By Sam Williamson.

A few years ago, a client of mine visited us for a series of meetings. He asked for a restaurant recommendation, and I suggested The Gandy Dancer, my favorite restaurant. The very next day he came to my office and raved about the restaurant. He was going to recommend it to every one of his colleagues.

Smiling, I asked what he’d ordered. “Nothing,” he said, because he’d been too busy. But he had “stopped by and studied the menu, and everything looked incredible.”

That is how many of us believers live our lives. We read the menu and miss the meal. It’s as though we’ve come to believe that Christianity—boiled down to its core essence—is an abstract impersonal menu of truths.

But it isn’t; and that mistake leads to a bland, malnourished, and starving life.

As an example, let’s examine the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Most Christians believe that we are justified by faith and not by works. I do too. Unfortunately, most teaching focuses on the theological concept of Justification by Faith. It doesn’t teach us how to live a life of Justification by Faith.

We are reading the menu and missing the meal.

It’s as though we think that entry into heaven is a one-question multiple-choice exam. We arrive at the pearly gates, and Jesus hands us the Entry-Into-Heaven-Exam sheet,

The Incarnation of the Son of God, the earthly ministry and teaching of Jesus, the suffering and death of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the Son of Man; they all boil down to this moment. Which box will we check?

The hosts of heaven wait in anticipation. All the disciples are there; the martyrs watch; the angels, the seraphim and cherubim all wait with hushed eagerness. Will we check the right box, or will we be chopped?

Is this the essence of Christianity? Does it all boil down to an impersonal, abstract, dry, lifeless question on a test?

Justification by Faith is an invitation to a feast. When Christ promises abundant life, he offers more than an extension of life in the hereafter; he offers a richness of life of living in a reality that is deep, fulfilling, and abundant. Now. That is Justification by Faith.

Do you see where I’m going? Are we content with the correct cerebral concept; or are we operating in the personal lived-in reality of the truth. Are we chewing on the menu or feasting on the meal?

The Movie Chariots of Fire examines the lives of two Olympic runners. Someone asks Harold Abrams why he runs so hard, and he says, “When that gun goes off, I have ten seconds to justify my existence.” When someone asks Eric Liddle, he says, “When I run I feel God’s pleasure.”

Eric Liddle feasts on the satisfying reality of experiencing Christ’s love; Harold Abrams hungrily grasps for his life’s justification.

It is possible to hold the correct abstract concept—Justification by Faith—and not actually be Justified by Faith. We can claim Justification by Faith, and yet:

• Get our personal satisfaction from raising good children
• Receive our self esteem from success, promotions, or money
• Only feel fulfilled when in a romantic relationship
• Feel especially good about ourselves because we believe all the correct doctrines
• Get our personal applause from our preaching or ministry

Like Harold Abrams, we are justifying ourselves. In fact, when we justify ourselves by our checking Justification by “Faith,” it is a type of justification by works; the “work” is our theological correctness.

Acknowledging the correct answer—Justification by Faith—is not the same thing as the state of being justified by Faith. I suspect even Satan could check the right box.

Remember when our mothers wouldn’t let us eat cookies before dinner because it spoiled our appetite? It’s because the cookies give a sugar high which temporarily masks our hunger, so we miss the good nutrition from the meal. Likewise, our self-justifying actions temporarily satisfy us, but they nourish no long-term soul satisfaction.

We need to starve our self-justifying habits.

Ultimately, though, we need to ask God for a deep heart sense of his reality in our lives. When we sense his greatness in our hearts, and when we come to experience his deep love for us, then we begin to live a life that is Justified by Faith.

Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China in the late 1800’s. He prayed a daily prayer which began:

Lord Jesus make Yourself to me

A living, bright reality…

That is what we need, his living, bright reality. A meal that finally satisfies.

Sam Williamson

When?

Right click “When?” to download; Left click “When?” to listen now

How do we know when it’s time to start moving into our call?

I recently did a Campfire Conversation for the Base Camp community with two of my friends and colleagues on the question of “when”.

When is my calling clear enough?

When I am prepared to move into this?

When is God going to release me?

When is God wanting me to start?

When is the timing right?

Here are two of the charts we refer to:

I’ve been asking God these days to help me to distinguish between great and small events – for my morning as well as for my life. With all that is going around me and all that is going on within me, this feels like an important question.  It was Winston Churchill who said, “When a man cannot distinguish a great from a small event, he is of no use.”

