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.
My favorite weather is when I let the Son of God shine in my heart! Here’s how I do that:
Christ-followers are called to no longer live according to their human desires but to live according to the desires of the Spirit. Christ’s sin offering and the life-giving presence of God’s Spirit who gives life, have the power to set us free from the condemnation of the law and from spiritual death. They actively empower us so that we can continually focus on, listen to, obey, and adore the risen Jesus. (See Romans 8:1-4 in the Bible.)
I’m aware that I am. I can focus my attention as I choose. There’s no biological explanation for my consciousness. I’m a supernatural being living in my physical body. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Because of Christ’s death on the Cross, I can now choose moment by moment to die to my sinful desires and instead live according to God’s Spirit by making Him always welcome to daily live in, work in, empower, direct, and shine in and through me.
My most influential teacher was and is and will always be the Holy Spirit. He taught me and continues to teach me, not by lecture but by demonstrating His presence, power, and love in my heart. When I start to go off track, He lovingly leads me back to Himself. One of the Holy Spirit’s teaching methods is godly sorrow.
It’s good to be sorry, to truly be sorrowful, to experience godly sorrow–to be sorry for any wrong you’ve thought, said, or done (not just to feel sorry for yourself because you got caught). Godly sorrow sounds the alarm that we need to repent and where possible to make amends. It makes us ready and eager to make things right with God and with other people.
Godly sorrow happens in our heart when we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of wrong. When we’re willing to humbly pray like King David: “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind,” and “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” we experience it.
Healing happens when a human heart opens up to godly sorrow. Both history and current events clearly display the evil that is part of human nature. If you were an alien visiting the planet, would you consider earth people to be good? Or would you agree with the ancient prophet Isaiah? “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.”
Will we be like the Pharisee in the temple whose religion kept him from seeing his own sin, but clearly saw the sin of other people? Or will we be like the tax collector and cry out with godly sorrow, “God have mercy on me a sinner,”?
Accept the call of godly sorrow. Embrace the responsibility to repent. Any time you sin in thought, word, or deed, quickly admit it, confess it, renounce it, turn away from it, and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.
My most influential teacher resides within me in an objective, non-material way. He speaks clearly to me through the objective conscience He has given me. (If my conscience is subjective, why does it disagree with me so often?)
Language is immaterial, it is so much more than sounds and letters. Language creates order in our mind and enables us to comprehend and communicate the immateriality of information. Through the inner objectivity of Spirit-given rationality and supernatural revelation we can connect heart-to-heart with the Word (the eternal Communicator) who spoke all that exists into being. (See John 1:1-18.)
Science and technology can transmit information artificially, but they have no information about how information originated. My most influential teacher does!
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26.)
“As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” (1 John 2:27.)
Jesus didn’t rise to be honored with a holiday. He rose to make every day and every moment special with His supernatural presence.
Jesus didn’t rise to be honored with words in religious meetings while ignored by human hearts throughout the day. (See Matthew 15:8.)
Jesus didn’t rise so we can hear weekly talks about Him. He rose so He can have direct, ongoing, inner conversations with us.
Jesus didn’t rise to be represented by routine religion. He rose to actively live in and build His kingdom within you.
Jesus didn’t rise to hide behind a religious disguise. He rose to save us from the lies that try to lead us to our own demise.
Jesus didn’t rise to be a spectator in church. He rose to build His followers together heart-to-heart as His Spirit-led body.
Jesus didn’t rise so we can follow Christian celebrities. He rose so we can be set free from our impurities and iniquities.
Jesus didn’t rise just to make you wise. He rose so that through “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” you can rise to whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy and let Him empower you to put it into practice.
Jesus didn’t rise to hide in distant skies. He rose so you can gaze at Him with your inner eyes and make His presence your prize.
Jesus didn’t rise so we can go to church once a week. He rose so we can follow Him 24/7/365. Do you realize that Jesus really did rise?
But the risen Jesus can! Jesus has done all of those things for me. Why would I want a tattoo?
Excitement about Jesus can’t be taught to the mind or tattooed on your arm. It is caught by a humble, hungry heart.
Feel your pulse. If it’s pumping, it’s proclaiming that you have a purpose.
Religious explanation instructs the mind. Inner revelation heals the heart. “Hear what the Spirit is saying.” Let the living Jesus tattoo your heart with His eternal presence!
Make it your goal To always surrender To Christ’s control.
Religious thought Can be taught But relationship With the risen Christ Needs to be sought. With all your heart.
When the rooster crowed defeat And Peter saw his faith retreat He wept bitterly, Broken hearted by his denial Of Jesus the Christ. Peter’s failure is universal. We all have denied Christ, If not with words with action. Not it’s time for reversal. Like Peter we can turn back To Christ’s love and forgiveness And follow Jesus with passion And Spirit-led interaction.
I am forgiven even though my pride used to tell me that I didn’t need forgiveness. I thought I was a good person, better than most people. The church that I attended when I was a teenager used to have a time of silent prayer for forgiveness and most of the time, I couldn’t think of anything I needed to be forgiven for.
