Why The Wilderness Is Never A Waste

I was reading and doing some meditating on a passage of scripture as I am finishing up this new 90 day devotional that I am putting together and I came across a passage that truly rocked my socks.

It was in a very unlikely place that I would have gone to for a passage to put in the devotional, but what stood out to me was absolutely beautiful! Don't you just love it when God uses something that seems so ordinary to speak so loudly?

Before I take you to the passage, I would like to share with you a definition that comes from dictionary.com. The definition is for the word WILDERNESS.

wilderness

/ˈwɪldənɪs/

noun

1. a wild, uninhabited, and uncultivated region  

                 

2.any desolate tract or area        

           

3. a confused mass or collection

                   

4. a voice in the wilderness, a voice crying in the wilderness, a person, group, etc, making a suggestion or plea that is ignored       

            

5. in the wilderness, no longer having influence, recognition, or publicity

 

In the scripture analogies, a wilderness is often always associated with a bad thing. By definition, it is a place of desolation.

The children of Israel wandered in a wilderness because of their disobedience to God in taking refusing to take ownership of the promised land. Moses wandered the wilderness after killing an Egyptian, and when you hear people talk about the "Wasted years" of their life it is often referred to a time of wilderness wandering. It is a time where you don't seem to be accomplishing anything productive in comparison to what you could accomplish if you had a fixed purpose or destination to reach.
It seems to be the same thing as wasted time. It is a place of idleness and desolation, and it is a place of regret and waste.

 

I have experienced wilderness seasons of life spiritually and over the last several years Father has been teaching me to understand these times in a better light.

 

Let me show you a powerful passage that Father showed me this past week.

 

"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee." ~Song of Solomon 8:5

 

I love this passage!!!

 

The story of the Song of Solomon is one of the most beautiful that I have ever read and when God began to open things up to me within that book I knew that He wanted me to write the devotional entirely from this book. It speaks of a different love than most of us feel that God has for us and it has been absolutely transformational for me in the process of putting this together.

 

The story is between a shepherd girl and a king but it also symbolizes Christ and His church (You and me).

 

In earlier passages we find this girl leaving on a search and finding the King, but here she is returning to where she was from AFTER she has met the King.

 

She is walking out of the wilderness and she is not the same person that went into the wilderness. 

 

She went into the wilderness as a Shepherd girl of commonality and emerges from the wilderness as queen of royalty. 

 

She went into the wilderness alone with only what she did as her source of identity, just a shepherd girl. She comes out of the wilderness with a companion and a new identity that has been established because of the relationship that she now has with her companion.   

 

She went into the wilderness relying on herself and emerged now leaning in dependence upon the King.

 

She went into the wilderness as she was and emerged as what she was meant to be.

I guess I wanted to write this post because I believe that there is someone who will read this that has been hung up for YEARS on the idea that they have wasted much of their life before Christ and those feelings have kept them from understanding the value of what they had in the wilderness.

 

You look at the understanding and level of relationship that you have with God now, and look back at regret that you could not give those "wilderness" years to Him and have enjoyed back then what you have with Him now. You get angry and intolerant of people that bypass your "Bridge out" sign and you tend to easily write them off because they are wasting their time at the same empty wells that you went to at one point in time in your search for THE WATER.

Please understand that I hurt for people who bypass a "Bridge out" sign only to discover a dry well and I will continue to speak out about the emptiness of those wells, but I also see the value in it.

 

Please understand that your wilderness was what you needed to direct you to THE KING.

 

It was in your wilderness that you are able to learn your identity. Wilderness wandering times in the lives of those we love are frustrating for sure because we want to spare them hurt, frustration and pain, however it is only in this wilderness time that we can discover our need of a lasting source.

I love how this girl went into the wilderness on her own steam. It was a picture of self reliance to the max and when she emerges, it is with display of her total dependence on the King. She leaned on Him.

 

If you read earlier in the story, she says, "I went looking for grapes, almonds and pomegranates." She went out looking for things to satisfy herself and then she says, "My desire led me to the chariot of a noble man".

I LOVE it!!!
If you could put it into our terms it could easily sound like this, "I went out in search of security, intimacy and significance. I looked for those things in people places and things, and my desire for those things ended up leading me to a place of emptiness. In that emptiness I found THE KING!"

