Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

I'm reading and teaching through Nehemiah for the umpteenth time. It's one of those books in the Bible that really speaks to me. This week I've been hanging out in chapter 2 . GOD didn't just give Nehemiah an assignment - rebuild the wall and gates around Jerusalem, GOD have him a GOD-Sized, GOD-Blessed Mission (GSGBM).   (You would think I work for the government the way I throw around abbreviations, eh? Yeah, I'm skilled like that.)   Can you imagine being responsible for that assignment? In verses 8 & 18 Nehmiah, " And because the gracious hand of my God was on me , the king granted my requests. " And, " I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. "  " God's gracious hand was on me ". . . This seems to be a theme in Nehemiah's life as he pursued his GSGBM from GOD. I do believe that some Christ-followers have GSGBMs!  I really do.  They're the ones who are feedin

Most mornings I try to get up pretty early. This allows me time to spend with God - reading His Word, praying, writing, etc. One of the first things I do is get a fire going in the fireplace. Of course, that takes all of 2 seconds with a flip of a switch. Then I sit down with a cup of coffee and begin my time with the Father. Sometime after I get up Dot the Cat comes down to get a bite to eat and sit in front of the fire. For some reason it mesmerizes her. She will sit and stare at the flames for quite a long time. She won't move. She won't be distracted. She'll just sit and stare. Eventually, she'll lay down and get comfortable. Like she's doing right now. I wonder if I couldn't learn something from Dot the Cat about my time with the LORD? I began to think about that this morning. I began to think about the last time I just sat down with God and was mesmerized by Him? When was the last time I just sat in His presence. . .no expectations, no pr

As I wrote in my last  post, this year I'm accepting and extending the challenge to be relationally closer to God this time last year than I've ever been before.  While I've had seasons in my life when I've really sensed my relationship with God was pretty good, it's not been something that I've been able to keep up over an extended period of time. Don't get me wrong.  It's not like I was running away from God or anything like that.  But, life gets in the way - job, family, bills, circumstances. . .know what I mean?  And when that happens my inclination is to take control - I think I've mentioned several times that I'm a control freak, haven't I?  And when I'm in control, God is not.  And when He's not in control our relationship suffers. Sooooo. . .as I was saying. . .I want to change that this year. Here's a couple of changes I'm making starting today : Write more - writing and posting on my blog really helps me g

It's the 3 rd day of 2013. Many people have made New Year's resolutions or set some goals for the year. Did you know the most common one is lose weight? As Americans, that should probably be at the top of everyone's list. . .I digress.  You may not be a goal-setter or a resolution-maker.  I tend to be, it helps me focus. This past weekend Keith preached a really good message on Leave-Go-Bless . You can watch it here . Leave-Go-Bless has become the marching orders of Greater Gresham as we move towards becoming a mission training center where people learn to take the gospel across the street, across the city, and across the world. Using Paul's letter to the Philippians ( Phil 3:12-14 ) he made a couple of statements that have really stuck with me: What was the hardest thing for you in 2012? What was the best thing for you in 2012? What if one of my goals 2013 was one year from now I was walking closer to Jesus than I ever had in my life? If we are going to