Choosing to be Thankful for Others!

I believe in choosing to be thankful for others.  I don't think we realize how much we have missed over the course of the last year and a half with this pandemic in relationship wealth.  It all got so easily stripped away and so many of us were forced to do life devoid of significant face to face relationships. 

 Brenee Brown writes,

We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honour the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.  Love is not something that we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists in each one of them.

This is the journey that I have been on and have been so thankful for the mentors in my life walking this out with me right now. 

Relationships are gold and never lose their value as long as we invest in them and not measure them for what they do for us.   What I mean is this...if we are also waiting for others to reach out to us or keeping score of who is initiating the call or conversation,  then we are missing the point.

Also, when I'm with someone and hear their story,  can I genuinely be happy for them despite my situation?  Being thankful for others also means I stop comparing myself to them. We can allow ourselves to be consumed by what others are doing or we can choose to focus on what Jesus and Holy Spirit is doing in us and be truly thankful for what is happening with them.

Thankfulness also makes me fully embody this truth, "but for the grace of God, go I."  We are so often quick to judge or make judgements on others especially when we think they are making poor choices.

Often our own brokenness is on display when we point out the flaws of others.   We are all dealing with our own inadequacies and failures and were trapped at one moment or another...BUT, just at the right time when we were powerless, Jesus showed up!

Romans 5:6-8

When others really irittate you just be thankful and please remember our real enemy is never another person.  It is often the spirit of fear, anxiety or confusion that often wreaks havoc in relationships.   Whenever we get into groups whether through politics, worldviews or values that we choose to keep people "in" or "out", we create division and conflict.   

Oswald Chambers writes, 

The joy Jesus experienced was from His absolute surrender and self sacrifice to the Father. Joy doesn't come from perfect circumstances,  but from a perfect understanding of God and trust in Him.

Let's trust God in this season and remember that we are called to be thankful for others .

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:15-17

The Wounded Healer

I had the opportunity to go away camping the other week with my good friend, Spencer.  It was a time to just recharge and also time get into the secret place allow God to speak to me.  One little book that I had with me was entitled,  The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen.  Most of what I'll be sharing comes from the truth I learned as I read this book.  One area of my life that I have been focussed on is learning to have conversations that create a deep human encounter. I'm learning what it means to be vulnerable  through my own light and darkness.  It's is the pathway to understand real compassion and to bring hope for forgiveness.   Here's one real moment of revelation I experienced through my reading.   

The wounded minister is the healing minister. Jesus' own broken body is way to healing. My own wounds can be a major source of healing power. Wounds like alienation, separation, loneliness and isolation.  Learning to feel these words help me to understand my own brokenness.  We all long for intimacy and belonging. Often though we do everything possible to avoid the painful confrontation of our own basic loneliness. We tend to be more prone to playing games with fantasy than to face our true existence. 

I need to go to the place of obedience to understand the calling sounds of my wounds

Henri Nouwen 

The place of obedience is found in the secret place of prayer.  I need to go to wherever I won't be distracted and where my heartbeat accelerates for the living God.  Oswald Chambers writes,

When we swing the door of our life fully open and pray to the Father in the secret place every public thing will be with the lasting imprint of God. 

So,  then what keeps us from praying? Pete Grieg,  head of the 24/7 prayer rooms says  often is a limited worldview and low self esteem.   We honestly forget just how much authority we have in Jesus' name.  

The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.  Romans 8:11

As long as I think I'm self sufficient, I won't really ask God for anything significant.   It really isn't till we're desperate and in a corner that we truly discover the power of prayer.   As for me, I'll wave a white towel of surrender and keep being real in His presence.   I'll also keep keep trusting Him for the life changing encounters that have His fingerprints all over them.   

How Salty Are You?

I have literally had some impressive mountain top experiences lately thanks to our trip to Alberta recently at the beginning of this month.  I have to admit that living in that moment was an incredible experience.  However, it’s quite another thing to come back down to the valley and learn to do life well.

It’s especially challenging when your life experience leaves you feeling salty.

When it comes to being  ‘salty’ in today’s world,  the slang definition has been described as

‘“bitterness or anger tinged with a little extra spice, usually a mocking or self-deprecating note of sourness.”   Arianna Jeret

It often comes as a result of being made fun of or when you fight back after being slighted.  I think in today’s current culture, it is now easier than ever to take offense and be salty especially when your view clashes with another person.  We call it ‘cancel culture’ now and I see it more prevalent on social media after taking an extended break.  There appears to be less and less willingness to engage with people who have a different view than us.  It has also been the cause of a great deal of anxiety for many who are trying to navigate and learn the delicate balance of doing life in our world filled with fear of more variants, more outbreaks and heaven forbid, more lockdowns. 

