The Wild Dance

The Wild Dance

Wild- stormy; violent. Savage; ferocious. Extravagant; fantastic.

Dance- v. move quiveringly from emotion. n. a party for dancing; ball.

The Christian life is a STORMY, FEROCIOUS, EXTRAVAGANT party filled with EMOTIONAL DANCING!!

It is a wild dance.

There is nothing tame about it.

If your walk with God seems tame, boring or mundane, YOU AREN’T LIVING A LIFE IN LOVE WITH JESUS.

Jesus is romantic.

He is wild, unrelenting, persistent, courageous, bold, valiant.

He is LONGING to engage you in a PASSIONATE dance.

Are you dancing?

“You turned my wailing into DANCING; you removed my sackcloth and CLOTHED ME WITH JOY, that my heart MAY SING TO YOU and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.” (Psalms 30:11-12).

Why are you not dancing?

You fell out of love.

Rev. 2:2-5

Doing the “right” thing is not good enough....

In the midst of you trying to be the BEST CHRISTIAN YOU CAN BE, “You have FORSAKEN your first love.”

You have left Jesus out on the dance floor all alone... 

How do I start dancing again?

“Remember the height from which you have fallen.” (Rev. 2:5)

You were once in love with God.

Jesus is waiting right where you left Him to pick up right where you left off.

There was a time when God was your pursuit and Jesus was your delight.

Jesus is simply saying, “Come back!”

There is no need to be cleansed...He’ll take care of that.

He doesn’t care where you’ve been; He just wants you with Him.

“I want to get lost in the BEAUTY OF JESUS and DANCE through the night around your throne.” –Evan Earwicker

“God is not merely the reason behind existence, nor the curer of ills and confusion. Matter and thought are a canvas on which god paints;  ...a painting of tragedy and delivery, with sin and redemption. Life is a dance toward god. And the dance is not so graceful as we might think. For while we glide and swing our practiced sway, god crowds our feet, bumps our toes, and scuffs our shoes. He lowers his head, whispers soft and confident, 'You will dance to the beat of 'amazing grace' or you will not dance at all.'  So we learn to dance with the one who made us. And it is a taxing dance to learn. But once learned, don't we glide. And don't we sway. And don't we bury our head in his chest. And don't we love to dance." -prayer and the art of volkswagon maintenance (Don Miller)

Hearing God's Voice

Hearing God’s voice is so important!

We are all about talking TO God...but how often do we just pause to LISTEN?

We are so selfish!

I love hearing God’s voice.

It makes me feel important that the creator would direct His words towards me.

1 Kings 19:9-12

How does God not speak?

Boisterous

Boastful

Through Wind, Fire, and Earthquakes

It’s amazing to me that God doesn’t speak that way.

He has all the reason in the word to be a boastful God.

How did God speak to Elijah?

“A low whisper”

We are always looking for some huge display of God.

3 Ways God Speaks To Us:

 Directly

I don’t mean through some audible voice.

God gave you a conscience for a reason and you know right from wrong and you understand what is wise and what is foolish.

Sometimes the decision isn’t between right and wrong...it’s between wise and unwise...good and best.

The problem with this is that Satan is VERY smart.

He is very good at sounding like God

 Through other people

Godly advice from those you trust is very important.

The danger in this is that you may try to find someone who will tell you what you want to hear.

WHAT YOU NEED IS SOMEONE TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH!

 His Word

It’s already been written...it’s already been said.

2 Tim. 3:16 -  ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED

Why do you have to pray about it?

GOD’S WORD IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY!

The Changes of Seasons

I love the changes of seasons.  I especially love the change from Summer to Fall.  I love the colors, how they change from greens to brown, reds, and yellows, and especially the fresh new cool in the air.  I get excited at first hints of Autumn.  I'll notice a smell in the breeze that signifies fall and it brings nostalgic memories.  I always love the smell of household heaters firing up for the first time in months, the smell of burnt dust.  I've been praying that more than the season will change this year.  I pray that my heart will change.  I don't feel far from God, but I've let my heart be filled with things that aren't close to God.  Being engulfed in an unhappy, sinful lifestyle doesn't happen all at once.  A Godless life is something that creeps in without the person noticing any difference.  I'm not by any means unhappy; there are things happening in my life that I couldn't imagine being any better (good job, nice car, great ministries, great relationships with real friends where real things are talked about).  But having all the things that make you "happy" and not having God, is an unhappy life.  God is definitely present in close to all areas of my life, but is he precedent?  In some, yes.  In others, no.  I want God to lead the pack of all the priorities and people in my life.  This is not a matter of me moving from a Godless life to a Godly life; it's a matter of me moving from a God-present life to a God-consumed life.  My God is a consuming fire.  My God is worthy of my most devout affection.  I'm learning more and more that God is not found in knowledge and all the right words.  God is found in my complete reliance on Him.  I think thats faith, me knowing that I have no idea and relying on God for all the answers.  I long to be dependent on God for all things.  Dependency leads to intimacy, and there's not anything I want more in this life than to know Christ and him crucified.  His blood that makes me pretty in the Father's eyes.  His purity that brings acceptance that, otherwise, I could never deserve.

