a bit crazy…

It is day 13 and I have been lousy at documenting this, but there really hasn’t been anything for me to write about. It is typically the same every day- hunger, tiredness, seclusion etc. Although my hunger has been diminishing over the past few days I am just choosing to ignore it. At this point I really don’t care if I am hungry I just want God to be my hunger. I can’t seem to get Jesus’ words out of my head, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but by every word of God.” Luke 4:4  I have a peace when I realize that this isn’t about me wanting to eat, but a deciding factor to live on each of God’s words.

So, then I began a quest today. What is every word of God? Sure it’s referring to scripture, but it’s also referring to the spoken word of God into us. I can only tell you that every day is different and every minute can change. BUT one thing remains the same the love. The one word that will never change in the heart of God that we must learn to live off of is love. His love beats for us as steady and consistent as our hearts. Every pump of our heart flows life into our mortal bodies, but every pump of God’s heart flows an eternal love that we can have now. This eternal love never fails. This love casts out fear, confusion, anxiety and impatience. So the word that I am feeding on today is love. I will eat up the love of God by acknowledging his goodness, faithfulness, and compassion today. God is love.

God, let your love pour down and shine down on us this day and every other. May we learn how to receive your goodness and joy at this present moment.
Amen

Dustin

 

A Lesson In Love – Part 3: The Trojan Horse

So I laid down in bed tonight to the sound of the bass-line of some U2 song and thought to myself, “Well, guess this is the night.” I contemplated for about 5 minutes whether I was really going to have the courage to go over there and do it, but decided that the Lord wasn’t gonna let me sleep if I didn’t. I grabbed the bottle of wine from the counter and started praying over that thing, and boy if the power of the Holy Spirit didn’t flow through me into it then I don’t know what happened. I prayed that it would be a trojan horse, and that it would be a seed planted that would lead to their salvation. 

So I set out, and discovered they were sitting just out of earshot from their fence, and out of view. I yelled a couple of times but they couldn’t hear me over the music, and I didn’t feel right just barging into their yard uninvited. I prayed for a few minutes, waited a little longer, and was about to give up when I decided to go around to the other side of the house and noticed it allowed me to walk right up to where they were sitting. The wife had gone inside, so I introduced myself to the husband and told them that I had heard the music and just wanted to wish them a good evening, and bless them with a bottle of wine. He looked kinda surprised for a moment and said, “Oh you didn’t have to do that… Do you want a beer?” I thanked him, but said I had to be up early… And that was that. 

I’m excited to see what God does next.

Chris

 

A Lesson In Love – Part 2

So today I’m going to stop somewhere on my way home from work and pick up a nice bottle of wine… Then the next time I hear the music I’m going to go give them the wine and wish them a good evening. They may not turn the music down, but it’ll certainly soften my heart and kill them with kindness.

Thanks for the idea Dustin.

Chris

 

A Lesson In Love

So we have neighbors who like to sit at their pool till all hours of the night drinking some beers and having a good time just about every night. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, except that they also like to have music during their revelries… Again, nothing wrong with that because they don’t keep the volume up too high. However, their sub appears to have been placed in the perfect spot to reverberate right into my house, just to the point where you can only hear it if you’re in the bedroom and its quiet. ie. You’re trying to sleep.

I kindly asked them if they would just turn the bass down on Saturday night, and the woman didn’t like that idea very much, insisting that since they were the 5th house on the block, they felt as if they owned the neighborhood and didn’t much care for some young guy coming over to their house at 9pm asking them to turn down the music. (They actually said that, even the part about owning the neighborhood.) They begrudgingly agreed that they would turn down the bass some, but I went back to bed to the thumping beats of some 70’s rock anthem.

As I’m lying here tonight contemplating whether calling the cops would do any good since its not after midnight and I don’t think they legally have to turn it down yet, I have this nagging suspicion that my inconsiderate neighbors are actually an answer to prayer. I’ve asked the Lord to teach me how to love more, and this sounds like a way He would choose to show me how. I feel like there is an answer to this conundrum in love, that will minister to my neighbors and hopefully give me an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.

I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m going to find out!