I just listened to an amazing message by Pastor Craig Groeschel on dealing with this very issue.  He spoke on the life of Elijah just after he had experienced the most incredible moment of victory, a mountaintop experience in I Kings 18.  In I Kings 19, he comes against the threat of Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife who hates him so much wants him dead, the ultimate of cancelling him.  So, how does he respond?  He doesn’t respond well, in fact he hides and runs for his life.  He’s so afraid of dying at her hands that he asks God to take his life.  Craig points out four things that created Elijah’s quick downfall and also will spell our defeat.

1.        HeWe run ourselves into the ground 

2.       We shut people out of our lives

3.       We focus on the negative only

4.       We forget God

He then took time to remind us of what Elijah’s name means.

El  - stands for God

I – stands for  my

Jah – breath

My God is my breath, My God is my source, My God is my strength!

God powerfully reminds Elijah just how close He is.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

 

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

 

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

The earth shook, the winds howled and the fire raged and the LORD wasn’t in any of these powerful displays. 

The LORD was in the whisper.  God was not in the remarkable, He was in the ordinary.

God whispers to us because He’s close.

My experience + God’s presence is enough

Craig Groeschel

My God is my breath. 

So when I feel overwhelmed and that somehow I’m enough or the situation is too much to overcome, may I always remember He’s closer than I think.

Augustine wrote, “put salt on my lips that I would thirst for you”

It’s time to learn to be a nice kind of “salty”!

Rediscovering Our Joy!

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may endure for a night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

The brain's joy center is located in the right orbital prefrontal cortex. It is the only section of the brain that never loses its capacity to grow.

It grows in response to real, joy-filled relationships. People need to know who they are and be frequently reminded of who they are by those who love them. 

Maturity demands the people honestly face their traumas, even when it is painful. When I do not deal with sin in my life or how sinful acts have been done against me,  it will trigger and produce disaster.

The joy region of our brain is also the bonding region as well. When you discover weakness in this area of the brain, you will often discover conditions like anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, eating disorders, narcissism and compulsive behaviours.

I have been meeting virtually with a really amazing counselor and I'm learning that whenI go back and deal with past traumas, there is a strength to feeling those feelings and negative emotions, even to be overwhelmed by them.

It's been said that when there are tears you know the Holy Spirit is at work.  

Learn to understand and experience the spirit of heaviness. There is a depth of the soul to go to in conviction, repentance and agony that can bring about a blessing and realization of the overwhelming baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

Dr. Martin-Lloyd Jones

Personally, I've had to work through feelings that I'm not enough and that I am a failure.  I know that I have is very memorable laugh but beneath that, there has been a lot of hurt and things that I have tried to stuff down inside of me unsuccessfully.   It rears it's ugly head in moments where I become very defensive and when I allow myself to live in resentment and choose self-sabotage.

The place where we need to go is found in the strength to feel feelings while knowing the path back to joy.

I have a mentor as well who I take walks with. He has reminded me that God is even there in the moment of my despondency and sin as well. He has challenged me to enter into the prayer of examen.  

Knowing the path back to joy builds resilience, hope, strength and confidence.  We don't allow ourselves to become stuck, but we don't just avoid unpleasant feelings either.

There is a desperate need for people to find loving arms, words of affirmation and sometimes, just simple presence.   We don't need to have arrived to be those people, we just need to be honest, vulnerable and be on the journey to joy!

You Can't Always Get What You Want!

This was a classic rock song  by The Rolling Stones over 50 years ago. It really expresses the truth that often our goals can outstrip our reach.   I think many of us have felt this over the course of this pandemic.  There have been so many unknowns in the midst of it all and it has kept us all off balance and it has been a very difficult time to navigate and seek the truth.   

The Father's prayer for us is that we would be one with him, with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. It is not for the purpose of 'having my prayers answered,' but that through prayer I may come to discern his mind and his purpose for me and that together we would experience unity. I think it's easier for us to find ways to be divided and we need to seek what really brings us together.

John 17:11

"Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one"

If we're able to learn what it means to experience oneness then the tightening grip of self absortion needs to be lost on us.   We have to learn what it means to put others first and steer towards kindness.  We must be  guided by his grace and strengthened in our resolve together to follow him. We need to keep our heart pure, keep ourselves from being distracted by what polarizes us and learn what it means to stay in tune with him together. This is especially true when it has everything to do with the gospel, God's love and the incredible sacrifice of Jesus paying for our forgiveness on the cross. This message is more important than any issue we face.

