Category Archives: About Dreaming

May20

Again I say

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Teri

Teri curly - sm

I’ve been busy. Too busy to do much more than what is needed. Can I get a witness?

I’ve also been a bit down. (See last post.) Anyone else?

I find there is a correlation between the two… 

disappointment pieIt’s a pretty easy recipe:

  1. Start with a whopping helping of too much on my plate
  2. Add a cup of expecting too much
  3. Toss in three tablespoons of neglecting to take care of myself
  4. Kneed it together into a big glob,
  5. Cook it at 450 degrees for a few days and…
  6. POOF - pull out a delectable dish of disappointment.

**I’m sure I just heard a “yes and oh yeah” from out there.**

You know what?

It’s not cutting as deep as it used to. It’s not making me stumble so profoundly. The discouragement is looking more like a warning signal that I’m overdoing rather than a statement about my ability to manage life

I’m learning…I’m growing…I’m being changed a little bit at a time.

This is the journey. This is what it looks like. Bit by bit, day by day, prayer by prayer we grow.

And now we’ve come to the last requirement for experiencing more in our relationship with Christ – STICK TO IT.

(The first two are passion and listening.)

I can’t tell you how many times disappointment has dogged me. How many times have I let it steal purpose right out of my heart? I’d probably get discouraged if I thought about it too long.

If we passionately surrender our lives to Jesus’ leadership, and if we truly ask, seek, and listen, then we will experience more. THEN, we do it again the next day and the next and the next one after that.

We fall, we get up. We stumble backward, we shift our weight forward. We stop, we snap our suspenders and get our feet moving again. We take a wrong turn, we go back and make the right one.

All the while, God is there. He strengthens us with the promises of his word. He helps us with his presence, encourages us through others. And he transforms us while we walk it out.

I’ve found a tool that delete-bigreally helps me stick to it. I heard it on a podcast from YWAM.

They call it the 4 R’s. Repent, Rebuke, Receive, Renew.

So, when I stumble, fall, stop, or whatever (which is everyday by the way) – I do the 4 R’s:

REPENT- I find myself repenting of my distrust more times than not. Times I feel I can do a better job at being God than God can. Anyone?

Lord, I repent of my distrust of you. I’m sorry for taking control of the life I gave to you.

REBUKE – Tell the enemy off who would come to steal, kill, and destroy.

I rebuke my enemy who would steal the abundant life from me that Jesus so freely gives. I rebuke you for telling me I can’t trust God! Get away from me in the name of Jesus!

**If we stop there, we can become the victims of shame and guilt. We need to go deeper… **

RECEIVE – We need to acknowledge that we have been forgiven – that the debt is already paid for.

Jesus, I receive your forgiveness completely. I receive your love and mercy. And I freely forgive myself.

RENEW – You need to replace the lie with the truth in order to really get the full benefit of your salvation.

I renew my mind to the truth that you, God, have plans to prosper me and not to harm me. That you are a good, good God and everything you allow in my life is to bring redemption and beauty and transformation. I surrender to your loving hands. I trust you.

Then PRESS DELETE and keep going. Do not linger on it, just keep pressing forward.

It doesn’t take long to do, but since I started using this tool, I’ve found more freedom than ever before. It’s simple to use but powerful in results.

Even our feeble attempts will help.

God isn’t interested in our perfect performance.
He wants our passion (heart, mind, soul, strength) in its imperfect form.

 

That’s kind of the point.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

May10

Ain’t Pretending

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Teri

 ”None of us can approach a serious study and consideration of the eternal nature and person of Jesus Christ without sensing and confessing our complete inadequacy in the face of the divine revelation.”  A. W. Tozer

(You Teri curly - smmight have guessed I’ve been reading a lot of Tozer lately.)

There are a few, simple maxims I use to help guide me.

One of those is, “I ain’t a gonna pretend to be something I ain’t.” Although it’s horrific grammar, it is good sense. One of the many ways we mess up following “the way” of Jesus is when we pretend we have it all together.

Having permission to **not** have it all together
is kinda the point of the gospel.

My little, grammatically incorrect ditty reminds me that I don’t want to be the type of Christian who stands beside the cross and says, “Look at me. I wish you all were as pious as me.” Aaaaaa…no.

I want to be a follower who kneels before the cross and professes, “Come on – there’s room! Join me! If Jesus can save a wretch like me, he sure has you covered.”

tiredanimals01So, I’m going to live one of my wretch moments right here in front of you…ready?

