Directions To God's Place

Scripture:  

Psalm 100:3-4 

3  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his;  we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Question:

Living in a tourist destination, one often finds himself giving directions to visitors by citing entertaining landmarks because, they tend to stand out and attract people's attention when driving past.

I used to lived in North Myrtle Beach, SC.  When giving folks directions to my house, I would often say, go past Myrtle Waves water park, and continue past Planet Hollywood.  When the highways (the bypass and business route) merge back together, you'll pass through Restaurant Row...keep going until you see the Hawaiian Rumble putt-putt course (rated #1 putt-putt course in the world by the PGA of Mini Golf AND it's where they play the Masters of Mini Golf each year)...I think you can see where I'm heading.

Looking back, I probably should have considered myself fortunate, to have had my guests actually arrive after passing by so many "worthy" distractions.

Fast forward to our current journey away from temptation and towards a renewed mind, and abundant life through walking with the Holy Spirit (the subject of the posts on this blog).  What is keeping us from walking more closely with God on a daily basis? 

Answer: 

Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “23Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16-17, "16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."

Let's learn to call temptation what it is...a series of self indulgent distractions along the way to visit with God.  Think about all the stuff that we spend our waking hours doing that keeps our minds occupied, and by default prevents us from serving others in the kingdom of God.

In each case, I would be willing to bet that it is something that we as individuals have convinced ourselves that we need.  

• I need to sleep in on Saturday, because I'm tired from working hard during the week.  
• I need to catch up on (fill in the blank), because I've been too busy with other things
• I need to take a break from the hustle and bustle and just relax.

While these activities are often indeed physically justified, I wonder just how many times we justify an activity on the heels of temptation.  Remember, God never leaves us (Deuteronomy 31:8), we choose to walk away from him when we engage in self-indulgent behaviors.

Going Forward:

So, what if we examine what we are stopping off to see (or more preferably, what we are bypassing (and choosing not to indulge in)) on our way to walk with God.  Let's imagine that we received handwritten instructions on how to get to God's place:

There are two ways to get here:

1. Take the scenic route through the "big city" of Meboro...OR
2. Take the Living Way bypass around Meboro and all the "cool stuff to stop and see along the way".

If you choose the Scenic Route, it will take you much longer to get to where you need to be. You'll take Distraction Drive all the way through Meboro.  Pass Nap Masters Mattress Super Store.  Pass the Gluttonous Gourmetisserie.  Pass the College Football Hall Of Fame.  Pass the To-Do Voodoo Lounge. 

When you get to the end of Distraction Drive, there will be a stoplight.  Left goes toward Shadow Valley.  A right turn onto His Way Highway will take you through the little towns of Repentance and Redemption, before eventually merging onto the Living Way bypass .  You'll backtrack for several miles, as you seem to head back towards Meboro.  Be on the lookout for a gateway arch in the distance.You're trying to get to a road called Thanksgiving Turnpike.  Once you are on that road, aim for the arched stone gateway.(see the directions from the Living Way bypass below).

OR...

A much simpler, quicker way would be to veer off from Distraction Drive at The Great Transition, and onto the Living Way bypass. This will take you around the city of Meboro, and all its distractions. Take the first exit onto Thanksgiving Turnpike...after a short drive, you'll pass underneath a very large arched, stone gateway and then you're on Continuous Praise Court.

Park anywhere. Our Lord and Savior will meet you there.

PS - Don't mind the sheep.    

Thanks to Quinn Dombrowski for the fantastic image

Halfhearted Attempt At Wholehearted Devotion

Can God use this blog post to further His kingdom?  Yes.

Should I be concerned about publishing this particular post, since it contains what appear to be disjointed story fragments (not ready for publication)?  No.

Am I concerned...a little.  Wait, No!

The rough drafts of too many #parallelable posts are sitting on the backside of my blog...(wait, who's blog?)...that is, God's blog.  And it's time to unleash the inspiration, as it was shared and worry about piecing them together as the Spirit leads.

So, without further ado...

Scripture:

1 Chronicles 28:9-10New International Version (NIV)

9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

and

Psalm 139:16 

"Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days (of my life) were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them."

Showered by Grace

Joyce Meyer's devotion stated:

"Be determined to follow His lead all day, and you will enjoy every day of your life." 

In Brandt's devotion, which cited Hosea 5:15 - 6:6, he mentioned that:

"God allows us to stray from Him, hoping that we will return to Him. If it requires, He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our chosen sins."

In the shower, the Spirit instructed:

""You can turn Your back on God, but I am still there. God desires a whole heart, without lustful indulgences.""

Post shower: Holden had head butted MK as she was trying to give him a hug. (Lesson in itself)

While Wendi was telling Holden "we don't head butt" and MK was attempting to describe (to Wendi) what had happened in detail...I heard Sly and the Family Stone's "I want to thank you for letting me be myself, again (ignoring Sly's preferred spelling for simplicity's sake) " coming from the radio in the living room.  I don't think it was coincidence.

We cannot fully love God with personal gratification on our minds and in our hearts.

