So many times in life I have been caught in the judgment trap; watching the angry man launch a cat over a fence with his foot, a person buying their 3rd new car in 3 years while “fighting” debt, a leader who rules with a heavy hand, a parent who always sounds angry, a friend who is easily broken emotionally…etc.

I used to feel justified rightly judging by these exterior appearances but I was missing the real question, “Where did these people start from?” Where did the angry man start from, maybe last year he would have stepped on and crushed the cat that was annoying him but this year he restrained and flung it out of the way. The person buying their 3rd car may be settling out from a life of entitlement and even though they are buying cars they may have just paid off $100k in debt. The heavy handed leader may have had a nearly murderous father and just 2 years ago would just dismiss from his life anyone who he didn’t like so at least heavy handedness doesn’t dismiss people. The parent who sounds angry is frightening but their parents not only sounded angry but beat them and locked them in a closet when they were angry. The emotionally broken person has a family history they are trying to change, you don’t know that their siblings and previous 3 generations are medicated just to emotionally survive and this person is trying to walk out their life unmedicated seeking healing.

 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

Coming in a state of poverty this lady gave generously, if you did not know she was in a state of poverty it would appear she was withholding rather than giving generously. How often have I made a similar judgment against someone rather than seeing the generosity because I didn’t have a back story? Ouch, yes I am sitting here ouching away.

I want to learn to hope, expect the best until proven wrong, love…love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and does not fail. (1 Cor 13:7,8) My eyes and heart need love especially for those near to me or else I fail in my relationships.

Next time you are frustrated with someone try and take the time to consider what their previous situation was, what their previous life was like, what they are trying to overcome and then reconsider your judgment for them. Does this justify their actions? No, but it will give you the compassion to handle the situation and probably bring healing to the person.

Next month marks the death of a close friend who I thought hoped and wanted to be healed. We prayed a lot, went through inner healing of memories and experiences, deliverance, forgiveness and more healing prayer. Many friends prayed and fasted together yet nothing seemed to turn, I had ideas of what we might have been missing but I did not know exactly what to do. 

Trying to walk out a life of healing, healing prayer, forgiveness, inner healing and deliverance can be heart wrenching and difficult. I have seen many miraculous stories and doctor confirmed supernatural healing BUT… the one’s who aren’t healed, that’s the elephant in the room, the discussion many struggle with. 

Christians received many charges from Jesus such as;

“Whoever believes in me will do the works I do and greater works… “ Jn 14:12-14

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, please the lepers, cast out demons…” Matt 10:8

“Heal the sick and say the Kingdom of heaven is near you…” Luke 10:9

The above verses are a sample of where my expectation is set when I go to pray for the sick, I don’t enter with an attitude of  “Now what will I tell them if they are’t healed?” (more on this in another blog post)

Now back to the blog title.

There is power in Heaven that I do not understand, it is beyond my human mind, it is greater than me yet is available through me (and all of us as Christians). There is a union and power in the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) that is beyond my understanding and I’m okay with that. I will gain knowledge my whole life yet when I die there will be things that “I don’t know.” There seems to be comfort in having all the answers, sometimes this comfort transfers to our friends who are in turmoil. Often times we don’t understand and we don’t have all the answers so the statement “I don’t know” or “I don’t have the answer” is just as comforting to a friend as having all the answers. 

Going back to our friend that died nearly a year ago, her husband and I have become very close friends, we’ve discussed the in’s and outs of what we may have missed in prayer but in the end my answer is “I don’t know” what may have brought healing, “I don’t know” what or if we missed something, “I don’t know” if my theology of healing is perfect (I actually know it’s not perfect!), “I don’t know” why the last person with stage 4 cancer was healed and your spouse died. What I do know is that I won’t stop praying for the sick, the down and out, the hurting or the successful because I don’t have all the answers, I will keep praying expectantly.

“I don’t know” IS honest, loving, true, faithful, thoughtful, meaningful, and more when delivered in this context. 

Now do you see the power in “I don’t know”?

Working in the “car business” for the last 15 years has not put me in the middle of a christian environment but it has allowed me to see that speaking love and truth are a natural way to open conversations.

