Fools Rush In ~
25 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Rose
“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:13-14).
I woke up with some heaviness in my heart…too many thoughts…anxious thoughts….the little frets that overcome me when I don’t see quick results to my prayers. It was pre-dawn…the usual time I begin my day with Papa God. I took my usual place on my window seat, the Word at my side, coffee cup in hand, iPad and laptop poised…not knowing if I would have anything to journal this morning. Starring out the window, looking eastward in anticipation of the sunrise, I petitioned my Father….opening my heart to Him. Then I sat back and allowed His Spirit to awaken in me, listening intently to what He had to say. I began to read His Word. The clarity of His voice in the passages He gave me resounded one distinct theme, “Patience…wait on the Lord’s timing”.
He took me to Acts, chapter 27. There I read the story of Paul’s warning to the officer in charge of the ship that was headed to Rome. “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on – shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” But the officer did not listen. As the story unfolds–as you may have guessed–Paul’s intuition is proven to be right. The storm raged to typhoon strength and the ship was blown out to sea. The Word continues…“The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone. No one had eaten for a long time.” Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you there’ll not be a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship – the ship itself is doomed…but don’t give up!”
Wow! Not only did Papa God say “wait patiently” in His Psalm, but also in the Book of Acts, He painted a clear picture of what to expect if I don’t wait patiently. Trouble ahead….a shipwreck of unparalleled proportion! Hope would be blotted out because of disobedience. And I would suffer from a lack of strength to resist the enemy if I didnt’ eat.
My Spirit smiled wide…the anxiety lifted and joy took its rightful place in my heart! The necessity of spending time in His Word…the need to daily “eat” the divine portion of His truth that will lift my doubt and carry me through any storm, penetrated my soul! And the blessings that He will pour out if I simply OBEY…and wait patiently!
Oh how I love you Papa! I love spending time with You…listening to Your voice!
As the sun rose and its rays warmed my skin, I began to praise Him, thanking Him for His everlasting presence in my life! O how HE loves me….how He loves me so! Be blessed today…allow HIS SON to warm your heart….eat…be still and hear His voice! ~ IN HIS STRONG LOVE ~ rose
Hissings of Gossip…
25 May 2012 1 Comment
in Authentic Life by Rod Tags: Gossip, Celebrities, Heart
“My name is Gossip. I break hearts and ruin lives. I am cunning and malicious and I gather strength with age. The more I am repeated, the more I am believed. I flourish at every level of society. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no face. To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I wreck marriages, and ruin careers — cause sleepless nights, heartaches, and indigestion. I spawn suspicion and generate grief. I make innocent people cry in their pillows. Even my name hisses…I’m gossip.”
Gossip has become what I call a “winkable” sin. It’s so commonplace—so socially acceptable—we make jokes about it. It’s like gluttony and laziness, and other sins we’ve adapted to…to the point they no longer seem like sin. How quickly do we stand in judgment of the athlete who gets caught texting peep-show pictures, or the pastor who gets caught with his pants down. Do you know when we gossip about that person our gossip is just as sinful as the sin we’re condemning?
There’s something within us that wants to talk about the dirty laundry. So the cause is in our heart. The problem with gossip is not so much that we do it. The bigger problem is that it’s in our hearts to do it.
“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” ~Luke 6:45
LIFE…out of the dirt…
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Authentic Life by Rod Tags: Amazing Grace, Forgiveness, Guilt, Sandia Mountains, Shame
I’m fascinated by our Creator—what He’s really like! I see evidence of Him all around me…every day. I look often toward the mountains and am reminded of His majesty. At times I’m spellbound by what appears to be His glory hovering over the highest peaks of the Sandia Mountains. And when I look at the intricate beauty of a flower, and smell the fragrance, and realize this thing of beauty grew out of the dirt, I am amazed! Still…I am even more amazed that He loves me—and that He has a Plan for my life, and His Plan is good. In fact, it’s PERFECT! (Jeremiah 29:11)
I squandered several years of my life because of my deceptive and self-destructive ways. I perverted the precious gift of life, and I was compelled to live in the shadows of guilt and shame. I hurt people by my foolishness. I felt as though I had disqualified myself from ever finding real peace and meaning in my life.
