will ask us to take steps in faith in Him and not in sight by using our own wisdom and strength.  We will have to rely upon Him.  We will be stretched.  At times it won’t be “fun”.  At times it will even be difficult.  But as we listen and lean upon Him, He will be with us to bring about His good will in us and through us.  And this is so much better than the “good” we might experience in the comfort zone.  Because it is the best.

What burden or desire has the Lord put on your heart that gets shelved because it is outside your comfort zone?

Where do you see injustice, need, or sin that really pushes your buttons, but thus far you have done little beyond complain about it?

Do you get a passion for something the Word says to do, yet thus far you have not truly considered the possibility of you doing something just because?

Take a few moments and ask the Father to bring your next step into clear focus.  Ask with a willingness to take the next step.  Realize these will not usually be huge leaps out of the blue, but a gradual revelation where God draws you to a faith place that makes each progressive step a stretch, but doable with a little courage and trust in the One Who has provided for you in the past.  For the Davis’ it was a few years walking out many progressive next steps into mission work.  For me going over to help them was similar, taking about a year of progressive faith steps.  Having been, my faith is stirred to help even more.  Will I be more comfortable?  Walking in God’s grace and lifted by His love, I reckon I have all the strength a person needs.  So, the answer has to be yes, but in a new way.  When we walk His path, taking new steps into the unknown that He directs, we will be comforted with His great comfort. 

And that is way better than just being comfortable.

Be blessed my friends and be a light of blessing in the places where the LORD has placed you today, and always!

BTW, Danee and LJ are still serving in the same place although it is now called Oasis of Hope, and the Lord has done amazing things. The vision has shifted to rescuing young girls from forced marriages. The school now holds over 110 students, and the ministry is expanding more and more into the slum and areas around the school. The oversight organization is Serving Orphans Worldwide. Check them out at https://soworldwide.org/oasis-of-hope/

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Waiting with a Purpose

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, love, Marriage, Prayer, Priorities, Spiritual Growth, The Father, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know of anyone that likes waiting.  I have met people, typically persons I would characterize as mature or wise, who dutifully accept waiting, but to say I know people who get excited about waiting, that would be a NO.  But for the past several weeks as we have been on a journey from a cancer diagnosis now through a surgery and next, a deeper diagnosis, waiting has been one of the constant undercurrents.  Surprisingly it has not been the dread that, at an earlier time in my life, I am sure it would have been.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) comes to mind as I sit in this time of not-yet-knowing.

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

I have a relationship with God, my Heavenly Father, because of what Jesus did for me.  In a small chapel in the piney woods of central Louisiana, Jesus made me an offer that I accepted.  He offered me a new life, one walking with Him from that moment forward.  It required my letting Him have dominion over everything, but He promised He would never leave me or forsake me.  For 40+ years He has been true to His promise.  He has been tangibly present for over forty years.  I have grown to know His leading through His Word, through the community of faith He has placed me in, and the witness of the Holy Spirit living in me. 

This is an offer that is available to every single human being.  It is His desire that we all become His children walking in a life-giving, love-saturated, joy-filled relationship with Him.  I share this as context to this strange phenomenon I am in.  I am at peace in this waiting.  I sense changes occurring in my soul as I wait in a place of trust.

As an engineer I do my research.  I’ve read some of the stats.  If the cancer has spread, the potential five-year survival rate goes down significantly.  In a detached way I acknowledge this potential knowing that Jesus has not left or forsaken me, therefore I wait in hope.  Those same percentages that are not in my favor do not compare to the One who is in my favor.  The odds of this working out for God’s glory and my good are 100% as I wait upon Him, as I put my trust in Him. 

I started to say “put my WHOLE trust in Him”, but I know that I bring all that I can and let Him supply what lacks.  I have learned that is often what the waiting is about.  Learning to release control.  Or more accurately, learning to release the illusion of control to the One who is able to meet all our needs.  Waiting on the Lord is the place where faith and patience are nurtured and grown. 

Waiting on the Lord fulfills His purpose in several ways.  As I look back, I can see the younger me and realize many changes wrought through the Lord’s work in times of waiting.

  1. The need to control situations to meet my perception of “good”.  While I would have said, I wanted the Lord’s will, there was often a flavoring of what I thought was best.  I often didn’t see God’s big picture point of view. 
  2. A bias towards action and doing something rather than beginning with prayer and waiting for direction.  Boy are there a lot of toes I’ve stepped on trying to “make things happen”.  (My apologies to you if you are one of those whose toes I’ve stepped on.)
  3. My understanding of Ephesians chapter 5 and what marriage looks like.  This one took years of waiting and being reminded by the Holy Spirit to “love Lisa like Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.”  (There will be more on this in the future!)
  4. Being male and an engineer, when presented with a problem, I naturally go into “figure it out and fix it” mode.  Not all problems require that formula.  In fact, that is the wrong approach at times.  The Lord’s work is often best achieved by pausing and allowing Him lead.  This is Spirit-led action after waiting on the Lord.
  5. Related to the one above, sometimes being present and inviting the Lord into the midst of the problem is all we are to do.  The Lord’s work is sometimes accomplished by my being there but stepping out of the way.  This is Spirit-led stillness after waiting on the Lord.

I find it no coincidence that this fresh season of waiting for us corresponds with our Bible reading plan in the letters of Paul.  Trials, afflictions, and times of waiting fill the chapters we have been reading.  Yet we read about joy and patience and hope not instead of, but in the midst of the challenges Paul and the early believers faced.  Things have not changed in this respect.  While we have many creature comforts unavailable to our ancestors, we still deal with sickness, hardship, loss, and death. 

Thanks be to God, the same Holy Spirit who gave comfort and guidance to the early Church is present with us in all our affliction.  He is not in any way constrained today from giving us what we need.   In fact, it is often through our affliction that we become keenly aware of our need for His help, guidance and comfort.  A key though is to realize the timing is the Lord’s.  Instant gratification is NOT God’s typical way.  No, He gives us this precious gift of time to allow the better work, the deeper work, the soul work to take place. 