Is catching up on my e-mail backlog a great or a small event? It’s great as far as the size of the task, but is it what is needed in this moment? Or how about that person I’ve been thinking I need to call for the past two weeks – great or small? What about that book that just came to mind that I never finished reading? Or the errands I could run this day?

Distinguishing between a great and small event is not simply about good time-management skills. Rather, it is about being orientated, tuned in, living transcendently – with the belief that there is more going on than I am currently aware of and the story I am living in is bigger than myself.

I was reading Eph. 5:15-17; “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

There is a lot at stake these days, everything from the global economy, to the elections, to our families, to the person who is just about to give up out of despair and can be rescued with a word. A friend of mine just sent me a quote by Francis Frangipane, “Rescue is the constant pattern of God’s Activity.” God is up to rescuing, healing the brokenhearted and setting captives free, and we are to be a display of his splendor (Isa. 61). So, there is more going on than we have ever imagined and the way we live is more consequential than we may have been told.

I want to live wisely, I want to understand the purpose of my life in this moment and offer what I have been given to offer.

When Paul says that we are to make the most of our time he is not saying that efficiency, thoroughness or precision is needed. He is implying something more difficult, more adventurous, something that will require much more of our heart and our walk with God – understanding the meaning of the present moment, — distinguishing our own great from small events.

I am coming to a deeper understanding that I can’t simply live at the level of getting stuff done each day. And, that what may appear to me to be a minor, inconsequential task may actually be a rescue in the true scheme of things.

So, I must ask God throughout the day, what is the meaning of this moment, what are the great events, is there someone You want me to offer to, or are You offering something to me that I need right now?

The Amplified Bible translates this verse as, “Live purposefully & worthily & accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise — sensible, intelligent people; making the very most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague & thoughtless & foolish, but understanding & firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”

Walking wisely with you,

Gary

“Radical dreams make us radically dependent. When we are engaged in what God has called us to do, every part of our spiritual life comes alive. There’s a reason to grow, we have a compelling reason to pray, to stay in close contact with our Leader and Guide when we walk unfamiliar, threatening paths. There’s a strong drive for fellowship, allies, and friends, close at hand because what God calls us to do we can’t do alone. There’s an undeniable need for worship, a clear vision of who God is and His commitment to meet our every need as we walk with Him into the future. Dreams make us aware of resources. We discover resources we may not have known we had.” Discover Your Destiny, Bill and Cathy Peel

This quote is from one of my favorite books on calling. It is so true. When we find our “true north”, the “stirring of God”, our “why”, our “truest desire and created intention”, (all the things I’ve written about in past eLetters) our spiritual life comes alive. We become very needy in an exciting way.

I have heard some say that only going to God when you need Him is self-centered and immature. But, the core issue is not the frequency of going to God, rather frequency of needing God. Too many of us live God-less lives – lives that do not require God in any way; that make Him optional.

There are two types of lives: a mundane life and a transcendent life. These two types of lives have nothing to do with the family we were brought into, nor the education we received, nor the situation we find our self in. It has to do with the story we believe is going on around us.

When we refer to life as being mundane we see it as being ordinary and meaningless. The word mundane means worldly, common, unimaginative. And in a way, all of life can seem like that. After all, what have we done or are we doing that has not been done before?

Transcendent means “going beyond ordinary limits; beyond the ordinary range of perception” In other words, there is more going on than our senses pick up and our actions are more consequential, more meaningful, weightier than we understand at the moment.

Having the perception that our life is mundane will kill us; it will dull our heart. We will be counted among those that Jesus described, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull.” (Matt. 13:14, 15)

We will not lose heart if:

“We do not look for things that can be seen

but for things that cannot be seen.

For things that can be seen are temporary,

                                           but things that cannot be seen are eternal.”         2 Cor. 4:18 (ISV)

There is nothing like perceiving the transcendent realities of your life and understanding that the glory of your life goes beyond ordinary limits. Every action in your life has an effect on things unseen.

We have been set-apart, not set-aside.  We must understand and believe this.  It will change the we way we live.

It is better to be on the edge of scared where growth, prayer, intimacy, fellowship, worship and vision are absolutely needed, than boredom where neither God or our heart are needed.

