Struck by lightning...and burned by fire ~

It has been so long...but here it goes. It would seem that we have an enemy. Yes, his name is Satan. Oh,... have you lost interest already? You have heard it before, I know, but why do you and I keep forgetting? What starts off as a mantra gets replace with words like, "I am so tired!" It is a wonderful thing that our heavenly Father remembers that we are dust.

This tree was struck by lightning and then caught fire.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Gary Barkalow (thenobleheart.com) confrence in Cleveland, GA. I met with many other men seeking to understand what it means to "live the glory of their life." This is biblical and Gary made it clear that the only glory in us is Christ's glory flowing through us. And I have said it before, "It is a moment to moment relationship with God that he desires." Anyhow, back to the burned tree.

We broke up into groups and had projects to work on. One was to gather pictures that captures something in us. I absolutely dreaded doing this project. I felt like I was in grade school. I gathered about twenty-five pics, cut them out and taped them to a large piece of paper. I then had to title each one and group them together. Here is the kicker, the men in your group had to decipher, or psychoanalyze you. They had to explain why you were drawn to the photos you picked and if they really match with your thoughts.

This tree was titled, Survivor. I viewed myself as a survivor and burned terribly. However, they said, "Mike, where is the rest of the tree?" I said the picture was too big so I showed the burned part. They said, "Mike, the beauty is the part that shows the tree as a survivor...the flourishing part. Where is it?" They said I still viewed myself as the burned part or I thought others viewed me as the burned part. They were right! I had never thought about this. My new friends began to encourage me in so many ways as the flourishing tree. Later, I cried over their discovery. I am still in the process of changing how I view of myself and wrong agreements I have made that are not true.

Is your view of yourself wrong? Are there agreements or ideas you have made, with yourself, that need to be corrected? Confess your allegiance back to the One who has a great plan and purpose for your life. Trust Him! Listen to Him! Love God passionately and His glory will flow through you. This is the "living water" Christ talked about.

Believe our God has glory for your life where your burden will be light. Joy is the birthright of the believer. ~

Take it easy ~

"Take it easy," is probably the most famous phrase you will hear next to,
"Take it easy, Bro ~" in the biker commmunity.

I seem to always hear the Holy Spirit say this to me. Probably because God knows how I think. Now why would the Holy Spirit speak to me this way? It is because I am always to 'take it easy?' Of course not. But to worry and fret does no one any good.

As a follower of Christ, I always want to be more disciplined in my walk with God; and I have found discipline, without self examination, is like a soldier without orders. Sure the soldier may be disciplined but he needs to know his orders. I seek the Lord daily for my orders and He gladly gives them. But I often complicate the process by reasoning what God says. If it is from God it will line up with the character of God in His Holy Word. If I hear something else, that does not line up with God's character, I can bet it's from the other dude (Satan). I want to hear from God. I have found where the conscience and the heart connect is that place where I hear God. That is that still, quite, small voice of my living God. My brain is always trying to figure it out and I have to tell myself sometime to stop overthinking the whole thing and trust God; you know, "Take it easy, Bro~"

The Barrel :+:

Who says God doesn't care about the little things. I remember in a movie I saw years ago a phrase, "I never did mind the little things." The idea was the the little things didn't bother the person. I am so thankful that our Lord does care about the little things. I had told Kathy that I really wanted a barrel for burning scrap wood and such. She laughed and said, "Where are you going to find the barrel your looking for?"
I wanted a 55 gallon steel barrel, so I just prayed to the Lord, "Lord, if it's o.k. with you could you lead me to a old barrel somewhere." A couple of days latter, while the sun was setting, I told Kathy I think I'm going to find my barrel today. She said, "Where?" I told her I wanted to drive down this street and take a look. As I drove, approximately, 2 miles I looked to the left and there was an old barrel filled with trash. I went inside a building to find the owner of the barrel working and asked if he wanted the barrel or how much he would charge for it. He asked if it was filled with trash and I told him it was. He said, "If you haul the trash in it off, it's yours." I am so glad our Lord minds the "little things."

Family time ~

We are back...and we brought some family and friends this time. Starting on the left is me (Mike), Kathy (in blue), Matthew (our nephew), Scott (our brother-in-law), Steven (in the middle and the boyfriend of Kelly), in the front next to me is Tivis (our lovely daughter, next to her is Kelly (our niece), and far right my sister Linda. It was the day after Thanksgiving and we actually all got along. Everyone knows Thanksgiving is a time for family and stress, but we really had a good time. Linda made the traditional Thanksgiving meal and it was fantastic!