I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
Since 2014, my wife Ernie and I have been seeing three or more of the same number in a row — 333, 777, 111, 5555, etc. — several times a day. We see them on digital clocks, signs, television, odometers, phones, computers, and in books and magazines. It happens far too many times to be a coincidence.
We don’t intentionally look for them. We suddenly notice them and are continually surprised to see them. Here’s an article I wrote when we first started seeing them.
We were seeing the same number repeated so many times that we began to try to figure out what it meant. It finally came to us that it means alignment with God. We began to notice that we would see aligned numbers at the very moment we started to feel discouragement, disappointment, or doubt. Now, every time we see three or more numbers aligned, we feel greatly encouraged as if God is telling us, “I’ve got this under control,” and “You’re right where you’re supposed to be
The moment I first felt truly alive was the moment I woke up to the presence, power, and love of the risen Jesus. I was a freshman in college and reluctantly visited an enthusiastic gathering of Jesus Freaks in the lobby of my dorm. They talked about Jesus like He is real, living, and present today. As they did, something happened within me and in a moment, I suddenly became aware of Christ living in and around me. A passionate love for Him filled my heart and I have never been the same. Fervent adoration for Jesus has never left me!
You can’t sleepwalk with Jesus! Wake up and continually let Him demonstrate His presence within, though, and around you.
Stop offering yourself as a slave to impure thoughts. Open your heart to God, surrender to the presence of Christ in you, and be led by His holy thoughts and inner promptings.
Reject the devil’s thoughts of accusation, temptation, intimidation, and frustration. Keep them out of your mind.
Embrace God’s thoughts of revelation and inspiration. Let them be your constant meditation. Fill your heart with adoration of His majesty.
I wrote this poem the night I first encountered the living Jesus:
Today I saw the Son Rising from the water, Now wine, And felt His warmth Caressing me, As I disrobed And submerged.
I wish that Christians wouldn’t ignore Jesus’ commands to love one another and to love your enemies. I wish they would wholeheartedly obey them.
Although Jesus doesn’t approve of many of our behaviors, He loves illegal immigrants, Democrats, Muslims, addicts, Republicans, adulterers, homosexuals, the gender confused, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Arabs, Asians, Africans, Europeans, and any other group of people you can think of. Will you love them too? (John 3:16)
You don’t know the condition of another person’s heart. You see their outward appearance, but you don’t know their heart. You aren’t aware of what’s going on inside them — their feelings, concerns, worries, fears, guilt, pain, discouragement, frustration, struggles, temptations, and desires. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Instead of seeing people as a threat, ask God to help you see all people with love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.
Most people have picked up a water hose, turned on the faucet, and had nothing come out. Then when they have examined the hose they have seen that kinks are shutting down the water flow.
The same thing happens to Christians. Kinks in their heart, mind, and behaviors prevent the Holy Spirit’s living water from flowing within and through them.
Many have no idea of the presence and power of God that they are missing out on. If only they would listen to God and let Him show them how to remove their kinks, they would begin to the experience an inner flow of indescribable joy and incomprehensible peace.
If you’re a Christian, It’s vital to know, God’s released the flow Of Christ inside you, The hope of glory.
Unkink your heart Like a garden hose Until God’s living Water freely flows. Quench not the Spirit.
Humble yourself and remove the kinks in your heart until you experience the ongoing joy of unquenched, kink-free Christianity! The flow of Divine Revelation produces the fruit of spiritual elevation and inner transformation.
The Bible is about spiritual direction from God that leads to intimate, flowing, heart-to-heart connection with God. It’s not primarily about information. It’s about supernatural transformation. Read it regularly with an open, hungry heart.
The “Ize” Have It! Which ize are you looking through? Open your eyes and see supernaturally.
Jesus didn’t die and rise from the dead so people can intellectualize, theorize, and theologize about Him. He lives so people can realize and personalize Him as their absolute Lord and God! (John 20:28)
Don’t just mentalize, analyze, or memorize what the Bible says about Jesus. Arise in the Spirit and “heartorize” it! Ponder it. Let His words burn in your heart. (Colossians 3:2)
Allow Jesus to live in you and direct your thoughts, words, and actions to conform to His will. Let Him energize and spiritualize your life with His presence, power, and love. (Colossians 1:27)
Refuse to systematize and formalize your faith! “Disciple-ize” it! Always be led by Christ’s Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
Avoid being lukewarm. (Revelation 3:15-16) By being a nominal Christian, Sunday morning only, you unintentionally trivialize your faith.
The following garden conversation was a bad start. But you can have a new start!
Three kinds of voices–God’s, the devil’s, and human voices– in a garden conversation changed humanity forever. God told Adam he could eat the fruit of every tree in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. God warned Adam that he would die if he ate from that tree.
Later the devil (disguised as a serpent) asked Eve: “Is it true that God said not to eat from any tree in the garden?”
