Worship | areliablefaith

Archive for the ‘Worship’ Category

Spiritual Gifts – Understanding Spiritual Gifts and learning to use the gifts God has given us for His Purpose and Glory.

Posted in Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Vision, tagged Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, Christianity, Church, gifts, God's love, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, Transformation, truth on November 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Before launching into this study, I want to put it into context. Sadly, the spiritual gifts can be a controversial topic within the Church. There are two extremes we can take which, if we hold too tightly to, can cause us to miss the ultimate purpose of the spiritual gifts, which is to build up the Body of Christ and to draw unbelievers. (See 1 Corinthians 14)

On one hand, we can de-spiritualize the gifts of the Spirit to the point that they are simply natural human traits and capabilities maximized. In this view we take something that is manifestly a supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit and turn it into an ability that we train and build up purely through regular exercise.

On the other hand, we can over-spiritualize the gifts of the Spirit to the extent that every manifestation of the gifts must be connected to an ecstatic event. We work ourselves up into such a spiritually-heightened state that we are finally ready for the Holy Spirit to fall on us and the mighty works of God can begin.

These extremes are not so much false as they are simply much too narrow to capture God’s purpose in giving the Gifts of the Spirit. Additionally, these extremes fail to adequately capture the experience within the breadth of the Body today. The Church and it’s 2 billion adherents experience God’s grace sufficient for life in a broad range of environments and circumstances. God is continuing His work around the world drawing people to Himself out of every nation, tribe, and people group. And He does this through His people being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and responding to the Holy Spirit. The work is a collaborative effort between the Spirit of God and the people of God yielded to the Holy Spirit. Our yielded-ness leads to the Holy Spirit moving in us to accomplish great and mighty things. Many times that manifests itself in the spiritual gifts. That is what this study is about.

This blog is from the notes I pulled together for our home group study. I used a few on-line resources (which I will note at different points in the paper) and copious hours reading and praying over the scriptures. I have been overjoyed to find new insights in the Word as the Lord expanded my understanding of spiritual gifts, particularly with respect to the source and foundation of why He gives them.

For the study, I usually began with general questions to draw us into topic, followed by more directed questions related to the text we were studying. It is my intent to leave this to aid others who might want to expand upon this for their own study.

A final disclaimer. Many years ago I entered a bit of a longer fast seeking God’s direction in my life. I was ready and willing to go into ministry if that’s what the Lord wanted. At the end of those three days, the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He said, “Son, I’ve not called you to be a preacher. I’ve not called you to be a teacher. I’ve called you to be a man of prayer. You will preach and you will teach, but first and foremost, you are to be a man of prayer.”

That was around 25 years ago. I have seen those words played out perfectly in the meantime. As I share this with you, I do so with a sincere sense that the Lord has made this one of the times when I have been called upon to teach. Recognizing that teaching is one of the gifts I scored a middle-of-the-pack score on (Spiritual Gifts survey which I will identify later in the study), I can rightly assume that whatever good comes from this is due to the Holy Spirit enlivening it in me and in the reader. Fortunately, these are spiritual gifts and as such God is able to do abundantly, amazingly, above all we can ask or imagine. I sit here confident and overflowing with thankfulness that this is true.

Key Chapters Discussing Spiritual Gifts

Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4

List of Spiritual Gift Possibilities in Key Bible Passages (italics indicates a gift repeated in other places in scripture)

Romans 12

exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, prophecy, service, teaching

1 Corinthians 12

administration, apostle, discernment, faith, healings, helps – service, knowledge, miracles, prophecy, teaching, tongues, interpretation of tongues. wisdom

Ephesians 4

apostle, evangelism, pastor, prophecy, teaching

Misc. Passages (the following are implied as gifts in other scriptures)

celibacy, hospitality, martyrdom, missionary, voluntary poverty

OTHER GIFTS FROM THE LORD

Salvation, Church, Family, The conveniences He provides.

Lesson One

(Select two or three of these questions for ice-breakers to lead into today’s discussion)

What is your favorite gift-giving event? What makes it your favorite?

What is one gift you have received that you value above all others?

What is a particularly memorable gift you have received? What made it so memorable?

Any stories of gift-giving gone wrong?

What is the purpose behind giving and receiving gifts?

How about with spiritual gifts?

Have you given a gift and had it received poorly? How did you feel?

Have you ever received a gift poorly?

What are gifts?

Transfer of an item from one who has or possesses the means to have something to one who does not currently have.

Transfer of ownership of something.

Freely released into the ownership of the other.

To be a true gift, there needs to be a recognition that the thing received is desirous and good.

For a gift to be good it must be “unwrapped”, appreciated, and used.

Gifts most often come from ones who care for us and want us to experience good things and to be happy.

Some gifts are given to us to help us be more functional and to accomplish specific tasks.

Is there timing associated with gifts?

Times of gift giving – Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Anniversaries, Graduations, Baby Showers, Weddings

Some gifts have an “expiration”, i.e. like a bouquet of cut flowers, a new car. Some gifts have a lifetime legacy – a deed of land, a wedding ring, a poem written in honor of another.

Some gift-givers are extremely generous and continue to give and give and give.

Some gift receivers are very appreciative. Some gift receivers are never satisfied.

Receiving with thankfulness and true appreciation engenders greater goodwill between the giver and receiver.

Receiving gifts with dissatisfaction or grumbling or without thankfulness damages the relationship between the giver and the receiver.

Romans 12

To be read in context of the whole chapter.

What is the first gift offered in chapter 12? Verse 1 – our bodies as living sacrifices.

How is this sacrifice received? We don’t determine this, but Paul tells us when we set ourselves apart unto God it is “holy and pleasing to God”. He also affirms that this giving of ourselves is our true and proper worship.

What are the “personal” reciprocal gifts that we receive if we continue to give ourselves to the Lord? (verse 2)

Transformation, a renewed mind, clarity in knowing God’s will.

What are the “communal” gifts that we receive if we continue to give ourselves to the Lord? (verses 6-8)

Part of the body of Christ, prophesy, serving, teaching, encouragement, generosity, leadership, mercy / care-giving.

