Category Archives: Walking with God

A Whole New World After Wild At Heart Boot Camp

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The last four days have been absolutely amazing. I had the chance to spend time in the mountains of Colorado and attend the Wild At Heart Boot Camp. It was an experience like I could have never imagined. I am going to attempt to do this Boot Camp some sense of justice in sharing some of my experience. First, if you have never heard of the book, Wild At Heart, it is a book that I would highly recommend. A friend of mine, KC, gave me this book a few years back when I was going through a great deal of life struggle and trying to return to God. The book sat on my desk for well over a year before I finally picked it up in the summer of 2013. When I finally did read it, it was life changing for me and really began to drive my journey. Definitely a must read.

Wild At Heart was written many years ago, by John Eldredge. He heads up Ransomed Heart Ministries in Colorado Springs.The unique thing about John is that he is real. He is not a religious theologian and is truly after God’s heart and helping people find their way to God. John and his small team conduct this and other Boot Camps. They are there in person and genuinely care about the hearts of men and helping them discover who they really are in God’s eyes, the image bearers of God, and discovering the wild and masculine nature of God and themselves. The journey also takes you through your wounds, renouncing and forgiveness of those that wounded you and of yourself, discovering your real name and identity in God’s eyes, becoming the warrior we are meant to be, learning to pursue the beautiful side of God’s image in Eve, and discovering that we are in fact God’s sons and how he wants to Father us into our inheritance in His kingdom.

Let me just say that this is not your run of the mill, hand holding, singing by the fire, men’s retreat. This is a raw and real treasure hunt getting into the heart of a man. The Ransomed Heart team, guides you through a real discovery journey in addition to a great deal of time to yourself to just walk and commune with God. Again it far surpassed anything I could have hoped for or expected. In my time of prayer and being with God I heard Him talking with me like I never had before. He opened my heart, opened my eyes, and allowed me to discover freedom and my true self. Putting aside the poser in me and the fig leaf that has plagued man since the fall of creation when Adam chose Eve over God. If you think I am crazy about hearing God speak to me, you’re wrong. He talks to us, we just have to be willing and open to hear it. All those thoughts that run through your head are not just you. You just have to listen.

Let me get into the setting. We were high in the Colorado mountains at Crooked Creek Ranch, near Fraser, CO at about 8,500 feet. What an awesome and majestic setting with the snow covered mountains rising high around us. Crooked Creek is an incredible place. It is a Young Life Camp and they set it up right. I was completely unplugged from the world for the first time in a long time. That in of itself was incredible. I was able to eliminate all distractions and let my heart experience every aspect of what God had in store. In the time leading up to the trip, I knew the enemy was attacking me. He was pissed and trying to dissuade me. I could feel it in my attitude at times, constant headaches, and feeling anxious and fears. He was relentless, so I had to be relentless in my prayer and arming myself. Getting there was half the battle.

So now I am there. What to expect. First, I was fortunate to be roomed with guys from Georgia. That was cool. Guys from all walks of life. Pastor, retail, emergency services, doctors, and more. All different guys, but all on the same journey of discovering who they were as men and discover everything God had for them. I had the chance to really bond with these guys I now call my Band of Brothers. This is something I never had. Guys I could do life with, so very blessed to have these guys come into my life and share the experience with them. These are connections I look forward to maintaining once home.

Through the experience, I was also able to further discover the larger story I am apart of. How my life plays an intricate part of God’s larger story. There are some, even so called religious leaders and Christians that will say God does not have time for all the small things in our life. I’ve heard this before. Let me tell you, He cares about every single bit of it. He cares if we skate through life in our own small story. He cares about the wounds that help bring us into sin and our false self. He cares about every single bit of. Above all, He has told us our hearts are good and made new because of Christ Jesus. Our hearts are not bad and we do not have to spend life carrying the burdens of our wounds. We can have life, in Christ, and we can live free from the bondage of sin and the religious veil that God himself tore in two, but so many religious ‘christian’ denominations have put back up with rules and false dogmas that are not from God and keep people in bondage.

