Put It On The Devil’s Bill

Perhaps you’ve heard the story about the spry Christian missionary woman who retired to Virginia. Living alone at her rural home, nestled in the foot hills of Appalachia’s Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of Roanoke, she enjoyed her golden years in fellowship with God. As a woman of deep faith, her prayers were copious; she and Jesus had many conversations, discussing everything in life. 

This vibrant widow woman made a habit of praying out loud each morning, while stationed on her front porch overlooking a beautiful mountain meadow, dappled in wildflowers. Heedless of her advancing years and petite form, she had a robust voice that reverberated through the mountains and valleys. 

To the south, the prayer warrior’s property adjoined a neighbor’s lot where an avowed atheist, a sexagenarian, had recently moved in. It didn’t take the man long to tire of the daily irritation—hearing the widow’s morning praises to the Almighty. So, he began to push against it. 

The first time it happened was on a sultry Tuesday morning that sported a commanding sunrise. Standing beside the front porch post, she began to pray. “Oh Lord, what a beautiful day you’ve given us! Thank you for revealing such splendor that You have created. I praise you Father, for you’ve provided everything I could possibly need.” 

Suddenly the atheist’s voice sounded with contrived laughter from his concealed position behind a hedge.  “Aha-ha-ha-ha—there is no God! You’re just talking to the air.”  

But the woman simply kept praying. “Lord Jesus, please grant my neighbor faith. Bless him real good. Take the blindfold off of him and let him see.”  

Further irritated, the atheist went back inside, only to return the next morning, shouting the same words, “Aha-ha-ha-ha—there is no God!”  

This went on for many days, but one morning the heathen thought he’d found a crack in the woman’s joy-filled armor.  

She had prayed, “Heavenly Father you are so very faithful. Thank you for your tender mercies. You, Lord, have always provided me with all I could possibly need, and even those secret things I wanted. Father, as usual, the bills are all paid, and You’ve given me this wonderful home and clothes. But this month is different, because I have no money left to buy groceries. I know that You, Lord, will provide somehow, just as You always have.” Her prayer continued with praises and talk of her past work and her family that was mostly all in heaven now. 

Oddly, her difficult neighbor did not shout his usual diatribe against God—he simply went back inside.  

As the sun rose the next day, the widow came out onto the porch to offer her morning praises. There, sitting on the porch were five bags full of a variety of food. Instantly, she began to thank and praise God. “Oh, holy Father, you are such an awesome God! Thank you, Lord for providing these groceries…” 

 Once again, she heard her rival taunt. 

“Ah-ha-ha-ha,” roared the neighbor, this time bursting through the hedge to stand akimbo in front of the woman.  “I bought you those groceries, Lady! You see, I told you, there is no God.” 

Without missing a beat, the woman simply continued her prayer. “Oh, this is so wonderful, Lord. I thank you for providing all of these wonderful groceries…and You even made the devil pay for them! ☺

What an inspiration it is when we meet people of great faith like the widow woman in our story—what great power we witness in their lives. Her story came to mind as I read about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. 

We’re all familiar with the Christmas story and all the characters involved: the inn-keeper, Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus, the shepherds in the field watching over their flocks, heavenly angels, and later on the three wise men from the East. And we even remember ‘Herodes Magnus’, Herod the Great, infamous for the slaughter of the innocents. 

Interested in knowing more about the three wise men—the magi, I dug into a bit of a word-study. The word “magi’ is from the Greek ‘magus’, from which our word “magic” is derived. Technically these three who visited Jesus’ family were practitioners of foresight into the future, usually, the immediate future. We also know from the bible as well as from many fine historians, researchers, scholars and biblical detectives that these three wise men were astrologers…not to be confused with astronomists. This point does have its detractors. Some people reject the idea simply because they think the wise men had to have been righteous men, which is not at all necessary for God to use them in the way that He did. There are multitudinous examples in the bible of God using heathen idolaters and terrible sinners to advance His grand plan. Besides, all of us are born into sin. 

We’ll get back to these particular astrologers momentarily, as the need for a word of caution about astrology is profoundly needed here. 