I’m tired. I confess, I am weary.

Today, this Christian walk thing seems like a burden, a great weight I can’t seem to lift.

Today, letting God lead feels a whole lot like death. It feels like God is relentless attacking every single stinking remnant of selfish ambition, desire, and pride inside of me.

You know, if I’m not mistaken, I think He is intent on destroying EVERYTHING in me that is not like Jesus.

I mean, seriously!

I like food. I really, really like it. It comforts me. It soothes me when I’m feeling down. It brings me up, so much in fact, that I take second helpings. Okay, thirds sometimes, but only once in awhile. I’m not nearly the overeater that most American’s are.

I think God is intent on me learning **gasp** moderation! Seems like he thinks I run to food for comfort a bit too much. It’s like He thinks it’s damaging this masterpiece of a temple he created as well as causing some serious self-loathing injuries to my soul. I even think that the God of the universe has the audacity to think that I should run to Him for comfort.

Huh…okay…well, I can see His point. BUT…

What about the patience thing? I mean, I’ve been holding out for God to make good on a few promises He made years ago. How long must I wait? I’ve been good, obedient, patient. I’ve gone above and beyond, if you ask me. And…still waiting…clock ticking…waiting…when, Lord, when? I mean, I’ve been more faithful and patient than most Christians. I deserve a break, right?

checklistAm I doing this Christian thing wrong? Maybe I’m messing up something that’s making God hold back his blessing? Just tell me how to do it right. Give me the checklist of dos and don’ts, then I got this thing nailed!

Oh yeah…God’s been speaking oodles to me about the performance driven faith thing that seems to permeate every fiber of my being. **deep sigh** If only I could be more like Beth Moore.

And then there’s that comparison thing.

**** pause for contemplation ****

Geez…you’d think He was doing spiritual surgery or something.

Did I say that I was weary?

I’m thinking it’s easier to pretend that everything-is-oh-so-cool and that I believe God’s main gig is to ensure I’m happy, healthy, and wealthy. It’s boring, unfulfilling, and oozing with silent shame – I’ll give you that. But, easier than having every idol I’ve hung my hope on blasted into bits.

(Am I comparing again?)

I’m a gleaming ray of sunshine, aren’t I? (The good news – the times I feel like this are becoming less often and don’t last as long.)

When I feel like this there is only one place that really brings the comfort that matters.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
  my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6

All I gotta say is, “There’s room.”

May6

Shhhh….

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Teri

Teri curly - sm

There is more to being a Christ-follower than head knowledge, doing certain things and not others, and muscling our way to be a good Christian.

There is a thriving, abundant, and beautiful relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. You can read more here.

We’re talking about one of the crucial elements of cultivating that type of relationship; listening. I addressed some foundational principles here.

Want to hear from God? I mean, do you really want to hear from God? Really, really?

First, you need to ask.

The best news is He wants you to learn to hear from Him. He wants you to come close. He wants you to know Him. And He wants you to ask Him to help.

Helping people who earnestly seek and try to experience more of Jesus
is one of the specialties of the Holy Spirit.

So, pray, beg, plead for God to help you hear Him.

Second, you need to listen. Be quiet. Practice active listening. Shut the trap and open the ears. Listen to understand not to be understood.

Yep, the same principles that apply to being a good listener to people are the some of the very same principles to use when listening to God. Huh. Imagine that.

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

You say, “How do you do that?”

Okay. Take this scripture passage. Read it. Ask God to teach you what it means through His Spirit. Ask Him to still your mind. Ask Him to open your ears and heart to His truth. Read it again slowly. Then be quiet.

Shhhh… Listen….

If your mind starts its desperate search for entertainment, like so many of our minds do, stop it and get back to active listening.

American minds are sooooooooo OVERSTIMULATED. How long can you go without looking at your phone? How long can you go in silence before you turn on the TV or pull out your iPad? How much silence do you allow in your conversations before filling it with meaningless dribble? How long do you go between checking Facebook?

My friends, God is much more patient than we are. He is timeless. He is not distracted. He speaks, but not at our pace.

When your mind wanders, read a line of scripture, chew on it, mull over it, highlight words that stick out to you, ask God to reveal His truth, then…

Shhhh…. Again I say, listen…

Oh, yeah. Turn off the TV. and your iPod. Turn your focus solely on Jesus Christ and His truth and leave space for Him to talk to you.

