Whispers In The Wind

Thoughts came rushing is as I finished reading about Elijah in 1 Kings. Elijah was talking to Obadiah. He was another prophet of God who served in King Ahab's court. Obadiah hide 100 of Gods' prophets. Why? It was because Ahab was evil. He was killing Gods' prophets. In this seen, Ahab was angry and trying to find and kill Elijah. Why? Because Elijah's prayer stopped the rain for 3 1/2 years.

Imagine just how much Ahab wanted to do away with Elijah. Yet, God had other plans. God had plans to show King Ahab and all of Isreal that He is and was the one true God. God had plans to showoff. He want to remind Isreal He is God. And He used Obadiah to inform Ahab Elijah was here. Elijah came to the King of Isreal and confronted him to put him in his place.

Elijah stepped into the most dangerous situation ever, because God told him to. WOW!

"So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”

“I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”1 Kings 18:16-19 NLT

God made fun of a false god!

After this invitation to gather Baals' prophets, Elijah had a showdown! I've said enough. Read the final outcome for yourself in 1Kings 18.

Here are my thoughts. And is it all because Elijah knew in whose presence he stood. It is Gods!
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In whose presence do you stand?

Elijah knew His God.

Do you?

Do you know? Are you tuned in and …?

Do you hear it?

Do you hear it?

Do you hear the voice of God all around you?

Do you hear Him in the wind?

Do you see His beauty all around?

Our Fathers' Majesty surrounds us everyday.

Life screams out, “Listen!”

Listen for the voice of God.

“If you are willing you will hear Me.

I'm calling you out of the world.

I'm calling you to see my Son.

I'm asking for your love.

I'm reaching out, don't you hear Me?

Please accept My Son, Jesus.

I'm pleading for a relationship.

I miss our talks.

I miss our fellowship.

I miss you.

Please hear Me.

Hear Me in the wind.

Hear Me in sunset.

Hear Me in the thunder and the rain.

Hear Me, I'm calling you.

I'm calling YOU!

Listen, I loved you enough to give My all, My Son.

I've wrote all down, please read it.

Please get know me as I know you.

I know you flaws, and I will forgive you, please ask.

Ask my Son about Me, He will tell you what I'm really like.

Jesus knocks on your heart, are you listening?"

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.  Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” Rev 3:20-23

God Given

Unlocking a door once shut, one finds new doors bolted down. I tear off my mental metal mask, only to find others hidden beneath. Who? What, when where and why we call? But to whom are we crying? Is it not the LORD? If not, those door we beat so hard upon, will remain shut forever. Jesus has the keys to all my doors and though He could forcible open all my doors, He waits patiently. Kindly He waits to get into each and every closet I have hidden away. Switching the light on in a darkened closet reveals old messes that where never cleaned up. Roaches scurry, mice run and hide and there sits the mess. It's everything I cut the corners on. It's all the projects I start and never finish.  It is a place devoid of grace or anything good. It is a place where hatred meets pride. It is a place where I remember just how undone I am.

Humbly I come with Christ by my side. Here I'm at a lose for words. Jesus just waits and listens. Even there in the dirty dusty closet of regret, Christ turns the light I on. Hidden things are revealed. Dirty things are cleansed.

If only we would realize that our Father knows that fools oft' return to their folly. O the majesty of a God willing to love the unlovable! What joy we have as Christ has removed out decay! What love but Gods' goes this deep?

I rummage around pick over what is useful and trash the rest. Unwholesome thoughts and attitudes have to go. Hidden anger had ingrown mold on it, I forgot it was there, out with it! I find a few treasured memories there too, it is those good true and righteous things worthy to clinging on to. The thoughts and memories flow by the thousands and are sifted through to see those worth saving. Over and over again I seek an outlet for the memories worth keeping. In song, words or direct witness my soul expresses who God made me to be. I find words to express these thoughts here, there or every once in a while. All of a sudden these expressions allude my grip. It is as if I were trying to grasp the wind in my hand. It is as if I reached out to grab the proverbial greased pig. Ah! Pig indeed. I'm but mere swine in my eyes. I am unworthy of the very breath I breathe—not that any of us are worthy of breath or life. No, I am not high in my eyes at all. In picking up the pen or keys once again, I know that it is time to express and express well the grace that is given to me.

I am but a lowly man, yet I breath with God-given lungs the air gifted to humanity. I am but a man, yet I can grasp eternity forward forever, for God has fixed this in my soul. I am but a man and yet God trusts me with the knowledge of Himself. God is and we are. Is anything more wondrous? Yes there is one thing more wondrous than even this. It is that God seeks a relationship with His creation.

So let all Creation Give Glory!

Meaningless Words

I will ware and war until my day is done.

Query quirks quicken quail?

Teasing Terry turned timid?

Earnings eerily eat estates?

Sizzling summer soaked in sin?

Turn tipsy?

The meaningless words above are just that, meaningless. However silly things can be useful too. I just used them to dust of the cobwebs off the words. Words to me are just one thing: tools for communication. I see things differently than most people, I know it's true. Am I something special? No, I'm just connected in the right way. I am a believer and follower of Jesus the Christ. I knew Jesus before I was even in kindergarten. Yet, Jesus knew me before the foundation of the world. I am and always have been called to conform to the image of Christ. Not the physical image, of which there is no record. No, I am—and you are too—called to mold to the character of Christ.

