Matthew 6:25 is a verse of the Bible referenced in today’s devotional by Oswald Chambers.  As I read this today I was challenged by the words of Jesus, “…do not worry about your life…”  So often, I get out there in life and worry about this, that, and the other thing.  Once I sink into my worries I forget the promise of Jesus that is found just a few verses later, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:33).  What do you do when you can’t seem to get beyond the “worry”?

I realize when I worry there is this disconnect in the faith-walk I desire to live.  When worry sets in so do the feelings of desperation.  I got a small glimpse of this in the events that transpired while I was on a 48 mile bicycle ride yesterday.  It was a route I have never ridden, in a part of the county I am not familiar with, and I was out by myself.  Just over 2 hours into the ride the battery on the phone died.  I took a wrong turn about a mile or so later.  Another couple of miles later I found myself at a crossroad without any signs letting me know what the names of the roads were. (I could have stopped the moment I realized I was heading in the wrong direction but I could see a nice little downhill ride that was too tempting to pass up). How often do we give in to what feels good at the moment to be left with a problem to deal with at the end of the good feeling?

At the crossroad, I sat there wondering what I should do…  I also recalled those words, “You don’t want to take a wrong turn.”  I could go back (remember it was a good downhill… which is now a good uphill) or try to head off in a direction that I might be the way to go.  All I could see was the uphill climb behind me, the crossroad, trees, and a occassional car that passed by.  I had this un-nerving feeling that I was lost… 40 miles into my ride.  After several minutes I decided to go through the intersection.  As I crossed the road, I saw a house back over my left shoulder and someone walking in the front yard.  I rode over and asked for directions back to the Budweiser Plant where I had parked my car.

With posted “No Trespassing” signs all around their yard the folks that lived there gave me directions.  Once I got to the end of the road I realized I had been on this road before (many years ago)… I relaxed because I knew where I was.  I was now about 3 miles from where I had parked my car.

I have thought about this experience and how much this relates in so many ways to life.  I could have sat there and worried about my situation and waited for the sun to set.  Instead of sitting there I moved and kept watch for something that I might recognize.  The lesson here is to not surrender to our worries but rather to Jesus and seek first His Kingdom and righteousness!  When we seek Him first he will provide the answers and the direction we need to get to where He wants us to go.  We should never give up on the dreams he has for us and always be watching for the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives… no matter how tempting the downhill may be.

I recall mountain biking this past Fall.  It was a downhill that had several ruts that had been created by the rainfall.  I remember being in control of my descent until that moment where I took my eyes off of the trail and found myself navigating my Cannondale through the rut.  I was now confined to travel in a much smaller – more narrow line.  I managed to come out of it without falling off the bicycle.  I had to be patient - looking for the best moment to navigate myself back onto the trail.  I wonder if this same principle applies to life?

In a preceding verse, Jesus addresses those who question who he is, where he came from and where it is he is going.  In John 8:23, Jesus states,

You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons.  You live in terms of what you see and touch.  I’m living on other terms.

I know life today is a test.  It’s a test of my spiritual stamina.  It’s a faith test.  I have begun to grow weary on this road.  I recall as a young Christian, new to the faith, the horizon I could see was wide.  At every turn I never lost sight of the horizon.  The road was clear and clean.  I could see, hear, and talk with the Holy Spirit.  He was revealing Jesus to me in so many ways that were just breath-taking and life-giving.  Many years later and after some hard setbacks in life, I often-times now hear myself ask, “Just who are you anyway?” and “Where are you?”

I’ve done all of the spiritual exercises I know to do to strengthen these faith-muscles.  I look in the mirror and I don’t see the changes I have been looking for inside or within my circumstances.  I’ve done “things” in order to be seen by others… hoping someone would see God at work in my life…  To find some sort of recognition that would give me the pats on the back that affirm me and tell me I’m still heading in the right direction.

Yesterday I found some encouragement in the words of Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest.

…what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” (May 1).

I recal, as a youth pastor, teaching Henry Blackabee’s, Experiencing God.  I remember the portion of the study that discusses “God’s invitation leads to a crisis of belief.”  I thought I understood what that meant back then.  I had just not experienced it at the depth I am today.  I realize that I am personally in a place of tremendous testing.  I know this is all for my growing and His glory.  I know God has spoken his assignment into my life.  I know He is in the midst of preparing me where I am today for what He can see on the horizon.  It’s my job to trust Him… to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7).  I know I’m afraid and that I don’t “feel” equipped.  Tonight, I trust - by faith, He is with me.

