21 Days of Silence Day 10: We are Blessed

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. - Ephesians 1:3

Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount talking about those who are blessed. 


When we go down the list it seems quite striking. I don't think that I'm the only one who has thought to themselves "am I any of those people that Jesus called blessed?"


Under our own power of course we fall short, but with God's help we become exactly who God always intended us to be. We are transformed by faith. 


Sometimes people look at new Christians with frustration and disdain. How can this person be a Christian when they are still acting this way or doing the same things they did before. Often times the enemy tries to whisper these things to us in our quiet time as well. He will try to highlight our shortcomings and suggest that they define who we are. 


We are not what we have done in the past, we are what we believe. 


It is what we believe today that shapes our tomorrow. So what happens if we mess up today? That's what Jesus is for. His sacrifice gave us the grace that we need to become brand new. 


Jesus fills the gap between our imperfection and God's perfect standard. 


So if during your quiet time you hear bad thoughts about yourself do not receive them! God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. And the Holy Spirit will work with us here in the world to walk in the fullness of our new, blessed nature. 

21 Days of Silence Day 9: Who are We?

Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This is who Jesus says we are. We are the light of the world. Through our love we shine light in the darkness of a world filled with selfishness.

In my quiet time sometimes I hear the contrary. My mind wanders to the bad things I have done and then I hear that I am not worthy, not good enough or even that I am a bad person.

If Jesus says that we are the light of the world then how can what my mind says be true?

It is not.

This is the first step in our discernment. We have to know that we are the light of the world, not because we are perfect but because God is with us providing the fuel for that light.

The light that others see is the Holy Spirit moving in our lives.

So as you continue to work on being silent remember this fact. And when you hear ideas that try to beat down your self esteem know that they do not come from God.

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

21 Days of Silence Week 2: Discernment

Hey everyone!

If you are still with me after the challenge of quieting the mind then bravo!

If not it's OK. We have 14 more days to grow together.

So now we will try to answer a question that I'm sure you have been asking yourself for the last week.

Where are all of these voices coming from that are in my head?

Well there are three simple answers. All of that stuff jumbling around in your mind is either from your own head, from God, or from the devil.

Yes it is that simple and no that is not crazy.

The important thing to understand is what is from God vs. what is not from God. We can understand this by understanding the heart of God through the scripture.

So for the rest of this week we will continue to read from Matthew 5-7. There is much more to the heart of God but Jesus summarizes it well here.

In short, everything rooted in loving God and others comes from God; everything else is not from God.

With God there is no room for selfishness.

So during your quiet time try to think about the things that cross your mind. Do they make you afraid? Do they focus you on what you lack or what someone else has? Are you thinking about how you can be better to others?

In the next seven days the Holy Spirit will make himself clear. You will experience His love like never before.

Start with at least five minutes and let's see where God takes us.

21 Days of Silence Day 7: Peacemakers

During my quiet time when I woke up I heard nothing, absolutely nothing at all.

So, I got up and got ready for this convention that I am going to pray at today and then headed down to get a quick bite to eat.

So here I am now waiting for my three egg omelet and I hear the Holy Spirit tell me to go to Matthew 5. So I go and start reading, waiting for the spark that I've grown accustomed to when God wants to show me something.

And it came when I read this:

Matthew 5:9 NKJV
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

This is a verse that I have read many many times. I've always seen it as pretty straight forward.

Today I FELT the verse for the first time.

I still feel it as I am typing. I feel how much it grieves God to see us in so much conflict.

All over the world wars are being waged. Some of these wars are physical involving guns and rape and death. Others are in our homes using equally damaging psychological weapons. All of them affect our spirits... the true battlefield from where all conflict originates.

So why are peacemakers so important? True peacemakers not only stop physical wars but they also minister to our spirits. They appeal to the highest aspirations of the human experience.

Peacemakers challenge us to be Christlike and show us the path to reach that destination.

Please pray for the peacemakers in your life and ask God in your quiet time how you can be one of his peace makers.

How can we build instead of destroy?

The Spark

Some people have asked me "how does God speak to you? How do you know that it is God?"

One way that I experience God is what I call "The Spark".

Have you ever been reading something or watching a program or even just had a conversation when all of the sudden something triggers a jolt of energy within you? Maybe that jolt comes in the form of an idea or a feeling but either way that feeling is enough to momentarily stop you in your tracks.

Then we have a decision to make. Will we ignore the spark or ride the wave that it triggered within us?

In the past I used to ignore it. After all I have a lot of random thoughts swimming in my brain.

But then something interesting happened. I realized that I would get these same sparks when I read the Bible.

The more that I read the Bible the more often I'd have these triggers of inspiration. It was as if the Holy Spirit used my time in the Word to train me to see the genius he wanted to unlock within me.

The Holy Spirit has shown me that He is often the author of those sparks. We know that it is Him when it is in line with Jesus' message.

If you don't know what that message is try reading Matthew chapters 5-7. Read it through and I bet you will experience that spark at least once before you get to the end.