But…God invited me to come back home to Him. And I accepted the invitation. I was given yet another chance.
By His grace He has healed my heart. And He has not only restored my life, but He has given me an Abundant Life…far beyond anything I ever imagined…and far beyond anything I deserve. That’s His Amazing Grace! And I am astounded that He has invited me to share in His Plan here on earth. I get to tell my story of mind-boggling peace…and of a purpose that is eternal.
The good news is that He loves to forgive us and restore us to a relationship with Himself. He only asks that we admit to our need for Him, and humbly ask for the gift of His grace in our life, and receive the New Life He has prepared for us–Eternal Life that begins the very moment we are set free by our amazing Creator!
The Exit Strategy ~
24 May 2012 1 Comment
When your heart aches with a longing that cannot be tamed… and you know where you’re at is no longer where you want to be….it’s time to develop your Exit Strategy!
Have you ever felt stuck in a place or in a situation you know is wrong for you? Have you told yourself over and over and over again, “It’s time to make a change…time to move on….time to get right with God?” The clock keeps ticking…on and on…and at the end of the day you find yourself in the same place you were when you started your day! Discouragement sets in and you go back to bed with that empty feeling…once again. The cycle of frustration continues as the minutes melt into hours, the hours into days and the days into months… and there you are…no further along than you were when you started.
So what’s wrong with this picture? Have you considered that you are trying to do life in your own strength? You’ve gotten into the bad habit of not waiting for instructions from theCommander in Chief! You rush into the battle unprepared, only to come out of it at the end of the day all bloody and bruised!
When will you listen! Don’t you know that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords was there the second you opened your eyes in the morning! Yes…Christ Himself was right there with you! He is saying; “Humanly speaking, it is impossible; but not with God. Everything is possible with God!” (Mark 10:27).
Learning to be still…to listen for His instruction…is the key that will open the doors of the impossible. Learning to pray in a new way….to wait upon the Lord for His instruction instead of rushing into the day unprepared…naked! Would you do that?! Would you go out the door naked? No! Just as you take time each morning to shower, dress, and drink your first cup of coffee, how much more important it is to connect with our Heavenly Father! He’s there…waiting in the pages of His Word…patiently longing to empower you for the tasks ahead…waiting to give you the pep talk you need…waiting to show you a better way to get things right…waiting to see if you’ll invite Him to go with you on today’s journey!
He’s there…patiently waiting. The Resource is ready! Why in the world would you set out naked! Don’t you know that “In His presence the mountains quake and the hills melt away; the earth trembles…The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust Him” (Nahum 1:6-7). So let Him in… “Be still and know that He is God.” He has your best interest at heart. Don’t rush out the door without Him. Begin your daily exit strategy with your Commander in Chief by your side! ~ IN HIS STRONG LOVE ~ rose
To be continued…
It happened on a hike in New Mexico…
23 May 2012 3 Comments
in Rod Tags: Albuquerque, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, God, Grace, Hiking, Kenya, Michigan, Moral Failure, New Mexico, Orphanage
It happened on a hike in the mountains of New Mexico, the very first time we met after connecting on loveandseek.com. Rose had invited me to come to Albuquerque for the 2004 International Balloon Fiesta. I lived in Michigan at the time -1613.3 miles away. A “safe” distance, we thought. No chance of anything “happening” other than meeting a new friend.
Rose took me hiking in the mountains, and it was on one of those hikes I encountered the grace of God in the form of woman. As we were descending the mountain, I told her my story of moral failure, and my eventual spiritual healing. I was totally unprepared for the response I got from her as she stopped on the trail, turned and embraced me, and told me she saw a man transformed by the grace of God. She says that’s when she first fell in love with me…in the midst of my “mess confession!” Imagine that!
A few weeks after our first encounter I traveled to Kenya to deliver medical supplies to an orphanage. When I arrived back in Detroit, Rose met me at the airport, and we enjoyed our second “date.” A few weeks later Rose and I were married in New Mexico—the 3rd time we met. We recently celebrated our 7th anniversary.
There’s something about the grace of our Lord that creates a bond that is beyond our ability to explain. For Rose and me, our personal stories are a living illustration of God’s amazing grace–and our love story is the Divine punch line!
