I can be to busy living to live

How skilled are you at using “busyness” as a tool to hide from a broken relationship with God?  I have some great skills here.  Doing stuff is a part of serving the Lord.  Activity is important to people and the Lord.  Those who follow Jesus do the works that He has called them to do.  A question that is good to ask every now and again is, “how much of what I do is driven or motivated by my lack of faith in the Lord?”  Good questions – right?

At times I think I see (notice how I postured this statement) 10 things done because we think we “ought to do them” for every 1 thing the Lord is asking of us.  Now we are free in Christ to do what we want.  We are free to give ourselves to the Lord and we are free to fool ourselves.  We confess and declare that God is holy and uncreated while we tend to think that God thinks just like we do.  In fact we can trap ourselves into thinking that God’s favor or anointing is on us because God thinks the same ways about something as we do.  Oooooooops

Have you ever heard, “we don’t need God to tell us what to do, we have the Bible”?  If we have the Bible, do we still need the Lord to give us instruction?  Ponder that.  Do we need God to speak to us personally, specifically?  Cannot we read the historical truths about God and determine for ourselves how to act?  Or at least can we not read some translation of the historical record of God and then reason out what we are to do.  Usually when I find someone who is dogmatic on “just obeying the Bible” they are just as dogmatic on obeying the Bible the way they understand it (which of course is the right way).

Unbelief combined with pride seeks to motivate us to act apart from the living God, even with Bible in hand.  We can be pressured to perform deeds that are not in harmony with the will of the Father.  Instead of obedience, we use deeds to justify and establish a righteousness apart from God.  We do stuff because we are seeking to live Christian more than obey.   Instead of trusting Jesus alone for our salvation we do things to prove to ourselves we are true followers of the way.

In my opinion, it is much easier to work for God than to have a relationship with Him.  You can give 40, 50 even 80 hours a week to the work of the ministry and yet turn to TV, Media, recreation, music, sex, sports; for your restoration and felt needs.  Does having a relationship with God not satisfy the whole being?  How many of us, when we are tired and stressed desire to spend time with the Lord to be refreshed?  Do we not usually first of all turn to family and an endless list of other things?

I think we act this way mainly because we think God is mainly concerned with what we do for Him, not with Him.  Have you ever heard, “if all you are going to do is pray, don’t even pray”?  Is that the same as “if you are just going to talk to God, don’t talk to God, he wants you to work for Him not talk to Him”?  Sure He wants both, but how are you going to know what to do if you do not know His voice or worse.  What if you live your whole life in presumption – acting as if your thoughts about God were the same as God Himself.

OK, so how do I improve?

I think one of the first steps is to be at peace with who you are.  You and I are created.  We are human.  We are needy.  We cannot be defensive about this or proud.  We must seek daily to live our lives in a place of comfort as we need the Lord to speak, guide, direct and comfort.  We need encouragement from the Lord and understanding that need rightly allows us to have a relationship with God that is not based on what we do but based on who He is. 

If we take the time required, we will encounter the Lord in a loving way.  It may not be a form of love we desire or an expression that wow’s us, but it will be authentic.  To enjoy the Lord on this level we must be overcoming a spirit of control.  Our inner man knows when we are building an image of God and when we are encountering the authentic God Himself.  Our inner man knows when we are pretending to have experiences with God and when we are encountering.  We have so much “unreal” because we want to be the master of our own life, even our own life in God.  We are quite happy to deceive ourselves about the love of God instead of being humble and persistent about seeking the Lord.

In my experience, which is only one person, I have found the love of God to be like a refreshing breeze more than a driving wind.  I can easily neglect it or overlook His love should I be distracted by other things.  Beyond my first assumptions I have found the love of God to calm and bring inner peace even while my mind is anxious.  I have found love to satisfy inner longing even while the body is crying out for food, heat, relief.

Like the singing of the birds every morning, so too is God’s love.  We can hear – but not listen, see but not observe, know about without embracing the sound or reward.  Mystical.  I can be to busy living to live. 

