Jesus Is everywhere

As Jesus is omnipresent, it shouldn't come as a surprise when he talks to us. He's infinitely creative, though -- which often takes us off guard. Consider this experience related by John Eldredge in his book "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus" (p. 184):

Another friend, Leslie, was traveling in Germany and had the privilege of seeing the renowned Oberammergau Passion Play. 'All the villagers play parts in the story,' she explained. 'For nine years they are woodcarvers and then the tenth they take on a whole new part; the men grow beards and let their hair get long.' The play is three hours in the morning, followed by a long break, and then it continues in the afternoon. She wrote this account to me:

During my break I spent quite a bit of time in one particular shop. The woodcarver himself gave me a detailed explanation of his carvings. He had a head full of long brown hair and some woman asked him if he was in the play. 'Yes,' he replied. I thought, To whom am I speaking??? Peter, James, John, Judas...Jesus?! The moment I thought his name is was as if the Lord was saying to me, You recognize me on the stage in the part you know so well, but do you recognize me in the shop? Have you so compartmentalized your life between sacred and secular, church and business, Sunday and the rest of the week that when I am out there you no longer recognize me? I realized at that moment that I could walk into church on Sunday and know what to expect because I know the story. I could see Jesus in that setting. Then I would leave and go out into my own world and leave him in first-century Palestine. I couldn't recognize him in the shop.

Expect to encounter Jesus in your life. . .not just on Sunday, and not just at church.

Pray for men

I'm always curious how authors come up with ideas for their books. I recently started reading "Healing the Masculine Soul" by Gordon Dalbey. In the introduction (pp. xxii - xxiii), Dalbey shares how he felt that God was encouraging him to minister to men:

I first realized this following a church showing of the antiabortion film 'The Silent Scream.' Deeply touched by the film, the audience of perhaps a hundred men and women moved into prayer. When the pastor invited individual prayers aloud, one person prayed for the young pregnant women; others prayed for the parents of these women, for the doctors and nurses at abortion clinics, for the unborn babies themselves, and for the nation's conscience. As I sat, head bowed, my spirit agreed with all these prayers. And yet a restless uneasiness prodded me. Something was missing, overlooked. Father, I prayed, is there something else, something maybe even more key to the issue than what's being mentioned?

Almost at once the words burst forth in my mind: Pray for the men! No one is recognizing that without a man to impregnate the woman, the abortion issue would not exist. The men are the problem, and no one even recognizes the need for My transforming hand upon them. Even if a woman agrees or even seeks sexual intercourse, she cannot force herself upon the man. It is he who has the ultimate responsibility to say No, and it is he whom I therefore hold ultimately accountable.

OK, Lord, I prayed. How shall I pray for the men?

In my heart, I sensed a clear answer. The men are not submitted to Me. They have become passive in the face of responsibility. They are not living in response to Me; they have given up the ability to respond, that is, their response-ability. Pray that the men surrender to Me, that they would receive My heart of caring for women, that the spirit of passivity would be bound in them and they would walk in responsibility.

When I spoke this prayer aloud, a unanimous murmur of approval and Amens! swept the room.

So, in Dalbey's case, God encouraged Him to pray for men. I'm thankful that Dalbey followed God's word and took it even further by writing his books.

Presence of Jesus

Jesus is omnipresent -- he is everywhere that we go. On page 183 of "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," author John Eldredge shares the story of a friend who feels a little embarrassed about listening to "New Age Jazz":

At times I've felt a little odd and maybe even guilty listening to this genre. But as I was walking out to my car from a particularly difficult sales call, I was asking Him to give me peace and rest. I asked if He minded that I listened to this station. As I got in the car, I sensed Him saying, Oh no, that's fine, I'm here, too. I started the car, punched in my station, and on came an instrumental of 'Fairest Lord Jesus.' I said, laughing, 'Ah, so You are here!'

I love how creative Jesus is. We can expect Him to show up in our lives anytime, anywhere.

Hearing the voice of God

God wants to have a relationship with us. He tries to communicate with us, but there often can be

issues on our end that make it difficult for Him to get through.

At church recently, the pastor talked about listening to God's voice.

There are certain issues with hearing God's voice (Psalm 32:9, James 5:7, Psalm 37):

• The issue of going our own way
• The issue of trust
• The issue of obedience
• The issue of patience
• The issue of busyness

God speaks to us in several key ways (Psalm 119:105, Acts 16:7, 2 Peter 1:21, Proverbs 12:15):

• The Bible
• The Holy Spirit
• Prayer
• The church

 How do we know it is God speaking?

• Agrees with Scripture
• Brings glory to God
• Brings a sense of peace
• Confirmed by mature Christians
• Brings unity
• Preserves sanity

Take the time to slow down and hear the voice of God. There are Bible verses on hearing God -- he does want to talk to you! Read some of the other posts from this blog; there are tons of examples of God speaking to people.

We need love

In his monthly letter, John Eldredge recently wrote about love. Why love? Because God told him to write about that topic:

Over the past several months -- months which for me have had their fill of middle-of-the-night-spiritual trials -- I have often asked God, 'What do I pray, Lord? What do I need?' And his answer has been, My love. That my Love would fill your heart, fill you and surround you. And my response has been along the lines of 'Really?' It seems like guidance would go a long ways right now, or breakthrough, or angelic help or how about power and glory?

God seems to feel that love is far more urgent, or necessary.

I found myself drawn to Ephesians 3:14-19. . .the last sentence grabbed me: 'That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.' Yes, that's what I want! I want to be filled with all the fullness of God!

May we all be filled with the fullness of God.

Come away with me

I, like many Americans, often go through my day obsessed with the to-do list. The sermon at church

last Sunday by one of the pastors had an important message:  rest and be still.

You see, the pastor went into work one day, planning to complete the to-do list. But her computer was moving very slowly -- how frustrating! How was she going to make any progress on her list?

Then she heard God:  "Come away with me."

"But Lord," she replied, "I have all of this stuff to do."

"What do you think about resting with me," He said.

So she packed up her stuff, went home, and rested. . .and it was wonderful.

God does want to restore and transform us. By giving us the gift of Sabbath, we get an opportunity to rest in God's presence. Check out Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:9-10 and Matthew 11:28 in the Bible regarding the importance of rest.

Enjoy the gift of rest today. One book that the pastor highly recommended is "Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence" by Sarah Young.

Hitchhiker stories

In today's Star Tribune, there's a narrative by reporter Bill McAuliffe, who decided to hitchhike from Minneapolis to Twisp, Wash.

McAuliffe has many interesting stories of the people who picked him up along his journey, including a man named Dale:

Next surprise: Dale, who later told me he'd recently gotten out of prison, asked if I was hungry or thirsty. Which is how we ended up at his church picnic, just up the road in Clearwater, Minn., before he brought me onward to St. Cloud.

When I asked Dale why he'd picked me up, he said God had told him to. I'm not what you'd call a man of faith, but that's what Dale left me with: faith that rides would come, faith that I'd get somewhere, even if it wasn't where I'd intended. 

It sounded like McAuliffe had a fabulous adventure. He wrote daily updates on his trip at http://60West.blogspot.com.