We are entering our 21 days of prayer and fasting today leading up to Easter and I went on a walk today to pray and just seek God for what he wants me to do during these 21 days. I think I have a plan pretty much about what I want to do because this is the first time in about 5 years that I have been able to fast because of my former health issues. I am pretty excited and looking for God to do some great things for me but also for our church. The world has never needed the church and the power of the Holy Spirit more than ever in history possibly. I really believe we are at a crossroads as a country in the things we believe and just our general spiritual direction.
Ok, here is the whopper…I really feel like God wants me to pray specifically each day of the fast for people with terminal or chronic illness. These are the kinds of prayers that remind you of just how much you need to rely on God and his power working through you because just about everything in the physical realm says that things are not going to change. I am even believing for total restoration of my left eye and my vision also completely restored. When I was really sick all I wanted was to not lose my eye even if I had to be on drugs (some really powerful and crappy stuff) for the rest of my life. I am off all my drugs but now I want more not just for myself but for people that I have talked to that need healing. I am happy with whatever decision God has for my health and not giving me my vision and restored eye, but I really feel like I need to ask. I am not saying that I dont have faith to be healed, but that I have faith in my God that as long as I ask he will listen and do whats best for me. Chronic pain or sickness is something that we learn to “manage” in life instead of asking God to take it away many times. I am praying for people who I know need a touch from God and believing that God will have his way in all situations. I will still be doing Tuesday’s Facebook friend prayer day, but I am going to be using lunches for the next 3 weeks to really press in for people that need to not just hang on one more day but I believe its time to see a miracle in their situation. Send me requests to my message inbox http://profile.to/brianrmorris and I will be lifting you up for the next 3 weeks!!
change
Change is a very strange and organic thing. Everyone of us is changing everyday. The first day you were born is the first day you started to change and eventually die. We are all getting older, but also wiser and smarter hopefully. If you think about it, there are elements of change that we can control and things we cannot. When sickness strikes you or your family that is a change. I just wrote in my book a few weeks ago that when I got sick there were foods I couldn’t eat, vacations I couldn’t go on and just things I couldn’t do. The problem with all the change in my life is that I was not ready for it. I had not changed enough in my relationship with Jesus to be ready for the physical storm i was about to endure. I always find it interesting that the universal term for a relationship with Jesus is a “walk” with him. I can “stand for him”, but my relationship with him is known as a walk. Just the word “walk” to me indicates a moving from one place to another. Not by anyone elses standards, but if my “change” with Christ has not matured to a place to be ready for the crappy changes that are guarenteed to happen to me, I will not be ready for the pain that negative change can bring. Think of it this way; we have opportunities to grow, change and become a better person everyday. The “changes” in our lives that are painful (physical illness, family issues, mental stresses) will test or show how much true GOOD change has happened in us. So here are some things to take away from this; if you are in the middle of “crappy change” in your life and feel like you are losing the battle, then know that all that’s happening is a showing of the changes you need to make in your life that you can control. It is always easier to look at the pain of a situation instead of thinking about who you want to be on the other side of it. The other thing to remember is that without a test of where we are in life then can we truely say we are growing or changing into who God wants us to be? We need to look at pain and the crap of life as a test and meet it head on with an expectation that we are going to get through it or learn something valuable about ourselves that needs “change.” I want to develop this a bit more in the coming days so stay tuned…
Having fun in life
I can remember a time not long ago when I had lost the fun in my life. I was depressed, thought I had it worse than anyone else and really didnt want to have any contact socially with people. When you are sick or going through crap in your life that is one of the byproducts. I was being my “old goofy self” the other day and Yolanda said that she thought i was high…i told her I was “high on life and high on her!” I think that having fun in life is paramount to our emotional health. Not just going and doing fun things (although I think its fun to go to Alaska in June 🙂 but really having an attitude that says “I am going to make the most out of today.” Your perspective changes and you are more of a joy to be around. If you look at the happiest and more fulfilled people in life (not just Christian’s) they are ones who, in some way during their week, are giving to others and have a joyful attitude of seeing someone else changed by their positive attitude. The cool thing about loving Jesus is that I not only have joy to share that makes people feel good in this life but a hope of spending eternity with God forever. If you don’t really have a relationship with Jesus I encourage you to find a greater fun and joy than you have ever known. I know that i would have NEVER made it through the crap of my life without Jesus and the church body of friends at ORCC. If you are going through something in life that seems insurmountable then my advise to you is to try even harder each day to find one thing positive so that you dont lose your joy. Remember, God said that life is about seasons and we are promised to go through them. We dont live in a “spiritual Florida” where there is pretty much one season of hot. 🙂 Joy is the key to unlocking a great life. You can have it but its a decision and not a condition. Think about it.
Heaven is only referred to as plural
Pastor Sarah preached yesterday at the church and this point really stuck out to me. We are starting our series on small groups called Living IN Community or “LINC” and she made a statement that when I heard it just made sense. She said that in the Bible, heaven is usually referred to in a plural sense. This struck me because I also remembered that hell is referred to continually in scripture as total aloneness or isolation. If we think of these two thoughts on a macroscopic scale, heaven is about relationships and connecting humans to help enhance lives with a sense of community and a hope of spending eternity with Jesus. Hell, on the other hand, is about isolation and seperating people so they will feel defeated and give up. I know the lowest points in my life have always been when I felt alone or didnt feel like I had someone to talk to or connect with. If you dont attend church then start. If you attend church, volunteer and get involved in a small group of people. Jesus only wants the best for you which includes feeling like you are not alone in this life and doing it all on your own. The devil wants to steal, kill and destroy but he can only do that by isolation. Every church I know has issues. But don’t let that stop you from connecting to others who have issues just like you and I do. 🙂
Holy Crap 