So let’s journey a little into the sessions we did have. John and his team talked through various aspects of the masculine soul, our woundedness, our real identity, the warrior in all men, the lover in us and the beauty to rescue, and our place as God’s sons and allowing God to Father us as He desires. These guys shared so much Truth from Scripture and then their personal testimonies and struggles in life. It helped to make it all very real and relatable. We spent time in deep prayer together as a group, about 440 guys. Something else I have never really allowed is people to pray over me in a time where I was just broke down. Two team members walked to me, sat with me, listened to my story and then just prayed over me. They genuinely cared and it was something I desperately needed. I have always put on a false self shouldering many burdens that weren’t mine to bare, even acting strong when I was completely broken. I could bare my heart to these guys and my Band of Brothers free from any judgment, and they the same. Words can’t even begin to describe the power God poured into this time.

The greatest part of it all was being able to sit by myself or walk around and just talk to God and listen to what He had to share with me. Those moments of prayer, listening in silence with no distractions , and writing in my journal what I was hearing was incredible. God helped me to renounce my wounds and agreements, discover my real self in His eyes, discover the warrior in me, where I need to better pursue my bride and better initiate and validate my children as they come into being young men and women, and validating me as a man bringing me into sonship with Him. Simply incredible time with the Father. I could go on there forever.

Another part of the journey was the adventure. Discovering the sense of adventure that we lose when we leave childhood. Growing up it was all about adventure and discovery. We lose that when we become adults and the world tells us otherwise. There’s so much to see and learn about in God’s kingdom. As part of my journey, one of my brothers and I strapped on snowshoes and headed up the mountain behind us. Probably pushed near 9,500 to 10,000 feet. We met up with some other guys and made the long journey to the top and down the other side. The view of the valley from up there was breathtaking. It was a challenging hike trudging through 2+ feet of snow and tested you physically as a low lander, but we pushed through and made it. God had something special for the few of us that got to experience that.

All in all this was a journey I desperately needed and I am ever thankful that the Father brought me on this trip. I discovered a great deal about myself and feel very ready to go back to the world as a changed man with a renewed since of hope, armed with the armor of God, and ready to fight for my heart, the heart of my family, and to help others discover the heart of God and all God has for them in their lives. I am thankful for the connections and new Brothers.

I firmly believe in the ministry that God has inspired John and his team to share with the world. It’s very powerful and speaking to men and women all over the world. We had guys from Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and Brazil among other places. People may think they are just about making money, but they are not. The cost paid for the event with all the food, which was awesome, accommodations, and resources was well worth it. It’s not overpriced. They only run a couple of these events a year on purpose, and all money for resources purchased there (books, DVDs, audio resources ) is donated. They don’t keep a dime of that. It’s very real. They invite us all to take the message and resources out to the world to share with others. I intend to do just that. You guys, I highly recommend you taking a look at this book and others they have if you have not. If you have questions about it, let me know. If you feel God calling you to a Boot Camp, go. You will not regret it. This won’t be my last event. Ladies, I recommend you check out Captivating, written by John and his wife Stasi. My wife read it and it’s been life changing. They also have a Captivating events for women in the same type of setting, but geared toward the feminine heart. My wife plans to attend one in the near future. Discover that you are the image of God’s beauty, mercy, and tenderness. You are the final touch of God’s creation.

I know I have shared a lot. This is just the tip of the sword of all I experienced. There is so much more, but I will leave it at this. Men, we are the image bearers of God’s wild and masculine side. We all need to discover this and get out from behind the fig leaf, the poser that we all are behind. Take this journey. Check out Ransomed Hearts website htttp://www.ransomedheart.com. It’s journey I promise you will never regret.

Until next time, God Bless.

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A New Adventure

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Currently I am sitting at 35,000 feet as I make my way to Colorado. This is a day I have been anticipating for a few months. I will be joining many other men for the Wild At Heart Boot Camp at Crooked Creek Ranch. It’s hard to describe my excitement for this event. As I wrote the other day, I have been making some serious intentional changes in my life and for my family. One of those is to no longer be a lone ranger in how I do life. To connect with more people, especially men of faith and to grow in my walk with God. This journey  to Colorado is a part of that. Also to make sure I spent more time waking with God every single day and not being only partially invested in my faith.

So as I sit on this flight, which by the way is the first time I have flown anywhere that was not work related, I am in awe of the  beauty I see looking over God’s awesome creation.  I have some times wondered if I could ever step away and do something like this. I sit in anticipation of what God will have in store for me. It’s a big journey into  unknown territory to a place I have never been.  I look forward to meeting new people, but above all to be at 10,000 feet in the remote wilderness where I  can have time to sit in solitude with just me and God.

