Soaking Prayer

Today seems to be a day of "soaking"...if the bolt won't get unstuck, soak it in penetrating "oil"...if  grease seems stuck to the pan, soak it...if the ground is dry, place a soaking hose on it...if your heart seems confused, mind unsure, then laying out before the Lord and allowing His presence to penetrate deeply will certainly be the solution.

This is my prayer..."Lord I desperately need the fullness of your presence, fill me, flow thru me, envelope me today. Blow any chaff away, wash away any impurity, fill the cisterns of my heart and life with fresh living water. As the rain has been gently falling from heaven, so the rain of your spirit fall upon me bringing life and sustenance to my soul. God soak this home, this property with your presence may all that live here reflect your fullness."

"Back in the day"....David Ruis came out with a song "True Love", the Winds of Worship albums were in fill swing at that time, I'm listening to "True Love" now. A phrase speaks of coming before the King. Well "back in the day" there was preparation before coming before the King...some of it included "soaking" in various oils and perfumes.

Lord prepare me, fill me today and everyday for what you have for me. I love you....

Being FIT and Pisteuo...

80+ degrees today and bright sun...I'm in my glory...only to be eclipsed by 100 degrees and on an island, but we must be happy where we are. Day 2 of back to running. Already you can tell that it's warm, and for some working out in the heat is even harder. I happen to be one of those crazy...or stupid people...your call, but probably very close...that actually loves working out in the heat.

My quiet time with the Lord today had me in Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists..." That certainly does sound reasonable...pleasing God...and believing that He exists. What got me thinking was, as I ran huffing and puffing down the road running in the beautiful 80 degrees...my legs feeling like logs...my lungs feeling stretched...and my body feeling tired...could I realistically say..."yeah, I'm fit...or yeah, I work out..yeah, I'm healthy"...if I've ran 4 times since January? Well...no really. But don't we do that with a lot of things? What we do occasionally, do we sometimes pass off as a lifestyle that we own? I'm especially guilty of this when it comes to questions about my surfing...but more about that later. But wouldn't that be dangerous for your surgeon if asked has he done this before? And do we do that with our faith in Christ? We say "yeah....I'm a Christian" but actually do not practice regularly any of the basics of the faith. John 1:12 says "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God". The "believed" word is actually a form of "pisteuo" which con-notates a active on going perseverance of faith and a putting into practice on a continual on basis. John 5:24 "whoever hears my word and believes (pisteuo) him who sent me has eternal life". Meaning...my ongoing, regular, faithful, continual reflecting of what I believe and even exercising and running puts me in the category of being fit...not that I ran one time awhile ago and each day since then ate brownies...so now I'm a athlete.

The thought seems silly really. Until I ask myself...what are my actions, lifestyle today reflecting? Athlete or lazy...believer or... once had a belief that God was real and now I think I'm part of the christian club?

I guess...I'd better keep running each day.

FAT or F.A.T.?

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things THRU Christ who gives me strength". Those words jumped off the page this morning directly into my heart. Of course, I have read them countless times before, but today...direction accompanied them. Since the beginning of the year I've endeavored to do four things...simplify, eradicate debt, prepare & friendship. Today...is a day of preparation...get ready as Joshua said, "For TOMARROW..." I know I am preparing on several levels...spiritually - my heart closer to Christ and in tune with His leading, theologically and leadership wise - to lead a people as lead pastor, relocation - preparing our house for sale, etc., and physically - getting ready to run the 2011 Boston Marathon...but first run the rim of the Grand Canyon...a 46 mile trail run in 2 days.

Today I go out to run in beautiful sun and a warm breeze. Mind you last fall I averaged @ 50+ miles a week clocking about 7:20 per mile in preparation for the Marine Corp Marathon. But today?  After 5 months of nothingness...3 miles in 24:50 huffing a puffing like a overweight three legged dog. During this jog...the Lord spoke...you're "FAT". Or the key to your preparation is FAT. Last year you were "fit" because of your "F.A.T.". WHAT??? Yes, "F"aithfulness...each day you arose @ 4:45am and ran...in the snow, rain, ice and blazing heat. Become faithful...."your faithfulness is what I desire". "A"ccountable...you ran with people, in relationship, they were waiting and depending on you each day. The course was laid out, improvement was expected. Some one said to me a long time ago..."without accountability there is no motivation to grow". "T"eachable...learn, apply wisdom...sometimes we need to stop doing some things and learn from others and the Lord. Are you applying what you are learning? If not...then you are not teachable.

As I ran...frustrated by my lack of present fitness I realized...."I CAN do ALL things...so Lord "What are you calling me to?"....because it's those things that the Lord PROMISES to give me STRENGTH...abundant STRENGTH...abundant VISION, abundant LEADERSHIP, abundant ENDURANCE for the race placed before me!

So...bring ON the 46 mile Grand Canyon rim trail run....bring ON the Boston Marathon...bring ON the leading/pastoring of a people......."thru Christ"...."who gives me strength".