Eve told the devil that they could eat from all the trees except one, and if they touched it or ate from it, they would die. The devil told Eve that it wasn’t true that they would die. He accused God of having a selfish motive for not wanting Adam and her to eat from that tree.
Eve saw that the fruit from that tree was desirable and she ate it. Later she gave some of its fruit to Adam, and he ate it. Suddenly they realized that they were nude, covered themselves with fig leaves, and hid behind some trees.
Then God asked Adam: “Where are you?”
Adam answered: “I heard you walking in the garden and was afraid because I was nude. That’s why I hid.”
God responded: “And who told you that you are nude? Have you eaten from the tree I told you not to?”
Adam answered by blaming Eve for giving him the fruit. Then God asked Eve: “What have you done?” And Eve blamed the devil.
Now look around in your own heart and look at the evil in the world. Look at the harm that listening to the voice of the devil and of human desires has caused!
Now three voices are speaking in your mind and heart: your own voice, the voice of the devil, and God’s voice. Who are you listening to?
Don’t just memorize the Bible. Arise in the Spirit and “heartorize” it! Ponder it and let God write it on your heart.
If you have two hours a week to spend driving to church, attending the service, and driving home, perhaps those two hours would have more impact on your life if you spent them reading the Bible with an open, humble heart and letting the Holy Spirit speak directly to you as you read. Try it and see.
Alignment with God is not about perfection, but direction. Are you listening to His inner voice and allowing His Spirit to lead you from within? Are you getting closer to Christ and surrendering your will to Him more and more each day? Or are you drifting further away from Him?
What’s the healthiest food for thought? I believe it is whatever is true, honest, just, pure, and lovely. I feed my mind with hope, love, encouragement, kindness, compassion, goodness, and a big helping of joy for dessert.
When people are driven, dominated, and compelled by desires, feelings, and opinions, they ignore conscience, kindness, compassion, and mature thinking. Proudly boasting that they are free, they are slaves blown about by the deceptive winds of whims, emotions, and wants.
There is a better way to live — the way of true freedom. Falsehood enslaves you in deception, but honesty will set you free. When you remove feelings and desires from the driver’s seat of your life and replace them with the humble, self-denying search to align your thoughts, words, and actions with truth-telling rather than with pride, your feelings and desires can no longer control you. You will be able to feast on hope! Begin today to feed your mind with healthy food for thought.
Six community members celebrate fresh, local food at the Harvest Hills Farmers’ Market.
In the light Life is bright. Be made new. Learn to see Things from God’s Point of view. His insight Brings joy. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Jesus said that His disciples would have joy and that their joy would be full. (John 15:11) The Bible says that Christ’s disciples “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8)
Jesus defined discipleship when He said: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23) That, although it doesn’t sound like it, is the key to joy.
“Deny themselves:” Self-focus leads to the unhappy conditions of pride and/or self-pity, not to joy. Continually shift your focus away from self so God’s joy and the rest of the fruit and gifts of the Spirit can freely flow from within you.
“Take up their cross daily:” Let your struggles, frustrations, pain, and suffering daily deepen your fellowship and heart-to-heart connection with the risen Jesus. (Philippians 3:10) Let them cause you to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6) and to seek the kingdom (the inner government) of God like never before. (Matthew 6:33)
“Follow Me:” Train yourself to consistently be aware of and obey the inner voice of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Be led by the Spirit, (Romans 8:14) not by your own thoughts, feelings, desires, and opinions. Let God the Holy Spirit ignite the words of the Bible to continually burn in your heart. (Luke 24:32)
The key to keys is that they are designed to let people in and keep people out. They are practical, not theoretical.
Keys are designed to be used in your daily life. They’re not supposed to be continually researched, examined, analyzed, and studied.
When you check into a hotel and are given your key card, you go to your room and use it to unlock the door. You don’t search the internet to learn all you can about the history, kinds, and styles of keys.
The key to understanding Christianity is that it’s like a set of keys. You are supposed to use its wisdom, revelation, and guidance in your daily life to unlock and lock things.
The Bible is the handbook designed for you to use to unlock your heart. Use it to consistently open your life to the presence, power, and reality of the living Jesus. Don’t just leave the Bible’s words on a shelf or in a church building.
Carry the Bible’s instructions in your heart everywhere you go. Let its words constantly burn in your heart. Then you can use its teachings like keys to lock destructive thoughts, words, memories, and temptations out of your life. You can use it to renew your mind and to lock your focus and attention on the risen Jesus.
Begin now to use the wisdom, revelation, and guidance that God the Holy Spirit is speaking through the Bible and in your heart. Listen to what He is saying in your conscience and use it to unlock the beautiful life that Jesus died on the Cross to give to you.
A handcrafted wall organizer keeps household keys, vehicle fobs, and access cards neatly arranged.
