Hearing God. Part 6. Look for opportunity.

I’m a recovering excusaholic.

I’ve said “I can’t” more times then I’ve said my name I think. 

Excuses are so easy to present when challenges come because they don’t cost anything to make, at the beginning anyways. 

Solutions however cost us something immediately. 

Last week I said I knew what I was supposed to do but didn’t know what to do. 

That’s a total excuse. 

I won’t let me kids say “I don't know” when asked a question. 

I demand they tell me they will think about it or find out. 

But I let myself say I don’t know and I won’t try find out all the time. 

Well there are plenty of reason why becoming love, as Bob Goff describes it, isn’t possible. 

But it’s necessary. 

It’s my true act of worship. 

I was challenged this weekend to not ask how little is required of me. But to ask how far can I go? 

The later I s a much better question it’s like saying “I’ll find out” or “I’ll think about it” immediately opportunity and options open up. 

I really don’t have a lot to say about this subject because talking is also missing the point. 

I need to use the power of 5 as John C. Maxwell says it. 

1. Know what you want to accomplish. 

2. Have the right tool. 

3. Take action. 

4. Stay focused. 

5. Be consistent. 

I’m Jason and this is life as I see it. 

Hearing God. Part 5. Love like I’m made of it.

This hasn’t been the easiest week not because something went wrong or even that something didn’t go right but because I’m 100% sure of what I’m supposed to do with the rest of my life now and it scares the crap out of me. 

The reason is scares me to much is because I don’t know what it is supposed to look like and I’m even less sure of what it will cost me but I can’t escape from the truth of it. 

Not anymore. 

Jesus had a mission. 

We quote it, write down its address to be seen on tv at sport games. It’s probably the most well know and maybe the least understood verse in the Bible. 

It’s John 3:16 it says “God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”

God loved so He gave. 

It’s simple, but it’s not easy. 

‭‭We hear it, we know it, but living it’s message is not the same thing as quoting it by any stretch. Living love, becoming love requires some action. 

I’ve been reading two books at the same time this week by Bob Goff one to my kids. “Love Does for kids”and I’ve been reading “Everybody Always” as my own book. Sometimes I can’t help but tear up as I realize how far away from Gods plan of action my actions are. 

I live in a constant state of fear for so many things that just don’t matter and generally are so selfish. I’ve been so detoxed with my lack of tv and movies these last few weeks that I’ve come to realize just how selfish most of my actions have been and not selfish like I make sure I’m taking care of myself way but selfish like I’m worried I wore the same shirt to many times to work this month. 

My coworkers and neighbors, and that guy on the bus next to me may not feel like they matter. They may not know that Jesus came for them out of love because the one sent to that company, who lives on that street and who rides that bus is afraid to reach out in love. 

In the book Everybody Always Bob Goff talks about doing a parade to celebrate his neighbor's every year on New Year’s Day. 

             A FREAKING PARADE! 

How amazing is that? I read that and immediately thought I want to do that, I could do that, I’m going to do that.  

The hardest step is the first one so why not go for it. 

Somehow in my daily grind I forgot how to love the people around me who can do nothing for me but need me to do something for them, make an introduction to someone who loves them enough to come to them. 

I need to change the way I read John 3:16 so here’s my new version. 

For God so loved the people working at Yokohama, those who live on Hood ave and they that ride the 6am #33 mission bus that he sent his son Jason to them so that they would have a chance to meet his son Jesus in the love that comes from Jason each and every encounter. 

Change the name of the company, the street and the morning routine and you will see people who God made and loves and he’s sent you to love like your made out of it because if Jesus is in you then you are, you just may have forgotten too. 

I’m Jason and this is life as I see it. 

Hearing God. Part 4. Worship

There is an old song that comes to mind on this subject, I say old but it’s from the late 70s so I better be careful with that word “old”. 

Anyways. That song has really been stuck in my mind lately. As I mentioned last week I have fallen in love with worship again it’s better then it’s ever been too. 

What I have been really moved by is what I have come to personally see worship as. 

I’ve been told worship isn’t just singing it’s a way of living but I never really connected that to anything, until now. 

Reading my Bible this week in the gospel of John the story know as the encounter with the woman at the well in chapter 4 stuck out to me. It’s where Jesus makes a statement I never really saw although I read it numerous times. “True worshipers will worship... in spirit and in truth...” 

What came to my mind following reading that was a few things. 

