Running

As I am sitting here, I am jamming out to the worship set that we are gonna be doing this Sunday - and I am excited about worshipping with my family at South Bay this weekend.  All I can say is I expect the praise team to bring the pain (or the nuts, as some of them would say :)

This morning, I was suppose to go to the gym in my neighborhood and work out (lifting weights sucks) but luckily I couldn't find the card to let me into the gym, so I had to go for a run instead (much more enjoyable).  As I was running, I was praying and asking God to speak to me, and one of the many things that I love about God is that He is so faithful at taking the natural and making them supernatural.  

I have been trying something new in my running routine.  Instead of just jogging 3 or 4 miles, I am trying to do intervals.  I run hard for a few minutes and then jog for a few minutes and then run hard, and so on and so forth.  This has challenged my legs and stamina in a great way, and has made running a challenge again, which I appreciate.  Well, this morning, I was struggling to keep the pace and my legs just wanted to jog, not run hard, so I began to pick objects out and I would run to them (a car parked at the end of the street, or a fire hydrant or something).  This helped me, it gave me somewhere to go, something to aim for, and it took my mind off the immediate.

As I was just being, and asking God to speak, all of a sudden, a little light came on, and I heard His Spirit whisper into mine, that this is true in life as well.  That I need to focus on things down the road, not the immediate.  While the pain is real, and the desire to do what is easy is sometimes overpowering, it becomes easier to overcome if we look at the things ahead.  Maybe this is what the author of Hebrews is talking about when he says that we are to run with endurance the race marked out for us, and we are to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.  

I was challenged this morning to stop looking at the immediate, and look to the future.  To see how the immediate is nothing more than a step in the direction of where God is at, as He pulls me into His presence, and prepares me for the future.  Sometimes is hurts, sometimes I don't want to run, sometimes I am willing to run but I want it to be at my pace and sometimes I am ready and willing to give it my all.  But, if I don't think about how I feel, and the surrounding circumstances, but I look to Jesus, and I run to Him with all that I have - each step becomes purposed in a passionate pursuit of the face of God.  

That's what I want.

That's what I need.

That's where I am going.

God speaks!?!

I am not being able to get to this as much as I would hope - but this morning, I am gonna make some time real quick, because God has been speaking loud and clear lately, and it is exciting.

Sunday night, we had a leaders meeting at South Bay, and in it we were challenged to practice listening prayer.  This is something I have done for awhile now, but the way in which is was described was a little different than I have done it, so I am trying something new.  I have added some actual time ON MY FACE into my time with God.  I am a big journaler and so normally, I allow God to speak as I just sit in my chair and wait for God to speak.  While I still journal like a madman, I am now spending time kneeling and with my face in my lap, seeking God and being still, in a new position, prostrating myself before the Lord.

In the last few days, God has spoke Loud and Clear to me.  It has been amazing.  At the training, I didn't get a chance to share, but we practiced listening prayer, and as I was waiting and being still, God showed me a picture of David and Bathsheba.  I was confused why he would show this to me, so I went to the word and began to read the story... and something hit me - This story begins with the phrase "In the spring, when Kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, his servants and all of Israel... But David stayed behind."  As I read this I was hit with the fact that David was not leading, he was not going out before his people, he was not where he was suppose to be - and he fell hard because of it!  Leaders are called to go before the people, to be out in front leading the charge and being an example for people to follow.  Jesus did this with the disciples, Paul charges his followers to imitate him as he imitates Jesus!  God asked me the question and posed me with the challenge "Where am I leading and who am I going out before?"  