Earlier in my walk with Christ, I remember asking the LORD to hurry up and give me patience… His response was a No and Yes.  He did not hurry up.  But in the waiting, I have seen much fruit grow including a patience that the younger me wanted, but struggled to attain. 

Friend, while I don’t know what your situation is, I have a pretty good sense that if not now, at some time in the near future you will be tasked with waiting.  It is my prayer as I finish today’s post that you will experience the Lord’s purpose in your waiting.  Let go of having to have answers right now and reach for having intimacy with Him.  The LORD loves you and He has the best in mind for you.  Sit with Him and rest knowing that the Lover of your soul is all in for you.  He will supply exactly what you need when you wait upon the Lord.

Be blessed my friends as you wait upon the LORD!

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Incredible

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Prayers, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Trials, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It is a day and a half since the surgery.  The nerve block they gave me has worked well, but it is finally wearing off and I am beginning to feel the fact that a portion of my ear is missing.  Not too much pain, but a reminder of something lost.  But this is nothing compared to what I have gained through this.  I can truly say this has been one of the most blessed experiences of my life.  The LORD’s presence has been so real and tangible that I have experienced a peace that has truly buoyed me and a joy that has stirred my soul.

The word that comes to mind as I ponder this is “Incredible”.  Something that is credible is believable.  With the prefix added in-credible means something that stretches belief.  I already had a strong belief in God and a vibrant relationship with the Lord through Jesus, but that belief has been strengthened and stretched in the most blessed of ways. 

One of the things I’ve found interesting is how I have been led to pray.  My prayers for myself have been that the Lord would be glorified.  I have not been led to pray to be healed.  The Holy Spirit told me to share my journey, hence you are reading this post.  From that I know others have been praying for me, many praying for my healing, but I have not. 

There was one night a week or so after we learned I was dealing with melanoma that Lisa and I watched a series where one of the lead characters had cystic fibrosis.  In the final episode she passed away.  Her passing as portrayed in the show played out over a 2-year period.  For both Lisa and I the reality that I could be on the front end of a similar journey really weighed on us as we went to bed.  In the middle of the night I awoke restless and I hesitantly prayed, “Lord Jesus, please heal me”.  Well, the Holy Spirit clearly spoke, “It is not yet the time”. 

I have not prayed specifically for my healing since.  I am fine with others praying for it and I do hope the Lord heals me, but that has not been my focus.  I simply want to walk faithfully through this knowing the LORD said, “Trust Me” at the outset. 

The returns on this approach have been amazing.  I have known a peace through this that has lifted me.  As I already mentioned, I can feel such love and affirmation, that I am truly thankful for this experience.  I have even walked in periods of great joy.  And to imagine this is amid losing part of my body and still not knowing if cancer has spread to other parts of my body.  (Since I am being transparent, not all of my body is still working like I would like for it to, but I attribute that to things done at an earlier age that are now catching up to me 😊)

Friends, I can see how the LORD was preparing me for this journey even as late as this summer.  A theme that played out over several weeks in my studies and meditation was that we are “eternal, spiritual beings living in a temporary, physical body”.  Our time on this earth is truly limited.  These bodies all have an expiration date.  But the part of us that lives on is what we should be nourishing and growing.  Our spirit is where we commune with our Creator.  It is the part of us that needs to know who we are and why we are here. 

We are created to be God’s children and our purpose is to know and love Him even as we are fully known and loved.  While this is the answer, it is only the merest surface of the reality.  The depths of it are only realized when it goes from our head to our hearts and fills our spirit with His Holy Spirit.  We are given one lifetime for this to happen.  I guess my situation has simply given me, and those who have joined me for this journey, an opportunity to consider that my expiration date, and each of theirs, might be closer than we realize.  I believe the Lord’s response to each of us is the same as what He spoke to my heart shortly after I learned I had cancer… “Trust Me!”

Our next medical milestone is December 11 when we learn the results of the biopsy and the genetic testing to see if I am prone to more melanoma.

It has been my honor that you have joined me in this journey.  Hopefully the LORD has taken my posts and used them to encourage you in some way.  That is my desire and prayer. 

Be blessed my friend and be a blessing to someone today!

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God’s Not Through with You

Posted in exercise, God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, love, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In addition to my current journey through cancer, I am a heart disease survivor, and it is only by the grace of God that I am able to tell you about it nine years later. Looking back, in addition to being a pretty cool story, there are many takeaways, not the least of which is that the LORD, who saved me back then, is the same God who is with me, and you, in each and every challenge we face.

SIGNS (March 2014)

The last couple of signs that something was not right was getting winded heading up the stairs to the daily meeting I attended at 9 am. It was only two flights, but it was enough that I noticed. My thought was that I had to get back into shape. The wild weather that winter combined with lots of long days at the plant had gotten me out of my fitness routine. That same evening when I arrived home, I pushed a wheelbarrow with tools about 100 yards and the same squeezing sensation occurred. At 15 seconds I was still thinking I was simply out of shape, but it continued. At 30 seconds, now I was praying and asking the LORD if there was more of an issue than just being out of shape. At 45 seconds I decided to tell Lisa about it.

After supper I took Lisa for a walk and told her what had been going on. We agreed I needed to get checked out.  I am not positive that I would have gone before our big trip though.  You see we were a week and a half from heading to Rome and then Israel.  I went to sleep wondering if I went to the doctor and there was a problem, I might not be able to make the trip. I wondered if it would be okay to wait until we returned. But that night I had this dream…

THE DREAM

I was standing on the driveway in front of an open two car garage on a very sunny, but windy day. It was a beautiful blue sky with a few white puffy clouds. The door of the garage was open.  It was dark inside the garage, and I could not see anything in there as I was standing in the sun.  As I stood there a little whirlwind picked up some leaves from around me and blew them into the garage.  I thought to get a broom and sweep them out.  

