Archive - August, 2008

Was that you, God?

August 31, 2008 • 0 Comments

I think about the number of times I’ve journaled and switched the font to red to capture what I thought God was saying to me. And I’ll be honest with you, I’ve missed him a few times. There’s even parts of my journal where I’ve taken the red letter words and turned them into strikethru red letters words.

Even then, I’m sure there are times that I didn’t realize that I missed him. But with God, I enjoy taking that risk. I’d rather hear God a few times and miss him a few times than not hear him at all.

One of the hardest things about hearing God is removing all of your emotions and just listening, no matter what God wants to say. I have found that it becomes very easy to miss God when your emotions are involved. Remember, his thoughts sound exactly like your thoughts, and so learning to discern is essential.

So, how do you do that? How do you remove all of your emotions before asking God to show you something? It is hard. And, it takes practice.

For example, you want to take a quick vacation, and you ask, “Lord, should we go to the beach this weekend?” Everything in you is screaming “TAKE A VACATION TO THE BEACH!” because it’s something you really want to do. Your emotions are in high gear. Can you get to a place where you can pray this way, “Lord, I want to go, but I will do whatever you say. I will stay if you say stay, and I will go if you say go.” And, when you pray that way, can you come to a place where you are happy with God’s answer because you know it’s the best thing to do? That’s removing your emotions.

Beware. Your emotions will speak much louder than God’s thoughts.

Swing chair prophecy

August 28, 2008 • 0 Comments

Swing Chair

Outdoor barbeques and Texas summers go hand in hand. This one Texas summer was no different. I was a young boy, probably in my early teens, when we had the “swing chair incident.” I remember it so clearly. We were over at a friend’s house, and we were having lunch outside—barbeque, cole slaw, corn on the cob and some cold iced tea.

My buddy, Chris, and I had just got our lunch plates, and we were looking for a place to sit down. Glancing around, we noticed that the swing chair was empty. The wooden chair was suspended by two chains that held it to a branch about 25 feet in the air. It could easily seat three people.

As we sat down and started to eat, I looked up at the branch and then back down at Chris, and said, “Wouldn’t it be weird if this thing broke right now?” He laughed. I laughed.

WAM! It broke, and we tumbled to the ground with food all over our laps.

Neither of us moved. We just stared at each other, our minds were trying to sort through what just happened. Had I not said anything, we would have just laughed it off, but the swing chair prophecy had come true within seconds.

I can’t say I was walking with God when this happened. I had been to church a few times. I had probably even prayed a few times. But, as for a devote believer, no, I wasn’t there yet.

So, where did that thought come from? Was it God? Was it the devil? Or, just a very odd coincidence?

I believe that it was God speaking to me at an early age. At that time, I didn’t have any clue what I was doing, or that God would even speak to me. It was just a thought. But today, I understand that this is how God speaks to us most of the time–through our thoughts. The challenge is learning to discern which thoughts come from him.

When I have a God thought, it doesn’t sound any different than my own thoughts. It’s my voice, my language, my improper grammar, my tone and even my emotion—which makes it really hard to discern at times. Had I known how to discern his voice back then, I might not have had to bathe myself in potato salad.

It’s all about love

August 26, 2008 • 0 Comments

If there is one thing I hear the most when I hear God speak, it’s this, “I love you, son. I love you so much.”

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God–for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

When I talk about hearing God, you will often hear me say, “It’s all about love.” You see, according to the above verse, God is love. So, if he is love, then everything he says to us is filtered through his love, through himself.

There was a season early in my journey with God where I asked him to show me how much he really loves me. During those days, he would often show me glimpses of his love for me.

I remember this one time specifically. I was upstairs in this office having some quiet time, praying and listening. It was pouring down rain outside. Downpour.

As I looked out the window, I had this thought, Each drop of rain is like a lens, a prism. You can see through it. And, since each drop of rain is a slightly different shape, each drop of rain gives you a different perspective. Then, God spoke, “Son, with every drop of rain in this downpour, I look at you with a different perspective of love. I see you through each rain drop, and I love you that many different ways.

I sure felt loved that day. God’s deep love for us goes beyond anything we can measure or understand. Even when we mess up, he loves us. Even when we fail him, he loves us. Even when we lose hope, he loves us.

Here’s the rest of that scripture in 1 John 4:

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (v. 9-10).

From Daddy

August 22, 2008 • 0 Comments

The other day in my quiet time, I was journaling my thankfulness to God, and he responded with this wonderful message of love, but it wasn’t just for me.  I felt like this message was for all of his children, those who call upon Jesus.

When I was writing it down, I found myself cautiously capturing the words; whereas before, I would just enjoy flowing and writing and hearing—mistakes and all. But now, I wanted to be more cautious because others would be reading it.

