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Posts tagged as:
A Narrator,
The Imagined Voice of the Holy Spirit,
King David,
and Bob Dylan
(Note: If you’re reading this via email or RSS feed, this post is best read from the site by clicking on the title above. And now… on with the drama…) [click to continue…]
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Inside you lurks a deep desire.
It’s quiet, but compelling.
It’s one of the secrets of everything that motivates you – in fact, your deep, abiding happiness depends on it. Yet it’s so hidden, so behind-the-scenes, that if I were to ask you to list your strongest longings, I’m almost certain this wouldn’t make the list.
But it’s there. It’s powerful. And your response to it may well be the difference between addicted and sober.
Between ambition and actualization.
Between frustration and fulfillment.
The desire? [click to continue…]
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“If only I could build an exit ramp. Something that would allow me to escape the rules and the never-ending expectations. Why doesn’t he realize that I’m just not cut out for this kind of life? That he and I would both be happier if I were on my own?”
Sound familiar? It should. Thoughts like that are repeated daily, as people try to define freedom in their own terms.
We all long for authentic freedom – the power to make choices yourself, and joyfully live with the consequences. The good news of our relationship with Christ is that He came to set captives free! Unfortunately, many believers fail to experience that freedom because they pursue a counterfeit form of it in one of two directions.
In one of the most often-repeated stories in the Bible, Jesus reveals God’s heart toward His children. It’s the story of a father with two sons – an older one who served faithfully for many years, and a younger son who longed to be “funky and free.” Each son pursued and believed in his passion. Neither understood the life of joy and abundance their father wanted to give them because each pursued passion in his own terms. One sought it through pleasure, the other through outward performance. To the younger son, freedom meant license to do what he pleased. To the older brother, freedom meant legalistic obedience to the rules.
At any given time, you, too, can be a Prodigal or a Pharisee. All it takes is a desire to find freedom apart from an intimate love relationship with God. [click to continue…]
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Oh, the breathtaking joy of living hands-free!
Of living without seizing control – of my life or yours.
Of dropping my guard and relaxing my fist and my grip…
And trusting that He is my shield and healer, my righteousness and guide.
Oh, what these hands can do if Someone else is at the controls of my life!
Raised to Him in worship…
Extended to you to serve…
Opened to you to touch and support…
Holding the hands of those we cherish most…
Ready to hold you or that which is precious to you…
Pointing the way for others to follow.
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This is about asking yourself a simple, but profound question about choices and consequences and serving. Choose well, you’ll live well. Choose poorly, and you will serve the consequences of those choices.
Moses understood that. Just before his death, he called an assembly of Israelis and reframed all the things that God had taught him. We call it, “Deuteronomy.” Here’s what Moses had to say as he was wrapping things up:
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land (Deuteronomy 30:19-20, NIV).
There’s one example of the diagnostic question: Am I choosing life or death? It’s a powerful question about the path we are on. A friend of mine has started using this to frame his everyday decisions – what he eats, his business decisions, his family relationships.
Jesus offered another way to frame your choices. [click to continue…]
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April-something 2002. It was one of the most surreal, prophetic dreams I’ve ever had. I dreamed I was in prison. Not sure what the crime was; I just remember being in a cell there. The only thing remarkable about that was that instead of the typical concrete and steel, this cell had a nice waxed tile floor and bright lights.
For some reason, they let me out on a weekend pass, but eventually I had to go back. I remember dreading the return, and trying to avoid it. But I did wind up back in my tile‑floored cell. There in the cell, alone, my thoughts turned to Watchman Nee, the Chinese pastor/teacher who was imprisoned by the communist regime for his faith. All those years he spent in prison. How did he do it? How could he experience God’s presence there in the prison?
It was then I actually saw him. In my dream I saw Watchman Nee, prostrate on the floor of his prison cell. As I watched, he was transformed before my eyes into a puppy – a black Labrador Retriever puppy. Then he changed into a silver chalice. Taller, thinner. Rising up. From that he changed into a giraffe. He had risen above his prison cell and was feeding in the tops of the trees.
Just like that, the dream was over. I was left with four crystal-clear images – a prostrate man, a black lab puppy, a silver chalice, and a giraffe. A transformation from prison to freedom, though the outward circumstances never changed. A deliberately-staged process, flowing from the floor to the heavens. What did it mean? [click to continue…]
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Dear Foggy Little Brain,
As you start your day, I want to remind you of some very important truth to shape your thinking…
As you go about your day, remember the banner under which you live, and the grace on which you stand. I’ve read to the end of the Book… You win!
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The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1, ESV)
There’s something you should know, though I’m not very proud to say it.
I’m an ex-con.
Ex-convict? No.
Ex-condemned? You betcha.
Ex-consequences? Uh huh.
Ex-con man? ‘Fraid so.
I lived on the wrong side of a legal system for a long time, and wound up in prison. But don’t go looking for my name in some Federal or state criminal records. I haven’t messed with Texas that much. [click to continue…]
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Memorial Day… This is what it’s all about.
The song is written by Russ Murphy, formerly of Lubbock. Mike Hammock is the artist. Enjoy, and remember – freedom is never free.
Then share this with someone you love, or a soldier, sailor, airman or marine.
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I don’t have to win.
I don’t have to lead.
I don’t have to debt.
I don’t have to worry.
I don’t have to be first.
I don’t have to survive.
I don’t have to give up.
I don’t have to overeat.
I don’t have to be right.
I don’t have to succeed.
I don’t have to be afraid.
I don’t have to get angry.
I don’t have to be served.
I don’t have to look good.
I don’t have to be noticed.
I don’t have to cradle pain.
I don’t have to have things.
I don’t have to be offended. [click to continue…]
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