Grateful for you, my allies and friends,

Gary

“Ok, the idea that I possess a glory, splendor, strength, brilliance that is extraordinary seems a little farfetched.  It’s not my personal experience.  I think my effect is pretty small.  I can only do the best with what I’ve got and that ain’t much.”

I’ve heard this thought many times – within myself and from others.  The truth is that if it was YOU ALONE that might be true, but it isn’t to be YOU ALONE.

“Now what we can do by our unassisted strength is very small” Dallas Willard wrote in The Divine Conspiracy.  “What we can do acting with mechanical, electrical, or atomic power is much greater.  Often it is so great that it is hard to believe or imagine without some experience of it.  But even that is still very small compared to what we could do acting in union with God himself, who created and controls all other forces.”

Our life was never designed to be “unassisted.”  And yet, that is how we, ok – I, live most of the time.  Partly because I believe the lie that I’m on my own.  Partly because of my fear that God won’t come through.  Partly because “it is hard to believe or imagine without some experience of it.”

Jesus said repeatedly, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matt. 4:17

Dallas told the story of growing up on a farm in southern Missouri where electricity was not available.  Then, one day, it was announced that power lines would be brought in.  It was an opportunity for a different way of life if they if they chose to tap into them.  “The comparison, you may think, is rather crude, and in some respects it is.  But it will help us to understand Jesus’ basic message about the Kingdom of the Heaven if we pause to reflect on those farmers who, in effect, heard the message: ‘Repent, for electricity is at hand.’”

I often need to repent of my disbelief and non-reliance on God and His Kingdom, which usually comes only after an acute discontent with my ineffective words or actions.  I must choose the assistance of God throughout my day as I am listening, speaking, deciding, creating, offering, completing, etc.

Many times, as I follow my heart into helping a person discover their glory, I find myself without a clue.  No scent, no sign to follow.  Then the desire to help turns into regret as I find myself facing my incapability – my unconsciously chosen unassisted life.  During that moment, I start to pray for the Kingdom of God to come over the conversation.  And then, bingo, something comes up; one of those “ah has” that surprises us both.  As Dallas says, it is “the striking availability of God to meet present human needs through our actions.”

You possess a glory, a splendor, a brilliance which is unique to you but a part of the glory of God.  As Paul says, “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  2 Cor. 3:18

We are to live an unveiled, divinely assisted, every-increasing life.  This is the normal Christian life.

With the assistance of God,

Gary

Written by Sam Williamson.

When we think about the tests of God, most of us shudder. Yet I believe that they can be a key to Hope and Joy. Let me explain.

I began flying lessons in 1997. These lessons taught me to take off and land, to navigate using aviation charts, and to communicate with air traffic control.

I particularly liked learning to land.

On my second flight, my instructor Jayne pulled the throttle to idle and announced that my engine had just died. She asked what I was going to do. Throttling her was not an option because I hadn’t yet learned to land. But I was strongly tempted.

Soon a pattern emerged. She’d kill the engine, I’d want to kill her, and we’d practice standard engine-restart procedures, and I’d look for a place to land. Then we would circle down to the landing site until Jayne said we would have made it (or not). Then she’d re-throttle the engine, we’d climb, and we’d review what I had done.

Jayne drilled the engine-out procedures so thoroughly into me that I could have done them in my sleep, though I never tried.

Two Types of Tests.

Jayne taught me to fly through a series of tests. The nature of these tests—repetition and reflection—taught me to fly. Educators call these tests Formative Tests. They are educational methods that train us in the midst of the test, such as my flying instructor’s engine-out surprises.

Each time Jayne killed my engine it was a test, but the test itself trained me to handle emergencies safely and confidently. Formative Tests teach us today how to avoid disqualification tomorrow.

However, when most of us think of tests, we picture Summative Tests. Summative Tests measure how much we have already learned, such as college entrance exams (the ACT or SAT), midterms, and finals.

While Formative Tests are designed to qualify us for the future, one could say that Summative Tests are designed to disqualify us, as in “My SAT score was low so I failed to get into Harvard.”

So what.

Why is this distinction so important? Because understanding the difference between Summative and Formative Tests is the key to joy or despair. It is the difference between midday-sun and midnight-darkness. Frankly, it is the gospel.

