How do people feel when you walk in? (Part 1)

You embody a feeling that you are known by, generally and situationally. You know what I mean by experience. Think of somone that you consider annoying. She makes you feel annoyed. She is the embodiment of annoyance! Irritation's personification! Or think of someone that makes you feel calm. When he walks in the room, your breathing rate decreases. You feel your shoulders relax. You can't wait to feel his big warm hug. Now, think of how somone feels when YOU show up! Wow. What word, or words, come to mind to summarize you to him or her? Negative? Energizing? Encouraging? Boring? The good news I found out recently is that we have complete control over how we make people feel around us, at least in terms of the emotion we embody. In other words, if you want people to be excited about a new idea you have at work, YOU have to be excited about it! If you want people to be more focused, YOU have to be the model of focus. Think of how you want people to feel when they see you, or hear you speak, or after they read your email/text/blog. Then, intentionally and GENUINELY, think in line with that feeling. Again, if you want people excited, you have to be genuinely excited about something, and then share that something with whomever you want to feel excited. Be the emotion you want people to feel. I want you to feel like you can do that. Try it right now. Then tell me what happened.

Quiri, The Demon, and the Spirit

Quiri felt anxious but didn’t know why. She just woke up from a deep and pleasing sleep. The kind where she finished a pleasant dream and remembered it entirely. So why the anxiety? He husband slept soundly, and she looked at his chest rising and falling. He always took such deep relaxing breaths! She smiled and touched his fore arm. But still felt unnecessary worry. Quiri couldn’t think of anything in the day ahead that made her feel afraid. Nothing at all. “It must be a spirit,” she thought. A spirit of anxiety. “In the name of the Almighty, leave me,” she whispered. It did. Peace entered. “How many times have I felt things and went with the feelings, not knowing why I felt them?” she wondered. Feelings. Can they be trusted at all? “Yes. When they point to a person or situation in front of you right now.” “How can I make sure this is the case?” “Conscience. I gave you conscience to know what I feel and why I feel it. Listen to your conscience always. When what you feel agrees with it, agree with the feeling.” “Spirit of God, I honor you,” Quiri prayed. “Because you honor Me, I honor you Quiri.”

Where is Danella?

Tain liked Danella because she talked in a whisper. This was her voice, her “handicap.” No one knew why she couldn’t speak. But he didn’t mind. Tain liked Danella. In fourth grade boyfriends and girlfriends hold hands. That’s all. But they never got to intertwine their fingers. Because he broke up with her. Again, he didn’t know why. (He didn’t know much of anything at that age.) Danella whispered, “I don’t care.” But she did. He knew it. He regretted it, even as a boy, and now that he’s a man. He doesn’t know her last name, or how to find her. Tain remembers she was in the band in a different high school. Drums. Like him. It would’ve been nice to play drums with her. Go on band trips with her. Hold her hand. She was one of the only nice girls he knew then. Where is Danella? How can Tain find her? It should be simple enough these days with all of the technology and social media stalking abilities. But he knows what we all know: things aren’t easy in 2013. Ease is an illusion. In his mind, Tain’s only hope was this: Maybe in eternity she would be with God. Maybe she’d be with him. Then he’d say he was sorry, though she would have a voice and not a whisper.

Half of my journey (Today I'm 40)

40 for me is the end of fantasy and the embracing of reality.
This is mature masculinity:  To see me as God sees me.
I am His son, His brother, His slave.

I want one thing:  for people to see clearly God with me.

This alone is my ministry.  This alone is my glory at 40 and for eternity.

How can this be?

How will you see God with me?

I first must clearly see that God is with me, praying ceaselessly.

My every thought is a prayer, a constant conversation connection.

When two are locked in deep eye contact, they create an energy that is felt between them.

So it is with God and me.

This you will see in me.
This is what it means to me to be 40.

I’m thankful for the honor of knowing God, more so being known by God.

To be seen by Him.

His presence is my significance.
I am His lost sheep that he left 99 to find.
I am His lost coin that He rejoiced to locate.

I embrace the loneliness of Holiness, of belonging to Him alone.

I want only the love that He receives.

I only want to be where He is for the rest of this life.

I’ve gone half the journey.

For the rest of the way…I am God’s.

The Christian Life Summed Up in Two (or Three) Words

Follow me. ~ The Lord Jesus Christ

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God. ~The Apostle Paul

We all want to follow a person with a purpose, or to be the person with a purpose that others follow.

Jesus is that Person, and His Purpose is perfect.

He says to you and me, “Follow Me.”

If we follow Him, we will find Him and His purpose perfectly, no matter what happens around you or me.

If we are leaders, our followers will feel Him leading, and we will confidently say to them, “Follow me as I follow the Lord.”

So the Christian life, the Christ imitating life, is summed up in two words:

“Follow Jesus.” 

It is written,

"He is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

As He said when He was on earth, He says right now to us, “Follow me.”

But how, now that He’s in heaven at the Father’s right hand?

His Spirit.

He sent His Spirit to be with us and in us, each of us, all of us.

If you don’t yet follow Jesus, do so now.  Start following Him now.

You feel Him in these words saying to you, “Follow me.”

The Christian life, the Christ imitating life, can be summed up in three words,

“Follow the Spirit.”

But how?

How do you know if the Spirit leads you?

Jesus promised that those who seek the will of God will know if His teachings are from God.

In the same way, I promise you, if you seek the will of God, and only His will, you will know whether my words are from God or not; and you will know without doubt that the Spirit is leading you.

So what do you need to do?

Two things:

1.       Devote your entire life, from this moment forward, to only one purpose:  The Will of God.

2.       Ask the Spirit to lead you right now.

You will experience incomprehensible perfect peace covering you like a blanket. 

This is the Spirit of God upon you.

