Hi! I'm wondering whether you still share your journaling with someone else and why you would? Evidently when you wrote your book on the "4 Keys" you still did. Is it just a safeguard to always do that?
Have you ever heard the expression ‘sour grapes’? Do you judge people on the actions of their children? Sour grapes is most commonly used to mean that the value of something unobtainable is not as great as was hoped, but it also refers to a proverb that I forbid to my people, that the sour grapes the fathers ate set the children’s teeth on edge. Haven’t you known good parents whose children made bad choices in spite of good training? A valid Biblical principle is that you not judge others. If you would not judge others for their own actions, how much less should you do so for the actions of someone else, even if it is their own children?
Do you think that light is good and darkness is evil? There are many places in the Bible that use this terminology and so there is a basis for it. You use the same metaphor in referring to stories or places representing evil as being dark. But this is not the only meaning. For I created the day and the night, and the sun for the day and the moon for the night. I created both realms and am the Lord of both. Darkness may obscure your vision but not mine. The Psalmist understood that darkness and light were alike to me. When you encounter darkness either literally or figuratively I am just as much with you as during the day.
Are you curious about how things work? Do you wonder about cause and effect? When presented with a new situation do you try to find an explanation for it? A given situation may have multiple plausible explanations, some of which are natural and some are supernatural. Do you assume that only one can be true? Do you prefer natural explanations if one is available? This reflects an anti-supernatural bias and there is nothing irrational in thinking that a given effect can be the result of a combination of causes. I created the natural world. I continue to be present and intervene in its operation.
Did it cost you a lot to raise your kids? Parents make the choice to start a family and the cost of this is great. Children generally have no awareness of the cost involved. They take it for granted that their parents will provide for them. Do you ever wonder if it is costing me a lot to raise you? You may argue that the costs are irrelevant since my resources are unlimited, but the costs are still real. Parents don’t know in advance what the cost will be but they are encouraged to save for their children’s education. I counted the cost in advance for your education and have the funds in place to finish it.
The following blog is from Pastor Joe Brock, a close friend, and upcoming blogger to the CWG website. Enjoy! I was a youth pastor in the early 90’s. In 1995 I graduated college and moved into a full-time associate pastor position. My family was involved in a church plant and in time, I became my father’s associate pastor. Who says God does not have a sense of humor? So for the next few years, I served the church in a number of capacities, all the while growing and experiencing the things of the Spirit. As time when on, my wife and I realized that the path we were on was parting from the direction of the church. So in an honoring parting of ways, we left the church and the denomination, determined to continue to follow the Lord.
My word invites you to taste and see that I am good. Do you see how this implies an intimate relationship? The primary senses that you rely on for most of your information are sight and hearing. These have the advantage that they work at a distance, allowing you to gain information without having to come into direct contact. Taste is the most intimate of all the senses, for you not only have to come in contact, but whatever you perceive must be in your mouth. I deliberately chose this closest encounter to describe the relationship I want with you. I want you to know my goodness from firsthand experience.
Is it possible that one could be blind and not know it? Yet the Pharisees asked me if they were blind also, and the answer was yes. What about hunger? Is it possible to be hungry and not know it? Everyone is created in my image, and is therefore a spiritual being. This carries with it a hunger to return and connect with your source, and this applies to all, believer and unbeliever alike. Unbelievers don’t know what to call this, and you see some peculiar and distorted attempts to fill the spiritual vacuum. So you can be hungry and not know it. You are in a position to identify this hunger and bring them to the one who can fill it. Blessed are those who hunger after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
I promised you a life of abundance. That doesn’t necessarily mean an abundance of money although I will meet your needs. It does mean an abundance of opportunity and experience. Does this sound like a life of routine or not? Yet all lives are a combination of the routine and the new. It isn’t a matter of eliminating all routine from your life, but choosing those routine activities that are life-giving. Routines can become stale and you can go through the motions without gaining any benefit. Choose spiritual routines and practice them with intentional engagement and they will be as nourishing to you as daily bread.
How old is the earth, and for that matter the universe? You get a wide variety of answers depending on whom you ask. A strict reading of the Bible suggests thousands or tens of thousands of years. Most people you meet will say millions or billions. Is this a battle you need to fight? This isn’t a point of doctrine as doctrine is properly understood, and the Bible itself doesn’t have a chapter and verse giving the age of the earth. If it was important I would have told you. In your presentation of the good news of the Kingdom of God, keep the focus on me and my identity. Don’t make it easy for your audience to dismiss you for secondary reasons.
