Living Unfiltered for God

When was the last time you took a chance for God? What I mean is, when was the last time you did something that, in the natural, was probably a bad idea, (or you could at least convince yourself that it was), but you knew that, since God wanted you to do it, it would all work out okay? Let me back-up a short step… For you to do this you would have to hear from God in the first place. So, let’s start there. Do you hear His voice?   I’m not talking an audible voice (although it’s been known to happen), but more that “still small voice” that you sense in your spirit. That’s really what this whole blog is about – hearing his voice and acting on it – no filters, no ifs, ands, or buts, just do what He says! Now, back to my question – When was the last time? I would argue that if something hasn’t already popped into your head, then maybe you’re not taking enough “God chances” in your life. They don’t have to be big ones – like some biblical ones we’ll mention shortly – they ...

“If you don’t have to fight any battles than you don’t have to learn to trust.” This is just one of the nuggets of wisdom that was injected directly into my soul the other day, when I listened to a message by Erwin McManus, the lead Pastor at Mosaic Church in Los Angeles. I was led there by a couple of posts I happened to see on social media about a "very important message" that McManus was going to preach this past Sunday. In the message, he told his church that he has been diagnosed with cancer. It is one of the most moving messages I have heard in a very long time. The title and theme of the talk was "Battle Ready". The guiding verses were from the beginning of Judges 3 . The idea McManus focused on was that God brings battles into our lives so that we learn to fight, because in fighting, we learn to trust Him more. The greater the battle, the greater the trust. Obviously, he used the commencing of his battle with cancer as his object lesson. “God wil...

The Christmas season, with all the good things that come along with it, can also become a time of stress and and anxiety.  As I write this, it is Saturday morning, my wife is cooking breakfast , we're sipping coffee  (ahh, weekends!)... and the Christmas flavored "Honey-Do" list lays beckoning! There are always things that have to get done, but it seems at Christmastime there are even more chores, duties and "must-dos". There is shopping to get done, decorations to put up, parties to clean up and prepare for, parties to attend and the list goes on. All of these are wonderful blessings! Many of them of course fall into that category of "first world problems". Jesus knew, though, that there would be times when we would become distracted; when we would have a hard time focusing on the right things. Ironically, this can be even more prominent at those times when He is close by or on His way. The visit Jesus and His disciples paid to Mary and Martha ( ...