Question:

In fact, shortly after I asked God to show me the things in my heart that were keeping me from receiving His full glory, and He gave me the revelation in the shower, I was eager to get out of the shower to write down what I had heard so that I could share it later on the blog. Was this a "grab and run" attitude?

I was telling myself that I needed to write it down ASAP so that I would not forget it (and in order to tell it exactly as it was received).

But, how quick are we to depart from the place where we received God's glory, after we receive it?
That is not the loving relationship that God desires.

Answer:  

This "wham bam thank you ma'am" approach to serving God ends up being more about serving ourselves. And it is the answer I was seeking.

That is what is crowding my heart...the eagerness to write for God is at best crowding and at worst countering my ACTUAL effectiveness at serving Him.

Meanwhile, MK is struggling with yelling at Holden when he does things that she thinks are being overlooked by us (the parents) or that he is not hearing.

She was playing cars with him, while Wendi was in the living room with them. Holden did something(?), and MK began exclaiming with crescendo, "Holdie, HOldie, HOLdie, HOLDIe, HOLDIE!" In rapid succession.

Wendi has been trying to break her of the habit, and once again explained,"OK, when has standing there yelling at him ever gotten you anywhere?"

I'm sure there is a correlation in that.  Am I merely saying things out loud (on this blog) because I think there are things that we (myself included) are not hearing from God?  Or worse, am I saying them out loud in order to make sure God sees me trying to do the right thing?

Either way, it's the wrong motivation.

God wants us to draw near to Him, and stay there.  He doesn't want us head butting him as he reaches out to give us a hug.  He doesn't want us grabbing a blessing, and dashing off on our way to tell everyone about it. And come to think of it, He probably doesn't want me telling you what He wants and doesn't want.

Going Forward:

When will we learn that we cannot do anything to win God's favor?  His unconditional love is ever-present, and we need only to turn to Him in humility and gratitude.

Thanks be to God for this continuing revelation.

Amen

"Let Daddy Help You"

Scripture:

Matthew 7:7 (NIV) 

7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Question:

My children often cause me to see how I am acting when approaching God...and maybe how God sees me sometime.

Holden, who is 2, hasn't grasped the concept of "Let Daddy help you". He thinks I am trying to take something away from him. Like opening a cheese stick or something similar. 

 As I reach down to try to open it for him, he says,"I can do it, I can do it," and he will scream and pitch a fit, until you let him try to do it on his own.  Inevitably, he follows up with, "Daddy help?"

Aren't we just like that with God?

Don't we want to do things on our own?

Answer:

A great example of growth (and understanding) in this area, is mirrored in one of Holden's favorite past times...snacking on "squeezy fruits".  (In our household, we refer to those squeezable, apple sauce based fruit pouches as "squeezy fruits").

Since before he could talk, Holden has been diggin' the sqeezy fruit.  When he needs a fix, he encourages me to meet him at the refrigerator, so that I can open the refrigerator door for him.  Once the door is opened, he knows exactly which  crisper to go to get what he needs.

He also knows how to close the crisper door (unless it has been pulled a little too far (requiring a wiggle start) or is too full (heavy)). Then, he asks me to help him close the drawer.

As soon as he closes the refrigerator door he says,"Daddy, open squeezy fruit".

Then I open it, and he says. "Thank you," and goes on about his way.

Imagine how much more fulfilled our lives would become, if we could learn to approach our Heavenly Father this way.  Not having to worry about the more difficult details of our provision, would certainly free us up to serve others. 

Picture this:

"Lord, I would like to receive extra income that would free me up to write more for you. However, I'm going to need your help getting the first step of this blessing (door opened) in place."

So, God opens a door for us to receive more income.

Recognizing an opportunity and relying on our own experience, we gladly do our part to go after and receive the income (we open the crisper drawer, and grab the squeezy fruit).

Then, we hand the income back to God (to be opened) (Glory! I love it when God shows me something on the fly- "handing it back to God" is good) . 

 Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

So, we hand the income back to God. Then,we ask God to open the income to make it available to us, as something we can use.

God gladly opens it. (He's not taking it back after giving it to you...relax) and then hands it back to us.

We grab the income and say thank you, and then close the door. Then we are on our way, and both God and us are happy.

Occasionally, when Holden has been playing for several hours without a juice drink...and I give him a juice to drink, he takes one sip and sets it aside as he goes back to playing. The juice will usually go unnoticed after that.  

I've learned to suggest to Holden that he meet me at the fridge for a squeezy fruit, when I know he needs it (it's sort of like juice).  And, I'm certain he'll finish that.

Thanks be to God that He knows our every need, even before we do. He's watching us while we go about our business.

Whew! Eye opening.

And, I'm almost sure it is just that simple.  

Going Forward:

Involve the Lord; utilize His help in your serving Him, doing what you can, but ask for His help with the hard stuff. 

Understand and know (TRUST) that God will be there to open doors and blessings (squeezy fruits) when you need Him.

And don't forget to thank Him.

Thanks be to God for my children, and to my Heavenly Father who reminds us that His love for us is very similar (in many ways) to our love for our children.