Therefore, there was a little stress factor going on in the Pallikan home yesterday morning. After some fruitless searching, I told the girls we’re gonna do what we always do, sit and pray. I told them I will ask the Holy Spirit for some help. So I sat down in the living room on the ottoman and asked God for some help thru His Spirit. “If You will, would You please help us to find this red folder? Would you show us where to look, Holy Spirit? We need Your help here.” Very simple and straight forward.

I stood up, looked to my right, then turned all the way around, and there it was, sitting on the chair right behind me that goes with the ottoman I was sitting on to pray. Are you kidding me? It was hiding right there in the wide open.

Same thing happened a month or so ago. I pulled in the driveway with the girls after school, and handed Gabriela the house key to go in while I park the car in the garage. In the 8 inches between getting out of the car and stepping down on to the driveway she lost the key. No joke. It took maybe 2.5 seconds. Honestly, I thought it fell through some sort of wormhole into another dimension. (Probably because I believe that can happen, and I watch Twilight Zone and X-Files most nites, and I think about stuff like that ALL THE TIME.) There was no explanation! I got out and searched everywhere, under the car, in her shoes, nothing. My thought was then to give in to defeat and just drive over to Target to stay warm until Ana got home.

But then I said, no, we’re gonna pray first for help. So we got back in the car, out of the unforgiving twenty degree wind, and I said, “OK girls, let’s pray for help to find these keys.” As soon as I closed my eyes, Gaby yelled, “Found ’em!!!” What??? I didn’t even start praying yet. “They were in my hood!” Apparently, when she got out of the car, she reached back to adjust her scarf or something and the key fell out of her gloved hand right into her coat hood. Weird.

So in that case, just the threat of prayer seemed to turn up the lost item.

I wonder how many times when we are fretting, we just need to sit and pray, not for that which we don’t have and think we need, but for that which we already have and just lost or cannot seem to find. Be it courage, strength, the ability to change, or even someone to help…

How many times do we have the answer but simply can’t see it through the cloud of our fears, unbelief, and anxiety?

Settle down.

Ask for help.

Pray.

Believe.

Listen.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

Before, we either didn’t know any better or we just didn’t care. There wasn’t much, if any, fight in us.

But after awakening, we are much more aware of our sin and sincerely care about killing it. So we are much more aware of our weakness and, hence, our need for Someone outside of ourselves with greater power and capacity than we possess to fight for us. (The above picture illustrates well what it looks like if we try to fight fallen angels on our own power.)

Of course we can use our weakness as an excuse and just keep on sinning. But that’s stupid. The compassionate Creator of the universe wants to help us. I think He wants to help us more than we want His help.

Do we ask?

Are we confident in His abilities?

I love these lyrics to the chorus of Theocracy’s “Laying The Demon To Rest”:

As the battle rages on and on
I face the things that put my faith to the test
When fallen angels won’t leave me alone
Father, come and lay the demon to rest
When my sword has broken off in my hand
I see the dark futility of the flesh
When I’m about to fall, please help me stand
Father, come and lay the demon to rest

and this bridge:

Where there’s a will there’s a way they say
But sometimes my will seems to get in the way
So You will have to fight for me today

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

We are not judged as if we have absolutely no weaknesses to overcome.

We are rigid on ourselves. We are rigid with others. Expecting perfection. No, demanding it. As if there is nothing to overcome. As if perfection is our default setting and we always screw up out of straight up, consciously chosen rebellion.

How many times do we screw up out of weakness.

Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses, understanding we are not perfect creatures and have much to overcome, some more than others. Thank God!

As we become more like Jesus, it seems that we too will be more and more sympathetic to the weaknesses in others…and ourselves! Growing in Christlikeness means growing in understanding and sympathy and in the embracing of others, and ourselves, in weakness.

This does not let us off the hook from challenging one another, but the point of challenging one another is to strengthen each other in our areas of weakness. We lovingly challenge, seeking our ultimate good, rather than demanding perfection and a living up to our own expectations.

