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.
I didn’t see him with my eyes, but although he was invisible to me, he changed my life. In an instant everything shifted within me and my whole life seemed different. I’ve never been the same since the moment I first encountered his presence. I’ve spent the rest of my life seeking to align my mind to the mind of Christ.
Ever since then I have wanted to capitalize the pronouns that I use to refer to Him because I believe that although He is fully human, He is more than a man. I believe that Jesus Christ is also fully God and that He is present and active in human beings today through the Holy Spirit. I know that because He is always working inside of me, and because I frequently see Him working in and through other people.
The Bible says: “We have the mind of Christ.” When Christ-followers literally align their mind with Christ’s, they begin to spontaneously overflow with His thoughts and insights.
To align your mind with Christ requires childlike trust and innocent spontaneity. Then you can learn to freely flow with His Spirit as He actively lives and works within you to continually lead and direct you to His “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
Renew your mind by aligning it with Christ’s throughout each day. Then the fruit of His Spirit will ever flow through your consciousness, and He will empower you to show His presence and reality to those around you as you supernaturally demonstrate His words that are called the “Beatitudes.” (Run a quick search for them.)
When Christ-followers are encouraged to freely flow with and obey God’s Spirit, Jesus builds His ekklesia for all to see! Then Christ shines through His followers like the sun.
Without inner freedom–freedom from the dominion of our own desire and self-will–we humans are still in bondage no matter how much we pridefully proclaim and celebrate our liberty. People like to use outward freedom as an excuse to justify their inner bondage but there’s no real freedom without inner freedom.
True freedom is freedom from mental and emotional torment and oppression. Without inner freedom we human beings are only pretending to be free. Until we find freedom within, outward freedom will only be superficial. No Bill of Rights can give people inner freedom. They have to find that for themselves.
The key to inner freedom is to be in Christ. To be in Christ is to no longer live by your will and desires. It is to align and surrender your will and desires to His–to go wherever He takes you–to live moment by moment in obedience to and reliance on Him. It is to be crucified with Christ–to be dead to your own will and desires. To be in Christ is to be resurrected, inhabited, and led by His presence.
The more you align your will and desires with Jesus the more you will see His power flowing in and through you. The more you are in Christ, the more you will hear His voice. You can hear Him. Listen closely throughout each day.
When you’re feeling encouraged for no reason, you’re hearing Jesus. Listen to Him. When you’re feeling forgiven and you know you don’t deserve it, you’re hearing Jesus.
When you’re experiencing inner peace in the middle of one of life’s storms, you’re hearing Jesus. When you’re experiencing joy while your heart is breaking, you’re hearing Jesus.
When you’re feeling patient in the middle of a major delay, you’re hearing Jesus. When you’re feeling kind in a hostile environment, you’re hearing Jesus.
When you’re empowered to do good when you want to be bad, you’re hearing Jesus. When you’re being faithful when you want to quit, you’re hearing Jesus.
When you’re being gentle when you want to lash out, you’re hearing Jesus. When you’re keeping yourself under control when you want to lose it, you’re hearing Jesus. Always listen for His voice.
We live in an age in the Western world where public figures encourage us to pursue pleasure, desires, comfort, and government support for our desires. I believe that is a deceptive and dangerous focus, so I disagree with almost all public figures.
A focus on the satisfaction of personal desires reveals the insight that our human desires are never fully satisfied. Pursuing their fulfilment is a lifelong treadmill. True fulfillment comes when we get off of the treadmill and search for inner peace instead of desire-fulfillment.
Human beings are made in the image of God, but rebellion, pleasure-seeking, and domination by self-focused desire has separated us from the presence and character of God to the point that we have become a faded, cracked, and contorted copy of a photograph of God. We have abandoned the continual cultivation of heart-connection with God for lesser pursuits that entangle and entrap us in self-deceptive pleasures and in tormenting thoughts.
In your finer and nobler moments, notice the remnants of God’s image (His still small voice) stirring in your heart and calling you to return to, surrender to, and daily live in obedience to His presence. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for you to leave your prison of guilt and shame behind and be reconciled to ongoing loving intimacy with Him.
The burnt embers of the image of God in you can become “Christ in you, the hope of glory,”–God’s eternal flame in your heart. Shift your pursuit of pleasure to the pursuit of Christ’s presence. Exchange your domination by desires (the dominion of darkness) for the kingdom of God, the full and complete dominion of the risen Jesus within and through your heart. Be reconciled to God and demonstrate that reconciliation in what you say, think, and do. Be a living demonstration to other people that they, too, can be joyously reconciled to God.