Pain and Life

Just a few moments ago I finished by bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.  As I started to make my next move, I felt something strange come over me.  It was like life was rushing out of me.  I could feel my heart slow down.  My mind became very peaceful, it was like I was going to slip into death.  I thought to my self, “I’m slipping away”.

I sat in my chair thinking about my life, how tired I was.  I have not slept in a few night because of the pain in my hips and back.  I thought of how hard it is to keep fighting, how nice it would be to enter the rest of the Lord.

They it hit me.  I was not dying.  The pain was gone and my body was doing what all normal bodied do when they are not in a constant battle, relaxing.  My heart slowed because my anxiety had decreased, an anxiety that I now take as normal.  What I thought was slipping away was the gentle feelings of falling asleep after nights on restless sleep.  After the startle it was enjoyable.

I realized again that pain brings to my life an endless resistance to that pain and a ever present resolve to do the next thing, even if the next thing is get out of the chair. A quick Google reveals that over  100 million people are suffering with chronic pain.  What are we to do?  What are they to do?

I have been prayed for hundreds of times, pray almost daily for my self, been healed, fallen out of a tree stand and became unhealed….I have tried a great many things to get better, to get healed, to live pain free.  What is the answer?

Jesus is the answer.  He is the answer as the healer, as wisdom, as truth and as our example of suffering until we are bodily transformed.  The people of God who promote healing often battle with being friendly to those who are enduring pain.  This pain is not just physical, but emotional, mental, spiritual.  Pain is pain and living in pain every day, even in “imaginary pain” hurts.

Here is my offering of wisdom from a Red Neck Mystic.  Make heaven rejoice and hell grieve over the way you endure suffering.  Use every ounce of your suffering to bring glory to God, to make Angles proud that someone on the earth, surrounded by darkness; lives in such a way as to love God in spite of hurt.  Live in a way that makes hell mad that you love God when God does not provide a better (pain free) life for you.  Know this!  That while some people do great works and are seen by many for meetings, miracles and networks; God is fully aware of you when you, in pain, turn to Him and endure with joy for His name sake. 

I know that we can hurt so bad that we literally want this life to be over.  The desire to be pain free can be motivated by pain and suffering from our situation in life, broken relationships, bodily pain and numerous other conditions.  It takes a huge faith to keep going in the face of these daily giants.  But God is a God who supplies all we need, if we turn to Him and seek Him.

If you do not endure suffering you can stop reading here.  If you have real pain in your life I invite you to read on.

To those who live with pain and it’s various forms I what to speak openly with you about the TEST of dealing with religious people.  It is our responsibility not to get offended, not theirs.  It is our responsibility to love.  We do not demand love because of our condition, but give more love out of our poverty of condition.

Simple answers, religious ceremonies, spiritual programs, going to conferences all have a very, very valuable place in healing and wholeness.  God will use your desire to be well as a great tool in your Christ like transformation, so let Him do that.  But do not be discourage because leaders and people of the spirit cannot help you.  Love them but keep looking to Jesus.  Do not be ashamed to look to Jesus.  Do not be ashamed for others, that others are not enough to meet your need.  Even if they dishonor you and neglect you because you represent to them some problem or issue that will not go away, do not, do not reject them. 

Right now you ought to be wondering, “why should I have to go through all this”.  “Why is my life full of pain when others are not”?  That is a great question.  So go to the one who can answer that question.  Ask the Master why?  He will respond and lead you even if His reply does not seem to answer the question.  Often God, in His misdirection, is leading us on the shortest path to life.  Counsel from a Red Neck Mystic.

The Bucket Video

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodneypop#p/a/u/1/YXQvCWxctD0

Humble Yourself

(Exodus 10:3) Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself (to be bowed down or afflicted) before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

How far remove from my life this passage of Scripture first appears to be.  Some wicked ruler in a distant land far removed in history, how can this connect to me?  In what ways am I living in pride of a lack of humility that hinders God’s will and God’s people?