As many of us do, I have often hid behind a fig leaf. An imposter would often reel it’s head and I walked through life, often ignoring God, being the nice guy, and trudging along doing what the world was expecting of me. God calls us all to so much more in our lives. To be after His heart, surrender to Him, and lead others to Him in many ways. As my wife and I were talking last night, she help me realize that God blessed me with a special gift to write. We all have a number of God given talents, and we should use those for His full glory. We have to choose whether to or not, however.  I am resolved to further use this gift to do just that. I no longer will sit on the sidelines and let my false self run the show.

Part of my daily reading today came out of Wild At Heart, which this Boot Camp is based on. It said, “The false self, our plan for redemption, seems so right to us. It shields us from pain and secures us a little love and admiration. But the false self is a lie; the whole plan is built on pretense. It’s a deadly trap. God loves us too much to leave us there. So he thwarts us, in many, many different ways.” God is always pursuing us. We have to resolve to let Him find us and help us to put our false self behind us and be authentic as His children.

So with that, I am taking part in a new adventure.  I have prayed about this day often for guidance and for God to open my heart to it all. I sometimes questioned my motives, but realized that the enemy has been trying to stop me from going. He knows that he his losing this battle and as he often does, he tries to fill us with doubt, fear, uncertainty, and false accusations. He does not relent, and the further away you pull, the harder he will fight. This is when we need to put on God’s armor; the helmet of salvation,  shield of faith, sword of the spirit,  and breastplate  of righteousness.  We must fight back. His armor is taking me to the unknown with confidence and strength I have never had. As Uncle Si says, “It’s on like bing-bong, jack!” I am ready to do battle and not let my heart fall to the enemy or this world.

I am extremely excited about what the next four days has in store for me. Look forward to the connections and growth. My heart is wide open for it all. I am blessed to have such an awesome wife who supports me in all this. God is doing awesome things in her heart as well which is bringing our marriage to another level. I will write about the experience after I return home. Till then, God Bless.

There Is No Negotiating Surrender

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We negotiate a lot of things in our lives.  We negotiate when buying a car or house.  We negotiate salaries with our jobs and contract deals.  We even negotiate with the family when trying to decide where to go eat or what to eat (This is a non-stop negotiation in our house).  To put it plainly, there is negotiating in all areas of life when trying to make decisions and commitments and trying to get the best terms and outcomes for us.  Another area that people often try to negotiate is their faith and there surrender to and trusting of God.  I have been guilty of this too.  Making terms like I will trust you but I really need this or that to happen.   We may even get angry with Him if things just don’t go the way we want it go.  Even if when we sin, we often just can’t let go and let God be God.

The simple fact is that we cannot negotiate our surrender to Him.  We cannot be partially committed in our faith and only trust God on our terms.  It does not work that way.  When we are broken, the biggest thing we need to just to let go and let God love us as He does and trust Him fully.  He is after everyone of our hearts and loves each one of us.  He loved us so much that he put on a robe of flesh and became fully man invading enemy territory.  Lived the life that man was meant to live in Christ, and suffered and died for our sins and salvation and was raised to life to open a doorway to Father through Him.  That’s love beyond any comparison.

This past weekend, we had a baseball coaches clinic at my church.  My pastor is a former Major League pitcher and brought in Royals Manager, Ned Yost, Hall of Famer, John Smoltz, and former MVP Terry Pendleton.  It was awesome to hear their insights about baseball and coaching tips and above all hearing them in their faith in Jesus Christ.  Ned Yost shared something big about his faith in where he had not fully surrendered and then reached a point where God just told him to let go and trust Him.  A life changing moment for this man and if you follow baseball, you know the Royals did this past year getting to the World Series.

It’s that simple though folks and I even needed to hear this, because I even find myself at times trying to set terms in my surrender.  Just let it go.  Trust God and know that He has a plan for each and every one of us.  He loves us beyond all measure and even when we stray away pursuing things of this world that don’t matter, He is still there pursuing and waiting for us.  He is after each of our hearts.  Don’t try to negotiate your faith and surrender to God.  It just does not work that way.  It’s a life changing feeling and one that’s hit me as well.  If you just trust God, love God, and let go, you can live free, come fully alive and everything will begin to play out according to His decided will and you will be able to discover more and more about His will and calling for your life.

