Satan fleeing

No.

How can you say no to me?

I can. I am.  No.

We'll see.  Time will tell.

Not now.  Not ever.  No.

It's easy to say, but impossible to enforce.

No it's not.  I can choose or refuse you.  Accept or reject you.  I reject you.  Unconditionally.

Whatever.  I'm still here.

It doesn't matter. 

So I don't matter?

My choice matters.

Ok.  Let's look at this another way.

No.

You haven't even heard what I have to say!

I won't. 

Closed minded are we?

I reject you once and for all and forever.  I won't say anything else.

Well then I'll do the talking, how about that?

...

I can talk all night.  All day.  Everyday.

...

You can't go on like this.  Minds snap. Yours will.  All do.  Eventually.

...

I won't be ignored!!

...

Say something!!!

...

How dare you treat me like this!  Like I don't exist!!

...

I won't be disrespected!   I don't deserve it.  I won't take it.  I'm leaving.

...

You'll regret this.  It's your loss.

...

Goodbye...for now.

...

When the Spirit came to Me

I remember the night God's Spirit came to me.  I sat alone, in the dark, in my room, wanting to die-- because I kept on doing the things I hated.  But I remembered something I heard in church about death, sin, and punishment: 

Jesus died for me.

He died for all of the bad things I'd done,

the things I should be punished for. 

Jesus died for me. 

Jesus was punished for me. 

I don't know how I remembered this, but I did.  And so I said these words: 

"I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for my sins." 

I felt peace cover me like a blanket. 

I no longer wanted to die. 

The Spirit was with me and in me, giving me life and peace.

The next time the Spirit came to me was when I shared Jesus with my whole class.  I wanted them to experience the life and peace the Spirit gave me through believing in Jesus.  So I planned a message for my class.  And on the day that I spoke to them, the Spirit covered me, like he did on that night.  But on that day it was very different.  It was like warm water I couldn't see being poured slowly on my head. 

The invisible water gave me a super power to think, see, and hear like God does.  My words flowed easily and powerfully.  No one talked while I spoke, and at the end everyone stood up and clapped their hands.  God was with me while I spoke.  He gave me power to speak, and everyone who heard me felt it and knew it.  The Spirit was with me when I spoke, giving everyone who wanted it life and peace.

The Spirit is with me now as you hear these words.  Just as He was with me on the night I believed in Jesus, and on the day I shared Jesus with my class, He's with me now. 

He can be with you if you want Him to. 

(All images are from google images.)

The Man in the Corner (Part 2)

How'd it go?
I don't even know where to begin.  First, do you want to order something?
I will in a minute.  Begin wherever you want, if you want.
Well, I called her after I got off work that day we talked.  (Thanks again for that.)  We talked for an hour and a half.
Deep things?
Very.  She's actually an intensely deep thinker.
How'd you find out?
I did what you said.  I just told her what I wanted, and she said she wanted the same thing.
What took you both so long to find out.
We were both scared.
Of what?
Of being hurt or rejected.  She'd been turned down by her first boyfriend because he thought she was too serious.  The same thing happened to me with my first girlfriend.
And you both never dated again?
Well, neither of us really date...at least we didn't after our first loves.
What do you both do?
We both want a best friend...who we could see ourselves having sex with everyday.
That's interesting.
Yeah.  In other words, we want to be married.
To each other?
We didn't get that far, but we're heading in that direction.
I'm glad to hear that the conversation went so well...better than you both expected, it seems.
Much better.  Are you ready to order?
Actually, I need to see a menu.
Really?  You've never looked at one before.
I think I'll have a meal this time.
That's good.  If you'll be here for a while, I want to ask you another question.
Ask me whatever you want.

The Man in the Corner (Part1)

Always in the corner of the coffeshop where I'm a waiter, he sat.  Sipping cider.  Seeing.  Senses serene.  I liked lingering.  Listening.  Asking him for wisdom.  He freely gave it.  Especially today.