It is one thing to be humbled by the Lord, another to have people humble us.  In this text, the call goes forth to humble yourself.  Voluntary humility is tricky.  Do we act in such a way as to appear humble?  Do we truly humble ourselves and then have great pride on our actions of humility?  Internal reflection will not serve us well here.   What we need is an outside source giving direction and guidance.  What we need is the Holy Spirit to convict us of both righteousness and sin. 

A great step in living humble is to allow yourself to be under the rule and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The humility to “not be in charge” and not live “by your own opinions” is a step you take yourself.  You start the process of calling on the Spirit of the Lord for help.

One test of how we humble ourselves before God is our control of others.  The more we depend on self to make a way and get things done, the more we use control as a tool.  While we often justify our controlling of others by the end result of doing the will on the Lord, this is a form of deception.  What we need is enough of the Holy Spirit and His fruit to control ourselves.  Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and partners with humility as we choose to live by following and not by self-promotion or agenda.

When the evil of one persons actions is confronted with the evil of manipulation and control, even in the context of “trying to get them to do right”, the methods of the Lord are pushed aside for worldly ways.  There is a way to overcome, but it involves a cross and suffering, two powers that are multiplied by humility.

 

Prayer for Fathers

Our Father in heaven, we ask that you would encourage our fathers.  Renew their spirit of adventure.  Ignite their passion for you and for life.  Fill their hearts, souls and minds with wisdom and revelation.

Father, we ask  that our fathers would be set free from all past sins and mistakes.  We cry out to You to give them courage to face what has occurred and what is yet to occur.  May the earth be filled with might men of God.  Bless our Dads so that they may bless the world.  Remove from them all fear.

In this hour and in the days to come we ask for an ongoing outpouring of the Holy Spirit into their lives.  We ask that Truth, Comfort, Wisdom and every aspect of the Holy Spirit impact their spirits.  May ever Dad know the voice of their Father in heaven. 

Just as you have forgive us, we too forgive.  Just as you encourage, so too may you help us to encourage and build up our fathers.  Release upon us all the joy of Your salvation in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Prepare the way

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. (4) "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; (5) Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Matthew 3:1-3

Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, (2) "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (3) For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"

I think that I would be hard pressed to see the move of God call for in Isaiah fulfill by one guy preaching in the wilderness. In my normal way of thinking I would be looking for a big movement and much to do. But my view is because I do not think much of people, but rather look mostly for the “response of others” to verify what God is doing. The truth is, I like many Americans, probably would reject the Lord Jesus Himself when He was capture, tortured and put to death. We simply do not see small, suffering, sacrificial people or events as significant to the Lord. The one possible exception to that is a mission. Unless the mission is a person, a struggling food pantry we except and help, a John the Baptist we tend not to.

This is all changing. People, maturing in intimacy with the Lord, are seeing and hearing Him speak through people of all positions and standing in life. Disciples, mature in humility, are hearing the Master speaking through people who are mostly hidden from public view and adorned with non-traditional culture. While we have a great tendency to value those who have a culture like our own, many are now starting to see the Lord in ways, forms and traditions that are foreign to them. Where once people determined the activity of God according to circumstances or their personal view of success, people are now seeing and hearing the Lord as He acts through others, regardless of external circumstances.

I have noticed that public leaders have started repositioning their hearts. Where once they felt that they were spiritual people with spiritual answers, more and more they are now seeing how great many who they called “followers” are. At the same time they are seeing the wisdom and revelation of the Lord in “common Church people” they are also very aware of their own personal sins and failures. This double edge sword of seeing others rightly and not thinking to highly of ourselves is God grace in this hour. It is God’s grace because some of the great highway builders are beginning to be released for their work.

God is not against church leaders and authority. Much of the present burden on our pastors and leaders is the result of the people not doing their part. We have built a system of watching waiting for ministry and service and not being responsible for our part. This is changing. In that change we will see that what one pastor did in eighty hours of work will be done in less than an hour as eight disciples do the work they were called to do. This lifestyle of following the Lord will bless everyone, the leaders, the disciples and the Lord.