From this moment, and at each moment-

Follow the Spirit.

The Reason Love Is Difficult

Google Images

Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.  ~Iris Murdoch

God is love.

To love Him is to know Him as completely unlike anybody or any reality, being Reality.

To love our neighbor as we love ourselves means we love them because they are not ourselves, yet are still equally valuable.

For example.

I like cheesecake.

To love you as I love myself doesn’t mean I shove cheesecake down your throat based on the assumption that any SANE person SHOULD NOT ONLY LOVE cheesecake, but find my act of cheese cake shoving intensely loving!

To love you as myself means I accept the kinds of cake YOU like, if you like cakes at all, or even better, that I accept that you may indeed HATE cheesecake, and because of this, I only seek to give you the kind of cake YOU LIKE, just as I’d want to be given the kind of cake I like.

I love you as I want to be loved.

I want to be free to be me.

So I let you be free to be you.

You.

Not me.

God is the ultimate YOU, the ultimate NOT ME.

You are you.

I am me.

I have to accept you as not me to love you truly.

 

When home is heaven

(Google Images)

Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God. The Lord Jesus

Peace is the tranquility of order. St. Augustine

"Everyone please be quiet."

All of the children obeyed their father.

"Please pick up all of your toys and put them in they toy box."

Again, they obeyed.

When they finished, he said, "Your room looks very nice and neat. You did a good job."

"Thank you daddy."

Now let's go outside and play!

They eagerly followed their father and played freeze tag until they couldn't catch their breath. They liked playing with their dad because he made the rules very clear and easy to remember. Games were a lot more fun when they knew the rules. They're even more fun when everyone follows them.

After play time, they went back in, washed their hands, and got ready for dinner.

"Please set the table everyone," their mother said.

They talked one at a time while they put the plates and silverware on the table.

"The table looks beautiful. Thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome mom!"

"Bow your heads please," Dad said.

They bowed. They prayed with him.

"Our Father in heaven, thank you for this food and for this time. In the name of the Lord. Amen."

"Amen."

Thank you sweetheart for making dinner.

You're welcome darling.

Thanks mom.

You're all welcome.

They all talked about their day, listening to each person express their thoughts and feelings, and responding to each person with genuine interest. Jazz playing in the background. Laughing and enjoying each other.

God will always respond to you.

Imagine a World 4 - Jesus Creed

Imagine a World 4 - Jesus Creedblog.beliefnet.com 

This is eternal life:  That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.

 John 17:3

To be dead is to be unresponsive.

God is life, eternal life, supremely alive.

Therefore, God is supremely responsive.

In other words, God will always respond to you.

Have you ever left a message, sent a text, or sent an email, and you didn’t get a response?

Not just any message, text, or email, but one that expressed deep feelings you had?

How did you feel when you got no response?

Ignored?

Unappreciated?

Insignificant?

This is never the case with God.

He wants us to converse constantly with Him, as it is written, “Pray ceaselessly.”

He wants us to think about Him all the time, as it says, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.”

We will never go to God and find Him unresponsive.

Never.

He’s never too busy to respond, or tired of hearing from us.

He supremely values our thoughts of Him, our love for Him, and our need of Him.

So you never have to worry about being needy with God.

God will respond.

The perfect church service (Part 2)

Create an environment where focus is possible.

Leo Balbauta

 

I entered the church building.  There was a pleasant silence, though no one directed this.  True, there was a sign on an overhead that read something like this,

 

“Honor the presence of God.” 

 

And those present did just that.  Though the church was large, somehow, all agreed to focus on God.  I was aware of no distractions.  No one coached me to praise God or worship Him.  All around me seemed to do so of their own free will.

 

Then it happened.

 

For seemingly no reason, I felt overwhelmed.  I began to cry and worship God.  His presence filled me and the large auditorium.  Some cried with me.  Some sang.  Some prayed.  I only noticed because I felt a connection with everyone in the room, though we didn’t speak to or for each other.

 

I contrast this experience with a time in which I tried to focus on God and a woman next to me said,

 

“You don’t look like you’re praising God!” 

 

I didn’t know (or care) how someone was supposed to look whilst praising God. I was more curious as to how and why she noticed me, when she should have been noticing God!

 

She distracted me that day. 

 

But on the day of silence, where God was honored, though many praised in variety, none distracted me.

 

The leaders created an environment where focus on God’s presence was possible.

 

The perfect church service

The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.  C.S. Lewis

 

6 gather. 3 men.  3 women.  All God’s children. In his name. Under his authority. For his glory.

One mind.  One will.  One purpose.  One focus.

Silent.  Sitting.  Praying.  Seeking.

 

The home owner speaks.  “The Spirit led me to sing this song.”

The others heard the same, or felt peace, knowing the Spirit gave them nothing…yet.

 

He sings.

 

They feel God in the room.  They bow and worship.  Some cry.  Some clap.  Some praise.  Some remain silent.  Some stand. Some lie face down.  All focus on one purpose:  God’s presence.  Felt.  After the moment of praise, silence descends again.

 

They pray.  They seek.  She speaks. “The Lord Jesus is leading me to share what I learned yesterday.”

 

All agree.  She shares. A man receives exactly what he needed to hear to make the move of his life.  A woman receives exactly what she needed to converse with her mother.

 

“I feel led to speak as the Spirit leads me.”  All agree.  He speaks a spiritual language.

“I feel led to interpret this language.”  The speaker of the unknown language agrees.  The other four agree.  The interpreter speaks.  The Presence is felt.  All receive wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, individually and collectively.  They praise The Presence.  He responds in them and with them.

 

They sing, pray, dance, stand still.  Each acts freely.  None contradict the Presence or each other’s presence. 

 

The time ends. 

They talk freely. 

 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.