Spirit Principles for Healing

I recently had a discussion with one of my sisters about forgiveness. I was explaining how forgiveness is very different from what most of us have assumed it is most of our life. After I described my new perception of this I have learned in the past few years, she said it sounded a lot like something called Ho'oponopono. She sent me some web links describing this theory and I found them quite fascinating.

Even though this has very strong New Age elements mixed in with it, it also appears to have some strong threads of real truth that are not yet clear to most Christians. In short, it focuses on looking within one's self to connect and resolve the evil within that resonates with other peoples sins to accomplish healing in someone else vicariously, even without their permission or knowledge.

The normal skepticism which this kind of thinking usually produces in reactive Christians alerts me to my own weakness toward criticism which produces bitterness in my spirit. I am trying to move the other direction, away from continued infections of bitterness, so I want to remain open-minded about this and try to see it from God's perspective while not immersing myself into potential deception. Since I do not have the wisdom to know what may be enchanted ground I need to stay very close to God and listen to the guidance of His Spirit in this matter. At the same time, I do not want to be deceived by the spirit of pride and fear that will demand that I only believe what has already been established in religious circles as truth and can be easily proof-texted.

What I am seeing is a strong parallel to the largely misunderstood principle of intercessory prayer. I believe very few people have much of any understanding at all of the principles behind this practice and because of that most of religion is largely powerless today. But I also sense a drawing of the Spirit to look deeper into this issue and suspend the natural skepticism that tends to surface that discredits anything I do not already understand or believe. I believe that there could be enormous potential to radically change the world around us in unexpected ways if we would be willing to grasp a knowledge of unused “laws” or principles of truth that are mostly underutilized up to this point. And just because these principles are demonstrated by those who have false notions about God or spirituality does not mean that this truth is somehow tainted and useless for Christians to employ.

I sense that there are supernatural principles that can be highly effective and that God desires us to tap into that we are largely afraid to approach because possibly other religions have utilized them and packaged them in false contexts. Just because New Age and Eastern religions have false notions about God and our relationship to Him does not mean that they may not have better understanding of certain principles of spirituality that are effective even in the context of error. A counterfeit always betrays the fact that there is a true that is likely even more powerful and effective if placed in the context of other truths. This is seen all the time throughout the various Christian denominations and their partial teachings of true and false doctrines. Just because they have false views about certain things they refuse to acknowledge does not mean that the true things they teach and practice are no longer true or effective.

It is like this. If a person believes in gravity because it is so self-evident that it is hard to miss, but refuses to believe in the principles of aerodynamics, that person may never be able to fly. But that unbelief still does not discredit the principle of gravity that they also believe and obey. Just because they happen to believe that gravity overrules the possibility of flight does not make it so, it only deprives them of great potential for expansion of their life and possibilities.

Now if they start to open their mind and explore the possibilities that there may be other principles that at first seem contradictory to gravity, they may be viewed by people around them as heretics for questioning long-established beliefs and traditions. They may be viewed as trying to discount or tear down what is long-established and obvious truth and they may be marginalized and scorned and even persecuted for daring to question traditional truth. But in the end it will be seen that they are not really trying to overthrow the existence of the truth about gravity but are trying to think outside the box and discover other principles that up to that point were not nearly so self-evident to earth-bound creatures who had never soared above the earth.

In retrospect these radical thinkers who were considered dangerous renegades and rebellious heretics by many of their peers are viewed as pioneers or heroes of the faith. Isn't it strange how dramatically our opinions can change and how easily we forget the great resistance of society to these insistent questioners who refused to be satisfied with life and truth as perceived by the world around them. Because of this great change in perspective and our tendency to glamorize the lives of these free-thinkers, we set ourselves up to once again create another atmosphere of intimidation to anyone who wants to look into the possibility of yet more discoveries and insights. Our fear of change is usually greater than our hunger for growth.

At the same time, it is part of wisdom to not cast off all that has been learned in the past as irrelevant and no longer applicable. The laws of aerodynamics do not nullify or discount the law of gravity. The various laws are designed in creation to work together in perfect complimentary ways. And for those willing to experiment and take careful risks based on reasonable evidence and intuitions and an understanding of foundational principles of reality, it will be seen that all the “laws” of creation are designed to be in perfect and harmonious balance. The enormous powers set up in all the universe are delicately balanced, and when they are all obeyed and respected and utilized correctly life has nearly unlimited possibilities. It is when we flaunt some laws, either intentionally or ignorantly, that other natural laws become unbalanced and negative results naturally ensue.

These negative results to ignoring certain principles and thus throwing the powers that make up reality as we know it out of balance is the effects of what we call sin. These effects are often viewed incorrectly as punishments. Sin is at its core trying to define reality in ways that are not accurate which inevitably will unbalance the natural powers of true reality that was established by God in His creation of all things. Just as trying to jump off a high cliff in faith that somehow faith itself will cause me to fly will not suspend the law of gravity no matter how much I believe otherwise. What I need to “overcome” gravity is not a suspension of the law of gravity but a knowledge and proper application of other forces that work in cooperation with gravity to produce safe flight. Successful flight is learning to perfectly balance all of the principles that seem to oppose each other but are actually meant to make life more exciting and thrilling and wholesome.

The very same principle is true in spiritual matters. The realm of the spirit is not separate and disconnected from the physical realm as many try to insinuate. Spiritual realities are not fictional or inventions of our emotions as many people have come to assume, though much of organized religion does fit this description. Spiritual things simply mean that they primarily relate to things of the spirit, both our spirit and spirits that we term supernatural. We call them supernatural because we don't understand them very well and are largely unaware of the principles or “laws” that govern that part of our existence that parallels the more obvious (to us) principles in existence that govern our physical realm.

Many people refuse to even believe that they have a spirit, or if they do they have little accurate knowledge as to how it operates or how they are to relate to it correctly. I know for myself that I was consciously oblivious to the existence of my own spirit until a few years ago when someone systematically explained it from the Bible in a lecture and I was very surprised to realize that it was true. From that point on I began to focus more attention on trying to become aware of my own spirit and trying to learn to detect what it was doing or feeling or whatever it does. Over the years my awareness of my own spirit has increased, though I know I am only just beginning. But in the process I have also realized that my spirit is the primary receiver for communications from God to my heart and I have been immensely handicapped all of my life because of my ignorance about my own spirit.