Then one day I encountered the risen Jesus and His light began to shine more and more in my heart as I eagerly read the Bible for hours each day. I was shocked at the wickedness I began to see in my own heart as I read: “There is none righteous, no not one,” and “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I began to agree with Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, who said: “O wretched man that I am,” and “I am the chief of sinners.” I realized that though outwardly I had tried to obey human laws and my conscience, inwardly I was a mess full of wickedness and like the prostitute who wept at Jesus’ feet, I had been forgiven much — more than I could have imagined possible.
Though completely unworthy of Christ’s love and deserving to be forever separated from God’s presence, God has forgiven me, cleansed me, and embraced me as His friend. Many years later I still rely on Christ’s death on the Cross and not on my own worthiness. I still say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner,” and rejoice in amazement that I am forgiven!
I love Galatians 2:20 that says: “I am crucified with Christ.” To “be crucified with Christ” is to “live by faith in the Son of God.” It is to rely every moment on the inner presence of the risen Jesus. It is a shift from relying on my own efforts (or imagined goodness) to living by staying continually aware of and obedient to the presence of Christ living in me even though I could never earn or deserve His love.
Are you forgiven? You can be. And you can daily experience the reality and the activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ living and working within and through you.
Mental drift Will sweep you Off a cliff And make you think You don’t need to Be forgiven. Make a shift. Let Jesus lift Your heart to Him And heal the rift You have with God. Embrace His gift Of “Christ in you.”
The best compliment I have ever received has come as tears of tender gratitude. My wife, Ernie, and I love to pray with and for people. As we pray out loud for people, we feel God’s love for them (even when they are strangers to us). Compassionate words flow from deep within us (often with tears) and people receive them like a sponge. They usually thank us with deep gratitude and often tears run down their cheeks.
Praying out loud with and for other people as you open your heart to be led by Christ’s presence is powerful. Words of love begin to spontaneously flow from deep within you and tender compassion fills your heart. The atmosphere fills with awe as everyone becomes aware that Jesus is there. Then humble, Spirit-led prayer begins to spread as other people are prompted to open their mouth and let God fill it with words that freely flow from their heart. But for this process to start someone needs the boldness to open their heart and let God’s presence flow through their brokenness. Will you?
Jesus said not to pray to be seen by men. Pray with brokenness and humility, being led by the Spirit. Then people will be so aware of and touched by the presence of God that they will see Him, not you! When people witness the Spirit-led flowing of one another’s heart in prayer they experience deep spiritual connection with each other and with God.
Taking turns praying out loud with people is a powerful way to experience the moving of God’s Spirit together. When people take turns humbly praying out loud from their heart, a sense of community fills the air. Praying together in humility with other people and openly testifying about what Jesus is doing within us allows God’s light to come out from under our pride so other people can be impacted by His shinning within us.
True prayer is about connecting heart-to-heart with the living God, not about demanding that He do what you want Him to. Amazing things start to happen when people pray together from their heart.Spirit-led prayer enlightens my heart like the mystical glow of bright sunlight.
Prayer is heart-connection with God. Don’t just tell Him what you want. Talk with your Creator from your heart. (The concept that nothing caused the creation of everything is contrary to logic and common sense.)
Words that honor God are an empty echo to a heart that’s far from Him. (See Matthew 15:8.) Don’t miss the healing power of free-flowing, Spirit-led prayer.
Take time to pray With someone every day. Chase your pride away. Let God’s Spirit give you The words to say And turn your heart like clay So Christ can display His presence and love.
To gather for prayer Is so much more than The words people share. It’s to open up And let your heart care That Jesus is there.
Starting Later This Week: Spirit-Led Zooming — a weekly time to celebrate, testify, and pray as prompted by God’s Spirit.
The world is Cross-country, the land where inner healing was purchased by Christ’s Cross. I began my Cross-country trip standing in the lobby of a dorm when in a moment Christ became real to me. Since that moment, I’ve been on a Jesus-trip as He seeks to lead me from within day-by-day and I strive to let Him be my Savior and tour guide.
Everybody needs a Savior because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because of our inclination to sin all people make varying degrees of a mess in their life, in their relationships, and in the world we inhabit. Then we search for a savior. We look for a politician to be our savior, for the government to save us, for education to be our savior, for a career to save us, for a love interest to be our savior, for a therapist to save us, for money to be our savior, and on and on.
With the mess we’re in, we definitely need a Savior but there’s only One! His name is Jesus. He’s the Creator of all that exists who became a man, shed His blood on the Cross to pay the penalties for our sins, rose from the dead, returned to the right hand of the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit so that whoever is willing can now be filled with His presence and be personally guided and directed from within by Him moment-by-moment. (I wrote this last paragraph when I first woke up this morning before coming to and reading today’s Wake-Up Call blog and seeing the words, “We are sinners in need of a Savior.” Here’s the link.)
