Thursday, May 24, 2012    

Bookend Faith

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

God has slowly, but surely, been working on my walk with Him this week. Specifically, He has been talking to me about my “bookend faith”. Bookend faith is starting and ending my day with God with little in between. It isn’t like I am a total heathen the rest of the day…I am just not living as close to Him as I would like (and as He would like).

I get caught up in work and school and family and the myriad of other “things” going on in my life and He ends up getting squeezed out. It’s not on purpose…I start out with the best of intentions…but it happens. I fail to ask Him about a problem at work. I walk into a meeting and forget to partner with Him. It is subtle, but it makes a huge difference. I am not living in relationship throughout the day.

I know better and God is helping be do better. I desire to walk with Him all day long. I need His Spirit to challenge me and guide me and direct me. I need relationship with Him from beginning to end. So I will start my day with Him and I will end my day with Him. It’s just time to fill in the “in between” a little better than I have been doing lately.

03.03.2009 Faith, Holy Spirit, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

What Should I Read Next?

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

I need some help, so I am coming to you for some assistance. As a regular part of my devotional and spiritual life I like to read. You can see some of my favorite books here. I just finished up two very good books that have helped me grow spiritually…they challenged me and gave me new insights and practices to put into place in my journey with God: Walking with God and Messy Spirituality. I highly recommend them both (and in that order).

My problem? I don’t know what to read next. There are two books I am considering, but they aren’t so much focused on spiritual growth or development (but maybe that’s a good thing?):

  1. Simple Church
  2. unChristian

But I am not convinced that either of these is what I should pick up next. So I open the discussion up to you. What do you recommend that I read next? Leave your thoughts and recommendations in a comment and let’s work toward a final decision. :wink: Now, I have read a lot so don’t be discouraged if I’ve already read your selection…just keep ‘em coming. And thanks in advance for the help!

13.08.2008 Books, Misc Ramblings 11 Comments

Passing the Test

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

My reading this morning from John Eldredge’s Walking with God has struck a cord with me…and has me wrestling with this foundational life question:

What is the right way to look at life?

Before you read on too far, how do you answer this question? How do you look at life? Is it random? Is life hard? Is life supposed to be easy? Is life about getting stuff?

The right answer is that life is supposed to be about God…about loving Him and getting to know Him personally. From the book…

The first and greatest command is to love God with our whole being. Yet, it is rare to find someone who is completely given over to God. And so normal to be surrounded by people who are trying to make life work. We think of the few who are abandoned to God as being sort of odd. The rest of the world—the ones trying to make life work—seem perfectly normal to us (Page 87).

This has me thinking today about how I look at life. Am I just trying to “make it work” or am I truly focused on making God the priority in my life? Am I taking His blessings and making them idols? Do I think of God as “a means to an end rather than the end itself”? John makes the point in this chapter that too often we are looking for God to make us happy…when the only way that ever happens is by us selling out to God. By loving Him with everything that we’ve got.

And God doesn’t often play a passive role in the idolization (is that a word?) of our lives. He desperately wants our hearts to be in the right place, focused on Him. In fact, it’s on this point that God promises to test us:

The Lord your God is testing you to see if you
truly love him with all your heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 13:3, NLT

This leaves one final (and probably obvious) question: Are you and I passing the test? Only you can answer that one for yourself. Me? I’m working on it. :neutral:

03.06.2008 Devotional, God's Love, Spiritual Musings No Comments

What God Wants

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Have you ever asked yourself this question: What does God want from me? I know it sounds a little sacrileges, but I think we all wonder and ask this question in some form or another. Maybe we ask it when life is getting hard (as it often does). Maybe we ask it when our spiritual lives are running a little on the dry side or when we just can’t seem to connect with God like we want to.

So, what does God want from us?

I got the answer (or at least part of the answer anyway) in my reading from the minor prophets this morning:

The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8, NLT

Three things are listed her that God wants from us (or requires of us):

  1. Do what is right
  2. Love mercy
  3. Walk humbly with your God

Seems like a pretty simple list right? I leave that answer up to you. Which of these three do you find most difficult? Which comes most naturally to you? Which one is God speaking to your heart and spirit about as you read this right now? Let God work in your life…you know what He requires, you know what He wants…now let Him do His thing. Walk with Him and learn from Him. It’s hard at times, but all in all it’s a fun journey!

28.05.2008 Devotional, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Walking with God

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Walking with GodI have been reading a new book by John Eldredge called Walking with God for a couple of weeks now. I am only about about 70 pages into the book, but had to write about it before I was anywhere close to being done with it.

Plain and simple: You must read this book…immediately (if not sooner).

This is one of those books that is life changing! It will transform how your think about walking and talking with God. It has challenged me, encouraged me, and brought me to my knees more than once. Eldredge addresses spiritual issues that I have simply either been ignoring or didn’t know how to deal with them.

John is sharing his own struggles and his own walk with God over the course of a year…and it is an encouragement to the reader to see how he deals with daily life and walking with God through the process of life.

Have you ever wondered if (and how) God speaks to us? Ever wished you could have such a close, intimate walk with God that you could have conversations with Him? Ever wondered what it would be like to deal directly with the life wounds you’ve been carrying around for so long you don’t even remember when or where they started?

Then get this book today and start reading it. Don’t read it cover to cover in one sitting…take your time and let God use it to speak to you…and to teach you to listen to His voice. This is almost a money-back-guarantee. If you do buy the book and start reading it, please come back here and share your thoughts and comments on the book and how it is (or isn’t) affecting your spiritual journey.

Here’s the jacket cover description of the book for quick reference:

Walking with God moves through a year in the life of John Eldredge showing and teaching what an intimate relationship with God looks like day to day.

God longs to speak. And it is our right and privilege to hear His voice. Our deepest longings could all find sufficient fulfillment in God’s company. Yet, somehow, the looming discontent of most Christians is a lack of intimacy with God. Walking with God is unlike any book John has written. It moves through a year in his life showing and teaching what conversational intimacy with God can be like. It teaches readers how to make decisions aligning with God’s will, understand barriers and “agreements” keeping them from the life God intends, fight spiritual battles for their own heart and for others, and much more. Ultimately, Walking with God shows readers that walking intimately with Him can be a normal part of the Christian life.

22.05.2008 Books, Review, Spiritual Development No Comments

A God Moment

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

About 10 days ago I blogged about starting to read John Eldridge’s book Walking with God (read the post here). Last night’s reading was about listening to God through His Word. John challenges his readers to ask God what to read…literally. “God what do you want me to read this morning?” This exercise is designed to teach us to ask and to listen.

So I tried it this morning. And the answer I got was Isaiah 52. As I have mentioned in a few recent posts, I have been struggling lately with hearing God’s voice…feeling close to Him…feeling like He hears me and is involved in my life. It’s been nothing short of frustrating and I’ve been asking God to speak to me about it. So what did I get from my reading this morning…the reading He sent me to?

I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power.
Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.
Isaiah 52:6, NLT

I’m sure it means much more to me than it does to anyone else…but that’s only because it’s the word He gave to me today. But He is certainly telling me that He is the One speaking to me. I need to shut out all of the other voices and recognize His voice and His power in my life. Now that’s what I call a “God moment”.

13.05.2008 Devotional, Prayer, Spiritual Musings 2 Comments