The Promise

“After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the Lord gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem. One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat.” “Then the Lord gave me this message:”

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.” Jeremiah 24:1-7 NLT

This vision of Jeremiah was about the people being captured and taken into exile. That was a horrible event. The city was burning, people were dying and they were being taken captive to live in a land of people that did not worship God.

When reading this I expected God to tell Jeremiah that the bad figs were the ones taken into captivity. It’s always better to be free right? You can live where you want to live, do what you want to do. But that was precisely the problem. The people of Israel were doing what they wanted to do and what they wanted to do was contrary to what God wanted for them.

God tells Jeremiah that the good figs are the ones being taken into captivity. He says these are the people He was going to look after. Sounds counter intuitive doesn’t it? We think and we say out loud that when bad things happen God can’t be controlling it. We express our disbelief when the events of the world don’t go the way we want them to go. We ask in our hearts, even if we don’t say it out loud, where is He?

But we are forgetting.....we are forgetting that God’s ways are different than ours. If we followed the logic that says when bad things happen God is not involved, then we would have to totally discount the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph went through quite a few unpleasant situations. How would you like to deliver your baby in a barn? How would you feel if the life of your child was threatened just because he was the right age? Not to mention the shame and humiliation they suffered because Mary “got pregnant” out of wedlock. They suffered to fulfill God’s promise of a Savior.

And fast forward to the cross. Before Jesus was crucified, the people welcomed him as the Messiah. There was a parade and crowds were honoring and worshipping him. How fast the tides turned. Pretty soon he was being arrested, his faithful followers fled and he was pronounced guilty. Then, he was crucified. To the human eye, this looked like a failure. Defeat.

But it wasn’t. It was our beginning. We can’t look at what is happening in the world, in our lives, and determine that God is not in control. We cannot assume He is not good and that He is not working because what we see doesn’t “look” right. The Promise is alive and well. That Promise is Jesus.

I suspect as humanity continues down this path of doing what we want, when we want, just like the Israelites did, there will be more tragedy, more sickness, more hate. Will you make decisions about God based on what’s happening all around you or will you stand firm because you know who God is? Will you hold on to the Promise and remember that God’s Plan is perfect?

God wants most of all is to be in a relationship with us. He wants to be our God and for us to be His people. Will you hold onto Him? Will you hold on to the Promise?

For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Listening Like a Sheep

2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. John 10:2-4 (NLT)

Last night during Called2Be’s (church plant) meeting, we talked about recognizing God’s voice. Fabulous discussion. We spent a lot of time on today’s text. This morning, as I was revisiting this conversation, I realized I didn’t have a thought process for what it looks like for sheep to come to the shepherd.

I don’t have sheep. I don’t actually know anyone who has sheep. But, I’ve had dogs. Specifically, I am thinking of Angel (a Doberman). She had this uncanny way of knowing when Nick was almost home. If Nick was out, before he even turned into the neighborhood, she would hear his car. Her radar was always up. She was always listening for that sound and when she heard it, she’d go stand by the door.

My son’s dog, Doctor, does the same thing. With one difference. When he hears my son’s car, he goes and looks out the window and starts bounding around the house, whimpering excitedly while running back and forth.

This is what I think it looks like to listen for God’s voice. No matter what we are doing, our ears should be tuned toward Him. And when we hear something that even remotely sounds like His voice, we should check it out. We should move toward it so we can hear better and spend some time focusing on what we are being told.

God speaks to us where we are. He also has a bazillion ways to communicate with us. That’s why we have to be especially attentive. If we are looking for him to speak to us in only one way, we may miss it.

So maybe today, while we are doing whatever we do, we can wait expectantly, trusting that He is there and He is going to speak. And when we hear Him, we should jump up and down and get excited because the God of the Universe just reached down to be in relationship with us.

Thankful

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

I went to a Christian boarding school during my high school years. I loved going to school there but I was definitely a rebellious teen and didn’t want to have a lot to do with the religious “establishment”.