As human beings we will secretly struggle internally until we find and devote ourselves to the reason for our existence — to have an intimate, personal relationship with the living God. Ignoring God causes us to make something or someone else our god — the focus of our life. Christians are called to conform to Christ, not to a human culture or to our own cravings.
When we truly follow Jesus, off we go into the Spirit-led wonder! Have you started your life-long Cross-country trip yet?
The more a person connects heart-to-heart with God, the more he is able to experience heart-felt community with other people. When people gather for a religious meeting, but neglect to connect heart-to-heart with God and with one another, we have neglected “the assembling of ourselves together.” (See Hebrews 10:25.)
True confidence doesn’t come from self-esteem. The most confident people I know have set aside self-esteem and learned to rely on continually streaming an unshakable source of inner confidence.
Human beings were made in the image of God, but we have all gone astray from His image and His presence. We have chosen our will instead of His will. By doing so we have broken our connection with His presence and our brain is offline, separated from God’s supernatural streaming. We are living without a deep sense of confidence within us. When a message appears on our inner screen saying that we’re offline, we quickly delete it or ignore it and continue with our disconnected attempts to remove the pain of our separation from the Source of true wisdom.
So, what can we do about it? We can connect with God’s earth link heart innernet service provider with the wireless connection God has provided through the Cross. The password is Jesus. Repeat His Name with hunger and sincerity from your innermost being. Eventually revelation (knowledge that comes from beyond the flesh and blood of the human brain) will begin to brightly shine in your heart. When that moment occurs begin to pursue and maintain that life-giving connection day and night for the rest of your life.
Then you will live with supernatural intelligence. Supernatural intelligence is the wireless signal that is continually calling human beings to inwardly connect with and to constantly stream rivers of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Supernatural intelligence infinitely surpasses the workings of a human brain. It’s not a product of nature. It is downloaded into and streamed though people from the living platform that is out of this world — the Creator of all that exists.
Learn to be guided, directed, led, and controlled by the source of all intelligence, the Creator of all that exists. He became a man as Jesus Christ. Then He made the way for rebellious people to be set free from their self-focus so that they can come into and forever live in intimacy with His presence, because of His sacrificial death on the Cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the outpouring of His Spirit.
Christ-followers are people who have connected heart-to-heart with the living God through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross and who surrender their life moment-by-moment to the direct leadership and control of God’s Spirit living and working within them. Are you ready to follow Jesus?
For Christians to be the light that God wants us to be, we must move beyond superficiality and self-focus and into compassionate, humble heart-to-heart connection with each other and with all who need God’s hope and love. It’s time to make every moment an ongoing celebration of restoration to our heavenly Father and our transformation from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s Dear Son!
To combat negative feelings and tormenting thoughts I keep my think thank filled with hope. What’s in your think tank?
Superficial intelligence cold and hard like an iceberg. It will produce an artificial life. Get real. Fill your think tank with premium thoughts!People who rely on superficial intelligence are easily deceived. Dig deeper!If you let superficial intelligence, write or edit your thoughts, you’ll live a shallow life.
Superficial intelligence causes people to look for superficial ways to ease their pain and drives them into desperation and addiction. It’s easy to be addicted to and anesthetized by superficial intelligence. In our society it’s everywhere you look. Our culture is caught in the deep abyss of superficial intelligence. Society surrounds us with superficial intelligence that never deeply satisfies the human heart.
Superficial intelligence is cold, hard, dangerous and uncaring. It distracts people from deeper reality the way the tip of an iceberg does. Superficial intelligence tries to discover how humanity came about but it can’t give us any purpose for our being here. It’s incapable of producing lasting inner peace (or peace between nations).
Superficial intelligence categorizes people by appearance and overlooks their heart. It never leads to meaningful relationships. Superficial intelligence is a brain tranquilizer. It empties your think tank of purpose and significance.
Your mind is a terrible thing to trash. Keep your think thank clean and healthy. In our world of superficial intelligence, the search for significance requires that we look for deeper meaning in life.
Superficial intelligence sets superficial goals and produces superficial outcomes. I don’t have time for superficial intelligence. I want to make my life meaningful and full of purpose.
People have internal tools that can defeat and overcome their mental and emotional struggles, but too often we are unaware of those powerful weapons and have never learned how to effectively use them.
Thought blocking is a powerful interior tool. Break all contact with tormenting thoughts. Refuse to allow injurious ideas, impulses, or impressions into your mind.
I don’t have room for superficial intelligence. I want to fill my think tank with inspiring thoughts.
Elephants are wise, not superficial. Elephants INspiring The Room is a book for adults who want to improve their life and have fun doing it. Search for it online.
By always facing towards God’s light, I see “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and He sets me free from the shackles of the dark shadows of sin within me. I strive to keep my think tank full of heart-felt wisdom and God-breathed inspiration.
For church to be a light it must move beyond superficiality into heart-to-heart connection! (Google: Beyond Church Ekklesia.) The world needs to see genuine demonstrations of supernatural intelligence.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 