Live 2 Please God

During the hot summers in the 70s, when I was bored I would sometimes dream of what would happen if I yelled “Hey Kool Aid” like the thirsty kids did on those TV commercials.

I wished the bright red Kool Aid Man would actually make a grand entrance where I lived and crash through the walls, fences, ceilings or other furnishings in my house, uttering his famous response, “Oh Yea!” and give us all Kool Aid to drink.

I specifically remember being grounded one time thinking of those commercials, and it caused me to smile real big, with the thought of the Kool Aid Man breaking me out of my punishment.

“Oh Yea!” I said to myself like he always did!

Well, although Kool Aid never broke through into my life to save the day, but something else did… the Love of Christ!

I remember a time where His love broke through all my questions, frustrations, and just pure anxiety when I was about 16!

He pulled me out of my despair that day, and I remember His presence filling the room where I was praying as deep as I could.

With my eyes closed, I peered over the edge of the cliff I had made for myself at the end of my rope, and looked down into the depths of the love of God!

Deeper and deeper I looked for the bottom of His Love and there wasn’t one.

I was certain there has to be an end to the depth of His love for me, but I could not find it… and the soberness of that fact grips me to this day.

Like a well, I have drawn from His Love for my issues and to help others with their problems for the last 30 yrs.….there is no other place to be than living out of the depths of His Love.

Years after that experience I discovered the following song from Keith Green… it gave me words to express what had happened to me.

I pray His Love Will Break Through Anything that is between You and Him…

“Your Love Broke Through” –Keith Green

“Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky

All my hopes would come tumbling down, and I never knew just why

Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my eyes

Well I’ve been blind all these wasted years and I thought I was so wise
But then you took me by surprise

Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed
Until your love broke through

I’ve been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me
Until your love broke through

All my life I’ve been searching for that crazy missing part

And with one touch, you just rolled away the stone that held my heart

And now I see that the answer was as easy, as just asking you in

And I am so sure I could never doubt your gentle touch again

It’s like the power of the wind

Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed
Until your love broke through”

1 John 3:1-2 says-
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him…

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.

We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.…”

I pray His Love Will Break Through Anything that is between You and Him…

Just call out loud to Him like those thirsty kids did for Kool-Aid in those crazy old commercials!

Here He Comes!

My thoughts today are on my brother. It is his birthday and too many miles separate us from getting together today.

He was my first friend and comrade. His friendship has lasted longer than anyone else’s, besides my parents of course.

“Brother” or “bro” are common affectionate terms we may call our close friends, but I just realized how rarely if ever we actually call any blood brothers we have by the name “brother.”

I just call my brother by his given name! How about you?

I call him when things are going good. I call him when things are going bad.

He does the same with me!

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Prov 17:17)

When things are going really well for any of us, it’s amazing how many friends or bro’s we may think we have.

But when adversity, distress, or embarrassing things occur, it is amazing how fast our long list of good time friends evaporates.

It is great to have at least one real brother that will come to our rescue!

Do you have somebody like that?

Are YOU somebody like that?

One way to have people like that is to BE somebody like that to others!

My brother Chris has always been that kind of brother, not just to me; but to practically everyone he meets!

He earns the term ‘bro’ or ‘brother’ that others may bestow on him by just authentically being who he is.

He Loves. He’s Real. People see that in him and love him right back!

The way of the world is to ‘befriend those who can help you.’

The Way of Love is to ‘befriend those you can help!’

Love never says, “what have you done for me lately,” but it says “what else can I do for you?” because Love is in a relationship for what they can do FOR you, not the other way around!

Grammatically-speaking, ‘love’ is a strong verb that needs a direct object!

Relationally-speaking, ‘love’ is a powerful blessing that needs someone to bless as well!

If you claim to be someone’s brother, then you have a purpose and a role in that person’s life!

It’s in the times of great adversities that we need the greatest support.

So if your brother or sister is really going through it right now, know this:
You were born for this moment in time.

You were born for the purpose of being there and supporting them like only you can.

Don’t wait. Don’t let any unknowns get in the way, or slow you down.

