Only God Can Do This....

I have been thinking and reflecting a bunch on the power of God, His Grace, His desire to bless us and move in our lives. Last week in the midst of my cancer scare I had lunch with one of the most non-religious spiritual Jesus loving people I know, Tom, my dentist. We went out to lunch last week after he put my good looking gold crown on.

We were talking all about the changes in either of our lives, the presence of God and His church. Tom asked me if I ever tried to catch a butterfly without a net. I said, "No." He was teaching his kids this past summer and as you probably know, it is nearly impossible, except for maybe Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid. The key is that don't go and try to catch it but just sit still and let it land on you. The point he was making for my life is to stop trying to control, catch, create, manufacture what God can only do. Rest, be still, wait and let God do the healing, creating, birthing and moving in and around my life. That is exactly what I needed to know.

The previous night I was meeting with another non-religious spiritual Jesus loving Friend, Andy, over an adult beverage in Longmont. I love Andy's chaotic faith filled life. A year ago he quit his job, adopted 2 twin African American premies, that makes 6 kids in his house under 7. He was sharing with me the powerful year it has been. Turning down jobs, seeing God move, touching his family and blessing them. It increased my faith a ton.

Much of what I'm pondering and thinking about in our own lives, marriage, family and ministry has been about the real power of God. For so long, tied to my performance issues, I have worked hard for God, producing great results, becoming addicted to them, looking for praise and honor from friends, donors and family. I have done the tried and true strategies that I know with my power, strength and energy will yield great God results. The bummer is that in hind site it doesn't feel like God is moving at all. I'm begging God to bless me, move around me, do something supernatural but I'm unwilling to sit, wait and listen for God to show up.

Starting over in life, marriage and ministry gives us a great opportunity to create a new value system of living, loving and serving. Realizing that my issues are still tucked away in the corners of my heart, we're begging God to shed His grace on us. We need a new and fresh way of living and serving. We want to see the supernatural, not the natural.

Andy sent me this great article from a pastor of a church called, Time Square Church. It is well worth the read.

Maybe all we need is a great big push to move from the Natural to the Supernatural.

Categories: Church, Faith, God, Leadership, Spirituality

Please Pray

Please Pray:
· That we will wholeheartedly seek out the person of Jesus.
· That we will slow down to rest and allow God to speak to us.
· That we will model, teach and encourage our kids in following Jesus.
· That as God grows us we will be sensitive to loving and caring for those around us.
· That we will seek God for every detail, step and plan for our future.
· That God will protect us from the evil one who wishes to destroy our lives and relationships.

Categories: Newsletters, God, Prayer, Family

Prayer for the Van Diest

Please Pray:
· Ultimately that God will lead us in our decisions & steps to a new future of ministry
· That as we serve God He would be our first love
· That we daily depend on God for the spiritual battle before us
· That God protects our family and keeps us healthy
· That God will make our hearts sensitive to the work of His Spirit around us
· That we will walk by faith, humbly serving others
· That as we move ahead we would do the internal work of rest & listening to God

Categories: Prayer, Family, God

Faith - I can't quite see yet

I was reminded this morning of Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." The reality in our lives now is that we're not sure what the future holds for us. This may be a first in many years. Yes, we moved to Mexico and it may have looked uncertain but we had a general idea of what we were going to do. Now, we know God is leading us, calling us, growing us and pruning us for something but we're just not sure exactly what that. It is a bit more scary than before but at the same time, from what we have learned in our last 8 months being in the presence of God, having only Him as our life source and significance, this journey is exactly where we want to be and need to be.

I at times have fallen in love with the adventure of doing Kingdom work for God, fallen in love with the prestige of doing 'great' things for Him and having a position and influence for Him. What I'm learning, still in process, is that falling in love with Him and having Him be the source of all my significance is all I need. I could have preached and shared with you a thousand times of putting God first and leaning only on Him but when you're brought to the end of yourself and die to self is when you really learn that truth. I'm learning.....

Today I read this from Steve Addison that makes me want to live for Christ, trusting Him, risking for Him, and dying to self and my earthly or religious desires.

People who change the world have a cause that is worth risking everything for.
Their lives become like grains of wheat that fall to the ground and die and in
doing so produce much fruit. They count the cost but consider the rewards worth
the risk. They keep climbing the next mountain and the next. . .

Read the whole thing at : Looking Down From the Mountain

Categories: God, Faith, Ministry