Devotional
Making Decisions by Hearing God
As my walk with the Lord has grown, I have learned it is far easier to listen and obey than to try and figure out all God has planned for me and those around me.
We are at the second stop of Motormania TV’s Northern Lights Tour 2014, 7 races in 7 weeks over 7900 miles. As we rolled out of base 10 days ago, I wasn’t sure how the Lord would handle all of our financial needs. Yes, the money was in accounts receivable, but not in the bank. Yet I knew in my heart the Lord would make it all work, just not sure how. Much to our surprise, a customer paid his invoice 2 weeks early which helped meet our needs.
Faithfulness in Our Calling
Arrogance and pride are two attitudes we must guard against at all times. Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” I have watched the mantle of the Lord removed from ministers time and time again because they believed they were above the rules.
I remember a discussion with a few fellow ministers some years ago. We were talking about making mistakes in life and disappointing those we ministered to. The common response was “well I’m human and you just need to get over me disappointing you, it happens.” I was speechless…the arrogance of that statement astounded me. When you start to think ‘you’re all that and a bag of chips’, you are in serious trouble.
Moving Ahead of God
No one is better at convincing me I should do something than me. I could get it in my head that this is the direction I need to go and there would be very little that could convince me NOT to do something once I had made up my mind. That led to me buy things I did not need to impress people I did not know with money I did not have. The result was a debt that I am just climbing out of 16 years later.
When God Speaks
Yes, I heard an audible voice…was it the Lord speaking to me? There is no other explanation. My journey back to the Fathers house was almost complete. I could see it in the distance. He had been drawing me for months through the teachings of the two pastors at our church. I was living under constant conviction of the double life I led for so many years. At home I was a father and husband who gave the appearance of being a really good guy that cared about his family. Yes, I loved my children and wife, but I led a double life…the reality was very different.
At home I was dad and husband…on the road I was a wild man that partied like a rock star, drinking and carousing when not working. On the night I heard His voice it was a simple request, “Don’t drink tonight, watch what goes on with your friends.” What I saw would forever changed my life.
Perception Is Not Reality
Hopelessness and despair are the two biggest tools of the enemy. If he can get you to focus on what might happen instead of relying on the Lord to see you through every situation, then he wins. Time and time again when adversity hits, we have prayed and looked to the Father for help. He always responds.
Such was the case a few weeks ago when we had a major failure of one of the brackets that the hitch bolts to on the 2nd unit’s motorhome. The team was 700 miles from home sitting in a rest area and could not move any further without the hitch breaking the rest of the way. The sequence of events that followed could have only been orchestrated by our Poppa.
Humility in Relationships
Learning to be transparent was one of the single biggest gifts I received when I first returned to the Father’s house. There is no corner of my life that I’m unwilling to share with a person on any given day, even those parts of my life I’m the most ashamed of. I’m not talking about a public broadcast, but a willingness to be real and open with people at a personal level. This allows folks to see the real me, not the minister of business owner.
It’s never easy to be open and honest about your failures. However, we must use our life experiences to help those around us, it does make a huge difference when someone understands they are not alone in a place or situation they may find themselves on any given day.
Being Led by God
In the fall of 2012, we found ourselves at a crossroads. We had been visiting family in New York when we ran across a local church facility for sale. We stopped and looked around the outside of the building and then walked the property to get a sense of what the Lord might want to do there. We already knew what the inside looked like since we had attended a wedding there a few years back and family had served as ministers on the staff.
We had a meeting to discuss this with family and friends in the area that surprised all of us, there was an anointing of the Holy spirit that we could not deny. Whether or not this was the right facility was not the question, but, did our Father want us to birth a church in this area? Looking at this through our eyes, it made sense. However, our Lord’s ways are not our ways.
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