It’s easy to not know what to say or do from the ‘cheap seats’ far away from their difficulty.

Just Go Be There For Them…

Then figure out ‘what to do’ after you get in the middle of their conflict with them.

It will be easier to see your specific role when you see their specific needs…

That’s what brothers do. They show up.

At the same time, brothers are not mind-readers. If you are hurting call a brother and ask for their help!

Don’t be afraid to put them out–after all, you’d probably jump at the chance to help them if they called you, so give them the chance to show up for you!

Adversity is what brothers are for!

It’s very clear God seems to flow through some people more than others.

Why is that?

We know God doesn’t have favorites because he “shows no partiality.” (Acts 10:34)

Is there then a capacity limitation in us? Is that part of the answer?

The fuses in my car have different capacities to handle different amounts of amperages before short-circuiting.

Is that a clue? Are we like a fuse that can only handle so much?

We know “mountains melt like wax in the presence of The Lord,” and anyone who ever really got a good glimpse of God was unable to stand up under the weight of His presence!

Can we enlarge our capacity for more of Him?

Because He is so delightful, just the thought of that is as exciting as driving to Grandma’s house on Thanksgiving when you are really hungry!

Eph 3:20 makes it clear there is no limitation with God Himself.

In fact as we explored in Part 1, He is “able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL we can ask or imagine, according to the working of His Power that is working within us.”

The overall prayer this verse is in the middle of definitely addresses strengthening our relationship with God.

Before jumping in the pool and exploring the whole prayer, let’s reflect on what “capacity” actually is:

Capacity is defined as “The maximum amount that something can hold.”

Lord help us increase the maximum amount of Your love/peace/hope/joy/strength that we can Hold!

Capacity is also defined as “The ability or power to understand experience or do something.”

Lord, increase my capacity to understand and experience more of You, so You can do more through me!

Paul was praying exactly along these lines in verse 16-19 for the church at Ephesus:

“I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with Power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

Note that the “immeasurably more” that God can do through you, is by strengthening you from the inside out with power ‘out of His glorious riches’…

So that Christ may move into our hearts as a home base and vibrantly live out of us on a daily basis!

Paul continues “…And I pray that you would be rooted and grounded in love, so that you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”

Wow! What a picture! As we are each more deeply rooted and grounded in love, it increases our capacity together to grasp the sheer mass of the Love of Christ!

Notice that as each of us are rooted individually in His love, and are planted together with others with the same heart, we collectively then are able to understand the Love of Jesus in a more complete way!

I can only go so far on a mountaintop by myself. I need to be planted next to others who are also planted in His love to fully comprehend HIS love!

I need you, and you need me to help US get a sharper picture of Him!

Paul then prays that our understanding of Christ’ love would “… surpasses knowledge—so much that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

There is the increased capacity we have been longing for: “so that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!”

Let’s review how having deeper roots in Love actually helps us have more capacity to be filled with God:

1) Being rooted and grounded in Love together gives us the capacity to more clearly understand the Love of Christ!

2) More clearly understanding the Love of Christ helps give us the capacity to be filled more with God!

It is to this end that Paul undergirds his prayer with verse 20:

“Now unto Him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL we can ask or imagine, according to the working of His Power that is working within us.”

I am speechless, no wonder Paul ends this prayer in verse 21 with:
“…to Him be Glory in the church, and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!”

If Christ is in us, we are part of the “Jesus Christ throughout THIS generation” as long as we are here!

Others will follow, but this is our time to re-present Christ Himself to a world lost without Him, and literally dying to meet Him.

On my own I can only be a weak caricature picture of Christ to them, but as I am filled with Him, He can present Himself through me in the highest definition possible!

Lord, increase my capacity to reveal who You really are through me in a way that pleases You!

You are Worthy!

Life is full of capacity limitation warnings.

We see capacity limit signs on elevators, gas tanks, blenders, bathroom scales, and so many other things.

The biggest buildings in the world have breaker boxes designed to protect them from exceeding the limit of electricity their wiring can handle.

Even the world’s supercars each have a “redline” on their tachometer, which shows the limit of how high the engine can safely rev.