Are there any pre-requisites to receiving these communal gifts? (verse 3)

Humility (do not think more highly of yourself than you ought), sober judgment, faith

Take time to make the distinction of the supernatural element of these gifts if they flow from sacrificial living leading to transformed people with renewed minds, living together in humble faith while exercising sober judgment about themselves.

What is the outcome of this gift giving, particularly when it entails all members of the body of Christ exercising their communal gifts? (verses 9-21)

Sincere love one to another.

A true rejection of what is evil with an active passion to fight against it.

A passionate embrace of what is good.

Devotion one to another… hugs and warm affection manifested, expressing genuine love. Lives intertwined and supportive.

Honoring one another – accomplishments celebrated, faithfulness recognized, high-fives all around.

The zeal of the Lord present and richly manifested in lives devoted to Him, to one another, and to whatever work He has called us to at that time.

Joy even when circumstances are not exactly what we would want because hope is so rich and tangible.

Patience even when we are in the midst of affliction. (I picture the body, particularly those with the gift of care-giving, rallying around the one suffering the greatest.)

Faithful intercession and prayer that moves mountains, breaks chains, heals wounds, and accomplishes God’s purpose, in God’s way, in God’s perfect timing.

Greed is gone as the body supports and shares with one another freely, especially those with the gift of generosity. A point here – those with this gift also often have the uncanny ability to make money. I think this may be either an aspect of the gift of generosity or simply a manifestation of the law of reciprocity where Jesus said, “Give and it will be given to you.”

Kindness, a supernatural love for and active reaching out to those who do not share our belief or faith. In fact, it is a love for those who actively work against us.

Empathy manifested in every life situation.

Unity and harmony that is genuine and from the heart. This absolutely transcends social status, education, age, race – and any other potential source of division.

The rejection of evil to the point that we do not respond in kind, but rather we are motivated by love and our response is what life within the body of Christ would approve of and support.

Peaceful living, with the full recognition that those not in the body might not live in peace nor want to allow us to do so. Yet we seek peace.

Our response to evil’s attack is to seek to do good while trusting in God to be our shield, our shelter, and our defender.

Prior to this study I have always tended to read the bible with a strong awareness of the textual divisions that editors have inserted. Romans 12 includes three different divisions… verses 1-2 are under the heading “A Living Sacrifice”, verses 3-8 are “Humble Service in the Body of Christ”, and verses 9-21 are “Love in Action”. While these textual divisions are often helpful, they can also cause us to overlook some important connections the author may have had in mind. Reading this chapter without those divisions leads us to see a flow that I believe Paul meant for the reader to grasp.

Before we focus on chapter 12, let’s take one step back and place this chapter into context of the entire letter to the Romans. Romans is written to a part of the church Paul has not yet personally visited. In this letter Paul provides a succinct explanation of the love and grace of God manifested through the sacrificial life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through these early chapters we can trace God’s plan of salvation as Paul describes the ultimate gift of God giving His Son… of Jesus giving His life for us. Paul paints with words God giving over and above anything we could deserve or even imagine comes through.

When we hit chapter 8 we see this new “life in the Spirit” which is available to all who are followers of Jesus. This too is a magnanimous gift from a gracious and loving Father. By the time we reach chapter 12 we have had the point driven home again and again – God has given us such a stunning abundance of grace and goodness. This is the first “giving”.

In chapter 12 we then see giving taking place in three rapid bursts. The first is in verses 1-2 where we give ourselves to God. This is a call to total abandonment. Paul has used old testament imagery throughout the previous chapters so when he speaks of a living sacrifice here, he is tying it to the old testament understanding of sacrifice being a complete giving over. The only difference is as “living” sacrifices we get the honor of repeatedly deciding to completely give ourselves over to God.

The second giving is God giving spiritual gifts for the edification and building up of the Body. I will speak about it more later, but I want to clearly state it here – the primary purpose of the spiritual gifts is the building up of the Body of Christ, but building up of the individual believer happens at the same time. God is the ultimate multi-tasker. In dispersing His gifts, He accomplishes many things as the Body, and the individual, receives and responds.

Then comes the third giving which is the one I had always missed. That is the Body of Christ becoming a radiant, shining example of God’s goodness, grace, and love to the world that does not yet know Him. We become God’s gift to the lost and unbelieving. Through this, people are drawn to look to Him, to consider the claims of the Church, and to come to faith.

In conclusion to this week’s lesson, we see that God initiates the giving through giving Jesus as our savior. We respond by giving ourselves to Him as our Lord. He then continues giving by working transformation in us and by giving spiritual gifts to the Church. The final giving is the Church being given to the world as a manifestly beautiful and attractive “Bride of Christ”. This final giving includes an invitation to all who have not yet accepted Christ to join the fellowship of believers by receiving God’s initial gift of His Son – Jesus.

In our next lesson, we will investigate the ultimate source of God’s gift giving – His amazing love.

Until next time, may the God of all good gifts pour His Spirit out upon you, filling you with His wisdom, His truth, and His love. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Read Full Post »

Lesson through the Little Ones

Posted in God Stories, Spiritual Growth, tagged baby, carefree, children playing, faith building, gender, gender reveal party, Trust on October 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I am a grandfather. We have three beautiful grandchildren with a fourth on the way. Friday night we got to spend time with our daughter-in-law and her three children. Watching the two older boys play and making baby talk with our 10-month old granddaughter brought joy to my heart.

The next day we traveled to our daughter and son-in-law’s home to participate in a “gender reveal” party. Since many of their friends have children, the party had a strong child’s birthday party feel. Running, laughing, and generally just enjoying life in the crisp fall afternoon was the order of the day for the children.

The actual gender reveal part was a big hit too. Our daughter-in-law was the only one who knew the baby’s gender. The night prior to the party she filled a large pumpkin with powder and then sealed it up. At the party the thirty or so guests all selected a gender they thought the baby was. Our son-in-law was adamant the baby was a boy. And so did about two-thirds of the guests. At the appointed time the pumpkin was heaved high in the air and then descended to the ground in a mighty pink clouded crash. IT’S A GIRL!