I don't know if she's the one.
It's hard to tell based on your relationship so far.
Exactly.
What makes it hard?
I don't know.  In some ways I'm attracted to her.  In others, she's somewhat annoying.
Like someone you couldn't see yourself living with.
Or being good friends with.
But she's attractive.
Very.
How attractive?
I can't take my eyes off of her.
She entrances you.
Her face.  Her voice.  Her hands.  I can't keep my eyes or hands off of her.
How does she feel about you?
I don't know.
If you had to guess.
She lets me gaze at her, touch her, admire her.
She seems to like you liking her.
It seems like it.
And how does she show that she likes you?
She gazes back, touches me back, returns my affection.
So the affection is mutual.
Very.
What about the conversation?
I like to laugh with her.  She's hilarious.
She's fun to be around.
Very much so.
What annoys you?
I think it's that we don't talk about deep things.  She's too fun loving.
And you want depth?
I need it.
And she doesn't.
That's the thing.  I don't know. 
You're very honest about not knowing things.
Thank you.  What do you think I should do?
What do you do when you need to know something?
I find out.
How?
I look it up on line, or ask people who know things...like I'm doing with you.
Who would know things about her?
She would, of course.
Of course.
Yeah.  I guess I should just tell her what I'm feeling. 
Let me know how it goes.
I will.  Thank you for listening.
You're welcome.  Thank you for sharing yourself with me.

Home with the Setting Sun

silent still sun
soothing solitude
solitary sunrays

holy home
humble heaven
haven harmony

silent still sunset
soothing soundlessness
signs sent

holy heavenly home
humble haven
happy solitary harmony

God's voice, or your imagination?

My daughter asked me how she could tell the difference between God speaking to her and her own thoughts.  This is what I told her.

It is written, "God's ways are not your ways, and God's thoughts are not your thoughts; as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's ways above your ways, and God's thoughts above your thoughts."  So focus on three things:

1. You are not God.
I told my daughter this:  the question, "How can I tell if God is speaking to me or if it's my own mind," assumes that you can think something so...profound(?), or whatever, that you couldn't tell the difference between your thoughts and God's, as if there may not be a difference.  But there is a difference!  You are not God, and God is not you.  Not only that, but something else.

2. You are mind isn't God's mind.
I told my daughter this:  Not only are you clearly "not God," but your mind is infinitely inferior to His.  God's mind, intelligence, creativity, and reasonability are infinitely above yours.  Which means this:  all you have to do is think, and you can know that whatever you thought, God didn't, by definition, for this reason:

3.  You can't know God's thoughts unless he reveals them.
It is also written, "No one knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of the person in them, and no one knows God's thoughts expect the Spirit of God."  In the same way that people can't read each others' minds, no one can read God's mind, or know His thoughts, unless He reveals them.  So again, if you are thinking about something, it's clearly you thinking about it.  If you can come up with it, it's not God.  And if you have any doubt as to whether a thought came from you or God, it didn't come from God.  Because God's thoughts are infinitely above yours, you can be certain that if He reveals His thoughts to you, it would be undeniably irresistibly clear.

I told my daughter, "If you don't know if it's God speaking to you, then it's not."

Your Power

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  Proverbs 18:21

Think of something someone said that hurts you, even now...if it's not too painful. 

Now think of something someone said that changed your life. 
Or something someone said still affecting your life. 

If it helps, I'll go first.

I'll actually start with something someone didn't say.  In one of the hardest times of my life, I called my dad, hoping to see him.  It was a horrible conversation.  But I at least wanted it to end well.  So I said, "Dad, I'm sorry if this conversation is bothersome to you.  I'm going to have to go now, and I want you to know that I love you."

My dad didn't respond.

"Dad, I love you."

"I hear you son."

Then more silence. 

Then I hung up.

My dad never said, "I love you too, son."  Now, of course, he didn't say, "I DON'T love you, son."  But he might as well.  His silence, his simply "hearing" me, could've killed me.  This is because "the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  My dad spoke death.  Years earlier my mom spoke life.

I was in college, or about to go to college.  I was still living with my mom at the time, and we were in her room together.  She was grading papers, and I can't remember what I was doing.  Then, for no apparent reason, she said, "Son, I want you to know that nothing is wrong with you.  I know you've been trying to find someone to love and you haven't yet.  But I want you to know that nothing is wrong with you."  She spoke life to me by the power of her tongue.  Maybe even resurrection.  I didn't know I was dead.  I'd never said or thought to myself, "Something is wrong with me."  But I realized that I must have been assuming it, in despair, in a quiet depression.  Until my mother told me nothing was wrong with me.  I still enjoy the fruit of the power of her words.  What about you?

Now that I've told you the words in my life that killed me and brought me back to life, what words do you remember?  What words of death and resurrection?  Even more importantly, or maybe more importantly, what words have you spoken that killed or resurrected someone? 

If you've killed someone with your words, there's still hope.  Your words not only have the power to kill, but also to give life.  Your apology may raise someone from the dead. 

Now think of someone one you love.  What can you say to give them life, or bring them back to life?  If you thought of words that gave you life, think of why those words impacted you.  How you can you do the same for someone else?  

Take note of the answer; it is your power.