I don't encourage anyone to wander in a wilderness, but if they are, they have a tremendous opportunity to find God!

"Well Dan, what am I supposed to do when someone that I love seems hell-bent on leaving out into a wilderness in life in search of fulfillment and identity?"

You love them.

What??? Well, what if they never come back to what they have been taught is right?

You love them and you let them know that no matter how far that they go out in search, your light is on for them. Let God be God and let Him prove just how big that He is.

I think of the Wilderness wanderings in my life and I think of this story that I heard awhile back.

After a heated fight between a father and a son erupted, the son chose to pack some clothes and leave his father and mother. After being gone for several years, the boy missed his parents and his home as his anger ebbed away. Finally he knew he should go home. Waiting for his train, he began to fear that maybe his dad didn't want him home. He ran to a pay phone and called home. His mom answered and was flooded with relief when she heard her son's voice. She quickly begged him to come home. He explained that he had already bought a ticket but was afraid that his father didn't want him home, so he asked his mother: "Mom, can you guarantee dad wants me to come home?" The mom was silent for a moment and when the boy asked why she was so quiet the mom said, "Son, your dad is a changed man since the day you left. He hardly speaks anymore -- even to me, and you know how close we are. He never smiles or laughs. He simply goes to work, comes home, broods over dinner, watches TV then goes to bed. On the weekends he sits by his workbench in the garage all alone.
"But mom," the son said, "Does he want me to home? I'm not coming home if I'm not wanted. Mom, what do you say, my train is here and I need to board?" "I can't give that guarantee son, your father won't talk to me, just please come home," pleaded the mom. "I gotta know, mom. Can you give me the guarantee?" "Son, I just don't know about a guarantee." The boy then got an idea. "Mom, he said, "tell dad I'm on the train and I want to come home. Tell him the train will run on the tracks that go behind the back of your property. If he wants me to come home, tell him to hang a white handkerchief from a branch of that old dead apple tree we were going to chop down that's out by the tracks. If I see a handkerchief, I know I can come home; if there isn't one, I'll know I'm not wanted and I'll keep going on the train. Mom, I gotta go. Tell dad what I said. Bye Mom." The boy hung up and jumped on the train. He entered a train car that was filled with strangers. He sat by a window next to an older, stately-looking man, but he kept to himself staring out the window. Finally the older man nudged the boy and said, "Son, it's obvious you have something on your mind. I'll leave you be if you want, but sometimes it helps to talk over your troubles. I've been told I'm a good listener."
The boy looked at the face of the kind stranger and began to tell his story. The boy told of his fight with his father, how he had left home years ago, and how now he wanted to go home. He told of calling his mom and how she was to let the father know the boy was on the train and that if he was welcome, to tie a white handkerchief on the branch of that old dead apple tree. Then up ahead he saw the last bend before the train would run along the back of his parents' property. He pointed the bend out to the stranger, then buried his face in his hands, and doubled over with crying, too afraid to look what was or was not on the tree. The boy felt the train make the bend. He asked the stranger if he would please look out the window and tell him if the handkerchief was there or not as he could not bear the idea of it not being there. The stranger agreed to look out the windows on his side as was asked and could see that they were approaching the apple tree. The boy was hoping that the stranger would yell, "There it is!" or "Hurray!" or "Look at it!" but instead there was simply an audible gasp. The boy knew it must be bad news so he cried harder.
"Is it there mister?"  the boy chocked out, "Is the handkerchief there?"

"Oh no son", the stranger wept. "I don't see a single handkerchief hanging in that tree. There are so many handkerchiefs hanging in that old tree that it looks like it is snowing outside!!!"
The boy sat up and pulled away his hands, and looking out the window as the train passed the apple tree, he saw the most beautiful display of forgiveness and love than he could ever contain. There was an older version of himself standing there with an silver haired woman and they were waving a large white sheet between the two of them! The message was oh so clear. The dad was saying, "Please come home! You are welcome to come home! I need you home. I want you to come home!"
I tell you that to tell you this: Our Father in heaven welcomes us to His home. Oh, He doesn't hang a handkerchief from an apple tree, but His Son Jesus hung on a tree called the cross that reconciled us again to the Father. And it wasn't white flapping in the breeze, it was red. Jesus' red blood flowed, cleansing us of all of our sins. The message is unmistakable; we are welcome again into the family of God, because Jesus' sacrifice makes it so. God, our Father, is welcoming us home. He's giving us eternal life in heaven. He wants us home with Him.

