Meditation

The french writer Jacques Reda had a peculiar habit. He used to walk the streets of Paris with the intention of seeing one thing new each day. It was the way he renewed his love for the city. In his book Primal Mark Batterson states Our love for God grow as we discover new dimensions of His personality, and His personality is primarily revealed in the pages of scripture. So when is the last time you read the bible looking to see God anew. Well that's why meditation is so important. Meditation is defined as (continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation.) As Mark Batterson put it " Here's the secret: you can't just read the Bible you have to meditate on it. Reading gives breadth to our understanding, but meditation gives depth." We need to think about what we are reading, put ourselves into the story, really look at the people we are reading about. Look at the scene, the setting,become a active observer. Its when you read God's word in this way, it becomes alive to us, we start to see things we have not seen before. We don't just read the stories, they become alive to us, they become real to us. And we start to see that our God is very involved in the lives of those we read about, and we understand that He is involved in our lives as well. We see Him anew and we fall in love with Him all over again. So today take time to slow down, and meditate on the God of the universe, you will be amazed at what you will find.

Epiphany

Often time in life there are things that confound me and then all the sudden the meaning is made clear, its like a light goes on in my head. I'm not sure how or why this happens but I know it does. Lately as I read the Bible Epiphanies have become common place. It seems that no matter what the story is that I'm reading,I see or understand something I have not seen or understood before. Its like a a child discovering things for the first time, it has been one of the most exciting times in my Life. I have seen God and his love in ways I have never seen before. I have come to understand how much Jesus want me to know Him, and how much he will reveal Himself to us when we seek Him with our whole heart.Just like it says,In Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart,declares the Lord. The word Epiphany is defined as = (a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.)I believe that God loves to bring insight and perception into our reality, He bring clarity to Life and showa us what we could not see or know without Him. I am sure that many believe that they have Life all figured out, our culture tells us that we need nothing others than our selves, but I am more convinced then ever that there is a God that is greater than what we can see and touch and know with our eyes, our hands and our minds. There is a God that steps into our limited reality and shows us a reality that is to come, and tells us how we can spend eternity with Him. I am thankful that the God of the universe cares enough to intervene into my life and brings clarity to all of the craziness of this world and gives me hope of better things to come.

A Little Bit Of Jesus

In his book Forgotten God, Francis Chan states," When people give their lives to God in exchange for a ticket out of hell, there is often no Turing or change of direction, which is the definition of repentance. If all you want is a little Jesus to "spiritualize" your life, a little extra God to keep you out of hell, you are missing out on the fullness of life you were created for." As I sit and think back to why I give my life to follow Jesus, I think I belonged into this category. Yes hell was somewhere that I wanted no part of. But something has happen as I have gotten to know this Jesus, I have found myself more and more in love with Him. The more I read about Him, spend time praying and meditating to Him and on Him,the more I can't wait to be with Him, to see Him and to talk to Him face to face. There is now nothing in me that wants just A Little Bit Of Jesus. There are still time when I sin, but I know deep in my heart that my life is now His. And I now know that the things of this world do not compare to what He has offer me. Yes I'm am grateful that when I die I will not have to spend eternity in hell, and yes I'm thankful that I wont have to be alone forever, and yes I'm humbled that I am now consider a friend of God. But more than anything I am most thankful that I will be with Jesus Christ. I know of no other that has loved me so deeply. No other that has known me so completely. And no other that has rescued me so totally. I want Jesus more and more, once you really know Him, you will always want more.

A cup of coffee

Today I got a glimpse at how blessed my life truly is. As I sat in Starbucks waiting for a friend, a homeless man approached me and asked for money in a manner that appeared to me as aggressive and angry. I told him no and that I could not help him. As he walked away something inside me died, and as I saw how others treated this man my heart broke for him. One encounter was particularly painful for me to watch and hear. As another customer, who was asked by the homeless man for money, shouted at him and said “can't you see I’m reading my paper?” It was at this point I realized how blessed I was and that I could if I chose at this moment be a blessing to another. So that’s what I did, I called the man over and I told him I could not give him money, but I could buy him some food and a cup of coffee. So he picked out two breakfast sandwiches and some coffee. When he got his food he came over to me and asked if I would eat one of the sandwiches with him along with some coffee. It was at that moment that my heart was glad and my whole attitude change. I saw him as a person and not a homeless man, and I thanked God for the cup of coffee He had just allowed me to drink. Yes, today I realized how blessed I am, and just think it all started with a cup of coffee.

The Power Of the Word Of God

As I was reading in the Bible the other day, I was caught off guard by something I have never caught before. In the book of (1st Thessalonians chapter 2 Vs. 13 &14) So this is what is says

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews. So here Paul is telling them that the reason they where going through all this and they where being persecutes was because they had really accepted the word of God, not just as words of men, or good words, but as the words of God. Now think about that, when was the last time you said to yourself these are the word of the most high God. No really think about that, if we really believed that would we not live differently. If i go to church and lets say I don't like the preacher, does it matter these are the words of God, not the words of a preacher. I came to understand that God's word bring power in my life when I accept it for what it is , the powerful, true, life giving WORD OF GOD. I had always knew it was the word of God, but often times i treated it was just words, and for that today i ask for forgiveness. For I now want to always accept it not as the word of men, but as it actually is the WORD OF GOD

SLOW DOWN

Have you ever notice that most people hurry through life, never taking the time to slow down. I often wonder why we live at such a hectic pace. Life was never meant to be a mad dash. God created us to enjoy Him and to enjoy life. As you often here stop and smell the roses. But somehow life has gotten out of control as the pace of life has us all running so fast that we forget to live life, we only survive it. If you have ever read the Biblical account of creation you know that God created the world and all that's in it in six day. But on the seventh day God rested. I often ask myself why did God need to rest? Was he tried, did he work to hard. No I think God rested to set an example for us. God also tell us to rest, to slow down, to take a sabbath. The word Sabbath means "to catch one's breath" In his Book Wild Goose Chase Mark Batterson writes "A weekly Sabbath is the way our spirits catch up with our bodies. And if we don't slow down, we eventually hit a point of diminishing returns, where more is less and less is more. It's counter intuitive, but the way you speed up is by slowing down." Life is hard and the pace can be difficult but we must all learn to slow down and to "Be Still And Know That God Is God."

Trying to Find God

It's had to discern God's presence in the busyness of life. Even when I try to do all the right things, such as reading my Bible, praying and going to church. Yes God's presence seem to escape me, and it seems as if God is elusive not wanting to be found. Can it be that I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? should I add something else to my list so that God will hear me? The more I think about it maybe I'm trying to give God a list of things when all he ever wanted was me. I mean my heart, maybe His plan was for me to fall in love with Him, not just a list of things I do for Him, but a heart that loves Him and wants to spend time with Him. Wants to get to know Him, and hear from Him. A heart that seeks him with passion and with intensity. Is it only there that we can find Him?Is it only there that we come to understand that God is a God of deep relationships, a God of passion and love. How is it that I ever thought I could find Him, by keeping a list of do's and dont's. I think that today I will give my heart to Him and then I will wait and be found by Him.