feeling fear and doing nothing until i hear from you

this is all be unpacked soon in a few blog entries, so think of this as a not to myself to unpack all that is going on within my spirit.

Tre, this is a fascinating time in your Papa's life. You re at Oma's house right now because Mima is at her internship and then has to go to class at Metro. She is finishing her BSW and will be done Next May. Papa is spending Wednesday with God because your Mima and I are getting away for the weekend tomorrow and I will not be able to do my usual Friday with Papa God.

I want to talk to you about "Feel The Fear and Do it Anyway" and also "Do nothing until you hear from me." So that will be the Title of the next two blogs.

The Three Questions: Closing Charge

May you leave this place believing in a God that consumes your daily reality. May you have experiences with God that become fuel for you to dream bigger that you have ever dreamed for you and your family. May your life display to the world your Papa God who is daily doing above all than you can imagine. May you give and invest your money in the things and people that God inspires you with. May you daily carry someone to the feet of Jesus, and may you develop friendships that will overcome a world of opposition in order to get you to God!

Question 3: What do you invest?

We each have ability, time, and money. We can argue that others have more in some departments than we do, but the fact is we all have all three. It is what we each choose to do with each of these three things that determines how much of the reality of God is present in our daily lives.

If you and I are not investing our ability, time, and money into people and purposes that God places in our heart, then something is wrong. If we are not doing that then why are we living?

In Mark Chapter 2 we find a fascinating story.

Jesus was inside a house teaching people and praying for those that were ill or disabled. The place was packed so much that there was not even room for one more person even at the door. Four men arrived carrying their friend on a mat because he was paralyzed. The bible says that they could not get to Jesus through the crowd so they climbed on the roof, made a hole, and lowered their friend down and placed him at the feet of Jesus.

Now, really picture this whole episode in your mind. These 4 guys fight through a crowd and have to hoist this guy up onto the roof. Maybe they dropped him once in the process (due to existing paralysis no further damage was done.) Then one translation of the Bible 

says that they were up on the roof "DIGGING THROUGH IT." I am sure more than one person was like "hey what do you think you are doing?" Perhaps some men even tried to physically stop them from making progress due to their destructive behavior and serious inconsideration for those that have been there for hours. Yet despite all this, the man was healed that day. Jesus said it was because of "their" faith, that is the faith of the man's friends that brought him to the feet of Jesus. 

So, what would cause those four men to overcome such opposition and rational thought to bring their friend to Jesus? There is only one answer that makes sense to me. The Man on the mat mattered more to those four men then all they would face to get their friend to Jesus.

So, who would carry you?

I think in our lives we all become paralyzed in some form at different times. We need our friends to carry us to Jesus when we cannot get there on our own, and the amount we invest in our friends will determine how much opposition they will overcome for us.

Life has a way of making us too busy to have time to care for those that matter the most. Yet, one of the ways the world will be drawn into relationship with God is by your example. Go find somebody on a stretcher and carry them to Jesus.

I have to go, I just thought of somebody! bye.

Question 2:What Do You Experience?

Phil 3:10amp

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power out-flowing from His resurrection. That I may so share in His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope.

You and I must CHOOSE to not only believe that God's presence and power exists in our DAILY lives (see Qustion # 1) but also we must CHOOSE to experience HIS presence constantly. 

In 1 Samuel Chapters 16 & 17 we get an insight into how powerful our obedience really is.

Saul the anointed king of Israel obeyed the mandate from God to attack the enemy but used is own judgement as an excuse to not FULLY obey the voice of God. We then find the man of God (aka Prophet) Samuel confronting Saul about his disobedience. After lying first, the king then admitted that he had not FULLY obeyed God and offered to make it right, but it was TOO late! The Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord left Saul that day and NEVER returned! Also, the man of God left Saul that day and never visited him again. This is what you call a really really bad day! What happened to forgiveness? That is a whole other subject. Then we see in the next chapter that Saul would have David (later called "a man after God's own heart") come and play the harp for him. The Bible says that this was the only time that saul could experience true peace and not be tormented by the evil spirit.

I want to be the man of God that brings the presence of God (including: love, power, wisdom, healing, peace) to each and every situation and relationship I encounter on a daily basis. I do not want to be the one that needs others to bring His presence because of my disobedience to the Holy Spirit.

If we come to church to visit with God this mean by our own admittance that He was not with us prior to coming in the door.

When you spend time with God do you attempt to escape your reality or to bring more of His reality into yours? In the eyes of God, His kingdom and presence (provision and relationship) is SO much more REAL than what you think is real!

Proverb 25:2 It is God's privilege to conceal things and the king's privilege to discover them.

Our experiences with God (aka prayer time) are an opportunity to discover what He has hidden for us to find. Remember that we are his kids! When I hide something for Tre (our 3 year old) I do not rent excavating equipment and hide under tons of earth and concrete. I hide it on a low tree branch (where he can reach it) or in his bed. Jesus told us that to enter into the kingdom of God we must become like little children. So in the eyes and mind of God you and I are like three year olds running around. His joy (like mine is with Tre) is in our Discovering what He has hidden for us. Prayer is not a time to remind God of how miserable you are and what you need. He is not amazed to hear that you need a job, money, or whatever. Also, he is not impressed by the way you pray. To God you are not smart! You are like.... THREE. So your time that you spend with your Papa God is priceless to Him just as is every minute I have 

with my three year old.

Ephesians 3 tells us the God is able to do above what we can ask, think, imagine, or dream. Perhaps the purpose of our time with Him is to persuade our hearts to believe for experiences that are at the limit of our cognitive ability. Should this be true, perhaps our lives should be about Him daily bringing realities into our lives that our beyond our minds ability to fathom!

Let's get going we have some mind blowing to do. Helmets reccomended!