Unfortunately we have come to idolize science so much that we are very reluctant to believe anything that cannot be proven scientifically. But science has been deliberately restricted to the physical realm of existence and usually is only considered credible if it never goes beyond that boundary. But just because we have artificially created a very small box around what we allow science to work on does not mean there is no other arena of existence. And even more important, the methods of skepticism that underly most of science to discover truth are themselves a hindrance to understanding the things of the spirit. We too often turn science into a false god that we worship and depend on as our source for truth.

Most importantly though, if we try to learn anything, whether in science or in spiritual things without a proper perspective of what constitutes reality we are destined to always arrive at false conclusions just because we are basing our assumptions on false premises to start with. If in problem solving you allow a false assumption to become part of the foundation for the reasoning used to arrive at your conclusions, the conclusions will always be unsteady due to the weakness of the error underlying everything else. This is why it is so important to be willing to constantly challenge and reexamine our foundations and ferret out the weakness and faulty assumptions from our past and replace them with more stable truths that interlock more perfectly with all other truths. Truth is never afraid of repeated and intense examination. It only becomes stronger from the experience.

But if we try to maintain that truth is only what we can perceive with our own reasoning or from scientific methods of discovery, then we cut ourselves off from the only Source of real truth who is the God who set everything up to start with. If we do not have a healthy understanding of the bigger picture of the creation of the universe and the great Battle that is going on between God and ex-Lucifer, then we will inevitably have false assumptions integrated into the foundations of our philosophy of existence and we will be very unstable when true reality becomes more obvious.

Speaking of examining my foundation – I read a devotional this morning that exposed a whole nest of hot-buttons in my own foundation I had completely forgotten about. It seems that the more aware and willing I am to face and resolve my roots of bitterness the more God is beginning to show me places where those roots are attached deep within my memories. As I read the words that used to be an enforced part of my life in my early years I literally felt a ball of cold heat in the center of my chest. I became aware that this was one of the pockets that may have been linked with much of my early rebellion that still lies latent within my soul needing to be healed. But the healing is going to have to be accomplished using quite different methods than the confrontational, forceful methods attempted by my father and my teachers back then.

Is uncovering this pocket of pain and emotional cancer setting me free from it instantly? No, not really. But I am very glad to have it exposed and I immediately prayed for God to expose it even more thoroughly and bring healing and truth to this painful pocket of bitterness in my past. I was completely unaware that this place in me even existed until I read this this morning that made me aware of it. I know that this is the kind of thing that is becoming more common for me – a God-arranged encounter with my past that gives me opportunity to have more healing and more repair to my inner circuits to prepare me for what is ahead.

The second devotional book I read also stimulated my thinking and gave me better insights on certain things I have been discovering over the past few years. It talked about the seal of God and discussed several applications of how the word seal is applied in Scriptures. What occurred to me was the exciting fact that in preparation for the final exposure to the glory of God, it is critical that I be sealed with a perfectly cleansed atmosphere inside like a light bulb is sealed with an internal vacuum so that when the power is applied I will be able to glow perfectly with glory and not burn out quickly. That gives me a whole new view of the sealing referred to in the book of Revelation.

Ask - Beg!

I don't know exactly how many years I have been reading Oswald's devotional book but this morning I think I got one of his points for the first time. Somehow before it slipped past me. Maybe the context of my life and the experience of people around me caused me to perceive it today.

Ask if you have not Received. There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of moral poverty? “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...,” but be sure that you do lack wisdom. You cannot bring yourself up against Reality when you like. The next best thing to do if you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit on the word of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the One Who makes real in you all that Jesus did for you.

This reminds me of several things that have become high in my attention over the past few years. “A sense of unreality” is something that haunts me on a regular basis and makes me more intense to discover and experience true reality. I have come to realize that nearly all of the atmosphere around me mentally and spiritually is geared to deceiving me and creating a false reality that is then enforced by the arbitrary forms of control and government that we are so familiar with. This is true in society, in church and in families. But the reality in heaven and that the rest of the universe lives in is so much different. That is the real reality that Jesus came to reveal and attract us to when He crashed into our realm of false “reality” to shatter our paradigms and challenge our assumptions.

But because this reality is out of our natural reach, the point is well made that we cannot bring ourselves up against Reality when we like. We cannot repent just whenever we get around to it. It is a gift from God induced by His kindness and we have to act on it, respond to it while we are in its presence and our hearts are conscious of it. It is the function of the Holy Spirit to draw our minds and hearts into this realm of true reality.

“For every one that asketh receiveth.” This does not mean you will not get if you do not ask (cf. Matt. 5:45), but until you get to the point of asking you won't receive from God. To receive means you have come into the relationship of a child of God, and now you perceive with intelligent and moral appreciation and spiritual understanding that these things come from God.

This is the part that I have missed every time before. It suddenly hit me forcefully this time the difference between getting what I ask for in prayer and receiving it. That may seem obvious after it is noted, but I now see there is a world of difference between getting something and receiving it, with lots of implications in all kinds of other areas of my life. I can get lots of things and answers to prayer and problems solved and..., but to receive is much more a spirit, an attitude, a distinct shift in thinking and relationship. To receive is to make a deliberate choice to enter into a submissive, appreciative and bonding relationship with the one I receive from. It puts more of my focus on my attitude toward the giver instead of my focusing on what I am getting. It implies that receiving something draws my attention to the nature and character and the reasons of the one that has a desire for this relationship with me, whereas just getting something from someone often means that I am focused on what I want, what I crave – a selfish orientation of thinking and way of life.

Until I come to the place where I intentionally enter into a spirit of deliberate receiving of what God has for me I will be more interested in asking for what I am focused on, what I think I need, rather than trusting Him to reveal to me and provide for me what would really satisfy and that I may likely know nothing about yet.

This shift in focus I believe is the transition in my relationship with God from an external-oriented, self-focused one to engaging my heart and becoming vulnerable with Him. It is entering more into the life of faith which is a heart-response to One who is worthy of being trusted because of His nature and character, not so much because of my perception of circumstances attributed to or blamed on Him.

