the smile of heaven.

"The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of the heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us." -A.W. Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy

A.W. Tozer is one of the most provoking Christian writers I have ever read.

It would have been nice to have the chance to meet him while he was on this side of eternity but nonetheless his voice still carries a clear call to seek God.

There is no question that the goodness of God is one revelation I am continually trying to feed in my life.

It's a game changer-no question.

• I seek God differently when I catch a glimpse of His goodness.
• I treat others differently when I experience His goodness.
  
• I am more comfortable in my own skin when I soak in His goodness.
• I enjoy walking out my assignment when I sense His good pleasure over my life.

I am one of those people that regularly talks to themselves.

One of the most frequent things I say and pray over myself is the reminder that I live under the "smile of heaven".

Even though I have been a Christ-follower for two decades now, I still have repeating, "broken record recordings" that the enemy of my soul tries playing in my head each day.

That is why I remind myself what Jesus did on the cross.

Because of His sacrificial and overcoming life, I now stand in a position of great favor in God's eyes.

Give it a shot. Develop a personal mantra in your daily dialogue.


Join the conversation with a comment:

• What things do you have to say to yourself on a regular basis?
• When was the last great reminder you had of God's goodness?

here but not hearing.

Why is it so hard to listen sometimes??

I should have know I wasn't a very good listener by the amount of repeating my parents had to do as I was growing up.

I'd like to think I struggle with listening because I have a brilliant mind God gave me and it is always preoccupied with profound thoughts.

Not often the case.

And quite honestly it is almost scary how clearly the exhortation to "hear" is found in Scripture. It is one of the most repeated exhortations in Scripture.

In fact, Solomon, the wisest man to live on this earth other than Jesus Christ Himself, wrote more on the subject of seeking out wisdom through listening to wise counsel than any other writer in history!

I've read that we think and hear about 1,000 words per minute and the average speaking speed is only 125 words per minute.
Those statistics beg the question..."What in the world do we do with the rest of that "margin" time in our minds?"

For all of us "talkers" it's good to remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason:)

Top Reasons We Fail to Listen:

* We often hear only what we want to hear.

* We pridefully perceive the topic or information unimportant.

* We like to jump to conclusions and shortcuts.

* We don't like that people's thinking is often a radical departure from our perspective on things.

* We are only waiting for our turn to talk and formulating our argument. WOW...THAT IS A BIG ONE!

A few lessons God is graciously teaching me about listening:

Listening is sign of humility.
"Everyone you meet is superior in someway." -Henry Thoreau
Pretty good reason to listen to them.
Many times my own arrogance can open my mouth while simultaneously closing my ears.
It's hard to listen without humility.

Listening is a form of honor.
"Honor is celebrating who a person is without stumbling over who they are not." Bill Johnson

Hearing from God can often be a "team sport".
"None of us are as smart as all of us."
"We should not only use all the brains we have- but all that we can borrow." Pres. Woodrow Wilson I can often discern the voice of Christ as I lean further into the body of Christ.

I definitely don't recommend listening to EVERY voice around you...
That definitely got King Rehoboam (I Kings 12:6-11) in trouble. I guess he should have listened to the advice of his wise father, Solomon:)

"I don't listen to the warning of excess from those who are satisfied lack." Bill Johnson

I am far from the "poster child" for listening...but by the Grace of God I am making progress and so can you.

Be "here" AND hearing today.
join the conversation with your comment:

Why do you struggle to listen?
What wake up call have you had in this area lately?

What season is it?

It was a "warm" day in the upper 30s and my son Judah says, "Dad I think winter is almost over."

It was the last week of Dec...the winter season was less than 2 weeks old!


Life cycles and seasons are hard concepts for us to grasp.





As a leader I always want our growth charts to only go up and to the right, no dips in progress...
As a parent I want my children to stay put at the cute age they are right now...most days:)
As a man I'd like to stay in perfect health and keep all of my hair forever...

The truth is that life is lived and will always be lived in seasons.
God made this promise very clear in Scripture.
"For everything there is a season..." Ecclesiastes 3:1

God is pretty committed to this idea of seasons.
"As long as the earth remains there will be sowing and reaping, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." Genesis 8:22

Some of the different seasons we can clearly see in Scripture: (easily seen in the journey of the people of Israel)
1. advancing (conquering new territory)
2. celebrating
3. resting
4. pruning

What season are you in?
What "gold" does God have for you in THIS season? So many times I'm tempted to dream about the next season. To plan right past my current placement. That can often prolong the season we are in, or even worse, ensure that we don't finish that season well!

Then God in His infinite love will allow us to visit that season again (real soon) to learn the lesson He was previously trying to teach us!

Identify your current season. Once you have, extract all the joy, wisdom, and "gold" out of it you can... because I can gaurantee you that a new season is just around the corner.

Join the conversation with your comment:

What "gold" has God taught you in THIS season?
Are you more of a "here and now" or "there and then" person?
Which tests have you had to repeatedly take before passing?

300 seconds: oasis prayer.

300 Seconds February 2011 OASIS from EGC on Vimeo.

another man down.

It is a good day to be alive. It was a good day to be born. It's a good day for another man down.

Today marks a new season in my life as I turn 30 years old.

One of my mentors taught me the tradition of having a personal moment each birthday to reflect and number my days.

Moses prayed in Psalm 90 that the Lord would give him wisdom to number his days with a heart of wisdom. I'll talk some of that too Lord.

I have a special canister in my office that holds a bunch of wooden chess pieces. Each birthday I "retire" one of those chess pieces symbolizing the passing of another year. It's not a somber downer, but rather a chance to intentionally thank the Lord for the previous year and envision the next.

My life is far from trial free but I do have more blessings that I can count.

If you want to send any kind of blessing my way to help celebrate my birthday, I'd love it if you took one minute to do something....

Pray this life verse over me and my family.

Ask the Lord to enable me to walk out these promises in 2011 in a greater measure than we ever have.

Psalm 25:12-14
¹² Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? (fresh love and AWE of God!)
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. (destiny)
¹³ They will spend their days in prosperity, (prosperity)
and their descendants will inherit the land. (legacy)
¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them. (intimacy)


Join the conversation with a comment:
Do you have any special birthday traditions?

What is the craziest birthday gift someone has ever given you?

a place called there.

1-30-11 Fast Forward 05 - A Place Called There - Joshua Finley from EGC on Vimeo.