As I walked in to sweep the leaves out, I paused just as I straddled the threshold and my eyes immediately adjusted to the dark.  There were no cars in the garage, but there was a coffee table in the middle of the room.  Underneath the table was a ball of writhing snakes. As I looked at them, I realized they were poisonous snakes.  As soon as that realization came, one of the snakes broke free from the ball and came at me. Our eyes met and I knew it was coming to get me. As I write this morning, I can sense the malice in the snake’s eyes. I took one step back across the threshold and thought to myself, “I’ve got to deal with this.” At that instant my alarm went off. And resounding in my memory was the thought, “I’ve got to deal with this.”

DOCTOR’S WORK AND WISDOM

That morning I was in the doctor’s office before 10:00 am. Vitals all looked good, but the EKG was A-typical. A call to the cardiologist and I was in their office the next day. I thought a stress test was the next step but after looking at my EKG and hearing my symptoms, the cardiologist put me in for a heart catheterization the next day.  

I went in hoping / expecting a 1-hour inspection where they would find everything fine.  Two and a half hours later the doctor woke me, still on the table in the heart cath lab, with images of my heart on the monitor where I could see the three blood vessels he had unblocked and put in stints.  Two were 90% blocked. The third, which was the widow-maker was 99% blocked.

An overnight stay in the hospital and I was home before noon on Saturday with 3.5 inches of Stainless-Steel mesh tubing in my heart.

That return home from the hospital was exactly one week before we flew out for Rome for 5 days and then on to Israel.  The day before we flew out, I had a final check with the cardiologist to make sure everything was still a go.  I met with a different doctor this time and I shared my story with her.  She listened politely and as I finished, she said, “You quite possibly would have died on that trip.”  My wife now completes the story by letting everyone know that I would have died. 

ISRAEL

One of the sites we visited in Israel was Masada, Herod’s Mountain top fortress in the Judean desert.  It is on a high plateau above the Dead Sea.  When we arrived, the guide gave us two choices.  We could ride the cable car up the 1000 plus feet or we could hike up the winding trail.  Because of the doctor’s orders to take it very easy for six weeks I really had no choice, it was the cable car for me.  But as Lisa correctly points out I am adventurous, and I would have chosen the steep trail… in the desert… in the hot sun which almost assuredly would have brought on a heart attack. 

And the name of that trail… the Snake Trail.

(The image on this post is from the top of Masada looking down the mountain at the trail.)

As I mentioned before, my head spins as I think of the implications… I had a time bomb in my chest getting close to going off… I almost missed the warning signs… I can’t hide behind being “fit” to ward off everything that can take me down… God knows me well enough to know I needed a nudge (OK more like a push) from that dream to move and move quickly.

On the morning of the first cardiologist visit as I was heading to work when all I knew was that my EKG was A-typical, I turned on the local Christian music station. While I was not scared exactly, I was running through my mind the likely paths this could take. The possibility that there was a problem with my heart was high on the list. You can’t help but to think about the what if’s in such a situation. What if I don’t survive and my family has to deal with my loss?

About that time a song came on and the refrain repeated God’s words to us – “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you”. As the melody and these words soaked into my soul the tears came. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy and release. I KNOW that God lives and that He is in control of my life. He has given me stewardship my time on earth, but as I release my life to Him, I can trust Him completely. He gave me a crazy dream about snakes at exactly the time I needed it to motivate me to head to the doctor. I celebrate the reality of Who He is and yet another marvelous thing He has done for me and my family.

TODAY (November 2023)

Today as I re-read what I posted right after my stents, I am overwhelmed anew by thankfulness.  The LORD has given me such a clear assurance that He is present with me now, every bit as much as He was then.

Last Sunday the LORD impressed Romans 8:28 into my Spirit and then He had others mention it to me throughout the day including my 8th grade history teacher, Mr. Humbert, in a Facebook post earlier this week. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. This morning I am to add Paul’s conclusion to that thought. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

Let me close with the two reasons I am led to share this today. One, as His children, the LORD is with us on a constant, moment by moment basis. It is His desire that we grow in intimacy and awareness of His presence not just on Sundays, not just in a daily quiet time, but moment-by-moment. In the busyness of life though, we can sometimes miss that. He gives us times and instances where His presence is more tangible, more real. His manifest presence breaks through and we KNOW, if for only a little while, that He is right there with us. He gives us those moments to draw us closer and to give us an anchor when we do drift. He simply wants us to remember and return.

The final reason is because God wants you to know how precious you are to Him and that He is not through with you. You may sometimes think you are too weak in your faith or too broken for God to use. Friend, He is not looking to use you. He wants to love you in a real and tangible way. He created you for fellowship, for a life in Him. I have made my share of mistakes and at times I’ve not put in the time to cultivate this intimacy with the LORD, but thanks be to God, He doesn’t move away, He moves toward me. Just like He is moving toward you right now. Just talk to Him. Ask Him to guide you home to Him. He loves you and He’s not through with you.

Lord thank you for this life you have given me.  I surrendered my life to you many years ago, but I realize that this process is on-going.  Today I give you thanks for my body and how it is made – even the heart disease and melanoma that I live with, because I know you are able to use it for the greater good.  Draw me closer and closer to you each and every day. Please use me in my frailties and limitations to faithfully proclaim the Good News of Who You are and what You have done.  Open eyes, ears, and hearts to the beautiful, wonderful reality of You.  I love you, LORD.

And for those who are reading this, I pray your blessings upon them to know your heart for them, to become aware of the desires you have for them. Help them, and me, to walk in the love you have for us. Remind them Lord that you are for them and not against them. That you have a hope and a future in store for them. By your Spirit Lord, let it be done… Amen!

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Yahweh Nissi – The LORD’s Banner Over Me Brings Joy

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Trials, Vision, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , on November 21, 2023| 2 Comments »

The LORD draws us close in our weakness.  I can honestly say I am thankful for a cancer diagnosis because of the Lord’s and the Lord’s people’s response.  I have been buoyed by the prayers and I know the Lord is walking with me.  His presence is real and tangible. 