“If any of you lack wisdom....” If you realize you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality; do not put your reasonable blinkers on again. “Ask” means beg. Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are like that spiritually. We will never receive if we ask with an end in view; if we ask, not out of our poverty but out of our lust. A pauper does not ask from any other reason than the abject panging condition of his poverty; he is not ashamed to beg. –– Blessed are the paupers in spirit. (MUHH 6/9)

I really like the emphasis he put on “beg”. It is an indication of an intense desire that involves my passion to a level I have never gone before. Passion can be extracted from our hearts in times of extreme desperation. I believe that is why God allows us to get into circumstances that put great pressure on us, not to hurt us though it feels very painful, but to get us in touch with our real heart and to awaken the passion that He implanted in there originally. Passion is heart-stuff and I believe God is primarily heart-oriented. This is often very foreign and frightening to us because we relate religion mostly to head knowledge and external performance. But until I allow my heart to awaken and become aflame with a passion to know God intimately and live in His presence, I will continue to feel dissatisfied and hungry and all the other symptoms of a starving heart.

When I come into the awareness of my desperate need and poverty of spirit, and give up on my own resources and solutions and fixes; when I find myself in the condition of the people described in Jesus' Blessings on the Mount in Matthew 5. Then I can enter into reality, I can beg unashamedly and I can enter into the attitude of a receiver which is really the attitude of a lover.

I like the warning that Chambers gives here, ”do not put your reasonable blinkers on again.” I am so in the habit of my old mindset that I must be cautious about falling back into old patterns of relating. When my passion for God makes me squirm with embarrassment about what people will think about me, or my failures cause me to doubt the reality or effectiveness of God's work in me, I must remember to ask God who I really am, to receive His answer in my soul and then live in that context. I cannot trust in my old rules of reason that set off flashing blinkers of warning against my new ways of thinking or lifestyle. I have to keep my mind and heart free of the lies that sabotage what God is doing in me and trust Him to protect and guide me through the confusion and imbalance that I feel during this time of transition.

God, teach me more how to live from my heart and to live in the attitude of a real receiver. This is a real weak area of my character, but you are faithful and will finish what you have started in my life. Thank-you so much for your kindness, your tolerance and your patience with me. Show me today how to live and seek glory, honor and genuine reality in your presence.

Practice Time

Well I certainly don't plan these kinds of experiences but I'm not surprised that God sends them along when they happen. After spending the time thinking through the issues about will power, confessing the truth about our real identity and the effects and uses of negative thinking over the past couple days, I found myself right in the middle of a practice session facing the choice of whether or not I was willing to actually put into practice what I have been putting in print. It is always much easier to profess things and talk about them than it is to actualize them while in a bad mood.

And a bad mood was what I was in for sure. It came on gradually over about an hour or so as I struggled to get a lawn mower to work among other frustrations and irritations. Then as I began to mow my daughter's lawn my mind went to the situation last time it got mowed and I plunged into an avalanche of negative emotions mixed with bitterness, rebellion and anger. It was all very familiar and this time I sort of observed myself objectively while the emotions and thoughts swirled around in my mind. I even thought about how I would document it once it was over but that seemed pretty crass at the time. I knew I had much more important issues to deal with at the heart level and I didn't need my mind busy taking notes for another post.

As I pushed the mower around the yard I began to indulge in accelerating scenarios of revenge that were fast spiraling into pretty nasty scenes in my mind. As I realized that I was just as responsible for these imaginings as if I had really carried them out and my sense of conviction began to equal my sense of injustice and anger and I had to decide if I was going to continue to indulge my lower passions or whether I would ask God to lift me out of this familiar cycle of self-pity and rebellion. Being reminded of the things I had written only very shortly before and remembering the warm intimacy that I had felt with God earlier that morning, I decided to respond to the kindness of God and choose repentance, whatever that would involve.

My feelings were not in any mood for that however, and I had to make some strong choices one by one to step away from them and deliberately ask God to take me to the next step. I remembered writing about confessing the truth about my true identity when in this kind of situation and tried to imagine what that meant in the current moment. I decided to give it a try. If it doesn't work for me then it is totally hypocritical to write about it for others to read and try.

Now I suppose I should put in a parenthetical note for someone wondering what in the world would get me so upset about just mowing a lawn. Well, mowing the lawn was not the upsetting part at all for me. It was doing it under threat and duress that was irritating me so much, and that was not coming from my daughter but from the city who had imposed their sovereign will on this property a couple weeks ago and sent someone to mow the yard without our knowledge or permission. Of course they charged us for the “service” and then slapped a large fine on top of that. Anyone who knows me personally will know that that kind of treatment is one of the most effective ways to trip my triggers that can be done. I will not go into much background on this but just leave it there for a little context.

Anyway, as my emotions had quickly elevated to a pretty intense state I realized that I was again at a moment of opportunity or crisis – that depending on what I made of it. If I sidestepped the opportunity to grow I would be back groveling in my old habits and regrets and have to come back to meet this again. If I faced it I would be entering into new territory and I didn't know where that would take me or what it would look like. I just had to take one little step at a time and ask God to carry me to the next step.

So I am supposed to declare my true identity. What does that mean, really? I am to say the opposite of what I am feeling and thinking right now even though it doesn't sound or feel true at all. But I can enlist my heart to embrace it anyway, so I give it a try. “I am a forgiving person, a child of God full of love and kindness.”

That didn't feel very genuine but I stuck with it and kept pressing on, asking for more of God's Spirit to keep me at it and push back against all of my anger and evil desires toward the “authorities” who had gotten me so riled up before. I began to realize that I was not just feeling hatred toward them but according to Jesus' words I had murder in my heart. I had to take ownership of this truth and admit it to God and to myself before I could be free of it. I then remembered what I had learned and shared about starting out our prayers in the negative to engage the heart before I could move into the positive. “So that's it, Lord! You are giving me a practice session to see if I am willing to be serious about what I have been writing lately, aren't you? Well I don't like it very much, but I am sure I need it anyway.”

I confessed my negative emotions and feelings to God and continued to intentionally focus on what God wanted me to say about myself and about Him. As I began to thank Him for His positive characteristics and claim them for myself through His grace something began to stir inside of me that was very unfamiliar. I began to feel a little momentum that quickly increased in speed and intensity as I continued to inwardly proclaim the truth about the heart Jesus had given me.

The more I asserted these truths the more they came alive and my anger and bitterness began to melt away like cold frost before a hot wind. The passion of God began to fill my soul and I found myself almost in tears with repentance and joy and wonder at what was taking place. It was not me doing it so much as following the lead of the Spirit and reaping the results in my spirit. I continued to choose to thank God and put away my resentment and more and more my mind began to clear and my spirit began to soften. It was nothing short of a miracle – it was new ground for me and almost felt like walking on water. I had to keep my focus on God or I felt I would easily sink back into my old thoughts and viewpoint.

