A Better Mouse

The thought used to be “build a better mouse trap” then someone decided to think a little differently and made a fortune by getting the mouse in the door. It’s amazing how much of a difference a little mouse has made, and also a little change in thinking.

Off Your Rocker

Hey! I think I’m “really onto something here!” But in order to “go for it!” I think I’ll have to get “off my rocker!” And I know what I need to do and where I need to go but I keep feeling like I’m going crazy. But sometimes it takes a bit of crazy to make a new creation. So instead of yielding to the temptation to sit back down and get back down into my old way of thinking I think I’m just going to embrace it and stop trying to erase it.

When you step out to do something new fear will come near and try and push you back. It will say you can’t take it and you’re not going to make it. So sit down and shut up and get back in your rocker, because you’re not a walker. Stay right there in your comfortable chair, put on your old cozy hat, and don’t try a new cap or even think about thinking like that!

But I can’t just sit here and die so I’ll give it a try. I’ll listen to my Maker and not my mocker, and step out again and get off my rocker. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again because “a new way of thinking” is a means to an end.  And it makes me feel better to know it’s OK, when things are a changin - to be feeling this way.

So if you really want to get “onto something new” you’ll probably have to get off your rocker first.

Isa 43:18-19

18 "Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

NKJV

Isa 43:18-19

18 "Forget about what's happened;

don't keep going over old history.

19 Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.

It's bursting out! Don't you see it?

There it is! I'm making a road through the desert,

rivers in the badlands.

MES

Rom 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

NKJV

What Little Letters Create is Great!

I once fell into a pit of despair so I made a ladder out of letters and climbed up out of the hole. I found myself in the woods in a landscape of grey and utter silence. So I began to write and a living masterpiece of light in many hues began to glow upon the horizon. The rays of the sun began to shine through the clouds as all the colors of the forest began to come alive. So I took more words and gave songs to the birds and sounds to streams. I gave psalms to the wind and poems to the trees and all of the creation began to become alive with the melodies of life. To the creatures each I gave their own utterance and speech. I laid the foundation of the earth beneath and made it firm and formidable using words of promise. I sculpted the great cliffs and brought forth their heights with the stroke of my pen. With flowing ink I made great birds in the sky to herald the news in flight that we create when we write.

The alphabet with its tiny letters, can inspire greatness, or put minds in fetters. And though its characters alone be small, when brought together can make it all.

Ps 45:1

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;

I recite my composition concerning the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

NKJV

Ps 45:1

My heart bursts its banks,

spilling beauty and goodness.

I pour it out in a poem to the king,

shaping the river into words:

MES

…and shaping words into a river.

John 7:38

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

NKJV

Burnout

What is it?

What causes it?

What are the results?

How do you recover?

What do you have to have before you burnout? What burns and then burns out?

You have passion, hope, some kind of dream, your heart burns within you for some cause, endeavor or goal, vision, plan, etc.

What was lost? What burned up that caused you to burn out?

My heart burned within me for a great cause. I was “saved” and had been having some encounters with God. His Word had become alive to me and I loved it. I became obsessed with the scriptures because they seemed so delightful to me. I had received the Lord Jesus and I had peace within my heart, it was an odd feeling but a good one, I don’t remember having peace like that ever before, it just seemed real and tangible. I felt like now everything was going to be ok. I had hope, I felt like I had found something that I had needed before but hadn’t known it. I thought at the time that from then on I would just continue to live in this state of bliss. Before this, I had felt like a lonely maiden in a cruel world without provision or a hope of a place belong, but then it was as if I had been swept up and off my feet by the Savior. I thought “this is it,” I have found God and so now surely He will take care of me. There are promises in His Word and provisions for my every need. I have met this Savior and He is great and so now surely life is going to be grand! I felt like a new bride and began to adorn myself with all the beautiful things I could find. I put on faith, hope and love and began to strut my stuff. And then He invited me into a deeper relationship, He took me over the threshold and I was immersed and filled with His Spirit to overflowing. I experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire and now I was on fire. My heart burned within with a great and intense love for my God, my Savior, my Lord and I was immersed in His Spirit. He filled me again and again until I felt like I was charged with divine life. His Spirit and my spirit became one, as the scripture has said, “he who joins himself with the Lord is one spirit.” and the glory that was promised is that we would be “one.” So I began to live in the Spirit and give in to the Spirit and He began to overflow and flow forth from within, in words and in actions.

I was filled with God and filled with love and I had great hope. I believed He could and would do anything to help me and humanity. So I set out to tell the world the good news of my good God. He was and is and always will be awesome and almighty. I felt like I was called to preach this gospel and go tell all the world. WE CAN SAVE THE WORLD! I thought and all of us can live together in this glorious bliss. And that was the fire that burned within.