I don’t like having a “cautious walk with God”. Rather, I want to chase him, pursue him, dive completely into what he wants for me.  I don’t mind making mistakes when it’s just me and God. He knows my heart, and I love to just jump into his presence like a three-year old jumping into his daddy’s arms—giggly, slobbering, messy, but madly in love with his Daddy. But now, with other three-year olds on the playground, can I still be that way with my Dad? I hope so.

So, with that, I share my journal entry with you from a few days ago, a little giggly, slobbering and messy:

Today is great day, Father. A great day! I celebrate the life you have given me. It is really, truly blessed and amazing! So amazing! Lord, I have life because you have given me life. You have given me eternal life! Lord, I am so grateful for all you have done and all you are doing and all you will be doing in my life. I can’t say thank you enough. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Son, I appreciate your thankfulness. I really do. I can’t tell you the number of Christians who call me Father who woke up this morning stressed, tired, unthankful—who went off to work like any other day, and never said anything to me. I’m not mad, son. It just breaks my heart, because I love them so much. So much. I just want to spend time with them.

Too many of my children think I bring calamity into their lives to “teach them a lesson” or to get their attention. That’s wrong. It’s not true. Would you take a stick and hit your child, and cause him harm just get his attention? No, that’s stupid. I woo and call and whisper into the hearts of my children. Calamity comes when they go their own way, do their own thing, and take matters into their own hands.

I can’t help a heart that goes its own way. I can only help a heart that is committed to me and listens to me. That’s my greatest desire for my children, to be fully devoted and committed to me. Why? Because I love them and I desire to help them in every area of their life.

Lifting the Heaviness

August 19, 2008 • 0 Comments

This past Saturday was the middle of month, day to pay bills. For some reason, it’s always an emotional time for me—sometimes good emotions, sometimes bad.

When you run your own business, there is considerable ebb and flow in your finances. You must learn to budget wisely and control your spending. It’s not hard, and the benefits are quite freeing. But, it can be a rollercoaster experience.

During the hot, Texas summers when electricity bills are sometimes 3 to 4 times that of normal bills, it can be quite stressful paying bills (those bad emotions). Other times, when the cash flow is good and bills are minimal, I often break out in to praise while paying bills. (It’s odd, I know, but I am always quite thankful to God for his provision in our lives.)

This past Saturday morning, bills were due. As I sat down at my computer, and started organizing the payments, there was considerable amount of “outflow” (bills to be paid). This summer has been wonderfully blessed for us, so it’s not a matter of having enough to pay the bills. But, for some reason, the bills started weighing quite heavily on me. And, the thoughts started to flow:

  • Wow, I’m spending a lot of money.
  • At this rate, we’ll be out of cash in no time.
  • With the economy down, it’ll be hard to find projects.
  • Oh no, then what? How can we afford to spend like this?
  • What are we going to do?

Since we were wonderfully blessed with projects this summer, again, there was no danger of running out of cash. Yet, those thoughts were so strong, so powerful, so influential. But, I’m quite confident that they weren’t my thoughts. Nor, God’s.

Read through that list of thoughts again, and you’ll hear many opportunities to make an agreement. At first, I started thinking, What’s going to happen? This heaviness, this depression started overshadowing my morning. I felt as if I was being smothered under the burden of financial stress, which was an odd feeling since we were doing so well this summer.

As I sat down in my recliner to ponder these thoughts, I immediately thought, These aren’t my thoughts. This heaviness is not the fruit of the Spirit. This is evil.

Immediately, I started to fight this oppressive feeling. I knew it was the voice of the enemy trying to subtly work his way into my mind, to get me to agree with him. And, if I had chosen to believe his lies, then my life would naturally follow. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

After just a few moments of prayer and standing on my authority as a Christian believer, the heaviness lifted. Lord, these are not my thoughts. I trust you. In the name of Christ, I break these thoughts. I reject them. I make no agreements in my heart with them. Lord, you are my Provider. The thoughts were gone. Soon, my words were words of praise and thankfulness to God for his provision in our lives.

You have to remember that the enemy is an opportunist. He will look for any and every opportunity to speak lies into your mind to get you to agree with him. And, he’ll do it when you are at your weakest.

Have you ever seen one of those nature shows where a pack of water buffalo are being chased by a few lions. And, there at the back of the pack is a weak, wounded or young buffalo. He’s slower than the rest. He’s obviously not able to keep up. Guess what–he’s the target. And when you are weak, down, depressed, sad or vulnerable, you are the devil’s primary target. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t let down. He hates you, and we must constantly be on our guard for such attacks.

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