The biggest shipping freighters of the world still have waterline limits drawn on the side of the boat as an indicator to show how low the boat can safely sit in the water based on how much weight it is carrying.

Is there capacity without limits?

Of course, the universe is continuing to expand at an unbelievable rate, which our technology can’t keep up with to witness it, let alone explore it.

There is so much extra capacity out there, we can’t comprehend it.

It belongs to a Creator with even more capacity and ability than we can even conceive of.

Did anybody written about in the Bible ever conceive, let alone believe, that the story of their actions would instruct and inspire people around the world for thousands of years?

His story is bigger than the common events that make them up.

His plan is always bigger than how it affects us.

How much bigger is God? Whatever you can think of or articulate, He is bigger.

In fact He is “able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL we can ask or imagine, according to the working of His Power that is working within us.” Eph 3:20

“Immeasurably more” means he is able to do more than we can even measure. Off the scale!

Another translation of the same verse says He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly more.”

If abundant is “plenty” or “more than enough”… what exceeds that? God’s ability!

We are so used to living with capacity limits, that it is hard to think without them.

Stop and think right now of the biggest answer to prayer you can ask for what really concerns you.

Do you have an answer?

Seriously stop right now and earnestly think about it.

Once you have an answer, say it out loud to yourself…and to The Lord.

Now try to conceive of what is possibly bigger than what you came up with…. the answer that is so big you can’t even imagine asking for it.

Can you desire to think of something so big, you actually need to ask The Lord to help you articulate what it is?

Say that out loud if you can muster it… to the One who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.

Wow.

Rest right now in the comfort in realizing there is even more excess capacity in your Heavenly Father than even whatever was too big to ask for!

That makes me want to worship Him right now!

Let’s just stop and do that. I’ll get you started:
“Lord I worship you, and You already know my words can’t express how amazing You are… I think I just caught a deeper glimpse of how awesome You are, and I am undone…”

Isn’t it amazing to think that the biggest prayers we can pray, HE IS ABLE to do more than that! Amen!

Consider Eph 3:20 again to see HOW He wants to be able to answer us

“…according to the working of His Power that is working within us.”

We commonly explain the definition of a word “according to Webster’s” or some other source.

Paul explains the source in this verse that God can do His ‘so much more’ …“according to the working of His Power that is working in us!”

God can do HIS immeasurably more… through HIS power in ME?!?

It’s one thing to grasp HE can do exceedingly abundantly… but that He can do that through His power flowing through ME is even more amazing!

I feel so small in the light of that… I feel like the little 10amp fuse that keeps blowing in my car on road trips because my family plugs in too many electrical devices at the same time!

It’s like placing that same little fuse in the biggest power cable coming out of a nuclear plant.

IF I can’t handle the little stuff, how can His ‘more than enough’ possibly flow through me. I can’t.

Or can I?

For if I can, THAT would INDEED be “more than I could personally ask or think”… and yet I already know that is God’s specialty!

Hey, we are on to something here… the question is how can more of “His More” not just flow into my situation, but flow into my situation through me?

Can I increase my capacity limitation?

TO BE CONTINUED…..

One of the most amazing things about stringed instruments is that they can be ‘moved’ by the same vibrations they are tuned to.

They can be caused to vibrate without touching them by playing notes with another instrument that have the same family of frequencies they are tuned to.

For example, if I play my trombone in my home office, which has 7 different stringed instruments hanging on the wall, I can cause them to vibrate depending on what notes I play in the room.

You may think I am crazy, but it is pure science.

In fact there are actually stringed instruments that build this science into the instrument’s design. It’s called “sympathetic resonance.”

Mandolins and Bouzoukis, for example, have 8 strings but only 4 pitches, so there are 2 strings for each pitch.

When one string is being tuned, the other string tuned like it starts to resonate on its own!

Instruments with a lot of strings, such as a Sitar, have even more strings tuned to the same pitch, and while some of the strings are played, it actually causes the other “sympathetic” strings to ring out as well!

In essence as you play the instrument, it starts playing with you!