Halfway through the yard I began wondering when the gas would run out. It only had at best a half a tank when I started and I was sure it would run out before I was finished. I did not have any more gas and would have to go find a can and buy some gas if it ran out. Then I began to wonder if God was stretching the gas just to surprise me and bless me. As the mower continued to run and run I then began to wonder if it would run out just as I finished. I had an ongoing dialog with God as I moved from one part of the lawn to another. It dawned on me that this was much better than the bitter recriminations and unsatisfying scenarios that I had started out with. In fact, I was experiencing for myself the process I had recently wrote about by starting out with negative dialog with God and ending up in praise and gratitude for what He was doing inside of me.

As I finished the yard I couldn't help but look inside the tank to see how much was left. The thought came to my mind that the reason I had not run out even when I was finished was because God not only provides for my needs but is a generous God as well. It is just like Him to do things like that especially when I respond to His promptings and allow Him fuller access into my “space”.

I will give praise to the Lord for his righteousness; I will make a song to the name of the Lord Most High. (Psalms 7:17 BBE)

Good Negative Prayers?

I am thinking that we often begin our prayers to God by expressing the negative feelings of our heart, not so much because they are the best prayers or that God needs to answer them (whatever that might mean) but because it is our way of transitioning from our head to our heart. Effective prayers must come from our heart. Intellectualized prayers are not of much use to man or God, though our churches and lives are filled with them. But what God is most interested in and responds to are prayers that come from deep within our soul. The deeper we are into our heart, the more in touch we are with our real selves when we pray, the easier it is for us to really connect to God and for Him to respond to us.

I was thinking today about what I wrote in my last post about negativity and this idea of negative praying came to my mind. I jotted down the thought some time ago that when we pray our fears we may be worshiping them by reinforcing them instead of God's words about us. But many of the Psalms are quite negative and sometimes even violently so. Was David wrong in penning all this negativity? Or is there something more I need to look at here?

As I thought more about it I realized the importance of praying from the heart and how that often may need to start by learning to be transparently honest about what we are feeling. That very often means telling God how bad we feel or how angry we are or how unfair our situation seems right now. This is very much like many of David's psalms and is our way of getting into our heart instead of just our head initially.

The problem comes, I believe, when we get in the habit of staying there in our negative thoughts and not moving past that to get into God's perspective. While it is very important for us to go into our heart for more effective praying, it is equally important to pay attention to the messages we are giving our heart while still in that “state of mind”. When we fail to move on into the arena of faith and accept the offer of the Spirit to see things from God's perspective, we may then find ourselves reinforcing our negative thought patterns and then planting seeds of darkness that will take root and bear like fruit again. Instead, after expressing our perspective and going into our heart by honest expressions of our emotions, we should then listen and also express God's thoughts and feelings about the situation. When we do that we may find ourselves, like David, more often ending up our prayers as praise sessions and celebrations of God's goodness, faithfulness and lovingkindness instead of limping "help me" prayers.

Maybe that is one reason why reading the Psalms is so effective for overcoming depression and discouragement, because they force us not only to express our anger and frustrations openly but to also take into account God's point of view and begin speaking words of hope and confidence to our heart while it is still wide open before God.

So I believe there is a place for expressing our negative feelings, particularly when talking directly to God in private, personal communion with Him. It is an effective way to allow our heart to be heard and feel safe to be more open and vulnerable as we realize that God is interested and willing to listen to our side of the story. This is true in our relationships and conversations with each other. When we take the time to really listen to someone and acknowledge their feelings or frustrations they are then often much more willing to listen to us as we share our thoughts and suggestions with them. But from the other side, it is important to not short-circuit the relationship by cutting off the discussion before giving the other person a chance to respond after unloading on them when we need to vent.

The same is true when we talk with God. He is certainly big enough and not threatened in the least by any of our venting or outbursts. But we need to equally give Him a chance to bring in His healing and give us the change of vision and heart that will bring us the peace that we so desperately need. This kind of two-directional praying will allow our hearts to grow and thrive and increase our rate of maturing.

This is not to say that all of our prayers need to start out negatively. The key I believe is more about being honest about what is in our heart at the moment than what it is we say. It is just as true that when we are feeling joyful, excited, filled with awe or any other number of human emotions that we should express these spontaneously to God as well. God wants intimacy with us and that means sharing everything with Him in full honesty and transparency. Getting there is the process of Christian growth that we are all going through and the goal is to move up the levels of maturity so that we can not only be closer to God but can be used by Him to nurture and care for the hearts of others who are less able to sense His presence or even trust Him yet.

Am I just trying to justify hanging on to excuses for negative thinking? Or is this something that God accepts or even encourages as part of our growing process? What do you think?

