Running invites the thrust of youth.
Age pushes back with pain and pounding ferocity.
Yet heels will pound ferociously against the wind.
The breath of age, the breath of discouragement, the very breath of the Enemy--
damn that breath, that wind, those lies!
Run free in the power of the Spirit!
Though knee gives pain, gut upheaval, carry on to defy opposition.
Cannot catch the fleet feet,
but the goal is not to catch feet.
Catch the breath of God, His Spirit driving, pulling, pushing, encouraging, disciplining!
Drive for Him, in Him and with Him.
Run, run, run,
run free!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Dealing with Pain and Struggles
We are studying Luke 17:3-4 and the need to forgive those who have sinned against us--those who have caused us pain and struggle.
Luke reads: "So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
This is a powerful section about Jesus' instructions for approaching sin in others and the power of forgiveness and repentance in our Christian relationships. We all fall short of the glory of God, so we will find ourselves both on the repentance and forgiveness sides of our relationships; and Jesus is calling for us to set ourselves apart from they way the world handles pain and retribution. "Don't get mad, get even," is a common ideology from the world. Jesus is commanding us: "Don't get mad, forgive; Don't get even, repent."
Jesus calls us to be holy--set apart from the world. In studying this week's subject, I read through 1 Peter 1:15-16 as well:
"But as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy because I am holy.'"
When I read "...for it is written..." I searched for the references from where 'it' was written. I found the command in an Old Testament book that loves commands: Leviticus. God commands this multiple times in chapters 11 and 20, but chapter 20, verses 7-8 resonated most with my study and the scripture from 1 Peter. The Holy Spirit directed my attention:
"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy."
In this brief scripture, God says much on the combination of faith, works, grace and forgiveness.
First, He commands us to be holy--set apart for Him. If we are to be in communion with His Spirit, our spirits need to be set apart from the pursuits and logic of this world.
Secondly, He explains why. He is the Lord our God, but He isn't our God if we are setting up idols and alternative thrones here on this earth. The world preaches to place ourselves on the throne and seek to be served. God commands that we serve and worship Him on His throne, recognizing Him as the giver of life and creator of all matter, anti-matter; seen and unseen.
Third, He explains the definition of a holy life. A holy life is keeping God's decrees and following His ways. We can try with all our might, but no man has proven to be able to follow all of God's commandments wholeheartedly with perfection.
So how can we follow His decrees? How can we forgive those indebted to us? How can we seek true repentance?
In verse 8, God states that He is the Lord, "who makes you holy." God does the work! Way back in Leviticus, God alludes to the power of the Gospel and His everlasting grace! How cool is that? Through the sacrifice of Jesus, our sin debt is paid. Through His resurrection, He conquered death, which was our debt to sin. Through our trust placed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we repent and are baptized into Christ. The Holy Spirit then indwells our spirit, resurrecting to life our formerly dead spirit! God in us then goes to work, setting us apart, guiding us to forgiveness, to repentance and growing us in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, now and forever! AMEN!
Luke reads: "So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
This is a powerful section about Jesus' instructions for approaching sin in others and the power of forgiveness and repentance in our Christian relationships. We all fall short of the glory of God, so we will find ourselves both on the repentance and forgiveness sides of our relationships; and Jesus is calling for us to set ourselves apart from they way the world handles pain and retribution. "Don't get mad, get even," is a common ideology from the world. Jesus is commanding us: "Don't get mad, forgive; Don't get even, repent."
Jesus calls us to be holy--set apart from the world. In studying this week's subject, I read through 1 Peter 1:15-16 as well:
"But as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy because I am holy.'"
When I read "...for it is written..." I searched for the references from where 'it' was written. I found the command in an Old Testament book that loves commands: Leviticus. God commands this multiple times in chapters 11 and 20, but chapter 20, verses 7-8 resonated most with my study and the scripture from 1 Peter. The Holy Spirit directed my attention:
"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy."
In this brief scripture, God says much on the combination of faith, works, grace and forgiveness.
First, He commands us to be holy--set apart for Him. If we are to be in communion with His Spirit, our spirits need to be set apart from the pursuits and logic of this world.