It seems that everyone these days has a very sensitive “B.S” meter, they can tell if you are trying to fool them or lure them into your court of ideas or draw them to your side to help you with a scheme or a raise or a promotion or another multi-level marketing idea. If we want to engage people we must disarm their B.S meter…but how?

Jesus LITERALLY walked around drawing people near to Him, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, feeding the lost, loving and fixing the broken, speaking the truth where it had been veiled to the masses, then he was murdered so we could have abundant and eternal life. His life up until death revealed a natural way of life, super natural to those who do not believe in healing, miracles, and prophecy. He revealed what is meant to be a normal life for one calling themselves a christian.

The Natural part of supernatural starts with love, not fake plastic love but the deep knowing love, not kisses but that deep knowing you feeling in your gut (this is disarming to the B.S meter). That love when someone near to you dies and your friend shows up just to sit with you and let you talk, they don’t try to answer all the questions but they just sit there quietly and their presence alone loves on you. This love is the person showing up with a meal as you are trying to figure out dinner on a Friday night after a hard week, they just know. It is a love that brings a colleague to ask “is everything okay?” at just the right moment then listen to your story. It is the fatherly figure who comes out in the middle of the night to gather you from a party, change a car tire, pull you out of a deep mud hole, or hear the results “I am, or she is pregnant” without pointing a finger when you know there’s a problem. 

Jesus said ,”They will know you are my close friends (disciples) because your love for each other.” (John 13:35) Jesus modeled love not power, power is borne through love but love is not borne through power. Love is the natural side of the supernatural, it is the door way to the miraculous, love is the door way but we so often forget to just notice and love people. Life gets us all riled up and we miss the hurting broken people that really need love. In the midst of us taking the time to notice and love the hurting people around us healing will follow, bones will mend by a word, hearts will be healed both physically and spiritually, marriages will be saved, the mentally bound will be set free (yes I did imply it should be this simple), the dead will be raised and more…but we must notice and we must dispense love.

In my everyday life I look for those who are limping, hurting, depressed looking, etc. then I engage them. When they realize I have nothing to gain, I am sincere, they open up and healing flows from God into these people. It’s brilliantly simple and beautiful…it even works in and around the “car business.”

Ask God for a love encounter for yourself today, ask that you encounter a Father’s heart like no other father figure you have ever known. Since God is real you will encounter love and acceptance like never before, just ask.

I was pouring my coffee over the sugar in my cup this morning and thinking about how the sugar must be drowned, engulfed and lose all of it’s air in order to be released into the coffee and change the flavor profile of the liquid making it sweeter.

We live in a liquid mobile society and in order to effect change in our environment we must be a part of it, engulfed, and lose our personal agendas in order to effect and change the (flavor) profile of our whole of society.

Be IN the world not of the world.

We must let Him work in our weakness.

What are you keeping out of the cup, a strength or weakness that God wants to saturate and change everyone around you? What are you worried about losing when you give it up to God? Those things are known as idols… Yep, that’s a harsh but true word. The fact of the matter is that God knows the desires of our hearts and He wants to give us complete fullness in those desires. But, we must first lay them before Him and He will return them with the junk shaken out and firmly pressed without wrinkles, perfectly fitting us in a way we had no idea was possible!

I was thinking about how amazing it is that our body is sealed up against infection. If we don’t have open wounds the resistance we have to infections through the skin is pretty amazing. If a person’s hands and arms are free from cuts, wounds and skin abrasions they can work with their arms submerged in raw sewage without contracting an infection as long as they wash and sterilize their skin after their job is done. One abrasion, one compromise in the epidermis and all bets are off, the body can contract all kinds of diseases including those that lead to death. Even modern medicine struggles to overcome some of the more common diseases contracted through the skin such as extreme forms of staph infections.

