God Doesn't Make Commercials

Spirituality works differently than I always thought. We are so used to being begged to buy things right, left, and always that below the steady verbal flow of our conscious thoughts, we assume, God must work the same way. We picture him as the admen on Madison Avenue who wine and dine and puff and pitch till they work us into a wanting frenzy or we shove them out of our living room with the push of a button. But God does not make commercials. He’s not trying to sell you something. He doesn't send out mass emails. He won't clutter up your mailbox with piles of paper suited only for starting fires in your hearth. He’s not going to coerce you into closeness with Him.

The Great Father invites. He is inviting you into real life--into joy and friendship and intimacy with His pure-love self, and His people are the instruments of this invitation.

For most of my life I operated under the assumption that if God really wanted something to happen, then He would make it happen. If He wanted me to know something, He would make it so obviously apparent that I couldn’t miss it. I’m not sure where this perspective came from, this idea that I was just an observer whom things happened to. My disposition was, and in many ways still is, to think of life as a passive event and myself an ineffective agent within it. Maybe you can relate to this. I’m daily working to live the opposite of that--to be an active agent with my will. That’s what I am. It’s what we all are.

Several places Jesus uses an odd phrase usually translated, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” I was puzzled by this saying for the longest time, not really understanding what he was trying to say. When I read it in Greek for the first time it made a lot more sense and served as a catalyst for me taking a more active approach to life--with God and in everything else. To explain it more fully I would translate this phrase as, “You have ears, they were made for hearing, so understand what I’m saying to you.” I always read this as “some people have ears who can hear what I’m saying, let those people hear and understand...the rest of you, well, better luck next time.” But that’s not at all what’s going on here. The latter part of this phrase is not a suggestion or idea. It’s not something he'd like a few people to do. It’s an imperative -- a command to all.

Jesus is inviting us, very loudly, to run after the treasures he has hidden for us to find. Walking with Him is like a kid on walking through the forest with his best friends on a treasure hunt. Just like the Proverb says: “It is the glory of God to hide a matter and the glory of kings to seek it out” (Prov. 25:2). There is a powerful distinction here: God doesn’t hide things from us, He hides things for us. You were made to uncover wonderful things throughout the adventure of your life. And through the process of discovering them we are made into kings and queens.

So look for Him, call to Him, seek His leading, His voice, His Word, His people, His truth, His reality, His Spirit to fill you up to the point of pouring out and spilling over. And don't stop after a few minutes, don't even stop after an hour, or a day, or months, or years. We’ve been trained by our inta-everything culture to have pleasantries beckon us towards them, but life is not meant to be a passive event. Go seek and knock and ask.  He is ever seeking to know and be known by you. There is ever more of Him to discover for those who will continually engage with Him in this mysterious thing called life.

A Dialogue with Dad: Learning to Listen in Prayer

As I've mentioned before, I believe an important part of prayer isn't just asking, or even thanking--it's listening. What might the Father be trying to tell you this afternoon? The other day I asked Him that question and was somewhat surprised with the answer! The following dialogue served to encourage me greatly, but the words He has for me are for you, too--and I hope you find encouragement in them as I did.

Bowing Your Knee

Eph. 3:14:

“Because of His gift, I bow my knee before the Father...”

As I walk through the week, I find my self worrying about what this or that person thinks. NPR or NBC, or some other combination of acronymial letters convinces me of what’s important that’s going on in the world and what should dominate my thoughts and feelings. I find my self constantly thinking about the news that flashes at me from my phone or computer screen. My ever-growing “to do list” constantly begs for my attention: at work, at home. I’m too distracted to notice that my whole life is hidden under the shadow of all these things I’ve deemed “important.” All these “important” things press me down. I’m supposed to filter through it all to find what’s worth my time and attention. But I’ve bowed my knee in too many places. What do I really know?

Our Heavenly Father is the only one we should ever bow a knee to, the only one to whom it’s appropriate to submit our whole selves. He knows all. He knows our hearts and futures, and dreams. He placed in us the beginnings of the great beings we are meant to become; much of which has yet to poke the beginnings of a sprout through our soil. When we bend the knee of our souls to Him we are empowered to do, dream, and become all that we were made for.

He is the One, the Mighty One, who loves and lifts up with His power. There is no other who can do what That One does. He is The One our hearts bow down to and in so doing, grow fully alive, fully their selves.

He is all. He is glorious. He is your Tender Loving Father who carries your best interest dear in His heart. Come near to Him. Receive His High-Father heart into yours and bow your whole self before Him. Take no other in that highest place that so many vie for every minute of every day. There you are His Beloved, child, daughter, son. There you are His low precious humble one. There He loves to lift you up to where you are seated with Him, in Heavenly places.