Astrology is the earliest recorded type of formal, systematized idolatry—the same thing was practiced by the people who’d gathered together in biblical Shinar, aka- Babylonia, to build the Tower of Babel. Perhaps it would not be improper to call the Tower of Babel the first elevated observatory to the heavenly constellations. Could that have been the birth of astrology, some 4200 years ago? Some historians believe astrology to be only 2400 years old. I’m still digging, but I think the older date might hold true. For now, I’ll forego stating it dogmatically. 

What we know for certain is that in Old Testament times, kings from every nation, with the exception of Israel, would not go into battle before checking their fortune in the stars—they hoped for the heavenly luminaries to portend victory in their conquests. All across the known world people idolized the sun, moon and stars, and presaged their futures from them, encouraged through the subtlety of Satan’s agents of darkness. The spiritual realm is quite real, so, of course, there’s real supernatural power there. Two sources of supernatural power, that’s all there are—God, and the fallen angels, led by the Prince of Darkness.  

Today, people think reading their horoscope is harmless fun. But be advised, God forbids it and warns of the dangers associated with astrology, also called horoscope. It’s probable that by looking to astrological signs we inadvertently give demons permission to attack our minds—to oppress, depress and deceive us. An apt name for it would be “horrorscope”, yikes! 

The spiritual realm is just as real, if not more so, than the material world of matter, time and energy to which our earthly bodies are confined. But often in scripture, the veil between these two worlds has been pulled back so that a finite person could see spiritual things, places and beings. Prophets received knowledge of future events from God and His messengers. The heavenly angels heralded the birth of Messiah in spectacular audio-visual fashion. Evidently, fallen angels or demons are also, in a limited capacity, able to see some future events.  

Now, let’s get back to our original topic. 

We know that Jesus’ mother and earthly father, Joseph were not among the aristocracy of their day. In fact, Mary and Joseph were considered poor, as evidenced by their offering of two young pigeons for the sacrifice instead of a lamb: recorded in Luke 2: 24. (See Leviticus 12:7-8 to see God’s directives concerning this sacrifice.) 

The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that the three magi gave to Jesus and His family were all extremely valuable commodities. It is my belief that God was providing for the material things Jesus’ family would need. God always provides for all His children, so certainly He’d provide for His only begotten Son.

We just never know when God may cause the devil himself to foot the bill.  

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Jesus Offers Refreshment

 

“For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

Matthew 6:32b KJV

 

In downtown Indianapolis my wife, Becca and I often spotted a homeless man with a long beard who had a mental and emotional disability. Even though the summer heat was sweltering, he wore an extremely dirty, torn up insulated jacket. He always carried nine or ten of those plastic grocery bags stuffed with all sorts of things tearing through the thin plastic. The man would stand for hours and hours in the sun, holding those bags and sweating.

We had to wonder at why he didn’t set the bags down; maybe sit himself down in the shade, and rest. Whenever we attempted to hand him a few dollars, he would simply wave us off. After many attempts to speak with the quiet fellow, we could never get a response from him. The only thing we could do for him was pray.

I think God sometimes views us in the same way that Becca and I would view that poor mentally challenged man. Often we may we carry a load of burdens, worries and fears, but refuse to come to the Lord to receive the rest and refreshing He provides. We struggle with problems that, to God are so simple to solve. He has all the strength and wisdom we could ever need, along with the solution to our difficulties, and yet, we continue to struggle and sweat.

 

Coming into God’s presence is like stepping out of the sweltering heat and into the
refreshing shade. When we release our burdens and difficfulties, setting them at the feet of Jesus, we find rest for our souls.

In His arms of care there’s comfort, direction, peace and purpose.

 

After seeing that same fellow downtown dozens of times, always in the same clothes and with that heavy, tattered coat, one day we were pleasantly surprised. It was last August that elation filled our hearts when we saw that very same man, but we barely recognised him. There he was in the same spot we’d seen him many times before, but he looked totally different. He had on a new, clean set of clothing and was clean shaven. He’d even  received a haircut. And he wasn’t carrying a thing! Becca and I looked at each other with big grins spreading across our faces. We both had the same thought and actually said it simultaneously.

“It had to be Jesus!” The obvious transformation in that man looked to us like it had the Lord’s fingerprints all over it.

 

The following week we we’re finally able to communicate with him. He informed us that his name is Walter.

I told him, “You’re really looking good today, Walter.”

He responded, “Thank you. It sure is a nice day that God has given us, isn’t it?”