During my junior year, I was friends with this guy. Most of his friends called him Seenarine. He was fun. We hung out at times and for the most part I enjoyed our friendship. One thing that I remember as a little bothersome was he would frequently talk to me about Jesus. He kept saying that Jesus wanted to be my friend and that he wanted me to get to know Him.

I don’t recall being really interested in this but he would mention it during our conversations, walking the halls of the buildings, during the sporting events.....you get the idea. One day, I think I was expressing my disbelief that God was involved at all and he said “Why don’t you test it? Ask him for something and see what happens.”

At the time I worked part-time in the school auto body shop as a Teacher’s Aide. The “office” was gray. It was always dusty and dirty and bare bones as far as chairs, desks, and office supplies was concerned. There wasn’t even a trash can in the office. So, I prayed “Lord, if you are there please send something new for the office.”

A couple days went by. I forgot about the prayer. One day I went to the office and as I was working I went to throw something away and realized my trash can was missing. I said out loud “Hey, who took my trash can. It was brand new. I just got it!” Then it hit me. The trash can had showed up in the office right after I prayed. I didn’t even notice it. It wasn’t until it was gone that I realized that God had answered my prayer.

All these years later I still remember this like it was yesterday. It was my first realization that God was real and he did want to be in a relationship with me. It was such a little thing but the profound movement in my soul was undeniable.

Why am I sharing this on Thanksgiving? Because as I look back over my life I realize that God showed up over and over again so our relationship would grow. It took years for me to commit my life to Him and become a disciple that makes disciples. But He never stopped trying to get my attention. I am thankful that He loves me that much.

There are so many circumstances and people that were put into my life so I would learn to love Him. I am thankful for people like Seenarine who were willing to share their love of Jesus with me so I could see Jesus. I am so thankful for this God-journey.

I bet if you thought back through your life you would see God’s hand leading and guiding you too. I bet you would remember the times that He showed up and touched your life so you too would fall in love with Him.

I can’t think of anything more worthy of thanks. Can you?

Banquet Tables

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 (ESV)

Imagine sitting at a banquet table where every part of the table is filled with bounty, with blessings. You can hardly see the table for all that is displayed before you. Imagine just as you start to dig into the array of goodness, an enemy comes to sit across from you. He/She doesn’t do anything. They just sit there.

God says “Look, I’ve prepared this just for you. Dig in.” You want to dig into the bounty but you can’t. You are so fixated on what is sitting across from you at the table, you don’t lift a finger to begin enjoying your feast. Instead, you stay riveted on the distraction that occupies your focus and you do not enjoy the gift you have been given.

It’s interesting that Psalm 23:5 says God prepares a banquet for us in the presence of our enemies. We talked about this in our Bible Study group.  A couple questions were asked. If there was a banquet table in front of you, what would be on it? And, What enemy/distraction is sitting in front of you that is preventing you from enjoying God’s provision? How would you answer those questions?

So often I find myself looking at what is causing my anxiety instead of the Person who is overflowing my cup. God’s table is always full. Even in the middle of hard things in life, there are blessings to be had. I know they might be subtle but they are there. Things like the smile of a child or the simple prayer of someone you love. Or the almost imperceptible way that God is moving in people‘s hearts.

I know there are people who are suffering. I know they look at the table before them and really can’t see any blessings. They are hurting. I bet you know folks like this too. If that is the case, maybe you can be the blessing that shows up on their table. Maybe you can reach out and show them love in a way that will change their perception of life. You can show them Jesus.

As we head into Thanksgiving, remember to count your blessings. More importantly, remember to be the reason someone is thankful.

Who is He to you?

I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted. Job 42:2 (HCSB)

A friend of mine was deeply hurting. I’m talking gut-wrenching hurt from a tremendous loss. We were texting back and forth but honestly, I was slow to respond because I wanted to pray. This was hard. How do you even respond to such pain?

In my response I said “I am not sure why God allowed this.” Later, I heard Satan say “Why did you say that? You are just going to drive her farther from God. How do you know how she feels about that?”

At first, my reaction was to listen to that voice and I started to spiral into a “What have I done?” scenario. But then, I slowed my thoughts and prayed. And as I began to process my response I wondered. Would I want to serve a God who was not in complete control? If God did not have authority over everything, what would be the point?

