Can You Feel It?

I was privileged enough to spend 1 1/2 hours in the car today with Shane Willard

I thought I'd share one of the gems that we spoke about:

You can only serve what you feel...

ie. If you are in a really really foul mood... what do you serve up to people?
If you are really lost in your own self importance... what do you serve up to people?
If you are ecstatically joyful... what do you serve up to people?

If I am feeling miserable and depressed... is it possible for me to serve up joy to those I come into contact with (even if I do plaster on the fake smile and jovial platitudes)?
No... I serve up what I am feeling!

So how do we change our feelings?
We must meditate / think on the feelings that we are after!
eg. If I am stuck in traffic and I'm getting really ticked off... I am faced with some choices.
Either I can give into the irritation and become irate and do a whole bunch of things that I may later regret...
Or I can ask myself this question, "How does God feel right now?"
I then begin to sense God's calmness... peace...
I can then take that further by asking myself, "How would I feel if God's calmness and peace enveloped me right now?"

How do you think that you would begin to feel in this situation if you meditated correctly?

The western mindset has really scoffed at the whole 'feelings' thing... guys especially try and stay well clear of that subject. We have exalted the stoic philosophy's cutting out emotion and exalting logic...
But this is not the Eastern mindset (from which the Bible has been written) at all!
Its only in the western thinking that we could write a paper on God's attributes and think about grabbing a MacDonalds after...
An Eastern minded person would be caught up in the feeling of the majesty of God! Just look at the Psalms!

Anyway... I'm rambling now... just do yourself a favour... spend a few minutes... and begin asking God how He feels... about you! Get ready to have your world ROCKED!!!


If you tried the exercise... please leave a comment and let me know about your experience!!!

The Power To Change

Today I was revisiting the challenges that I received at our easter camp... and to be honest... I had to review my notes to remember what I had felt challenged to implement in my life. That led me to think back to a month or so ago when I was at a day retreat with Bill Hybels. There were so many challenges personally and organizationally that I had received during that day... but to my shame, all I can remember is one or two of the challenges, and vaguely at that!

In our western society the lust of our day is information. We run from one fountain of information to another but we never actually mediate on that information. We never work it through. It never gets a chance to become revelation. It simply tickles us... and then we run on. We never commit to the challenge. We would rather have flings. Flings don't cost us, they don't make demands on us. We feel good. We pat ourselves on the back.
But we have been unfaithful to the challenge. We remain immature... dwarfs in our calling, our potential, our being.

What challenges do you need to go back and revisit?
How will you ensure that you work it through, applying the challenge to your life one week from now, one month from now, and even one year from now?
How will you live this out?

I want to end todays thought off with a quote from Eugene Peterson's book 'Run With The Horses':

"He weighed the options. He counted the cost. He tossed and turned in hesitation. The response when it came was not verbal but biographical. His life became his answer..."