The conversation continued, but we won’t get into that. Suffice it to say that the conversation is still ongoing whenever we are blessed to see Walter, our new friend. He even let’s us buy him a cold drink and donuts at at local coffee shop, where the three of us sit together, and talk about Jesus.

 

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

1 Peter 5:7 KJV

Hearing of the Soul

Discerning Thought Voices

 

 

Benefits: 

1. Recognition of God’s Voice  
2. Distinguish Nefarious Thought Suggestions  
3. Better Self-control  

 

Tell a psychiatrist here in the western world that you’re hearing voices in your head and there’s a high probability you’ll be assessed for some type of mental disorder, like schizophrenia. According to the Mental Health Foundation, staticians estimate that from 5 to 28% of the population hear voices others do not, or are not able to hear. (1)

 

But doctors are now aware of a small percentage of people who simply have an amplified version of what all of us experience in our minds.

 

On the other side of the globe, in India, the concept of silent inner voices is well accepted. They refer to these as angles, with good angles being the conscience, and bad angles are that which encourage us to ignore it. The bad keeps our minds zeroed in on materialism, and includes things like lust for power and wealth. A high level of awareness in this regard is referred to as a type of inner sight, or an inner eye. We’re familiar with the symbol of the all-seeing eye in the forehead. Mankind is capable of coming up with all sorts of creative imaginings to explain away things in the spiritual realm using anything but the truth.

 

It is my assertion that we all have various silent voices that sound from within us, and while it’s certainly interesting to hear the beliefs of those who love to mystify the spiritual, those are simply manifestations of human pride. It’s very similar to the Gnostics of Apostle Paul’s day. They loved to set themselves up as gurus—mystics who possessed some secret knowledge to impart to their disciples. And some tried to mix this with Christianity, giving rise to the gnostic heresies. Today Gnosticism is alive and well, yet has taken on many different faces; that’s a topic for another time.

 

After reading medical journal articles about people who do not have a mental disorder, yet still hear voices in their heads, I was intrigued. Later the same day while studying the bible, I connected some stuff God had already taught me with what the psychiatrists, psychologists and other researchers have avowed. Thank the Lord! He’s helped me sift through the falsehoods espoused by those in psychiatric feilds who do not hold with a Christian view. That’s not to say they don’t get many things right.

 

I’d heard it often: Christians who say, “God told me such and such…” I remember dismissing them without a second thought, but I was wrong to do that. Allowing God to educate me on how to be more gracious, I now understand what those believers meant. God does speak to His own. The bible often refers to heeding the voice of the Lord. It is in the way God goes about speaking to us that we sometimes get confused.

 

The fact is, all of us hear voices inside our heads, we simply don’t hear them with our ears. We think in words, and technically we can hear ourselves think. As we read this sentence right now, we can hear ourselves reading in our minds. Everyone has hearing of the mind, or what most theologians refer to as the soul. To each of us it sounds a lot like ourselves, because it’s our own inner voice. Yet, we hear these thought voices at various levels of amplification. If these were external sounds we could measure the volume in decibels. About now, some might hear the voice of their thoughts asking, Where the heck is this guy going with this? 

 

Let’s just say that I am convinced—some of us are able to distinguish voices from within, which are not our own, in the same manner that you hear your own thoughts. How distinct and loud these thought voices sound to us, is in proportion to each person’s level of awareness, combined with practice—learning the requisite discipline. Yes, this ability can be developed. Again, it’s louder and more pronounced for some folks than for others. In fact, before we’re through I hope we’ll note the benefit of fine tuning our capacity for distinction in this type of inner hearing. It’s my prayer that if we haven’t already, each of us will learn to differentiate between inner voices, but especially to recognize the voice of the Lord. And yes, I am connoting that we all hear silent voices in our minds, some that are our own thoughts, and some that are not, but sound like they are.

 

The importance, then, of knowing whose voice said what becomes vital. Aware of it or not, we have bad thought influencers that sound from inside us, which often come as suggestions, yet they masquerade as having come from ourselves. And then we have the voice of the Lord. If you’re keeping track that’s three sources, or voices, contributing to our thoughts: our own, the forces of darkness, and God. The Holy Spirit will often prick our consciences, which then actually does become our own inner voice, influenced by God’s goodness.