Please understand that I do not encourage anyone to make a wilderness wandering, but if someone you love is out there searching every empty well that they can find, Can I encourage you to love them and pray that Father will bring them to an awareness of Himself. You cannot make anyone find what they are looking for, but you can be there for them when they do!

Climbing with you,
~Dan

 

Deadlier Than Kryptonite

In last weeks post "Always Look Again" (Click Here), you and I went on a trip to the local comic book store together and we made a fantastic find!

Today I would like to share with you, the best find yet! I am so glad that God's voice is so big and powerful that He can speak through a burning bush, or a comic book. He is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!

It is no secret that I am a Superman fanatic! I have an entire "Man Cave" filled floor to ceiling with Superman artifacts and in the neighborhood of 3,000 comic books which the majority would be Superman titles. I am kind of a "fan" you might say.

 

I don't follow sports and I don't hunt. I'm not opposed to any of it, but the whole comic book scene is a hobby that I really do enjoy and as I stated in the previous blog post, I have loved it since I was first introduced to it as a child.

Superman is and always has been my favorite superhero. He always did the right thing no matter what and in every situation, he looked out for the guy who could not or was not strong enough to stand up for himself.

Superman had a major weakness  though and it was called Kryptonite. When he was exposed to it, the effects of this element would weaken him tremendously and if left exposed to Kryptonite, its properties would eventually kill him.
Over the course of his history, many people used this weakness to kill Superman but he somehow always managed to find a way to foil their plans until one day, he rounded up all of the kryptonite in the world (with the exception of one piece which he entrusted to the Batman) and disposed of it.

There was a lot to this Kryptonite and the smartest thing that the man of steel did was to make efforts to avoid it.

That makes sense right?

Stop trying to resist what you should be avoiding.

There was one thing that stopped Superman that was NOT kryptonite. It was, in my humble opinion, deadlier than the largest dose of Kryptonite.

In fact, the longer I have been part of the body of Christ, the more obvious it becomes that this same situation takes place in real life. There is a large number of people that would profess to be Christians that have been hit by this weapon deadlier than Kryptonite.

What was detrimental to the effectiveness of the man of steel, is equally as destructive to the Christian of today. We can all draw parallels of flesh patterns that weaken and can even destroy a Christian, but I am speaking now of something deadlier than Kryptonite of the flesh.

Anyway, I was in the comic book store with you last week and we looked through the long boxes of comic book goodness, I found this issue and it sums up the situation that the majority of Christians struggle with to this day.

In this particular issue, Superman goes toe to toe with a villain named "The Master Jailer". The Master Jailer was fascinated by locks and traps and his specialty was creating traps that were custom fit for a person's particular strength and ability.
As the story unfolded the Jailer threw many traps at the man of steel only be disappointed by their ineffectiveness. When Superman grabs the Master Jailer, the ultimate trap is sprung.

The master Jailer hits Superman with a special ray that makes The Man of Steel believe that he is not Superman but in fact just a dock worker named Mike who is going to be late for his shift if he does not get back to work. His identity is muddied and since identity always brings purpose, Mike.. I mean Superman punches in and lives life with no purpose.

The confused Superman spends much of the story working tirelessly unloading ships at the state docks and although he still has this unbelievable strength and ability, he has no clue who he was made to be while the Master Jailer is on the crime spree of his life. The Jailer could care less if Superman was exhibiting his strengths and abilities, just as long as he remained in the dark as to his true identity.

Are you drawing the parallel yet?

Satan is the master jailer and his deadlier than Kryptonite attack on believers is to somehow convince them that they are NOT who God says that they ARE.

I speak to people all the time and as I speak to Christians, what I see more than any other thing is a lack of understanding on Spiritual Identity. Their righteousness is a behavior modification campaign and holiness is something that believe that you achieve to have. They spend hours upon hours engaged in labor trying to just do their best. They exhibit the fruits of the Spirit but are never quite free in Christ enough to live it out because they are trapped in a performance based acceptance mindset. If I do this I will be Holy, if I do that I will not be Holy anymore.

They have been confused. The master jailer has used good things to convince them that they are NOT who God made them. The truth of the matter is, God made them Holy through His son Jesus Christ. Any attempt on my part, through my own strength to achieve "holiness" is in fact self-righteousness. It was righteousness generated by my own intentioanl actions or labor.