Moving forward with the gospel, we need to learn what reliance looks like on the resurrection life of Jesus. The prayer is, Father, allow me to be in complete oneness with your purposes. Teach me that reliance means often moving away from what is common sense to intuition that comes from the Holy Spirit!

For the song goes on to say but if you try sometimes, you just might get what you need.  This is a huge trust factor that in the midst of all this uncertainty the Jesus can you give us exactly what we need.  It is His tangible presence in us through the whole mess. 

When we learn to joyfully waive our rights to the Lord, God can use us incredibly well.   We can serve from a place of freedom that we have in Christ.  This freedom is that I learn simply not to take offense. It is especially difficult when you are challenged in a negative way. The deeper question needs to be, "where is this coming from?"  It is often not the person, but more so from a spirit of fear and anxiety.   When I know this,  I have more patience and understanding and I can bless and serve others in spite of it. 

When I have took time to listen to the Lord I sense God saying Jack, my son, keep training yourself in My gym! Continue to pursue godliness, be strong in the Lord,  pursue unity, harmony, love and faithfulness. Continue to break free from selfish thoughts and ways so that my righteousness can breakthrough like the noonday sun.  "By your patience,  you will possess your soul." Luke 21:16-19 really displays how difficult relationships can be when you make the decision to follow Jesus.  In essence,  He is saying to us,  make My relationship the dominating focus of your life. 

I believe it starts as we start slowing down and start noticing what He is already doing.  The question always is whether we are paying enough attention to see it,  it is an acute awareness and we absolutely need the Holy Spirit. It's time to end the lockdown of our souls and break free!

Faith That Can Move Mountains

 

It has been said that the Dutch must have the most faith because there isn’t a mountain to be found in the entire country.  Well, in fact they are so confident, they say God created the world and they created Holland. They pretty much built land on water…forget about walking on it, they live on it lol. 

Jesus in His ministry was always challenging his followers to expect more, to believe for more, to trust Him for more and He reminded us all that it doesn’t take much!   He used the illustration of the mustard seed to make his point.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20

I know right now it sometimes feels like we are up against this mountain called Covid and all its menacing variants.  We continue to wait patiently for the curve of cases here in Ontario to finally move downward. The constant tracking of case counts can be exhausting to watch for all of us. I know it’s been an incredible strain on relationships, families and work situations. 

I believe that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit are calling us right now to pray for more faith.  He is the God of the breakthrough!  It’s always right to ask for more, be hungry for change.  They that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled!

We also need to really take the opportunities we are given right now to put our faith in action. We need to put in uncomfortable situations to force us to really depend on Him and we are right smack in the middle of it right now.

Something that really stood out to me in Jesus’ ministry was that 1/3 of it was all about deliverance.  Many stories that were recorded in the Gospels referred to Jesus’ dealing with spirits.  It was these very spirits that were tormenting people.  I believe now more than ever that the spiritual battle with anxiety and fear is like it’s never been before.  In Matthew 17, Jesus was dealing with a specific situation related to demon possession in a young boy. 

We need to really believe our prayers when dealing with the enemy.  Jesus is teaching us on the mustard seed so that we realize this isn’t an unsurmountable task.  We will take this hill, this mountain of fear and anxiety in our current situation and throw it in the deepest sea. 

WE NEED TO BELIEVE OUR PRAYERS! 

Prayer is more than just words.  Jesus was simply saying, “keep praying, don’t give up!”  

Some challenges are not so simple.  They are spiritual battles where we are actually the ones tested.  Battles reveal what we have revelation for.  Steve Long  in “The Faith Zone”

We need the Father to teach us as we press in and believe Him for the change we are longing to see.   I am longing for God to show up powerfully and He is masterful at healing, restoration, deliverance.  Let’s learn to trust Him for more!

I remember the day so vividly when I hit a wall of a mountain in ministry!  It was the fall of 2013.  I had just spent three weeks in Lesotho, Africa.  I was on the missions trip of a lifetime. It was a dream to go to this continent and it was full of amazing experiences. I had the opportunity to worship dance in conga-like fashion in a revival tent meeting.  I spoke on living water and saw people come to faith In Jesus.  I had seen healing take place. I slept on a concrete floor with youth at a camp and ate 'papa and beans' with them.  I saw a graduation celebration of a young woman, Purlacio, the first child from a Bracelet of Hope foster home to graduate.  She shouted out,"I Was Born to Fight The Darkness!" It was such a moving time, not to mention the African sunsets, mountaintop experiences literally and going on a safari!