We have no idea what someone has to overcome in their life. We just cannot possibly know it all. But God does, so all the more reason to go to Him when desiring to be a help to others. We must be so dependent on Him in prayer if we are really going to point others to Him.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

• Is it in line with Scripture and its principles? Chances are, God will not ask you to walk up to somebody and punch them in the face. Much of our clarity will come through Scripture, but for times when there is still no clear direction or a difficult point is not settled, the other ways here can be sought out.
• Providential Circumstances–What doors are opening or closing in your life? How does your current situation help or hinder what God may be calling you to do?
• Common Sense–Is the new call something that is within your abilities (though it may stretch you beyond your comfort zones!). Might it be unhelpfully disruptive to existing primary relationships or stage of family life?
• Inner Promptings of the Holy Spirit–How do you sense the Holy Spirit at work? What inner prompts, words, pictures, themes are forming? Is there an inner sense of enthusiasm or peace as the path unfolds?

It is important to look for the harmonization of all of these since we can have inner promptings from somewhere other than the Holy Spirit. Common sense alone is obviously not enough. Open doors alone do not always mean it is God’s path for you. But test each one along with the other three.

Some add a fifth dimension–Other People’s Perception–what do your mature Christian friends have to say about the possibility you are considering?

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

This is the mind boggling simplicity and brilliance of the parable of “The Good Samaritan “as we call it. Do the good that is right in front of you to do to the best of your ability. Do what lies before every day, every hour, each moment, focusing on that and trusting that the good you are doing is being used by God in ways you may not know or even comprehend. Every situation is much larger and grander than you can realize.

My mantra while working at Outreach, Inc. with homeless youth was always, “Don’t do this to feel good. And don’t do this for the results. Do this because it is the right thing to do.” It’s amazing the difference it makes to work with that mindset.

Being agenda-driven and results-oriented just really sucks. But trusting the process by doing what you need to do every day over the long haul is satisfying and when done well, typically brings good results anyway. And it is much less stressful.

Sometimes God allows me to see the ripple effect of something I’ve been a part of. Sometimes I’m paying enough attention to actually notice it. And of course it’s usually some result I did not have in mind, that I wasn’t necessarily shooting for. And so I have to just bow before YHWH in His infinitude, realizing again that I don’t know what the heck I’m doing half the time, quite literally. All I know is to keep listening to Him and obeying the voice, trusting Him and abandoning all outcomes to Him because He is up to way more than I can even imagine. It’s awe inspiring and humbling and freeing.

Just do what God places before you each moment and trust Him in it with the goal of all glory going to Him. Wave that white flag and rest the rest of Hebrews 4 which is a ceasing of your own work and a total dependence on God.

You don’t have to make anything happen. Throughout the Bible, when God called on someone, He told them what was gonna happen. I can’t think of any instances off the top of my head in which He called on someone to go do something in their own power and they better get some results.

So our anxieties may be coming mostly because of our bad listening, half listening, or lack of listening altogether. When you hear from God, there is a clarity and a peace that cannot be touched.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

It’s not acquiring, but rather shedding.

Self-transcendence.

Loosening your grip on so much so that nothing holds you.

You need less and less for Life.

Detachment.

The more we’re attached to, the greater chance for temptation, anxiety, and hurt.

But if we prefer nothing to Christ, as the Benedictine monks attempt to live out, what does the evil one have to tempt us with that will work?

Maybe instead of striving for growth and maturity and skill-obtaining, we simply need to let more go and maturity will then precipitate from that weight loss.

I do believe in giving more energy to filling with good than emptying the bad, but is letting go different than emptying? Sounds easier, but not sure it is.

Could this be what Jesus was getting at when He said you have to lose your life in order to find it? When we loosen our kung fu grip on all that we think we need for Life or to be who we are, that’s when we are open to more of God and therefore, closer to who we really are, our True Self, who we were made to be.

For example, when I’ve loosened my grip on my time, gotten over thinking I have to do all these things I want to do or think I need to do, I’ve then been more open and attentive to God’s presence and working and speaking in my life. I am free to soak in His presence because I am no longer preoccupied with all that must be done. Sure I’ve got some things to do, but how many are things I choose? I have to eat, sleep, drink water, feed our children….not much else I guess.