Pianos have 3 strings for each note, not just to increase volume, but to take advantage of the ‘turbo effect’ of vibrating strings causing other strings in tune with them to vibrate as well!

I bring all this up because what YOU are in tune with matters!

I can hit all the right notes playing in a band, but if my instrument is not in tune, it will sound awful.

Similarly, I can think I am doing all the right things as a son, spouse, parent, employee, friend, or neighbor; but if I am not in tune with those people, my intentions do not produce what I expect them to.

How many people in the Bible thought they were right, only to interact with Jesus and His simple, yet profound wisdom; and it revealed they weren’t as in tune with God as they thought?

Some of them made adjustments when they realized they were wrong to get more “in tune” with God, others couldn’t bring themselves to change out of the hardness of their heart.

A guitar tuner can help me know which string is out of tune on my guitar, but is there a gauge for being in tune with God?

Jesus advocated earnestly loving God with ALL our heart, mind, soul, and strength… and our neighbor as our self.

Prayerfully evaluating our motivations and actions against that is a great tuner!

So what happens to us the more ‘in tune’ we are to God’s heart and mind?

Like “sympathetic strings” we can:

Start being moved by what moves Him, and resist things He resists!

More accurately understand the Word of God, because we truly know the author!

Have eyes to see more clearly what and how He sees situations!

Have ears to hear more clearly what He is saying!

Have a greater opportunity to speak truth that is both revelatory and relevant!

…the list is endless because He is endless!

In the books of Acts, Saul was one of the most active religious men of his time.

But one day he figuratively gets knocked off his high horse.

The Lord strikes him blind in a vision and asks Him, “Saul, why are you persecuting ME?”

This shocks Saul because he thought he was doing everything FOR God!

He realized he was completely out of tune with Him!

Through the next couple of years, He submits to the Lord’s promptings and gets much more in tune.

The Lord renames him Paul. He ends up having a better understanding and profoundly teaching what the finished work at Calvary ultimately means to a believer than all of the other disciples put together.

When Paul writes “we are co-laborers with God,” he knows what he was talking about, because he was once the exact opposite and didn’t know it.

Being in tune with God means we can be better at working in conjunction with what He is already doing in the earth, and stop working against Him!

Jesus was often moved with compassion and it caused Him to assist those who were needy.

When we are in tune with Him, what moves Him should move us!

If what is on His heart isn’t on our heart, then why would we think we are in tune with Him?

As a genuine sign and a wonder, the writing of this devotion was interrupted in the middle of it by the doorbell.

A piano tuner that I forgot was coming this am was at the door!

SO literally as I was pondering these points, my piano was once again being adjusted by a Master Tuner.

Tears keep me from typing at moments as I ask the Master of My Heart to tune me where needed as I listen to each note being painstakingly tuned in the other room!

He just tested his tuning by so gracefully playing the old hymn “This is my Father’s World” and listening for where other adjustments need to be made.

Wow. We have to be in tune with Him because after all it is His world, and we are co-laborers with Him!

Let’s all take time this weekend to be more IN TUNE with Him!

If you are tired and weary today, look out because you just might begin feeling yourself start resonating from His Presence moving in you like sympathetic strings!

He alone can make you come alive again, and make a melody out of your life that is sweet to the Him!

Today marks the day that Congress officially adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence!

The document had gone through several revisions up to that point. But on July 4th, 1776 the new nation representing freedom from the British King’s tyranny, was now birthed at least on an official document.

Previously freedom had only existed in the minds of those who dreamed or hoped for that freedom.

Now it was on a document that could be signed.

It would take another month to get that proposal signed, but freedom was already active in the hearts of those who worked on writing, editing and finally voting on that document.

The actual war would not be over until 1783… 7 years after this doc was signed!

So Freedom started before the battle?

We are so used to hearing “fighting for freedom” that we don’t realize FREEDOM FIGHTS.

Freedom had already started in the hearts of those who eventually signed the Declaration of Independence as well.

But the first battle for them was not with the British, but an internal battle that tested if freedom was truly in their heart enough for them to sign it on August 2nd.

Some signatures were easy to read, like John Hancock’s.

