With the Wind

We're spending a few days at the coast.  I was out running this morning when I saw a flock of pelicans flying just overhead.  Flying in a "V" they were really gliding more than they were flapping their wings.  As a watched them as I ran down the seawall, it got me to thinking.  They were not trying to fight against the wind that blew in from the Gulf.  Instead, they were gliding along with it.  They knew the wind would take them to their destination.  In the New Testament, the word we translate Spirit is pneuma or wind.  When the wind of the Spirit blows over our lives, we would be best served if we just go with it.  We know that when we follow the Spirit's leading we will end up where we need to be. What happens often times is that we waste all of our energy fighting against the Spirit, trying to end up where we want to go and end up going nowhere.  Follow the Spirit today and just see where you end up.

Ready to Pounce

Picture provided from funnycatsite.com

As I was out running this morning, I ran past a vacant lot.  I had all the marks of being vacant.  The grass was grown up, weeds had overtaken a large part of it. The "For Sale" sign was no longer visible.  And then...there were cats.  My eye was drawn to little black and white cat, that I obviously startled as I ran by.  In the moments before being "discovered" the cat was hunched down, slowly creeping through the grass, stalking its prey and was ready to pounce.  As I ran by, the cat jerked its head around to see me pass, maybe giving just enough time for its prey to escape.  For the rest of my run I could not help but think about that cat and the spiritual lessons God was teaching me through it.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds us that our enemy, Satan, stalks around like a roaring lion seeking someone to destroy.  That cat was obviously on the prowl.  It had prey in its sights and was ready to destroy.  I'm sure that the prey was not even aware that the cat was even around.  How aware are we of the enemy who lurks around us, seeking to destroy us?  Most of us live our lives absorbed with the events of the day and little else. We pay little attention to what is going on around us. All the while, we very well may be walking into our demise.  Satan is real and he seeks to destroy you.

That cat this morning also taught me about my focus on Christ.  There are times that we are focused on Christ, but at the critical moment we get distracted by something that is just passing by.  In that moment we remove our focus from our goal and give our attention to something of less importance.  How often does that happen concerning Christ? In that moment that the cat looked at me and took its eyes off its prey, the prey could have escaped.  Romans 8:5 reminds us that if we desire the Spirit then we must set our minds on the Spirit.  We pursue the things that our mind is set on.  Set your mind on Christ and pursue Him.

The Cost of Worship

"I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing."  2 Samuel 24:24

As read this verse this morning, a question popped into my mind -- What is my worship costing me?  That question was quickly followed by another one -- What sacrifices am I bringing to God?  David did not want his worship to be without cost, sacrifice or meaning.  He was vested in his worship to God.  It has been my experience that when we have something vested in our worship it becomes meaningful.  We have missed this.  I have missed this.  Worship has become too comfortable.  It has no meaning because it does not cost us anything.  There is no sacrifice involved in our worship.  Some would say that it does cost time, but what is time?  For the average Christian, worship has become what they do on a Sunday morning.  It is not a part of their daily life.  What has happen is we have relegated worship to a compartment in our life.  Worship goes alongside the God compartment and the church compartment.  It is another part of our life but it is not our life.  When we do this, we suck the life out of worship and quench the Holy Spirit.  Because we are unwilling to give all of ourselves to God through worship, we suffer in our intimacy with our Savior.  We have reduce worship to a feeling or a style as opposed to a response to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Fasting by Scot McKnight

Fasting is a disappearing discipline in the lives of the modern American church.  Many today think that fasting has gone by the wayside or is only for the super spiritual.  Scot McKnight sheds new light on this old discipline and breathes new life and purpose in it for the modern believer.  Having studied other works by Dallas Willard and Richard Foster on spiritual disciplines, I was intrigued to review this book specifically on fasting.  The approach the McKnight took was unique.  I think overall, the book nails the reason to fast.  In a nutshell, McKnight suggests and biblically supports that fasting is a response to God's activity.  I had never thought about fasting in this way.  I had always taken the "traditional" approach to fasting that says you fast in order to hear from or become more focused on God.  McKnight spends considerable time discussing the different aspects of fasting as well.  I think this is a great book to get exposed to the practice and discipline of fasting.  He goes to great lengths to discuss the practice of biblical fasting as well.  In this discussion he talks about duration and frequency.  That alone is worth the read.  I highly recommend this book to those who are looking to go deeper in their walk with God.

I received this book for free to review from Book Sneeze.