We want everything to turn out just the way we want. I know I do. I don’t like the pain, death, bad things that happen. It makes my heart hurt. As I ponder and pray through all of this, I figure I have two choices. I can believe God is in control or I can believe that he’s not. This choice then becomes about who I believe God is.

Do I believe that Satan will do everything he can to turn us from trusting God? Yes.
Do I believe that God allows these things? Yes.
Do I always understand why? No.
Do I believe that in spite of all that my eyes see that he loves us and that his plan is bigger and better than I can comprehend? Yes.

Jesus told us in the Bible that we were going to have bad days, hard days....days like he had. We shouldn’t be surprised by what’s happening. What we should do is hold on to our belief in a God that has not relinquished his authority on this world. We need to “see” with our faith, not just our eyes.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Write the Check

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

Imagine my surprise when I heard God say “Write the check.”

Let me explain. A few years ago we walked through a very difficult time financially. My business almost folded and for a year and a half, I didn’t get paid. As I prayed about finding a job, God said “Wait.” Wait didn’t make sense. I knew I could get a job. As a matter of fact, I could get a job making more than I was making in my business. But God said “No. Wait.” Being unsure of how this was going to turn out, I put conditions on it. “On one condition. I will wait and not get a job as long as You provide. You promise in the Bible that You will provide all of our needs so, as long as you provide, I’ll wait.” (I thank God that He is patient with us when we are learning to trust Him.)

The waiting took a year and a half. We cut back on everything we could cut back on. We lived minimally and over and over again, just as we ran out of money to pay the bills, God showed up. He never showed up in the same way twice but, He always showed up.

One day in the wait, as I was praying, I heard God say that He wanted me to give Him a percentage of the profits from my business. I laughed and reminded Him that a percentage of zero was zero. I didn’t agree at first because when you make an agreement with God, well, you have to keep it. This was a big ask. I prayed about it. The percentage was high. I worried about being able to keep my commitment. But as I prayed a light bulb went off. If God was giving me a profit, he’d work it out. This was not really my problem to handle. My job was surrender all of this to Him. I agreed.

Fast forward a few months. We were notified that the business had won a new contract. It hadn’t started yet so money was still really tight. I was at a church planting/multiplication conference with my church. The speaker was talking about the story in Joshua where the priests are told to cross the flood gorged river. The water was running swift and fast and the water level was very high. God said “Step into the river.” At this point, they had to decide if they believed in his promises or not. Would they step in and see God work? Or would they be the obstacle to seeing a miracle? 

The speaker said “What is your step of faith?” At that moment, I heard “Write the check.” I knew what God was saying. He was saying “Write the check for my percentage.” I said, “There is no money in the account. We’ve only had one little contract and are barely paying the bills.” I heard it again. And then a third time, I said “OK.”

After the conference was over, I immediately went home and ran some reports on the business. And there was a profit. It was more than I expected. I wrote the check. 

Here’s my question for you. What is the step of faith that you are not taking? What is God calling you to do that is challenging what you believe about Him? Do you trust Him enough to take that step?

Yard Sales and Obedience

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
“Go to Purcellville and ask people questions about the city.”
“Lord, that’s going to be hard. People are not going to want to do that.”

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
“Go to Purcellville and ask people questions about the city.”
“Lord, that’s going to be hard. People are not going to want to do that.”

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
No response.

I knew there was no response because I know that when he tells me to do something, he usually tells me once and doesn’t repeat himself. 

So, for weeks I delayed sharing this with the church plant. I thought it was a little scary to go somewhere, walk around and find people to start questioning. I was sure people were not going to want to talk to us. I was sure the church plant folks would think so too.

But the thoughts kept persisting and I knew this was the next step we had to do to be obedient. When I went to God to talk about it some more, he reminded me that my job was to be obedient to him and not worry about what everyone else was doing or going to do.

So, I shared with the church plant and we planned a trip to Purcellville on October 10. The plan was to meet there mid-afternoon at the building we’d been prayer walking. We would walk around and find folks on the street and ask them two questions; ‘What is it you like about your town?’ And ‘What would you put in place to improve Purcellville?’ The idea was to figure out how we could serve.

