Living Unfiltered for God

It was a beautiful day for New Years in our little town. So nice that my wife and I decided to go for a walk at our local park. (Sunny and mid-50’s… Winter in North Georgia isn’t terrible!) One of the things I love about our walks is our conversations. And this time of year, like many of you, I’m sure, we love to take some time to look back at the last year to remember where God moved and where we maybe could have done more (or less!) in different areas of our lives. Of course, it’s also fun to look ahead – to dream about what might be? It was during this part of the conversation that I asked this question… “What story do you want to be able to tell 365 days from now?” For the next half-mile, we talked about different scenarios and things that are important to us. Our daughters and grandchildren were part of that discussion. Also, our company and some things concerning our church. What resulted were some challenges to us. One, in particular, was my comment about finally finishing...

My wife and I recently completed a “40 Day Prayer Challenge” that we were participating in with some good friends of ours. There were numerous things that happened over that time – many that could be considered miracles – to and through, each and every one of us. There are probably a dozen stories that could be written about. Right now, though, I’d like to spend a couple of minutes sharing about a concept that was mentioned late in the study ( Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson), that we were using as a guide for the challenge. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to lo...

The second day of our Dock Devotions focused on one of my personal favorite characters, and stories, in The Bible: Abigail. Her name appears in only a couple of different chapters, but the part she played in history – particularly the future King David’s history – was enormous. The discussion was based on 1 Samuel Chapter 25. As usual, a bit of context first. David and his mighty men as they are called, had been on the run, trying to avoid King Saul. King Saul knew that David had been anointed King and wanted to kill David so that this would not take place. Shortly after the Death of Samuel (who, many years earlier, had anointed David to be the future king), while still trying to hide from Saul, they came to a town called Carmel. They arrived during a festive time, so David instructed his men to ask Nabal, a wealthy landowner, for any provisions, “you can find for them.” The request included the fact that they (David and his men) had been in the area and had done nothing to h...

Angels play a very important part in the whole Christmas story. It was the angel Gabriel who visited Mary to let her know she would be the mother of Jesus ( Luke 1:26-38 ). It was also an "angel of the Lord" that appeared to Joseph that explained that God was behind his fiance's pregnancy ( Matt. 1:20-21 ).  The concept of angels has always been very interesting to me. The writer of Hebrews says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" ( Heb. 1:14 ) Frankly, this has never been much help to me in understanding who angels are and what their purpose is. I have though, over the years, come up with my own kind of interpretation and understanding of angels and their purpose. I don't know how theologically sound it is, but it helps me. I truly believe that god still sends angels into our world as "ministering spirits". I think sometimes they may appear in a dream (like the angel did with Joseph) ...

I don't know about you, but I suspect we are alike in that we don't like those moments when, for lack of a better phrase, God pulls us up short. Let me explain with an example... Yesterday I was taking care of an errand or two at lunchtime and was navigating through a parking lot. As I approached an intersection, another car came up from the other aisle on my left. I think I was there first but, feeling "charitable", I waved the lady through and she proceeded in front of me on the way to the main road. The first thought and emotion I experienced was peace and calm; something akin to, "I love doing nice things for people!". Unfortunately, it was followed immediately by, "Now, don't make me regret it!". Wow, where did that come from?! With that, God convicted me... Hard! What I heard next was, " Gee, aren't you glad my son Jesus doesn't have that attitude about you? Aren't you glad He isn't watching you and hoping th...

Several evenings ago I attended a memorial service for a friend's husband. I didn't realize it but he was 11 days younger than me. That gets your attention. As I was waiting to pay my respects to my friend, now a widow with twin 3-year-old daughters, I thought about how they handled the last couple of years through his illness. They navigated it with strength, courage, and an unwavering faith. There was always a subtle confidence that came through in every update of their journey. And now, that part of the journey over, as I spoke with my friend another confidence was exhibited. That of knowing where her husband was - celebrating with Jesus in Heaven - and knowing that whatever future may be in store for her and her girls, God has it all under control.  This is exactly what our pastor was referring to in his message last Sunday when he taught us that we must have, " confidence, even when we don't have clarity. " The same confidence that Jonathan had when attack...

I thought it would be good to look at what "living unfiltered for God" looks like using an example from the lives of the apostles. In Luke 5:4-11 , we have a great example of Simon (who would become Peter) being obedient to the words and call of Jesus. The story presents a model that we all (should) go through when living in obedience to God. Recognize His voice. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” (Luke 5:4-5a) At this point in the story, Simon had just been listening to Jesus teach, (from his own boat, actually). By referring to Jesus as Master, he was acknowledging that there was something different, something divine, about Jesus. Simon knew that he should listen and pay close attention to what Jesus had to say. Do what He says (even if it seems a little crazy). But because you say so, I will let down the nets...

"The voice of the Lord is powerful;  The voice of the Lord is majestic."   ( Psalm 29:4 ) We've been talking a lot in this space about the importance of doing what God says when He tells us to do something. The idea of which makes up the basis of living the unfiltered life that we desire. He speaks, we act. When we hear His prompting, we obey. This all begs the question though, how exactly do we go about actually hearing what He is saying? How do we hear His majestic voice? How do we know what it is we are supposed to do? We're not necessarily talking about the " What is God's will for my life? " type of question right now. That is more of a big picture, long term discernment type of issue. While that is very much a part of the unfiltered life, what we want to focus on for now are those gentle, subtle promptings and hearing that "still small voice". I don't claim to have a lot of answers on this one but I can share what I've l...

How closely do you pay attention to those little voices in your head? You know,  the one's that say "do this" or "don't do that"? Well, the other day, while crafting a short Facebook post in my head during my commute into work, I heard these voices arguing. (OK, I know what you're thinking, and to some degree I believe commuting in Atlanta can drive one a little crazy!) It was a simple idea I had about understanding stress - that there are some things (and people) that cause it and some that reduce it. That we need to spend more time with the things that reduce it and less with those that produce it. My brain went to a couple of examples of how to do that. Then, this one popped in my head, "more God, less world." Almost immediately, I heard one of those voices say, "Oh, you can't add that, some of your "friends" may not agree with it and they might be offended." I started to think about who might "Like" th...