Most people consider Christianity to be one large Summative Test, sort of a huge College entrance exam; a big moral test which we repeatedly fail. But it isn’t.

Why do we fear the tests of God? Why do we freak out when we read passages like this, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you” (1 Peter 4:12)? We fear God’s tests for these reasons:

• We fear the Failure of tests
• We fear the Pain of tests
• We fear the Purpose of tests

The Failure. If God’s tests are Summative (assessing and disqualifying), then yes, we should fear them. But if God is using tests to form us, then we can be at peace—even in the middle of a crisis. When we misunderstand the nature of testing we think God is disqualifying us, when he is actually qualifying us. Through tests he makes us more capable; he dismantles the false self and builds in us our truest calling. He broadens our shoulders and he strengthens our steps. He’s teaching us to fly.

The Pain. When we barely hold our lives together, the mere thought of the burden of a test—adding one more thing—causes pain. We fear our engine-out-plane will hit the ground. But God himself is our flight instructor, sitting in the plane next to us. He is not on the ground giving radio instructions. His exercises develop strength. He is preparing us for something great.

We willingly experience self-inflicted pain to attain our own goals—the pain of exercise to gain health, the pain of dating to find a spouse, the pain of child-rearing to have a family—so why do we fear the pain of God’s tests? Isn’t he always after greater goals than we seek? Isn’t he more careful with our hearts than we are? He is always after something richer than we imagine.

The Purpose. We think we know what we need, and we fear God will get it wrong. God’s tests often go in directions we don’t wish. We want to be a doctor, and God wants to give us peace. We want financial security and God wants to give us joy. God formed our hearts and deepest desires. He created our calling before we were born. He knows what we need, and through his tests he reveals our hearts and our calling. And he is teaching us to land.

When we believe God’s tests as Formative, we experience hope, the pressure is off. We know that God has prepared us for this moment, and we rest knowing God uses this moment to prepare us for the next. It’s okay. Even if we “fail” this time around, God uses today’s experience to prepare us for tomorrow.

Only one test is truly Summative. That test is what we choose to belief. Do we choose to believe his tests are Summative or Formative? If we believe his tests are Summative—and failure is disqualification—then everything rests on our shoulders.

When we believe in our hearts that he has done everything for us—he has already qualified us—then every test is an engine-out exercise.

He’s teaching us to fly.

Sam Williamson

A week or so ago, while in a worship time giving my life to God as I was lead by the songs, God spoke something I was not expecting.  It was in the context of what I was giving to God – my thoughts, words and presence, my calling.  He said, “Gary, you can’t wing it.”  I knew exactly what He was referring to.  I had been living at a pretty fast pace, from phone call to meeting to e-mail.  I was banking on “in the moment” discernment, wisdom and recall based off of my life experiences and learning.

God was saying to me that I can’t do that and have the impact I desire to have in the lives of others.  In other words, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Do not be wise in your own eyes.” (Prov. 3:5 & 7)  God was addressing my pace-of-life, but more poignantly, He was surfacing what I believed others wanted or needed from me – my understanding, perspective and experience.  What we all need more of is God – His words, kindness, presence, revelation, and intervention.

Often we have no idea where a person is at or what they need in a given moment.  They may be on the brink of despair or being overwhelmed or quitting on something or someone.  Just looking into their eyes, or a hand on their shoulder, or a few words, or simply our being with them could change everything.  Think of the things that have changed your life, negatively or positively.  Has it not been someone’s words or their silence, or a person’s presences or their absence, or a person’s gaze or their looking away?  How can we possibly know what someone needs when they may not really know?  Only God knows, so we must ask Him, staying close to Him in every conversation and activity.

The assault is always the same against the glory that we possess and are to offer to others  – the accusation that you have nothing of significance to offer, others they don’t want what you have, it won’t go well, you’re on your own.

The truth is that our life, our presence, our effect is weightier than we understand.  The only one who underestimates the power of our life, in the spiritual realm, is our self.  It’s going to take an unrelenting insistence on intimacy with God and undaunted courage in our offering to others.  As the tag line states in the movie trailer for Tears of the Sun, “The lives of many rest in the courage of a few.”

You are courageous and noble hearted.

Gary

In 1989 the company I worked for was dying; it was losing money like the prodigal son, it had a two-year sales drought, and our owner—though previously successful—was out of cash. The company asked me to demonstrate our software to one of our prospective clients. Actually, our only prospective client. If we didn’t land this deal, we were out of business and I was out of a job.

