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 ...

In the last four posts, we have been studying some lesser-known, or at least less talked about individuals from the Bible. All of them have played an important role in the broader story that is HIS-story. Our final character though, Ananias, exhibits perhaps the best example of what it means to live unfiltered for God. That is, when we hear God prompt us to do something (however that may work for you), we do it. We all know the story of Paul. How he was originally known as Saul and made quite a name for himself by persecuting (and worse) any and all Christians that he came across. We also know of his “conversion experience” as he was on the road to Damascus one day. Scripture records it like this:   As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”   “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.   “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, ”...

Here we are... the final day of 2016. How is this possible? I would bet that each one of us has asked that question at least once in the last several days. If you're like me, and I would dare say like most people, you've also spent some time reflecting on the last 12 months. What did I accomplish? How did I respond to the challenges that I faced? Did I grow spiritually? Did I make positive memories? These are, in no particular order, just a few of the types of questions that I tend to ask myself each year at this time. It's a also a time to look ahead. I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions per se, but I certainly do enjoy taking the time to set some goals and put together a plan for achieving them. (OK, maybe they are resolutions... maybe it's just semantics... but it works for me!) I want to share a couple of my goals for this coming year, particularly as the pertain to my faith and my quest to live "unfiltered for God." 1 - Actively...

Here I am writing... or trying to. It's been a long time. Too long, I know. As with so many things, I seem to always try to wait for the perfect conditions. That's not necessarily a good thing. Even this morning, I stopped at my favorite coffee shop - with the intention of sitting down to write - but I left right away as soon as I saw that it was packed and bustling with activity. "I can't write here!" So I moved on to my second choice. Still not perfect conditions, but I started thinking that the enemy may be trying to stop me from doing this. So here I sit, sipping my coffee, listening to Bethel Music's Synesthesia (drowning out distraction s) and literally putting pen to paper like this for the first time in months. These last few months have been a time of stretching. We had a little illustration in church yesterday that involved rubber bands. "A rubber band is worthless if it's not stretched", our Pastor said. Implication being that fo...

I'd like to focus today's post on what originally motivated me to start this blog in the first place. The concept of living "unfiltered" for God. This idea that we constantly stay in tune with what God is speaking to us through the Holy Spirit and what we are supposed to do with that information. Often, the situation occurs when we feel this prompting to do something - that me be a bit out if our comfort zone - and we have to decide whether to be obedient to that voice, or not. The words of Jesus that have become the guiding verse for all of this to me are recorded in Luke: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” ( Luke 11:28 ) Jesus says tells us, if we do what God says, we will be blessed. Of course, we have to hear what He is saying first, which implies that we have to be listening. Sometimes we hear Him during times of prayer, other times thoughts just "pop in our heads". Regardless of how He speaks to us, we need to b...