Why Would He?

There comes a time in life when we ask why hasn't God shown me His answer. That time for me has been now. I have been discussing with my wife and with my covenant brother why God hasn't "shown" me what to do with my life. I mean, I know what I'm supposed to do daily, but there are specific things in my life I want answers for...for the future. I know others who are struggling with the questions: "When and how will I know this is from God?" or "What if I missed that opportunity?"


I do wonder these at times, I do. I wonder why God doesn't "speak" to me more often. Then it hit me. Why would He? Why would he if I am not actively seeking Him in his Word and in prayer? Seriously, here I am asking (in my stupid self-righteousness) the God of the universe to speak to me about my life when I'm not committing my everyday to him. How can I hear him if my ears aren't tuned to his voice? Then I remembered I need to be meditating on his Word day and night... And this is where scripture comes in:

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." - Psalms 1:1-3

I don't think I walk in the counsel of the wicked or sit in the seat of mockers. BUT, blessed is you and me when we delight in the law of the Lord. Read it again. It says we will prosper. Our fruit will be IN season. Our future, God has ahold of. Being IN season is about being in his perfect timing.


The bible has all the answers. I have been asking God for insight, wisdom, knowledge which I know he gives freely. I just need to "tap into" it more often, I need to MEDITATE ON HIM DAY AND NIGHT. Oh, think of the blessings. Think of how grateful we'd be for everything we already have.

Be Blessed. Be meditating...
And that's why he would...

Here I Am, Send Me

I've heard this phrase a lot lately. Actually in a couple songs. Great songs at that. We sing these words, think or pray them even...but can we grasp what they mean? I surely struggle with that fact that if I do pray them or admit that I am 'ready' to be sent, I actually don't feel ready at all.

Isaiah heard from the Lord "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" After having his sin purged he proclaimed those famous words. As soon as he did the Lord told him to go speak to the people. (chapter 6:6-9)

If we ask the Lord to send us, are we ready to speak to the people?

And being sent, do you imagine it being a far off place? Is it over-seas or across country? Sometimes I wish it were. Sometimes I wish I would hear God say "Are you ready Jeff, I'm sending you to West Africa. The place you want to go." But honestly, that's not how God works. I think when we ask God to send us, it very well could be where we already are. "Send me to the lost, or the sick or frail," we pray to God. Well for most of us, let's look inside our workplace. For me that is as far as I have to go, work.

At this point let me share some lyrics from Dustin Kensrue, lead singer of my favorite band Thrice. The song is called: The Messenger.

Mark me with fear and trembling, send someone else instead.
I know my world is ending; I can't repay my debt.
How can I carry such a heavy burden?
How can I move when I am paralyzed?
I see a fire behind a heavy curtain.
I lean in closer & I close my eyes & kiss the coals, breathe in smoke & I say

"Here I am, send me."

Lifts my soul, free & so unafraid.
Mark me with fire and send me among the living dead.
They cannot comprehend me, I watch the sickness spread.

How can they hear me when their hearts are hardened?
How can they see me when they close their eyes?
So then can tell me I'm an easy target.
A wooden saw is quite a way to die.

Kiss the coals; breathe in smoke. And I say:
"Here I Am, Send Me."

Sometimes I think this: how can they hear me, when the world has hardened their hearts? I work everyday with college students who are lost, they see no direction in life. Literally. They go to school with no means to an end. They're underage and yet they love to binge drink because everyone else does it. Or they surf everyday because they don't like school and hate their classes. Well I could go on, but for me when I ask to "Send me Lord" I am convicted that I have to look at where I am. But of course God can grant the desires of our hearts, and Leanna and I would love to serve in Africa someday. But He has us here now. This is where we are "sent."

I think the crux of this is what happened to Isaiah before he uttered those words. We should focus on this: his sins were purged. They were removed, atoned for, wiped out. He was clean before being sent. Think about that. Whoa.

Before we sing "Here I am Lord, Send Me," let us take a knee (or two) and ask for forgiveness. Ask God to purge your sin. Then as we model Isaiah, let as ask God to send us where He will...

I pray our hearts respond...