 

With my interest peaked, I sought whatever secular resources I could dig up on the subject of inner voices. Then I went to the bible in hopes of discovering if there were any scriptures which might pertain to the same. After all, if I’m being deceived into believing every single thought in my mind originated from myself, when in fact it did not, I need to know about it. It’s my mind and I don’t need some nefarious influence deceiving my thought processes. I’m quite capable of thinking wrong thoughts all by myself. If someone, or something is suggesting corrupt thoughts and fooling me into thinking they are from my own mind, that could prove to be catastrophic.

 

My substantiation for this post is God’s word. I believe the entire bible to be the infallible word of Almighty God, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. That’s why I’m citing the bible as my corroboration of these things, for the purpose of validating the existence of various inner voices that speak to our minds. And the necessity of recognizing whose voice said what.

 

Silent Prayer 

Do we pray? Do we expect an answer to our prayers? More precisely, do we expect to hear an audible voice in response to our prayer? No? Then why did we ask a question in prayer, if we did not expect an audible answer? That’s right, God utilizes many different means of communicating with us. We hear mentally audible answers far less than we’d like. Nothing worthwhile ever seems to be easy. But then, thousands of believers testify that they sometimes hear God’s voice, usually in the mind. There are also some who believe they’ve heard God’s voice with their external ears. I believe it just happened to be louder than usual in their minds, and so they thought they heard it with their ears.

 

Pandemic difficulties arise when we do not distinguish God speaking through our thoughts, speaking to our hearts.

Many true Believers are not aware of ever having heard the voice of God inside them at all. But the fact is, they have! They’ve heard it, and not realized it. More often than not, they attributed what they heard to their own thoughts.

 

Peppered throughout Scripture we find references to heeding, hearing, listening, obeying, and following God. We have Jesus the Son, God the Father and His Holy Spirit—AKA: Spirit of Christ. When a believer is walking in the Spirit, they are fully capable of hearing an actual voice from within: the voice of the Spirit.

 

In John 10, Jesus reveals Himself as the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.

 

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…” John 10:27. If we follow Jesus then we are His sheep. He said we hear His voice. I want to make certain I always recognize the voice of the Spirit of Christ. That’s why I practice and exercise this ability, and every believer can do the same.

 

Was Jesus talking only metaphorically about hearing (in modern translations it’s listening), or did He mean it in a more literal sense? I believe it to be literal as to Him speaking in our minds. But yes, He also means paying attention to Him — obeying Him.

 

God’s voice has a primary means of speaking—it’s called the bible. It saddens me to hear Christians say they’ve never heard God’s voice, when they’ve never read the bible all the way through, even once.

 

A little earlier in John 10:4, Jesus had said, “And when he (the Good Shepherd) puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” Jesus says that we who follow Him will recognize His voice leading us. He leads us both from within, and from without. This connotes God’s word (the bible) and an audible inner, or “thought” voice from His Spirit. Both are paramount.

 

Verse 5 says, “But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

 

Anyone pretending to be Christ is an anti-Christ, a false shepherd and is of the evil one. The bible warns us about our powerful adversary, the devil. He is quite capable of suggesting thoughts to us, often about another person. He employs our weaknesses of the flesh against us, especially our pride, or lust, or greed, or self-centeredness. He offers thoughts that fit right into our flesh’s view of things—and makes it feel good. But because something feels good does not make it right.

 

Recognizing Christ’s voice, here in John ten, I believe indicates both determinates. We gauge the source of each thought by what was said, and by the actual sound of the voice. Optimal results are gained by using both measures concomitantly.

 

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

 

The primary way we distinguish the Lord’s voice requires knowing Him through His word. The Spirit speaks to us as we read and study the bible to help our understanding of what we’re reading. But we can benefit from this ONLY when our minds are yielded to Him. Everyone has preconceived ideas of what the bible means before they open it the first time.  Some preachers may tell us to leave those notions outside the door. Yet what we really need to leave outside the door is our pride—what we think we know. One must diligently guard against confirmation bias!—truly allow God to lead our thinking.  I’ve found that often the Lord will use the false notions we had, and show us how ludicrous they are. As He straightens out our false beliefs we can say, “But Lord I thought such and such was true.” He can then show us how what we had thought was wrong, and the light of His truth will bring the greatest clarity, with joy, to our hearts and minds.

