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.
For a better perspective on life that can fill you with hope and encouragement. look away from yourself, from your problems, and from your concerns. Rely on God’s compassion and mercy. Look unto Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)
God has work to do Inside of you. Allow Him to Will and do According to His good pleasure. Surrender to Father, Son, And Spirit too. (Philippians 2:13)
In order to Receive revelation From the Father, Open your heart to Jesus Christ. Let Him live in you And direct all You say and do By allowing Him to Daily guide And lead you By His Spirit.
Continually Let Jesus do Whatever He wants to In and through you.
Let God pour His unfailing love, compassion, and mercy into your heart through the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5) If you refuse to let God connect with you heart to heart, no amount of religion can save you.
God offers SI, supernatural intelligence called revelation, (Matthew 16:17) to those who will humbly and hungrily open their heart to Him. AI provides information, but God’s SI produces heart transformation.
The top priority on my to-do list that never gets completely done is a never-ending goal — to fully surrender my heart and life to God, to entirely obey Him, and to love Him with my all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. That’s my challenge and calling moment by moment.
God the Father wants to give people supernatural revelation. He invites us to open our heart to Jesus “Come unto Me all you who are weary,” (Matthew 11:28), to one another, “Love one another,” (John 13:34), and to the Bible “Meditate on it day and night,” (Joshua 1:8), so that we can truly know Him and praise Him with all that we are.
The Lord is my Shepherd. He supplies all that I need. He leads me into His presence. He restores my soul and invites me to taste and see that He is good. He comforts me. His perfect love casts out my fears, even in the presence of my enemies. My heart overflows with the fruit of His Spirit all the days of my life and I will dwell with Him forever.
When Christ-followers gather to talk to Jesus and to listen to and obey what He has to say, the glory of God shows up! Try it and see.
My favorite thing to cook up is true love. I delight to heat up and “stir up the gift of God which is in” me (2 Timothy 1:6) so that God’s kindness and compassion flow from deep within me to everyone I encounter (even to my enemies).
Here’s the recipe:
Fully surrender your heart and life (your plans and your future) to the risen Jesus. Let Him fill you with His presence so that His words continually burn in your heart to cook up His supernatural love within you.
Always keep your trust in the Lord. Completely rely on Him. Even when people “do not speak peaceably” to you but instead “devise false accusations” against you, depend on the Lord, not on retaliation. (“God is love,” are you?)
“Love your enemies,” “do good to those who hate you,” “bless those who curse you,” and “pray for those who despitefully use you.” Always be “speaking the truth in love.”
“Let the Lord be exalted,” by the way you show respect and kindness to those you disagree with and even to those who mistreat you. Refuse to be defeated by your own self-righteousness, anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness.
To disrespect the humanity of one person is to disrespect the humanity of us all. Love respectively speaks truth with kindness. Cook some up today!
My mind is my first computer. I was born with it. I work hard to keep all distractions and viruses completely away from it. I strive to continually surrender my mouse and keyboard to God so that He can program and reform my mind and heart according to His will.
Now is the time that Christ-followers open up and let the Holy Spirit come on us anew and afresh and warm our hearts to the point that we know that we know that we know that we are supernaturally empowered to be Christ’s witnesses in our churches — in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our social circles — and to the ends of the earth! Jesus, the Word become flesh, is calling us to let Him reform us by His Spirit. Let’s make plenty of room for open, Spirit-prompted testimonies when we gather in His name. (Revelation 12:11 & 1 Corinthians 14:26.)
If you aren’t serious about following Jesus, you won’t want to be led by the Holy Spirit. God is raising up reformers, people who are letting the Holy Spirit reform the way their life and their church services are conducted. Be one!
A Reformation Call Straight from the Bible
When an outward form Of godliness And religion Without the Spirit-led Power to transform Human hearts and lives Has become the norm And people are lukewarm, From such turn away. It’s time for reform. Let the risen Christ Take the over the platform And begin to warm Hearts that are far from Him So that His words Burn within them And reform Them with the power To boldly testify! (2 Timothy 3:5, Romans 8:14, Romans 12:2, Revelation 3:16, Matthew 15:8, Luke 24:32, & Acts 1:8)
One thing that people are scared to do is to open up a church service to rely on the actual presence living Jesus and to be directly led by His Spirit instead of by a program or a human leader. That fear keeps churches institutionalized, compromised, and fragmentized. Religious formalism prevents Christians from opening their heart to one another and encouraging each other. (There are more that 50 places in the New Testament where Christ-followers are told to minister to one another in various ways.)