 I was on cloud 9.

Sharon and I arrived home on Thanksgiving Monday with so much to be thankful for.  It was a short week in terms of preparation for Sunday's message as I was back in the church I was pastoring.   I knew the message was going to be all about my experiences  in Africa. Sunday came and I had other members of the team share about their experience and time escaped us. I shared a video and knew I had no time to preach so I shared, "I'll get to my message next week." 

There was no next week.

Monday came and I sat down with the pastor's to review our vision for the church and next steps. We had a lot to catch up on and it was a positive meeting. I noticed I received an email from the chairman of the board requesting a meeting with him along with another member. Then there was a second email and a phone message to speak with the chairman of the board. I remember joking with the pastors that I would see them that night unless I got fired… I actually joked with them about that. Well, that afternoon I came home and I thought about the meeting and in my spirit I knew I was going to be released.  I arrived at the church at 6:30pm and saw the two board members waiting for me. We made our way up the stairs to my office and there we sat. A file folder was placed on the coffee table. The chairman shared briefly with me that the leadership had made the decision to release me. He shared that I did not have the skill set for what they needed for the church at this time. He shared that they needed more executive leadership and it just wasn't working out. He then said I watched you in Africa and I saw you create something out of nothing.   He went on to say,"I see a pioneering spirit in you". The meeting followed on with the presentation of my severance package and I was to be done and keys handed in by Friday.

This was my wall, this was my mountain.

When I shared this with Sharon she then proceeded to tell me about a prayer gathering where a lady had a vision of us in pioneer clothes in a wagon waving goodbye to the pastors of the church we were in.  It had happened a month before and she forgot to mention it to me  lol….  However, in that moment, right there, I knew we had the confirmation in my spirit that we were beginning a new chapter in our lives in Ministry that would lead us to starting Church at the Manor.  We certainly didn’t know that at the time.

Today, as I write this, Sharon and I are on the very cusp of another new chapter.  Plans are literally in the works and as the old worship song goes…”no turning back”!  I'm excited for what is ahead of us, not knowing what to expect but ready to continue the adventure of following the Lord as he leads us.

Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

Go Home!

Do not pass go, do not collect $200- go directly to jail!...well, that it was it felt like at the beginning of this month when it was confirmed that my daughter Addi had tested positive for Covid19.  She caught the virus through the daycare that she was working at.  It was time to leave the roof immediately I was working on, make an appointment and go get a covid screening test.  Thankfully Jordan was able to complete the job.  However, it really is quite another life lesson to take it up a notch from lockdown to locked in… lol  Rylan was locked in what I like to call, “the barn cave” as our pool house has been transformed into a really nice living space.  He learned all the ins and outs of ubereats and doordash because he had to isolate from us as well.  Thankfully Rylan, Sharon and I all tested negative for the virus and that was after two tests, the initial one and then another at day 10.  I have to admit it was hardest on Addi no doubt as she was basically locked down in her own room during that time period.  She struggled with her appetite and sense of smell along with a lot of body aches and pains; however we have all come through it, but there were lessons for sure to discover in the midst of all of it for me.

For starters my backyard became my playground and I did creative runs back there doing multiple kms… and then when the weather was incredibly nice, I opened up the pool.  I know, crazy, right, but there I was on March 20^th making it happen two months earlier than normal.

More importantly, this time was learning about salvation.  For me, it is discovering what Jesus has always longed for me to be set free from.  The biblical definition of salvation is to be saved by God from the consequences of our sin and it is brought about by faith in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.  It is the very reason we celebrate Easter or Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday!

"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

During my time in isolation, I took another step in discovering what it meant for salvation.  I am learning to be delivered from myself.  It is a lesson I have learned and I continue to learn.  I am learning in my union with Jesus to embrace Him more, to become so thrilled with all that He is to me.  It was also a time to of learning to be delivered from work in that my work and completing another roofing job can so easily define me.  Sharon also challenged me to take my Garmin watch off and be free from the buzz notifications on my wrist.  All this to say that returning to that kind of simplicity to be still was actually quite hard for me, in fact it was difficult.  I think it is so easy to be defined by all that we do instead of simply knowing that we are loved by the Father’s embrace.

1 John 4:15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

It takes an incredible amount of effort to live this way and not just be easily swept away by everything else around you.  I’m learning that being here is the place where it needs to start, the place where I need to discover my purpose, my meaning and my direction for each and every day that he gives me.

When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness.  But salvation is so much more!  It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself.  And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.