Three days after receiving the diagnosis, I was in a hotel in Atlanta.  I woke up around 5 and immediately slipped into prayer.  We are commended to “pray in the spirit” and pray with understanding.  I did not have to be at the office until around 9 so I was able to tarry and do both.  Interestingly, one of the Old Testament names of God came to me as I was praying – Jehovah Nissi which is from the book of Exodus when God had saved the Hebrew people from the Amalekites. 

Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. Ex 17:15

I incorporated that into my worship that morning as I gave praise to the Lord under whose Banner I live and move and have my being.  I remember a specific exchange when I said, “LORD, thank you that your Banner over me is love and it is very good, but I was kind of thinking and hoping you would have given me your name, Jehovah Rapha.”  (Jehovah Rapha is the LORD is my healer.)  I said it with a smile and in sincerity.  The Holy Spirit immediately brought to mind James 1:2-4 to mind. 

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

As soon as that scripture came to mind, joy bubbled up within me.  I started chuckling realizing that the Lord has a perfect plan through all of this and that I can trust Him completely.  God’s Word is faithful and true.  He has allowed this time of trial and uncertainty to build perseverance and maturity in me.  From His perspective there is nothing uncertain about this.  It is for my good, and for the good of others around me.  (My fervent prayer is that you, my friend, are one of those God blesses through this.)

Now that alone would have been enough to make my day.  I went to work with a song of praise in my heart and joy percolating within.  I got a call from a previous co-worker that I hadn’t spoken to in several months.  I knew he was a believer so at the end of our conversation I shared the news.  His first wife had passed from a battle with cancer about a decade prior so he could relate.  While he shared a few words of encouragement from his own experience, the blessing came when he said, “Let me pray for you.”  As he began to pray, he didn’t ask immediately for me to be healed, he prayed, “Lord, you are sovereign and in control.  We love you and trust you because you are in this with Dan and you will be victorious…”  When he prayed you are victorious, I saw the LORD’s Banner unfurl and begin waving. 

I didn’t hear the rest of what he prayed because the Lord had given me a clear sign that His Word is true.  I am not alone.  The victorious King is walking with me.  Whatever may come, God is going to get the glory.  And when He is glorified, I am satisfied.

It doesn’t require a cancer diagnosis for us to look to the LORD for His peace.  He desires we walk-in ever-increasing intimacy with Him day-by-day.  Just talk to Him.  Ask Him to illuminate the scripture then read it.  Find a believer and ask them to pray with you.  Friend, I pray the Lord’s encouragement upon you today wherever you are and in whatever situation you are dealing with.  God loves you and He is fighting for you because He is Yahweh Nissi – the LORD is my Banner!

Be blessed and be a blessing!

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And Yet They Smile

Posted in God Stories, Jesus Christ, Mission to Kenya, Orphans, Photography, Prayer, Priorities, Responsibility, Service, The Father, Vision, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

mI visited Agape Hope House in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this month. My thoughts and emotions ran the gambit that first day as we spent 6 or 7 hours with the children in the orphanage and then talked (and prayed) with Oliver and Maggie that day and over the next few days. My thoughts have turned back to Kenya and the children many times in the two weeks I have been home. Today, I hope to convey something of the raw… actually a better word is pure, emotion that God is stirring in me as I pray and ponder what I can do to help… how can I further God’s work in these children’s lives and in the lives of those God wants to use to join Maggie and Oliver, LJ and Danee, Coleman and Serving Orphans Worldwide, and me in ministering to “the least of these”.

 

The smiles belie a sad reality. Opportunity in Kenya is scarce. The path ahead for these children is not well trod. There are many obstacles in their path and the way is overgrown and hardly discernable. Yet smile they do. Because they are children they don’t comprehend how difficult the path ahead is.

  • These children have never slept in their own bed… and yet they smile.
  • These children have never had a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese, or McDonalds, or the skating rink… and yet they smile.
  • These children have never bought a new piece of clothing or shoes… and yet they smile.
  • These children don’t have a clue what it is like to have your own room, your own bed, your own “stuff”… and yet they smile.
  • These children eat every meal in masse, attend class in masse, go to bed in masse, and generally get attention in masse. With individual attention given by so few to so many, rare is the child who knows the tender love and attention my children (and grandchildren) get on a regular basis… and yet they smile.
  • The mental picture of “Mom” and “Dad” for many of these children is sketchy… and yet they smile. (Thank God for Maggie and Oliver who pour into them as much as they humanly can and who bring some balance to the term Momma and Daddy.)
  • These children have never had anyone wash their clothes, make their beds, clean up their room… and yet they smile.
  • These children have never had a choice of what they would like to eat… and yet they smile.

But, because of Agape Hope House and a few faithful donors these children have hope and a window of opportunity that is greater than their peers living outside the compound walls. The path from where they are may have as many obstacles, but the education, the encouragement, the guidance, and the faith they gain at Agape Hope House equips them to navigate a path to a better life. Today there are those who have walked the path to a better, faith-filled life of adulthood from Agape Hope House. While still a challenging path, knowing that others have taken the path and been successful is in itself a great encouragement. Some of those who have grown into adults with the benefit of Agape Hope have returned to mentor, to support, and to help.

The love of Jesus and the children is the motivator for Oliver and Maggie. They have given their lives to the work. The ½ acre piece of ground with 19 buildings, 140 orphans the day I was there, and a school enrolment of 487 stands as a light in a dark and difficult environment. The contrasts on this day buffeted me. The time of play with the children was just plain fun. The talk with some of the children on how they came to be at Agape Hope tore at my heart. The shy smiles of some and the mugging for the camera by others made me laugh. Noticing the girl sitting alone after doing her laundry while all the others played made me wonder – “what’s her story?” And every time a child slipped their hand in mine or Coleman’s or one of the other adults the bitter sweetness of the moment stung and stirred.

