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

 

One day down…

Well today was quite a revelation…and not in a good way. Today felt like day three of the fast. Normally I become irritable and impatient on day three not day one. Today was absolutely frustrating. hah Everything was getting on my nerves, but I was patient at the same time. 

The morning started off where I was protected from an accident that could have been really bad. Two cars t-boned and I could have been right in it. Thank God for His angels that were watching over me. Maybe I will get to see them during this fast? hmmm 

After my semi-close call with an accident I went to work. It was quite a frustrating day for numerous reasons, but I’ll just pass on by with those events. During lunch I went to the DMV to get my drivers license renewed because it expired yesterday, my birthday.

Side Note****If there was one thing that I hate in the world it is the DMV. I have such a passionate hatred that it rivals that of Satan. HAH I REALLY REALLY REALLY HATE THE DMV! 

Ok, back to the story. As I was standing in line behind 10 people who were annoying not because of anything they had done, but because I just thought they were annoying. The guy in front of me turned around and looked at me not once, not twice or even three times, but five times! I wanted to just punch him in the face. Ok, by this point your thinking, “Jeez this guy needs Jesus and this fast!” Your absolutely right. I’m not normally so easily irritated, but today sucked. The revelation that I mentioned in the beginning was that of my true self. 

The problem with what happened besides the obvious is that those things that I was experiencing were in me already. The people (AND THE DMV!! CURSE YOU DMV!!!) simply brought it out of me. I was sad because that stuff was in me, but at the same time I’m thankful that it came out. I don’t want to be like that. For everyone who knows me probably would say that I’m not like that at all, but I guess this is just part of God’s refining process. I seriously don’t experience things like that, but I think I’m just being bombarded with attacks by the enemy. He has tried to discourage me all day telling me that I’m not worthy to do this fast, or to seek God in the ways that I am. I am going to hold his face up to the DMV and destroy them both! Ok, not really, but I will get the enemy back. 

Trust me that I have already asked for forgiveness for my flesh rising up like it did, but I know that God let it happen to show me who I am apart from Him. Needless to say I don’t like who I am apart from Him. I love who I am in Christ and I love who I am becoming. I am seeing how incredibly loved I am, and how incredible God’s love for people is.

Sorry for my honesty, but that’s what this is about! heh I’m going to love people….and I guess the DMV. GRRRR

 

Dustin

 

In prayer this morning

In prayer this morning I was asking the Lord to reveal anything to me in my soul that wasn’t completely submitted to Him, and as I waited for Him to reveal anything to me, I had a vision. I saw like a group of ‘things’, and they were all calm and stable except for two, which were jumping up and down. I asked the Lord what they were and He said ‘your work habits’, and ‘music’.

Weird.