Secondly, He explains why. He is the Lord our God, but He isn't our God if we are setting up idols and alternative thrones here on this earth. The world preaches to place ourselves on the throne and seek to be served. God commands that we serve and worship Him on His throne, recognizing Him as the giver of life and creator of all matter, anti-matter; seen and unseen.
Third, He explains the definition of a holy life. A holy life is keeping God's decrees and following His ways. We can try with all our might, but no man has proven to be able to follow all of God's commandments wholeheartedly with perfection.
So how can we follow His decrees? How can we forgive those indebted to us? How can we seek true repentance?
In verse 8, God states that He is the Lord, "who makes you holy." God does the work! Way back in Leviticus, God alludes to the power of the Gospel and His everlasting grace! How cool is that? Through the sacrifice of Jesus, our sin debt is paid. Through His resurrection, He conquered death, which was our debt to sin. Through our trust placed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we repent and are baptized into Christ. The Holy Spirit then indwells our spirit, resurrecting to life our formerly dead spirit! God in us then goes to work, setting us apart, guiding us to forgiveness, to repentance and growing us in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, now and forever! AMEN!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Nabeel Qureshi
www.acts17.net
I shared a youtube video of Nabeel's testimony with our high school youth group...I also heard him speak at church. He's got a powerful story and is eloquent with apologetics and the Gospel.
I shared a youtube video of Nabeel's testimony with our high school youth group...I also heard him speak at church. He's got a powerful story and is eloquent with apologetics and the Gospel.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Creation
Create what is uncreative
set out for ordinary
navigate normalcy
Stand out to be whacked
Back to the safety of mediocrity
Passive language
Describing being rather than action
Raze the foundation of safe
uncreated creation
Raze perception of the uncreated
Demolish ordinary, annihilate passivity
The uncreated created all
Breathed life into something from nothing
Seek the uncreated for meaning, truth
beyond human mediocrity, exceeding language
into space, time, passing through
safety of parameters
into holes of everything but nothing
through dimensions emitting nothing
Nothing but curiosity
Is being active
producing an active being
or being, abiding
action to behold
Behold the uncreated
Creation holds You as nothing
Nothing from which came everything!
set out for ordinary
navigate normalcy
Stand out to be whacked
Back to the safety of mediocrity
Passive language
Describing being rather than action
Raze the foundation of safe
uncreated creation
Raze perception of the uncreated
Demolish ordinary, annihilate passivity
The uncreated created all
Breathed life into something from nothing
Seek the uncreated for meaning, truth
beyond human mediocrity, exceeding language
into space, time, passing through
safety of parameters
into holes of everything but nothing
through dimensions emitting nothing
Nothing but curiosity
Is being active
producing an active being
or being, abiding
action to behold
Behold the uncreated
Creation holds You as nothing
Nothing from which came everything!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Yada -- Knowing God More
After some encouragement from others desiring to see my journal on this experience, I am sharing my journal notes from an exercise in prayer, listening for God rather than talking. I encourage you to spend an extended period of praying to God to know Him more and then listen for Him, patiently, and with not only your mind or your ears open, but all of your senses to how He may want to communicate with you. Here's Day 1:
Praying to know God—to see His face, to know Him more…
Day one:
In prayer today my mind wandered a bit and staying focused on God rather than self was difficult, but as I struggled, a rain-soaked chunk of soil entered my thoughts. Dark black dirt bleeding water beside a stream poured through my heart. Though plain and dirty, grass grew lush green on the banks, and the mud and muck screamed life. God creates. He uses muck to produce life and beauty. The darkest, dirtiest soul, once saturated to bleeding out living water glorifies the Creator with the beauty of fresh life.
He breathed life into all—into me. My breath is the breath of God our Creator—Who created everything. What then shall I breathe but God and His word, that I may inhale Christ and exhale life to a suffocating world? Sola Deo Gloria!
Praying to know God—to see His face, to know Him more…
Day one:
In prayer today my mind wandered a bit and staying focused on God rather than self was difficult, but as I struggled, a rain-soaked chunk of soil entered my thoughts. Dark black dirt bleeding water beside a stream poured through my heart. Though plain and dirty, grass grew lush green on the banks, and the mud and muck screamed life. God creates. He uses muck to produce life and beauty. The darkest, dirtiest soul, once saturated to bleeding out living water glorifies the Creator with the beauty of fresh life.