As we neared the town and I looked around, I was shocked (and confused) because there were people everywhere. I am talking lots of people walking all along Main Street from the start of it all the way through the center of the town. I want to say hundreds. I also noticed that all along the side of the streets were tables and booths set up with items for sale on them. Turns out it was their yearly Tag Sale. This is basically a town-wide yard sale that the city hosts once a year.

Oh my goodness! Suddenly it became very apparent that God lowered the bar so we could step into his plan and obey what he asked us to do with so little effort. Now, I know this is not always the case. I know sometimes obeying God is hard and takes courage but that is not what he decided for us today. Today, he allowed our obedience to be easy....and fun.

We walked around the town, stopped at different booths and tables and talked to people. We found out about the town, connected with people and had a really, really great time. God is so amazing. 

I am learning to step past my fears and obey. I am learning that he does things that I could never possibly expect or imagine. I am learning that whether it’s easy or hard, the best path is to always follow where he’s leading. 

I am still filled with joy over the field trip to the little town God has placed on our hearts. Not sure what he is going to do there, but I know he is going to do something....and I want to be involved. 

Listen

For God does speak—now one way, now another—
    though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people
    as they slumber in their beds,
he may speak in their ears
    and terrify them with warnings,
to turn them from wrongdoing
    and keep them from pride, Job 33:14-17 (NLT)

Eunice texted me and asked if I had heard from Kathy. It had actually been a while since any of us had heard from Kathy. Months probably. Kathy attended weekly Bible Study with us and was a new believer in Jesus. Her job had become very demanding and she couldn’t join any more. Then, the Bible Study group morphed into the Church Plant (Called2Be) and we lost track of her.

Eunice said that she’d been thinking about her and reached out but got no response. Funny thing was I was thinking about her too. God put Kathy on both of our hearts. So at Eunice’s prompting, I reached out as well. Kathy responded. She is now joining Called2Be’s weekly Bible Study. Do you think God was speaking to Eunice and me? I do.

God speaks to us in so many different ways. Sometimes, it is in an impression. Sometimes in a conviction. I’ve had Him speak to me in dreams. And I know other people have experienced Him in circumstances or visions. He definitely speaks to us through His Word and through each other. 

Question is, are we listening? Do we really believe that He speaks and are we intent on hearing what He has to say? And the follow up question to that is when we hear him, do we obey?

I get impressions that I know are God. A lot of times these are things I am being told to do that I don’t want to do.  That’s how I know it’s Him. I know that sounds odd but when I feel convicted to do something I don’t want to do, I know it’s not me. 

Other times I’ll get impressions that are just off-the-wall. For example, yesterday I had the impression that I was supposed to go to BJs (warehouse type store). I didn’t need anything from BJs. I had no reason to go but all morning the thought kept popping into my head. So I went. Nothing happened. I walked around the store a couple of times with my cart. Went to look for some things that I knew I wanted to buy to see if they had them (they didn’t). 

Was God in that impression? Should I have gone to BJs? I’m not an expert at hearing God’s voice but here is what I’ve learned. When I think it’s Him but I’m not sure, I follow what I am hearing. Here’s why. There have been times I didn’t follow and I realized later it was God trying to get me to do something. There were times I did listen and I could see his fingerprints all over the situation. (I love it when that happens.) Personally, I’d rather follow and not know on what’s going on rather than miss out on a God experience altogether. Notice I said “not know what’s going on?” That’s because I know from experience that just because I can’t see what He’s doing, it doesn’t mean He isn’t doing something. He is always doing something. I just can’t always see it.

What’s the take away? God is always speaking to his children through many, many methods. The way He speaks to me is going to be different than the way He speaks to you. One thing though that we all need to do is listen. Listen intently to hear what he’s saying. Carve out time to hear Him without a lot of distractions. And when you hear him, obey.

So today, if you come across a talking donkey on the side of the road, don’t pass by thinking “that’s crazy.” Stop and talk to the donkey. You never know how God is going to show up.