In our current times we live in the raw sewage of discontentment, greed, lust, murder, lying, adultery…the list goes on and on. Our only defense from the infection of these desires is keeping our soul healed and quickly tending to injuries we have sustained. Broken relationships, hard words and anger are a few things that can cause abrasions and cuts; unforgiveness causes us to wade around with full open wounds welcoming infections that can kill us over time. We also need to seek healing when we lose loved ones as well as be aware when we lose jobs and have difficult circumstances in life. The only healing and maintenance program comes through a relationship with God and welcoming His forgiveness into our lives. Without this relationship and forgiveness we will be constantly fighting and often losing against the infections of this world which leads to physical ailments, death of the body or death of the soul through lost hope, lost love and lost desires.

Psalms 23:1-3

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness 

for his name’s sake.

God’s still quiet waters are an absolute contrast to the raging rapids we endure in our day to day lives. Without Him we do not have the quiet waters of restoration and our lives never heal up from infections among us and in us. Isn’t it interesting the image of  “His quiet restorative waters” parallel how we naturally deal with wounds, we gently run water over the wound to clean and soothe. On a regular basis I must turn my life back to god and ask Him to lead me to the quiet place, the quiet water and clean up my mistakes and the wounds inflicted by others. I encourage you to give God a chance to do the same.    

I was walking through Fashion Valley mall the other day on a mission to get into a store, make my purchase and get out. While walking through the mall I saw some activists abducting people from their shopping experience to explain about a political issue and attempting to convince the abductees to sign their petition. I rolled my eyes and began to form my harsh, curt, angry rebuttal that would most assuredly cause them to shew me away. Thank God I was able to avoid these people by moving around the mall like a pinball bouncing through the greatest pinball machine (and quadrupling the distance walked for my simple shopping trip). I successfully completed my mission and as I was driving home glorying in my successful reconnaissance shopping mission I felt the whisper of God on my heart, “You are my feet on the ground and deliver my goodness on earth, what fruit were you preparing to give these people? Sweet fruit comes from me.” Ouch, I immediately understood that I not only missed the opportunity to love and engage in Kingdom business, but I had agreed with humanistic ways of evil to protect myself. I had prepared my defense before considering what would have been God’s heart in the matter.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  (John 15:5-9 NKJV)

A vine can not bear fruit except through it’s leafy branches, the vine brings the water and nutrients out of the ground and up to the branches which flower and produce fruit. The main stalk does not produce the fruit but the branches that are connected to it produces the fruit. The fruit productivity depends on the connection to the main vine and those branches produce the type of fruit according to the vine they are connected.

God is the vine and we are His leafy branches that are meant to bear His fruit on earth. He created us and he uses us to complete His will on earth and I will step over the invisible theological line and say that He needs us to bear his fruit. Even though God is all powerful He chooses to work through us, dispense His love through us and use us as representatives of His heavenly Kingdom here on earth. As we connect deeply with Him through spending time with Him in prayer, reading, art, writing, building, counseling, listening for His voice, loving others, etc. we begin to produce His fruit.  What is this fruit? It is the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Gal 5:22-23a ESV)

When someone, anyone, encounters us they should taste these attributes, even when someone bites us they should taste these attributes. A fruit can not change its taste because it doesn’t like its consumer and we are called to do the same, bear the fruit of God (the Spirit) in all situations.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalms 34:8 ESV)

When we are “bitten” by people, when we are encountered, when we are in a difficult situation, the other involved parties must taste and see that God is good through us. Tasting God’s goodness through us reveals His true heart of love and only happens when we are connected to the true vine. When connected to the true vine we give people what they truly want, the supernatural love and acceptance of God, not the natural judgement and rejection of man.

My attitude toward the activists at the mall did not come through the Father’s love and my thoughts were not connected to the true vine. I was in need of an attitude change, a repentance of thoughts, a metanoia* of mind that would cause me to see, act and love like the Father. I was prepared to deliver sour fruit out of protection and that was tied into a vine of fear (of losing time) and not tied into God’s vine of love. I realized I did not need to have a rebuttal or an explanation for these activists but just a loving demeanor (not a fake smile) and either a “no thanks” or possibly a God moment with them.

Finally I suggest that you ask of yourself the same question I ask myself, “What do people taste when they get a hold of me and what vine does it come from?” We must taste like the vine we are tied into, the tree/vine of life, the vine of love, the vine of Father God.