God created you new at Salvation and placed a new heart within you. The flesh (Operating out of your own resources) will be something you struggle against and always will with this earth suit, but you have been changed at your core! His Spirit now resides within you.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  ~ Romans 12:2


The world needs Christians to just honestly wake up to who they are IN Christ. You take the power from another place and put it to work here!

The church at Ephesus had left her first love. They were known for having impecable doctrine and for being "busy" with activities. The busyness was a distraction from the reality that they had lost their identity to a calander of events. They lost thier identity of who they were to and in Christ, to well intentioned programs and events.
 I was told along time ago when looking at a swollen carcass of a dead racoon alongside the highway, "Never confuse swelling with growth".

"In this kingdom, you really do get what you seek after."

 If you seek after a passionate, dynamic, and genuine love relationship with Jesus Christ, you will find it! It works in opposite as well.

If you look around where you are and see what you have, it is proof of what you have truly been seeking after.

Christ came to make you free indeed!

Take a good look at who you are IN, THROUGH, and BECAUSE of Him and you will leave the "Religious activity" timecard at the spot where you take back to the skies!


Climbing with you,
~Dan

Always Look Again

 

 

I was very young at the time, and it's funny how those moments you forget so easily come back so strong at the slightest reminder isn't it? You think you have them buried and then a song, a smell, or a familiar sight exhumes those long forgotten moments of time and everything is real again.

 

I am really not sure why my dad loaded my brother and I up in our family station wagon and drove the 45 minute drive to the mall in Logansport Indiana on the day that he did, not because we did not take trips as kids, but because of the destination of this particular trip. This trip was going to be a trip that really shaped my life in a large way.

 

We arrived at my very first ever Comic Book show. My dad was not a "Comic book" guy but he knew that his kids were "Comic book" kids.

As far as my eyes could see there were long white boxes on top of and underneath tables all down the length of the shopping mall atrium. I knew very little about comic books back then, but I knew deep down inside that this was a limitation that I was going to soon change.

 

Everywhere I looked I saw posters of brightly colored people doing impressive things like throwing cars, flying and fighting explosive battles; I also saw a few  posters of not so well clothed people doing other things. It was a strange collage of artists and geeks. People dressed funny and looked even funnier. I was soaking everything in when there under one of the tables I saw a beat up and dirty long white box with a hastily scrawled out sign on the outside.

 

"Comic books... 5 for 25¢ "

 

I nearly fainted because when your dad gives you and your brother $20.00 to start your first comic book collection, this is a sign that can start your collection off large!!!

 

It was all over for me after my brother and I lugged a few white boxes out of the mall that afternoon. It took us weeks to read through all of those books and I have to say that I learned how to read very well because of it. I would look at the pictures and ask myself, "What is this guy saying that makes the other one so mad?" I did not understand so much of what I read, but I knew that I wanted to.

 

This past Saturday was "National Free Comic Book Day". I stood outside of the local comic book shop here, Fortress of Solitude Comics, and I looked down at my young son and I asked him, "You ready to see what they got buddy?"

He nodded happily and we quickly entered.

 

It's funny how those moments you forget so easily come back so strong at the slightest reminder isn't it? You think you have them buried and then a song, a smell, or a familiar sight exhumes those long forgotten moments of time and everything is real again.

 

We made our way to tables that were filled with the long white boxes and the smell of old newsprint hit my nose and memories of that time with my brother and my dad came back.

 

Since that day as a kid until now, I have acquired a pretty large comic book collection and I enjoy it quite a bit. It's my "thing". I don't follow sports or hunt but this is something that I found that I identified with pretty well.

 

I bought several books this last week and I wanted to share some thoughts with you about one that stood out very strongly to me, so just for a moment, pretend that you and I are looking through old comic book boxes and this is one I would show you that caught my attention.

 

 

Marvel Comics introduced a run of comic books called the "What Ifs?". These were stories that asked the question "What if" and placed the characters in their marvel universe at the imaginations of the story writers.

 

This one stood out to me on this past Saturday. "What if Uncle Ben had lived?"

In case you are not a Spiderman fan or familiar with his story, here is the short version.

 

Spider-Man is a fictional character, a comic book superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (cover-dated Aug. 1962). Lee and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention (which he called "web-shooters"), and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.