A New Year…A Renewed Focus

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Happy New Year!

It just seems like yesterday that we were starting 2014, and now we’re in the full swing of 2015 already.  The days just go so quickly especially with so much we have going on in our lives.  I know I was quite on this blog through the last few months of 2014.  I love to write, but I always need that inspiration, something that really sparks my thinking and gets things flowing.  I tend to get those times where writing just slows for a bit.  Guess it comes in waves.  I will say that through the last few months I was able to enjoy some great time with my family.  We got to spend time in the woods hunting, although, no harvest this year, still times that was well worth it all.  At the end of the year, I was able to take my family on one final getaway to the Gulf Coast to close out 2014 and ring in the New Year!  It was a great time.

So now we move into 2015. What next?  For a lot of us, it is time of resolution.  A time where we decide this is what I going to do differently this year.   It could be exercising more (You can always tell when New Year roles around at my gym), eating better, quit a habit like smoking, going to church more, or any of a number of other things people resolve for.  As we all know, the hardest part is keeping those resolutions.  Like I said, my gym is always jam packed at New Years for a couple of weeks, then it fades back to us regulars again.  For me personally, I tend to stay away from resolutions at New Years.  They sound great, but I just don’t think much of them anymore.

I would challenge everyone to shoot for something.  Resolve to have a revolution in your life (spiritually, mentally, and physically).  My pastor is talking on these lines currently.  Revolution is defined – To engage in effecting change in ways of thinking and life altering behavior. To Transform.  I would challenge that our spiritual lives are in need of revolution more than anything.  We live in a society that is blind.  A false tolerance society that is aimed squashing out the Christian faith and silencing those that proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.  It’s all over the world.  I can feel it now as I write this.  My heart knows what to say, but I have the enemy hammering me trying to change my direction.  That’s the way this world is working now and we need a revolution to stand strong in our faith and be bold in proclaiming the Good News.

3 weeks from today I will be taking a journey to Colorado to attend a Wild At Heart Boot Camp.  Locally, I am making the point to be more intentional in my faith and how I lead and guide my family in the faith.  I have been working at this for the last few years and I learn more with each day that passes.  The Boot Camp is another way I am arming myself both in my time with God preparing for a battle that I know I need to engage in.  We all in the faith are called to engage in this fight for God’s Glory.  To be bold in our faith and help lead others toward Christ and away from this world as well as from the fog of religion that has pulled a thick veil over  the eyes of people.

Stay with on me this a moment.  Y’all remember  the moment Christ died on the cross, what happened in the temple?  The veil was torn that separated people from God in the Holy of Hollies.  Who did that?  God himself.  He tore the veil as the door was now open through Christ and we were saved through God’s undeserved grace.  Jesus constantly battled the religious as they were twisted in their man made way of thinking.  But what has happened today in the church.  Religion has happened.  Across the Christian Faith, religion is taking root and pulling up a man made veil, separating us from God again.  You can’t deny it, it’s all over.  Rules, dress codes, regulations, man made dogmas.  So much false religion.  In Beautiful Outlaw, John Eldredge wrote, “The spirit of our day is a soft acceptance of everything – except deep conviction in anything. This is where Jesus will suddenly confront the world as a great rock confronts the river flowing ever downhill. He is immovable…Christianity is not a set of convictions – it is a truth. The most offensive thing imaginable. ”

There is so much I need to do and need to learn to do better as a believer.  I know what thing to be true.  God loves me.  He loves me so much that he came of flesh in Jesus, sneaking behind enemy lines and suffered and died to save me from wherever I was all my sin.  He rose from death and defeated the grave so that we can be made new and now have a pathway to eternal life through Christ.  It’s so awesome.  I can only hope to love God and love Jesus even a fraction of as much as he loved me and all of us.

My renewed focus this year is to focus on just loving God the Father, loving Jesus, and loving the Holy Spirit.  Letting every part of me be covered and renewed in the Father.  Not let religion and the world cloud me but to be an authentic man, without the fig leaf and be who God created me to be.  The battle is just beginning and it ‘s not going to be easy.  I arm myself everyday through intimacy and time with God.  I pray that you will be able to let God open your heart to him as well and let a revolution take place in your life wherever he is leading you.