 

Once we understand theological truth better—when we know what God says in His word, about Himself and about mankind, and we know the accurate meaning of His words (hermeneutically), the Spirit can then bring those truths to our remembrance when we need it. I recall a time when I was all set to give in to a particular temptation, which I’d done periodically (a sin in my thoughts accompanied by a physical action). I knew it was wrong, but just couldn’t seem to overcome it. Well, I was getting ready to do it again.

 

I heard the Lord very loud in my thoughts, speaking a bible verse that I had known well.  But I hadn’t read it in several years. It sounded a bit like my own thoughts, but was different. Trust me when I say, at that moment my thoughts were as far away from the bible as they could be, and from God. It rang like an ultimatum: “Choose you this day whom you will serve!” (Joshua 24:15)

 

I was terrified, trembling like a leaf in the wind, and almost soiled myself. It was suddenly a whole lot easier to resist that temptation! What I heard that day was definitely NOT my own thoughts. It was so loud that, at first, I believed I’d heard it externally.

 

 Knowing the Lord and understanding His word will insulate us in the truth.  

 

Knowing God intimately also empowers us to instantly detect false teaching or preaching. And can set off alarm signals when the evil one suggests wrong thoughts to our minds. When a demon suggests a thought that goes against what we know God has said, we automatically know it is not the voice of our Lord. Remember the devil is an imitator and he’s extremely good at it. He does thought-voice impersonations—both our own, and God’s.  We do not heed, or listen to that voice. Instead, we resist that thought/voice, and the evil influence will flee at the mention of Jesus’ name (if we are in fact in Christ).

 

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26

 

The enemy, Satan, is also capable of making suggestions to our minds. He’s very good at imitating the sound of our own inner voices, and every so often, he tries to imitate the voice of the Lord. But to the astute listener, subtle, yet distinct differences are detectable between the actual sound of a demon’s voice, their own thoughts, and the voice of Christ. The difference in the sound, however, is the secondary manner in which to distinguish who said what. The best and primary determining factor of whether or not to heed the voices inside our heads (thoughts) is comparing what’s said with what God’s word says.

 

The Spirit and the Bible will always be in perfect harmony.

 

The Spirit will NEVER contradict, or go against what the bible says, but the enemy, of course, will. Ideally, God’s word and His Holy Spirit, should have complete rule over both: our words and actions. After spending much time being obedient, our thoughts are also trained in righteousness, and when that’s the case, we are extremely difficult to fool! Allow me to restate this—The Spirit and the bible will always be in perfect harmony. They are the double check, to be certain we are doing and saying the right things in the right way. It is learning to discern the Lord’s voice and comparing what we hear with God’s word, these are the two fail safes that victorious Christians employ.

 

There is a ton of information I want to share here, but this post is too long already, so I’ll drive in a peg right here until next time.

 

The following is a link to great post to edify and further prep our minds.  https://www.allaboutprayer.org/hearing-gods-voice.htm

 

1. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/h/hearing-voices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought I Knew My Bible

”Venturing into God’s love and wisdom is the greatest adventure any soul can experience.”

 

As I continue doing research for my next post, I hoped to offer something here during the interim—something that was a blessing to me, and so am hoping will bless my readers as well. My mom sent this poem to me—it’s one of those that I realized was expressing thoughts very similar to those I’ve had in the past. So I kinda sorta wish I had been the one to write it, but I did not, and the author is unknown. Whoever it was, I completely agree with their words and have experienced this lack, caused by my own slack, but also have often witnessed this dilemma in others.

Enjoy.

 

I Thought I Knew My Bible

 

Yes I thought I knew my bible, reading piecemeal hit or miss,

Now a bit of Psalms or Proverbs, now a verse in Genesis.

Certain chapters of Isaiah, certain Psalms, the twenty-third,

Twelfth of Proverbs, first of Romans; yes I thought I knew the word.

But I found that thorough reading was a different thing to do,

And the way was unfamiliar, when I read my bible through.

 

You who like to play at bible, dip and dabble here and there,

Just before you kneel a weary, and yawn a hurried prayer.

You who treat the crown of writings as you treat no other book,

Just a paragraph disjointed, just a crude impatient look.