I sense the Lord emphasizing a point for me through this fun life event, especially as I watched and played with the children. The children were carefree. They played with exuberance. They were not mean or manipulative. They cared for each other and enjoyed each other’s company. And they flitted back to a parent or other relative every now and then, but soon they were back cavorting with the other children.

Our Father wants similar for us. Our relationship with Him can be, is meant to be, one where we live in ever increasing confidence of His love and tender care. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” He is intimately aware and engaged in our lives. He is big enough to help us shoulder the tough times. He is also the Father of the Bride-Groom in the wedding feast we will one day celebrate together. In the time until we all join in this banquet, He is our loving Father who watches over us, helps us and enjoys it as we draw closer to Him.

The Lord wants us to live fully in each day trusting Him. There is much about each day we cannot control. Building elaborate plans and striving to control every outcome is a fool’s game. In fact it can be more than that, it can easily become sin. When having our way becomes paramount, we slip off the path of faith. We take on a role we are not meant to play.

On the other hand, the more we lean into trusting the Father and obediently following His blueprint for life found in the bible, the less we are inclined to try and make things turn out our way. The more consistently we are able to listen to the Holy Spirit speak truth and guide us, the greater our joy and confidence become. Proverbs 3:5 & 6 can be relied upon. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

From time to time my mind thinks forward to when we have graduated to larger life on the other side of the grave. It looks a lot like a sun-splashed afternoon awaiting the revealing of our next grandchild’s gender. There’s lots of laughter. There is joyful expectation. There is activity galore, colors rich and vivid, and heartfelt conversations all around. And in our midst is the loving Father – adored by His multiplied children all around.

We are those children.

And it makes me smile.

Be blessed today my friend. And be a blessing.

Read Full Post »

On the Other Side of the Clouds

Posted in Church, God Stories, Prayer, Worship, tagged break-through, clouds, depression, discouragement, divine conversations, faith, flying, inspiration, sunshine, Travel, truth, work on October 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

As I looked out my window at the rain-splashed tarmac a heaviness strove to lay hold of my soul. Gray thoughts swirled through my mind –

“it’s cold, damp, and nasty outside and this is just the beginning”…
“winter’s coming and outside fun is gone for several months”…
“I have too much to do and too little time to do it”…
“this country is heading in a dangerous direction and I don’t know why people don’t see it”…
“this election isn’t going to provide a leader to unite and heal this country”…

A whispered prayer – “Lord help me to see differently.”

Suddenly my thoughts shifted. Even though the plane had not yet moved my mind went to the ascent we were about to make. In my mind’s eye I could see the gray giving way to the white of clouds all around. That white growing gradually brighter until suddenly we burst through into brilliant sunshine. And my spirit soared.

I know the sun is always there – clouds or not. Yet there are times when what I see overwhelms and dominates what I know. More importantly, my mind can then make projections from what I see to build a future that carries me away from what I know. Worry, anxious thoughts, discouragement, and depression are waypoints on the road my thoughts will wander if I forget what I know.

Jesus is every bit as real as the sun. In fact Malachi prophetically speaks of Jesus as “the sun of righteousness who will rise with healing in His wings”. Simply stated that is what I experienced in a small way that morning.

Interestingly my flight was a rather short one so we did not get to a high enough altitude to fully break through to sunshine on that leg. I watched for it with eager anticipation but the brilliant break-through was not achieved. But it was not an issue. I remembered the sun and I was content to wait.

As I sat on my next flight I engaged my seat mate in some light conversation. He was amenable and so began a 90 minute conversation starting with work but ranging far and wide from family to travel to the election (I usually don’t go there) to church and faith. And it was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed making a new friend… so much so that I hardly noticed the weather outside.

After landing I grabbed my bags knowing I had a fairly tight schedule, but I felt the Lord’s nudge to linger for a final word with my friend. As two new friends it would be normal to part with a firm handshake and a word of encouragement. But as two newly found brothers in Christ we had the opportunity to go to our heavenly Father with a word of prayer and thanksgiving before parting.

As I then hustled to my car I stepped out the front door of the airport into glorious sunshine… and my heart soared with gratitude anew. It may have taken a little longer than I first thought, but the sun is always there on the other side of the clouds. Faith reminds us it’s there. Patience and perseverance help us get to where we can see it. And thanksgiving is our right response when we arrive.

Thank you Lord for your loving-kindness to us and to all mankind. Please use me, use us, to point to you, to reflect your grace in a manner that others can see and receive. Be glorified in us today. In Jesus Name!

Read Full Post »

Deficit of Humility

Posted in God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Responsibility, Salvation, Spiritual Growth, The Father, tagged faith, holy spirit, humility, intimacy with the Father, Israel, Jesus, lack of humility, pharaoh, Prayer, pride, Transformation on September 16, 2016| 3 Comments »

God is almost never limited by our lack.

We can lack money and yet God can provide the means for whatever He calls us to do. My thoughts run to a little boy with two fish and five loaves on a remote hillside with Jesus and a crowd of thousands, hungry after a day of teaching and healing.

We can lack strength and yet Paul passes on what Jesus said to Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2Cor 12:9)

We can lack intellect, but God can still use us. I have been in a number of situations where I did not know “the answer” and yet the answer has always come.

But I realized the other day that there is one definite lack on our part that can constrain God… the lack of humility! The lack of humility is powerful, ugly, and spiritually deadly.

There is value in specifically saying “lack of humility” and not simply calling it pride. Being proud of your children, your country, your church can all stray into an unhealthy region, but for the most part these do not capture the attitude that the bible means when it says in a number of places, “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6). The lack of humility is that kind of proud. It is a cancer that sucks the life out of relationships, beginning with our relationship with the Father.

God loves us and He wants us to live in intimacy with Him. The level of intimacy God desires is predicated upon mutual love, trust, and honesty. Coming clean about every aspect of our life – from acts done or not done, words uttered or not uttered, even thoughts we’ve harbored requires a humility and honesty that does not come easily to us. In fact it often requires a degree of divine support to achieve. But He is near to us to lend us this help if we but bend our hearts toward Him in humility.