 

One night, his Uncle Ben is killed by a robber that Peter Parker chose not to stop earlier in the evening and when Peter arrived home he discovered that the results of his actions played a large role in the outcomes of the future. He dedicated his life to fighting crime on the night of his uncles murder and resolved that "With great power comes great responsibility".

So the question asked was, "What if Peter's uncle had never died?" How would this change his life?

 

I saw this cover and I immediately asked the two questions of myself that I am asking you now

 

What single event or series of events have cause you the most amount of pain in your life?

 

Would you change them in light of who you have become because of those events?

 

At first thought, most of us would readily accept the opportunity to change a heartbreak wouldn't we? I mean, those are the kinds of things that bury a person in shame or trap them in a prison of the heart and mind right?

 

I would like to submit that while there are moments in the measure of my life's song that I would never want to repeat again, I do know that I would not be the musical score I am without them.

 

Those are the events that shape us into the individuals that we are and they mold and fashion the heart to be the sculpture that it is.

 

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." ~ Psalms 16:9

 

We all plan our life out so well don't we? The job we ought to work. The salary that we ought to make, and the things in life that we ought to have. We establish in our mind the way that we want our life to look ten years down the road and while setting goals is not a bad thing, we need to understand that God's path may look different than ours. His allowed path can sometimes look pretty messy even.

 

The message of this blog is very simple when you take away all of the stories and illustrations.

 

"GOD'S PURPOSE, NOT HIS FAIRNESS DICTATES THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR LIFE"

 

I can honestly say that after looking again, I would not change anything God has placed on my path because it is my journey with my heavenly Father and you have yours with Him. He knows you inside out and He knows what "Uncle Ben" moments that you need in your storyline in order to help you establish His purpose in your life!



I appreciate you taking the time to "Comic shop" with me for a bit. If I could ask one thing of you, it would be to look again at the circumstances in your life that have "added you to the roster of those that make the Kingdom the most exciting realm of all" and look again.

There will be things that are painful to see, but they were used to shape you into the person that you are and they have in turn provided you with the amazing power to make a difference with passion and drive.

I would never wish some of the events you experienced to be re-lived, but I would ask that if you have not already done so, that you ask The Writer (Father God) to open your eyes to His purpose in the story line that He allowed to be written in your book.

He loves you and your story is AMAZING!

Climbing with you,
~Dan

*Next week I cannot wait to show you the other Comic book that I found! I saved the best for last!!!

 

The Greatest Find of My Life

 

 

They were looking for an old couch that was well broken in, and comfortable and most of all, cheap. They were college kids on a mission so they went to a thrift store and began to "try out" the different couches until they found one that they all could agree on and then proudly paid $20.00 for the piece and then took it home.

 

As they began to work on cleaning the couch, they discovered an envelope that had been carefully tucked within the upholstery of the couch cushions. The envelope contained cash!

 

That is when the bizarre part of the story began to take place. As they looked into the couch they began to discover envelope after envelope full of cash. The thrift store couch was literally stuffed with money!

 

Over $40,000.00 worth to be exact.

 

(I provided the link at the bottom of this post so that you can see more about what happened when they found out who the money belonged to)

 

 

Have you ever found something incredible that you did not ever intend to find? I mean, you went out looking for one particular thing but in your search you came across something insanely amazing?

 

Maybe you were shopping for something specific and found something entirely different?

 

Maybe you went to visit a particular person but ended up meeting someone else that changed the course of your day?

 

Maybe you were going to call somebody only to wind up seeing them in person and it made a bigger impact than a phone call or e-mail ever could?

 

You were let go from one job only to receive a better job? A financial setback turned out to be a financial blessing?

 

I want to share something with you that has helped me, in so many different ways, to see God's heart when I have trouble seeing His hand.

 

"I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." ~ Song of Solomon 6:11-13

 

This is a beautiful part of the love story found within the Song of Solomon, and if Nicholas Sparks were to write this portion into a movie script, it would be a scene that would make the majority of the audience burst into emotional tears.

 

Look at the first part with me for a moment.

 

"I went down to the grove of walnut trees and out to the valley to see the new spring growth, to see whether the grapevines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom."