Everyone on earth knows the difference between sweet fruit and sour fruit. Everyone on earth knows the difference between true love and fake smile on a religious spirit.

*Metanoia- a Greek word “to change ones mind”

1 Peter5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties (cares) on him, because he cares for you.

This verse contains 2 vital keys to promotion (no I do not think these are the only keys to promotion). First humbling or getting low under the covering of God’s mighty power and authority is a key that is repeated throughout the scriptures. Humility sets us up with protection, under His mighty hand, and guidance through the same mighty hand which also represents direction, power and authority. Becoming humble is a common teaching but we often overlook the simple truth of casting, giving, throwing the weight of anxiety on Him as well. The Greek word used here for anxiety is “merimna” which means “cares” with the inflection of distraction. Hmmm, casting what you care about that is a distraction upon Him.

Let me rephrase the second part of this verse, “…throwing the heavy weight of distractions and anxiety on His shoulders because he wants to see you completely free.”

How much distraction and noise do we have in our lives that are keeping us from true freedom by making us feel we are free yet at the same time they hold us and our time captive? (GULP!) Email, TV, Podcasts, the gym, Facebook, catching up on the last season of_____, maintaining our (desert, river, hunting) toys, researching the newest camera, texting, waiting for the next iPhone/iPad release, boy/girl friend, etc. Have you ever thought, really considered and processed the fact that what may be holding you back from your next great Kingdom promotion is all the distractions in your life? (I write this because I just realized this truth for myself) We so often think we need more education or more mentoring to “step up” but the fact is maybe we need to give God our anxious lifestyle of distractions!
(education and mentoring IS part of the process, you may de-ruffle your feathers)

Our God given promotion appears to be equally linked between humility and giving God our cares (distractions). Now might be a good time to evaluate what cares, anxieties and distractions are in your life. Turning them over will only lead and prepare you for promotion.

“God I give you my attention and I want to give you all my distractions, anxiety and cares. I give you my vacations, I hand over to you my TV and programming, I give you my surfing and all the preparations, I give you my fruitless endless research, my social networks, etc ….. I release all of these cares to you and I trust you will return to me what you see fit for me. Forgive me for my life clutter and now again, open my eyes to my calling.”

Genesis 1: 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Before a person comes to know God their life is formless and void, full of darkness and there is no order. In the midst of this time the Spirit is hovering, waiting, poised ready and waiting to breathe into the direction of life and help sort the chaos into order.

It is not uncommon to return to the feeling of chaos, darkness and disorder when we lose sight of the Father. During these times the Spirit is poised waiting to infuse our lives, thoughts, souls, and our work as we regain the awareness of our identity and invite Him to change our mind and change again our way of thinking.

Order does not come in darkness, have you ever tried to organize paperwork or a pantry in darkness? It is impossible to properly organize something in darkness, we must bring light to the room to reveal what needs order and how to put it in order.

Our lives need the light of truth to be rid of chaos and bring order to life trials and challenges.

Without His light we will slowly (sometimes quickly) descend back to chaos and darkness.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day…6 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

When our mind is set on a life in the kingdom we reside in the greater light, the light of day where growth occurs at a natural rate and everything is in brilliant light, easy to see and easy to keep our heading and direction. This greater light is the light of Father God where there is no shifting of shadows and no darkness resides.

When we allow life to darken our view we walk into the lesser light our growth slows often stopping completely. There is not much growth at night in the lesser light and everything is seen in shadows, direction must be carefully calculated and much attention must be paid your path in order that you do not fall. This lesser light is is a reflection of God but not the true light. Following man, following a movement, following a political system will only reveal shadows and outlines of reality.

The Spirit is always hovering, waiting to infuse us with love and power as we walk out of darkness into the light, but we must begin to walk. We must decide to take a step (towards order), there is often an action, word, thought or change required to make way for the Spirit to move through us. In the same way we invite Jesus to live in us, in the same way we walk away from an old life style or flawed way of thinking, we must make a decision to walk into light. These are the times we receive revelation because we are partnering with the Spirit who has been hovering, waiting for our invitation.These are the times we experience rapid growth in our walk with God.