When the carnival comes to town each year, it is always a fun time for all. We can especially enjoy the roller coaster, the tilt-a-whirl, the Ferris wheel and the carousel, all going around and around. Games like whack-a-mole, the bean bag toss and throwing darts hoping to pop a balloon all offer fun and entertainment. Night after night, friends can enjoy the rides, the games of chance, the music, the colors and all the amusements and delights. However, after…
Circumstances, big or small; situations, major or minor. We sometimes feel taken in by these occurrences in our lives, manipulated and mistreated with the sense that this is not our own doing. We seclude ourselves, nurse the wounds and think we heal only to return to the situation with the thought ‘it will be different’. It is commonly compared to the guy that plays with a dog, having a great time and then the dog bites. The guy runs off…
There was a famous song in 1965 called ‘The Sound of Silence’. One of the artists summed up the song’s meaning as “the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other.” In the spiritual world, silence is found during the times when the heart is being tested. During the silence, the ear of the believer is also being trained to listen…
It is important to understand that methods learned that alleviate pain, suffering and misery have been stored in the memory. The same holds true for the afflictions of pleasures and gratifications. When circumstances in the Spiritual Journey are created to bring attention to those afflictions, the solution of how it was dealt with in the past comes to the forefront to be exercised again and again to relieve stress or relive fervor, but it’s only a temporary measure. When that…
There are times during the Spiritual Journey where there seems to be a sense of being lost. The dictionary defines lost as: “no direction, no purpose; bewildered as to place, direction, etc.; not used to good purpose, as opportunities, time, or labor; wasted.” This sense of being lost can be the flesh feeling itself being emptied of all things familiar, habitual and of doing what it wants. Simultaneously, it can also be the spirit longing to be useful and purposeful…
In a dream a friend and I were walking down a road when we found ourselves entering a camp. The street was muddy, the homes were old broken railroad cars and rusted trailers surrounded by mud. Mud was everywhere, and everyone we saw was dirty and caked with mud. I knew that we had to leave this area, or we would soon become part of the landscape. I turned to grab my friend’s hand, but she had wandered over to…
During the Spiritual Journey, always pay attention to the little things, particularly when they are repetitious. Repeated occurrences of something is one of the ways that God gets our attention. Several years ago, I had what I called ‘the dropsies’. The urbandictionary.com defines this phenomenon as “the complete and utter state where you have the tendency to accidentally drop everything you pick up, causing frustration and embarrassment if there are others in the vicinity.” Although in my case there was…
In a dream, I had joined a marathon bicycle race. Before I was finished, I got tired and was wanting to quit. I pulled off the trail in a rest area beside a field. Standing in the field was a man who was leaning on the fence looking at me. I leaned my bicycle on the fence and tiredly walked over to him. We began talking and I told him how tired I was and how much I wanted to…
This is the evangelistic period when the knowledge of God is sown in the heart of the believer by the Spirit. The hearer receives the word through listening to teachings, reading scripture, books and literature. Devotions, quiet times, and prayers become part of daily living. Guard the heart and protect all that is given. Anyone desiring to only know God will be separated to a secret place to hear more than what is written in the bible or spoken in…
The first step in the spiritual journey begins with the birth. The birth, not of natural form but rather of spiritual form may begin with feeling there is something ‘more’. That nothing or no one on this earth can fill the need of a longing that can’t even really be described. Things we once enjoyed are no longer fulfilling, and an overall deep longing is the prevailing mood. There may be what is known as heartache, but it is really the…