You say, “I can’t do it!”

Most people can’t, at least not the first few hundred times they try.

Shhhh…It’s okay…be still…stick with it…you’ll get it..Shhhh…

There is no perfect formula. The way I hear from the Lord might not be the way you best hear from Him. God did that on purpose – so you would call on Him to help and not some pastor, blog, or book.

The God of the universe wants to help you. He wants you to have a vibrant relationship with Him. He wants you to experience more.

So open his Word, read it asking and expecting the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth, turn off the world and focus on Him, then listen. And when you don’t hear anything, or at least you don’t know if you heard anything, try it again tomorrow and the next and the next and the next.

A year from now, you will be much better at hearing from God. And in ten years, you will be even better still.

Hearing from God is not easy. But it is OH SO worth it.

Now, go practice…shhhhh...

Apr29

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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Teri

Teri in the Tetons

(This post is a bit longer than most. It will be the only one this week so you can chew on it awhile.)

A few posts ago, I contended that our responsibility in walking in deeper relationship with Jesus is three-fold:

  1. SURRENDER
  2. LISTEN
  3. KEEP GOING

I talked about surrender here and here and here.

Today, we’ll talk about listening. So, listen up.

…pregnant pause…

Did you hear anything?

For most of us, we hear stuff all the time; our own voice and the voice of our critics in our heads, the sound of the TV in the background, our phones chiming at us because they want our attention, the whir of the washing machine and refrigerator, the kids yelling in the backyard, and that annoying neighborhood dog that yaps at every person who passes by and sometimes at the wind blowing in the trees.

Is this your world?

There is something so much more. You can hear God’s gentle voice in your heart. You can know his specific leading for your life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

There are some who believe the only way we can hear God is through the Holy Scriptures; that the Bible is all we ever need.

I wholeheartedly agree that the Scriptures are best way to hear God. Yes. I’m all over that. I adore His Word. I drink it in, marinate in it, chew on it, and get the most beautiful understanding from it. I pray I never, ever, stray from God’s Word. I pray my fervor for His mighty Word never lessens.

Yet, it doesn’t always help me when I want to know if I should accept a job or not. Or if I should move from Des Moines to Tampa. Or for certain financial decisions.

Frankly, I would rather depend on Holy Inspiration than my own common sense for such decisions.

I believe it takes both the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to walk in all truth. I think both must be working in tandem; one flowing to the other and back in perfect, divine, harmony to worship in spirit and truth.

I’m not a theologian, but if all we need is the Bible why did Jesus give us His Holy Spirit? Why would we need anything but our own logic and knowledge of his Scriptures? Why did Jesus give us a living helper to reside within us?

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26

I believe we can hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit. More than likely, it will never be an audible voice others can hear. It will be something within you…a stirring, a conviction, a urging, an image, a revelation…something that compels you in the deepest places in your spirit. Something that smacks of the divine that makes you know that God is who he says he is.

“Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” Psalm 42″7

Have you ever felt a strong conviction to pray for someone? Or a gentle urging to do something nice for a total stranger? Or a uncommon peace with a certain decision that maybe wasn’t the most logical?

I believe those are just a small sampling of what we can experience when the Holy Spirit speaks. And it will never be contrary to His Word. Both will always be in perfect unison.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

I also believe that God actually WANTS to talk with us. He wants more than just a one-way dialog. He longs for us to really know Him, not just know about Him. You can’t do that without deep, intimate, and frequent interactions.

I even contend God wants to be involved with **gasp** daily decisions and daily interactions. Every decision, situation, and interaction offers a chance for God to show His glory, grace, love, and power. I believe God wants us to learn to dialog with Him so that He becomes real and tangible in and through us.

I think the way, the truth, and the life is something more
than just words on a page that Christians
try to practice under their own power.

I heard an interview once with Beth Moore, she said she imagines that the same Word God breathed into existence still has his breath flowing from it. She said that she opens the Scriptures expecting to feel His very breath on her face. She wants to experience Jesus, not just read about Him.

I believe the Scriptures point us to Jesus Christ, they speak of who God is. The Holy Spirit points us to the author, the Living Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

When we know Him intimately, we are transformed. We are healed, rescued, redeemed, restored, and that kind of love changes us and the world around us.

I know I have a pretty feeble mind, but isn’t that the Living Word being active in and through our lives? 