 

Look at what she went into the valley to find. Walnuts, grapes and pomegranates. These speak of satisfaction. She went looking for something that would arouse her senses to bring satisfaction in her soul. It was only a thrift store couch in comparison to what she found.

"Before I realized it, my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.^"

 

The desires that she had for satisfaction were met in the King. In verse number eleven, she did not go out looking for a noble man or a chariot. This is very captivating to me because EVERY desire that you and I have was given to us by God and can only truly be satisfied by The King!

 

We talked in the post ("Driven to Drink" Click Here) that God designed our ability to experience thirst?

In fact, every single thirst that we have was designed by God because every thirst that we have can only be satisfied BY God.

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" ~Psalms 42:1-2

Jesus made a statement that really caught my attention.
 

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying , If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." ~ John 7:37

Did you notice what a person had to thirst for in order to come to Jesus? If any man thirsts for things that are good right?If any man thirsts for things that are noble, moral and good right? No.
Did you know that God designed our ability to experience thirst?

In fact, every single thirst that we have was designed by God because every thirst that we have can only be satisfied BY God. So the question is in the middle your crisis, what are you thirsting for?
What is it that you are thirsting for today?
Significance?

You can pursue any avenue you wish to try to gain this and many people do. It is a God implanted thirst, but it was planted with the only way to be satisfied being found IN Him. Our significance will only be found IN Him. If you are being driven to drink for significance, then rest assured the thirst is for Him and will be satisfied IN Him.

Intimacy?

True intimacy is not found in a relationship with anyone other than Christ. We were created to be in fellowship with Him and once we take our thirst to Him we will find fulfillment.

Security?

There has to be a time when each of us come to Him as our strength and shield. He is able to take care of us tomorrow just as He has every day leading up to today.

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." ~John 6:35

 

I love the interaction between God and a very young King Solomon when Solomon was given the opportunity to ask God for anything that he wanted. His response to God's offer was amazing because it spoke of Solomon's very hearts desire.

 

"And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:" ~ 2 Chronicles 1:11

 

In the Song of Solomon, this shepherd girl goes in search of something to satisfy her senses and her deepest desires were met in the person of the King.

 

If you desire security and seek after that with your hearts desire, what you will find is that the sources you sought it in will soon evaporate and you are left with just God. The very desire for these things in life can be what leads us to Him. The desire and search for significance and intimacy are the very much the same way.

 

People will abandon, hurt and betray you in your search to find these things in them as the source. What you are seeking without knowing it, is really only to be found in the King.

 

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

                                                                                                              ~ Psalms 37:4

Most Christians get this verse wrong.

 

We apply "desires of my heart" to a better this or a more expensive that. The job, car, house, family etc that we want in our mind, is not what it is that we truly desire.

 

We get hung up on the size and color and comfortability of the couch and pass by, completely oblivios to the contents the within the couch.

 

People wind up pursuing so many things that will ultimately fail them, and the failure is not a punishment from God but rather and invitation to find Him as the source that they have truly desired in that area that they struggled to fill.

 

What the girl in Song of Solomon six was saying is, "I went out looking to be satisfied, and my desire for satisfaction led me to the King. I became His companion in the closest sense of the word and I traveled with Him out of the very vineyard I entered in my desire. My desire led me into a place where I could find the source, and He, My true desire, took me out of that place and into His embrace.
 

 

Look at the response that was given by those who knew this girl the best, after she found the source.

 

"Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.Come back, come back, that we may see you again."

 

People want to see genuine. They want to see real. A Christian who is genuine and real will always be attractive to a world that is cheap, and fake.

What you find in Him is everything that you never knew that you ever wanted.



 As I write this blog post, my heart can truly express what is shown in the picture just above this line. I went out looking for so many things and in my desire, I found myself in the vineyards and valleys that should have contained what I thought I was after. It was there that my desire led me past the rows of couches to the treasure! Christ IS Life!

What I found IN Him so far overshadows what it was that I thought that I wanted.

It was the lady that was taken in adultery that looked to the ground in shame after being caught in the very act, that saw someone purposely stoop to be in her line of sight. We all know that adultery is a sin and she was most certainly not standing proud during this "bust". Her head was lowered and she stared at the dirt in shame. Jesus  began to write in the dirt, I believe, to catch her eyes with the movement. Jesus knew the answer to the question that no one thought to ask that day.

"Why?"