Chris

 

Glory in the midst of a headache…

Alright today was a tough one. Whitney and I had to fork out $450 for her car to get fixed so that we could get it registered. Stupid DMV. heh.   We ended up walking home twice in the middle of the day, and I got a headache. This headache was right behind my left eyeball! heh those are the worst because you end up poking your eye to relieve some of the pressure. Needless to say I had my finger in my eye for about 10 min. hah

Well we got home, ran some errands in my car and went back home. When we got home I took Bonsai, our Jack Russell, for a walk to pick up the car a mile away. So I grabbed the leash, a cigar, and headed out the door. I lit that thing up and AHHHHH it was incredible. I love smoking cigars even though I only do it once every 5 months or so. As we walked I just prayed and loved on God, and before I knew it the headache was gone. I never thought that thing was going to go away, but praise God it did. 

Then I got home and took a bath…Yes I took a bath. My body was aching because I had been moving stuff earlier in the day. As I laid there in complete silence I just imagined God. I thought about His love, His face, and His beauty. I felt such an incredible peace that is always comforting when things around my life seem to be falling apart. I praise God for always forgiving me, loving me, and constantly being faithful to me. 

I love you Father,

Dustin

 

I’m not satisfied

I’m not satisfied to just be who I am right now. I’m not satisfied with what little I know about you. I’m not satisfied with my relationship with you where its at right now. I must have more; I must press in; I must discover you; I must find you; I must know you; I must have you! My heart yearns for you. I have no words, I can’t describe it. It aches. You’re all I can think about. You’re all I want, nothing else satisfies. Nothing else comes even close to meeting the longing I have for you. Nothing else can quench the thirst in my heart for you. Help me, for I’ve either got to have more of you or die right here, because this desire is overwhelming. This desire is ending me. I must have you! I have to abide in you, because there’s no place for me in this world. I have to be sent by you, because there’s nothing else for me to do here. What have you done to my heart? You have ruined me God. You ruined me for you. You ruined me from who I used to be. I can’t go back to what I once was, but I’m not yet who I’m going to be in you. I’m stuck here waiting for you, but so not satisfied because of the desire and the longing for you which you have placed within. Oh God come to me, meet me in this place. Hear the cry of my heart, the longing of my soul.

 

Whom the Son sets free…

I’m starting to realize more and more that I am surrounded by many people in my life who are dealing with bondage, darkness, and oppression. So many people I am close to are just battling with things, many of whom aren’t even aware of the spiritual side to what they’re dealing with. It saddens me to know that within me is the same Spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead, but often I feel so powerless to deal with the things Jesus already conquered on the cross. The same glory that the Father gave to Jesus, He has given to me, yet I struggle to manifest that glory in such an inkling of a way to be able to walk in the ministry of Christ and bring liberty to the captives. Whether it be bondage to addictions, disease, sickness, or demons, it all falls under the authority of Christ and was defeated with His work on the cross. I must learn how to walk in such a manner as to receive that anointing and authority to deliver the one’s in chains. 

Jesus, please teach me to walk in the power that you carried upon the earth. Teach me how to bring liberty to the captives and break the yoke of bondage in peoples lives. Please give me the love required to bring freedom to those whom you love and died for.

 

In all things

I have been wondering something lately. Is it wrong to pull something positive out of something negative? Let me explain. Someone told me a dream about a year ago and I knew that the dream was not directly from God. I took that dream and gave them an interpretation to turn it around and make it something Godly. So I ask again, is it right to pull something positive out of something negative?

I believe the answer is not only an absolute YES, but it is a necessity. I believe that part of the problem with this world is that we are so directed by what problems we face rather than finding the positive in the negative. I believe that it’s actually what God expects from us. If we are to change this world it must come from focusing on the things of God and not the obvious physical things that are so apparent.

For example. One of my friends has a major frustration with a family member because of their pride, and judgmental attitude. You can’t say anything around this person without them needing to tell you how you are wrong, why you are wrong, and what problems you are having. Let me say that the desire to be right is an absolute ruling passion. And I don’t mean that in a positive way. I told my friend that instead of responding to the negative attitude she could speak truth into her life without her even knowing. If my friend can love inspite of her frustration then she will win her family member to truth in God. So my idea for her was to write her everyday or every couple of days something positive about her. I encouraged her to speak something loving and encouraging about this family member. It may not change anything in them, even though I think it will, but it will change something in my friends heart.

That being said I feel an overwhelming yes to the original question. I believe God expects us to find the poison in the world and learn how to develop a cure for all the people affected by it. For every action there is an equal or opposite reaction…How much more true is that in our life? For every action against us we need to respond in an opposite reaction so that they are won over by our love. Let’s heap some coals on their heads…

Romans 12:20 in a couple of versions

But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him. For if he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will pile burning coals on his head.” (ISV)

But, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed.” (Good News)