The Bible blesses those who look intently into it with an open humble heart and continue to soak it in and implement it day and night by not forgetting what they’ve read but putting it into ongoing action. (James 1:25) To be blessed with “the freedom and glory of the children of God,” (Romans 8:21) do and obey the word throughout each day.
To overcome the fear of relying on the risen Jesus, begin to trust Him little by little. Instead of always trying to do everything by your own wisdom and power, surrender something to Him. Ask Jesus to show you what He wants you to do about it. Then wait until you get a response and do what He tells you to. The results will be amazing and step by step they will build your confidence in Christ and overcome your fear of relying on Him. (If you aren’t serious about following Jesus, you won’t want to be led by the Holy Spirit or the Bible.)
I was talking recently to a 93-year-old woman I know. She began to tell me that she was afraid of being forced out of her home of many years. Her landlord had told her that he was planning to put her home up for sale and that she might have to move. She was visibly worried and fearful. The Holy Spirit prompted me to ask her if I could pray for her. I did and she consented.
I put my hand on her shoulder and began to pray that God would remove her fear and worry, give her peace of mind, and also make a way that she can stay in her home. Two days later I saw her, and she was beaming. She said that her landlord had changed his mind. He told her that she could stay in her home for the rest of her life. That experience helped us both take a bold step toward overcoming our fear of daily relying on Jesus.
The body of Christ Has been analyzed And highly organized, Institutionalized And compartmentalized, Deeply compromised And so fragmentized, That it’s unrecognized. It desperately needs To be energized And mobilized By the risen Jesus!
The study and research that Christ requires isn’t a religious and analytical approach to Christianity. He requires something much deeper than that. Go beyond religion and analysis to the Lordship and Headship of the risen Jesus!
“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” The Law of the Lord can be studied and analyzed with the logical mind, but to be effectively sought and taught, it must be obeyed and caught by a hungry (Matthew 5:6) humble (James 4:6) heart.
The research that Christ requires is not human biblical dissection and analysis. It’s the daily revelation that comes from being obedient to and led by the Spirit. Jesus said: “If you love Me keep My commands and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth.”
We need the Spirit’s help, guidance, and revelation today as much as the first Christians did. The Spirit works with, in, and through the Bible. What He reveals to us today won’t contradict what He revealed in Scripture.
Let God “research” you. Let your heart and your life be continually searched by the Bible and by God’s Spirit. If Jesus is your Lord that means that staying focused on Him, listening to Him, and obeying Him is your #1 priority. Jesus first!
The body of Christ has a perfect leader. His name is Jesus. If churches and individual Christians would continually focus on, listen to, and obey Him, we would see ongoing glorious demonstrations of the kingdom of God.
I make it a sport to “rememberize.” A friend, JD Walt, likes to use the word his oldest son coined at about five years old. His son said, “I finally ‘rememberized’ it.” JD says: “Memorization quick-loads our short-term memory. Rememberization is of another order. It slow-loads our long-term memory.”
If you want to remember something, “rememberize” it, don’t just cram it in one side of your mind and out the other. Ponder it, savor it, let it deeply touch your heart. In my life I’ve made it my favorite sport to “rememberize” the Bible.
To hide the word of God Deep inside your heart So it can be your light Requires more than memory Or Scripture analysis. It requires insight That gives your heart delight.
When you read the Bible With your heart wide open You’ll have humble eyes That will see God’s light And absorb His insight In a much deeper way Than just to memorize.
What moves your heart Merges into Your memory But what’s observed Just by your mind, Your memory Often can’t find.
What the shepherds said About the newborn Christ Was so much more than words Heard in Mary’s head. She treasured what was said And pondered it in her heart.
Be a full-Bible Christian! Read the Bible, Don’t just listen to Sermons about it. Ponder the Bible, Don’t just read it. Experience the Bible, Don’t just ponder it. Demonstrate the Bible Through the way you live, Don’t just experience it. Overflow with the realities Proclaimed and testified to Throughout the Bible, Don’t just demonstrate it. And above all Keep your heart Wide open To the Bible And quench not The Spirit.
Hearing the Bible Without heart devotion And holy emotion Won’t make you a doer Of God’s word.
Some people win The lottery But much money And a long term Spending spree Is not able To set them free. True freedom comes Another way.
Let Jesus saturate Your mind and your heart. And fill you with wonder. As you ruminate And constantly ponder His glorious presence– The Living Word of God!
Hear Jesus. Know Jesus. Love Jesus. Serve Jesus.
To hear Jesus Is inner peace He makes the storms Within you cease.