Where to find Jesus' Face

As I lay in bed this morning slowly waking up with various worries and relationships beginning to run through my mind, I started turning them over to God and asking Him questions as I often do early in the day. Memories from last night's mens group, my transmission that I very well might have damaged trying to drag 2 tons of manure in a trailer into my garden with my van, the challenge of preparing my heart and mind for the upcoming Blessing event, how to get my heart to open more toward my wife and kids.... The transmission problem (not the one currently being installed in my daughter's car) really began to weigh me down with familiar feelings of panic. After being suckered into self-deprecation and false feelings of guilt for awhile, I finally remembered that God was not taken by surprise by this development nor is He upset with me as my feelings (or false gods) may suggest. But to have any peace I will need to come into His presence with my problem and stay there long enough to let it go and trust Him with it. I reminded Him immediately that He has indicated that nothing that in any way disturbs my peace is too small for Him to notice, and this definitely affects my peace. I began praying for heaven's perspective on this issue and for help to pry my mental fingers off this problem so He could take ownership of it. I also began praying for the eyes of heaven to see differently each person that was coming through my consciousness. I began rehearsing my usual petitions - to show me His face and to cause me to die to self and be crucified with Christ. I try to understand a little better what that means for me each time I pray it so it does not slip into another habit of mindless repetitions. When I sincerely asked God to come and live in my heart today, I suddenly was surprised by a revelation into my heart that fully woke me up and got me excited. We have been instructed to seek God's face - that is His desire for us. I have also been learning the importance of living from the heart and have been making baby steps into that experience over the past few years. But the two ideas suddenly met each other in a way I had not seen before. If I ask Jesus to live in my heart and He takes me up on the offer, then maybe I need to learn to see my heart more clearly if I want to see His face better. For if indeed He is living there, then it only makes sense that I might very well be able to see His face there, or at least a portion of His face that is uniquely shaped to reveal and energize my true identity. As I pondered this insight I also realized that the more I learn to honestly live from my heart and recognize His face there, the more capacity I will develop to perceive and see into other people's hearts. And if the face of God is only seen through the pinhole of our hearts uniquely synchronized to satisfy our deepest longings and desires, then the more I look at other people's hearts along with my own the broader and bigger will become the outline of His face. It sort of resonates with the old Indian story of the blind men and the elephant who all could only perceive and report "truth" from their very limited yet somewhat accurate perspective. None of them were completely wrong, but to know the real truth about the elephant they had to be willing to think beyond their narrow field of input. This truth reinforced my need to continue to learn to live in and from my heart even more. And as I increase my hear-awareness and capacity, the result will be an ever-increasing ability to observe, connect and care for others hearts as my picture of God continues to expand. The gifts to the church in 1 Corinthians are really like pixels on a giant screen that when seen together dynamically reveal the movie picture of God in action and a little bit of His immense passion. Then God reminded me what happened yesterday with my van when it wouldn't start (again) in the parking lot at the Post Office. I had crawled underneath to tap on the starter which had always worked before but not this time. I then solicited a passerby to try to start it while I lay underneath beating on it but to no avail. As I noticed my frustration began to rise I began praying and wondering what God might have in this experience that I would later look back on and appreciate. So I decided not to get worked up about it so I wouldn't have all that unnecessary fretting to feel ashamed of later. I called a friend and he suggested trying to jump straight from the battery to the starter. I had already checked the batter connections and had even tried to jump the relay but with no results. So I crawled back under the van with a paper towel to clean off the starter connections and see what my options were. As I wiped off the starter wires I noticed with some concern that there was an unusual amount of fluid clinging to the bottom of the oil pan and transmission. I wasn't sure where it was coming from, but I carefully looked it over for a minute storing it in my memory for further analysis. Then I also noticed that a small wire had come loose while I was wiping off the starter. When I tried to re-attach it, it was still very loose. At that point I realized that I might have discovered the root problem of the starter occasionally failing, though I was not yet sure. i retrieved some pliers from inside the van and slid back under to tighten up the spade connecter so it would grip better and the reconnected it. Sure enough, when I tried to start the engine this time I was successful. I then had to resist the urge to get upset over the fact that I had paid to have a new starter installed about a year ago for this very same symptom and had still experienced the same problem shortly afterward. So why did the Lord remind me of this incident this morning? I began to accept that, though indeed I may have damaged my transmission trying to haul fertilizer into my harden, God was not holding that over my head like I am used to doing to feeling. Instead, He had used the ploy of getting my under my van to fix my starter to alert me that I needed to be aware of a potential leak before even more damage might occur like what happened with my daughter's car that we now have to majorly repair. For God, transmission problems - which really triggers fears about lack of money in my natural heart - are not a problem at all like I am used to feeling. I need to see this through the eyes of heaven instead of the eyes of fear. I must trust Him with all of my problems, all of my finances, all of my relationships. When I step over into living in true reality I will be empowered to experience "trials" and difficulties as really being exciting opportunities for god to further reveal Himself to me. "Brethren, count it all joy when....." Jesus, show me Your face, both inside my heart and in the hearts of those around me - and very soon face to face without any distorting barriers between us.

Intercession

Again, this morning's reading in My Utmost is a fresh revelation and a conviction. It defines intercessory prayer in a whole new light that makes so much more sense than all the postulations of preachers and teachers for decades. I, like so many others, have secretly struggled with the “practice” of prayer for most of my life. For many years it was somewhat more of an obligation and a duty more than anything else.

Much of what is taught about prayer seems to be based on “formula thinking”. We often think that people who pray a lot are more religious than others and that may be true. But again, I believe there is a vast difference between religion and spirituality. As Oswald Chambers states in this passage, “God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer”.

I found his definition of “intercession” to be most helpful in restructuring my opinions about effective prayer. “Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Phil. 2:5).” This really deflates the idea of imploring God to do something we want Him to do for another person or for a situation. It really takes us back to a reevaluation of what the Great Controversy is all about – saving us for heaven or vindicating the truth about what God is really like. In harmony with the first vein the passage goes on to say, “Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work.... When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don't worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.”

I need to be reminded of this principle often. It is very easy for me to feel hardened, especially toward certain people. And is this statement holds true, that is simply an indicator that, despite all my profession or assumptions about my relationship with God, in reality my heart must be much harder against God than I can perceive myself.

The last paragraph is a needed rebuke for my inherited penchant toward criticism of others in the church. “Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession....” (My Utmost for His Highest 3/30 edited version)

I want to have the mind of Christ as it is my privilege and honor to have. I want to have the eyes of heaven to see people the way God sees them, to have compassion for the pain they try to hide inside, to have a spirit of instant forgiveness when they attack me in their pain, to have the unconditional, accepting love toward others that they have never experienced before and can hardly believe even exists. That will be a supernatural miracle if it is seen coming from this source. But that is what I pray for today. And I am glad you are interceding for me too.

Safe for Confiding

I am once again startled at the ways of God in my mind. Even though this happens almost on a regular basis it still impresses me with the way God chooses to relate to me sometimes. Once again this morning as I was trying to read at the beginning of my intimate time with God I felt an almost overwhelming compulsion to write down the thoughts springing up in my mind. The main reason I usually go ahead and get them written down, at least in brief notes until I have more time to expand on them, is because if I don't capture them immediately they will have evaporated when I go to look for them later.

Sometimes I am tempted to view these urges as distractions that are meant to get me off track or to get focused on myself more than on God. I do have to be careful about that and for that reason I sometimes simply try to capture the essence of what I am thinking until later. But then it is sometimes difficult when later comes to recapture the fullness of what was originally in my heart and I have to wait until it comes around again and I feel the inspiration of the idea so I can explore it again.

I do want to make sure that I spend some time listening carefully for any messages or impressions from God in the context of meditating in the Bible. But occasionally I am so carried away in trying to write out what seems to be pouring into my mind that I run out of time. At these times I am tempted to feel guilty for not finishing my usual routine, but then I am reminded that the routine itself is not to become my god, but my attention and value needs to be constantly directed toward knowing and experiencing God Himself; and whatever means He may choose to reach my soul I need to be open to relating to.

Yes, the issue of time can be a sticky one as well. It comes down to the issue of how to set priorities and what that reflects about my big picture. I don't want to live in constant guilt or become unbalanced in my life, but I have to constantly re-evaluate what is most important and be willing to make adjustments as I feel is necessary.