“The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” A. W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God

What are you hearing?

(Next post, we’ll talk about intentional ways to listen…)

Apr25

Passion Isn’t Lacking In America

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Teri

CAM00022

I know I’m hitting the “passion” drum pretty hard. I also know the passionate pursuit of Jesus opens the door to receiving more.

God is not going to force us. He will wait patiently, calling to us, wooing us to him, and wait some more until we ask. We have to want to seek. We have to want to knock. The louder we knock, the more committed we are, the wider the door swings open.

Passion isn’t lacking in America. I see it at sporting events, at concerts, at political conventions, in heated debates on Facebook. I see it in the the way we choose cars and big screen T.Vs at Best Buy. I see it in our love of Downtown Abbey. In how we yell for our kids at their baseball games. In the way we worship and serve on Sundays. I’m not saying those things are bad.

I am saying most of us have passion toward something. I am saying passion is God-given and natural.

I am suggesting the true and ultimate passion in the inner core of our being is to know and love Jesus.

I am suggesting that “The Way” is a passionate pursuit of anything
that draws us closer to Jesus and a reckless abandonment
of anything that draws us from him.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Does that mean I have to give up Downtown Abbey? Nope. Not unless it draws you away from Jesus.

My fav show right now is Sherlock (on BBC). When I watch it, I can’t help but think, “Lord God, you created brilliant people.” I can watch it and many other shows and see Jesus in them and through them.

sky-flower1-300x225However, when I watch a show where romance and casual sex collide, it does dark things to my heart. I’m out.

Everyone is different. What draws me to Christ might not draw you to him. I’m kinda a tree-hugger. Nature does splendid things to my heart and brings me life. It comes to others more in their relationships, in seeing a child’s wonder, in a hug.

Until we get our passions in line with how God created us in our inner core, we won’t be satisfied.

Everything in our lives should point us to Christ, and nothing should pull us away.

Now, that’s true passion…

You say, “I can’t do that!” You’re right. But, the Holy Spirit within us can and is passionate about helping us.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

I’ll leave you with another “more” passage:

“But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

Nothing compares to knowing and loving Jesus. Nothing we can conceive. Nothing we can do. Nothing we can experience.

How much do you want to experience “more” of Jesus in and through your life?

The first step to “more” is to want it passionately.

Apr22

Are These People Crazy?!

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Teri

Teri in the Tetons

I’ve been stuck on the topic of passionate surrender from the last post.

I have a theory…the more passionately we surrender to God’s will, the more of Jesus we’ll experience.

The more passionately we seek, the more we find. The amount we give of all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, is proportional to the amount we receive.

I’m not alone in my opinion.

Moses saw all the wonders of God’s handiwork; plagues, miracles, waters parting, water coming from rocks, manna on the dew and birds from the sky. He saw the very finger of God writing on stone tablets. He stood in Tabernacle where the presence of God rested.

But, it wasn’t enough for Moses. He wanted more.

“And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” Exodus 33:17-19

David couldn’t get enough of the Lord.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.”  Psalm 63:1-4

Paul was successful any way you sliced it. His handkerchief healed someone, for goodness sakes. But, nothing…nothing could compare to knowing Jesus.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11

rays of sunD. L. Moody, arguably one of the most influential evangelists in history Pastored the biggest church in Chicago, but knew he needed more of Christ to really ignited his work for the Kingdom .

“I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York — oh, what a day! — I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world — it would be as the small dust of the balance.” D. L. Moody

What about Mother Teresa?

“When you look at the inner workings of electrical things, you see wires. Until the current passes through them, there will be no light. That wire is you and me. The current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, to produce the light of the world, Jesus, in us. Or we can refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread.” Mother Teresa

C. S. Lewis?

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” C.S. Lewis

I could go on and on and on and on with person after person talking about passionately pursuing Jesus; George Mueller, Corrie Ten Boom, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Joni Eareckson Tada, Hudson Taylor, Brother Lawrence, Watchman Nee, John Bunyan, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross, and many others. Read any of their works and they are dripping with “more”.

A. W. Tozer is one of my favorite authors. His life was consumed with helping others seek, pursue, and find more of Jesus.

Take this quote and chew on it for awhile. Marinate in it’s meaning. Ask yourself if you are getting less than what you really want?

“A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.” A. W. Tozer

Are these people crazy? Or is there more fulfillment in Christ than most Christians experience?