Oswald Chambers

I have also been forced during this time to really look deeper at my emotions and feelings thanks to the Junto Institute…see the image of the feelings wheel.  I’m learning to uncover why I can get triggered, what are the root issues and letting the Holy Spirit work specifically where there is resentment, agitation, frustration etc… 

It is remembering that salvation is not only being saved from something it is also being saved to someone.  The Father is continually leading me closer to Him, to His heart, to His will and there it is in the Garden where Jesus prayed through all His pain, saying,

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."  Luke 22:42

As we come to this weekend, may we learn that His will, although not easy, and often difficult, is the place where we will come to know His presence like no other.

Supernatural Initiative!

 

The power of overcoming our own inertia to move in the direction that we need to go can be overwhelming at times.  I really believe that self-determination and will power can only take us so far.  Sometimes we just get stuck period.  The losses keep piling up and we don’t feel like we can break through our own reluctance. People talk about finding your “why” and I get it because at the end of the day, there has to be more of a purpose to keep us going forward. 

I can simply find it challenging to write something inspirational once a month let alone those who are writing weekly or even daily!  We sometimes think, well, my life is just not that interesting and certainly not worth emulating.  I think that is a real lie that we must overcome and it goes beyond self-talk.  We need to hear from the Spirit of God and that takes time and it can’t be rushed. 

We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them.  We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead.  But God comes to us and says to us, “Arise from the dead…” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible.  Oswald Chambers

It was so nice to go out for coffee with Joe this week and listen to him share his story with me.  We are all longing for human interaction that isn’t just over zoom.  In complete honesty, he just shared how for so long he was just trying to figure it out for himself and it has just got him completely nowhere.  He said in essence, I give up and I don’t want to go it alone.  He spoke of the heaviness of his heart and knew He needed supernatural help.  He had a French Catholic background and unfortunately a very bad experience in that environment that had caused him to walk away.  He was living at the Manor and had often come to our services there.  He heard about Jesus, but never really acted on it.  Well, on this day, everything changed.  He affirmed His need for a relationship with the Lord, he was done with religion.  He also has made it clear he wants to be baptized so that day is being planned. 

The whole conversation reignited me as well because in my fumbling around, I had forgotten what is and what has always been so close to my heart… leading people one step closer to Jesus.  It started simply by just taking the initiative to go out for a coffee.  Well, for Joe, that’s an iced capp, he’s never like hot drinks…go figure!

God gives us life, purpose and meaning as we move through the process of overcoming.  As we reach out in faith, the Holy Spirit honors that desire and enables us with supernatural faith to overcome the greatest of obstacles

 We read in Romans 6:4

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

The question for us as followers of Jesus is this.

Have you gone through your own white funeral??

Have I really come to the end of myself, my own will power and determination.  As so many including Joe reflected, “Have I reached rock bottom?”  Do I realize just how empty my own ability to figure it out has taken me?  Am I ready to throw in the white towel?  Have I slapped the mat and say, “I give up?” is a lot easier to say than actually do.

Here’s a prayer to help you go there.

Father, give me the grace, perseverance, strength, humility to walk through my own death to self and stay in the process of continual change. (The Bible calls this sanctification)  Teach me to learn death to:

·         wanting approval

·         wanting to be liked by everyone

·         choosing resentment when things don’t go my way

·         wallowing in self pity

Father, it’s my desire to live a new life, not a routine, not just stuck in the rut of existing, fully living the life You desire for me!  It is a life that I know is fresh, exciting and filled with adventure.  Thank you Jesus for dying and living through me and Holy Spirit for leading and guiding me every step of the way.

As I prayed this prayer and reflected and journaled what I sensed in my spirit that the Spirit of God was saying to me.

Jack, my son, walk away from selfishness, leave dying behind.  Be raised to newness of life in me.  I AM your dwelling place, the place of ultimate satisfaction.  Rest in Me.  I AM will meet all of your needs as you remain steadfast in me.  I AM your source, your satisfaction.  Be rooted in Me, my goodness, my joy, my truth.

 My response to hearing His still small voice…

God , I don’t want status-quo.  I do long for adventure, new chapters with You.

I know you do too so join me in praying through your own white funeral and discovering supernatural life and initiative!

Wholeness In The Midst of The Mundane!

