I’m always needing
The direct leading
Of God the Spirit —
His inner voice,
I need to hear it
And to draw near it.
Deep within my soul.
I’m like a seedling.
In order to grow
I need God’s life flow
Rising within me.
He keeps me feeding
On His sweet presence.
Daily Bible reading
With a hungry heart
Helps me stay near Christ
Living inside me.
“Speaking the Truth in Love”
The more that Christ-followers grow and learn to make Christ the present and literal Head and Leader of His body (not just a distant figurehead) the more Jesus promotes and empowers each member to build one another up in love. (Ephesians 4;15-16) Then they will no longer be “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)
Raging roaring river rapids remind me to release God’s Spirit to freely flow deep within and through me. (John 7:38-39) Out-of-the-traditional-church-box, Spirit-led Christianity is wonderful! I wish more people would open wide their heart to it!
Waiting on the Lord
God has arrived.
Jesus came as
Immanuel —
“God is with us.”
When crucified
Jesus arose
To live within
His followers
And be their Lord.
If Christ’s in you
Actively wait
And rely on
Him to prompt you
Throughout each day.
Train yourself to
Depend on Christ’s
Presence in you,
Not on your own
Ability.
I feel the most productive when I am motivated by peace instead of by pressure. That’s how I am able to avoid writer’s block and to write and post something creative almost every day. I do all that I can to live by and follow this advice:
Refuse to allow your problems, your frustrations, your pain, and your disappointments to pull you down and sink you into self-focus, (Luke 9:23) anxiety, (1 Peter 5:7)) and self-destructive thoughts. desires, and actions. Instead let them make you hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Matthew 5:6) Surrender to “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27) and begin to be Spirit-led. (Romans 8:14)
Let all of your difficulties motivate you to continually cry out to, (Psalm 77:1) seek first, (Matthew 6:33) draw near to, (James 4:8) press toward, (Philippians 314) and rejoice in (Philippians 4:4) God, day and night. Then, little by little you will learn to ceaselessly trust in, (Proverbs 3:5-6) depend on, and rely on the God of hope who will make you overflow with hope by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
Be still and listen inwardly to Jesus (John 10:27) as He says to you: ““Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28-29) Let the risen Jesus Himself train you to continually experience His wonderful inner peace that is beyond human understanding. (Philippians 4:7)
Allow Christ to live inside of you (Romans 8:10-11) and to lead you from within by His Spirit (Galatians 5:16) in all that you think, say, and do. Then your gifting (Ephesians 4:11) will spontaneously manifest itself as you listen to and obey the resurrected Jesus Christ. (Matthew 4:19)
Sending people to war is disturbing the peace. Many people arrested for disturbing the peace were actually disturbing warmakers.
In an ancient culture that focused on political leaders, money, sexual obsession, pleasure, pride, violence, power, alcohol, entertainment, and self-righteousness, a group of people in the Roman Empire found a different focus. They were so captivated by and committed to the living resurrected Jesus that: “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)
The focus of the first believers in Jesus was so intense and so persistent that they were called Christ-ians. The suffix “ian” means “belonging to.” Since Christians were frequently being mocked, insulted, and persecuted, the name was most probably used in a derogatory way.
I knew a group of people like that once. They were so excited about the risen Christ that they couldn’t stop talking about Him. People called them Jesus Freaks. That term was also originally used as a way to insult people who were radically following the risen Jesus. However, both terms were eventually accepted as a compliment.
The Christians of the first century and the Jesus Freaks of the 1960s and 1970s were similar. Both were seeking, as their first priority, to be governed within by the kingdom of God the Father, (Matthew 6:33) to follow and obey Jesus as their absolute Lord and God, (John 20:27-28) and to be continually led by God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
That kind of focus on and radical obedience to the risen Jesus is rare and easy to overlook in the twenty-first century. But it still exists! Look beyond the proud people who use the name Christian but lack the character of Christ (John 14:15) and seldom demonstrate the fruit of His Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Look for people who are so focused on Jesus that they humbly spread His love, joy, peace, kindness, and presence everywhere they go. When you find people like that watch them and get to know them personally. Spend time with them. True “Christ”-“ianity” is caught by your heart. It’s not enough just to be taught about it.
The Bible teaches that God doesn’t want the body of Christ to be divided and denominated (called) by different names. It says: “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:4 NKJ) It’s time for Christians to move beyond church and denomination names.
Christian unity cannot be achieved by trying to unite all Christians into one giant institution. It can only be experienced by heart-to-heart connection between believers. When Christ-followers gather to open their heart and be humbly led by God the Holy Spirit instead of by ritual, religious programs, and religious leaders, a deep sense of unity emerges. Try it and see!