But others look like chicken scratch, you could barely make out their name at all.

Was that the way they always wrote, or were they extremely nervous? Of course everyone was nervous!

A Declaration of Independence IS a Declaration of War!

2 people there that day decided not to sign it.

Only one signer actually recanted his position after signing it when he was captured and tortured. After he regained his freedom, he took a new oath of loyalty in 1777.

Freedom started before the battle!

Freedom is what wins the battle!

That is why there are no big parades or celebrations celebrating the signing of the peace treaty with Britain in 1783… do you or anyone in your house today even know the date the war actually ended?

Of course not! Because it is not as important as the day Freedom starts!

In fact we are still fighting to maintain our freedoms even today!

The battle may never really ever be over, but freedom can start!

It starts in our hearts!

If there is any tyranny in your life caused by addictions or other destructive things you are allowing to remain in your life, it’s time to draft a declaration of independence against anything that hinders you from walking in the perfect will of God!

Of course there will be a battle, because you are at war with an enemy who wants to kill, steal, and destroy you and your family!

Don’t be afraid to declare what you need to declare… you are not starting a war, you are already in a war, and are just starting to fight back!

You can declare anything you want, but if you don’t have resources for the battle, it will be short-lived!

Fortunately we have the resources of heaven at our disposal… and those resources are endless!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of bondage.” (Gal 5:1)

Freedom starts in our hearts and minds through the workings of the Holy Spirit, paid for by the work of Christ on Calvary!

The truth of His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit can ignite (or re-ignite) true freedom in our hearts and minds!

TO WIN THE WAR, a declaration of DEPENDANCE on the power of the Lord in your life will give you the daily resources to do battle as necessary to WALK in that freedom that you have received from Him!

Today is July 4th. The Day Freedom was officially declared in America.

A reality this nation has had to fight for every day since then.

It’s a good day to make some declarations as a family as well!

Declarations of Independence from things hindering you from walking in the perfect will of God.

Declarations of Dependence on the Holy Spirit to live to fight another day in His strength, and not ours!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

May you walk in more freedom this year than last year, and even more freedom in the years to come!

Seeing Lady Liberty for the first time is one of the highlights of going to NY.

The first time I saw her was on a river cruise around Manhattan in the late 80s.

When the boat came around to see the famous statue, I was surprised to see her covered in scaffolding.

I had forgotten there was a major restoration effort going on during that time.

There were 13 major problems with the statue, a lot of them having to do with alignment of the head, alignment of the arm, and other internal and external issues that would eventually destroy the statue if left alone.

The scaffolding made the The Lady look like she were in a changing room.

That trip was my first of several mission trips to NY.

We had been helping in different soup kitchens, orphanages, homeless cardboard “towns” in some forgotten sections of the underground.

One particular “town” was underground across the street from The United Nations building!

To spend time with those people, who made a literal community out of cardboard (complete with “streets” and “shops” in between boxes where people lived took amazing ingenuity) and then come above ground and see all the world nation’s flags proudly blowing in the breeze was so extreme for my heart and mind to process!

I realized the scaffolding actually was a symbolic changing room… for the nation!

Our liberty in this nation needs aligning!

There are a lot of changes that need to be made to realign to our founding purpose of being a truly free nation!

Scaffolding is much like a caterpillar’s cocoon, which she needs to change into a butterfly!

A famous story is of a man who found a cocoon and kept it tenderly on his desk.

One day the cocoon started moving and flailing violently and he was excited to watch a butterfly emerge.

The struggle continued behind the natural “scaffolding” to the man’s amazement.

When the butterfly was half out, it was clearly exhausted. It stopped to rest.

The man was worried that the butterfly couldn’t get out and kindly took an Exacto-knife and ever so cautiously trimmed the cocoon to “help” the little lady get out.

When the cocoon collapsed in an open position, the man was shocked to see the part of the butterfly that had still been in the cocoon looked horribly deformed.

The butterfly died.

The man painfully learned the struggle of getting out of its “changing room” actually forces blood into the soft wings which makes them strong!

This natural process is similar to the way plant roots are forced to go deeper to find water during dry periods, which actually makes the plant more stable!

