How to get hungry.

How to get hungry??????? 

Actually, most of the time I AM hungry, I don't have to create it.  I want to eat first thing in the morning, mid-morning, lunch, a couple of times in the afternoon before dinner and then maybe a couple times before bedtime.  I enjoy eating.  The more I eat, the more I like it.

Someone in our Prayer Team the other day threw out the question, "How do we get hungry for spiritual things?"  Loren quickly answered with, "Eat."  He sometimes has a sense of humor that many people don't get, so everyone looked at him like, 'what are you up to this time?"  

He smiled and said it again, "If you want to be hungry, Eat."  He went on to explain that when he eats sugary foods, his appetite for sugar increases.  When he eats more fruits and veggies, his appetite for those things increases.  

The same applies for our spiritual lives.   We too often starve ourselves .... 

• not eating the Word of God or 
• not eating of worship or 
• not eating of fellowship with passionate Christians.  
  

Then we say, "oh, I just don't FEEL like reading the Word or going to church.  I don't feel like God loves me" and one it goes.   We haven't had the priority to EAT at His table.

"Lord, I want to hunger for You so I choose to EAT of the things You've set on the table for me.  Thank you for such a feast."

Bubbles

At IHOP, people will talk about the 'bubble' that exists in this community.  Because it is a campus of now about 2,000 passionate Christians, we can have quite a bit of interaction without ever stepping out of the 'bubble', though there is a LOT of taking the gospel outside of this mission base.

I was thinking about the other 'bubbles' that I have lived in.  

• Realtors.  I don't know how many meetings I was at when there was nothing that mattered but what happened in the real estate arena.
• EcoQuest.  This was a business opportunity that I was involved with for several years.  God used it in many ways in my life, but when I got out of the 'bubble' I realized how consumed I was with things that matter very little.
• Baseball.  When our kids were in little league, we lived for baseball.  It was a very positive time of our lives that I wouldn't trade, but it was a 'bubble'.

Bubbles I see other people in:

• Club & bar scene
• Work .... wherever that is
• Sports fans

The list is endless.   The one difference I see with my bubble now is that it has a purpose that is eternal.  

"Lord, as we all live in our 'bubbles' of life, give me understanding for others and keep me focused on what will matter FOREVER, not just for a few years."

Jealous to be Healthy!

I have 2 close friends that I love a lot.  Both of these women are very disciplined about working out .... they even ENJOY working out.  Also, they are conscious about eating healthy  .... they even ENJOY eating healthy!  Though I don't know all of their motivation behind their good habits, I appreciate the fact that they ENJOY it and it shows in the way they look.

All that being said, I admit that when I'm being lazy and undisciplined with my exercise and/or eating habits, I am more aware of it when I am with them.  Though they NEVER have implied that I'm a mess-up because I don't do things like they do, I feel a little jealous and sometimes feel despair that I won't ever get 'there'.

I've seen this parallel in spiritual things.  When I'm around someone who is pressing in hard after God, running a disciplined race to reach the goal that HE has set before them .... sometimes I feel jealousy.  I want what they have, but wonder if I have what it takes to be so diligent.

I've been on the opposite of this equation also.  When I'm the most passionate in my pursuit of God, is it my imagination or do others seem to avoid me or be annoyed being around me?  

"Lord, as I set my heart daily to eat spiritually healthy 'food' and to keep spiritually 'fit', may I walk in humility.  Let others be drawn to You & release the fullness of the truth of your love that draws them to Yourself."

The High Cost of Fuel!

“Drivers putting less gas in tank, then running out”  

“High Gas Prices Have More Drivers Running on Empty”

These type of headlines are in the news everyday.  I had to fill up our car with gas today!  Ouch .... $3.99 a gallon !  It takes a lot of money to get from one place to the other these days.

I was thinking about how true this is in a spiritual sense also.  It's costly to stay FULL spiritually.   It requires that I go to the 'pump' regularly so that I don't run out of gas between the places that I go.  So often, we've not even looked at our spiritual 'gas gauge', naively thinking that if we don't acknowledge our depravity, we can get by with it, yet we run out of gas.  We end up hopeless, angry & irritated.  Not only can't we get anywhere, we can't take anyone with us.

"Lord, I choose today and tomorrow & the next day & the next, to come to You who alone can fill me up so that I can go somewhere both now & for eternity ....  & take others with me."

Play Ball!

Our family went to the Royal's/Cardinal's game earlier today. Cooper (20 months old), was sitting beside me & as he squirmed and wiggled trying to stand up on the seat, it folded up on him. His leg went down between the seat and the back. He pushed on the seat with his hands to try to free himself, but of course, this just squeezed his leg & hurt. He started to cry until I wrapped my arms around him & told him, "It will be OK. Papa will get you out."

Cooper, in his young wisdom did what many of us struggle to do at times. He listened, he believed me and he rested, patiently waiting for me to do what I had said I would do. The fact that he rested in what I said & quit struggling made it a lot easier for me to get him out. It happened quicker & with much less pain than if he had continued to insist on doing it his way.

"Lord, help me to listen and believe & trust you like that. My self reliance has never gotten me what I really wanted, so show me how to rest in what you are doing & how to move in sync with you."

The Stare Game

I was in the prayer room earlier today & finding it difficult to be still in my heart & mind.  A picture came to my mind.  

I was sitting as a child on the lap of Jesus & we were playing the 'stare' game.  You know...  when you look someone straight in the eyes and the 1st one to blink or turn away loses.  

Well, naturally, Jesus always won at this game.  But each time I would look away, He'd smile at me & say, "Let's play again".  I would gaze into His face once again, watching as He smiled at me.  Never able to out last His gaze or His smile, I would always look away.  Yet, in the process of playing this game, I noticed that He was always smiling at me..... when I was looking at Him and when I fidgeted & looked away.  He said to me, "I love it that you keep coming back to gaze at me again.  You smile & it stirs My heart."  WOW!  Now I want to gaze at Him more & more.

"Lord, thank you for teaching me profound truths in simple ways that I can understand."

Making the Bed

It was 7 AM & I was making the bed before going to meet my prayer team in the Prayer Room at 7:30 AM.  I knew we would be gone essentially all day and the thought crossed my mind, 'Why bother making your bed?  No one will see that it's not made.  Loren will not care and you'll just climb back into it tonight.'

Immediately, I sensed the Holy Spirit speak to me saying, "I want you to clean up the things that no one can or will ever see.  I not looking for everything to just look good on the outside, with the yard all manicured, but I want a place that I can come & rest .... inside, where no one sees."  Of course, He was not speaking about my house, but my heart.  

"Lord, I choose to pay attention to the things that NO ONE but you can see:  my attitudes & thoughts & motives.  Change my heart."