Worship shifted from a place to a person, worship is relational not something we do. 

Everything we do can be worship because, if it’s relational it worship, if it’s worship it’s service, if it’s service it’s love, if it’s love it’s relational. 

This fits so well with the things I’ve been hearing from God in this hearing God course. (Funny how that happened listening brought clarity on direction, I should write that down somewhere.)

Showing love to those around me without a thought of the outcome has been more then a still small voice in my spirit these past few weeks it’s been a call, a call to worship. 

I see lots of people on the way to and from work on two buses and a train ride each way but I can’t say I interact with a lot of those I see but I’ve been changing that. 

I’ve been asking God to help me love the people I see like he does knowing their faults and still loving deeply enough to give up his life for them. 

So I figure I can give some time to converse with people I see sometimes every day or maybe just once. I don’t know how any act of worship, in the form of a smile or a hello or a longer conversation, will be taken but that’s not my responsibility mine is simply to be a worshiper. 

I’m Jason and this is life as I see it. 

Hearing God. Part 3. Make some room.

Well it’s been 3 weeks... 🎶since you looked at me... no wait that’s a song and I promised not to sing. This is a Blog not a Sing Along after all. 

Anyways... back to the subject of Hearing God. 

As you can tell I can struggle with staying focused sometime. Most of the time? Alright fine almost all the time. But keep that quiet I don’t want it getting out. 

This weeks Hearing God “homework” was again meditating on some specific verses in the Bible so that means reading something and mulling it over and journaling about it AKA staying focused long enough to hear God speak, I can’t even write my first sentence of this blog without my mind grabbing and adapting a 90’s song reference to fit my situation so imagine the difficulty if you can of meditating. 

There is so many snags that pull a little focus here a little time there but the big snag in my life has always been TV. 

Just before Nicole and I stared this Hearing God course I felt, like many times before, that I needed to fast from TV.  I decided yes this time I will do it.

But I failed. Again...

I’ve tried to not have the apps on my phone only to come back with a great justification, in my mind, why now I could handle it and the cycle would continue and I would again find myself trapped unable to escape. 

I would actually go so far as to say TV became an addiction in my life. 

Back in June of 2012 when I started this blog the title of the first entry was “The Creativity Killer” and what was my creativity killer back then? 

You guessed it. TV. 

Well as Andy Stanley said 

“You can’t run from one thing without running toward something else.” 

The reason I have finally overcome TV, this time for real, is because I ran toward something that had the power to push out the desire for TV, it wasn’t just me trying to replace one thing with another.  

I’m not saying watching TV is bad for everyone I’m not even saying it’s bad for me but something needed to break and be uprooted and for me time needs to elapse so this does not take root again in my life. Doing this blog helps. 

Spending Friday and Saturday night working on this blog has been a great way to crowd out my personal menace but there’s more that has transformed for me lately. 

I have fallen in love with worship again. 

My time of praise and prayer has crowded out the time I used to hand over to TV. 

But more then just having worship crowd out my TV time it has replaced the desire for my TV time or for whatever hole was being filled by TV. 

That’s the transformation of the Holy Spirit. 

No two ways about it. 

I looked at Netflix for example and there were some shows that I was considering that I thought “No that’s not good for my spiritual or mental health I’m putting that on the no list.” Last week it was on the watch later list. 

Doing this Hearing God course for me was like stepping off a precipice I had no idea what I was in for but I have been more then pleasantly surprised I feel like I’m a new man. 

I now find myself riding the train home listening to songs and my eyes close sometimes I start to sing a little and I lift my hands up in a posture of worship and you know what I don’t care how that looks cuz it’s wonderful. It’s better then singing Christmas carols in public Buddy the Elf style. 

I know this may seem pretty weird or hyper Jesus but it’s just me being the real me, finally. 

But a changed heart isn’t just about raised hands it’s about hands extended in love. 

This week I had the chance to talk with some neighbors about my personal experience with forgiveness and the healing that came with it. 

For the first time in my life I’m less afraid of what people will think of me then I am in loving those same people. 

That’s what I think the biggest change has been lately.

If your reading this I love you and I’m sorry if I’ve met you and didn’t show you that, next time will be different because I’m going to be different. 

Covid may stop me from hugging you, (and your lucky because I’m a hugger.) but it can’t stop me from loving you.

I’m super pumped about what session 4 and the subsequent week to follow of Hearing God will unfold in my life. 

I’m Jason and this is life as I see it.