Someone told me this week they “were going to put their mask back on and bluff their way through another day”

That is the most poetic way of saying ‘I am really struggling’ that I have ever heard.

SO what’s the difference between wearing a mask or being covered by scaffolding?

The difference is whether that covering is a changing room or just a hiding room.

Transformation is hard and tiring.

But just like the butterfly, if the struggle helps force us to apply the Blood of Jesus to our issues; and allow the truth of the Word to identify our misalignments; and to surrender to the Holy Spirit, who can come in like a workman and actually cause the change…it is a good thing.

Actually it is a VERY good thing.

If you are wearing a mask today because of the pain you carry, make it a changing room!

Allow the place you are in right now to make your roots in Christ go deeper until you tap His living water!

And when that changing room comes off, others will not believe the metamorphous that occurred, because when they look in your eyes, they will see Jesus!

Have you ever really felt like you were working as absolutely hard as you possibly could, and were making absolutely no progress?

Mark 6 describes a time the disciples were in the boat together in the middle of a tremendous storm, and they were each rowing as hard as they could all through the night.

Jesus had stayed back to pray.

It says “the wind was against them.”

Have you ever tried to walk (let alone row a boat) in a fierce wind that was literally pushing you back like that?

These guys were not bankers or call center folks, they were experienced fishermen who knew how to row a boat… and they were really struggling.

Can you or someone you know relate?

It’s one thing if you are making no progress on something new to you, but when it’s really exacerbating is when you can’t even make progress doing something you REALLY know how to do!

The ironic thing is that they were told to go to a town on the other side of the sea, which was called Bethsaida, which means “house of fishing.”

So you know these guys had rowed this route many times, so added to the frustration is that they had done this before, but could not get anywhere that night.

The ups and down of their lives at that point wasn’t only caused by the huge waves, they were still reeling from seeing the miracle of feeding the 5,000, which had to be awesome to watch God multiply what you had in your hands to help others, and it never ran out!

On the other hand, John The Baptist was also just beheaded from some very weird circumstances, so they definitely had a lot to think about as they rowed and rowed and rowed and rowed on through the night.

Just before dawn, they see Jesus walking on the water.

It is peculiar that it looked like he was going to pass them by!

They cried out to Him, He answered immediately, “Take courage, It is I. Don’t be afraid!”

He came over to them and stepped into the boat, and the winds died down instantly.

That’s one crazy night, right?

Notice the walking pace of Jesus made more progress than all their effort combined!

On another occasion, a similar story occurred, but this time Peter asked to come out and be with Jesus in the middle of the storm!

Jesus simply replied, “Come!” and Peter was able to also walk without the winds and waves hindering Him.

As long as He kept his eyes on Jesus and not on the storm, He made progress.

But when he took his gaze off Jesus because of the threatening storm, he sank!

But when he sank, he cried out again to the Lord, and He reached His hand down and lifted him up.

They were both able to walk back to the boat together, and when they stepped into the boat, the wind ceased.

Peter had experienced walking with Jesus in the midst of the storm.

He was able to travel through the storm ‘ at the walking pace of Jesus,’ which is way faster than ALL the effort of the men in the boat.

They caught up to them easily.

Can I just tell you straight up: You will make more progress earnestly walking with Jesus through YOUR storm, than working harder on your own!

Many times, we feel ‘we don’t have time to stop and seek The Lord,’ because we need to get things done. We need to solve the problem NOW.

My Dad used to run a manufacturing plant in Mooresville, and one time they had severe quality problems, which threatened to close the plant.

Everyone worked as close to 24/7 as possible to find and solve the root of the problems.

My Dad thought he might have a heart attack he was so stressed.

But in the middle of his storm, Jesus came close to my Dad!

He recognized His presence, and he stopped working to seek Him, REALLY seek Him, and he got a crazy idea.

He invited ALL the pastors of that little town to come to the plant at high noon. His plea was urgent enough for a lot of them to drop what they were doing and they showed up in droves.

After assembling all of them in the conference room, he shut the door and told them how desperate the plant’s problems were, and that there were hundreds of employees who could possibly lose their jobs.