Try a worthier procedure; try a broad and steady view.

You will bow in very wonder, when you read the bible through,

And through and through.

 

Author Unknown

 

Waiting in Hope

 

Leading Israel’s army, Joshua waited seven days for something to happen as they marched around the walls of Jericho. It must have felt like a silly thing to do, but this is what God had told them to do. Their patient trust was finally rewarded as the walls fell down, just as the Lord had promised. Without the hope that faith secures, waiting on God can often seem a difficult task, and can give rise to doubts. But that’s only when we’re not operating in faith.

Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for the promised pregnancy with Isaac in their old age. God had promised to make David king over all of Israel, but it wasn’t until waiting about 18 years before that happened. The Jews waited centuries for Messiah to come, but then He came. For ten days, Jesus’ disciples waited in Jerusalem for the power of God’s Holy Spirit to come. My own mother waited for several decades for her prayers to be answered. But finally, I fully surrendered my heart to Christ.

A person who lives in submission to Jesus Christ is someone who is often called upon to wait. And yet there are many good things we can be doing while we wait. Waiting time is not wasting time. With eager anticipation we all wait for Jesus to return and take us to our home in heaven. Yes, these are things that, as Christians, we must learn to do well—trust, hope and patiently wait.

 

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Be With Me Lord

Be with me Lord

The darkness of night surrounds me

Like smoky tendrils its spectral fingers grip

My courage is but a flicker, a spark in winter’s cold

Remain with me and proffer strength

I am but dust without Your Spirit, Your might

So small a thing was I, a lonesome soul adrift

My father’s son, born of Adam’s fallen race

A simple man who loves your truth, your word

When your Son bought me by your grace

You gave to me a name, and to my spirit, wings

Stay with me Lord—finish making me

That a giant I may be

In Christ my Savior

By this love that you have spawned

The One who works such fruitfulness in me

Be with me Lord, until the day has dawned

 

 

Bucket List

WANDERLUST

 

I have reached an age where I don’t mind exposing my strangeness, and if you are among my breed of writers, you know how we must bare our souls in print. If, that is, we are to write anything compelling, poignant or interesting. There’s not much nuance to this straight forward piece, and I was in a nostalgic state of mind when I wrote it. I just hope some of you will relate to “Bucket List”.

 

Don’t know how many days until that bucket stubs my toe,

But I know there’s lots of things I want to do before I go.

Though life can be real tough there’s softness in the rain,

Her tender kisses like poetry to strengthen through the pain.

 

Oh the list is mighty long—there’s so much I haven’t seen,

Crystal sands of islands never walked with waters blue and green.

Verdant fields of flowers softly wooing me by name,

Mountain streams with speckled trout and none of them the same.

 

So many unheard songs yet springing from this heart,

Lyrics of the singing soul the honey of life impart.

Horse and human explore together, wind on our grinning faces.

The roar of a Harley engine on scenic roads to all new places.

 

There’s characters to meet, and cultures I must taste,

This stone must keep on rolling, I have no time to waste.

From Atlantic to Pacific, the rivers and lakes between,

My soles are worn with miles, while reveling in what I’ve seen

 

But today the nest is empty, just me

And my half that sits with me,

Like hobbling wires, all strength requires,

And to travel I’m no longer free.

 

Bring out the billows to coax the embers of adventure,

Now I need a blender for cuisine to suit my fitted dentures.

Shod in unbroken squeaky leather, stiff, binding, new,

Nowhere to go, nothing fresh to do but ponder days that flew.

 

Lively prayer boils from my pew,

“Just once more” my intonations,

Let it blaze again—all that’s new,

See, hear, feel and taste, God’s creations

 

The rocker never was my style,

Though sunsets still amaze.

My keyboard speaks of many a mile,

Retelling adventurous days,

And of the God who walks with me,

And of His wondrous ways.

 

Lord knows when that bell shall toll for me,

When God shall toss that bucket

I’m ready for Him to chuck it

Just one kick, and I’ll be free.

 

Hearing God’s Voice

This painting by Winslow Homer stirs up some great memories. Homer was a man who like me was enamored with all things outdoors.