If this touches you, stirs you, or simply makes you curious, please take a few moments to look up Serving Orphans Worldwide on the internet at soworldwide.org. Visit Agape Hope Children’s Home on their page to learn more about the work Oliver and Maggie are doing for children in Nairobi.  Finally please join us in prayer.

‘ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ‘ Matthew 25:31-40

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Out of the Comfort Zone

Posted in God, God Stories, Mission to Kenya, Photography, Service, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I recently traveled to Kenya to support some friends who are serving in an orphanage and school in Nairobi. It was an awesome trip and I was greatly encouraged by the Davis family’s faithfulness in serving the Lord and the dozens of young people under their charge. I told a friend last night that the trip was amazing, but somehow that word really isn’t sufficient. My wife and I travel for leisure a fair amount and seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends is not a new experience for me. My common response is that a trip is “amazing”. This was so much more than that. It was inspiring. It was hard work. It was uplifting talking to LJ and Danee about the work. It was wonderful to hear from the Lord frequently and be able to obey with the encouragement and activity that He directed.

 

It weighed on my heart to see the poverty, filth, and lack of opportunity that is so much more prevalent than in the USA (or any of the places we travel to for fun). But as heavy as that was, the light of God’s goodness in the work being carried out stood out in stark, highly desirable contrast. There are many lessons that I have taken from the trip. Some were fully formed while I was there. Some are still being processed. Yesterday we hosted friends for our home group and the Lord brought a new consideration to light that I want to share today.

Maturing in faith and becoming a seasoned Christian will always include steps out of our comfort zone. In fact, growth as a believer will be an on-going series of steps that progressively move us from a place of comfort and ease into new territory that will often be a little scary and uncomfortable. But it is in stepping into the new that we learn to trust in Jesus’s presence and provision more than our own abilities and strength. I used to think that the word comfort meant ease and leisure. The actual root of the term comfort means “with strength”. Com = with, fort comes from the same root as fortress or fortification – a place of strength. When we are comforted, we are given strength to endure whatever difficulty, trial, or challenge we are encountering. Being comforted is a good thing. Being comfortable is in itself not a bad thing. However, as I have discussed in previous posts, there are times when the good can become an enemy of the best. And God wants the best for His children.

So what is the problem with being comfortable and why does God want us to move out of our comfort zone? The issue is not that God is a killjoy. Joy, comfort, and peace are great gifts He provides. But these are by-products not the end product. The end is a deepening relationship with Him and a greater intimacy with the lover of our soul. It is God’s desire that each one of us grow to know Him so well that we live in constant communion with Him. Prayer without ceasing is more than a pious platitude, it is an accurate description of the life God wants to lead us into. Which is where our personal comfort zone can become a hindrance rather than a good thing.

The Creator of the universe is without limits. His love is truly beyond our comprehension, but He wants us to experience it in ever greater amounts. To do so often means we must let go of our existing beliefs and understanding to experience the next greater level of His love. The same is true of His wisdom, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace. Each time we let go of our current state of satisfaction and lean into a holy hunger for more of Him, we will experience a stretching and growth that reveals more of God’s nature, and by definition, will result in a degree of loss of the negatives of the world’s perspective. For me personally, this stretching often includes a letting go of self-reliance in some area to gain a greater God-reliance.

I saw this in Kenya. It was evident in my friends LJ and Danee. Masai Village-14It was also true in me. God’s specific word to LJ was “to prepare the land”. The orphanage had fallen into disrepair. Mismanagement had resulted in the loss of the license as a children’s home and much of the 14-acre compound was overgrown with brush and vegetation. The entire family responded to the call to prepare the land. Now for many of us, traveling overseas can be a daunting experience. That increases when the travel is to a third world country. Raise it another notch when we are placed next to the 2nd largest slum in the world. Kibera Children's Center-43Oh, for good measure, take the entire family with children ages 15, 14, 13, and 9 in tow. Kibera Children's Center-53I know very few people who would be able to be stretched that far. But the path the Lord has led Danee and LJ on has been a path of consistent next steps of trusting God as they go a little further out of their comfort zone, only to see Him provide exactly what was needed after each step.

While I was there, I witnessed LJ assuming the new role of overall Operations Manager for the entire compound. By his own admission, LJ is a country boy from rural South Carolina. He did not aspire to running an orphanage and school, but as I witnessed while I was there, LJ and Danee are faithfully doing whatever is required in leading, guiding, and serving the community. And the land itself is beginning to flourish. A ¾ acre vegetable garden is up and growing. Kibera Children's Center-91Soon it will be a major supplement to the food provisions for the 84 children getting their meals at LifeSpring. The livestock are multiplying. The third fluffle of rabbits are being nurtured and rabbit hutches were built while I was there.

 

Chickens roam the grounds during the day with baby chicks sticking close to mama hen for protection. Goats graze on grass where brambles once grew. To support the growing campus, LJ has hired widows and young men in desperate need of employment. The land is well on its way to being prepared.

LJ’s work as an instrument and controls technician prepared him for some of the work. I chuckle though because Google has come to the rescue many times as they encounter new situations they have never dealt with before. (Like letting me know that a group of baby bunnies is called a fluffle!) In one instance they were talking to one of the widows who had been hired to tend the garden. In Kenya all the schools are in English, so if you have had the benefit of attending school you are liable to speak decent English. This widow, who cares for her grandchild in the Kibera slum, knows zero English therefore she has never been to school. Kibera Children's Center-98Trying to communicate to her that LJ had bought four tin sheets to replace the plastic she was living under in Kibera was both humorous and deeply touching. Google translate had to translate into Swahili so the widow could understand that some men would be coming by to help her. Kenyans don’t cry. Stoic persistence to survive doesn’t leave room for expressing much emotion, but the emotion flickered on her face when she realized the act of kindness being done for her. Kibera Children's Center-93

LJ and Danee went to Kenya following the Lord’s clear leading. But following the Lord’s leading and knowing all that we are getting into are often two different things. In some cases, the Father will give us a degree of insight into what’s ahead. I think of Paul the apostle heading to Jerusalem where he would be arrested. God clearly told him to go to Jerusalem. And he was also clearly told that difficulty was ahead. But God gave Paul an assurance that walking this difficult path was God’s will and that God would be with him. Paul was called out of his comfort zone over and over again. In stepping into God’s call out of the comfort zone and into the unknown, Paul grew into the apostle God created him to be. Today the Church is blessed because of Paul’s faithfulness in living outside of his comfort zone since much of the New Testament was written by Paul.