And just maybe, “more” will cost us more than a few moments of consideration each day? Just maybe it might involve more than just a comfortably detailed check list of dos and don’ts? Just maybe this “more” that these people experienced starts with something as passionate and crazy as a radical prayer of surrender?

Jesus, I want more of you. I have no idea what that really means or what they really takes. I just know I want it. I know I can’t get more of you on my own. I can’t even manufacture the desire and passion on my own – I need your help for even that. All I know is that my heart says “YES”, even when my flesh is kicking and screaming. Help me. Guide me. Lead me. And draw me closer. I surrender my life to you.

Watch out – radical prayers like just might get you more of “more”.

(We’ll talk about listening in the next post.)

Apr16

Drop Those Nets Like a Hot Potato

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Teri

CAM00022

In the last post, I made the claim that yes indeed, there is more to the Christian walk of faith than boredom and obligation. There is even more than mild contentment and pleasant feelings. There is even more than a comfortably favorable lifestyle and kind witness.

There is more…

It’s sometimes a white-knuckled thrill ride or a death-defying leap into the unknown. Sometimes there’s agonizing heartbreak, many times there’s breath-stealing joy, and once in awhile a jaw-dropping miracle. It’s beautiful, raw, wondrous, difficult, incredible, and powerful.

In other words…FULLY ALIVE.

I’m convinced that there is only three main activities we need to put effort into in order to live a life fully alive in Jesus:

  1. SURRENDER
  2. LISTENING
  3. DILIGENCE

We’ll look at surrender first…

Surrender. When Jesus says, “lose your life to find it”…yeah, he actually meant that. When Paul said, “It is no longer I who live but Christ in me”…yeah, he meant that too.

Your utter, total, compete, and absolute surrender is the key which unlocks the door to “more”. The more passionate we want more of Jesus, the more of “more” we receive. A half-hearted surrender is going to get you a lot of halfsies. I don’t know about you but when I talk about abundant life in Jesus, I want a lot of fullsies.

Someone told me today, “You sit on the fence and all you get is a sore crouch.” Brilliant.

God would have you all in or all out (luke warm water he spits out.) Yet, too many of us sit on that fence, getting sore tushies, wasting time, talents, and money on building our own kingdoms here on earth.

“Well, I gotta pay the bills.” Yes you do. But, are the bills you’re paying the burdens God wants for you? Or are they ones you designed for your own kingdom?

“Well, God gave us common sense. I mean. He wouldn’t ask me to go to Africa or something like that. I have a young family!” God’s been known to do things that go directly against any and all common sense. (Like birthing the Savior of all man kind through a virgin. Like having him born in a stable to the sheep herders looking on. Like sending him to the cross to die. Need I go on…?)

The question really is, if God was calling you to Africa, would you go?

God might ask you to change nothing or everything. You won’t know until you surrender and say, ‘Yes, Lord. I am willing. Scared, but willing even if you send me to Africa.” (Just a side note…most people are not sent to Africa. Most are sent to their very own neighborhoods and workplaces.)

We take the passion temperature by our answer to the “what if God asked you to do *blank*” question (put in your worst “what if”).

  • What if God was calling you to forgive that person?
  • What if God asked you to reconcile with your estranged spouse, parent, sibling, friend?
  • What if God wanted you to wait and not move forward with your plans?
  • What if God wanted you to quit your job?
  • What if God calls you to stay where you are, even when you hate it?
  • What if God asks you to go and you love it where you are?
  • What if God really wants you to give more money away than you feel you can comfortably give?
  • What if God is really a perfectly loving, all powerful, omnipresent, omnipotent, mighty God who loves you beyond your comprehension?
  • What if he knows all the best plans for you and these plans are to prosper you, not to harm you, but to give you hope and a future?

Real and abundant life happen when we go all in,
even when we don’t know what it will mean,
where it will lead,
and how we’re going to get there.

fishing-nets-246477“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Matthew 4:19-21

These men had no idea what was going to happen, how they would eat, where they would sleep, how their families would survive without them at the fishing boats each day, but they knew one thing…

They had to follow.

Jesus calls to us, “Follow me.”

Are you still holding the net?

 

Apr8

There Is More

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Teri

CAM00022I had a pretty significant moment with the Lord thirteen years ago.