As I consider what this humility looks like several pictures come to mind. A child listening in rapt attention and a teachable spirit… a parent returning from deployment falling on their knees and embracing their family… a “terminally” ill patient who is given a new lease on life. God is the giver of all good gifts. As He gives what He desires (which is always better than what we deserve) we should recognize the opportunity to give thanks and receive with humility all that the Lord wants for us. Often, it is in these moments that He will speak wisdom into our lives that we can’t hear otherwise.

This morning I awoke with a very clear picture of what the lack of humility looks like. It is one of the formational stories of the nation of Israel and it is found in the 2nd book of the bible, Exodus. What had begun as a flight to sanctuary at the end of the Genesis had become servitude and slavery 400 years later. The Pharaoh’s government had become a hard task-master and the people of Israel were crying out for deliverance. God raised up Moses to serve as His human voice. The message to Pharaoh was simple, “Let my people go.” But Pharaoh, who was considered a god in that culture, refused. Time and again God sent signs of His power and authority to convince Pharaoh and give Him the opportunity to bend His will to the Lord Almighty. But Pharaoh would not. The bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Friends, this is a vital spiritual truth. The longer and harder we resist the Lord, the more difficult it becomes to respond to Him. It is not that God’s love is not there nor is it that He won’t accept us. The issue is that until we are humble enough to acknowledge that He is God and we are not, we can’t bend our knee to Him and submit to the foundational truth of faith that God is the great “I AM”, the wholly, Holy Other. While I am thrilled that my heavenly Father loves me and desires to fellowship with me, it never changes the fact that He is the LORD God Almighty, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The lack of humility can keep a person from accepting Christ, God’s provision to reconcile fallen humans with Himself. But it can also rear it’s ugly head after conversion and stifle the spiritual growth the Lord intends for His children. When I consider my faith walk, I can see how the lack of humility was a key factor in many of the lulls.

The message of today’s post is simple. Take a moment to examine your life. Do you have a deficit of humility that is limiting your relationship with God and others? Are you thankful for the small gifts of grace you receive or are you disappointed because you feel slighted in some way? Is God actively speaking to you and using you for positive change or is it quiet when you call out to Him? If any of these answers make you realize that you have a deficit of humility, congratulations! Recognizing this is the hardest step. Turn to God with your whole heart, acknowledge your sin (if you haven’t already figured it out, the lack of humility is a sin), accept His Lordship over you, and begin to walk in fresh fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

The limits of our intellect do not in any way limit God’s ability to use us. The limits of our humility constrain how, and how much God can work in and through us. Choose humility and throw off those constraints. Reach for the Father’s hand and talk a walk with the One Who loves you to the uttermost. You will be so happy that you did.

Be blessed my friend and be a blessing to those the Lord puts in your life today.

Read Full Post »

Eternal Significance

Posted in Church, God Stories, Prayer, Service, Spiritual Growth, tagged faith building, fruitful, Haiti, hearing God, Jesus the vine, Love Him, Love Them, obedience, orphanage, Orphans on September 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Our devotional this morning used John 15:5 and I saw a portion of that verse in a whole new way. Jesus is speaking. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” I guess I have tended to zip over the last part of that verse, the part that says “apart from me you can do nothing.” Today it struck me that from Jesus’ eternal perspective, the things we do for ourselves, the things that create a lot of busyness in our day but are not done from our connection with Him don’t really amount to much. Actually I guess more accurately they amount to nothing. That’s a sobering thought.

So how does that square with having a job to support our family, raising our children to be good citizens, or just being a good neighbor to those around us? Using the rest of this scripture for context, it comes down to our connection with Jesus and our on-going growth in that relationship. Our purpose is to become more like Jesus. That is accomplished in and through every aspect of our life. Our relationship with Jesus is what prepares and then propels us forward into those things that He has purposed for us to walk in.

Two quick stories from the past two weeks illustrate this. A little over a week ago I was involved in an auto accident. Actually I was waiting at a cross-roads and the accident was in front of me and one of the vehicles then rammed me. I was not injured but my little car is badly damaged. In the moments preceding the accident I had plenty of time to cross in front of the vehicles, but I uncharacteristically waited. Because I waited, I became involved. I don’t feel like I did much in the ensuing care-giving, but others seemed to take comfort in my support and prayer. And I had a tremendous peace both at the time of the accident and in the days that followed that I was where I was supposed to be and I did what I was supposed to do. Nothing fancy, but the Father’s peace was tangible. I am still in contact with some of those involved and I believe the Lord will use this event for good in each one of the lives involved.

Second story – earlier this summer friends of mine in the Care Ministry at church mentioned that a choir of orphans from Haiti were in the US touring to raise awareness and funds for the orphanages they represent. The family that has been instrumental in making this happen – Linda and David, also go to our church. These stories raised an awareness that became a Holy Spirit nudge to “do something”. Yesterday they came for a day of swimming and fun at our house.

In my prayer leading up to this I wanted to have a message of ringing clarity for them or some spiritual insight from the Lord to share. But what I got was a strong sense of just loving on them and sharing from what the Lord has blessed us with. In my younger years… maybe even just a few years ago, I would have been dissatisfied that the day wasn’t more spiritual.

Talking with the host family at the end of the evening though, I heard how the Lord had provided so many manifestations of His grace throughout the process of getting the children here. And then they explained how they so badly needed the break that our day provided. They have literally been performing 2 and 3 times a day all summer. They cleared their calendar to just relax and join us. That statement just confirmed to me that we did what we were supposed to do.

Friends, I encourage you to spend quality time with the Lord. Allow His love to color your perspective on all things. Become one who consistently listens to the Lord whispering to your heart. Learn to recognize when the Lord is speaking to your heart and obey your heart over what your mind tells you in those cases. As we do so, we are vines that become more and more fruitful. And that fruit is the sweetest of fruit because it is fruit of eternal significance.

Blessings to you in abundance. And let the Father bless others through you today.

By the way, the ministry that our friends run to support the Orphans in Haiti is called “Love Him, Love Them”. You can find it at the website of that name.