Back to the words, what is it I'm talking about? I'm saying that words are the tools used to shape human communication into a mutually understandable end result. With words, God spoke material life into being. The communique of God to humanity came across with words. Could anything be as important as words from God? We are fortunate enough to live in time and place where we have all of civilizations knowledge just waiting at out finger tips. So use it wisely. Access to the worlds' memory bank filled with treasure and trash. Use your God giving wisdom and avoid the pitfall of the web

The Savor Of A Life Well Spent

Is there anything more sobering than death? Why so morbid Gordon? What's up? These are the things I'm thinking on: death and eternity. Technically, sleep may be a better term for death. I say this because Jesus equated death to sleep, right before raising Lazarus to life. But, wasn't he really dead? Yes, of course, so much so, that decomposition was already at work.

Why? Why am I talking or thinking like this? It's simple, in just a few hours it will be a one year death anniversary of a beloved pastor and friend of mine: Ed Simmons.

Now Ed is in a place with no more pain. Ed is in a place without sorrow. Ed is in a place that Jesus built just for people like Ed. Ed is in Heaven, his flesh went the way of all flesh. His flesh vanished in the vapor called life. Awe! Heaven... you got the jump Ed, but I'll see you soon.

Ed's body may sleep in the dust of the earth, this is true. Yet, the Ed I know and love is at home with Jesus. Still I miss him. For now I know he is in that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12) cheering us on. Ed, though gone, is doing what he always did. He is preaching and teaching in his soft gentile way through our thoughts, memories, compact discs and first and foremost, through his family. Ed could be proud of the way the little body of Christ in the foothills is thriving in Christ. Ed could be proud, but he wouldn't be. Because Ed knows his service was but a gift from the giver of all good gifts. Thanks Ed, for loving Jesus!

I Know

Testing, this is only a test. I've been blessed with a new laptop and I'm getting used to it finally. Tonight I finally installed a word processor and I'm taking it out for a spin. I'm not one that remembers certain things well. What's that old saying, “Use it or lose it.” It's so true! And spelling is one of those things I lose. It happens regular enough that without spell check, I would look particularly stupid.

So, rather than show off my lack certain skills, I opted to wait before writing much of anything. Instead of writing, I've been reading more. I'm coming to humbling places in God's word more and more often. Daily doing Gods will is my goal in life. Becoming more Christ like is my plan. Still I look at myself and sometimes just wag my head. Why? It's because I see that over and over again I let certain sins knock me off balance. I still see that being Christ-like is an impossibility without Christ at the helm and every now and again I try and grab that helm. I'm that living sacrifice that tries to dodge the filet knife; all along I know the knife of the Word of God there to cut out the cancer: sin. I'm that sacrifice that clinches on the corner alter, wanting to get off the alter. Yet to do so would sever me from the vine, so I don't dare go there! I do all of this! Do you?

I know my Lord and Savior well enough that I can trust Him. So I let go of the helm and let Jesus drive. Funny how thing go much better when the designer takes the wheel. I know well enough that only with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave is being Christ-like possible. I know that God gave grace and gives grace freely. I know that if I come to Jesus and tell Him I'm wrong and You are right, He will forgive me. So I do just that. I come to Him and keep coming. I come everyday to the throne of grace, if for no other reason than the purpose of confessing my sins a fresh. I know He hears me and forgives me.

Jesus knows us and knows us well; Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus even knows and understands where we are at and what is going on inside our mind— both spirit and soul. We are the little ones that are weak, earthen vessels. Jars of clay filled with an eternally future soul.

Psst! Gordon, don't you remember Jesus loves me. Of course I do! The bible tells me so!

Technical Difficulties

My hardware upgrade isn't going smoothly and I'm down for repair. Lord willing, I be up and running soon.

In the mean time, talk to and listen to our God and Creator: Jesus!
And trust Him.

         "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments."

Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV

Image via Google image search: smashing computers

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Dig it!
Do you?
Do you hear what I hear?

Noisy keys and noisy chimes keep on a ringin' long aft' their time.
When time is spent, it don't leave change.
Still those chimes they keep a ringin' long aft' their time.
My ears are noisy, ain't kiddin', they press my mind.

Keep it sane now, keep it in time; still those chimes be ringin' through my mind.
Ain't no solution, no Doc's unlocked the mind.
They say, "It's damaged! Boy you just wastin' time."
But those chimes a be ringing; please fix my mind.

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After working in a sawmill for over a decade, a decade later, my ears ring like the "ding" of a boxing bell that never stops. Or it is like the test tone from the old Emergency Broadcasting Network, just it never stops (though much of the time I can just ignore it). The noise! Won't someone turn down the noise! I suppose I should state what I'm even talking about: tinnitus. That nasty ringing in the ears that goes on and on, long after any sound makes a sound. Usually, hearing loss accompanies tinnitus, just not in my case.

I can hear really well. I know hearing anything is a gift from God. Hearing well, well we take it for granted.That is, until you can't hear or you are around someone who cannot.  Being round my wife's dad, who has only about 15% of his hearing, makes you appreciate the gift of hearing God gave me. And believe me I do! Last year I finally got tired of the ringing a went to an ENT doctor. The doc had an audiologist measure my hearing. I told the attendant I could hear fine.  It was that just sinus pressure made the ringing worse and gave me a bad headache too. She did the test and measured my hearing. Sure enough, she was shocked. "You have the hearing of a child." she said.

So okay God, what do I do? One might ask, "Why?" Why bother asking God "Why?" Why not accept it? His ways are above our ways. Sometimes the pressure mounts and the sinus pressure makes my head feel like it's going to explode. Those are the moment when the ringing becomes unbearable--not true, we have to bare the moments. Just bare those moments with Jesus on the other side of the yoke. He will make the load lighter.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 NIV