To know Jesus Is true friendship, The ultimate Relationship.
To love Jesus Is pure romance. Open your heart And take a chance.
To serve Jesus Makes life worthwhile. And meaningful Mile after mile.
Devouring the Bible With great delight Clearly shows me Christ’s brilliant light.
Go beyond the explanation Of religious information. Tell others how you Experienced Christ And thus illustrate His reality. Help others To experience Christ And thus demonstrate His reality.
The most effective Way to teach Isn’t to preach Or to lecture. It’s to illustrate And to demonstrate The reality of What you’re teaching.
In the troubled and stressed-out culture where I live, I look for inner peace. I love to read books and articles that point me to God’s peace.
The peace of God can’t be taught. It’s beyond human understanding. Therefore, to truly experience God’s peace you must “lean not on your own understanding” and “in all your ways acknowledge Him.” (Proverbs 3:5) You can be able to quote every Bible verse about peace and know what dozens of preachers, theologians, and commentaries say about each verse, yet still not experience God’s peace.
Because it’s supernatural, the peace of God can’t be experienced through reasoning, study, or analysis. The peace of God is “in Christ.” It can’t be taught but it can be caught and maintained by “Christ in you.” It’s part of the fruit of the Spirit that the risen Jesus produces when He is allowed to live in, rule, and reign as the Absolute Lord and Master of your heart and mind.
To experience the peace of God, talk to Jesus in every situation throughout each day and fully surrender your life and desires to Him. Express your cares and concerns to Him and continually thank Him for the gift of His glorious presence in you and with you. Let Christ continually guard and guide your heart and mind.
Let your heart be strangely warmed. The way to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Psalm 34:8) is to open your heart and begin to ponder His presence and reality. The entire Book of Psalms is about pondering God. Ponder and absorb His beauty.
When people are trained to regularly ponder, drink in, and absorb the presence of the living Jesus, the life transforming power of the Holy Spirit begins to flow from within them like rivers of living water. (John 7:37-39.) Pondering prayer focuses on the presence of God and pays close attention to His inner promptings.
Marvel at the marvel of God. Regularly focus on, consider, contemplate, and ponder how His creation produces awe, amazement, and astonishment. Then you will eventually develop an ongoing awareness of the breathtaking beauty of being alive. True Christian worship wows people with the presence of the risen Jesus Christ. The early Christ-followers were “filled with awe.” (Acts 2:43)
Theology approaches the Bible with mental analysis and treats it as mainly religious information. Inspiration ponders the Bible with the heart and soaks it in as the lifegiving word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16) Perpetually ponder “the mystery of godliness.” (1 Timothy 3:16)
“The kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) If Christ-followers would meet to ponder the presence of the risen Jesus and then to obey His inner promptings the kingdom of God would show up in their midst. Without faith, people will neglect to ponder the presence of Jesus and will choose to ignore His inner promptings.
Don’t just take notes on a sermon. Take notes on and ponder your own thinking. Look closely and you might just find the voice of God speaking within you.
The Spirit-led ponderings of ordinary Christ-followers are powerful. Unfortunately, they have been trained to ignore their ponderings and revelations and instead to put their faith in the words of a preacher.
Christian, ponder! Refuse to settle into lukewarmness. Everyday hit the pause button and ponder the beauty of life for a while. Ponder how you can live better and get better results from your life. When I ponder the mystery of my consciousness of the world around me, I am captured by awe of my Creator.
Ponder to cultivate Christ’s inner peace: 1) Notice the thoughts that come to your mind, 2) Reject the harmful ones, 3) Ignore the mediocre ones, 4) Embrace the helpful ones, and 5) Treasure the inspiring ones.
When you’re thinking in a box you’ve clipped the wings that empower you ponder the things that cause your heart to soar. “Wait on the Lord” and “mount up with wings as eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31)
Pondering goes beyond what and examines why. To neglect to ponder is to abandon your God-given responsibility to make wise choices.
Don’t panic, ponder. Trust in Jesus. Let Him prompt you. Train yourself to Be a responder To His Spirit. Be faithful To live under His direct Headship.
Perhaps our purpose As people Is to ponder And absorb Life’s wonder.
Neglecting to ponder The significance And purpose Off your existence Makes it easy to squander Your life.
Ponder the effect Of your thoughts. Notice what they Do to you. Then select And collect The ones that have The best effect On you And reject Deflect And eject The harmful ones.
Creativity Identifies Ideas And keeps insight In sight.
The more you ponder, The less you’ll wander Aimlessly.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Fill Your Mind and Your Heart With Hope 