So I set out to preach the good news save the world with His Love. And to bring them the Fire of His Spirit so they too could be immersed and become One. I preached His promises and told of His goodness. And then I discovered that all these great and glorious promises weren’t just coming to pass automatically. I learned that there was a battle that has been raging for ages between good and evil and now I felt like I had stepped right into the middle of it, and mostly unaware.

I was saved and filled with the Spirit and almighty love, so now surely and naturally I would just love, right? But it was work and I had to resist the evil and choose the good and keep on feeding the fire lest my light go out. I learned of God’s great mercy and desire to heal. I started praying for people and some started getting healed, and some of them did not. So I started questioning and why and trying harder to help with the healing. Because when it’s glorious it is glorious, and I’ve seen people gloriously healed!  But when it’s not working for some reason then it’s horrible. And hearts are hurt and broken and oft times even just swept aside in all the questioning? And so your burn to be involved in this healing begins to burn up and burn out if want to stay sincere. And when you’re facing someone who is dying or in horrible pain and getting no relief, then how do you justify your “gospel” and where is this “Great Physician” that you speak of so oft. And if your God is great and loving (which you believe with all of your heart that He is) then why hasn’t He healed. So I questioned God but never got good answers on this one, so I got angry. Why would You promise this and then do that? And why did I have to watch this person die? And then you see the effect that it has on their family. And you’re trying to explain that it’s surely God’s will to heal all, all the time (according to your doctrine). And they are looking at you and thinking you are either stupid or crazy because after all the preaching and praying the person they love is still dead. And this is not what always happens,(thank God) but when it does happen, it always happens to be more convenient not to talk about it or try and figure out why. So we just sweep the broken heart pieces under the rug and go on preaching a doctrine that doesn’t always work. And your heart grows a little colder and you begin to question your doctrine and your God. You sincerely want to continue to believe with all your heart, but it’s getting harder, because now your heart is broken and you keep losing pieces here and there as you minister to people. And sometimes the promise is instantly fulfilled and your heart is filled and overflows and heals a bit. But other times the promise seems to elude all attempts to save and your heart is broken again and hope drains out and flows through the cracks in the floor. And now you don’t want to do it anymore, but all is not lost, somehow you still believe so you can’t quit. But the pain seems to increase as you go through the battles instigated by your doctrines. And wounds are received and some heal and turn into beautiful or ugly scars, and other times the wounds just stay open and fester and bleed. Because you can’t figure out what the hell happened and why it didn’t work. Why isn’t everyone getting saved and swept off their feet? Why do I still have wounds and sorrows and struggle with life? I get sick, or someone I love does, and we resist it, and it takes spiritual energy, and the harder we try the more we burn up. I have a hard time making ends meet or they don’t meet at all, and I see others struggling also. But the Bible says that “God will provide.” Doesn’t it? So we give more and try harder, hoping for some kind of miracle. And usually a lot of nothing happens on that end. And I realize the provision is given and now I have to go to work and be a good steward of what I have. So giving more and trying harder makes me tired and I burn out a little more on this system because it’s not working for me. And I go to church and I’m continually encouraged to try harder, do more, pray more, give more, attend more, sing louder, sing longer, worship harder, study longer, get stronger and be better -and better and better. But I can’t get better because my butter’s bitter. And so now no matter how hard I try and fix it and keep putting in more and more of the same, my bitter batter only multiplies and now I’ve got a big mess to try and clean up. And the only sane way to do it is to throw the whole thing in the trash and start over with some good and pure ingredients. But the voice says in your head, “wait, maybe you can save something out of that old bitter batter, you’ve been working on it for so long can you really just give up on it all and start over?” And so you try to fix it again and again until finally one day you’re just so fed up and burned out that you just quit and get the hell out of the kitchen.

And now you’re in limbo and la la land. And then you don’t feel so saved or swept up anymore, You feel angry and confused and wonder what to do. And you desperately want to go back to the honeymoon days and so you try. But it’s not the same anymore it just feels awkward and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s like you loved your tricycle when you were about four years old and thought it was grand, but if you try and take a lap around the block now somehow it’s just not the same. Does that mean that tricycles are bad and that we should get that kind of teaching out of our churches? I don’t think so, let the children be children and enjoy the euphoria while it lasts. And we all go through seasons and stages in life and faith. I just wish I didn’t have to grow up, and why was I trying so hard to do it so fast?  So you want to go back but you can’t take the old and moldy batter out of the trash. But what you can do is start to remember some of the good ingredients and get it together and make a new batch. It’s a new day and time to learn a new way. Think of the things you will definitely want in your new mix and begin to acquire those. Remember things that made your batter bitter – forgive yourself and others and take those items off of the table.