The night before the demo the client’s consultant Jerry invited me to dinner. He said our competitors bungled their demos by wasting half of the time showing “cool” features that the client didn’t need. And when the client said they weren’t interested in such functionality, our competitors ignored their requests, continuing to show off the coolness of this or that particular feature.

Jerry went on to say that our competitors had failed because they wouldn’t yield control of the conversation to the client. The competitors thought they knew what was needed while only the client knew what was needed. Jerry suggested I begin my demo by asking the client to describe their needs. And then, he suggested, I use the rest of the presentation to show solutions to their needs. I did. They liked it. We got the deal. And I kept my cubicle.

What does demoing software and controlling conversations have to do with hearing God?

Everything.

During the last several months of 2011, I faced a major decision. Almost every day I asked God for direction. I prayed, I begged for wisdom, I asked friends, I read scripture; and God continued to withhold a direct answer to my question.

This past week I was reading Colossians where Paul prays that we be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9).

I said to God, “that’s what I’m asking for, knowledge of your will.”

And in my heart I felt God say, “No you aren’t.” (Please note that no writing on the wall appeared and no audible voice spoke, but a tug in my heart told me to stop, that somehow, somewhere, something wasn’t right.)

I paused to reflect on what this quickening of my heart might mean, and I realized that I was not actually asking God for his will. Instead, I wanted an answer to “this” question—and this question alone— while God was speaking to me about something completely different. While claiming I wanted his will, I really only wanted his input in the area Ithought was most important. I was ignoring what he knew was most important.

I was controlling the conversation—with God!—by ignoring what he wanted to talk about.

It’s not that God doesn’t want to answer our questions, but our questions often miss the main message he wants to speak. It’s like I ask God which color to paint my closet while he builds me a mansion next door. When I finally listen to God’s answer—which is always grander and more profound that what I’m looking for—then (and only then) will I have the answer for my comparatively tiny question.

While I wrestled with my question these past months, God kept talking about other things, and I felt—though I never said it to myself—but I felt like God was missing the point, he wasn’t answering my question. But he was answering my question by answering a deeper question than I pursued.

And I wasn’t listening, because I was controlling the conversation.

God is always speaking to us, but his answers are almost always deeper and more profound than our simple questions ask.

• Moses saw a strange bush on fire, and he asked, “What’s that all about?” and God said, “I want you to lead my people out of slavery into freedom.” God’s answer didn’t directly answer Moses’ question.
• Nicodemus says to Jesus, “You clearly are a man of God,” and Jesus says, “If you want to see the Kingdom of God you need a new life, you have to be born yet again.” Again, a seeming non-sequitor.
• The woman at the well asks Jesus to “give her this water so she’d never be thirsty again,” and Jesus tells her to go get her husband.

God is always speaking, always offering more than we ask or think. Moses was curious about a scientific anomaly and God gave him a new life mission; Nicodemus wanted a bit of wisdom so he could live a bit better and Jesus offered a whole new righteousness; the woman at the well wanted freedom from a domestic chore and Jesus offered a life of freedom from her relational-addiction.

Not only does the bible include conversationally oriented episodes, it also includes an entire book on the subject. The book of Job has spoken to more people than any book written by any modern author (including C. S. Lewis) and the book of Job has comforted more suffering people than any other book ever written.

And the book of Job concerns who controls the conversation.

The first 29 verses of Job sketch what happens to Job. The next 36chapters paint a picture of people controlling the conversation—Job’s wife and friends and even Job—all asking why God has done this. The best advice given to Job comes from the youngest counselor, who tells Job to stop controlling the conversation, “Listen to this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job 37:14).

And when Job finally stands still, God speaks, revealing his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And Job was satisfied, saying, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5). And that is all we ever really need.

So God, let’s talk. Uh, you first.

Sam Williamson

© Copyright 2012, Beliefs of the Heart, Ltd. All rights reserved.

“For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world.” Jesus

“I’m bored with my life” and “I’m afraid to make a change.”  I hear these two thoughts almost daily in conversations with others and I’ve uttered them more than a few times myself.  Apathy and anxiety.  Seemingly opposites and yet we can somehow live with both.  Perhaps this is a bi-polar heart.

