Overflow

 A subtle nudge to provide aid, recognition of, and action to help those in need, an inkling to reach out to a friend.  God is quietly whispering, prompting us to move with him and for him.  The question is, are we listening?  It it so easy to become distracted, preoccupied, or simply keep ourselves so busy that we don't hear the quiet whispers of God.  John 4 tells the story of Jesus meeting a woman with a sorted past at a well.  In this story he says, whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.   I am reminded when I read this passage, that if I want to serve God and pour out to others, I must first be filled up.  I must first accept the water that only God can provide.   My prayer today is that I would take the opportunity to stop and hear the whispering voice of God.   

John 4:14

¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Shower, O Heavens, from above

This drawing was a bit of a play on words, see verse below.  I do like the idea of God pouring his love down on us, and if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine walking into that downpour, soaking it in.....  anticipating the fruit that only God can stir up..... 

 Isaiah 45:8 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁸ “Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the Lord have created it.

How God sees you

We often only see our flaws, we focus on the things we don't like, or the areas we would like to change.  God sees our full potential, He sees us as his work of Art.  He knows that if we would only trust in him, he could do great things in us and through us. 


2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Discovering new trails

I love to explore new trails.  There is something magical about discovering what is around the next corner, or over the next hill.  My family has labeled me the sandbagger because I always tend to extend the ride or hike further than originally advertised.  If I say a mountain bike ride will be 5 miles, my wife and boys will look at each other with a knowing glances and say 10 at least.  There is always something to be discovered.  Just this morning while walking the dog I came across a fawn lying down under a tree.  The mama was near by and gave us a warning glace.  We headed off trail a bit to give them plenty of room and discovered a new trail that we had not yet explored.  Our 2 mile morning walk quickly turned into a 5 mile hike.  We explored a section of the Deschuetes river that I had not hiked along before. 

I find myself in constant wonder of God's creation.  There is such diversity and attention to detail.   I believe that God planted the love of adventure into my very soul, and have found him to be the best guide.   He has taken me places that I never dreamed I would go and mapped out adventures far better than those I could plan on my own.  I encourage you to seek God in your adventures and search out the path that he has marked for you.

Psalm 16:11

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. 

Overflow

I spent a little time drawing on a piece of slate that I have on our back deck.  We are in between seasons in Bend.  One day is sunny and 60 and the next brings cold and snow.  I enjoy this time of year, often a light snow is falling in the morning which quickly melts, giving way to the warming rays of the afternoon sun.  The weather reminded me of Isaiah 55: 10-12, which illustrates God's provision of rain and snow to water the earth and bring forth new life.  Similarly his word waters our heart, mind and soul, causing new growth, fruit, and eventually overflow.  It is through that overflow that we are able to love others.   My prayer today is that I would plant God's word deep into my being, and that I would use the overflow of the fruit produced to serve others.

Isaiah 55: 10-12

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

 

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out in joy

    and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

    shall break forth into singing,

    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Who is your neighbor

 

       Drawing - Grand Goave Haiti Nov. 2017

^{Who is your neighbor?  I asked myself this question as I read the below scripture.  Often we think of our neighbors as those that live on our street, cul-de-sac, or just next door.  It is easy to discount those that we do not have regular contact with.  The truth is that God puts "neighbors" in front of each of us every day.  We have the choice to ignore, tear down, or build up each person we come in contact with.  This could be at work, in the park, on the phone, in traffic, at the grocery store, in the airport, at a sporting event, walking down the street, etc....  My prayer today is that I would take the below words to heart and practice kindness, treating others as God has treated me.  I pray that God will continue to expand my neighborhood.}

 <sup>Ephesians 4:25-32

25</sup> Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Branching out

 When I sketched this I was thinking specifically about branching out.  Sometimes God gives you the opportunity to do something new.  It can be exciting, scary, and even confusing.  It can be a blank page, or simply joining a different one of his adventures.  It can be born out of Joy, peace,  pain, or even sorrow.   As an artist I enjoy the blank page.  There is so much potential, and I never know what might emerge from my scratches and scribbles.  I start my process without a destination in mind and simply attempt to focus on the direction God is leading.  At times I take a false turn, or jump ahead, but God patiently waits for me to return to the path he has laid out.  My prayer today is that I would be sensitive to the direction he is leading me.  I pray that I will always be open to the next blank page that God is presenting, and I pray that I would rely on him to branch out.

Isaiah 43:18-19

 

“Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

God does not have an address

 

Sketch - Port Au Prince Haiti 

 As I sketched this I was reminded that God does not have an address.  He is not limited by borders, governments, or curfews.  He exists equally in castles and back alleys.  It is sometime easy to put God in a box, associate him with Sunday and the church.   God can not be contained or constrained.  His desire to be with us is so strong that he gave his only son (Jesus) as a sacrifice.  Jesus, in one selfless act, took on all our sin, past and present, so that we could be forgiven.  My prayer today is that I would not squander that gift, that I would be sensitive to Gods calling in my life,  and that I would be a willing tool yielded in his hand. 

John 3:16-18 (ESV)

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world,  that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Two are better than one

 <sup>Today I find myself very thankful for the one that God has given me as my helpmate.  My prayer is that I would not take that relationship for granted.  I pray that God will show me unique ways to show my appreciation, affection, and joy to the woman that stands with me through it all. 

 Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9</sup> Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

And The Chains Fell Off

  Peter was in jail, no chance for escape, then the impossible happened.  God loves to make the impossible possible.  It is through our weakness that his strength shines through.  Question to ponder: What impossible thing are you trusting God with?

Acts 12:7 (ESV)

⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.  ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.

Slowing down

I have taken a few months off from technology to live life in the moment rather than through the cropped and filtered digital memory of my iPhone.  I downshifted a bit and looked at life through my own eyes, attempting to capture mental images as I walked out my day.   I have enjoyed slowing down and living a bit closer to the present.  




 
During this time I purchased a new  ESV journal bible with high quality paper and plenty of room for drawing in the margins. 

I find my time in the word is enhanced by simply slowing down and sketching through what God is revealing on each page. 



How is God asking you to slow down?

92,960,000 Miles

This week I have been contemplating some amazing forces and facts.  The suns rays take 8 minutes to reach earths atmosphere,  traveling 92.96 million miles at the rate of 300,000 Kilometers per second to bring us light and heat.  The earth we are standing on is spinning at 1000 miles per hours and takes 24 hours to make a full revolution.  Deep water waves are represented by a relatively simple equation, but as they approach shallower waters the factors that play into the speed, shape and velocity are almost infinite.   Our world, when distilled to equalization form only becomes more amazing.  As I step through the math that attempts to factor just how amazing our earth is I am blown away by the creative God that spoke it into existence.  God left one force undefinable.  His greatest creation can not be explained by physics, logic,  or math.  It can not be contained, and it can not be measured or diminished.  the force that has been blowing my mind all week is God's love.  God gave us the gift of love, a force that can not be measured.  We love because he first loved us, and his love endures forever.

1 John 4:19New International Version

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

Psalm 136:2New International Version

² Give thanks to God.
His love endures forever.

Run the Race

This week I was reminded that training is key.  I have been running for many years, but have always kept my mileage around 5.  The last few weeks I have been increasing my mileage, and this week I did an 11 mile trail run.  I felt great in the moment, but my knees paid dearly the next few days.  I had pushed myself to far to fast.   I experience the same thing when I try to run ahead of what God is doing in my life.  I realized that if I want to go the distance and fulfill the plan that God has for me, I must train consistently.  Time in the word and in prayer can not be rushed and requires consistency.  

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)