So now it’s time to be restored. Not restored to all you what you were before because you had added in some ugly things along the way. But to be restored to faith, hope and love, for these three remain and are good foundation for your salvation. I know you have been through the ringer and pressed and crushed until you felt as if your heart was dust and swept under the rug and danced on by your friends and foes alike. But God was there all the while, and it makes my heart hurt so bad, “why did He let it happen?” And how can I ever trust Him again after all this has happened? And I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know why and who and what let what happen, or if things just happen and why they happen, and we can all try to explain it all somehow according to what we want to believe and how we want to spin it to support our current belief system. But I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten the real answer or even know if there is one anymore. And now I don’t care, I’m not going to live in the hell of that confounded limbo.

So is the decision I need to make?  – Will I take another chance and attempt to sincerely believe in God again? And will I give my life to Him again, and will I walk with Him again? And am I willing to let go of the doctrines and ways that didn’t work and let God lead me? Can I really follow Jesus? And why does it have to be such a big deal? This whole mindset makes me tired and I can already feel myself burning out again before I’ve even began again. And I don’t want to go there and go crazy again, so what’s the answer?

I’m thinking that it doesn’t need to be that hard. That believing supposed to be natural and that faith is not meant to be synthetic.  Believing is like breathing, and everybody believes something, as long you’re breathing you’re believing. Some things you just believe because it’s what you were taught or have learned on your own, and other things you choose to believe or not believe. But when you try too hard to believe it’s like trying too hard to breathe. So you hyperventilate and pass out or hyper associate and burn out. Excessive believing causes burn out. And God didn’t make our heart to be like one big bonfire for a day and then litter and blackened rubble the next. We’re supposed to be like trees planted by rivers. And trees by rivers breathe and drink the flow and grow. But if you want them to glow you don’t set them on fire. But you let the leaves receive the rays of the sun and the roots soak up the water and they receive life and grow. And then as the sun shines through the trees naturally glow and continue to grow. And it’s not synthetic or contrived. And now I see that man-made fires have caused many to burn up and burn out.

So now what will I do? I will accept my current place in life. I will receive what comes to me naturally. I will believe in and receive God’s love because this is easy for me, because somehow I just know how. And I’ll let Him saturate me and set me free to just be me. I’ll let Him shape my tree and bring forth fruit as He wishes. But I won’t strive or try and contrive it. If it’s there I will let it be and if it’s not then I won’t worry about it. And I know that storms will come and some seasons will be harsh and cold and I will accept that and be thankful that I have been given what I need to survive. And in other seasons I know the sun will shine through and I will feel warm and beautiful and glow in the rays of the Son. And in some seasons I will produce much “fruit” and will rejoice and share what I have. But in other seasons I will be barren of external fruit, and I’m ok with that because I’m still planted by the river so my leaf will not wither. And because of that I’ll just keep breathing and believing and knowing that I’m rooted and grounded in Love.

Ps 1:1-3

1 Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

NKJV

Jer 17:5-8

5 Thus says the Lord:

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man

And makes flesh his strength,

Whose heart departs from the Lord.

6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,

And shall not see when good comes,

But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,

In a salt land which is not inhabited.

7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

NKJV

Eph 3:16-19

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

NKJV

Rom 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

"For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NKJV

Rev 22:1-5

22 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

NKJV

IT IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!

I won’t answer “its” urgency, BECAUSE IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY!

Emergency - a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.

If it’s not an emergency then it does not require immediate action. But many things will disguise themselves as emergencies and demand attention. But what I need to do is pay attention to the task at hand. Because when I begin to feel like “everything is an emergency” I elicit the FOF(Fight or Flight). I don’t want to live in false alarm and continue to set off the FOF. Because if the FOF is set off and I don’t respond by fighting or flight-ing then the tension remains and continues inciting. But since no immediate action is necessary it goes for the next best thing and demands immediate attention. And the FOF spouts off, “well if you’re not going to do anything about “it” right now then you had better at least be worrying and thinking about “it” and trying to figure “it” out - NOW!” And “it” demands your attention, and then more “it’s” and “this’s” and “that’s” join in. And “whats” and “whys” and “you can’t win” and “it’s a sin” and “start again” and “now you suck” and “you’re outta luck” because you can’t do it all, so why try at all? And then you fall into a pit and wallow in it. And it’s a vicious cycle that dilutes your attention and wastes your time. And it can be sporadic or go on for a long time. And you can’t get off of the FOF until you finally decide that you won’t give it attention, or answer its urgency, BECAUSE IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY!

So I got off of the FOF and I won’t answer “its” urgency, BECAUSE IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY!

Eccl 3:1

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

NKJV