Whether rappelling off cliffs, shooting rapids in a canoe, or performing perilous covert missions, I’ve tasted adrenaline more times than I can count.  But there’s no doubt as to the one activity that remains the grandest and most exciting adventure that continues to enrich me. Call me a thrill seeker, an adrenaline junkie or simply an adventurer, the labels do not matter to me.

So far I’ve had a life filled with wild, wonderful and inspiring adventures, and have traveled considerably. Some of the sights would scare the fleas right off of a hound dog, such as staring down the wrong end of a high caliber gun, or chasing a gang of robbers through the back alleys of Dongducheon Korea. Then there were the vistas where you feel privileged just to be there and take it all in. At times I was melted into a humble state of awe at the genius of God’s creative handiwork. One of my favorite discoveries was an underground river in Utah shooting out of the side of a horseshoe shaped canyon to form an above ground river far below.

But beyond question, the experience that was the most sensational for me came for the first time 29 years ago. It was quite unexpected how that simply communicating with God would be such a transformative and powerful thing. And it has been copiously repeated ever since then. Oh I had talked to God before then, but never felt I had the connection to really hear from Him. Yet, all it took was a full surrender to the Lord, and to capitulate with all my heart. That may sound like a cliché Christianese statement. But it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Yes, life is complicated.

There is one point that I hope to stress, and that is: If you’ve never been absolutely certain that God was talking to you—intimately interacting with you, then you simply have not yet lived. It’s still difficult for me to get my head around the fact that the Creator of this vast universe cares enough about every little individual person that He wants to have a close relationship with us. He gives life to the fullest!

Jesus said it in these words: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10b (KJV).

The New Living Translation puts it in today’s language: “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Ninety percent of the time God communicates to us He speaks through His word, the bible. But then He confirms our understanding of His answers, through circumstances, and often through others. Whenever I’m truly in tune with God’s will, the answer comes in all three ways: first through the bible, then things happen in a way that illustrates that truth, and then some person actually speaks that truth without me saying anything to them about it.

Few are the times I have actually heard God’s voice in my heart and mind—twice for sure. But that was not so pleasant, because both of those times were in a negative. The first time was an ultimatum that literally scared me straight. My whole body was quaking. I was all set to commit an embarrassing sin when I heard the Spirit speak a bible verse. The words could not have come any more clearly: “Choose ye this day whom you shall serve.” I hadn’t read that verse in years, but was familiar with it as words God had spoken to Israel through Joshua. Another time it was simply one word: “Stop!”

I had planned to do my best to describe those moments spent with the Master, and how spectacular communicating with God can be, and how wonderful and loved it makes me feel. But there is no describing it. You’ll just have to experience that for yourself.

Allow me to caution you, however, that Christ is the sweetest addiction. It is strange though, how easy it is to get out of the habit of meeting with Jesus everyday for that fix. And the reason is that there are spiritual forces of wickedness at work. They hope to break our good daily habit of spending intimate times with God. When I skip just one day, the following day I seem to forget how awesome it is, and before I know it, it’s been a week. The power, joy and peace we gain by being filled with the Spirit every day can disappear in a flash, like a soap bubble in the sun, as soon as there’s a break in that habit.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” We feed on Him. Just as we must feed our bodies every day we must also feed our spirits, lest they atrophy and starve to death. Christ is our spiritual sustenance, and we cannot benefit from a relationship with Jesus unless we are constantly nurturing our intimacy with Him.

Jesus said, “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.”

Instantly, as soon as I cease relying on Him, and I don’t consult Him on every decision, that’s precisely what I produce: “Nothing”.  That is, nothing of eternal value. We must remain in Him and the only way to do that is to maintain an attitude of prayer—maintain an open line of communication and fellowship with the Lord. We talk about meeting with Him in the mornings. But we are a part of Him and should not have to MEET with Him, as we’ve never left His presence! As for coming to Him in the mornings, this is to search for sins of the previous day, and confess them in order to cleanse our consciences, and keep our relationship good and strong. And this morning tryst is also for checking in with the boss for specific works He has for us to do each day. Perhaps there’s something we need an extra jolt of power for that day. But most importantly it is to ensure that we remain in a state of constant surrender and submission to our glorious benefactor and God.

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38

I hope you can see what makes life such an exciting and never ending adventure. It is remaining in Christ and having our spiritual senses awakened to perceive the Lord’s communication to us as individuals. But He also speaks to us corporately.  “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21