Life Challenge
Contemplate
Jesus Christ
Until You
Radiate
His presence.
Refuse to
Alternate
Between Christ
And the world.
Let Jesus
Animate
All you do.
There is an invisible leader who is much more reliable than any leader you can see with your eyes. His followers are able to hear His voice as He speaks in various ways. (John 10:27)
The Bible calls the invisible leader: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) This inner leader speaks through throughs, images, words, impressions, promptings, and even through the still small voice of your conscience. Those who are led by the inner voice of Christ’s Spirit are the children of God. (Romans 8:14)
What the invisible leader says will always align with what the writers of the Bible heard Him say. He won’t contradict what He taught them. When you feel like you are hearing Him, always confirm it by the Bible. Refuse to follow a counterfeit of His voice. (Acts 17:11)
As a newly born again follower of Jesus, I began reading the Bible. It burned in my heart. I spent hours absorbing it every day. I’ve read it almost every day since then.
When I was first reading the book of Acts, I noticed that God the Holy Spirit spoke directly to Peter, to Phillip, to Paul and to others. In frustration I asked God, “You spoke to people in the Bible, why aren’t You speaking today?”
Suddenly these words came to my mind. “The problem is not that I’m not speaking. It’s that you’re not listening.” Those words still burn within me (Luke 24:32) because they changed me. They caused me to begin to listen to and to learn to obey the inner teachings, leadings, and promptings of Christ in me.
The Invisible Leader is speaking to you as you are reading these words. Pause and listen to Him now. Take time throughout each day to notice what is going through your mind and your heart. Much of it is your own thinking. Some of it is the voice of temptation and deception. And some of it is God Himself speaking to you. Learn to discern the difference.
When God speaks to you — verify that it’s Him and then obey. The more you obey God, the more you will learn to recognize His voice as He speaks within you. The more you will connect heart-to-heart with Him and with other people who are also hearing and obeying His voice.
Since all true Christians have Christ the Invisible Leader, living within them and talking to them, we don’t need to be dependent on a mere human leader when we gather to worship. If we have the courage to allow Him to, Jesus will personally assemble our hearts together (Hebrews 10:24-25) as He is permitted to lead the meeting.
Here’s how Jesus wants to lead His followers when they meet together. It’s simple. He wants them all to listen for His inner voice and then for each person to say and do what He tells them to. (1 Corinthians 14:26)
You are invited to experience a Christ-led meeting that functions that way. It happens every Saturday morning at Chile Burrito, 330 Franklin Road, in Brentwood, TN 37207 at 8:30 am.
To be genuinely appreciative of the good things in your life requires taking the risk of humility, openness, sensitivity, and vulnerability. It’s a risk I’m learning to take throughout each day. It’s a risk I’ve never regretted.
People celebrate
What they appreciate.
When was the last time
That you celebrated
What God has done for you
And is doing in you?
Daily routine
Is the screen
That blocks your eyes
From the surprise
Of Christ’s presence
That God tries
To show you
Throughout each day.
To celebrate is much more than making noise or attending a party. It is to allow your heart to sincerely, gratefully, and delightfully appreciate someone or something. Celebrate Jesus!
Let God continually update your heart and keep you aware of what Jesus is saying and doing in your life. Then celebration will ceaselessly flow from deep within you. True celebration isn’t dutiful. It’s delightful.
Small children like to spontaneously celebrate and appreciate being alive. If they can do that, the rest of us can too! (Matthew 18:3) Be more than a mere information processer. Seek out and embrace the awe, wonder, and joy of living. Sensitive your heart to the blessings in your life.
To endure life without appreciating its preciousness is to miss the point of why your heart is still beating. Life is full of amazing wonders, but you won’t celebrate them until you become open and vulnerable enough to notice them.
Throughout each day Jesus surprises me with delightful insights and remarkable revelations — so many aha moments to celebrate. He keeps my life so wonder-filled that I can’t stop celebrating Him! To celebrate Christ is to share joy everywhere.
Celebration requires no money. When I observe and contemplate the beauty of nature my heart begins to spontaneously celebrate. The more I gaze at the risen Jesus and allow Him to amaze me with His presence, the more I celebrate His gift of life.
Heartless festivity
Is fun activity,
But it always lacks
The sensitivity
Of true celebration.
I was trained to sit passively in church services. As a new Christ-follower Jesus was doing amazing things in my life and on my college campus during the Jesus movement. However, every time that I attended a church service I was required to passively sit and listen to one man preach. The pressure to be quiet was enormous so I complied.