Read Full Post »

Not What You Expect

Posted in Beautiful Places, God, God Stories, Photography, Worship, tagged faith building, fog, God's plan, God's provision, mountain photos, mountain top, North Carolina, rain, rainbow, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, Trust, waiting, worship on August 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Certain lessons seem to be particularly important for me to “get” because they are being reinforced almost weekly. Last week an exclamation point was made on the lesson – “It may not be what you expect, but trust Me, My plan is better!”

We visited our two married daughters over the course of last week. Rhiannon and Jeff in Chattanooga Thursday – Sunday morning and then Christin and Michael in Elizabethton Sunday – Tuesday. Everything went pretty much like we planned with Rhiannon and Jeff, but it seemed like every plan we made with Christin had to be scrapped or modified heavily. No worries, we were just happy to be spending time together.

Monday afternoon one modified plan had us drive to the top of Roan Mountain where we enjoyed some beautiful views from the bald mountain top. The wonderful 360 degree view had us thinking about sunrise pics over the NC mountains. Checking the weather in Elizabethton, 20 miles away we saw that the weather report was promising and the plan was hatched.

Tuesday morning we arose at 4:45 am and we were headed out of town 15 minutes later. We were excited to see a star studded sky as we rolled out of Elizabethton heading toward Roan Mountain. Two miles from the top of the mountain was when I first noticed the moisture on the road. A mile from the top I noticed the stiff breeze that hadn’t been present on any of our drive thus far. Shortly thereafter wisps of cloud started sweeping across in front of the car and for the last 200 yards I had to drive at a snail’s pace into the parking lot because of the thick fog.

We were still an hour before sunrise. I am quite used to fog. But fog is usually stationary settling into the low areas on windless mornings. On the mountaintop it was foggy with a 15 – 20 mph breeze driving it. Undeterred we gathered camera, tri-pod, flashlights and goody bag and headed up the 3/4 mile hike to the top of the mountain in a cold, drizzly, windy fog hoping for the best.

This is about 15 minutes before sunrise and we were beginning to think the sun may not actually burn through the fog like we were hoping.

This is when you kinda wished you hadn’t been told about the number of bear sightings up on the mountain.

Inside the woods the wind was blocked and it was eerily peaceful.

That breeze that we experienced in the Parking Lot was a foretaste and not the real deal. We broke out of the woods about half way to the top and realized that the exposed mountain bald seemed to increase the wind intensity by at least a factor of two.

We made it to the top of the mountain, thankful that we had also been there the day before so we recognized some rock outcroppings as landmarks. We hunkered down behind a rock for a bit hoping the clouds would clear and we would get some sunrise shots. But while the clouds around us brightened as sunrise arrived the wind didn’t let up and the fog never thinned.

The view right at sunrise… at least according to our watch.

A little shelter on the mountain top.

Leaving the mountain bald behind

The forest path back to the car.

Since we had been to the mountain the day before, we knew that amazing panoramic views existed from right where we were huddled. Yet the wind, fog, and rain made it difficult to remember just how beautiful it was. I was struck with how graphic an illustration that is of the impact of trials in our life. When life is good it’s easy to see God’s hand at work. But when trials press upon us it often becomes much harder to discern God’s actions on our behalf. It is in these times that our faith is stretched. Holding onto the reality that we have previously experienced – God’s faithful provision, is just like remembering the mountain view we had seen the day before. We may not see it at the moment, but we know it exists. Our task is to remember and wait for the reality to be revealed again.

We slowly made our way back down to the car and then headed back down the mountain. A deer came up beside us on the road and we slowed to let it pass. A mile down the road we were out of the fog.

As we progressed down the mountain we saw sunshine followed by a brief rain shower. The thought passed through my mind, “Sun and rain, I wonder if there’s a rainbow somewhere?” Through a break in the trees just prior to the final overlook I could see a shower in the valley beside the mountain and a slight brightening where the sun was trying to break through. As we rounded the curve at the final overlook this is the view that we saw.

We were shocked by how quickly this rainbow appeared.

The colors were vibrant and yet it was continually shifting from a single to a double and from a full to a partial rainbow.

For a few seconds it formed a full rainbow… and we just happened to be in the right spot to catch it in all it’s glory.

We couldn’t quite tell if the pot of gold was in that little barn or the orchard beside it. What we knew for a certainty was that our Heavenly Father was enjoying our laughter and celebration with us as we alternately uttered words of praise and gasps of wonder while we snapped pics.

The double rainbow was fleeting, but we saw it come and go two or three times in then 3 – 5 minutes the rainbow was visible.

Looking toward the sun… and giving praise to the Son.

The final pic as the shower ceased and the rainbow quickly faded.

The entire rainbow celebration lasted less than 5 minutes, but a number of things stood out to me.

We had to make the journey to be able to see the rainbow. We didn’t know the rainbow was the purpose and penultimate pic of the trip, but our Father did.
We tarried in the dark, in the rain, in the wind, in the fog, and ultimately made close to a 2 mile hike seemingly in a lost cause, but God had a better plan.
We had to be in exactly the right spot AND at exactly the right time to see and enjoy the rainbow like we did. If we had rushed at any point in the morning’s journey we would have missed it.
Our response to seeing the rainbow was pure wonder, celebration, and thankfulness to our gracious heavenly Father for this simple, but beautiful blessing. And I believe He enjoyed it as much as we did.

Finally I remember where God first introduced the rainbow to His creation. It’s in Genesis chapter 9:12-17. And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

We didn’t get what we expected, but what we got was so much better.

And that’s just the way God is with His children.

Be blessed today and be a blessing! If you like this, please share it with a friend.

Read Full Post »

Baptism at Gauntlet 2016

Posted in Church, God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Responsibility, Salvation, Service, Spiritual Growth, Worship, tagged #Gauntlet2016, baptism, Beach, Church, Daytona Beach, faith, Gauntlet, holy spirit, Jesus, newspring, next steps, ocean baptism, Prayer, sacrament, Sunrise, sunrise over the beach on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

One of the main events at Gauntlet each year is the sunrise baptism in the ocean. This year 1400 persons waded into the Atlantic Ocean to be baptized in a pattern followed by Christ-followers for close to 2000 years. Baptism is a rich symbol in the Christian faith. In baptism we are identifying with Jesus is His death and burial as we plunge under the water. In rising out of the water we are connecting with His resurrection from the dead. Baptism is an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace God has given us in our salvation. By baptism we proclaim we are followers of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Gauntlet 2016-15-4.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-1-5.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-1-7.jpg

Even as organized as our church has become through the 10 previous Gauntlets, baptism of 1400 people takes some time and creates quite a spectacle. Below are a few pics of the service. Three short vignettes stand out to me.

