God Responds to Men Like Me

"God is famous for responding to men like me...a man who seeks Him...He is decking me out in delight...He has completely surrounded me with His shield of favor..."Ps 5:12 (The Message).
 His pursuit of me has given me a passion to live powerfully...to be steady...to be faithful...to seize this gift...a life worth living.
This life...I fervently embraced.

Painting with God

I had been praying…talking to God about how I want things to go…but it seemed a lot was not going the way I thought it should go…I only wanted good things…things I was sure would please Him…I would set my mind on them…pray about them…but they would not go the way I thought they should…or even they way I thought God would want them to go…this kept occurring.


One morning, while praying, I realized…He is not saying “No”. Instead He has been trying to get me to see things from His perspective…to see that He has a much bigger plan…His plan to do things in a different way…in ways I had not considered…It had not seemed that I would get what I was looking for if I continued down His path.

And then I had this thought…It’s like I’ve been painting in a little room called “My life the way I see it.” But God had been inviting me into a much larger room…the one where He is painting…”My life the way He sees it.” It s a really big room… a room of brilliant colors and endless possibilities…and…a room where I don’t know how things will work out…He is asking me to paint with Him… to trust Him…to let Him work out the details.

So sometimes, I  still find myself painting away in a little room…a place where I have become preoccupied...again... with how I want things to go...trying really hard to get things just right…then I will hear His voice...often just a whisper above the noise of my life… “Don’t settle…Stop painting in these little rooms…they have such limitations…I am down the hall…painting a really big room…using broad bold strokes that extend beyond where you are able to see…Come…paint with Me.”

Off the Hook

I have a friend who exhibits many of the godly attributes that I would like to attain. One is the easy way he forgives. Once there was something between us that I had caused. I called him and ask for his forgiveness. He was so gentle with his words. There was no I forgive you "but" used or implied. His forgiveness was so instant that it already seemed past tense. I knew that he had allowed me to be totally "off the hook." On that day I realized that God's forgiveness is just like that. He gives it easily and it is so instant that it is always past tense! God never has to decide if He is going to forgive us. That was done over 2000 years ago on the cross where all my sins were crucified with Him. Our sins have been (past tense) forgiven.

Imagine if in all our relationships that forgiveness was so instant…so complete that the supposed wrongs were simply not allowed to exist. What if we carried no grudges, didn't allow ourselves to exist in regrets, believed there were no justifiable resentments and let everyone, including ourselves, “off the hook”…instantly. Seems improbable and even impossible.

Jesus was asked if we should forgive someone seven times. His reply was “No we should forgive them “seventy times seven”. Lets face it. Most of us struggle enough with forgiving the first time. The second time is really tough and that’s reserved for those we really really care about. I don’t think the third one occurs very often and according to Jesus, when it comes to totally letting people "off the hook", we have 487 more forgiveness-es to go!

Sometimes we carry the poisons of resentment and unforgiveness because we simply do not want to let the person who has offended us "off the hook". And these poisons weaken us. While trying in this vain attempt to punish the other person we limit joy and peace from being fully expressed in our lives.

Don't confuse forgiveness with responsible living. We forgive a thief but we don't allow them access to the cash register until they have shown that they are no longer a thief. We forgive an abuser but we don't allow ourselves or our families to be in situations or locations where bad things could happen. And at the same time, don't we shouldn't try to replace forgiveness with simply living responsibly while carrying loads of resentment in our heart. Forgiveness sets us free!

Forgive easily…no "buts"...remove the poison....forgive instantly... release your joy...allow someone to be “off the hook”.

Letting Yourself "Off the Hook"

I once wrote most of the note below to a friend..someone who doesn't think that highly of themselves and who I happen to think is amazing. I wanted to remind them that loving yourself is essential to being able to really love the people in our lives. As I was reading this today I thought about how many of us struggle with this same thing.

 

It seems that this world is a difficult place to "love yourself". To allow this kind of thinking you must work against a current of words and thoughts that want to take you in a completely different direction.

I was thinking about Jesus words "love your neighbor as yourself". I am learning that you cannot give what you do not posess and how loving yourself really does increase your capacity to love others.

Also, you know how you set yourself free when you let go of resentments that you have for others? I have found that the same is true when I let go of resentments for myself...for things I have done or choices I have made. I have learned that embracing my life...my entire life...owning it...being thankful for it...these things are essential steps toward learning to love me. The me God created.

When you let go of resentments that you have held against yourself you essentially have let yourself "off the hook" and in so doing you free yourself up to love, forgive, and accept yourself and those around you in a much greater capacity.