When Life Throws us…Parkinson’s
22 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Fred's challenge... Tags: Brain Chemicals, Conditions and Diseases, Emotions, Faith, God, Health, Neurological Disorders, Parkinson's
My younger brother Fred was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. It’s devastating news…the kind of news we dread. He had noticed he was having difficulty gripping things, and he occasionally stumbled. Apparently he’s had the disease for a long time; the doctor told him his loss of smell many years ago was probably an early indicater.
I think we all imagine what it would be like to be diagnosed with a debilitating disease. I know I have. When we hear about it happening to someone else, we wonder how we would react under the same circumstances.
Parkinson’s attacks the place in the brain that produces a chemical called dopamine. Our brain relys on chemicals to function the way it is designed to function. Without dopamine, things begin to change, both physically and emotionally. Nerve cells use dopamine to help control muscle movement. Without it, a person experiences tremors and stiffness.
Dopamine also plays an integral part in our emotional state by affecting the reward center in the brain. Most of us do what we do–to some degree–in order to experience some sense of satisfaction…or reward. We enjoy the feeling that follows our accomplishments.
And to some extent, we all rely on our feelings–or emotions–to validate our “okayness.” Without emotional validation, we tend to doubt what we “know” to be true. Spiritually speaking, we have inadvertently tied our faith to our feelings. No one knows this better than a person with Parkinson’s, or with some other condition that affects the production of certain brain chemicals.
How well are we equipped to handle “feelingless faith?” Are we able to press on in our faithfulness, even when it no longer seems to make sense–from our perspective. Can we continue to trust the heart of our Father?
I invite you to share your experience. We help others best when we allow God to use our story to spur one another on in the truth.
My heart is heavy for my brother. We are asking God to lead us in this journey. We need His perspective, because our own perspective doesn’t sustain us through these times. Kinda weird I suppose, but I also believe we will all learn some important lessons as we travel this road together.
When Fred comes to you mind, will you please pray for him–and for others you may know who are also struggling–that the peace of God will saturate his entire being in a way that boggles his dopamine-challenged brain!
This guy is OBSESSED with the Cross…
21 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Authentic Life by Rod Tags: Christ Obsession
…and I LOVE it!
Spiritual Blood Transfusion ~ HOPE!
21 May 2012 2 Comments
in Authentic Life by Rod Tags: Blood transfusion, Hope, Jesus Christ, John Piper, Religion and Spirituality
“This confident (or living) hope gives us the encouragement and enablement we need for daily living. It does not put us in a rocking chair where we complacently await the return of Jesus Christ. Instead, it puts us in the marketplace, on the battlefield, where we keep on going when the burdens are heavy and the battles are hard. Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a spiritual blood transfusion.” ~ Pastor John Piper
God Interlock…
20 May 2012 2 Comments
in Authentic Life by Rod Tags: Abundant Life, Bible, Christianity, God, Interlock
What if we had a “God Interlock” system in our lives so we would not be able to get started with our daily activities until God has breathed Himself into us through His inspired Word!
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Catapulted by Faith!
19 May 2012 1 Comment
in Holy Libido by Rod Tags: Faith, Fear, Holy Libido, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ
We can never be whole, or holy, as long as we are controlled by fear. And we will be manipulated by fear as long as we rely on our own resources. At times, we have all recognized the folly within for relying on our own resources, so we laid them aside and trusted God. But then we circled back and picked up what we had once laid down. Little by little, without even realizing it, we are once again disrupted by the entanglements of our second nature.
The disruption in our lives sometimes serves to remind us we’re back to operating on our own steam, under the influence of our own understanding of things. Disruption rouses us from our senseless stupor, and once again we renew our focus on God. When we are filled with our dependency on God, we are filled with courage to face the fearful things in life. It’s not that we will never fear again—we will not be controlled by our fear.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is charging through the fear, catapulted by our faith and empowered by God’s Spirit. Our faith must find its Source in God—not in ourselves. Since He is our Source, He must be flowing through our spiritual veins if we are to experience a spirit of power and of love and of composure (2 Timothy 1:7). According to Jesus, who is the Source of Truth, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). The truth is… God’s got it. God’s Way is the way of freedom from the entanglement of fear.
(Excerpt from Holy Libido by Rod Smith, 2012)
