21 Days of Listening Week 3: Time to Act

James 2:26 NKJV

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Hey folks!

I hope that you are now getting better at quieting the mind and knowing if what you are hearing is from God.

Now it is time to put God's words into action.

Over the past two weeks has God told you to do some things? Maybe there has been a person ringing in your mind that you need to forgive. Maybe there was a long lost dream of your childhood long forgotten that the Holy Spirit brought back to your memory. Whether it was a dream or forgiveness or something that didn't make sense, God definitely put some actions on your heart.

These actions are what will help us move in the direction that God wants us to go.

Take some time to look at your notes for the last two weeks or write down all that you can remember God telling you to do.

This is your plan of action.

Put them in order from easiest to hardest and get started! Over the course of this week I'll give you some examples of people who did what God told them to do and the amazing things that happened as a result of daring to obey.

Acting in agreement with God will change your life. 

To be Rich and Poor: Part 1

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. – Luke 16:19-21


Today’s Reading: Luke 16:19-31


When I went to Ralph’s the other day I saw a woman with a cane positioned right by the door.

“Uh oh, I know what’s about to happen… She’s going to ask me for money” was my immediate thought.

God! Show Yourself!

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and our daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. – Joel 2:28


Today’s Reading: Joel 1-3; Revelation 5


A few months ago I was talking to a friend of mine about God and it was pretty clear that he wasn’t so sure about this whole God thing. We were talking about the state of the world and how there are so many terrible things going on, and he came to the conclusion that

Refresh! 40 Days of Water

What's up folks?

A few folks and I on the A Convo With God facebook group decided that we are going to do a water fast for 40 days starting Monday August 15th!

Don’t be scurrrrred. We’re going to eat food as well.

Here are the rules.

Drink Water.

Don’t drink anything else

That’s it!

The Questions...

“It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” – Daniel 12:7-8


Today’s Reading: Daniel 11-12; Jude


“What will the outcome of all this be?”

If only I had a dollar for every time that I have asked that question. I’d be somewhere in Brazil right now sitting on the beach, drinking a caipirinha trying to decide between writing and chillin’ as the two best options for how to spend the rest of my afternoon.

Unfortunately asking these kinds of questions has not netted me free greenback manna from the sky but in all truth it has given me something even more valuable.

Peace.

Next Level Spiritual Gangstas

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

Today’s Reading: Daniel 3-4; 1 John 5

Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego were spiritual gangstas.

Period.

I remember hearing this story as a kid and the focus was on how they were thrown into the furnace and made it out alive because they were saved by God and their faith. But now that I’m an adult you know what the coldest part of this story is to me?

The Walk part 1: It's About Relationship

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1

I’ve heard some folks say that Christianity can be hypocritical. That the whole forgiveness thing means that Christians can just act a fool and do what they want and then go to church and pray for forgiveness. How does this work? Why do Christians believe that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions?

Celestial Naysayers

…Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 2 Peter 2:10-12

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 37-39; 2 Peter 2

The more and more that I think about it, the more I don’t understand people who are quick to speak badly of God.

We're Still Here... Whew!!

Dear God,

Well what do you know… May 21^st came and went and we are still here.

Who’d a thunk it?

I know that Jesus himself said that no one would know the day or time except for you so I wasn’t trippin on May 21^st being the last day. After all, if someone is saying that they know when the last day will come then it is pretty much a guarantee that that day will not be the one.

Sorry Ezekiel... That Wasn't Cool

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears.  Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”

 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. Ezekiel 24:15-18

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 24-26; 1 Peter 2

What up Ezekiel?

So I gotta say… this isn’t cool man. Of all the prophets so far you seem to have gotten it the worst

Faith is a Tricky Thing

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1: 8-9

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 22-23; 1 Peter 1

Faith is a fascinating thing to me. I have talked to many people about what I believe and when I explain the whole death and resurrection thing to folks I can see that glazed look pass over their eyes. After all, it is a pretty fantastic tale.

But that got me thinking. I wonder if faith in Jesus is harder for those of us who never saw Him in the flesh.

Stop Saying that You're Broke

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9-12

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 16-17; James 3

Words are powerful. They have the power to create and destroy.

This is something that I need to be more mindful of.

Faithful Deeds Change Lives

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. - From James 2:14-26

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 14-15; James 2

I’m in this time of my life where I am really learning the importance of faithful action in a practical way. Sure, I grew up with the knowledge that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. My parents taught me to keep asking seeking and knocking, that if I asked for something and believed I would receive it, then I would receive it. They also taught me to work hard and do all that I can do to get what I want.

All that is fine and dandy in theory… It sounds beautiful and nice, like a ray of sunshine. But what happens when you get to the real world?

The Past Inspires A New Tomorrow



Godfather of Soul



Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – Hebrews 13:7-8





Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 8-10; Hebrews 13







As a kid I remember hearing this verse all the time:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8

But never was it presented to me in the context of the verse that comes before it; remembering our leaders.

Faith Exists... Literally.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19

Several years ago there was this whole craze around “The Secret”. The basic idea was that there was this secret that successful people knew that no one else knew. It was that faith through positive thinking could manifest things in the real world.

The Good Fight

The things of God can sound like foolishness to man, but it is in trusting that foolishness that we open the door for God's miracles to work in our lives.

God has to be something we are willing to fight for. The battle is waged within, won within, and that victory is confirmed by the love that we share with the world.

Knowing God

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
   after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
   and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
   and they will be my people. 

No longer will they teach their neighbor,
   or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
   and will remember their sins no more.” – Hebrews 8:10-12

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 50: Hebrews 8

Knowing God. That’s what it is all about.

Kung Fu Blessings

Why will your warriors be laid low? They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down. – Jeremiah 46:15

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 46-47; Hebrews 6

Ummm… so it’s pretty easy to see what happens when you go against God.

You get pushed down.

Verses like this are funny to me.

Courageous Obedience

 

He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’ – Jeremiah 42:9-12

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 40-42; Hebrews 4

Sometimes obedience isn’t an easy thing. Sure, it sounds great when we think about the things that God tells us when it comes to pursuing our dreams. It is awesome to think about how our obedience can lead to us reaping rewards that we have always dreamed about.

But what if those same tasks that God has given us cause us to confront things that we don’t want to see?

Obedience is Freedom

King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. – Jeremiah 38: 19-20

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 37-39; Hebrews 3

Obedience is the path to freedom.