Tag Archives: God

Gifting God

2015-11-06 11.05.36“Take the scissors and open the blades this much. Then push against the wrapping paper.” The shears quickly cut the paper.

That was my mom teaching me how to wrap a present. Whether it was socks, a boxed tie, a belt or some unusually shaped toy for a brother or sister. (Last night I showed my grandson, Jacob, some of the same techniques.) Gift wrapping was about the most fun of the season after the tree was up and in place.

Both my mom and my dad taught us the value of doing something well when it came to Christmas presents. Wrapping presents often took hours. Scissors, tape, ribbon and paper. They taught us how to curl ribbons and make beautiful bows. How to hide the cute ends and square packages.

The wrapped packages were pieces of art.

We would make little cards of scraps of wrapping paper. Little rhymes would be used to “suggest” what was inside. (Don’t worry about the weather,for this is better than leather.)

People were devoted to the process of making something better. Expressing oodles of love and care. Blessing one another.

My folks would go to stores where many of them would gift wrap as a service. Beautiful boxes, colorful papers and artsy bows, couple with a gorgeous card. (You had the sizzle and the steak and there was atmosphere too!)

There were no bags. Few gift cards. As a matter fact, the only thing a bag was used for was to get packages from one place to another.

I know it is Christmas and the thoughts are in your mind.

It would be a good Christmas story.

But as I pondered it a few days ago, I thought about our devotion to Christ. Often in our walk with Jesus people fizzle out, get bored, becoming less enthusiastic. (Still saved, just not having fun.)

It is not a criticism but more of an observation. Why does this happen? Because often we forget two things. One is, He is the source of life. Two is, we get allow ourselves to get caught up in other things. We tend to forget “customer service”. We skip the devotion.  We miss the special things we once did.

Now, we look to give God “gift cards” and “presents” tossed in a bag.

Something needs to change.

Whether it is cooking or wrapping presents if it is not bringing you joy, it is not the project, chore or task, but most likely it is the times missed out on.

But, I am so busy!!!

You can choose to be offended, feel guilty or shout “stop”, but busyness coupled with no joy is often the signpost of you forgot something.

In Him, you can find joy doing dishes. Too many are forgetting the simple fact that He is life. In Him we have life. Through Him we have life.

Dolly Parton — “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

I encourage you to recollect the things that brought you joy. Maybe Christmas is your jump start.

The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things.

Thomas S. Monson

Who’s Side Are We On?

leejohndrowteamPush. Pull. Get what you want. Hurt people in the process.

James 4:1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. Continue reading Who’s Side Are We On?

Looking For God In All The Wrong Places

brightThis morning I was pondering a string of posts friends had put on Facebook about Bible school. Their thinking at this stage of the game and such. Value and such. I was more the Dr. Seuss kind of guy when it came to school. “Why fit in if you were made to stand out.” (I did try. Only yesterday I was asked why I never went to business school. The answer is simply, I am a terrible student. I can ace a test, get my home work done and race through the books but the physical “school” is virtually impossible for me.) But this is not about school or Bible school or any thing of the sort. Just the seed that was sown in my vivid imagination following some words I had heard earlier. (“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.” Dr. Seuss.  I love Dr. Seuss. I have 3 series of childrens’ books I would love to write if I had the time!) Continue reading Looking For God In All The Wrong Places

22 Years And Counting

leejohndrowteamToday my wife and I will celebrate 22 years of marriage. 5 kids (His and hers-no ours…) and 7 grandchildren we made it this far.

A lot of people who bet against us, lost. Our own community back then,  on so many levels turned against us. We had to figure out a lot of things on our own. For each us, both had gone through not one, but two failed marriages. We each knew the pain of divorce and children living apart. Continue reading 22 Years And Counting

Someone Had An Idea For A Garden

leejohndrowteamContinuing on with the “garden series”. Thank you so much for the comments and thought process you have shared. To read others, simply click the “garden” category at the top.

To have an garden, you have to have an idea for it first. And before any garden can be put in place, someone has to have an “idea” for garden. Now God was the original “I want a garden” someone. One day (Well, before time was “real” …) God decided He would create a garden called Eden. And in that garden He had a plan for people, specifically Adam and Eve. A garden with people. He had an idea for it. Continue reading Someone Had An Idea For A Garden

Needing The WOW of God!

threadThe feet dangled over the edge. Below in the darkness, swirled rushing waters. Is there a God he thought as he inched forward.