I have to admit that this most days in January looked very similar to the day before. It definitely takes effort and diligence to really shake up your routine and not to let your life run on auto-pilot.  In my last post, I spoke about being intentional and one of my greatest joys has been to be outdoors in the presence of God more than ever.  I have also followed a challenge to exercise for at least an hour every day.  In order to change up the routine, I rediscovered cross country skiing as well.  It is something I haven’t done with any consistency since before Sharon and I were married! We have also discovered new trails and we have taken long walks.  I have to say the highlight was taking time to feed chickadees out at Starkey Hill.

 

As we enter another month of uncertainty with the lockdown here in Ontario, it’s very easy to get antsy, frustrated and inpatient with the process.  However, I am learning about either choosing a good “slow burn” process.  It is not the one where I smolder with an underlying anger against all the unjustice of the current situation.  No, it is purifying!  It is willingness to let everything about my life, my sense of well-being go through the intense heat of Jesus’ unfailing love.

 

Whether we like it or not we have all been forced to go on this journey together, yet also alone.  In Luke 17 there were 10 men seeking healing but only one really discovered full restoration. 

 

As we will see, it is one thing to discover physical healing; it’s quite another to discover emotional and spiritual well-being alongside the physical healing.

 

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[b] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

 

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

 

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

 

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

 

It was only one leper that truly experienced “Zoso” the Greek word for wholeness and it

came through thankfulness for everything that Jesus had done. 

The most important thing that we can discover through this pandemic is thankfulness…not for the virus, but for everything the virus has taught us about life, about ourselves, about relationships, about who really is in control.

 

In their heart humans plan their course, but the LORD determines their steps. 

Proverbs 16:9

 

It is one thing for this whole pandemic to be finally be solved; it’s quite another to be fully free of the fear, the anxiety and the madness.  My hope and my prayer is that we don’t miss out on everything the LORD wants for us to discover in the midst of the madness.

 

Ann Voskamp writes that thanksgiving is the manifestation of our yes to His grace!

 

 

So, please live in 2021 with renewed hope, allow yourself to dream again, to believe that God wants to do amazing things.  He has truly been faithful in the past to us and we will continue to see His hand tomorrow. Truly become more aware of the time God has given us.  There are two greek words for time, chronos which literally denotes a space or time or succession of times.  In chronos time we are just simply calculating times and seasons.  However, we are in another ‘kairos’ moment.  We are in a significant moment, an opportunity that presents itself for a specific season.  In order for us to be passionate about following Jesus, we need to discover the ‘kairos’ moment we are in and what the LORD is teaching us about ourselves, our relationships and the kingdom!

 

Never forget that Jesus didn’t come just to give you a life beyond this one, He came to give you a unforgettable life that will continue throughout eternity. 

 

I have come that they may have life and life to the full. The same Greek word here “sozo” wholeness!

 

Thanksgiving — giving thanks in everything — is what prepares the way for salvation’s whole restoration. Our salvation in Christ is real, yet the completeness of that salvation is not fully realized in a life until the life realizes the need to fully give thanks in everything.  Ann Voskamp.

I love how the Amplified Bible describes a blessed life as it relates to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. 

Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous -- with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions)!

I believe this is the blessed life worth pursuing with all of our heart!

Also, please follow our journey as we raise awareness and funding for young girls in Kenya this month.  You can read a story everyday on facebook on my wife's page,  Sharon Ninaber   #28girls

Support our goal of raising $5K here.   https://goye-ministries.com/

 

How To Survive Another Lockdown!

 

My son, Rylan did a report for his studies on the effect of the first lockdown on small business.  At that time 30% of small businesses were not able to adapt or survive.  A survey was recently done with local businesses and of the remaining ones that did survive, 70% felt that were in danger of closing going through this yet again.  It certainly is a difficult season for many and in my business of roofing, it already is a built in down time due to the end of our work season.

The question is how do we survive and stay sane in the midst of the chaos? The number of cases continually is on the rise despite the efforts, masks and everything in place…and oh yeah, there’s another Covid strain and it’s even more contagious! I know the vaccine is coming and there’s a lot of uncertainty there as well as to its timing, effectiveness and what are the long term implications… will I turn into the “walking dead” lol?   It is certainly something we have never seen before and everyone is looking for answers and more importantly when can we get back to a more normal life?

When we go to the Scriptures we can learn a lot from the life of those who lived under similar circumstances, however they found themselves in the wilderness.  The Israelites found themselves in the wilderness for over 40 years when they made their pilgrimage to the Promised Land.  David found himself in the wilderness for over a decade leading up to His time as the King of the Israelites and we also find Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days leading into His public ministry.

At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild. For forty wilderness day and nights he was tested by Satan.  Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.  Mark 1:12,13

I believe there are answers for us and strength to get us through this upcoming month of lockdown and I want to bring encouragement for a good “wilderness of the soul” time in His presence.