It’s kinda like when people say they got “lost in the music.” Maybe at a concert or something. What happens? You forget where you are, what time it is, maybe even who you are, and become one with the music. A transcendent experience. And it only comes through losing yourself to the music. You simply let go. You are so tuned in, that everything else is tuned out and forgotten for right then only one thing matters. If we can just let go and become one with God, I believe the experience  would be so transforming that there would be no going back unless you suffered some sort of brain damage. Although I have a friend who has suffered brain damage and still clings to God and, miraculously, retains Scripture he memorized before this incident.

Losing our lives, letting go, is the most freeing of “activities” we can participate in, for then we find Life, our life, our True Self.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

It seems to me that there are two kinds of self-focus. One positive, the other negative.

On the negative side, there is selfish self-focus. This is what we see rampant in our society of seeking to always please self. Seeking out pleasure at the cost of a life of depth. And also seeking to insulate one’s self from pain, also at great expense. For when we insulate from pain, we insulate from love. We embrace our modern day idol of comfort and convenience. Anything pushing us out of our comfort zone is avoided with great energy. Our goal is to always be comfortable, pleased, and pain-free.

Then there is a positive self-focus which is, paradoxically, a selfless self-focus. This is the bettering of one’s self through healthy self examination, sitting with yourself, looking into the mirror of God’s word and letting Him penetrate your heart to reveal what is not of Him as well as what is, and to respond accordingly. Some things we will need to nurture and cultivate. Some we will need to crucify.

In this kind of self-focus, we are becoming a greater light to the world, more in tune with our true self, and therefore, a more effective human being as an instrument of God’s love and healing.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria

How does it look for you to take a dip in the LAKE? What is it you regularly need to remind yourself of who you are?

Obviously, there are direct reminders all over Scripture. Perhaps you need to sit with it more, in meditation or memorization. Maybe getting alone for prayer, distraction-free every day. Maybe you need to get outside everyday and soak in God’s beauty. Maybe to hear and share stories with others of how God is at work in lives. It will look a little different for all of us, I’m sure. It’s so vital to keep coming back to who we are in Christ, to how God sees us. Sitting each day for a few minutes focused on how God sees you could be a game-changer for you.

Science is telling us more and more about this. That our identities come from who we love and who we feel love from. That is what shapes us most, not principles. Rarely does someone live as passionately about a principle as they do a person. So much of this goes back to appreciation. A friend the other day expressed some deep, heartfelt, and specific appreciation for me. And I felt on top of the world, validated. Simultaneously loved, known, accepted, and embraced. It’s that stuff that keeps us going and therefore is so important for us to encourage one another with to keep us going on the right path. It’s tough to keep going if you don’t feel appreciated. And since people will no doubt let us down, make sure you ultimately perform for an audience of One.

So I’m seeing more and more clearly how we need to live out of the Divine Embrace not just mandates. Very few people just start changing their thinking and making different choices without being touched by Love.

Here’s some interesting thoughts to chew on from Joy Starts Here, from people who have studied this stuff for over a couple decades now:

“Much of what we read about the brain is an updated version of what the Western church has been overusing for the last 400 years. The solution of Western culture the last 400 years is that we should make better choices by thinking better thoughts. The brain is used for thinking and choices so this seems totally logical and has instant appeal. The new literature on the brain has picked up the observation that emotions are fundamental to the brain and body. The brain requires emotions for processing experiences properly so many new books add emotions as the new ingredient to the old solution of thinking better thoughts and making better choices. The new load for our thinking and choices is that if we choose our thoughts carefully, we will control the emotions that run our brain and body system. Thoughts and choices become the solution to controlling emotions…

“While there is every reason to think good thoughts and make good choices, these are not the secret to developing mature Godly character. Training our brain’s relational identity center to live in joy and shalom works directly while thoughts and choices can only work indirectly and inefficiently to transform identities.”

Oh the immense brilliance of Jesus stating that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength….for all of life flows from that center.

In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria