Sobering Thought

I’ve just started reading Francis Chan’s latest book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.  Chapter One hits with a question that is a sobering.  Take a look at these words and allow them to sink in a few minutes.

And this is the question I just can’t get around:  If It’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us [Romans 8:9 -- You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ] and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple [1st Corinthians 6:19-20 -- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.], then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not?

This may be a silly illustration, but if I told you I had an encounter with God where He entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn’t you expect to see an amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court?  After all, this is God we’re talking about.  And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn’t you question the validity of my “encounter”?

Eyes Locked

Eyes LOCKED! by Perry Noble

I took Charisse to her crib the other night–but before I put her down I decided to spend a few minutes with her in the rocking chair. I am not even sure what I was saying–but all of a sudden she opened her eyes really big and just stared at me.

To be honest–I got lost in that moment. She didn’t look away–she didn’t even hardly blink–she just stared right at me and I nearly melted right there. There is NOTHING that pleases a father more than when he has the undivided attention of his child. I will have to say that up until this point it was probably the most special time I have had with just she and I…and I felt SO connected with her.

Walking out of her room down the steps I felt the Lord whisper to me, “Hey Perry, that is what I want with you! Not some ritual…but an intimate connection.”

From time to time I get caught up in “having a quiet time” just to say I had one? Sure, a verse or two will stand out to me…but if I am not careful I will forget that my time with God in the mornings isn’t about a spiritual to do list–it is about a connection…a connection that I need and God wants.

God doesn’t want our lip service–He wants our undivided attention. And that is SO hard in today’s society–everything competes with our time with Him…ESPECIALLY technology. I just know that what I experienced with my daughter was REAL…and the Lord used it in my life to show me that I need to take my walk with Him to the next level!

Then I was reminded of Jesus–the Bible says in Luke 5:16 that He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed–translation–He got alone and LOCKED EYES with His Father…amazing! We see this again in Mark 1:35 where the Bible says that the first thing in the morning Jesus went to a solitary place to lock eyes with His Father…and the result was direction and power. (See Mark 1:36-39)

BUT–I believe the most intimate and challenging time Jesus had with the Father was in the garden of Gethsemane where we see Him praying in Matthew 26:36-45 one of THE most unselfish, sold out prayers EVER recorded in history. Translation–when we LOCK EYES with the Father there is NOTHING that we are not willing to do for Him!
My prayer lately has been that I will have my eyes LOCKED–focused on Him! It blows my mind that He wants that–and I know I need it!!! I never want to merely offer God lip service–He knows my heart. My desire is to LOCK EYES with Him and then to do whatever He asks…how about you?

What It’s Really About

The church doesn’t need another history lesson…people need to be shown that following Jesus impacts EVERY area of our lives!

Contrary to popular belief…God isn’t obsessed with our happiness…He’s obsessed with HIS holiness, and when our happiness is based in our sinfulness and collides with his holiness…we lose!

Crazy

Posted on Twitter @aucyouth . . .

“Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy.  Something is wrong when our lives makes sense to unbelievers.”  - Francis Chan

What if…?

I saw this on another pastor’s blog this morning.  Some great “what if” questions to get us thinking.

What If?

I was thinking some “what if” thoughts the other day…

• WHAT IF the early church had decided to simply study what Jesus said but not apply it?
• WHAT IF the early church had decided their primary responsibility was to be political, thus organizing protests against the Roman government for occupying their land?
• WHAT IF the early church had decided to yell and scream at the Romans for acting like Romans?
• WHAT IF the early church had decided their primary call was to save the environment rather than the ones living in it?
• WHAT IF the early church had substituted their personal preferences in place of the words of Jesus?
• WHAT IF the early church had been more obsessed with Robert’s Rules of Order rather than the Scriptures?
• WHAT IF the early church had been focused on the cross on the wall rather than the cross Jesus called them to carry?
• WHAT IF the early church had instructed the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 that He was a little out of hand…and that his movement hadn’t been voted on and approved by the deacons.
• WHAT IF the early church had been full of people who drove their “luxury camels” to church…but became angry when someone mentioned the offering?
• WHAT IF the early church had the attitude of, “we love a small crowd…so don’t tell anyone about Jesus coming back to life.  I know He commanded us to tell…but let’s keep it a secret?”
• WHAT IF the early church had been more passionate about their comfort than conforming to who Christ called them to be?
• WHAT IF the early church had spent their time attacking the church planting movement than began in Acts 8 and continued throughout the NT?
• WHAT IF the early church had been full of people who had an attitude and an opinion…but weren’t actually willing to do anything to reach people far from God?
• WHAT IF the early church had required only “religious professionals” to be in ministry?

WHAT IF…WOW…so glad the early church listened to Jesus and did what HE said…or else we would have been in a lot of trouble!

Knowledge & Transformation

“A knowledge of Jesus is prevalent, but the will to be passionate and transform to Him is so rare.”

- Matt Chandler

Hold My Hand

A great piece about our relationship with God from Pastor Perry Noble.

“Hold My Hand”

Posted: 03 Aug 2009 09:05 AM PDT

The other day I was walking along with Charisse and she tripped and fell down.  I automatically reached down and picked her up…but only after a few more steps she stumbled again.  (It looks like she has my cordination!)

So…I took her by the hand and we went on…and the next time she tripped she did not fall.  I told her, “As long as you are holding daddy’s hand I won’t let you fall down.”

And God hit me with this thought, “I’ve been waiting on you to learn that lesson for a long time!”

As I look back at the times in my life at the most painful mistakes that I have made I will have to admit that it was during the times I had wrestled my hand free and ran away in rebellion…you know, doing it “my way.”

AND…I am SO THANKFUL for a gracious God who pursued me during those times and didn’t allow me to be content in being apart from Him.

BUT…I am learning more and more and the Christian life isn’t about trying to “connect with God,” but rather being submissive to the idea that He wants to connect with us…and BE THERE WITH US and FOR US so that we do not fall flat on our faces.

I do believe there are times He allows us to fall on our faces so that we can see our need for Him…

And I DO NOT believe that if we are consistently connected with Him that everything in life goes well at all times! (Psalm 23 says that WHEN we walk through the valley of the shadow of death…not “if.”  We will have bad days…)

BUT…I believe with all of my heart that the KEY to living an abundant life, one that is NOT full of regrets, is reaching out and taking the hand that He extended to us over 2,000 years ago through His Son Jesus Christ.

The good news is…I don’t HAVE TO SCREW IT UP…God WANTS ME (AND YOU) to get it right…to honor Him and be both prosporous and successful through submission to His Word (Joshua 1:8-9).

So…how about it…are you allowing Him to guide you through life…or trying to wrestle away so that you can embrace rebellion?

As long as we hold His hand…we will not fall!!!

Underware

I read this on another pastor’s blog that I read regularly.  His thoughts here are really, really good and something we all should listen to and take to heart.

“Get My Underwear Off Of Your Head!” (6 Thoughts About God!) July 16, 2009

On Sunday I came home, changed clothes, put a load of clothes in the wash and then went into the kitchen to get some food ready…

About a minute later Charisse came into the room with a pair of my underwear over her head.

NOW…let’s stop here for just a second and all admit–underwear, no matter how they are designed, are GROSS!!!  There is just no way around it…your butt stinks and underwear and your butt hang out all day long!!!  (That is all I am going to say about the grossness of underwear…I think you get the point!)

So…I told her, “Charisse, can you please take daddy’s underwear off of your head and go put them in the dirty clothes?”

She left the kitchen…but about a minute later walked back in with my undies STILL ON HER HEAD!  (And I think she was singing!)

This caused me to act with a little more urgency…I know she thought what she was doing was cute…but it had already caused me to throw up in my mouth just a little…and I wanted her to STOP IT…

SO…I once again expressed my desire for her to “repent” of “underwear head” and do what I had told her…to which she, once again, walked out of the room as if she intended on doing what I had commanded.

BUT…instead of obeying me she walked into the living room and began to dance…WITH MY UNDERWEAR STILL ON HER HEAD!

I began walking towards her…and my voice became just a touch more elevated (I really do mean a touch…we don’t yell in the Noble house!)  She finally got the point and took my drawers off of her noggin.  I told her to put them away…and though she wasn’t fond of the idea…she obeyed!

I’ve thought about this episode a lot this week and have concluded the following..

#1 – Many times what we see as “fun” and “harmless” our heavenly Father sees as something far worse!

#2 – Just like I didn’t want Charisse to stay in a really nasty situation…our heavenly Father wants for us to repent of sin because He knows the destruction it will eventually bring.

#3 – Just like Charisse, many times we delay obedience because of our perceived enjoyment and our misguided thoughts that God is actually out to ruin our lives.

#4 – The sooner we obey God the sooner we are able to escape what has us blinded!

#5 – The voice of the Father and not our own voice, is the one we should be obsessed with!

#6 – His kindness and love, not His anger and hatred, is the reason He wants the junk out of our lives!

Just some thoughts that God is using my daughter to teach me!

Are You Hungry? | Monday, July 6, 2009

Isaiah 56

God has always had as part of His plan, the redemption of all people.  In Isaiah 56 we see God accepting those that are not a part of Israel, as long as they worship Him and serve Him and love Him.  The same is true today.  That is why evangelism and missions is so important.  God is after the hearts of everyone not currently loving, serving and worshipping Him.  He is pursuing them with the deep desire to see them turn and love, worship and serve Him.

Are You Hungry? | Friday, July 3, 2009

Isaiah 55:11-13

As Isaiah wraps up this chapter, God’s words are full of life and celebration.  He says, “You will go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”  Why will this be?  Because God will deliver.  Because He keeps His promises and His word.  And because of that, we can celebrate!  And we celebrate as we give God glory.  Verse 13 says, “This will be for the LORD’s renown.”  It is all about God.