The next morning, I was on my face asking God to speak to me - and he told me that I was holy!  Me!!!  My first thought, was no God, you got this wrong.  Maybe you were meaning to talk to somebody else.  But then, as I prayed, I decided that if God was going to call me holy, I wanted to know what that meant.  So I asked God to reveal it to me through His Word.  I opened to Deuteronomy (one of my favorite books of the Bible) and I was on track to read chapter 10 that day.  Here is what chapter 10:8 says "At that time the Lord set apart (made holy) the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day."  If I had been wearing socks, God would have rocked them right off!  Here He calls me holy, and when I open the Word, he shows me what it means to be holy, or set apart - to carry His covenant (for us it is the Gospel of Jesus), to stand before Him (be in relationship with Him), to minister to Him (still processing this one), and to bless His name (at all times, with all people, in all situations)!  Praise Jesus, I was more than a little stoked!

So, yesterday, I get down and begin to praise God and call on His Name to speak and put myself (to the best of my ability) in a position to hear from Him.  And as I was there, in the quiet place - God told me he was going to call me by a new name.  I am excited to find out what this means, I have no idea - but God said it, so it is true.  I am feeling like it is going to mean  some growing, some stretching, and this morning as I was asking God to reveal what that meant, the word "worshipper" came to mind, so God is revealing more what that may mean, but I am not sure yet.

Today, was another awesome day of God speaking, but He told me that this morning's insight is not for broadcast, so I will exercise restraint and discernment and hold to what God told me to do, but it was amazing time in His presence this morning, as well.

I take all this time, and share all of this by means of challenging you - get on your face before the Lord. Quiet your mind, maybe turn on some praise music and let the Holy Spirit flow through you.  Spent some time repenting, confessing Jesus as Lord and allow Him in to your quiet time, and you will be amazed at the transformation in your heart that will occur.  We are born for relationship with Him, let us enter into it!

Yesterday was a really rough day!  I had to go to the pool twice.  I know your heart breaks for me, but as I was swimming with my son, God taught me a lesson that was pretty cool.

We were hanging out on the steps, and my son likes to have me stand in the middle of the pool and he will swim to me.  Sometimes, I back away from him, strengthening his swimming ability and his lung capacity (seriously his lung capacity is amazing!).  Anyway, we were swimming, and I had backed too far, and even though he was only four or five strokes away from me - IT FELT TOO FAR!  So, he turned around and swam back.  It was almost 3x's farther to accomplish this than take the extra 5 strokes to catch up with me.  But, he knew behind him was safe and that he could swim that far.  But, what he didn't realize is that it was way more effort, way more work, and took a lot more strain on his lungs to accomplish going backwards.

In that instance, God showed me how often I am guilty of this same exact thing.  He calls me to trust Him, have faith in Him, and rely on Him a little more.  I go a little further, but when God wants me really to lean out on the edge of it all, and keep pursuing Him, I turn around and go back to my safety net.  I rely on the known, rather than the unknown.  I trust in myself and my ability to swim back to safety; rather than pursue God and trust that He will grab me before I drown!  

So, my new prayer is that I would not settle for the comfortable, but as I press into the thick of darkness and meet with God, I would not fear or rely on my own ability.  I am praying that God would continue to call me to press out a little further, pursue a little deeper, and that I would not fear!  I am excited to see how God is going to call me to swim to Him and I pray that as He stands out there asking me to go a little further, I would swim with all my strength to get to those areas I have been to afraid to go.

Hopefully that makes sense, 

1 Timothy 1:5

From a website called "Stuff White People Like"  - not gonna lie, I love my moleskin notebook, and some of my favorite time is spent at Panera with my Bible, Moleskin and Mac!  I think this article may have been written for me :)

#122 Moleskine Notebooks

February 24, 2009 by clander

Since all white people consider themselves to be “creative,” they are constantly in need of products and accessories that will allow them to capture their thoughts.  One of the more popular  products in recent years has been the Moleskine notebook.

This particular type of notebook is very expensive and was quite popular with writers and artists in the olden days.  Needless to say, these are two properties that are highly coveted in the white community.   In fact, it’s a good rule of thumb to know that white people like anything that old writers and artists liked:  typewriters, journals, suicide, heroin, and trains are just a few examples.