The car veered sharply to the right to avoid the large animal. At that moment everything went in to slow motion as the vehicle took on a life of its own.

Is there a “wow” of God for them? For others?  Our lives are often caught up in a pathway that allows us to encounter people, sometimes at their lowest points. I certainly have been around my share of people who had come to their last steps.

When I perhaps 9 years old I delivered newspapers with a man. We would spend 2-3 hours in this large vehicle, going down roads, jockeying from one side of the road to another, each of us placing newspapers in waiting newspaper tubes. One of the last houses we could do each day would take us by one of the cemeteries in our town. The house right before it had a large German Shepherd that would race towards me as I opened the mailbox each day. The dog was big and it was dark that winter afternoon. As the box closed I saw a car with an interior light ahead. The man I worked with said to me “stay here.” He walked over to the car and saw the note. The man had killed himself.

I find an increasing number of people calling out to God to “just take them home” as the pain is too much. The loss too great. I get it. In my early years as a believer I had lost much though I had gained everything. Depression over my past burdened me. I had “tried” I thought. “Done everything” I was sure, but still I was plagued.

Finally a situation out of my control occurred in my life. I could not do this anymore, I thought. I went out to the garage and began to plot my demise. Life had spiraled out of control for me. My best was not enough.

I needed the WOW of God. Adding insult to injury was an accident where I was hit by a taxi cab. Now walking was painful. “Where are you God?” I wanted God to “fix it.”

Where is the boat? Where is the life preserver?

As the snow covers the darkness of the ground and brings beauty in a wondrous way to the city about me today, I think WOW! Beautiful. Oh, I know it is only temporary. I understand it is “not needed”, but it changes the look, the appearance of things.

What would the “wow” of God look like for you? What would it change? Anyone who has read my work knows I have experienced powerful encounters with God. Paradigm changing, life changing encounters. Yet, today, like many I need a “wow” of God. I am not suggesting we try to move “mountaintop to mountaintop” enduring the valleys of time in between. I am not thinking we need to go event to event, but maybe just listen for the “still small voice.” What we do in between in many regards is “up to us”.

Do not think I am talking against visitations or encounters or moves of God. I am not. I am speaking of avoiding the discouragement that has the ability to rear its ugly head when it is not happening. When it is not a powerful move and it is hard. Last week I saw the “provision” of God in a dream. So real, I got up and began to look for it. I have not found what was seen in the dream, but I have not given up.

I have had this thought lately that people need to know others are on their team, caring about them, praying for them. Each time I think of the religious persecution endured by so many, I wonder, what are their thoughts while they sit in prisons. Do they believe people remember their names, their families, their values?

One of the greatest values I see on the horizon is the “wow” of God looking like you or appearing through me.

I was thinking yesterday in my “quiet” time some of the following.

Many folks know me. But it is but a few that know the things I go through. I think Jesus went through something similar. Many knew His name. Knew “Him”. But how many allowed His touch, His life to permeate their being?

When you go through a struggle, sometimes you just don’t know. I am sure the 12 disciples found it easy to get frustrated with the people who “pulled” in Jesus. But how much more concerned were the even smaller inner circle of perhaps 2-3? Or John? They knew.

Discouragement has the ability to undermine you when you least expect it. The more I come to know, understand and labor in my faith to enter His rest, the less I am “discouraged” about. I find the scuffs of life disappear and have less value or impact upon my life.

woodchuckMany years ago I had a garden and a woodchuck was working hard to get first dibs on my vegetables. I did something incredibly dumb (I was but a young boy!) and despite my best efforts he prevailed. He kept coming back.

Not everything that would hinder you or beset you “disappears”. Sometimes it does but not always. Not necessarily today. I remember many years ago a commercial series that ran by Fedex. One of their lines was “when it absolutely, positively has to be there.” (The video is pretty funny.) What is it you need now?

Let us begin to encourage one another in the “now’s and wow’s of God.” I have many friends who need miracles. Some have been contending. Holding on. Sitting on the edge of their “window ledge” waiting for God to move. But I submit we are the “moving” of God here on earth. (Sometimes what we call sovereign is simply us “wrapping our brain around it”!)

Today is your day. How do I know? God said so! You are postured for a miracle because you are His. His delight. Proverbs 8:30 says “Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, “

owlsaveToday is a day of rejoicing. Begin to rejoice and be glad in it. He trusts you. He trusts me. Let us not get caught up in the despair but let us be caught up in Him.

Even as I finish this, I saw a large owl swooping out of the skies, moving through the trees, chasing after the small animal over the snow covered landscape. And just as it looked like “all was over” I saw a large hand deliver the small animal out of the way. The owl never veered or swerved, but it was if he “expected” it.

God is delivering you today!

 

God Loves You A Lot!

Yesterday while walking I was meditating about the Lord and the fact that He loves me. I have so many friends that struggle with that. They cannot conceive that the maker of the universe would love them.

Last night I was trying to help a young mom work through some of the more difficult times that she had gone through. She suffered through shame and guilt as the result of these times. I was going back and forth with her over the idea that God REALLY loves her. A well-meaning friend had convinced her she deserved all the bad things and that as long as everyone else would be okay she would walk through it. Continue reading God Loves You A Lot!

A Transformation of Men is Coming

My dad and me
My dad and me

A Dad

Over the last few weeks I have had this “thing” on my mind about being a dad. What is the value of a dad? How can one help? What do we do with this currently “dadless” generation? So many young people are running around without dads or dads that left mom hanging to struggle in the realms of finance and support.

In full disclosure at one point I was that dad. After the loss of my first marriage, I moved on, having two more children. A second divorce came not long after. I now had child support to pay to two ex-wives and three children. But the Lord entered my life and I saw the need to become more responsible not just financially but to provide support emotionally, spiritually and with physical things like warm housing, food and peace. Paying child support, undergirding two step children and maintaining life was not easy but I made it. At the end of “child support” season I had letters from my ex-wives thanking me for being the man I was.

Last night some of this topic was coming up in our prayer time but the Lord has been speaking to me about it for a long time. Over the years of ministry I faced many challenges with a variety of folks in our church fellowships. They included:

  • Sons with no dads
  • Daughters with no dads
  • One parent households of both sides
  • Broken parents left behind
  • Children with lopsided understanding of family
  • Anger, frustration, hurt, pain and more.

I could and have gone off on wayward parents of children who have left them empty handed, broken and busted. Today is not that day. Today is a new day and I see new focus on men and in particular, dads. Grace tells me God believes in reconciliation and restoration of all things. He also tells me one of our “jobs” is to redeem the time. And so I am moving towards that.

What I see happening….

Years ago, in a small Baptist church I prophesied that when the men dance the church would change. Only days later the Toronto outpouring began and men danced. The last few weeks (September of 2013) I have felt the church’s unprecedented growth will be shaped by men understanding who God has called them to be.

I see that the following are readying to change.

  • Men will act more like God than ever before towards their wives, children, parents, church family, friends and places of business.
  • Men will step up to the plate in leading the next move of grace across the land.
  • Husbands will learn the ways of the Lord towards their wives with grace and love.
  • Fathers will be fathers as the Father is, to their children. Providing for their children’s emotional, physical and financial needs from a Dad.
  • Godly men will help children of broken homes in healthy, godly ways.
  • Young men without fathers will turn to “fathers in the faith” to learn.
  • Young women will seek out “mothers in the faith” to learn.
  • Single parents will see God as their supply, not racing for more brokenness.

We are about to see some amazing things amongst men in this land. Men stepping into place. Balanced in all things of God.

I suspect that young men are going to need help here. Young women and young men will have questions. Older men will question how they plug in.

Passing the baton
Passing the baton

Malachi 4:6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers

Luke 1:17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
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How Big Is Your God? His Kindness Leads To Repentance

Just a thought?
Just a thought?

I think it is funny that so many are willing to say “I can’t do it your way” but when provoked as to what their way is, have no place to point to, no foundation to move from.

Over the years I have watched many who want to tell me what they are “unable” to do while setting stagnant. Unmoved. Let me help you with a few things. First “my way” was never my way. I was not looking for God and I was convinced He was not looking for me. Second His way still isn’t “my way.” I am consistently finding He loves me so much that He will not leave me here and delights in moving me more His way. Continue reading How Big Is Your God? His Kindness Leads To Repentance