He helped them understand how the problem will impact the community if it is not solved.

Many of the employees went to the very churches that these Pastors led.

He released them to pray any way they needed to touch heaven, because more human effort was not the answer….
The walking pace of Jesus was the only way through this storm!!

Those pastors prayed in a greater unity and power than they had ever done together before that day.

Many of the pastors had never even met before that difficult day.

Root causes were found and fixed, and jobs were saved.

In fact that plant went on to become and award-winning top producer in their division!

The walking pace of Jesus for you is also a reality… but it requires earnestly calling out to The Lord in the middle of the struggle, doing what He says, and above all else keeping your eyes fixed on Him THROUGH the storm, because after all He is the author and finisher of your faith!

Notice the storm still raged the whole time Peter was out walking with Jesus.

The storm didn’t cease until they stepped into the boat.

You may have to walk through the storm WITH Jesus before the storm is over.

Don’t fret, despise, or underestimate doing that.

The walking pace of Jesus is sufficient through your storm; it’s better than how well you are doing on your own!

David said, “…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” because he recognized The Lord was his shepherd (Ps 23).

If you are walking through that valley yourself as you read this, don’t sit down or pitch a tent… walk THROUGH the valley! Keep going!

GET THROUGH IT with the eyes of your heart fixed on The Lord, and not your struggle!

The first step is recognizing that The Lord is drawing near to you…

Hey, that just got easier… because He is actually walking toward you right NOW, intent on catching your glance!

Like Raid for Roaches, Roundup is a remarkable product that kills weeds on contact, but doesn’t hurt the surrounding soil, or animals.

Before Roundup was invented, killing weeds meant temporarily hindering anything from growing in that area.

Tis’ the Roundup season to combat advancing crabgrass and other plants deemed “a weed.”

I spend 11 hours on Saturday working in the yard, using 7 gallons of Roundup and spreading 17 cubic yards of mulch.

Yes, I had help, but it was still a lot of work!

As I fought all day in “Weed-A-Geddon” I wondered, “What is a weed anyway?”

One definition is “a wild unwanted plant that competes with other cultivated plants.”

So “one man’s plant is another man’s weed?” Absolutely!!

Often if crops are in the wrong place, they may be considered a weed and pulled up; and many common weeds are actually helpful in controlling erosion or serve as food for animals.

Weeds can be troublesome and reduce crop yields by robbing water, light, space and soil nutrients.

They can also host crop diseases, and provide shelter for insects.

Depending on where you live, it is common after killing all the “poor unwanted weeds” to cover the area with some type of mulch or pine needles like I did.

Sure the area covered with fresh mulch looks amazing and perfectly clean, but the real question is are the weeds underneath truly dead, or will fresh sprouts of new weeds be popping back before the end of the month?

I thought about how we can keep trying to cover up our bitter roots, sprawling discontent, and other unwanted things planted in our heart and minds so no one will see them, but new stalks will eventually pop up when its least expected if they are not killed.

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart, for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

Make no mistake about it: What you allow to be planted and live in your heart will sprout and grow.

Plant wholesome things, wholesome things will blossom.

But if you plant unwholesome things they will grow and could even overtake good things, like Kudzu does.

So why are we surprised when we watch and listen all night to shows that have no life in them, and then toss and turn all night worried about our problems?

We have to call those destructive attributes in us as what they are, and first decide that they are no longer wanted!

If you maintain bad attitudes in your life about individuals, it’s a weed!

Any kind of physical things you do that are distracting you from loving God with all you heart, it’s a weed!

Are you allowing any unhealthy soul ties, it’s a weed!

Stop and ask The Lord right now to reveal any area that is hindering you from walking in the fullness of the Will of God, so you can deal with it.

There is too much at stake to allow destructive weeds in our lives to remain!

We can’t keep covering it up!

It’s Round Up Time! Let the TRUTH of the Word of God have full course in you without justification on your part, and allow the Holy Spirit to come in and cleanse you right now from all unrighteousness!

If you don’t know how, ask someone to help you who can really pray!