I had been a Christ-follower for almost twenty years. I went to church regularly, tithed, served, read my devotions each day, taught a Bible study, and pretty much had my religious act together.

Problem was…I was bored out of my mind. Empty. Most of the time my service felt like an obligation. A burden. I  had no idea what joy or peace felt like.

I knew about God, but He felt like a distant cousin I only saw on Christmas and Easter.

I knew His Word , but they felt like dry words on a page and not the Living Word the Bible says it is.

I didn’t talk about it for a couple of reasons:

  1. People thought I had my stuff together . What would they say if they knew I was telling them stuff I wasn’t sure I believed myself? Would I make them stumble?
  2. I figured I was just doing it all wrong. It was my fault somehow and I just needed to work harder, pray harder, go to more Beth Moore Bible studies, attend more conferences, and serve in more areas and THEN my life would be fulfilling.

After another agonizing year of boredom, I did start talking. I started asking people, “Is this it? Is this all?” And, I started making my requests known to God, cause that’s what the Bible tells you to do.

What happened?

I fell apart. People starting thinking I was kinda weird and maybe didn’t have it all together. And, I felt some strange leadings in my heart I never felt before.

I thought they were indigestion, at first. Then I wondered if I really going Jesus coo-coo. And then, I thought I might actually be hearing from God.

WHAT?! God still speaks? NO way.

I thought that kind of thing was just for first century Palestine?

I mean, I had felt urges before, to pray for someone, or to call them to give them a little encouragement. But this…this was just weird.

It was like God was whispering something into the core of my being. It was still vague and fuzzy, but it stirred something in me I didn’t even know existed.

After another year of searching and seeking and asking and knocking (again, that’s what the Bible says to do), I heard THAT voice. I doubt anyone else would have heard it. But, it was as real to me as if someone in the room had spoken. Plain as day, it said,

THERE IS MORE.

Right after that, I read the verses that would forever change me. I had read them dozens of times before, but it was only after that word from the Lord the meaning made it’s way into my understanding.hope

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Far more abundantly…

I can imagine a lot. 

And that’s when I knew. There was more to this walk with Jesus. Much more. I also knew that somehow, someway I was going to have it. If there was indeed more to God than I had experienced, and much more than I could dream up, then I wanted it.

Bring it on. 

This pursuit of more has cost me everything. Sometimes it’s left me in absolute despair. Made me die to all of my selfish ambitions, regardless how noble they were.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

And God has given me true life, real, abundant, and joy-filled more than I could have asked or imagined.

It looks nothing like I thought it would. It’s very different, but oh-so-much better than I could have dreamed on my own.

I am so not saying that I’ve arrived at “more” and hang out there. Nope…

There is a war within me that rages. I find too often that the very thing I want to do is the very thing I don’t. Yet…

I know more of “more” than I did thirteen years ago. And, thirteen years from now, I know that I know that I know, I will experience even more of “more” than I do now.

That’s the promise. 

Salvation is a free gift – yours for the taking. 

Knowing the fullness and abundance of Jesus Christ – will cost you everything. 

I believe there are a lot of people out there right now asking the question, “Is there more?” I think it could be more people asking that question than ever before in history.

Yes. Yes. Yes. There is more.

I’ll talk about it in practical ways in the next post.

((Just so you’re not left hanging too much… The first step is to ASK for more of Him. Yep. It’s that easy.))

Mar31

Anything Left in Your Pockets?

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Teri

Teri in the Tetons

I just watched a documentary about one of my favorite humorists, Erma Bombeck.

From what I can tell, she was a dreamer. Her son said she was dedicated and diligent. A committed, hard working dreamer is hard to put down.

After graduating high school, Erma went to Ohio University to study Journalism. Every article she wrote for the school paper was rejected. She struggled to pass her English classes until finally one of her professors told her she just didn’t have what it takes to write.Erma_Bombeck

She left that school devastated. But, tried again at the University of Dayton, where she was encouraged greatly by one of her professors to write an article for the paper. She nearly didn’t do it for her fear of further rejection. She ended up writing it and pushing it under his door. A few days later when she ran into the professor, he said the three words that sustained her for the rest of her career, “You can write.”

And she did. Not only did she write 15 books, she published a column about being a stay at home mom that ultimately ran in 900 newspapers and was read by 300 million readers. I think of her as the original Seinfeld who gained her popularity by finding humor in the mundane.

