Category: Blog

“He is committed to our transformation.
So, if this is what God’s up to, wouldn’t it make sense that we be more intentional in partnering with him in our transformation?”
Eldredge, John (2010-09-19). Walking with God: Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really. (p. 28). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

This quote from Eldredge is sticking with me from last week………
Perhaps because I have blown it a few too many times this week………..
Or
Perhaps because I am just lazy or in the flesh or preoccupied or don’t care or I’m stinkin selfish

Continue reading “Walking with God: I KNOW too much………I Do too Little!!!”

Continue reading “WALKING WITH GOD: Transformed from What? Restored to What?”

Do you mean an audible voice?
Well…………. Jesus did say……
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:2–4, 14–16)
We are his sheep. Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice.

So……how does Jesus speak to you?
A feeling, the Bible, a friend’s advice, an article, a sermon, tea leaves???

I will never forget the first time He spoke to me…..

August 29, 1978
At a Bible Study after 10pm in Garden City, GA

Continue reading “Heard from God Lately? I did…..back in 1978…….and it changed My Life!!”

I thought it to be NO coincidence that I received this email today.
We talked about “The God Who is There” on Saturday………
Well………….He is still There!! the following

GOD CAM by Regi Campbell
July 25, 2016
From Regi Campbell’s Blog radicalmentoring.com

I played basketball as a kid. I was always good enough to make the team but not good enough to play much. So the highlight of my basketball ‘career’ was the warm-up time before the games    . . . you know . . . when all the players get in two lines; one line shoots lay ups while the other rebounds. I remember running as fast as I could, jumping as high as I could, and trying my darndest to make those lay ups . . . and to make ‘em look good!

Why? Because there was a crowd there, that’s why! Everyday, practice meant drills, scrimmages, and sweat in an empty gym. But when game day rolled around, there were people . . . parents . . . teachers . . . and girls!

Attention is powerful. We all do better when somebody’s watching . . . or at least, that’s when we tend to give it our best. And the opposite is equally true; when nobody’s watching, we tend to go easy or slack off. So how do you get yourself fired up on the job when you’re the tenth or eleventh man on a twelve-man team? When you’re just part of the machine? When no one seems to know what you do . . . whether you’re doing it great or just getting by?

I found my answer in a quote from a really bright guy named Os Guinness. Os says, “We live our lives before an audience of One!” That One is our Heavenly Father. He cares immensely about you. He knows everything you do . . . He knows every ounce of extra effort you put in and every shortcut you take. He never turns His head to look the other way. He never goes on vacation . . . ‘when the cat’s away, so the mice will play’ doesn’t cut it here. He’s always in the audience . . . smiling . . . pulling for you . . . watching what you do and how you do it.

What if there was a live “God Cam” in your office, in the break room, in your car, at the restaurant where you have lunch, or over your computer. Your “audience of One” is always tuned in    . . . watching . . . pulling for you to make good choices, and wincing in pain when you don’t. My point here isn’t to scare you into righteousness, but to remind you that you’re not alone. Whether there are additional spectators are not, the One that matters is always there. He loves you. He loved and accepted me even though I wasn’t good enough to make the starting five. He loves and accepts you whether you work in the corner office or the corner grocery.

God’s Word challenges us . . . 

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

 Somewhere along the line I heard this saying. It’s stuck with me    . . . I say it to someone almost every day . . .

“We feel good about ourselves when we do the right thing.”

We have Scripture telling us good work is pleasing to our Lord. And we have an old saying reminding us how good we feel about ourselves when we do good work. The next time you think no one cares about the job you do, remember you have two very important audiences who are always tuned in . . . yourself and your Heavenly Father. Make them both smile.

Have you ever felt Abandoned?
By God?

I know I have!

But the Psalmist says something quite different……….

PSALM 139
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,”

Now that’s INTIMACY!!

My Thoughts? My path? When I lay down? My ways? My sin? My secrets?
………You mean………I can’t hide? I can’t flee?

………..So why don’t I just suck it up and give up and give in?

Because, I don’t want this intimacy… I have not sought it out!
It scares me…intimidates me…..I lose my freedom to sin freely. But ………is this fullness?
Is this walking by the Spirit? Filled with the Holy Spirit……………..
Of course not!
King David wanted it and asked God for it……

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
–Psalm 139:23

Who do you know who says that? Try me and know my thoughts! Are you kidding me……..I am ashamed of my thoughts about my everything……..
My wife, my children, the half naked woman who walks past me at the airport, my enemies, my neighbors, etc.
But you will not have Intimacy and Walk with God in the Supernatural without this prayer!

Eldredge makes it clear….

“Intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives. It’s why God created us. Not simply to believe in him, though that is a good beginning. Not only to obey him, though that is a higher life still. God created us for intimate fellowship with himself, and in doing so he established the goal of our existence—to know him, love him, and live our lives in an intimate relationship with him. Jesus says that eternal life is to know God (John 17:3). Not just “know about” like you know about the ozone layer or Ulysses S Grant. He means know as two people know each other, know as Jesus knows the Father—intimately.”

Eldredge, John (2010-09-19). Walking with God: Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really. (p. 18). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

So…..if you feel abandoned or lonely………ask yourself……………who Left?

Come near to God and He will come near to you.
–James 4:8