STOP “RE-MULCHING” YOUR LIFE by covering over and not dealing with the roots that you know have to go.

Load up all your “masks” and take them to the curb in prayer and leave them… It’s trash day, and the Holy Spirit can even remove the pride and ego that wants to hold on to them!

Like Moses, our face can shine with the presence of the Lord!

If that is what we were made for, why would we wear a mask any longer?

“Arise and Shine, for the Glory of the Lord is risen upon you!” Isaiah 60

When Moses came down from spending heart to heart time with God, the people couldn’t handle the anointing of God of His face, because their hearts were evil.

They actually asked him to wear a mask. But the real mask was over their heart.

2 Cor 3 says even today some people have veils over the hearts, rejecting God, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the story for us:

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Where the Spirit of The Lord is, there is freedom!

And we all who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s Glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing Glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit!”

Brett, a friend of mine was reflecting on the fact that ‘if weeds are unwanted because they aren’t valued,’ and said, “Y’know I guess there can be things that are incredibly valuable like Wed night services, or small groups at church, or a whole host of other things that could really help us, but if we discount them, we actually forfeit the true value they can bring to our lives.”

That is a very insightful observation.

Emerson wrote, “A weed is a plant whose virtues have never been discovered.”

Because we allow true weeds in our life, we can actually wrongly consider other things as weeds that would actually be very nourishing to our life.

We need God’s discernment to know the difference because of the age we are living in:

“What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, and bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.” Isaiah 5:20

It’s the WEEDS in the hearts of those allow them, that cause them to have things backwards.

It’s Roundup Time… starting with each of our hearts first!

Another Transformer Movie opened this weekend, and my 11 yr. old and I were there opening night.

Many commented about how long it was, but my son just thought we were “getting our monies worth!”

Just like there is always a Stan Lee cameo in all the recent Marvel Comic movies, each Transformers TV show or Movie tries to slip in their classic slogan, “More than meets the eye.”

When we only see with our eyes, we can so easily underestimate or overestimate things…because there is usually more than meets the eye!

“Great house”… except for the termites!

“Delicious chicken”… except for the salmonella!

“Grandma’s old car”… except it is a very rare edition that is worth $110k as is!

“Piece of paper with scribbling on it”… except that it was Bob Dylan’s hand-written draft of his ’65 song “Like a Rolling Stone” and sold for $2.045 million this week!
A list like this could be endless…

One of the most underestimated things is The Blood of Jesus!

Hebrews 9 explains that that if the blood of goats and bulls can ceremonially clean the outside and atone for sins already committed, HOW MUCH MORE will the Blood of Christ cleanse our consciences from sin so that we may serve the Living God (Heb 9:12-14)

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to the power of the Blood of Jesus!

More than just paying for our sins of the past, it cleanses the sin that reside within us… so that we can serve the Living God!

We struggle in our own strength to try harder to be better, when we need a renovation from the inside out!

The ultimate makeover is the overhaul of my heart and its passions!

Impossible some may say, but Hebrews announces it is possible with the Blood of Christ!

What if your Mom owned a Space Shuttle, but only used it to go shopping?

“What a waste,” you would say, “You could go to the Moon, and you just take it to McDonalds!”

That is not as crazy as us only using The Blood of Christ only as a reset button of our prior conduct, and leaving the impure iniquities alone inside us to continue to multiply like Kudzu!

If that is all we use it for, than Calvary was a waste for us, because a mere bull or goat can do that!

There is more in the Blood of Christ than meets the eye that can do more to purify our passions and motives than we have ever seen or heard!

The old Robert Lowery hymn from 1876 said it best, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing But The Blood of Jesus!”

But have we stopped in our experience with only the first phrase of the song?

The “more than meets the eye” is clearly described in the rest of the song:

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

For my cleansing this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Now by this I’ll overcome, Nothing but the blood of Jesus,

Now by this I’ll reach my home, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing, Nothing but the blood of Jesus,

All my praise for this I bring, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow, That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Let’s not settle until we experience “How Much More” The Blood can do in our lives and in those we love!

The Blood of Jesus… the Ultimate Transformer!