Something About The Joy

There are four things about God I wish I’d learned a lot earlier in life. Life became so much more fun when I finally discovered these truths. Maybe it took so long because I had to grow in my willingness to be totally sold out to Him. These four truths are only useful to us if we’ve come to that place of total surrender and trust. I think I’ve gotten there, now, after all these years. At least I’ve gotten far enough down this road to discover how delightful it is to walk with God the way He always meant for me to. Those four things are: 1.) God is prepared to take total responsibility for the life that is totally yielded to him . If we choose to indenture ourselves to Him, we can relax about our ministry and let Him lead us here and there, moment by moment, year by year. Jesus lived that way. He just walked, step by step with God, and trusted His Father to put Him where He was supposed to be. At times He obviously had specific guidance—a “Word from the Lord,” you m...

Power comes from just receiving God's love. What an amazing statement. Can it be true? I've been pondering this for a while, and something about it really resonates with me at a deep level. It makes sense. Because He is an out-pouring God. Everything comes from Him. We can't give Him anything that hasn't come from Him. Everything comes out of His love. Wayne Jacobsen says, in the wonderful book, He Loves Me , that "[God] is not interested in your service or sacrifice. He only wants you to know how much you are loved." That doesn't mean we don't give service to Him, or ever sacrifice anything. Service and sacrifice come out of us as a natural response to knowing--really knowing, deep down--that we are loved, deeply and unconditionally, by Him. I have decided that my relationship with God is not the most important thing in my life. It's the ONLY important thing. Everything else that matters flows naturally out of my walk with the Lord...

After this morning's post, I continued doing the final proofread of my book manuscript, and I came across this scene. It seemed to fit with what I'd posted about, so I'll do another posting. Two in one day! Hmm. Maybe it will help with the not-posting-guilt thing. Anyway, here's a conversation from my novel, Zinovy's Journey , between the main character and his spiritual counselor, on the topic of redemption. ________________________________________ “Zinovy, forgive my intrusion. I know your desire for privacy. If you tell me to leave, I will go. But I want, first, to let you know there is an escape from the darkness that enshrouds you.” Elan waited. Zinovy felt his patient presence, soft as a quiet spring, gently expectant, like a dew-drenched meadow anticipating the coming of the morning sun. Gradually, only slightly against his will, Zinovy relaxed. He knew Elan would take his silence as consent, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to close this doo...

Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Isaiah 55:1 from The Message . I’ve recently discovered a surprising truth. The truth is, God wants us to take His love for granted. “Ah,” you say, “we can’t do that. Taking His love for granted is a sin. It’s ingratitude. We need to be thankful for His love.” Well, you’re right. We should be thankful for His love. But the truth (again) is that He loves us regardless of whether or not we are thankful, and He always will, completely, joyfully, with no restrictions. He gives His love, and the blessings that come with it, extravagantly, without expecting anything in return, even our gratitude. We cannot “pay” for our blessings with thanksgiving. Gratitude is not a penance. Everything good we receive from God’s hand—and it’s all good—is given freely, without a thought on God’s part of charging a tha...