My career plan is to write away every day and see where the words take me. I try to take off my hard hat, loosen up my stiff neck, set aside my analysis, and listen to the still small voice within me. So, let’s see where the words go today.
Uplifting words Begin to flow And within me grow But I don’t know Where they are About to go Until they show The truth they tow. They seem to blow Into my heart And then they start To assemble Themselves together. So, I lie low And listen Through God’s window In my soul.
Christ gives me New desires. He inspires Me to do As God requires. Christ takes His plyers And He rewires My identity So my heart Never tires Of the warmth Of His fire’s Pure glowing Within me.
Let your heart be a sail That always flows With the wind Of God’s Spirit And always goes Where He leads.
It’s easy to Stare at your phone And scroll on and on As if you were A mindless drone.
It’s easy to Sit in a church With your hard hat on And listen to words That can seem to drone On and on.
It’s never easy To make the choice To crash the drone, Get off the phone, And listen to God’s voice Until you discover That your heart was made To always rejoice In the Spirit Of the Lord.
I like people Who are Different than me. They give me Another perspective To see. Love doesn’t Have to stop When we disagree.
Two weeks ago, on a trip to southern Italy, I saw a woman from Sierra Leone selling trinkets on the street. She was mostly being ignored so I approached her. She didn’t speak English, so I asked if she spoke Spanish. She responded that she did, and we had a delightful conversation and connected heart-to-heart. Afterwards she gave me a tiny bracelet as narrow as a string and I put it in my wallet. Just now as I looked down, I noticed the outline of a cross on the back of my wallet, I realized that it was the string bracelet she gave me. I picked up my wallet and the way the light hit it the cross turned into the number 8 (which stands for new beginning) and then into a butterfly (which represents new life). God speaks through the humblest people and the simplest things.
Sometimes we search so hard for miracles that we overlook the simple supernatural of God’s still small voice. Look and see! Open your heart and mind to SI (Supernatural Intelligence) — direct personal revelation from God.
If you compare your custom-made life to other people’s life it will make it look like a hand-me-down. Your life is beyond compare!
I see beautiful live performances every day! I see the sun, clouds, lightening, rain, stars and the moon performing in the sky as the tree branches wave them on.
I see Spirit-led performances when I observe acts of kindness, humility, generosity, compassion, and forgiveness. I see heart-touching performances when I see and hear people tenderly pray out loud for one another.
Throughout each day I see live performances in my heart when I focus my inner attention on the risen Jesus and notice how He is living and working within me and guiding me step-by-step.
Let the risen Jesus fulfill His promise to live in and through you throughout each and every day. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27.
When people accept Christ’s promise to lead them by His Spirit and begin to courageously, moment-by-moment, follow and obey His inner promptings, glorious spiritual awakening will sweep through their heart and their land.
The best performance on earth is to gaze at the living resurrected Jesus. Don’t let anything distract you from Him. Let His Spirit ever perform live in your heart!
Read the following promises. Memorize them. Receive them. Let Jesus perform them in your heart and dazzle you with His presence.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17.
“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 14:17.
“When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you” John 16:13-14.
“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.
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Romans 8:14.
The best view on earth is to look with your heart at the living resurrected Jesus. “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Hm he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 1:2
Christianity is A daily Spirit-led walk, Not a weekly Religious talk.
Instead of asking Christians where they go to church, ask them how they are demonstrating the reality of the living Jesus in society. Don’t just hear a sermon–be one! Speak and demonstrate God’s word yourself. “Christ in you” is limited only by your unwillingness to believe and obey Him. “Quench not the Spirit.”
When people who read the Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit throughout the week go to church, they don’t need a sermon. They need an open mic so they can share what God has been showing them. See 1 Corinthians 14:26.
There are three things Christ-followers can rely on: 1) Faith–moment-by-moment dependence on the risen Jesus; 2) Hope–positive expectations as we allow God’s Spirit to move and prompt us from within; and 3) Agape–God’s never-failing caring and compassion for us and His desire to always connect heart-to-heart with us. Faith and hope spring from the direct revelation and experience of God’s agape in a human heart–a revelation far beyond flesh and blood and human understanding. The body of Christ is called to gather and demonstrate God’s agape supernaturally flowing in their midst as they obey the 50+ New Testament “one another commands” and “value others above yourselves.”