Much like virtually everything else that white people like, these notebooks are considerably more expensive yet provide no additional functionality over regular notebooks that cost a dollar.  Thankfully, since white people only keep their most original and creative ideas in the Moleskine, many of them will only be required to purchase one per lifetime.

But the the growing popularity of these little journals, is not without its own set of problems.  One of the strangest side effects has been the puzzling situation whereby a white person will sit in an independent coffee shop with a Moleskine notebook resting on top of a Apple laptop.  You might wonder why they need so many devices to write down thoughts?  Well, if a white person has a great idea, they write it by hand, if they have a good idea, it goes into the computer.

Not only does this help them keep their thoughts organized, but it serves as a signal to the other white people in the shop that the owner of both instruments is truly creative.  It screams: “I’m not using my computer to check email and read celebrity gossip, I’m using it to create art.  Please ask me about it.”

So when you see a white person with one of these notebooks, you should always ask them about what sort of projects they are working on their free time.  But you should never ask to actually see the notebook lest you ask the question “how are you going to make a novel out of five phone numbers and a grocery list?

In His presence

It has been an awesome last couple of days!  Tim is walking through an amazing book of the Bible, and for me - nothing gets better than when a pastor gets up and just brings the Word!  It has been great.  On top of that, our small group family on Sunday nights has begun to really dive into the heart of Jesus - we have incorporated some worship on Sunday nights, as well as segregated prayer, which I am praying will take us deeper as we are smaller and now gender separate so hopefully we will be able to be more open.  Yesterday, my son and I had a great time learning and playing and just kinda being daddy and son... which makes me think - how often do I just have good Daddy time?  I mean I read and pray a lot, and I am always thinking about God, and talking to him, but when was the last time, I was simply just hanging out with God, my Daddy?

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that He really is making me content in His presence.  I can honestly say that for the first time in my life, I am not waiting for whatever is next!  I seem to find myself always in a hurry to move on to the next thing.  This may be one of the reasons I don't like Disney World - I feel like you pay a bajillion dollars to stand in line and wait!  But, God is refining my character and showing me that to simply enjoy time in Him, is what matters most.  It is not about what I can DO next, it's about being in Him.  As I am learning this, I find myself - wait for it - HAPPY!  I find that my surly, negative, bitter disposition is gone.  While this may not be super apparent from the outside, I can tell you on the inside, I jump for joy all day long.  I tend to be less than animated in my emotions, which is cool that's how God made me, but inside - man, I am so madly in love with Jesus, so consumed with Him and His presence that nothing else matters.

And what is even funnier, is I am finding that as I release my need to DO stuff, God is bringing so much in my path for me to do!!!!!  He is taking me to China, He has raised me up to lead the small groups at South Bay (way unqualified for this, but that means God is gonna have to do it),  my wife and I took a room at the property and turned it into a quiet room, that will hopefully cultivate prayer and intimacy with the Savior.  We are taking people food, we are praying for people, helping build rooms, and really truly whatever God is putting in my path that I can help out with, I try.  God has removed my desire for position, pay, or praise and with that has come so many opportunities to serve the flock!  It is amazing.

One thing I will say, is that I have begun to notice in my life and in many conversations I find myself in, is the prevalence of gossip.  So I am asking for prayer for myself and offering a warning to those who read - watch the words that come out of your mouth.  Are they words that build up and encourage?  Our words have power, our words have meaning, our words reflect the inner nature of our heart.  What do your words and speech say about you?  I am beginning to notice gossip taking place a lot, and I would just encourage you, be slow to speak, weigh your words carefully - and if it is tearing someone down - refrain from saying it!  And I am the chief of sinners in this area, and working diligently to stop.

Praise Jesus for His beautiful bride, may we serve her, love her, and work to better her everyday!  Thank You Jesus, for your church, as imperfect as she is, you love her, cherish her, adore her, and gave your life up for her! 

May we never forget that