Why does anyone commit adultery? Un-fulfillment. The act of the sin did not throw God into a "I cant believe you were capable of this" tirade, and neither did the reason that she committed the act. The reason she committed the adultry is why He came to earth in the first place.

He stoops down into her line of sight. He was saying in His action, "You did this because you do not have me". It was If any man thirst type of stuff going on here. Then He says, "Go and sin no more". He was not winking at sin, He was saying, "You have me and you no longer need to try to seek fulfillment in another person. Your desire for intimacy, security and significance has been found in me. Your desire led you to the source."

That makes me feel breathless to read that right now, because God is our source. We have the greatest find in our life when we discover Him!

If the "couch" you are trying to find comfort in is not working. The answer is not yet another couch. The answer is the treasure God has always been and He is found through desire. Ask Him to show you what you desire most to be shown to you IN Him today, and I promise you that life will never be the same!


Climbing with you,
~Dan

* The story of the thrift store couch can be found (HERE)

"How Going To The Bar Has Made Me A Better Man"

 

"I was tired." He said as we sat together. I had decided right after I had hung the phone up with him earlier that when we met, I would just listen. After a long and embarrassed pause, he sheepishly raised his head just enough to see if I was still in the room. Once we made eye contact he dropped his head again and began to continue the story behind a recent setback. "I had been working my tail off and things around me seemed to be falling apart. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, nothing seemed to change. I just decided to stop trying so hard. I found myself doing something that I never thought that I would ever do.
I went to the bar. I went to the bar and everything changed. Nothing in my life has ever been the same."

He was a friend and came to me because he wanted my advice on how to fix a problem that he admitted he had created.

Things had been rough and it seemed as though he had received no breaks at all. As I listened to the events that he described I began to wonder if I could have handled what he had been through. Deaths in the family, a crippling accident at work, losing his wife and finding out his child had been involved in selling prescription medication at school. This all happened within the space of a few months and as he talked on I found myself genuinely hurting for this man. Why would God let so many things happen to one of His children? Had he done something wrong and was Christian karma against him? These were some of the questions that he asked me and I told him what I am going to tell you now.

I want to tell you HOW GOING TO THE BAR HAS MADE ME A BETTER MAN

Sometimes it seems as though the weight that God places on us to lift is insanely impossible. It hurts, it stretches us and it can cause an immense amount of stress. The bar and the way that it is plated seems unfair and certainly, if we were really loved by God, loved would not look the way that it does. Have you ever felt that way?

Let me explain how God changed my life through my view of the bar.

In order to understand the purpose of the bar and the weights that are allowed to be plated on, we need to first understand something far more difficult to grasp.

Who we are to God.

If I just go through life with the generic phrase (that we don't fully understand) "I'm His child" without really seeing myself as God sees me, then I will forever struggle with the bar that I have been given because I will forever see the plates that are added as some sort of punishment doled out on me for being a bad child. God is seen as the parent who loves me but always has that hand cocked and ready to spank me when I mess up. I will find myself trying to live FOR His affirmation, His approval, His love and every other kind attribute of who He is. God cleansed me at salvation, but somehow it is up to me to keep myself clean and right is the average Christian mindset.

God did not create me to live FOR Him, but to live FROM Him. There is a HUGE difference between the two. I want to show you a very difficult passage to accept.

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." ~ Song of Solomon 2:1

I LOVE this passage because this is the bride of the King making a declarative statement.

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful book and it pictures our relationship with The King.

In the first chapter, she outlines why she does not deserve to be loved by the king, much in the same way that we are with God. She lays out all of her flaws and the King responds to her reasons with one overwhelming response. It is the same response that THE KING gives us when we list out why we don't deserve Him. The response is this, "I LOVE YOU."

The greatest day in our life will be the day that we choose to operate in the way that God truly sees us. Your identity is truly found in who God said you were when He did what He said that He was going to do.

Regardless of how you may FEEL about you, look at what His Word REVEALS about you!!!

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." ~ Romans 5:1-2

I love this passage!!!!

In other words, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we now have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. If you are a child of God, you have been made right with Him! What can you ever do that can somehow overturn what was done for you on the cross? Miss church? Not tithe? Not go to a conference or a special service ? Work on a Sunday? The answer is NOTHING can undo what Christ did for you. Your rightness had nothing to do with you and EVERYTHING to do with Him!

