God's Thoughts...Am I Listening?

This was an awesome article that I found on Relevant. It really puts things into perspective:

What would it be like if you could actually hear what God might say to you in church? More importantly, what would he say? Maybe more than we expected.

You are here, but you feel like it’s just barely. The songs — shouldn’t those words pierce you straight through? You’re trying, but still you feel nothing. Fear not, for I am near you still.
You fasted last week and it was for all the wrong reasons. You’d never realized a person could have so many wrong reasons at once. Take heart: even your selfish awkward gifts are precious to me.
The thoughts in your head run together like train cars in a pileup. Vaguely, you know there’s something true you should be hearing here. But you are wondering, right now, whether the guy in the next pew over notices you—and if you hold your hands up during the singing, will someone think you’re a freak? What kind of mood will your boss be in tomorrow? And where should you go for lunch?

Listen: I am not counting every off-track thought you have. I am glad you have come. I am glad every time you come, no matter how you come, and when, and whether or not it’s in a church. No matter how bad you are at controlling your thoughts, your words, yourself. It does not matter what state you are in; I love it when you want me near you.

Today, you do not need to discover something no one has ever discovered before. You do not need to understand something you’ve never understood before. You do not need to impress me by how much you get out of this day, how much you learn in this hour.
You do not need to know how everything works. I will not forget what you are made of; I understand why the big mysteries make you afraid.  I am not waiting to smite you every time you slip, or get confused, or feel lost.

I am there, always, when you come to me. Do not lose heart when you feel nothing. I am working in you deeper than feelings can reach. I am making you new.
Every second you are with me I can see you coming more alive. Dear one, don’t ever leave. I am in love with you.


It was really hard to focus at re:focus ironically enough. It was a good worship service and time of prayer in spite of me though.

One Last Thought Today

When we pray to God. We tend to...at least I tend to forget what I prayed a month later...maybe even a week or a day later. The Bible makes much of those who pray with diligence.

But as I type thoughts out on this blog I think that's the way God looks at prayer. Even though we have prayed prayers long ago and have since forgotten those prayers they are still logged into that celestial blog where they will remain until they are answered by God. I don't think he really gets backed up in answering these by the way.

When we forget, He remembers.

Fourteeners

Well the last time I hiked a fourteener I just about died. Nobody told me I was supposed to load up on water the day before. Anyway today we tackled a beast and I worked it. I was blazin' up that mountain. I was pretty impressed with myself. I was the first to the top. I felt really hydrated and that prevented me from getting the dreaded altitude sickness.

I think I'll be doing this again.

But for now I will sleep. Oh yes I will sleep.

Hurry Up And Listen

This is part of an email that I sent to a friend:

I’ve come to the realization that the “art” of listening is a very rare thing indeed. People just don’t want to listen. Especially Christians. So many of us believe that we have found this truth and that we know everything there is to know about life, after-life and everything in between. So many Christians walk around thinking they’re some kind of miniature counselor and all they want to do is impart wisdom and understanding to all those sinners out there who are so lost. Well I believe that one of the greatest ministries a Christ-follower can use with a non Christ-follower is simply listening. What if we were known to take the time to listen to people. What if we were known to invest time, energy and resources into people who don’t believe the same things we do. What if we treated them the same way we treat our “brothers and sisters in Christ”.

One thing I’ve always thought you were good at is listening. You’re a good listener. I’m not a counselor nor do I pretend to know anything about the profession but I think that maybe the best counselors out there aren’t the guys who can spout off some canned counselor book answer for anything and everything that is disclosed before them but it’s those guys who take the time and listen to everything that is being said. They listen, listen, listen and then maybe say something relevant to that person. Not because they’ve “seen cases like this before” but because they’ve listened and they know this person a little bit better and are able to impart something that is of value and pertinence to that individual.