I have been reading “Leap Over A Wall” by Eugene Peterson…it just happens to be another thrift store bargain find for me and I want to share insights that have inspired me while reading this book for this time.

Here’s how you know you are in the wilderness – you don’t have any assignments, you don’t have any appointments to keep and you are not in control.  I can honestly say that pretty much sums up my life right now.  When we are in the wilderness we have a choice, we can choose to allow this time to simplify and deepen us or we can live aimlessly and without direction. 

Survival Tip 1   Learn To Be Intentional

If you have ever watched “Survivorman,” you know that the wilderness is a place of pristine beauty and breathtaking discoveries and it is also a place of sinister threats and danger as well.  WE are right now living in this tension of choosing to live in fear or live with courage through this time.  In this chaos of time where each day starts looking more and more the same, we have the opportunity to be intentional or simply to drift.  Drifting is easy and can easily become second nature to us.  Being intentional means I take time to plan, to focus, to pursue direction.  In the midst of all this uncertainty, our feelings erupt in us and cause us to question a lot of things that we did before and why we did them.  I pray that we choose to be even more conscious of the Holy Spirit, more aware of His living presence in us and through us than ever before.  I pray that His calm, transcendent peace will cover our lives with confident hope and wisdom for our present situation.

Survival Tip # 2   Discover The Sacred In The Wild

The wilderness is one of the greatest places of testing for our faith.  The wilderness is untamed and wild.  It isn’t domesticated and come with the comforts of home.  It is in the place that David is hated and hunted like an animal.  It is here that he can choose to curse God or choose to depend on Him like never before.  It is in this place that David chooses the sacred, he chooses the path of holiness, but not in a ritual-like way with priestly clothing.  It is a real earthy spirituality as Eugene described. 

Holy is our best way to describe that life – the human aliveness that comes from dealing with God-Alive.  We’re most human when we deal with God.  Any other way of life leaves us less human, less ourselves.

It was in the wilderness of En-gedi, a rugged place near the Dead Sea known for cliffs, canyons and caves is where David truly experienced and understood the holy presence of God.  It was here that David learned to discover beauty in everything and everywhere.  He had the opportunity to take Saul’s life at a most vulnerable moment, a time when Saul was relieving himself.  Instead, David cuts a piece of his clothing and then when Saul is on the other side of the canyon, he calls out to him, “my Lord, the king”. In 1 Samuel 24, David goes on to show Saul that he is not his enemy and furthermore sees Saul still as the Lord’s anointed.  This is significant because we know through Samuel that the anointing on his life had long left him.  David had an awareness of the sanctity of life that God had given him even though this very person was seeking to destroy his. 

Survival Tip #3  Experience Him As Your Refuge

Do a word study on refuge in Psalms and see how many times it pops up.  An Old Testament scholar,  J. Gamberoni, showed how this word started as a very physical and geographical word.  Refuge was literally understood as a great hiding place.  However in the Psalms it lost all reference to this definition and became an exclusive reference to Yahweh, the personal, covenant keeping God who is Refuge personified.  I pray that more and more that we will recognize God as our refuge in the midst of the upside down, topsy-turvy, turbulent ride that we are on now.   Have you ever been through turbulence on a plane? There have literally been times where the turbulence was so bad on a flight to me that I was praying desperately to God as my refuge.  However, I want to discover Him as my refuge as well in the midst of my everyday life.

Eugene described it this way,

We start with the immediate data of our lives – a messy house, a balky car, a cranky spouse, a recalcitrant child (and on our good days a burst of sunrise, an ecstatic smile, a piercing insight.) We start our being desperate in the wilderness of En-gedi, and before we know it we’re ecstatic in the wilderness of God.

 

The prayer of David traditionally assigned to this time period is Psalm 57.  I leave this with you as your inspiration for yes, another lockdown.  May you and I learn to be intentional, discover the sacred in the midst of this confusion and experience the LORD as our refuge in a new way, a way we would have never discovered before!

Psalm 57 The Message

1-3 Be good to me, God—and now!

    I’ve run to you for dear life.

I’m hiding out under your wings

    until the hurricane blows over.

I call out to High God,

    the God who holds me together.

He sends orders from heaven and saves me,

    he humiliates those who kick me around.

God delivers generous love,

    he makes good on his word.

 

4 I find myself in a pride of lions

    who are wild for a taste of human flesh;

Their teeth are lances and arrows,

    their tongues are sharp daggers.