I pray for a blessed New Year for all of you!

Rest From Life’s Distractions and Noises

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I feel like it has been forever since I last wrote anything.  These last two month’s have been so full that it has pulled me away from my writing.  We all face those times where we are just so jammed up and full of activities and work in our lives that we don’t take those times for ourselves and our personal focus and attention to our life and faith.  We get so busy that even though we try to keep ourselves on point, it gets very difficult to to.

As an example, I have a daily habit of spending time in Scripture and prayer and then keeping my prayer journal to reflect on what I read and on my day and whatever thoughts come around for that day to reflect on.  I have been in Scripture everyday for the past 3 years or so and started journaling at the start of this year.  The last couple of month’s however, I noticed something.  I was not writing everyday.  I still read Scripture everyday, but I was not writing.  I would just brush this off as if there was just not much to write on that day, but there was more to it.  It came to head in the last week or so.  I really started to realize that my mind and life had been so jammed up and filled with noise that I could not focus enough to write anything.  Case in point, I have not written on this blog since early August right before a business trip to Colorado.

Since then, my work has been absolutely crazy, my poor wife was in the hospital in early September and of course kids activities for the fall have just kept so many distractions up.  I am not complaining, but what I realized is that I was letting so much noise get in my head, that my heart was not as focused on my faith as it should be and on ensuring my mind and my heart were clear and focused.

Our worlds are full of chaos and noise.  What I have come to realize is that through it all, we have to take time for ourselves to rest and refocus.  Get away from the craziness or life in some way to get reconnected with God in your life and with your family.  What’s the safety tip always given on an airplane if the oxygen masks come down?  Always secure your mask before helping others.    We have to make sure we take that time to ensure we are taken care of ourselves, otherwise it makes everything else that much harder.

I’m going to write more about this later, but this past weekend, my sons and I went on our first deer hunt together.  It was not long, but we spent about 5 hours in our deer blind Saturday morning. What a great time it was for us.  We got just hang out, but what else I loved was just sitting there and looking around.  Listening to the trees in the breeze, watching squirrels and a raccoon running around and the couple of deer we saw come up in range of our bows, but not where we could shoot this time around.  I was in complete awe of the beauty of it all.  This is all God’s creation that He saw was good.  It is absolute beauty.  There were no other worries other than just taking it all in.

I’m to chronicle our hunts on another blog really soon, but I just had to share this because, this was what really opened my eyes again.  I felt like I was reconnecting with God.  Just as I am when I sent in solitude on the beach, I felt the same way sitting in silence in the woods on a crisp Fall morning.  I realized I need to ensure I take those times to just reconnect.  It certainly helped me refocus myself.  While the busy life will always be there with work and 3 kids and my beautiful wife, I know I need those moments to give my heart and my mind the rest it needs to press that reset button and ensure I don’t lose sight of my God and all that He has created me for and all that He is in my life and that I stay connected with Him fully which helps me stay connected with my family and everything else even better.

Good to be back writing again.  I’ve certainly missed it these past couple months.

An Unending Pursuit

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Have you ever felt that there was something you needed to go after and you would not stop until you got it?  Have you ever fell head-over-heals in love with another that you felt there was nothing that would keep you pursuing them and staying close to their heart?  Have you ever had anyone betray you repeatedly, but no matter what you loved them through it?  Do you that this is just a glimpse of the level of love that God has for each one of us?  He loves each one of us so much that He will continue pursuing us through all the junk that infiltrates our lives.  Have you ever stopped to just contemplate how deep of a love He has for us?  It’s really something quite awesome to think about and really goes beyond our realm of understanding.

The Father wants nothing more than for us to be drawn to Him in faith and connected close to His heart.  His desire would be for everyone, no matter where they’ve been in life, to come back to Him.  Simple fact is that His love for us is so great that he willingly sent His son, Jesus Christ, to come and die for us all and be resurrected to life to give us a doorway to eternal life through Him.  We are called to return to the Lord in faith and turn away from sin.  We are called to share the Good News with others and steer them to faith in Christ.  Through all of that, we face a number of challenges and obstacles that will always try to pull us back.  You will see negative reactions from people, you will seem to face new and greater challenges that threaten your faith.  Satan has so many tools at his disposal to try to stop us and will try harder and harder to pull us from God.  Through all of that, God never lets go and will never stop pursuing us.  Those that have not come to faith or lost faith, He will always continue pursuing them.  His desire is to open our eyes to His glory and set us free from our sin and death.