He breathed life into all—into me. My breath is the breath of God our Creator—Who created everything. What then shall I breathe but God and His word, that I may inhale Christ and exhale life to a suffocating world? Sola Deo Gloria!
Yada -- Knowing God More Day 2
Day two:
Today again, my thoughts were running wild rather than listening for God. I sat outside, and with my eyes closed, every twitch or breeze set my mind on thoughts of bugs hopping all over me. Then I thought and perhaps boasted to God that at least I’m not like those legalistic folks who feel they need to pray on their knees. Then God said, “Submission.” I quickly understood this was God’s intention for me to learn of Him today, but while Jesus submitted to His Father, is God really the face of submission?
“Get on your knees.”
Surely that’s Satan playing with my mind. I’m not legalistic and I’m quite comfortable praying in the chair.
“Submit.”
“Got it…I kneeled.”
I am prideful even with no one around. After getting on my knees God brought to mind bigger submission failures on my part. Submission is the key for today. Follow His prompting. Don’t wait for God to explain Himself or beg—just submit in humble obedience.
Kneel. Pray. Write. Tell.
Today again, my thoughts were running wild rather than listening for God. I sat outside, and with my eyes closed, every twitch or breeze set my mind on thoughts of bugs hopping all over me. Then I thought and perhaps boasted to God that at least I’m not like those legalistic folks who feel they need to pray on their knees. Then God said, “Submission.” I quickly understood this was God’s intention for me to learn of Him today, but while Jesus submitted to His Father, is God really the face of submission?
“Get on your knees.”
Surely that’s Satan playing with my mind. I’m not legalistic and I’m quite comfortable praying in the chair.
“Submit.”
“Got it…I kneeled.”
I am prideful even with no one around. After getting on my knees God brought to mind bigger submission failures on my part. Submission is the key for today. Follow His prompting. Don’t wait for God to explain Himself or beg—just submit in humble obedience.
Kneel. Pray. Write. Tell.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Yada -- Knowing God More Day 3
Day three:
It’s taken me a couple of days to revisit this exercise. The delay could be blamed on “busyness” and fatigue, but truthfully, after two “wow” days of God revealing Himself, I feared what would come next. In my mind, I expected that I couldn’t be and don’t deserve to be in tune with God every day. What if God is silent and won’t talk to me? How would I interpret that?
He was not silent. Today—He is not silent still. When I sat to pray, fatigued and pessimistic about prayer this morning, He reminded me of our chats earlier this week and led me back to my knees. The breeze on my face reminded me of His breath and as I turned to my knees, He gently blew on my back.
Encourager.
He didn’t waste any time this morning, as if anxious to let me know—God has my back. God you are in me and with me and as I breathe in your Spirit and submit to your instruction, you encourage my soul. In His Word God told Abram to get up from His father’s house, go to the land “which I will show you…And I will bless you.”
No matter what stands before me, Lord you permeate me, you instruct and guide me; you encourage me. With the One who created everything so involved with me, what fears then should I have—only the reverent fear of God to listen for His voice, Wisdom.
It’s taken me a couple of days to revisit this exercise. The delay could be blamed on “busyness” and fatigue, but truthfully, after two “wow” days of God revealing Himself, I feared what would come next. In my mind, I expected that I couldn’t be and don’t deserve to be in tune with God every day. What if God is silent and won’t talk to me? How would I interpret that?
He was not silent. Today—He is not silent still. When I sat to pray, fatigued and pessimistic about prayer this morning, He reminded me of our chats earlier this week and led me back to my knees. The breeze on my face reminded me of His breath and as I turned to my knees, He gently blew on my back.
Encourager.
He didn’t waste any time this morning, as if anxious to let me know—God has my back. God you are in me and with me and as I breathe in your Spirit and submit to your instruction, you encourage my soul. In His Word God told Abram to get up from His father’s house, go to the land “which I will show you…And I will bless you.”
No matter what stands before me, Lord you permeate me, you instruct and guide me; you encourage me. With the One who created everything so involved with me, what fears then should I have—only the reverent fear of God to listen for His voice, Wisdom.
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