Her accomplishments are incredible. However, the thing that struck me the most about this woman was the way her husband and kids spoke about her. There was great respect, fond memories, and even a little awe in their expressions. She was obviously a well-loved woman.

Erma died of kidney disease in 1996 and is greatly missed by her family and readers.

The documentary ended with Erma’s own words:

“I always had a dream that when I am asked to give an accounting of my life to a higher court, it will go like this; “So, empty your pockets. What have you got left of your life? Any dreams unfufilled? Any unused talent that we gave you when you were born that you still have left ? Any unsaid compliments or bits of love that you haven’t spread around? And I will answer, “I’ve nothing left to return. I spent everything you gave me. I’m naked as the day I was born.”

I wonder what this world would look like if every person lived as though they wanted to spend everything God gave them?

How are you spending your life? your dreams? your talent? your love? Will you have anything left in your pockets?

Mar27

A Season of ‘RE’

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Teri in the TetonsThese past few months have been a time of redefining, refining, and realigning. That’s a lot of “RE”.

It has been one of the sweetest times with the Lord I can remember as we’ve spent a lot of time in quiet communion.

But, I can felt the wind shifting and know my sails are starting to billow once more. I am a wanderer, an explorer, an adventurer and I can feel myself straining to see what’s around the river bend.

One of the biggest lessons of my season of “RE” is a readjustment of the expectations of my own performance. I guess I got to thinking I was capable of much more than I really was. Or maybe it was that I thought I should be able to do much more?

I’ve been labeled ‘super-overachiever’ more than once. Okay, so more than a lot of times. Truth is, I have a achieved a lot. Not nearly as much as many others, but probably more than most.

It’s been really, really hard work. I love hard work. I love the feeling of accomplishment after you pour blood, sweat, tears, and life juice into something. And I’ve experienced some really wonderful fruit from that labor.

What I’m learning is when you work in rhythm with Jesus, the work isn’t hard and the fruit much more plentiful.

What do I mean? Honestly, I’m still in the process of figuring it out. But, I’ll try to explain. It’s pretty fresh and a bit rough, but here it is…

God said, “You are a dream guide who helps others toward their Kingdom dreams.”

I said, “Okay, so we’ll build a five-pronged approach to coaching; outreach, an academy, a dream ranch, a web portal, and a training/conference platform.”

God said, “Go on a Luke 10 journey.”

I said, “Okay, so we’ll go for 6 months in RVs. No, we’ll have to break it into smaller chunks. We’ll go into 40 day increments and it will be partly marketing, partly faith building, partly training, partly outreach, and partly coaching. Wow, that’s a lot of partly’s. Hummm…maybe we’ll have all the stops planned and camp. Or maybe we’ll have some of the stops planned and leave some for an Ask The Lord (ATL). Or maybe we should just get in the car and go?”

God said, “Write the stories I give you.”

I said, “I don’t know how. I don’t have time. I don’t know how to get them published. I don’t know how to edit. I don’t think I can do it.”

Do you see any patterns developing here? strong_woman

I was far too concerned with expected outcomes, and a little too unconcerned with the simplicity of obedience.

In this season of “RE”, God is realigning my expectations. I don’t have to have a programmed ministry with feasible methodology and processed sustainability. I don’t have to blog five times a week, every week, nor do I have to keep up with social media. I don’t need a projected plan one, three, and five years out. And my credentials don’t have to be newsworthy to be a powerhouse for the Kingdom of God.

I only need to unapologetically obey.

Not that those things I mentioned are bad. Nope. Not at all.

However, those things will get in the way if it is not what God is asking me to do.

And, that has been my story. I did want to be obedient, and for the most part, I have. However, if I were brutally honest, the other reason I’ve strived so hard is that I worried too much about what the world would think of my success or failure.

Ug….when God wants you to reevaluate your motives, it can get ugly!

Currently, I’m a single parent who works four small part-time jobs to try to make it financially. I have three beautiful children to love. I have incredible family and friends to do life with. I have a few dreamers to encourage. I have an awesome and mighty God to engage with and obey. And I’m trying to write the stories He gives me in the spaces in-between.

Right now, that is all I can manage and still be joyfully expectant and unapologetically obedient.

I pray each day for leading. I listen. I seek. Then I go about my day with a heart positioned for God’s interruption if He so pleases. And let me tell you, when God interrupts, He does it with great style and always with incredible results.

AHHHHHH…..Obedience, the new green…