My family and I were re-watching the movie, God’s Not Dead last night.  If you have not seen this movie, I would highly, highly recommend it.  There’s a couple of theme’s from this movie that are so real and evident for all of us today.  First, the main character in the movie, Josh, is challenged to prove God’s existence.  What a challenge and one that so many would shy away from.  What I want to look at is the negatives that Josh faced.  Not only was this atheist professor going to try to shut him down at every turn, but his family discouraged him, and his girlfriend, whom he loved a great deal tried to forbid him from it, ultimately leaving him.  A lot for a college freshman to deal with.  The Holy Spirit kept pursuing him though and gave him the strength and courage he needed.

Then we have his professor.  An atheist who because of his own struggles turned completely away from God.  He instead was stuck on human reason and logic which in his opinions did not support the existence of God.  (Spoiler Alert)  Through all of his anger and hatred for God from what he felt was God’s betrayal, when his mom died, the Lord finally opened his eyes.  Josh was used a tool to open his eyes and many others.  He comes to Christ in the end and finally sees the truth and reaching his salvation and accepting Christ right before he dies.  The same happens to a liberal blogger who is left alone when she discovers she has terminal cancer and cries out in desperation.

I share all of this for one reason.  No matter how far down our journey goes, God never stops His pursuit of our hearts.  He will pursue us to the very end all the way through our death.  Christ came to save us and rescue us from the death that we all deserved.  God took on himself as the son, all the suffering and punishment and death we deserved.  There is no love greater in all of the world.

Finding Peace For Restoration

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We live in a very noisy society today.  Everyday we get up and go about our business, we are bombarded with a million distractions around us, stuff on radio and tv, social media, daily traffic on our commute, drama in our circles, drama in the workplace, and so much more.  From the time we get up, until the time we go to sleep, we are under constant bombardment which can easily distract and wear us out, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually.  With so much going on, many of us don’t take the time to step away and find time to sit in peace and solitude to restore ourselves.  I was reading an article yesterday about solitude an and the importance we have of finding a place where we can stay away from the distractions of this world and restore ourselves in solitude.

Some where do you go for that peace or do you at all?  For me, there are a few places I find helpful for my restoration.  First for my daily time, it comes in the early morning hours, before the house starts moving.  When I get this time, I dive into God’s Word and meditate and journal on what I’m reading that day and then pray on it.  This is a daily practice that helps really get the day going.  Also during my morning workouts at the gym.  I plug my ears in with Praise and Worship music whenever I workout and stay locked in for the next hour and half.  For my major restoration from the year of craziness that comes from work and family priorities, it comes when I am at the beach.  There is something about getting up in the early morning and walking on the sand before all the other vacationers come out.  I listen to the ocean, feel the breeze, and in that place I feel completely locked in with God.

During any of these times, it’s not about being alone and lonely, it’s about solitude.  As the article I read in And Sons Magazine describes, there is a distinct difference between loneliness and solitude.  The author describes loneliness as “Cold. It haunts us in the quiet hours when we have failed to create enough white noise to drown it out. It is scary. It is deafening.”  Solitude however, “is the quiet of standing in a windless snowfall. The snow acts as a sound dampener—it’s hard to hear a car even if it’s only 20 feet away. It’s more than quiet—it is substantive, as if you could stretch out your hand and push into the silence like a down pillow.”

As the article also points out, there is one who made moments of solitude a regular practice.  That is none other that Jesus Christ.  Many times in the Gospels we read of Jesus stepping away into the wilderness to pray and restore himself.  To connect with The Father.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone….” (Matthew 14:23)

Then of course there was the 40 days in the wilderness which prepared Jesus for what was to come in His ministry and in fulfilling His purpose according Scripture.

These moments of solitude are extremely important parts of our lives and our restoration and preparation for what is still to come in our lives.  In these moments we can connect closer with God.  We can sit still in silence and fill His Spirit fill us and restore us.  It is in these moments where we can fully let go of the stresses this world brings in our daily lives and talk with God and listen to where He leads.  These moments are priceless and really help prepare for the next steps in our journey.

