The Present Reality of Jesus...

Well, it has been a long time since I sat down to write a blog. We have settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and things are beginning to calm down a bit. This morning I was reading in Matthew and I came across the story of the sheep and the goats in chapter 25:31-46. In that story Jesus speaks of the times when He was hungry and thirsty and a stranger and in need of clothes and He was sick and in prison. The main point of the story is that the sheep cared for him and the goats didn't. Of course neither one knew He was in need because if they had known it was Him, they would have reached out. Usually when I read this story I am challenged to see Jesus in the midst of the needs around me. But when I read it this morning the thought that stood out to me was that when I am in need and I am feeling low and I am struggling and I don't know what to do - Jesus is there with ME in the midst of it all. Now I know that is not a new or profound thought, but it was a great revelation to me because I can so easily get caught up in the thought that for God to be active in my life I must have faith, I must be praying, I must be standing in the Word of God. This story shouts another message to me. That is that when I am not the man of faith and trust and vision and power that God has called me to be - Jesus is there with me in the midst of my life. Jesus is going through the struggles with me and what I really need are the eyes to see Him and the heart to rest in Him. I believe that is what Paul is referring to in II Corinthians 4:8 when he says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed." He could say that because when he was going through those things he did not beat himself up and tell himself he needed more faith - he simply recognized that he was not alone and rested in the reality of Christ in him.

As I continue to press into God for His direction, He continues to press back and show me things in my own life that He wants to refine. I am beginning to see that one of things He is doing is teaching me how to cease striving and rest in His ever present reality. The world is so much into doing, but God is really into being in Him. Therein is the true joy and hope that He has for us. That alone will enable us to go through whatever this world brings our way.

Yes there is a place for faith and standing on God's Word but it is not to get God to do things - it is in response to the truth that God is already with us. May you rest in that reality in a greater way today.

Joyfully Yours,

Dave Hampson

Devotion and Practice...

This morning as I was finishing my reading of Ezekiel, the Lord jolted me with several verses from 33:30b-32. It says, "The people say to each other, 'come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you as they usually do and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but not do put them into practice." I read that as I was going through my devotions - I had just asked God to speak and I was sitting before Him to listen to His word. As I read those lines I had to stop and ask myself if I was just like them. Do I proclaim to want to hear God's Word and do I even express devotion, and yet lack in the practice part? I had to admit those verses related to me more than I wanted to acknowledge. A major part of this journey has been to face that reality and begin to do life differently. I am slowly learning what it means to come to the end of myself. What it means to really means to die to self. To come to the end of my strength so that God's strength can be manifested in me. I am not there yet. But I am learing how recognize quickly which thoughts and actions that are about to come out, are not God's. As a result I am beginning - just beginning - to do life differently. There is nothing like the small confines of an RV to reveal and expose things in my life that had been able to remain hidden behind my own rationalizations. Thank goodness God never gives up on us. May you too come to the end of yourself so that Christ can truly be glorified in you. Bless you!!!

Never Gives Up!

God that is - He never gives up on us. I know that because of His heart that is expressed in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. I have just finished reading both of those books and I was so blessed with the heart of God that is expressed there. Over and over again the children of Israel were disobedient and they turned away from God. Over and over again God said He was going to pour out His wrath upon them and the other nations that deserved to be judged. But in the midst of all that disobedience and judgment and wrath, there is another theme that pops up again and again throughout those books. That is God's heart to restore and to pour out His love to those who absolutely did not deserve it. Even though God had reason after reason to give up on the people of Israel - He never did. That means He will never give up on us. Never, ever, ever. You can not sin enough to make Him love you less. He loves you more than you can ever know. You can rest in His love. You can rest in His grace. You can trust Him!!! I just thought I should share that with you before I go to bed. Ah there is nothing like Walmart when it comes to good parking lot sleeping. Bless you...

Worry and Faith...

On Saturday night at 2:30 am I woke up with an anxiety attack. Actually I am not sure if if was a full blown attack as defined by the American Psychological Association, but I sure was filled with fear and worry and I definitely could not sleep. As I lay in bed trying not to think about my struggle to finish the DMIN paper and our yet to be determined future and some other things that have been on my mind, I was reminded of Philippians 4:6 which says, "Do not be anxous about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." And then verse 7 says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." As I refected on that verse, I began to pray and put the paper and our future in the Lord's hands. I must say that I did not immediately go back to sleep. It was not a little battle - in fact the impetus to worry kept raging for a while. But I asked God for faith to trust Him (do not forget faith is not something you conjure up, it is a gift from God) and I continued to thank God for His faithfulness and give everything to Him one thing at a time. Well in time I did get back to sleep. Not only that but I woke up in the morning with fresh ideas for the paper and I had renewed peace that God had not forgotten about our future.

I share this just to remind anyone who reads this, that God's Word is true. He will give us the faith to walk in the fullness of His promises if we will just ask Him to give it to us. In fact He will do it right now if you will just ask Him and keep asking Him until He has done it. So why not do it right now? Why not ask God to give you His gift of faith to be able to trust Him with the details of your day? The Bible says we do not have because we do not ask - so ask Him and wait to receive what He has for you. Blessings upon you as you live for His glory...

Dreams and the Real World

Yesterday we hiked to Hanging Lake. It was a 1,000 foot elevation climb on a 1 mile trail. As we were just beginning the trail we heard a loud noise like a sheet opening in the wind. We looked up just in time to see an open parachute and 30 seconds later the guy was on the ground about 200 feet in front of us. We hiked right by him. Moments before he had done a free fall off the clift and opened his chute which we were able to see coming down over our heads. It was amazing. So was the lake and the water falls that we hiked to. When we arrived at the top there was something called the spouting rock. It was a water fall coming right out of the rock. It too was amazing. The whole hike and the parachute thing reminded me of a song from the Sound of Music. "Climb every mountain, forge every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream." The cliffs, the water fall, the lake, the parachute guy all seemed like a dream. As you can see from the pictures it was an amazing place.

Oh if we could only live life in a dream world. But the truth is we all have to come down off the mountain out of the dream. That is the story of the disciples as they came down from the Mount of Transfiguration. Do you remember that Peter wanted to live up there with Jesus and Moses and Elijah. But they had to come down and when they did there was someone who was sick and needed healed. There were disciples there praying and believing God that little boy was going to be healed - and yet nothing happened. As I was reading that story this last week I thought how similar that is to the church. In the church we live in the real world where people need help. They need healed, they need restored, they need a touch from God. And just like in the story there are people praying and often we don't see the results that we are praying for. The story only ends well because Jesus showed up. In fact the story not only ended well - it kind of ended like a dream because everything worked out perfectly. The thought that comes to me through all this rambling is that while we can not live life in a dream world, we can experience the stuff that dreams are made out of if we come to the end of our self and wait for Jesus to show up. That is what the disciples did. They gave it their best shot and then they waited for Jesus to show up and He did and He will - if we will do the same. Truly Jesus is the stuff that dreams are made of. Keep trusting Him - He is faithful...