Even today I can’t find a church service where the attendees are encouraged to share what God is doing in, around, and through them. The thing that I have done differently is to stop attending churches where the congregation isn’t allowed to share as God the Holy Spirit prompts them. Instead, I gather with my wife and with spiritually hungry people throughout the week to pray together and to encourage and minister to one another.
For too long Christianity has been seduced by the love of power. We’ve depended on positional power — having a controlling leader with an official title lead us when we come together for worship on Sunday. We’ve also looked to political power to make us happy during the week.
When a leader in the body of Christ lays down all love of power and begins to help Christians gather to humbly and openly experience the power of Spirit-produced and Spirit-activated love for one another, Jesus begins to amazingly demonstrate His presence in our midst. This happens when Christ-followers are allowed to assemble themselves together to freely “spur one another on to love and good deeds” and to encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
When God the Holy Spirit is allowed to directly and personally lead and govern a gathering of Christ-followers by prompting individuals in the meeting to obey His inner voice, the kingdom of God begins to manifest in their midst. This happens as the people present let God strengthen them by His Spirit and allow Christ to literally dwell in their heart through faith (Ephesians 3:16) as they listen to Him speak within them and then do what He tells them to. (Romans 8:14)
Weigh your worries and you will see that they are too heavy for you to carry alone. Let the risen Jesus and your brothers and sisters in Christ help you. (1 Corinthians 14:26) Perhaps it is time to let the unseen Jesus, Himself, lead us when we come together to worship. (Mark 8:34)
Ungag church attendees. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
If you are in the Nashville area, you can experience an ungagged gathering of Christians. We come together every Saturday morning at 8:30 at Chile Burrito in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Learn to let faith fly like a kite in the wind of God’s Spirit blowing within you. (John 3:8) Let your trust in God rise higher and higher.
Faith is the defiance of self-focus. (Matthew 16:24) It is total reliance and dependence on God. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Faith is to exchange personal independence for unending compliance and alliance with God’s will. (Galatians 2:20) It is to continually surrender to the resplendence of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and to be daily led by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
Faith is so much more than mere religious belief. It is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Faith without action is dead distraction from discipleship. (James 2:26) Let God the Holy Spirit train you throughout each day to “live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11) Learn to “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Faith is something that you do as you interact with God. It’s not a formalized religious meeting.
How many sermons does it take before church members begin to fully embrace the faith to deny themselves, daily crucify their desires, and follow Jesus instead of their own feelings and opinions? (Luke 9:23) All the sermons in the world can’t do that because faith is a gift. The Holy Spirit produces faith in surrendered human hearts. It must be humbly and obediently asked for, received, inwardly cultivated within you, and put into consistent action throughout each day.
I just went to the “America Reads the Bible” website and the largest letters on the screen say in all caps: “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP READING.” Yes, tonight this Bible-readathon will feature Trump (prerecorded) reading what God told King Solomon about how to make a nation great: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Donald Trump and most of his followers claim to be God’s people. If they truly want to make America great, perhaps they should not only read those words but continually obey them:
1) “Humble themselves:” Perhaps they could decide to set aside pride and to turn away from self-focus. Maybe they could make the decision to put away narcissism by daily obeying this Bible verse: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” (Philippians 2:3)
2) “Pray:” Perhaps they could regularly obey this command from Jesus: “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:28)
3) “Seek My face:” To seek God’s face is to unceasingly seek to encounter His reality. It is to surrender more and more to His presence and His will. It’s to seek first the inner government of God in your life (Matthew 6:33) so you can be continually led by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14) It is the way to genuine greatness.
4) “Turn from their wicked ways:” It’s possible that the people who proclaim that they want to make America great again could ask God to show them their sins. It’s feasible that they could stop their wrongdoing, apologize, and make amends. Pride, self-righteousness, unproven accusations, insulting and mistreating people, twisting the truth, idolizing a political leader, refusing to love your enemies, and celebrating war instead of making peace are wicked ways that keep individuals and nations far away from true greatness!
Here’s the good news. “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
2 Chronicles 7:14 merely read (even by a President) will leave us spiritually dead and trapped in deception. However, when people who believe that they are God’s people will whole heartedly obey those words, God will heal their land and make their nation great. A national Bible readathon without a lifetime marathon of self-denying Bible obedience will produce self-righteousness instead of greatness.
The Good News of Jesus
Isn’t information.
More than Bible reading,
It’s transformation,
Spiritual formation,
Divine revelation.
“Till Christ is formed in you.”
(Galatians 4:19)
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 