I am going to touch on this more in the coming weeks.  My next video blog will come out in July and will be on this very subject.  I think this is such an important part of our lives in our walk with God and finding where He is leading us, dealing with the spiritual battles and sin that the Adversary throws our way every day, and in restoration our lives and relationships with those around us.  We all need that place and that time to find peace and restoration.

Perfection Is Not The Key

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Have you ever faced times were you just filled with guilt over situations in your life where you have fallen to sin?  Have you ever been so caught up in trying to be perfect in your life that it keeps you from being you?  This relates to not just in faith, but in how we interact with people.  Many times people are so worried about the perception they give others when they are in social situations that they put on a “poser” persona and don’t act as themselves.  In faith, often times people are so afraid to sin that it eats at them trying to be perfect and then when they do fall, they get so riddled with guilt.

There is one thing in life that we need to always remember.  We are all sinners.  We live in a fallen world and sin is now a part of our human nature.  None of us are ever perfect.  I’m surely not.  I fight my own battles in life where sin and Satan infiltrate.  It’s a part of our world and something we all have to battle.  I don’t care who you are where you came from in life, it is a part of us.  Perfections is not in the cards in this world.  As you all know, Jesus was the only one to ever be perfect.  He came and showed us the example of what it is God intended man to be.  To always seek God and glorify Him in all we do.

When we all understand that perfection is not the key for each one of us, then we can focus on what is.  That, quite simply, is Jesus!  Jesus is the key, not perfection.  One we realize that, then we can spend our lives drawing closer to Him each day knowing that by God’s grace and love when we do fall to sin in our lives, we are forgiven because of Jesus.  Jesus is the answer.  An excerpt from the book “Becoming Myself” says, “We won’t be perfect on this side of heaven. But Jesus is perfect. Always.  We are becoming more holy and true. Jesus already is.  His name isn’t “Becoming.” It is “I AM.”

Jesus is the answer to it all.  When we surrender and accept in our lives as our Lord and Savior, we can then turn away from sin.  Jesus already to the judgement and punishment for our sin.  We can nail that sin in our lives to the feet of the cross and let Jesus take it from us.  Still going forward, while we strive to not sin, we need to understand that we are still not going to be perfect.  We will all jack it up at some point and many times.  Thanks to God’s love however, we don’t have to bound to that sin any longer.  We have Jesus.  He is the only answer we need and the real key to everything.

This is such a vital area of life for all of us and unfortunately, so many don’t understand or know this.  Seek Jesus.  That is your answer.  He was God’s answer to the sin and corruption of this world and He is the answer to conquering our sin and our salvation.  Seek Jesus through God’s Word.  Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your life.  An posting from Joseph Prince today said, “No Word and all Spirit? You’ll blow up. All Word and no Spirit? You’ll dry up. But have the Word and the Spirit? That’s how you grow up!”  Fill yourself with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit daily.  Draw closer to Him and know that Jesus is the key.  Don’t live a life of perpetual guilt trying to be perfect.  Seek Jesus, Always!

Not For Our Glory But For His

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What does it mean to you to Glorify God?  These words get mentioned often, and for some folks, I am sure it brings some question as to what this really means.  I know when I first heard it, I was unsure what it really meant.  It took time of reading and prayer to really begin to understand this.  We are all created for God’s purpose.  He created each and every one of us in our own unique way in His image.  Through our creation we each make up a unique part of the Body of Christ and bring something special to the kingdom.  What this tells me is that we each have a unique gift and calling to bring, and it all for the purpose of bringing glory to God.  That is our purpose.

God is the source of all.  He is the creator of all things and has been here since before the beginning.  Everything we have in this world and in our lives, all the blessings we have received and the gifts we have all come from Him.  If you read through Scripture, we are reminded of this over and over.  King David was very humbled in the fact that all his victories and delivery from his enemies were from God, not himself.  Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.”  It is because of His love for us that we exist.  It is because of His love and faithfulness that He sent His son to die for us and be poured out for our sins and taking the punishment and judgement that each of us deserve.

Each and every one of us have a unique gift to bring.  How we use that gift is of very significant importance.  There are many in this world that use their talents and gifts and look to only glorify themselves in their successes.  I’ve heard many to continually boast in their own pride and success and never once give the glory and praise to God for all He has provided.  We have to understand the importance of praising God and glorifying Him through humble faith and thankfulness for what He has provided.  He is the one that deserves all the praise and glory, always.