Several nights ago I pulled a book from a bookshelf in our bedroom that caught my eye – Viktor Frankl’s, Man’s Search for Meaning.  Laying on my bed wondering where to start, I found a dog-eared and underlined page which is where I began reading.  Frankl wrote about the need to reorient our heart toward the meaning of our life because most people live in what he calls an “existential vacuum” – a life without a meaning worth living for.  He states the effect of which is life in either a state of boredom or distress.

I remember my dad telling me, “there is nothing worse than boredom, so find something to do and work hard at it.”  In other words, get busy.  It works, except you end up walking away from boredom across the “existential vacuum” right into distress.  And in that state, you dream of moments of boredom once again.  It’s ridiculous!

But it’s more than ridiculous, it’s tragic.  Frankl went on to say, “People today in this existential vacuum either wish to do what other people do (conformism) or do what other people wish him to do (totalitarianism).”  When I ask people how they got into the job or ministry they are currently doing, their answer is usually because they were told they should do it or they wanted to have another’s life.  In doing so, we actually give up our life, our place and our contribution.  The only way to resist such a temptation is to understand your calling, the unique glory you possess.

One evening during my three days alone with God, I asked Him where He wanted me to direct my thinking.  He asked me to think back through each shift in my working life. I realized that each change was centered on the issue of the alignment of my life to what I had discovered was truest about me, my glory.  Sometimes the incongruity between who I was and the position I was in was resolved by a new opportunity that I could easily step into.  Other times, I had to leave one place before I could find the next.  Some decisions were made out of personal conviction and faith, others out of the coercion of souring circumstances.

With God, the issue is always the aspect of His glory which He has given you and where He wants you to offer it; it’s not “job fit”, advancement or benefits.

Viktor Frankl quotes Nietzsche as saying, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”  Okay, that’s huge.  We must pursue God on our why and trust Him with the how.

Jesus said to Pilate, the one who would brutally beat and crucify him, “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world” (John 18:37)  Jesus knew his why so He could bear the how.

What is your why?

“God’s calling is the key to igniting a passion for the deepest growth and highest heroism of life”. Os Guinness

With you in the pursuit of a fruitful life,

Gary

It could be the busyness of the “season”, simply the end of a full-on year of life, battle with the secularization of Christmas, spiritual warfare or unrealistic expectations. Whatever the cause, the effect is what I want to reverse.

August of 2009 I recorded a video-blog on my time alone with God on my birthday titled Take Another Look. I think birthdays are a great time to recount our life’s story.  I think New Years is a great time to recount our length of days.

I have always been stuck by Moses statement, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) There is certain type of focus, intentionality and perspective that we gain when we understand the capacity or quantity of our life.

Christmas Eve, Leigh gives each family member a book. Last year, Leigh gave me a book by Charles Spurgeon, Power Over Satan.  Spurgeon wrote, “Among men there are some who know a great many important matters but act as if they do not know them. Their knowledge is so much wasted heaped up in the storeroom of their minds and never brought into the workshop to be used for practical purposes…we are not as earnest as dying men ought to be.”

He goes on to say how Satan is aware of his shortness of time in both this world and in a person’s life therefore “his evil nature is all on fire, and his excitement is terrible.” And, “how much the shortness of our time ought to stir our hearts…to ardency of love and fervency of zeal…in our days of sojourning here!”

Bringing into the workshop what God has shown me; becoming more earnest with who I am; stirring the fire within my redeemed heart -this is what I need.

Here a few of the questions I’m taking to God as the new year begins:

What is it that you have put in me that I am not fully walking in and offering?

What parts of my life are not fully awake, alive and free?

What is the season that I am coming into?

What am I lacking at this point that I will need for this coming season?

Where I’m I still living out of duty, obligation, expectations, guilt, shame or pressure instead of love, generosity, grace and passion?

What have you put on my heart that it’s time has come?

How am I to walk with others differently?

Are their things in my life that are not to be brought into this next season?

What have you revealed to me that I have not picked up on, noticed, understood or embraced?

I want to encourage you to snatch some time away with God alone if you haven’t already. It may be for a few hours or a few days. It may be in your favorite coffee shop, in your car at your favorite overlook, in a hotel room or retreat center. You and God, away, alone for a longer-than-usual time is what is needed.

Stirring the fires of ardent love and fervent zeal,

Gary