As the Lord opened my eyes to the reality of our growth as believers being tied to stepping out of our comfort zone, I realized all the saints in the Word were taken out of their comfort zone. Abraham left his family, his land, and ventured many long and difficult miles to a “promised” land. There was comfort in the land of Haran, but God’s call was to step out and follow Him. Mary was a young woman engaged to a kind carpenter, when an angel said you have been chosen but it will take you out of your comfort zone. Mary said “let it be done to me as you have said” and she stepped out of her comfort zone and into God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. Jesus was a good Jewish lad, well versed in the law, but God had a plan and a call upon His life. Jesus was unique. He was fully God, but at the same time fully human. Being fully human, He experienced a degree of comfort as a carpenter’s son, then apprentice, and finally working as a carpenter in His own right. But when God said step out of your comfort zone and into my call upon your life He did. Jesus ministered for three years outside of His comfort zone – forty days fasting in the desert, speaking to crowds that wanted signs and wonders, but not necessarily the all-in life with God He was espousing, doing battle with the persons of power and influence who chaffed at His familiarity with God, and finally suffering a painful and humiliating torture and execution at the hands of both Roman authorities and Jewish leaders. Jesus modeled a life of stretching our human boundaries of comfort in faithful response to God’s call to something better, something richer, to life in union with God and His unique plan for each person.

Friends I am deeply stirred that God has a call upon every person into a life that is beyond amazing. He has a call upon you. But it is a journey that will frequently take us out of our comfort zone. God will ask us to step in faith in Him and not in sight by using our own wisdom and strength. We will have to rely upon Him. We will be stretched. At times it won’t be “fun”. At times it will even be difficult. But as we listen and lean upon Him, He will be with us to bring about His good will in us and through us. And this is so much better than the “good” we might experience in the comfort zone. Because it is the best.

What burden or desire has the Lord put on your heart that gets shelved because it is outside your comfort zone?

Where do you see injustice, need, or sin that really pushes your buttons, but thus far you have done little beyond complain about it?

Do you have a passion for something the Word says to do, yet thus far you have not truly considered the possibility of you doing something just because?

Take a few moments and ask the Father to bring your next step into clear focus. Ask with a willingness to take the next step. Realize these will not usually be huge leaps out of the blue, but a gradual revelation where God draws you to a faith place that makes each progressive step a stretch, but doable with a little courage and trust in the One Who has provided for you in the past. For the Davis’ it was a few years walking out many progressive next steps into mission work. For me going over to help them was similar, taking about a year of progressive faith steps. Having been, my faith is stirred to help even more. Will I be more comfortable? Walking in God’s grace and lifted by His love, I reckon I have all the strength a person needs. So the answer has to be yes, but in a new way. When we walk His path, taking new steps into the unknown that He directs we will be comforted with His great comfort. And that is way better than just being comfortable.

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What’s In Your Hands?

Posted in God, God Stories, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, tagged , , , , , , on May 14, 2018| 1 Comment »

I experienced one of those “ah ha” moments this weekend.  I was speaking with a new friend about God’s goodness and blessings.  We had taken turns sharing how God had, in His grace, provided healing and protection at different points in our life. It is good to take time to remember God’s faithfulness in the past because it is a helpful reminder that when we face a trial of any kind, that God, Who has been faithful before, will be faithful in the future.

My eyes were opened to a new perspective when she shared about praying for a woman for healing on multiple occasions.  The person was very vocal about her need.  She carried her pain and woundedness around constantly asking for prayer and comfort.  My friend had prayed for her and had even gathered a group together to pray for the woman.  After some time of praying though my friend sensed the Holy Spirit tell her that it was time to stop praying.  That the woman being prayed for didn’t really desire to be healed, but rather she wanted the attention and sympathy her illness brought her.

When she said that I suddenly realized what a big truth that is.  ‘When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ‘  James 4:3  What pleased this woman more than receiving God’s healing was being the center of attention.  She had become comfortable in her condition and was satisfied with the sympathy of others.

The picture that came into my mind was of a person lifting their hands to God in supplication asking for a gift from Him, but their hands were full of tightly clenched “other stuff”.  Even if God offered to give what was requested they would have to release what they currently had to receive the gift from the Lord.  And many are not willing.

Lest you mistakenly think I am condescending in this, please know that the hands I am seeing are my own.  This is not simply a believer versus non-believer issue.  This is true of all gifts and all growth in faith.  As a believer I have grown by steps and stalls.  I can see that some of the stalls have been when I have tightly held onto a thing, a desire, a belief, that the Lord wanted me to lay down.  And the steps have been when in obedient trust I have released and lifted open hands to Him for whatever He has in store.  In some cases it was a blessing pure and simple.  In others it was a blessing disguised as a trial, but a blessing none-the-less.

For the person who does not yet know the Lord, the things they hold onto can cause them to miss out on the greatest gift of all, a relationship with the living Lord.  Holding onto pain from the past, unforgiveness toward someone, lifestyle choices contrary to God’s plan are all abundant life limiters.  The Lord is a good, good Father.  He is perfect in how He parents.  He is neither over-indulgent nor overly stern.  And like any good Father, He enjoys blessing His children.

Today, I encourage you to ask the Lord, “What is it I’m holding onto that I need to release?”  And then listen… and obey.  The second question is then totally appropriate.  “Lord, what do you want me to receive?”  The follow up to this question is a bit more open-ended.  He may answer that long requested prayer… or put a new desire in your heart… or simply bless you with His overwhelming peace.  Regardless, you can know that in releasing what’s in your hand, you make room for God’s “something better” in your life.  And that’s the path to the abundant life He desires each of us to experience.