Feeling satisfied that I had written enough to be able to come back after listening to God in various books that I use in the morning, I laid aside the computer and read through the two devotionals that I am using this year. As I finished reading the second one, My Utmost for His Highest, I was once again surprised that the very questions I had just written were directly addressed in today's reading.

Every time this happens I get something like a warm feeling in my heart, a feeling of appreciation, a tangible sense that I am valuable enough to God that He would surprise me this way even though I obviously don't deserve His attention through my own merits. Once again I get to see grace on display and up close.

So here are the questions that I put down before reading this morning. These come on the wake of thoughts discussed both during and after the men's group last night which was very enlightening and stimulating for me.

I don't feel completely safe with anyone.

Maybe we aren't safe for God when He doesn't show up.

What does safe mean?

What happens when we confide when it is not safe?

Why would God not trust His “confiding” to ones who are not safe?

What would “safe” look like for me?

What would “safe” look like for God? How can I find out?

Why do we want to confide in another?

Why do we want to be confided in?

What can I do or be to make myself safe for God to confide in and trust?

Why do I want to be that person?

What would it take for me to really be able to confide in God, to totally abandon myself to Him?

What does this text mean and does it have anything to do with this subject?

“But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25)

The thoughts presented in My Utmost today are phrase by phrase exposition on Galatians 2:20. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

The last paragraph is what really got my attention. “'And the life which I now live in the flesh...,' not the life which I long to live and pray to live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh, the life which men can see, 'I live by the faith of the Son of God.' This faith is not Paul's faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith that the Son of God has imparted to him – 'the faith of the Son of God.' It is no longer faith in faith, but faith which has overleapt all conscious bounds, the identical faith of the Son of God.”

Vacuum Cleaner Prayers

I was thinking about the way we pray today as I was praying for a couple people close to me that I believed were likely in a situation that would create potential for very intense temptation. The thought came to me that too often our prayers devolve into simply praying our fears. How often I hear prayers that primarily beg God to get rid of the negative things we don't want in our life and don't do much more. How many times have I found myself praying that way. “Oh God, please deliver me from this temptation. Please take away this bad feeling. Please fix my financial problem. Please protect me from evil and bad things happening to me....”

Focusing primarily on my fears can actually have the unintended effect of making those fears my gods and empowering them instead of overcoming and eliminating them. One of the enemy's greatest weapons against us is fear, so when we allow our imagination to obsess with those fears, even in our prayers to God, the fears become bigger to us than God is and the fears and objects of those fears are literally turned into gods that gain control over our lives. We then live in reference to those fears and make our decisions and goals in relationship to them instead of orienting our life using God as the solid source of reliable reference. It is very much like allowing a compass needle to be distracted by a nearby magnetic object that cause it to produce false readings instead of referencing the true mother-lode magnetic North.

It is true that confession is an important aspect of prayer. But it is also important to understand what confession really is and what it isn't. The literal meaning for the word confession is simply “to agree with”. When we are convicted of something wrong in our soul and life we simple agree with God's Spirit and His assessment of that fact about us. That is confession. But when we attempt to preempt the Holy Spirit or replace its role in our life by trying to dredge up more and more evil that may be lurking within us instead of moving on to growth and forgiveness and following the leading of the Spirit, we fall into a trap of negative prayer that leaves us nearly powerless and makes a mockery of the power of God to effect change in our lives and those we are praying for.

An examination of some of the powerful prayers recorded in the Bible shows that they often, if not always, started with confession. But confession also involves not only agreeing with God about sin but agreeing with God about God. Really, effective prayer and confession is simply a reality check. When you want to go on a trip using a map, you first have to know where you are on the map before you can figure out how to get to someplace else. Confession is perceiving and acknowledging where I am so I can then make definite plans and progress toward where God wants me to go.

I believe that many of our prayers are like vacuum cleaners. We spend a great deal of energy and focus on trying to get evil and discomfort out of our lives but we do not ask God for the good things that we need and that He desires for us. “"Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept (vacuumed), and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45 NAS95)

Notice that it is not wrong to clean and sweep your soul-house. It is very important to participate in the process of cleansing, healing and restoration to wholeness. But an empty house can also become an open invitation for druggies, pimps and others such characters if it is not filled up with good things and good people.

As I was praying for my friends yesterday and thinking about this, I began to reorient my prayers to ask God not so much for protection and deliverance from temptation for them, but more for good thoughts implanted in their minds, for blessings to fall on them and for them to inexplicably fell urges toward goodness and love and purity. I asked that God glorify His name and reputation in their experience and that growth and good lessons will emerge from whatever takes place in their experience. As I chose to pray in this (unfamiliar) way I found my own feelings toward them and my fears melting away in the atmosphere of praise and the positive presence of God. I realized that even if they were overcome by temptation that God has the amazing ability to bring more good out of bad situations than we can imagine if He is just given permission by His people on earth.

I have a great deal to learn about this, but I am glad that I am starting to be more aware. There are many very powerful things we can do that are easily within our reach but are often kept just outside of our awareness because of our past conditioning. Maturing and growing involves bringing these things into our lives and practicing them by choice until they become more integrated into our thinking and living.

Jesus Hears Every Prayer

As I opened the back door with my arms full of boxes late on a Thursday night, I noticed all three of our cats break for freedom and bolt into the yard to explore the fresh scents of evening. This is to be expected of them after being in the house alone for some time. They usually come back after an hour or two but once in a while they stay out overnight which concerns my wife. Living in town is not the safest place for house cats to roam around outside, especially if they are missing their front claws which is the case for George, our orange and white Mr. Personality who likes to throw his weight around without realizing that he has little with which to defend himself. I was a little concerned about him being out this late but assumed he would show up later if not in the morning. After all, it was very difficult to catch him if he decided he was not ready to come in, and besides, I had many things to do before retiring for the night.

My work had been heavy lately and somewhat draining at times. Running our own business from home and acting as manager involved with hundreds of people can take its toll emotionally and spiritually. I have learned to look forward to Sabbath with a relish I never had before. It is a time carved out in the week for me to regain perspective, refocus my priorities and recharge my energy. It is also a complete, uninterrupted block of time to deepen my new and growing friendship with God.