I wonder… do you feel as I do?  Have you been where I am?  Maybe you can relate to me so much because you are exactly where I am.  I believe this is a crucial place – a place that must be bathed in prayer and communion with the Father.  I want to encourage you to pray and seek His face.  Ask Him to give you peace and strength as you journey on by faith.

I would like to leave you with this one thought that comes from the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-11.

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?  (The Message).

I was preparing to move to New Mexico when I began to get excited about Mountain Biking.  I began to ride more then.  But I never really got to a place where I felt like I was committed to the sport.  I was more committed to getting out and seeing the scenery from my bike more so than I was about the sport itself.  After a move to Kansas road biking became a focus once again.  Yet, it lacked the sustained commitment I needed.  I basically rode then in order to deal with the stress of working in a church.  I found cycling to be a great stress reliever! 

A couple of moves later and now I am back in Georgia.  After being here for several years I have been back on my bike now for over a year.  I’ve logged over 1,500 miles in the past year.  I would like to say I am committed to cycling now… Finally at age 46.  Last year, I was challenged to enter into the  Bike MS150 Cox-Atlanta Ride 2011.  Training to ride in this event gave me the focus I needed to ride.  I kept at it through several set-backs from Shingles at the beginning of my training in February 2011 to numerous problems with my Centurion Accordors (the one I bought in the 80′s – and the one I still ride today).  I met my goal for that ride in September 2011… I finished.  Other benefits along the way were for my health.  My doctor took me off of my blood pressure medicine, I lost a little bit of weight, and I just felt better.

While on a recent ride, I kept hearing my “coach” (my step father) in my head telling me to focus on various things.  He wasn’t with me but several things he has spoken to me on some training rides kept coming back to mind as I peddled.  Then I began to think about the Holy Spirit and how He constantly brings the teachings of Jesus back to my mind.  I have also been thinking about the years I have been following Jesus and about my own commitment to following him.  I may not still be in “ministry” vocationally but my goal still is to please him and to follow him.  I want my relationship with him to be more than my desire to be vocationally serving him or a local church.  I want my commitment to him to be more than the scenery along the way.

As I have begun to be more serious about cycling, I have also begun to get more serious about my over-all health and the food I eat. (I do treat myself from time to time with a nice chili burger from Ross’ Diner… yum!).  I also read more about the sport and fitness trying to put those things into practice.  My good friend recently told me his plan is to just “ride”.  Taking his advice and applying it to life would be to just “live”. 

Maybe there is some truth in that.  It’s on that thought I will continue to be challenged… not only in cycling but also in following Jesus.  For me, the challenge each day is to keep my eyes focused on Jesus and his teachings. (Hebrews 12:2-3)  Too often I get my eyes focused on the “scenery” or the benefits of following Christ more so than on Jesus himself and his teachings.  I am reading in the Book of John in the New Testament now.  This is a quote from the Message found in John 6:45-46,

This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.

Today’s challenge is to walk faithfully with Jesus.  Inviting the Holy Spirit to teach and work through me.  To be committed to the life of a faithful servant.  To be like Peter when he told Jesus in John 6:68-69,

“Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”  (The Message).

 God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
   Madame Day holds classes every morning,
      Professor Night lectures each evening. 

  Their words aren’t heard,
      their voices aren’t recorded,
   But their silence fills the earth:
      unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. 

  God makes a huge dome
      for the sun—a superdome!
   The morning sun’s a new husband
      leaping from his honeymoon bed,
   The daybreaking sun an athlete
      racing to the tape. 

  That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
      from sunrise to sunset,
   Melting ice, scorching deserts,
      warming hearts to faith. (Psalm 19:1-6, The Message).

I long for moments like those I spent there.  Those memories of camping, walking, talking, mountain biking, and thinking in that canyon are wonderful.  Memories that seem to always be calling me to return.  Just as I have those memories, there are other memories from my past that seem to find their way into the forefront of my mind. 

Today as I cycle, drive off in my car, or sit quietly and pray or read Scripture - I keep hearing the same few words fill my mind.  This Voice continues to echo through my mind the same message I have heard so many times.  It’s a call to follow Jesus in way that is greater than the life I could plan on my own.  This echo is something that Margaret Feinberg calls the Sacred echo, “…those moments when God speaks the same message to my heart again and again.” (24).

Oh, how I want my life to count. To be filled with meaning and purpose.  To be stretched in order to live worthy of the calling He has placed within my soul.  I’m reminded of a parable Jesus taught in Matthew 25:14-31.  I must confess, these days it seems I am more like the one who buried his talent.  I want more than anything to be faithful to Him who has given to me so freely.  I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful son.”  But until that day, I want to live life to the fullest of God’s potential working through me.