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The Power That Raised Jesus

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

As Jesus followers we have access to the most powerful force in the universe.  Paul writes about it in his salutation to the church in Ephesus.

‘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, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ‘   Ephesians 1:18-20

My last post discussed how our emotions can lead us to believe a lie.  There is so much information being disseminated that is not accurate, whether intentionally or simply in error, that it is easy to absorb, believe, and emote based upon untruth.  Once we have believed a lie, especially when it has evoked strong emotion, it becomes easier to believe supporting lies and harder to discern the truth from the lie.

I do not believe it coincidental that the word in my quiet and prayer following that post was power.  Repeatedly yesterday the reality of God’s power was emphasized… beginning with God’s power demonstrated in raising Jesus from the dead, continuing with the power Jesus exhibited in healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and ministering to the humble and meek.  That power was then compared to our sun which provides our light, warmth, and sufficient energy to sustain life on this big, blue ball we call home even though it is over 93 million miles away.  While the sun in powerful, the One who created it had to be even more powerful to create it and all that is.

Finally, I saw the power of God in the ability to change a mind… to direct us onto the right course… to deliver the opioid-addict and bring them to health and wholeness… to turn a prodigal toward home… to open our eyes to the lies and half-truths we have embraced and to see and seek truth… to bring us ever closer to Him Who is the Lover of our souls.

That same power is continually available to us as Jesus’ followers.  We are encouraged to embrace that truth and to allow Him to guide us into how He wants to make that real in us and through us.  You are saved for a reason – to know Him and to make Him known.  The Holy Spirit living within the believer is the direct connection to God’s power.  In Jesus’ last recorded words before His ascension into heaven He said,  ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ‘ Acts 1:8

I encourage you this morning to lean into Jesus more and more.  Trust in His power which saved you, sustains you, and guides you.  Read the Word and allow the truth of it to saturate your mind and spirit.  As you do so, you will become more aware and dependent upon His wisdom, His grace, and His strength to live the life He has called you to.  You will learn to discern His promptings and respond to them.  I have been fortunate to participate in miracles He has brought about.  My role was 1% of the work which was accomplished simply by being obedient to what I sensed the Holy Spirit wanted me to do.  It was God’s power that did the work – healing in some cases, deliverance in others, salvation at times. In every case God was glorified and people were blessed.

Wherever you are in your faith walk, God has next steps for you which are for your good and His glory.  He will not leave or abandon you, but rather He is right there with you encouraging you to take that next step.  I don’t know exactly what your next step is, but I know God is cheering you on, whispering words of peace, hope, and guidance.  Let today be the day you take that next step in faith.  Let today be the day you take hold of the power Paul said is available.  Let today be the day you experience joy in a new and exhilarating way.  Seize the day my friend by saying yes to Jesus and stepping out in faith.

If you are interested in watching some excellent sermons, our church broadcasts the services on Sunday and they are also saved and accessible free online.  Just go to newspring.cc/sermons.  We are in a series on the Holy Spirit right now which is very balanced and biblically accurate.  Check it out.

With the benediction today, I think I will do a throw-back to the 1970’s and say:

“More power to you!”

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Be Filled

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

During this season of Lent, the 40 days preceding Easter, I have undertaken to write 5 posts a week.  I have been blogging for about 7 years now.  The posts have definitely ebbed and flowed.  It’s exciting when I am inspired to write and share God-stories with you or wisdom that I sense the Holy Spirit bubbling up within my spirit.  There have been times though when I purposed to write and it has been like trying to draw water from a dry well.  I notice I have 35 drafts that were blog post starts that have not made it.  Setting the expectation of writing 5 posts a week is the type of challenge that has, at times, caused me to encounter the dry well.  That is what happens when we operate in our own strength.  But this season is turning out to be something different… something richer, an altogether new and exciting experience.  I believe I understand why and it’s today’s topic.

This morning as I awoke I immediately entered into prayer and meditation about what the Lord would have me share.  Okay, truth be told, my first alarm at 4:30 woke me and I started praying and meditating, but staying in the bed also meant the second alarm at 5 is what actually got me fully awake and out of bed.  One of the things I have been praying for is greater understanding on why the Lord has me in this wonderful season of clarity for hearing His voice and sensing His leading.  It seems He gave me at least some insight this morning.

During this morning’s prayer I had this visual image that was very pleasant.  Over the years we’ve bought Christmas decorations during the post season sales.  It turns out we have about 1.3 miles of white Christmas lights.  The visual image began with the site of our typical Christmas tree with two or three strands of lights on it.  It’s pretty with lot’s of ornaments made by family members and little points of light interspersed about.  You can clearly see the tree, the ornaments, and little glowing spots.  But then the image changed.  Suddenly the tree was wrapped with the entire 1.3 mile strand of Christmas lights and we had an entirely different situation.  You could barely see the tree because the light emanating from it, but the shape was there.  The little lights that had highlighted the bobbles on the tree previously now were illuminating the entire room with a bright and joyful light.  Everything was richly aglow with light coming from the light-filled tree.  That’s when the Holy Spirit spoke this morning and said, “Be Filled!”

That short phrase rang familiar and I looked it up.  In Ephesians Paul is giving exhortations to the Church and the phrase shows up.  ‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘  Ephesians 5:18-20

That Christmas tree was filled with light and I can see an amazing lesson in it.  I am in a season that I hope never ends.  In fact I hope it is not a season, but the result of progress in being transformed.  It’s the transformation that we are all called to in Romans 12:1-2 ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  I have been a Jesus follower for a long time.  I have experienced the clear leading of the Holy Spirit on various occasions and it always gives me great joy.  But all my previous experiences have been more like our typical Christmas tree with little points of light interspersed here and there.  The light was visible, but the tree was still the predominant feature.