First, we met and spoke with Maddie as she provided Life guard support. I explained how Jesus is real and that baptism is a person’s next step after accepting Him as their savior. Maddie is at a life change point as she enters her final year in college. She has questions about what she is going to do with her life. As we walked away after praying with her, I could sense the Holy Spirit stirring in her heart. I pray that she too will soon be baptized and experience the joy and peace that Jesus gives.

Gauntlet 2016-3-5

Gauntlet 2016-4-5.jpg

The next shots are from the lifeguard seat in the middle of our service. One of the staff came up to me and pointed out the man kneeling in the sand to the south of our group. He had wandered up early in the baptism and, after chatting with some of our folks, fell to his knees and remained there for the entire time I was there – close to an hour that I know of. His posture of prayer over our group remains one of the most poignant images for me of the week. It also reminded me that there were literally thousands of people back home praying for us before and during the Gauntlet.

Gauntlet 2016-6-5.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-11-4.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-13-3.jpg

The final Baptism morning vignette was when Greg, Dylan and I held our devotion on the pier. We wanted a vantage point where we could continue to observe and pray for the baptism service, but also open the Word and see what God had in store for us. As we finished an older gentleman from the restaurant on the pier approached and asked what was going on up the beach. I shared about the baptism and Gauntlet which lead to an engaging conversation with Mark. A one-time minister, Mark had slipped and backslidden to the point that he had ended up on the streets. A year and a half earlier he decided he had to turn his life around so for 16 months he had worked at the restaurant and was staying away from the drink and other temptations that had caused him to fall. We prayed with Mark. I was blessed as my guys were fully engaged in the conversation, even encouraging Mark to watch the services on-line.

Gauntlet 2016-14-3.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-16-3.jpg

Gauntlet 2016-17-3.jpg

So many people… so many God-stories… so many miracles… such an amazing God.

The next post will be about the worship. The one after that is about one of the mighty miracles that occurred and which is continuing to play out in a most marvelous way.

God is moving… the wave started in the student section and it is growing in intensity. Come Lord Jesus – overwhelm us with more of you.

Read Full Post »

Gauntlet 2016

Posted in Church, God Stories, Holy Spirit, Photography, Salvation, Service, Spiritual Growth, Worship, tagged #Gauntlet2016, Discipleship, faith building, Gauntlet, holy spirit, mountain top, newspring, Prayer, spiritual growth, Transformation, Trust, worship, youth, youth ministry, youth retreat on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I had the privilege of serving as a room leader at Gauntlet 2016. In my young adult life I was a youth leader at two different churches and I even lead a diocese-wide youth event in Louisiana. Other life demands took priority as I entered my mid 30’s so my youth leadership became focused upon coaching and a four year stint as a scoutmaster. Gauntlet is our church’s youth camp, but it is youth camp to the extreme. There were over 5300 youth at the Gauntlet with another 1700+ room leaders and support staff. We descended upon Daytona Beach in 129 buses and filled 9 beach-front hotels. And for the first time we filled the entire Ocean Center auditorium.

I intend on posting several pics and a few highlights from the week in this blog over the next few weeks. The Gauntlet is an environment where youth and leader alike hear clear teaching on how to become a Christian and what it means to live the life God has created us for. It provides ample opportunity to speak with caring leaders and fellow sojourners about life’s trials, challenges, failures, and triumphs in a safe place. Within this context each person is given multiple opportunities to identify and take their next step in the faith journey of life.

This was my second time to serve. And I almost didn’t go. My experience the first time was enough of a challenge that I questioned whether the Lord wanted me there. I left the date open on my calendar and I continued to ask the Lord to make it clear if I was to attend. About 4 weeks prior the Lord gave me the nudge that I was to go and He provided two very clear instructions. “Don’t have expectations on how your students are to respond” and “Trust Me.” So I signed up. I am so glad that I did.

That I had chosen the right path was confirmed for me on the bus ride down. Everyone traveled down in “pods” of three or four buses. We were the first pod of buses from our campus which also happens to be the furthest from Daytona Beach. Just outside Jacksonville the bus in front of ours broke down. The failure on the bus disabled their air conditioning, so our bus leader asked us to make room for the folks from the other bus. Our boys immediately moved to the back of the bus tripling up in seats or standing in the aisle. We spent the next 3+ hours waiting on one of the other buses to complete the trip down to Daytona and then return to pick up the passengers from the disabled bus so our pod could continue.

The AC in our bus was stretched to the max with the extra body heat and the lack of air movement over the AC coils, so it was not very comfortable in the back where the boys were all scrunched together. But during that entire time there was no whining or complaining. The boys chatted. I got to know several of the young men like Hawk, CJ, Bernard, Nick, Sean (or maybe Shawn), Drey, Marcelous, Dillon, and others. For three hours we sweated together, watching bus after bus pass us as we sat on the side of the road with the Florida sun beaming in the windows… and the mood never turned sour with self pity. I’m chuckling to myself right now because I was, and still am, pumped at how mature the boys handled the situation.

Although I didn’t meet and begin getting to know them until we arrived in Daytona Beach, my two roommates and new friends, Dylan and Greg were among those on the bus who handled the situation so well. And they proved to be just as mature and good-natured as my initial impression of the other young men on bus 5. It was truly a blessing to spend the week with these two guys, to get to know them, and to talk about what our next steps in growing closer to Jesus are.

That’s enough of a story for today’s post. So without further ado I share the first of my Gauntlet 2016 pics.

