Living in 2 places at the same time.

My pastor taught on this topic this week. It sparked some thought about building on a sure Foundation.

If Jesus isn't supreme. If he isn't El Roi. God who sees all. The God who sees all we are, how we hurt, why we act the way we do. If he isn’t the God who sees our deepest soul needs. If El Roi doesn’t exist, life is like shadow boxing. Living life with no eternal meaning or value. The God who sees isn’t lurking to inflict mischievous mayhem but a display of love in caring commitment towards us. He who sees all wants to make us whole and invest abundance in us by his Spirit. Life without the invasion of a loving God who sees all is like building daily life or constructing a house using inferior building materials. Materials that won’t last through heavy storms of wind and rain, materials that won’t protect from the intense heat of summer. Inferior materials like wood hay and stubble. They won't stand up to the fervent heat of life’s trials. It's by Christ alone that I stand. HE is the reason for our happiness not what goes on around us. The Apostle John was forced to live on the Island of Patmos because of his dedication to a relationship with El Roi. He was in the Spirit on the Lords day. Patmos was not a country club. Yet because of his tenacious pursuit of El Roi John was able to live in 2 places at the same time. On the desolate island of Patmos and in the Spirit. Without calendar, John kept track of his days; He continued to have purpose in his life even though exiled on a deserted island. His purpose was his communion with “The God Who Sees.” Jesus who he had a living relationship with. He entered the deep connection of being in the Spirit. His entrance in to the very presence of El Shaddai. It is God as El who helps, but it is God as Shaddai who abundantly blesses with all we need when there is nothing. John entered into the presence of El Shaddai because he cultivated a living daily relationship with the one he knew as ABBA the Father, the one who can touch the hart of despair because he cares deeply about those places not spoken about. John knew what it was to live in 2 places at the same time, because he practiced before he was taken to Patmos. He knew the balanced life of a man who’s hope is fixed on a greater future, on a country of his own; a better country then the one he experienced daily, a heavenly one. Because his spiritual foundation was of great depth and his life was built with materials that were eternal. Materials that could with stand trial and tribulation. John was able to endure great torture and anguish of heart and mind.
 The idea of living in two places at the same time speaks to the depths of my heart. It strengthens me and gives me courage to face the uncertainty of tomorrow. At times the only thing that carries us through trial, is “The God who sees.” When we can’t see past the pain of loss, when we are shaken to the foundational truth of all we know and believe in. If the foundation is the first love of relation with El Roi. The Spirit of son ship becomes more real at this point than at any other in life. God sees all. God who is our life will meet us where we need him. Build while the materials are abundant so when they aren’t we will be able to live in 2 places at one time because we have practiced before we need to.



Thanks Pastor for being good with accurately placing "The Right Stuff" in the lives of people God has placed in your trust.

Walk with me

My wife and I remodeled a house top to bottom. We literally did most of the work ourselves. It took a little over a year to complete. One night after we had just moved in I found myself unable to sleep. I got up in the dark in my new home. I walked from the bedroom toward the living room. I stopped at the bathroom. Not wanting to wake my wife I closed the door. On the wall are two switches one for the light and one for the overhead fan. I reached out and turned on the light. After I got my drink of water it dawned on me, this should feel like a strange house. We had only moved in about a week before. The more I thought about it the more I realized I was home. We had already spent a large amount of time in the house. Because we hung the doors, raised the ceiling, installed the plumbing; electrical as well as everything else. I was the guy who set up the light switches in the order that they were positioned on the wall. As I reached out in the dark to turn the light, not reaching for the fan by mistake, I realized that I was intimately aware of each and every detail of our new home.

It’s been about 5 years since that night of revelation. This morning reading through a devotional by Rick Renner on Galatians 5:16 I was reminded of that night in my home.

Galatians 5:16 reads “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”

 In the Greek to walk literally means to habitually walk around in the same place. The idea is to walk one path so many times and for such a long time that you could do it in the dark because it is where you live it is literally your path, or in my situation, my home.

 I was immediately taken back to my trip through my house in the dark. I was so aware of the location of all the walls and light switches it had already been like I lived in my house for years.

 The more we practice walking in the Spirit, or living according to what God’s words say, the more we begin to live in the Spirit. It becomes a lifestyle rather than an anomaly or the strange thing that happens once in a great while. The Apostle Paul lived in the Spirit daily. The Father who put his Spirit in us and made us a new creation wants us to live life walking in the Spirit. When he tells us “no eye has seen or ear heard no mind has perceived what God has prepared for those who love him. He isn't holding out on us. Paul also told us “If God gave us his son who he loved dearly won’t he along with him give us all things?

 I want to wrestle against the opposition of myself and the influences around me to walk in the Spirit of God. I want to hear what he has to say through the Holy Spirit that he placed in me as a deposit keeping me for himself. God wants me to as well. Walking in the Spirit positions me daily to hear great things directly from the throne room. There is also another promise that goes along with this. I won’t go back to the sinful lifestyle I desire to live in every day. If I am living in the Spirit my mind will be focused on the things above not on earthly things that entice me to go back to the life I lived before I knew better. Before I had the freedom to make a better choice.

 Ahh to be called a son of the living God. I love to let my imagination soar to Heaven. Yeah I want more! The restful presence of God is found right here, walking in the Spirit, it’s safe here, the calm hiding place for my mind from the world around me is found here. I can yell out ABBA in this place and know my heart is near his. It is the only place that really feels like home. Who wouldn’t want to stay in a place like this? It is worth the struggle to live here.

 You can tell when someone lives in the Spirit. It's evident because that's when God visits earth and great things happen.



Walk with me.