This is part one of a two-part, lengthy interview done with some documentary filmmakers in Indiana. We spent an hour and twenty minutes by a campfire, on a late summer’s evening, talking about my life and writings, and learning to live loved.
The final episode makes it clear that we haven’t arrived yet, but merely stand on the edge of the most amazing adventure available to us—how can we explore the vastness of God’s love and character not only in this age, but also for all eternity?
On this last day of the year, I get to post the final episode of the video series, Engage: Finding Your Connection With God. These brief 5-7 minute videos were designed to be listened to in two-week increments so that in the time between them people would have a chance to explore their own relationship with God and let God connect with them. The topic of this final one is one of the most exciting for me because when I lose the sense of wonder at how God might show up in my day and get lost in the mundane responsibilities and droning media of our age, my spiritual life stagnates. But when I am reminded that this amazing God wants to make himself known in my life today in the reality the circumstances I confront and the people I encounter, the possibilities are limitless and my heart begins to soar.
It was good to be reminded of all this as the year closes out and a new one begins. I can think of nothing better to share with you than this today. May you be caught up in the most amazing adventure life has to offer. May you find the grace to be more focused on what you do understand about him and his life and less preoccupied with what you don’t yet understand. The idea that even at our best we only stand ankle-deep in the vast mystery of God’s love and affection for us can set us at ease in the uncertainty and let our trust in him grow.
I am blessed to see the number of people who are working their way through this series and warmed by the emails I’ve received at how they’ve helped people relax into the reality of a relationship God has always been seeking with them. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life.
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Everything God does in our lives is so that his joy might be in us and that our joy might be full. He makes a way for us to be at home in him and he disciplines us so that we can find the fruitfulness and fulfillment of his life instead of being tyrannized by the twistedness of our flesh.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks until we’re done. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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Many of us were taught to find security in the approval of others, monetary success, religious activity and belonging to the right group. What if those aren’t the best signals to follow? It may seem difficult to separate the static of the world from his frequency, but it really isn’t. Here are some insights to help you distinguish the life that flows from his heart to yours.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks until we’re done. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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We find our way into the simplicity of following him as we ignore the obligations and expectations that others can put on us and live in the confidence that there’s only one thing that matters to God—that whatever we do is the fruit of a growing trust in him expressing itself in our love for others. Here are some practical hints in loving others without being gullible or exhausted by the expectations of others.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks until we’re done. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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Faith is not a tool we’re supposed to produce to manipulate God to do what we want. God wins us into faith by showing us who he is and how he is working in our lives. The more we grow to trust him the less we’ll react to trouble by trying to save ourselves and then we’ll be able to embrace how God is working in our circumstances.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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You do not learn to live this life in Jesus by wrapping your head around a different set of principles. You actually grow to understand this life as you respond to the Spirit guiding you into his truth. Over time the draw of the Spirit will become more powerful than the pull of the world or our religious training. Then, instead of seeking certainty, we will be at rest with him in our uncertainties.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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Few of us really live in the moment, where God is most easily seen. At times we live in the past by our regrets or by trying to recapture some past experience with him. Sometimes we live absorbed in the future with anxieties about what might happen, or trying to fulfill the plans and hopes we have. God is best seen in the present, where he is making himself known in the very things that impact you today. Few of us really live in the moment, where God is most easily seen. At times we live in the past by our regrets or by trying to recapture some past experience with him. Sometimes we live absorbed in the future with anxieties about what might happen, or trying to fulfill the plans and hopes we have. God is best seen in the present, where he is making himself known in the very things that impact you today.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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Jesus invites us into a kingdom that thrives in love. Learning to live in the reality of his love for us and sharing that love with others, leads us away from the tyranny of always having to have our own way. Then instead of seeking what we want, we can lay down our lives for others and see more clearly how he makes himself known in the world Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
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Our trust in God is undermined every time we try to win God to our agenda and measure his love for us based on our own expectations. If we can live not attached to the outcomes we desire, we’ll discover that he knows best about everything and will lead us into far greater joy and purpose than we’d ever see for ourselves.
Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.
Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download