Just because some Legos are in the same box doesn’t mean that they are assembled together. Just because Christians are attending the same church service doesn’t mean that they have assembled themselves together. “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25. Truly “assembling together” requires that Christians consider one another, provoke one another to love and good works, and exhort one another.
Since Christians are in every country, the idea of Christian nationalism makes no sense. The body of Christ is worldwide, not on any nation’s side. The rainbow in the sky is God’s promise that reminds us of our true identity in the One who created us male and female. It reminds us that we are called to follow Him, not our own desires, feelings, or opinions.
My job for the never-ending day that’s on its way will be to bask in, reflect, and radiate the love of God. I will celebrate His love, His mercy, and His presence forever.
Let Love Blaze With God’s Spirit
Hearing what A sermon says Without checking What the Bible says Is dangerous. Hearing what The Spirit says As you read What the Bible says Will set your heart On fire with blazes Of God’s love, But hearing What the Spirit says Without doing What He says Is self-deception. The Bible is A hearing aid To help you hear And inspire you To obey What the Spirit says. It’s not a textbook To be taught. Its words are A heart-warming fire To be caught, Carried and spread Throughout each day.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t follow an exact pattern. The Holy Spirit leads as He wills if a congregation is willing and courageous enough to obey Him.
It’s very frustrating for me to attend a church where the Holy Spirit isn’t allowed to take direct control of the meeting. It takes more than a lifetime of sermon-hearing to make someone a Christian. “He who has ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying.”
Just because some Legos are in the same box doesn’t mean that they are assembled together. Just because Christians are attending the same church service doesn’t mean that they have assembled themselves together. “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25. Truly assembling together requires that we consider one another, provoke one another to love and good works, and exhort one another.
When people who read the Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit throughout the week go to church, they don’t need a sermon. They need an open mic so they can share what God has been showing them. See 1 Corinthians 14:26.
Since Christians are in every country, the idea of Christian nationalism makes no sense. The body of Christ is worldwide, not on any nation’s side.
Love never fails, but every unkind word is a failure of people to love one another. Love has never failed, but when it is set aside and replaced with pride and self-focus, human ego fails and paints human lives with emotional and mental misery.
Generic human love fails. The original brand of love is always reliable.
There’s only one unfailing source of faith and hope and that’s the failproof love of God which is being poured out into human hearts that are willing to humbly receive, surrender to, and be continually led by the Holy Spirit. Love (and all the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit) always flourishes in hearts and lives that are fully surrendered to living Jesus. Love is not an academic style study or Bible lesson of the Greek word “agape.” It’s the ongoing supernatural overflow of the unfailing “Christ in you,” and His inner rivers of living water.
To applaud, approve of, or accept wrong behavior is unloving. Instead of helping people it further entraps them in their wrongdoing. Love speaks the truth with kindness. God so loved the world that instead of approving of people’s self-focused desires and behaviors He made a way through Jesus for people to be set free and restored to a heart-to-heart relationship with Him.
God’s love defines our identity, but our self-focused desires don’t. They distort it. It’s time for people who passionately love Jesus to come out of the closet and begin to openly and kindly talk about Him and the beautiful identity He has for all people who are willing to receive it and walk in it. (The more I get my mind off of myself, the more I experience mental health and heart-felt happiness.)
True Christianity is a Spirit-led lifestyle that overflows with love. It’s not a human-programmed church style.
Courageously dare To say and do What God’s Spirit Tells you to.
I admire people who courageously open their heart to others and live with compassion, honesty, and humility. My heroes are people who radiate love, manifest joy, spread peace, show patience, display kindness, seek goodness, live with faithfulness, and communicate with gentleness, by continually surrendering to the control of the Spirit of Christ.
People who keep their heart open to the risen Jesus and allow their life to be led by the Spirit moment-by-moment, reflect the glory of God. I love to be around people like that. I’m fortunate to know and spend time with some people like that and to be married to someone like that.
I also love to read the writings of people like that who lived in the past. Many of those people are called “saints.” Some of my favorites are: Gregory Palamas, Ignatius Brianchaninov, John Wesley, George Fox, Catherine Booth, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avilia, John of the Cross, Leonard Ravenhill, Nicolaus Zinzendorf, and the writers in the Philokalia. I love their advice!
Faith is a roaring fire in the heart. It’s not a religious routine. Motion is like lotion and emotion inspires motion. Get fired up and start moving for Jesus and let His lotion sooth your soul.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 