But lately, I have been sensing the Lord’s hand upon me, guiding me with a greater frequency and clarity than I have ever experienced.  Continuing the metaphor, additional strands of light are being wrapped around me and more light is shining through.  Halleluia!

At this point a little insight into what’s been happening inside of me may be informative in your walk with the Lord and desire to Be Filled.  As I mentioned earlier I have been a Jesus follower for a long time.  I have tried to be faithful in every area.  I would have seasons of additional focused attention in reading the Word, prayer, loving my wife and family sacrificially, etc.  But I have always been a busy person too.  I have worked in stressful jobs, long hours, lots of responsibilities.  And I’ve tended to be as busy as my work life allowed outside of work… youth leader at church, scoutmaster, soccer coach and active parent, small group leader, etc.

The past few years as our children have reached adulthood and begun families of their own, my wife an I have found ourselves with a little margin in our lives.  We’ve added a bit of travel to our lives which has been fun.  But last year’s trip was interrupted when I broke my shoulder.  If you have read that story it a pretty good one and it is informative to the point I’m making.  With the broken shoulder I was not making any income.  I work for myself and I don’t have supplemental insurance.  So we could have been in a financial difficulty.  But all through that season of being out of work the Lord kept telling me, “Trust Me.”  “Rest in Me.”  “Relax and Lean into Me.”  All words of encouragement for me to let go of my striving and busyness.  So I did.  I used the down time to read more, both the bible and great teaching books.  I also was able to serve more.  It has been such a blessing to get to know my care pastor at church better.  And I’ve definitely prayed more.

Breaking my shoulder provided an opportunity.  It was the prompting of the Lord, definitely subtle at first but growing stronger every day, to pick up different spiritual disciplines that got me to a stronger place.  There are “okay” things I could do that I find I am doing less.  I have not completely cut out activities like going to ball games or watching a good show on TV.  But those things have diminished greatly and anything questionable has been dropped completely.  I travel a lot for my work and since November I have been back on the road a lot.  But the TV doesn’t come on.  I’m now drawn to pray, read the Word or an edifying book, or work-out (which includes prayer and meditation).  It seems to me that with each time I am faced with a choice of doing something okay, I am pausing to see if there is something else the Lord would have me do.  If there is, I am tending to do it.  And each time I respond following that leading to do the thing I sense the Lord directing me to, there is greater clarity the next time the Holy Spirit prompts me to do something.

Before I head to the close today, I need to tell you about the other scripture the Lord brought to mind right after He said, “Be Filled.”  Since I knew the topic was “Be Filled” I threw off the sheets and popped out of bed.  But as soon as my feet hit the floor I thought of the widow of Zarephath.  Here’s her story.

‘Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. ‘  1 Kings 17:8-16

As long as the woman continued to use the oil and serve the Lord and the ones He brought to her, the jar of oil was filled.  When we follow the Lord’s lead, when we minister when and where He guides us, we will be filled.  There is also something important about what I shared in my life over the past several months.  When I have the opportunity to use my time in different ways, I ask for His guidance and then follow it.  I have been engaged in spiritually edifying activities more, but not to the exclusion of family, friends and other things.  (A topic for a future post will explain how in my past I engaged in activities that should have been spiritually edifying, but I did so in a more legalistic manner without proper regard for family, friends, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  They tended to fill my head with knowledge, but my spirit was unfruitful.)

This week has been as eventful in a positive way as most recently.  There was a great meeting with the Group’s pastor at church.  You expect those to go well, but there is a qualitative difference between a good meeting and a spirit-led meeting.  It was a spirit-led meeting.  Then I had to drive 200 miles to a plant for work.  I stopped to get gas and a coffee since it was an early morning drive.  As I got back in my truck, the Lord said, go tell the cashier, “It’s All Good.”  Yes, I questioned Him a couple times on that one.  I almost turned the key to back out.  Just thinking about going in I began to feel self-conscious.  But I remembered I had promised the Lord many years ago after I rationalized away a very clear prompting of the Lord that had a tragic end, that I would always obey Him if He clearly asked me to do something, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.  So I went back in .

Wouldn’t you know it, there was now a long line.  Rather than shouting from the door, “Yo cashier lady, God said to tell you, “It’s All Good'”, I decided to buy two bottles of water I didn’t need.  When I got in line, it was obvious she was having a problem doing some task for a customer.  Another cashier came to the adjacent register and started taking customers.  Now I was worried that I wouldn’t get to the right cashier.  I knew who the word was for and I knew what I was to say.  I had no idea how she would respond (although I hoped it would be with an indrawn breath and wide eyes of wonder).  The line kept moving to the new cashier and my cashier kept having problems.  Finally it looked like she was about to finish with her customer, but now I had a new problem.  There was a person in front of me in line.  If she finished, he was going to her and I would have to go to the cashier-who-is-not-the-right-one.  “Lord if you want me to give her this message, please let me go to her.”  It was a photo-finish.  The other cashier ripped off the receipt for the customer and said, “Who’s next” just a moment before my cashier looked up to see me standing in her queue.

I handed her the two bottles of water and said, “I was in here earlier, but when I got in my truck the Lord told me to come in and tell you, (slightly dramatic pause here) “It’s All Good.”  At that moment I kind of wished the Lord had given me something a little more eloquent or definitive, but that’s exactly what He said to say.  So I said it.  Well I didn’t get the wide eyes and gasp of wonder.  But I did get enough.  She looked at me and we made eye contact.  You know how in so many instances people look at you with the dull, unseeing eyes.  Well she really saw me and a little smile crossed her mouth and into her eyes.  I walked out thankful that I had given her the word the Lord told me to give her.  I don’t know what it was about but as I drove away, I was praising Him and praying that His words would resonate in her and that they would accomplish exactly what He knew they were to accomplish.

As I’m typing this I realize those words are pretty good words for me… and for us.  So I close today telling you what the Lord told that middle-aged, seemingly harassed cashier, “It’s All Good!”

Indeed, with the Lord it is all good and VERY GOOD!

Have a blessed day my friend.

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