This is not to say I have just become an Adventist. I was “born and raised” an Adventist - four generations worth if we count correctly. But my view of what God is like and what He thought about me was probably reflective of the times in which I grew up. When I finally came to admit the truth, I found I was not only afraid of God but didn’t really like Him very much either. Maybe I felt the feeling was mutual, at least about the liking part. In the last three years God began breaking down my misconceptions and defenses. He has propelled me into an exciting new era of my life where I am discovering the truth about Him to replace the darkness of tradition.

The thought was beginning to haunt me as I neared the end of this week that even though I prayed often and tried to keep God in my thoughts and in my business, somehow I wasn’t connecting as well as maybe I should. I believe there is nothing wrong with being very busy or being very successful, though I have not always felt this way. But I seemed a little out of balance and I looked forward to Friday night to have more time to examine this state of affairs.

Two weeks previous to this my wife and I traveled to my Alma Mater for Alumni weekend in Tennessee. I had been asked to coordinate Sabbath vespers which would be mostly music. Being the procrastinator that I am I had very little lined up when we arrived. Fortunately the Lord provided and with several last-minute volunteering friends the program was accomplished with blessings from above. I had decided to use this occasion to premier a new song written by our beloved organist, Dr. James North. This song had never been used in public before and I felt this weekend would be a special time to share it with so many that I consider to be my family.

Over a year ago I had walked into our church on Sabbath afternoon and overheard Dr. North playing this piece for a friend. I could hear a beautiful harmony part in my head as I listened to him sing and I knew I just had to get a copy of the music. He graciously allowed me to make a copy from his handwritten music and I took it home and began working on my own interpretation of the music. Working on my computer editing the music and text I began to find the song moving through my thoughts during my workdays.

Jesus hears every prayer

from everyone everywhere

don’t hide from Him

don’t turn aside from Him.

Friday morning found no George at the door waiting to come in. It had been a very chilly night and we began to become more concerned. I still believed he would show up soon and I had a lot of work to do. We spent the day looking out the doors and windows regularly but there was no George to be seen. I began to pray more earnestly about this situation. I have always believed it was silly to wait until everything else was tried before praying and this was no different. However, I questioned how effective my prayers might be given the uneasy feelings I had been experiencing about my relationship with God the last week or so. Was I close enough to Him to have my prayers answered? Was that the wrong question to ask? Was this happening because I had gotten out of focus or was that idea just a legacy of tradition that needed to be challenged?

When you laugh, when you cry,

Jesus understands your deepest sigh,

just tell Him all.

By the end of the day on Friday I was in full attention. Inwardly I found myself checking out all the forms of prayer and examining their value. You know - pleading, begging, making deals (not necessarily a good idea), or resignation. I found emotions of fear, doubt, depression, and desperation circling around my mind. Some of these were the same issues I was dealing with in my changing view of God’s personality. Over the last two years I had learned that God really likes me, not just that He loved me. That may sound crazy but some of you may know what I mean. I had been taught to say all the right answers since I was a wee lad, but to get emotional and personal with God as a friend, a daddy, a lover, a boss, a counselor, this was very different from the religion I had always known. God is now involved in all areas of my life and exposes all kinds of nasty things in me that He wants to change. I also believe more than theoretically that God is interested in the little things as well. “Nothing that in any way concerns our happiness is too small for Him to notice.”

So was God concerned about George out there without food or claws? Maybe he was chased by dogs and got disoriented and couldn’t find his way home. Fear and depression pressed in on me.

He will bear your every burden

when you’re laden down,

when the blazing sun has parched your

tongue and cooling water can’t be

found, He’ll gently call your name and

you’ve no need to feel ashamed

He’ll fill your thirst.

One of the thoughts that seemed to have validity was that maybe God had some important lessons in this experience for me. If I give in to feelings of fear, doubt, hopelessness and depression I realized that they would cut me off from my communion with my only source of hope. As Sabbath morning dawned with no George in sight the internal struggle continued. I said nothing to my wife about my thoughts but the internal dialog continued. Neither of us had slept well. I dreamed about George returning only to awaken to disappointment. I began to wonder how I would relate to the idea of never seeing him again until heaven (yes, I believe all our pets will be there). This was not my idea of Sabbath joy, but God definitely had my riveted attention now.

Jesus hears every prayer

in tears and grief He is there,

in life or death,

in full or fleeting breath.

Loved ones pass, friends forsake

Jesus never leaves, your grief He’ll take

accept His love.

As visions of finding him dead by the road or worse, never finding him at all forced their way into our imaginations, we prepared for church. A new thought was elbowing its way into the crowd. If succumbing to depression was not the right choice, what was the alternative? Does God want me to believe in His generosity and kindness and honestly express gratitude and praise in the face of apparent bitterness and difficulties? Do I need to choose an attitude of praise before a favorable resolution becomes evident? And what if things don’t work out the way I desire? Can I accept that possibility and still be honest in my gratitude? What about all the other things that I am ignoring and fail to be grateful about that make my life comfortable and pleasant? Life is a choice and I am a product of the choices I have made. But the choices I make now will determine who I will be tomorrow.

He will fold His arms about you

when your heart is crushed,

when life’s sorrows overwhelm

His voice will soothe and all your sobs be

hushed, He’ll gently call your name and

you’ve no need to feel ashamed

He’ll comfort you.

I began to understand that resigning myself to God’s will involves much more than just accepting the possibility of present loss and pain. It also means believing in a kind God who delights in making His people happy - and believing that before any resolution of my present situation. If things don’t go as I wish, it does not change the fact that God’s motives and feelings toward me are still the same. This whole situation was bringing into sharp focus issues that have stirred my mind for months. As the song played through my head again I agreed with the words. YES! God does hear every prayer. God also loves cats. And I need not be ashamed to pray for our cat to come home. And God is the kind of person who would love to do that for us if all things are for our best.

Jesus hears every prayer,

the suckling child’s in His care,

a Father kind,

His heart with yours entwined.

Jesus sees each flower fade,

but for you alone the price He paid,

receive His care.

As we prepared to go to church I thought about spending the time instead looking for our pet. After all, we go to church all the time and this really is urgent business. We don’t get that much from church that I would miss anyway. As I pondered this thought I also wondered what that choice would really mean. How could I ask God to help me find a cat in a large residential area while skipping out on my appointment He had with me. He did write that we should not “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” for the purpose of worship. I realized that my actions would not only display what was in my heart but would reinforce those beliefs as well. I would go to church and leave George in God’s hands and look for him later.