Gauntlet 2016-6 Gauntlet 2016-6-2.jpg Gauntlet 2016-74.jpg Gauntlet 2016-52-2.jpg Gauntlet 2016-5-2.jpg

Read Full Post »

Gauntlet 2016

Posted in Church, God Stories, Service, Spiritual Growth, Worship, tagged #Gauntlet2016, Gauntlet, newspring, youth on July 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’m on the bus leaving Daytona Beach with several new friends. Our church does youth ministry in a big way. God has given Newspring a vision for the next generation and the youth event at Daytona Beach is a big part of how we fulfill that vision. I will eventually get back to my west coast trip pics, but for the next several posts I will be alternating between Gauntlet stories, pics, and west coast shots.

As we begin this day’s journey I am totally content. As I prepared for this trip the Lord impressed upon me to simply trust Him and not build a lot of expectations. There is nothing wrong with believing God for big things, but I am prone to telling God how I expect Him to move, how to bless, what His grace out-pouring is supposed to look like. I didn’t do that this week and I have been blessed to the uttermost.

This week was simply amazing. Each speaker delivered powerful messages. The worship was incredible. And the joy and love in the many faces blessed me to the max. However it is the deeper work, the hearts of student and leader alike that the Lord has touched and prompted to take their next step that is the most wonderful thing from this week.

I’m sitting next to Andy. We serve together in the Care Ministry. He leaned over to me just after we passed a saloon where he once worked and said, “If you had told me I would be on a bus with a bunch of youth. …” A contented smile crossed his face. God orders our steps. When we submit ourselves to Him, He will take us to places we wouldn’t expect. He will do things we wouldn’t picture. He will accomplish things we struggle to comprehend. And it is good.

I look forward to sharing many new God stories with you. Our God does abundantly, amazingly more than we can think our imagine.

To God be the glory.

Just a few numbers. Over 500 youth gave their life to Christ. 1390 people baptized. Hundreds committed to return to following hard after Jesus. And a church re-energized to following Jesus, loving our neighbors, and serving in our communities.

God is so good.

Love you my friend. I pray the Lord’s blessing upon you. And I pray He enables you to share His love to someone today.

Read Full Post »

A Silence Too Quiet

Posted in Beautiful Places, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Photography, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged forgiveness, hearing God, holy spirit, Jesus, nature photography, photography, sin, spiritual growth, Sunrise, sunrise pictures, sunset, sunset pictures, worship on June 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

At some point in our lives, most of us want to hear God speak directly to us, directly into our life situation. I am convinced that intimacy with God is our highest calling. What Adam had in the garden before the Fall is a picture of what life in Christ can become… intimate, familiar, loving, without secrets or shame, the PERFECT relationship. But for almost all of us we are still a long, long ways from it.

If intimacy with God is our highest calling, then why do we struggle so with achieving it? Why is it that we don’t hear about or see where God is speaking to people regularly? Why does my prayer life feel more like a one sided conversation than a dialog? Why is the silence so quiet?

A conversation this weekend has brought this question into my spirit and I have been wrestling with it for three days now. While I suspect there may be other reasons, I have insight into some of the reasons and a path through a season of silence that may be beneficial for you.

Let’s begin with the order of priorities God has for us. The most important thing God has for us is to know Him. That is priority #1. Not knowing ABOUT Him, but knowing Him. He sent Jesus to earth to engage humanity face to face, skin to skin, heart to heart. Jesus’ life on planet earth was brief – 30 or so years, but in God’s providential plan, He inspired the writing of the Word which not only fleshes out the “God Story” for the billions of us who did not get to know Him in the flesh, but creates the pathway to meet and truly know Him. Also in His plan, Jesus’ resurrection means Jesus is alive. If He is alive then He is knowable. At my conversion, I believe Jesus was right there with me, talking to me, offering me life in Him. When I accepted, He placed His Holy Spirit within me and I was changed. I know it. I felt it. Others saw it and commented on it. It really happened. Now humanity’s enemy, the bible calls Him Satan, has periodically tried to convince me otherwise. Most of His attempts have been to get my eyes off Jesus, my spiritual ears from listening to the Holy Spirit, and my actions away from intimacy with God. Those times I have been diverted, quiet ensued. This brings me to the first reason we may enter a time of silence in our relationship with the Lord.

Spiritual warfare is a reality. The enemy actively fights against God. The children of God, believers who have been saved through faith in Christ, are at the frontline of that war. There are many similarities in warfare we see and what goes on in the spiritual realm, but I want to focus upon one aspect – communication. Knowing the battle plan and keeping in touch with command is vital in battle. This is often hard to do, particularly when the fight is intense and the din of battle drowns out all other sound. Spiritual warfare will have times when we are getting hit with any number of assaults. The good news is our Lord God is the ultimate Commander in Chief. He has both a plan and resources to win the war and bring us through the battle. When we are in the battle, we may not clearly hear Him, but we can trust Him. We make our requests, we hold our position, and we do what we know from His Word we are to do. In the absence of a clear word from the Lord, we trust the Word of the Lord and the last thing He told us to do. And we hold on. We also look for reinforcements. This would be Godly friends who can come alongside us in the fight. Ones who will join us in the battle. Ones who will also be communicating with our Commander, the Lord God Almighty, about our needs. Scriptures for this are 2Cor 10:3-5 and Eph 6:10-18.

Reason 2.

On-going sin. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins – all of them. God in His wisdom has given us a role to play in our salvation. We repent – we turn away from sin and turn to God. There are many things that can be said about why sin is such an evil thing, but for the sake of this discussion I’m going to focus upon just one aspect. From where we stand sin lies in the opposite direction of God. If we choose to run after sin, we are turning our back on God. Have you ever noticed the orientation of our ears? They are cupped forward. This allows the capture and amplification of sounds in front of us. This also provides a degree of shielding from sound waves coming from behind us. This is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. When we turn away from God, it becomes much more difficult to hear God’s voice calling us back to Him. That which we are facing grows louder and more strident. The voice of God grows harder to hear. And God seldom shouts. Hopefully I can come back to that theme in another post. God can and will shout, but it is the exception rather than the rule. His gentle whisper and subtle nudges are the norm.

The remedy when on-going sin causes us to lose awareness of God’s voice is simple, if not necessarily easy. Cease the sin immediately, repent, confess, and seek the Lord’s help through Godly friends and counselors who can help you take your next steps. In this I have seen an accountability partner provide tremendous benefits. God works through His people in the healing process.