It was because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

This knowledge allows us to confidently stand and proclaim that we are redeemed and loved and valued and more than conquerors!!!

But bad things happen and we feel forgotten about and overwhelmed because of them right? Read on!

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." ~Romans 5:3-5

 

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

 

When you learn to take the stress and pain that God places on the bar and lift that through Christ instead of walking away, drinking it away, or finding ways to cover it up, yes you will get stretched but you will get stronger!

 

About the beginning of 2013 I was getting some milk out of the refrigerator for my son. He made a honest well intended remark and kids make honest filter less remarks. Although he did not mean for it to hurt, it buried deep. "Daddy, you have an egg in your stomach."

 

I looked down and thought, "Wow... where did this come from?" That night I took an honest look in the mirror and I saw that I needed to make a change. I had no energy. I was just existing and physically unable to live the life that God created me to live with Him. I had no energy to be who He made me to be and do what He made me to do.

 

I was working in a place where demands were high and tolerance was short. It was a church. The mindset was in the absolute opposite of where I felt that God was taking me with Him. Acceptance was performance based and God was portrayed to be of the same mindset. He was painted as the "What have you done for me lately" type. I needed a change.

 

I slipped out of the house very early one morning while my family was asleep and I went to the bar.

 

I loaded it up with plates and I began to lift.  The more that I lifted the more it hurt and change seemed to take place very slow, but one day I looked in the mirror and noticed something had taken place. The egg was shrinking!

 

In fact as more plates went on the bar I could feel myself operating with strength. I was not tired like I used to be because I was changing. I said "No" to things that I used to say "Yes" to before and I began to see a person coming to light that was able to have strength and energy enough to perform what God was asking me to perform.

 

Change in your emotional and spiritual life is just like bodybuilding. Results are not instantaneous and success is 70% a frame of mind. Accepting who you are to God is not something that happens right away.

 

Fully getting that comes from properly lifting the weight  (Trials) that He places on the bar. You will get a proper understanding of who you are to Him if you want it, and before you know it, the weight on the bar reveals that change has truly taken place!

You will be able to look back at where you were in your understanding of Him months ago and see that definition has happened in that understanding. Your spiritual eyes will see clearer than they did before and you will know growth because you used to cringe at the plates God slid into place on the bar, but now you welcome them. They were never a punishment from a tempermental and angry dad, they are designed, through lifting with Him, to reveal what He made you to be. There will be things in your spirit that were not there before and you will discover that you are strong IN the Lord and in the power of His might because you have learned to lift the weight He gave FROM Him and not FOR Him!

 

This sculpture is AMAZING! It pictures what I am trying to say very well! It is accepting the tribulations in the full confidence that you are who He says you are to Him that allows you to seek His strength to lift.

 

Each rep shed away things, ideas, and feelings that God did not design you to carry. The things that used to define you outside of Jesus Christ and His resurrection fall away and they reveal you, who you really are. His masterpiece!

 

If you are oblivious to who you are to Him, then the reasoning behind the weights that are put on the bar will always be some judgement from God because you were not quite good enough this week. You let Him down in your level of commitment so of course He was going to bring hurt into your life right? WRONG! God's wrath was poured out upon Jesus and If you are saved, you will never face it!!! EVER!!!

 

He teaches and corrects out of love and always for your future.

 

Trials work work out of you what you need to remove so that He can be everything to you!

 

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

 

 "GOD'S PURPOSE, NOT HIS FAIRNESS, DICTATES THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR LIFE"

 When you can see God allowed trials in your life as His love in teaching you His strength in exchange for your own, you will know that true change has taken place!

 Looking back, you can see how He has changed your heart, mind, and emotional state from weakness to strength.

You are stronger now now because with each added plate and with each rep that was called for you were being taught that it was His strength that lifted.

The apostle Paul would have blogged it this way,

"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Timothy 1:12

 Based upon everything that God has helped me lift, I am fully convinced that through Him, I can lift anything else that He puts on the bar!

 

 

 

Truly, I can now say this but with a different meaning....

 



"I was tired. I had been working my tail off and things around me seemed to be falling apart. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, nothing seemed to change. I just decided to stop trying so hard. I found myself doing something that I never thought that I would ever do. I went to the bar. I went to the bar and everything changed. Nothing in my life has ever been the same."

 

 

Climbing with you,

~Dan