Walk In The Light As He Is In The Light

Mathew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Where does this light come from?

John 1:1-5

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Jesus is the LIGHT!

1 John 1:5-10

-vs. 5- In God is no darkness at ALL.

-vs. 7- “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light...”

Do you walk in light or darkness?

What keeps you from walking in the light?

-vs. 7- What does it say will happen if we walk in the light?

Jesus’ blood will cleanse us from all sin.

Does that mean that if we walk in darkness our sins will not be cleansed?

No, I don't think so, but it is a scary thought...

-vs. 8-10- The truth is....WE’RE GOING TO SIN!

1 John 2:1-6

-vs. 2- Jesus has paid the price for all the sins of the world

-vs. 3- How do we know that we know Christ?

We keep his commandments

-vs. 5- If you keep his word, GOD’S LOVE WILL BE PERFECTED IN YOU!

-vs. 6- Do you walk like Jesus walked?

Irresistible?

"What is irresistible about you to the world that we live in?  Are people attracted to the Christ in you? Are people attracted to the irresistible Jesus Christ, Son of God, in you?  Do they know he lives in  you; do they know that he exists in you?  How are loving people; how are you accepting them?  How are you displaying Christ in your life?  Because if we're going to be effective at sharing the gospel with the world we live in, we've got to be intentional with our relationship with Christ in a way that we can display Him to the world that we live in, in a way that people can come to know who Jesus is by the way that we live our lives.  What is it about you that people are attracted to you?  That they're wondering, "Why does she live that way?"  "Why does he live that way?"  "Why does he do the things he does?"  "What's different about him?"......"

                                   -Brad Horton

Wow!  What does my life look like?  Am I irresistible?  I know that Jesus is; I know that He was.  People were attracted to Jesus; they followed Him.  He was different, not in an attempt to be cool, but because He was holy, set apart for God's glory.      

How precious are your thoughts to me, O God!

God is doing a lot in my life...much of it through unwanted circumstances.  Sometimes I don't understand why He does the things that He does.  I know he wants the best...I know he has a plan for me....I know all these things and I have unshakable faith in that.  I will NOT be shaken.  

Before I get to the point I think I need to define who people think that I am...

I'm that guy that has it all together.  The one that everything works out for.  The one who knows who he is and is content in the things in his life.  

At least that's who I think people see me as....

So...here's my point....I don't have it all together.  

I don't really know what God is doing.  He is doing something; I just can't quite figure out what He's up to, where He's going with all this, or who He wants me to come out the other side as.  Regardless of how confused I am, I praise.  Regardless of how lost I may feel, I worship.  I push and I wrestle and I fight.  Christ fights with me, for me, and on my behalf.  The only thing to do when you are in the desert is fight your way out.  (I don't really feel like I'm in the desert, but I do feel something great happening in me and I want to see it come to fruition.)  I feel very saturated with God's presence.  God has been speaking to me very clearly.  I love the sound of His voice, the way hearing it makes me feel important.  I don't know why He would choose to communicate with me, but He does.  There is something special about affirmation from the creator.  It fills holes that no other voice can.  I'll leave you with this....

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand."     -----Psalms 139:17-18

Amazing!  Why God?

-Randy

fun fact:  this blog was written listening to Bush...old school...kinda funny huh?

I don't know why it's been so long....

I'm not sure why its been so long since I've written on this thing....I guess I've gotten busy with life. That happens easy with me. I'll get caught up with important things and forget about other important things. I would say that my life is really busy now a days. My days off pass by in record speed and my days consumed with work and other obligations are spent eagerly awaiting my off days. It is surely a neverending cycle.

So I guess the question is, "Why start back now?" My answer to that is....because someone asked. I didn't know anyone read. So, now my prayer is that my words would carry weight...a weight that only God's words could carry. I pray that His words will be in my mouth and that I will not let my pride try to yell louder.

This is a second introduction. There will be more.

-Randy