 

5 Soar high in the skies, O God!

    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

 

6 They booby-trapped my path;

    I thought I was dead and done for.

They dug a mantrap to catch me,

    and fell in headlong themselves.

 

7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,

    ready from head to toe,

Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:

    “Wake up, soul!

Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!

    Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”

 

9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,

    singing your praises in town and country.

The deeper your love, the higher it goes;

    every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

 

11 Soar high in the skies, O God!

    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

A little humor goes a long way too...one of my favorite memes from this year...

Also, Josie cannot be denied...she gives me a lot of great moments...lol

 

Check HERE for the latest deal! You don’t want to miss this!

 

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and oh yeah. Giving Tuesday if you have any spare change…lol  needless to say I think we have it backwards here.  If we are really serious about this, I think Giving Tuesday needs to come first.

I can’t lie, I certainly am one who likes a sweet deal, an amazing find at an unbelievable price, but there is something so rewarding about being part of giving to something that is beyond myself, my family or my own personal gain. I believe it is the very reason that I’m excited to be a Canadian ambassador for Trust Future Uganda.  www.trustfutureuganda.org

The moment I think that I “owe it to myself” or that I have every right to hold on to my own blessings, I miss out!  Living a life of generosity forces me to not hold on to things, but to learn the art of holding everything I have with open hands.

I’ve wanted to share some reflections on the real beauty of contentment.  I had a chuckle when I read the following…  the problem with contentment is that I want more of it J

 Giving is the best place to start if we want to live a life of contentment.  I believe that is why the LORD challenged His people always about starting with giving Him our “firstfruits”, the cream of the crop so to speak. I believe this is the beginning of the pathway to experiencing contentment.   It has been said that contentment is soul rest, but why is it so difficult to really experience.  I remember that even using the word “restlessness” as it related to my aspirations as a pastor and where God was leading me was acknowledged as a good thing.  However, I’m not sure anymore.  When you go back to the very first sin recorded in Genesis, it wasn’t violence, lust, murder or stealing….it was discontentment.  So, if contentment wasn’t even possible in the Garden with perfect conditions, how much more difficult is it for us to live in our world constantly being bombarded by what we don’t have.  It truly is a sickness of the heart.

If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.  C.S. Lewis

At the end of the day, I’ve always known that it is not about what I possess.  My life verse from Matthew 6:21 is found in this paragraph.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

 

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 

Thankfulness also paves the pathway to a life of satisfaction. 

Spiritually speaking we become sick when we start tolerating God’s blessings instead of being thankful  for them.  Gary Thomas

The very lack of thankfulness and forgetfulness for all that the LORD had done led the children of Israel astray

Deuteronomy 8:10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I really work on being mindful here especially with thankfulness from the moment I wake up to even the very ability to do the work that I do.  I find myself in the midst of my work taking time to breathe prayers that are filled with gratitude for everything that I am, that I’m able to do and enjoy.

I learned very early on in my desire to do ministry to take nothing for granted.  I really have seen the providence of the LORD in placing me in the positions that I was called to.  The very fact that my first full time position as a youth pastor had nothing to do with my experience, my resume, my education…(don’t get me wrong, those are all very helpful)  because I never applied for the job!  However, when I was asked to take on the role, I knew I had finally understood that it’s all about God’s timing and not my own.

Inner Peace is experienced through contentment.

A heart at peace gives life to the body,but envy rots the bones.  Proverbs 14:30

Thankfully I can say that I have not struggled with envy.  To be honest, when I look at what other people have, I’m really happy for them.  I’ve been on a lot of roofs and surveyed a lot of properties.  I’ve been able to compliment others on their own personal oasis, but possessions, nahhh, couldn’t be bothered with the stress of worrying about my stuff.  I also realize that is why I gravitate towards older vehicles now… less insurance, less cost, less worry about nicks and scrapes because you know full well someone’s going to ding your door…lol

As my brother Edwin told me, the best way to be happy with my vehicle is to stay off a new car parking lot…lol

Contentment is about resting, about removing ourselves from the comparison game or striving to catch up to the latest designs or technology. It is really finding peace and quiet in the place where God has me right now, in this season, in this very moment.  

I’ve presently unplugged from social media and it’s a good place for me in this time.  I pray that you will find real peace, joy and contentment as we enter this season of advent and the celebration of Jesus becoming the very peace, good will to all people. 

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.  Luke 2:14

I pray that His favor will rest on you as you experience His amazing, faithful love and truth of the realization that He came to be your Savior!  He came to give you forgiveness, hope and fullness of life as you put your faith in His sacrifice for you.

John 10:10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.