Reason 3.

Emotional wounds not dealt with. My understanding of God is that He has saved me utterly and completely. My experience has been that in a few cases God walks me through the healing of damage created by sin, my sin and the sins others have done to me, over time. Although I have been a believer for 30+ years, there are still times of periodic cleansing, teaching, and healing that He does in me years after I felt Him power-wash my soul. I am getting into an area that still holds a degree of mystery for me, but I have seen this at work in my life and in others. God will choose to heal some things from our past years into our walk with Him. The forgiveness has long since been applied, but sometimes God wants to heal the scars. In some cases our stuffed hurt actually encases a bit of poison that must be removed. If the Lord wants to do the healing, our role is to allow Him, the Great Physician, to do surgery. Covering it up, holding it in, saying it doesn’t exist does not further the Lord’s work in this area. Giving it to the Lord, confessing and lifting it up to Him, is the right thing to do. One of the areas I have seen this frequently take place is for people who have been victimized by sexual sin. Opening up about this to a caring and wise counselor is a one of the most benefical steps in the healing process.

Reason 4.

Our unrealized expectations of God leading to a “God Grudge”. An unfortunate situation often occurs when a person comes to faith. A well-meaning soul will tell the new convert something like, “You are changed and your life will be rich, full, and exciting because you are a Christian.” While there are many blessings that come with being a Christ-follower, absence from life’s difficulties is not one of them. In fact, when we immerse ourselves into living a fully surrendered life we will experience times of need that lead us into greater dependence upon Him. Sadly many believers reach a point where their expectations are not met, but rather than seeking Godly counsel, they bottle up the disappointment and trudge on. Over time and as more unrealized expectations occur, a God Grudge develops.

I have seen this and been fortunate enough to speak words of encouragement to people to help them identify the source of their grudge and help them take it to God. He already knows we are holding it. He just wants us to admit it and then give it to him. I can think of five situations where the persons took this step of faith and within a month a break-through in the natural realm of a long-standing problem was manifested. Intimacy requires honesty. God can handle our honesty. We just need to be open to what He has to say back to us. Psalm 51 resonates for Reasons 2 – 4.

Reason 5.

Disobedience to what the Lord has said. I know that disobedience to the Lord is sin, but I want to zero in on disobedience to God’s personal word to us. I shared my most poignant and painful example of this in a post last summer. https://areliablefaith.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/responding-to-the-nudge/. In this story I share how I rationalized my way out of obedience to the Holy Spirit’s nudge and the consequences were significant. This example and some lesser periods of waffling when presented with promptings from the Lord have clearly shown me that quiet ensues when we ignore what the Lord tells us.

Our Pastor has shared this with us as well. “Have you done the last thing I told you?” This is the question the Lord has laid on his heart when he has tried to maintain a dialog, while not being fully obedient to the last thing the Lord told Him to do. I admit to the same thing. A few years back I went through an extended time where the Lord repeatedly brought the same scripture to my mind as I prayed. It wasn’t until I obeyed the practical application of that scripture that my prayer life moved forward.

God is not into superficiality. There is no façade that works. Obedience is essential if we desire unhindered dialog with the Lord.

Reason 6.

We are to wait. This one is perhaps the most common for me. And it really only becomes an issue when we get our priorities backwards. At the beginning I said our #1 priority is to Know the Lord. For the finite to know the Infinite takes all our life and at the end we will still fall far short of knowing God fully. But that is what God desires and has called us to. Part of the process for getting to know the Lord is that we walk in our second priority which is: Know and Do the Things God Wants Us to Do. Life spent being where God wants and doing what God created us to do is a life well lived. However, our “doing for God” can usurp our first priority – Knowing God. When this happens we can get out of the Lord’s whisper range and we can move into the realm of silence.

I have fallen into this pit more than once. I am an active person. I also tend toward being a workaholic. I struggled to type that because in my mind I am just thorough, but my wife and others have pointed this out with enough examples that I cannot deny it. It is not uncommon for me to get involved in a good thing but fail to take the time to validate it against the Lord’s leading. Being over-committed to good things invariably leads to being under-committed to the best things.

The solution here is pretty simple. Make the #1 priority the #1 priority. Isaiah 40:31 is on the spot. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint.”

If we seek first God and His righteousness, then we put ourselves in position to hear, to learn, and to move when He says move. For me waiting is manifested in a number of ways, but let me share my primary few.

1) Rising early with the bible, a cup of coffee, and a heart to enjoy anything new that I perceive is from the Lord. This may be a new insight in the scripture. It could be a person the Lord brings to mind that I pray for. It is often an idea that rumbles around in my Spirit picking up scriptural ties that becomes a blog post.

2) Attending worship with the sole intention of lifting up adoration and praise unto the One Who is worthy of every last bit of praise I have to give. There was a time in my life when I had to listen to a number of praise songs, concentrating on their lyrics before I moved into deep worship. I seem to have moved to a place where I come expectant and ready to commune with the Father in worship. This is awesome within our church, but it now occurs regularly whenever I listen to praise and worship.

3) Serving others has become a source of blessing for me. I have found that in praying for and caring for others, I become more sensitive to the Lord nudging me, prompting me, leading me. I know Who the answer is and so in listening to others in need, I am open to the Holy Other speaking life and hope to them. Sometimes it may be through me. Sometimes it may be through another in the conversation. But I have consistently seen the Lord minister. My role is to simply wait, be open and receptive, and do or say what I believe He leads me to do or say.

4) Out in nature – particularly at sunrise or sunset. For this one I generally am simply swept up into the awesomeness of Who God is… Creator, Sustainor, Artist, Master Designer, intimate Friend, Loving Father – and worship ensues. The utterences of my heart flow unbidden to the throne of grace. Sometimes I sense something specific in my Spirit. Always I receive the Lord’s refreshing.

I know this has been a long post. I hope and pray it has been encouraging for you. The Father loves you and He has a message for you. Seek Him and He will speak to you. Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

In closing I share a few of my favorite pics from my sunrise and sunset devotions. Be blessed my friend and allow the Father’s blessing to flow in, through, and around you to in rich abundance.