My Sin & My Spirit

I am perplexed by the idea that if sin in me is dead and my spirit is alive in Christ, how is that sin still remains? I am wrestling with this idea that I am in desperate need to feed my spirit and starve my flesh. But how? What can help me through all this? Do you ever find yourself at odds, desiring to do good, but finding that you still do evil? Of course. We all do... I have been reading Paul because I know he has the answers, I somehow I think he's an expert in this area...

I'm reading Romans 7 & 8...

7:9 - "I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is hold, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good."

I'm trying to understand Paul in context to his upcoming verses. When we follow "law" we think we're alive, but really the sin deceives us and takes ahold of us. He then goes on to as

k if the "good" in me brings death? By no means he says..."It was the sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin..."

Ok...

7:14 - "...but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do no do what I want, but I do the very thing I Hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is not longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but no the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do know want is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."

So it seems to me that we have the answer. It's the sin in me that is dwelling and not the real me. No, that is not where we stop. We read on because I am not convinced that is going to help me understand who I am in Christ and the sin that is in me. Paul want us to understand the whole thing, not just part of it.

I'll summarize what Paul is saying in verses 21-25: We find that evil is always close at hand, but in our deepest part of our hearts we delight in the Lord. But of course other "members" of our body seem to wage war on us, keeping the fight going. He is frustrated by the fact that the war still wages in his body, but who can deliver him from this "body of death?" (That is exactly the turning point in our thinking. If we just stop at that fact that we know that it is sin in me, we tend to justify that sin, because it's "oh just sin in me, not really me." But Paul has got us to change our thinking...)

Paul's answer: 7:25 "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

See I wonder how many us think about the fact that we are dead to sin, but alive in Christ. I know I know that, but until it comes to fruition in mind and ultimately in my actions, we are continually trapped at "it's just the sin in me." But I am learning that we DO have to "renew" our minds daily. Change our thinking, change our mindset, turn our heads around... And more exciting is what Paul says in chapter 8...

8:9 - "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you... 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."

Even a few verses later he says when we live by the Spirit we will LIVE. Our spirit is alive, it gives us Life. I have to continually wrap my mortal mind around that fact that my body - with all it's members that are trying to wage war - has to listen to the Spirit in me. Jesus and the power of his Holy Spirit does dwell in me, and my body has to respond to it. My body is dead. My Spirit is alive in Christ. And it's takes the renewing of my mind every day, every moment pretty much. It's hard work. It's a battle. We are at war, but we have the Spirit of the Living God dwelling inside us. That gives me hope, that gives me courage and now gives me new life to live for today.

(please add to, suggest or comment on this topic as we are all on this path...thanks!)

I Need to Pray More

It's something I think we can all say, "I need to pray more often." Our Abba Father, our Redeemer, our Savior is SO eager to hear our prayers, yet we fill our thoughts and ears with talk radio, ESPN Radio, 91X, or heaven-forbid good-quality-music! :) That's pretty much sums me up, especially while driving. That's where we're alone the most, don't you think?

I was driving to our church offices last week and following behind me was a young woman driving alone, and it was obvious she had tears in her eyes. For the next two miles through stop lights and all, she kept wiping her tears, putting her hands over her eyes (while waiting at the stop lights) and obviously emotionally hurting. I'm watching this all from my rear-view mirrors of course, but I could see enough to see her pain, her wrenched heart, her emotional agony. It really hit me.

As I witnessed this girl, my spirit stirred, the Lord spoke and told me to pray. I turned off my Smashing Pumpkins song, took a deep breath and prayed. What do you pray for? What is going on that I could ask for God's grace in her life? I had no idea. But you know what, I still prayed. I knew that she need grace from the Lord, she needed a spiritual comfort that nothing could bring her except Jesus. So I asked God to simply 'touch' her. "Just touch her Lord, with your love and your grace."

That hasn't happened very often, I'll tell you that. But it was a huge realization. Paul had something going on when he said, "Pray without ceasing." I remember studying this with Dan back in college. We found that Paul's intention was to pray from the state of not ceasing. If that makes sense. It's a state of being, of being in touch or communication with our Father. Do we consider this daily? Do we ask the Lord, "Give me ability to tune my thoughts/senses/brain/attitude to You"? Being in a constant state of prayer with Jesus... that's it.

The incident in the car was a sudden thing for me. (God give me grace,) I was listening when He asked me to pray for the young woman. But the conviction crept in, telling me that is how I should be always. To be in the state of prayer, always.

Hmmm.

I need to pray more...