Have you ever watch the movie “Facing the Giants” developed by Sherwood Pictures?  If you have not, check it out.  It is great movie that my family have watched many times.  There is a high school football coach and team that have had some serious struggles.  They are coming to a new year and the coach is facing the threat of losing his job if the team does not turn things around.  This coach has a change of heart.  After a talk with a gentleman who has prayed for revival over the school many times, the coach begins to take on a new philosophy.  This is not about winning, but about glorifying God and playing for him.  He tells the team, “If we win, we praise Him, and if we lose, we praise Him.”  This new philosophy transformed the team, the coach, the school, and the community.

Glorify and praise God.  It sounds so simple doesn’t it.  I mention this movie because it is great example of how completely focusing on God and giving Him the glory and letting Him do the work can transform you and those around you.  Use the gifts God gave you.  He wants all of us to do the best we can with what He’s bless us with.  Do it not for your own glory.  Do so for His.  It all comes from Him anyway.  We have One God and One God alone.  All praise, honor, and glory to Him forever!

God Risked It All To Rescue Us

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In the past week, I finished reading a great book called “The Sacred Romance” written by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge  If you have not picked this book up just yet, I would recommend that you do so.  This book gave a great look at God’s love for us and how He has been pursuing us since the Fall and looks at the worldly temptations and addictions of Satan and how they can keep us from drawing closer to Him. Part of our journey here on earth is to draw us closer to God and to God’s heart.  God knows each one of us very intimately and wants us to know Him as well.  His desire is for us to be drawn close to His heart and to restore his Beloved, that being us to His glory and what we were created for.

As each of us know, we live in a Fallen creation.  God created man in His image gave him dominion over the earth.  The earth was entrusted to man.  As is stated in the book, we were to be God’s regents, entrusted to reign with his authority over the earth.  With the Fall of man, however the earth became corrupted.  It became the domain of the adversary.  Since then, Satan and his demons have worked to fully separate us from God through temptations and sins in this world.

I’ve written a couple times this week about God’s love for us and how through Christ we are free to love as well.  One part of this book really speaks volumes about God’s love for all us.  We all know full well about God coming of flesh through Jesus to save us from our sins and give us a way to eternal life.  Do you realize just how much of a risk this way?  God created us for intimacy with Him, but our Fall created a cosmic crisis.  He then launched what is described as “the greatest campaign in the history of the world to get us back.”  Even when we turned from Him, we are promised that He would still come for us.

He sent messengers and used beauty and affliction to recapture us.  When all of this still did not work to bring us back, He conceived the most daring plan in this battle to win us back from this world and the adversary.  The book states, “Under cover of night he stole into the enemy’s camp incognito, the Ancient of Days disguised as a newborn, in Jesus Christ. The Incarnation, was a daring raid into enemy territory.”  Satan had the world under his power and God risked it all to rescue us from his grip.  God did all of this for a simple reason, to win our hearts back.  To win back every part of us, which is His creation to begin with.  After mankind fell in Eden, God was going to do to whatever lengths to get us back.

Even now, since Christ’s first coming, God is still pursuing us.  He is still after our hearts.  Isaiah 29:13 says, “Their hearts are far from me.”  Many of us still are separated from God’s heart, but because God loves us so much, He came through Jesus Christ to rescue us and overcome this world.  It’s really something awesome to think about.  To God, we are worth pursuing.  We came from Him and He will do whatever is needed to bring us back to Him.

Think about that for a minute.  How cool is it to know that no matter what we have been through, we have a God that loves us so greatly, beyond anything we can comprehend, that He has and will go wherever is needed to win us back.  I take great joy in knowing that my God loves me that much.  In the Gospel of John, John refers to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.  He was not being arrogant.  He was filled with so much joy and delight in having known Jesus personally and knew that Jesus loved him.  Each and everyone of us is loved just as much.  What a great feeling it is to know that love.  I’ve been on a long journey as we all have.  Our lives are filled with so much good and also evil.  This world will do whatever it can to draw you away from God.  We see it all the time.  Know, however that God has been and is willing to go to battle for us, always to win us back.  We are His Beloved.