This week I saw the movie, Blue Like Jazz.  I was once again reminded that my life is a story.  I have a choice today to determine how I want this story to be written.  I can choose to live boldly or I can continue to live in fear and hide that which God has given.  What is it that you hear? What is keeping you from living life to the fullest?

I called a friend a couple of weeks ago and when he heard my voice he said, “I must have made an impression on you back in college.”  I asked, “Why are you saying that?”  He replied, “Those you leave an impression on will always remember you.” 

What sort of impression do you leave on others?

You were not created to be normal.  God’s desire for you is not compliance and conformity.  You have been baptized by Spirit and fire.  Asleep within you is a barbarian a savage to all who love the prim and proper.  You must go to the primal place  and enter the presence of the Most High God, for there you will be changed by His presence.  Let Him unleash the untamed faith within you.  (Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way, 82).

Originally posted January 31,2009

I recall working for an electrical contractor in Albuquerque.  It was “just a job” to help pay the bills and support my work at Harvest Church now named Soul Rio. 

The company I was working for had a job site trailer at Intel.  One afternoon I was cleaning the office and had an experience that will last a lifetime.  I had worked my way to the Foreman’s office.  While in his office I was vacuuming and muttered the following words to God, “I am better than this!” Wrong words! In that instant the vacuum cleaner bag exploded and the Foreman’s office was filled with a cloud of dust.  There I stood wishing I had never muttered that to God and in walks the Foreman… There was so much dust in the air I think he thought the trailer was on fire.  He and the rest of the guys that walked in with him got a good laugh at my expense.  It would have made a great American Express commercial, “Want to get away?”

As I think of this I am reminded of my friends saying, “Wherever you are there you’ll be.”  I was there for a reason.  I didn’t understand why I was there most days.  But there were many days while working for that company God had someone in my path that needed to hear about Jesus.

Sometimes we experience things in life that make us wonder where is God in this… or wonder what did I do wrong to get me in this position… there are so many thoughts one can have.  Nothing we experience catches God off guard.  It’s up to us to stay on guard and in tune with God – our Father.

“Set you mind on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:2-4, NIV).

Originally posted May 1, 2008

Jonah was given a mission but chose Tarshish. Saul lived his life to persecute the church. Both men made decisions that lead them in the opposite direction from God. Jonah chose to follow but only after being swallowed up by a whale. Saul chose to follow only after having been blinded on the Road to Damascus.

Following God the way He desires always involves a risk. It’s a risk to change our mindsets, our hearts, and our direction in order to live out His mission through us.

Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 11).

What’s your mission? Are you risking to give all of your heart, mind, and soul to God? Keep your mind steadfast on Jesus… doing as Paul has written in 2 Corinthians by bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Dare to risk it all for His glory.

Oswald Chambers points out in Exodus 20:19 (NLT),  “And they said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!,’”

We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. (My Utmost for His Highest, February 12).

We honor his words by obeying what he has spoken to us.  Do you recall the E.F. Hutton ads? “When E.F. Hutton speaks everyone listens.”  When God speaks we need to listen and obey.  What has God spoken to you lately? It is vital to our walk with Jesus that we take the time to quietly come before him and listen. 

David charged Solomon with this words found in 1 Chronicles 28:9,

“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

Have you heard him? Ask him today to speak to you.

David does not lack confidence as he approaches his Heavenly Father. He was sure of himself and he was sure of the One he sought. He spoke directly to God, “Go ahead, examine me from the inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night – You’ll find I’m just what I say I am. My words don’t run loose.” (17:3).

In verse three, he is honest before God. There is not manipulation in his words to try and get his way. He lays his life out before God and asks for an examination. Much like how we do when we go to a doctor for a full physical on our physical health. We want the truth from the doctor and we hide nothing from them.

I have a strong desire to be used in God’s plan on this earth. I want to be available to be used by Him however He desires. Sometimes I seem to get lost in this pursuit. So often I seem to get trapped by the circumstances of the past.  However, I have come to know the God of all grace who sees me through… He has become the Writer of all things new in my life.  David found Him to be that as well.

“I’m staying on your trail; I’m putting one foot in front of the other. I’m not giving up.” (17:5).

David prays in verses 6-7, “I call to you, GOD, because I’m sure of an answer. So – answer! bend your ear! listen sharp! Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you.”

David sought God desperately to get away from the clutches of his enemies. He prayed what he wanted to see happen to those who came up against him. (17:10-14). He didn’t hold back and presented his circumstance to the Father.

Finally in 17:15, “And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I’ll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.” David knew victory would be his. He knew who he was and he knew his GOD… he trusted with all his heart. David didn’t give up or give in. He stayed hot on the trail seeking GOD.

Let’s do the same!!