You are an amazing and lovable person...let yourself off the hook and open the door to a new realm of loving.

Daisy

Hi Daisy,

Welcome to our little world.  I saw one of your first pictures today. It was your first of many I'm sure. This is a pretty long trip so its okay to get lots of pictures. I wanted to write you a quick note and tell you just how excited we all are that you are here.  

I was thinking of all the things I would like to tell you about this life that you have begun. I thought long and hard and decided that if I could help you understand this one thing that the rest of your journey would be immeasurably more peaceful. Its something so many have forgotten and an absolute must for a new little Daisy. It's about rain.

When it rains...play in it!

Mess

There is a palm tree beside the pool. It’s tall and beautiful and it does one thing I do not like. It drops all these little flowers in the pool every time there is any wind. When I go out and see all that mess in the pool I have to get it out. It just does not look right…it just looks messy.

The other day I went out to the pool and sure enough it was cluttered with the stuff from the palm tree. I got the net, cleaned it all out, and the pool was beautiful. I got in, swam around a bit, and then got on one of those great floats that, when you lay on them, will submerge just below the surface of the water so you can stay cool.

I’m sure you have already figured out what occurs next. Just as I got real comfortable on that float a big wind came up and the little flowers begin to fall…almost like snow. They covered the pool and me.

I sat for a while looking up at that tree and thinking about what had just happened. I realized that Palm tree is doing exactly what it is suppose to do. There is nothing wrong here. I got this same revelation awhile back about a Pecan tree that loses its limbs at inopportune times and they fall on inconvenient (for me) places.

However, my revelation this time was a little different. Here it is:

Sometimes…when you are doing exactly what you are suppose to do…to those that do not understand your purpose…it just looks like a big mess in the pool!

Biscuits

Those who know my mom have probably had her marvelous biscuits but you may not know about the best ones she ever made.

I was entering the 6th grade. Things were tough financially so we had moved into a farmhouse in East Texas. It was a year of eating lots of beans. Dad had to work long hours on a low paying job. So low paying that he taught me how to hunt, kill and clean rabbits and squirrels for our meat. I should probably add here that I have never even once thought of ever doing those things again. Meat comes to me in packages the way God intended.

The farmhouse had a fireplace in the living room where all five of us kids slept on the really cold nights. It was my job to have enough firewood cut and ready for those cold nights. And there were times when I did not bring in enough. Mom would send me back out in the middle of the night to get more if we ran out. I would take my dog, my flashlight, and my axe and go try to find a fallen tree that I could cut up. The cold was brutal. I remember one particularly cold night when I had such a hard time finding enough wood. I was so cold and so tired when I finally had enough and was able to lay back down. The next morning I woke up to the smell of Mom's biscuits. Mom had made biscuits from water and flour and she had made syrup with sugar and water. Maybe my best meal ever.

Now when I think about how she survived those days…. scratching meals together…chasing snakes off the back porch…coming face to face with a half-breed bobcat on the same porch…all the pressures and demands that came with 5 children, an angry and disillusioned husband, and we never missed a meal.

Two weeks before Mom left for heaven I had called her and told her that I would be at her house every Tuesday morning at 7:30 for breakfast. The next Tuesday she made a big pan of her wonderful biscuits. She invited my sisters over…it was a great morning. The next Sunday she got dressed for church but instead went into the hospital. I got to talk with her after she was checked into the emergency room. She looked so good. She was excited about the coming Tuesday. I told her she did not have to go all out every Tuesday...she said "Okay" but I knew she would anyway. We talked that day about how God is our friend.. She said "He is...He really is my friend." Then they came to take her for some test. I would never hear her sweet loving voice again…there would be no more Tuesdays. I know that God gave me one last breakfast with my Mom…one last really good conversation in the ER…He was paving the way for me to handle what was coming.

I visited her the next Wednesday night. She did not look good. I went home very unsettled. I told my wife “she will not be coming home.” And I spent some time in a deep sadness. I didn’t know why I felt that way but now I know it was God again preparing me.

The next morning I went by to see her before I went to work. But instead of a visit I was suddenly standing by her bed…telling her I loved her…I know she could hear me…her heart was slowly giving up…my sisters and other family rushed to be with us…we sang to her…her breathing heavy…and then…she left for heaven. I stood by her bed for a long time…I held her lifeless hand…it was amazingly soft…I thought of all the things those hands had done for me…I don’t remember ever having held my moms hand…maybe they were always busy… I miss her this morning…I’m so glad she feels no more pain…but I want to talk to her today… sadness has settled over me…I want to have biscuits with her…this friend of God.