I also realized that if I was to worship in truth and spirit I must give up my fear and depression in exchange for praise and gratitude. I had to make a deliberate choice to think about the beauty of God’s character and let His love comfort and lift me. God is generous and kind. God is thoughtful and intimate. As the beautiful song says, “He’s more, more, so much more, more than we’ll ever know”. In the Sabbath School discussion we talked about suffering and pain and lessons to be learned. But we can also learn lessons in good times as well as through suffering. We can learn lessons of faith while times are easy so we don’t have to learn them under a terrible pressure of discouragement. I began to experience the lifting power of positive thinking. Praise is an antidote for discouragement. Life is a choice. Do I want to grow and mature or do I have to have things go my way? I realized like never before how much I loved my cat, George. He has personality and love. God made him that way to tell us a little bit about Himself. The separation was becoming intense but so was my communication with God.

Sabbath afternoon we decided to do our part. We made posters and put them all around the community. We called the authorities and shelters. While my wife was doing that I decided to work a little more on the music on my office computer. Suddenly Tania appeared in the doorway holding George. He was dirty and hungry but apparently unhurt. He just appeared in the front yard (yea, right). Of course we were both very happy to see him. But ironically this presented another dilemma for me - How does a long-time Adventist celebrate? I’m not just talking about what is just outwardly correct, I’m talking about long pent-up emotions that have never found expression because “celebration” is not in our usable vocabulary except as a derogatory expression. I have been carefully and successfully trained not to celebrate.

As I examined this new challenge my first reaction was to feel guilty for not being grateful enough. But wait a minute. That’s an old trick the serpent has worn out on me long ago. “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” That option is out! God is not looking for guilt trips. He is looking to improve His reputation in the world. That is my understanding of the concept of praying and doing things in Jesus name. That’s what the great controversy is all about.

But my real problem is that while I have nurtured praise and gratitude for many months now internally, I still feel afraid or even ashamed to express it outwardly and publicly. Just what did that shepherd do to celebrate when he found his lost sheep? Just how does one go about properly celebrating the goodness of God, whether or not others think it is correct? I want most of all to be a Christian even above being an Adventist. How does God celebrate? He gave the Israelites some pretty bizarre things to do on their celebration days.

I decided to start by saying something to my wife. “We need to give God credit for bringing back George and not act like it 'just happened.'” That came out sounding more like a stern lecture than praise to God. I felt stupid, but I had tried. I can definitely see there’s a whole lot more learning for me to do. I want to express my feelings but the words get in the way. It seems that when I open my mouth to praise is sounds corny and awkward. But that is better than nothing for a start even if it is pitiful. You know the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

That Sabbath evening our church had a special vespers that I was looking forward to very much. It was gospel music bluegrass style. I have missed hearing this good, wholesome country music for many years and I look forward to opportunities like this. I decided under the present circumstances that not only was I going to go to vespers but I would do so with joy and a new attitude of praise. I would have angels with me and we would lift our hearts in praise and music together for His love and favors. Celebration can be something that brings both God and I great delight. Hey, isn’t there something about the Sabbath that goes like that?

As I further analyzed my feelings and emotions I found that my mind is trained to look for the guilt in what I’m not doing right. My ungratefulness. My unwillingness to praise God before enough other people. My awkwardness. But I refuse to give in to that kind of negative religion that has kept me in it’s slavery for so many years. While it is very true that I am an ungrateful, selfish, conniving hypocrite by habit and full of lust and evil of all sorts, God has chosen to treat me like Jesus deserved to be treated because He was already treated as I deserve to be treated. That means I can ask for favors, not based on my deserving them but only because Jesus deserves them and lets me have them in His place. What an incredible arrangement. I think they call it “good news”.

Another thought began to materialize about this time. While realizing my great difficulty and inhibitions with verbalizing my emotions, I have found that writing is a liberating outlet for my mind. (My hands seem to understand what I mean much better than my mouth.) Since I have to celebrate and praise to be honest with God, maybe I should write out my thoughts and feelings.

Sunday morning. I open my Bible to read and reflect. George lays on the couch blinking at me with loving eyes and melting my emotions (I’m not crazy). Should I hurry and write down my thoughts before too much time passes and I lose them or should I spend time in the Word? Deciding to read and listen to the Spirit first I open to where I left off yesterday. I begin reading 2 Corinthians 1. The words leap off the page and grab me filling my eyes with tears of recognition. Isn’t it incredible when God sometimes speaks directly to you? “God is the Father who is full of mercy. And He is the God of all comfort. He comforts us every time we have trouble, so that we can comfort others when they have trouble. We can comfort them with the same comfort that God gives us.”

It begins to register now. The reason God wants me to share His praise and stories with others is so they can identify with Him too. As I read on a new understanding dawns on me of the meaning of the following verses. I always thought this meant that when God comforts us we can have it to share, to empathize with others in similar circumstances. “We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ. If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we have comfort, then you also have comfort. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings that we have. Our hope for you is strong. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know that you also share in the comfort we receive.”

This is more than just collecting comfort to distribute. In connecting with others in their lives we connect with the body of Christ. We receive comfort, not only directly from God but through the body of Christ on earth as well. By connecting ourselves with others we complete the circuit so the current of comfort can flow through all of us. We receive comfort and encouragement in the same way that we give it - by interlinking with the body and choosing to share with others.

As I sat looking at George enjoying his company and thanking God for the pets He puts in our lives I remembered the reward we had offered for his return. The posters offered $25, and he is worth it and more. I thought of the angel who escorted him home and maybe still standing here waiting for heaven to collect the reward. If a person had brought him back we would have paid them gladly. So much more should I bring a gift with joy to the Lord for giving my cat a royal escort home.

Every path He’ll walk beside you

through temptations vale,

even though your step may falter

He will hold your hand and he’ll

prevail, He’ll gently call your name and

you’ve no need to feel ashamed

He’ll welcome you.

One last thing, and please do not take this impersonally. Yes, I have an awful lot to learn about how to celebrate, but learn I must and will. I’m afraid, I’m inhibited, I’m awkward and without experience. But God accepts it through the merits of Jesus blood anyway. But there’s the other ingredient in celebration that I’m still missing. To truly celebrate involves others. Remember the story of the shepherd? He went and got his friends and neighbors and said, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep”. It wasn’t their sheep that was lost - how could they celebrate with him? I don’t know. Paul told us to laugh with those who laugh and cry with those who cry. There is something to this sharing thing. But if you understand what I’m saying then please celebrate with me the goodness and kindness of God, “for I have found my cat”.

poem from song written by James North