Divine Hunger Games 10-22-12

“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.”

1 Chr. 22:19

God always has a “soul lesson” to impart to us amidst a trial.

Amidst our soul lesson, God trusts us with His divine wisdom to the degree that we know His heart.

We fall into deception when we don’t seek to understand the true heart of God, but choose instead to embrace our ideas about the heart of God and make decisions based on our own feelings.

Example: Each of us has at least one someone/something in our life that has caused (is causing) us pain. When interacting with this person/circumstance, we have choices to make. Probably the biggest choice is whether we follow our gut (feelings) or whether we choose to ask God to fill us with His heart for this person or circumstance, and then follow His promptings moment to moment.

Probing questions:

How do I get to know God better?

Well, if someone wants to get to know me better, the best way to do this is to hang out with me. So, if I want to understand God better, I may want to hang out with Him. The more I get to KNOW God’s heartbeat, the more I fall in love with Him and am saddened to hurt Him. ~I will no longer covet merely His power and miracles, but I will yearn for the stuff that He deeply desires.

How do I hang out with God?

Read His love letters, pray to Him with the help of His Holy Spirit within, worship Him in His creation, and learn more about where He resides.  ~We gain God’s perspective on this world when we better understand His world.

~A neat way we Cleary’s have been hanging with God lately is viewing or reading accounts of heaven (and also hell), providing us a atypical perspective on ‘our here and now’. Here are a few neat YouTube links:  

http://youtu.be/49wut32Cguw

http://youtu.be/UYwC2-utH4A

All of us “get” that living for God amidst enticing indulgences is not easy, and embracing lessons (vs. evading pain) amidst our current challenge is even more difficult. … But God isn’t in the business of fixing our troubles! He’s in the business of revealing Himself to us as we live through life’s difficulties.

In order to live for Him, our desire for God’s happiness must become more alluring than what the world (or our flesh) is offering.

Let’s endeavor to really KNOW Him better this week.

Check out this link!   http://youtu.be/K-eSRcr9CWw  

Much love,

Shaun and Betsy

Intoxicated with Who? 10-8-12

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth (leaders of the people) committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” Rev. 17:1-2

Sometimes our prosperity, popularity or physical attributes blind us to our spiritual helplessness. Positions of leadership are especially vulnerable. Many leaders today fall into one of two camps:

1) Proud, arrogant, self-indulgent, intoxicated with personal perceptions

OR

2) Confident, meek, selfless, intoxicated with the Living Spirit

~But before we start pointing fingers, let’s insert our own name in the following blanks:

______, be sure, your sins will find you out. It’s time for judgment to BEGIN with the household of God. (Num. 32:23; 1Pet. 4:17)

Be holy, for God is holy, ______. Offer your body as a living sacrifice. (1Pet. 1:16; Rom. 12:1)

The Lord God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth…YET, ______, He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. (Ex. 34:6-7)

______, how your adulterous heart has hurt Me. You have turned away from Me and by your eyes have played the harlot. (Ezek. 6:9)

OUCH, huh?!

God our Savior desires ALL men to be saved and to come to knowledge of truth. 1 Tim. 2:4 So…after examining our own life and making some changes, perhaps we can encourage a loved one to do the same? (It takes guts to question someone we care about. That’s why we must examine our own life first, pray for our loved one, then with a compassionate heart speak forth only when God opens the opportunity.)

The time is short! “An overwhelming scourge WILL sweep by us…. The Lord will rise up…to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task, so stop your mocking. For suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder, earthquake, great noise, windstorm, tempest and flames of devouring fire.” (Is. 28:18; Is. 29:5-6)

Crazy times we live in! ~Let’s live out loud for His Name sake.

Much love,

Shaun and Betsy

E P or D? 10-1-12

May the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ.   Heb. 13:20

For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Is.18:5; Jn. 15:2

God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.   Heb. 12:10; Prv. 3:12

Equipping, pruning or discipline…similar in appearance, poles apart in immediate purpose, partnering in eternal objective.

Question: How do we discern the difference, thus granting us a smidge of understanding, which in turn helps us to embrace the trial so that God can “have His way in us”?

First, ask acknowledge and ask this of God: “I know that nothing takes You by surprise, Lord, and I know that You are in COMPLETE control (even when things appear so out of control), so please help me understand the divine lesson(s) You are trying to teach me through this trial. If it’s discipline, help me to recognize, repent and renounce. If it’s pruning or equipping, help me to embrace this trial and learn what You are trying to impart to me. (And if it is spiritual attack, please protect and deliver me for Your name sake!)”

Second, recognize that we do not live isolated lives, and thus, divinely inspired multi-purposed trials are common. ~ Life isn’t always about “me”. God is also at work in the lives of others involved in our current trial.

Third, embrace the trial (versus run from it), and excavate the lessons (versus gloss over them).

Forth, realize that we are human, with human frailty, and we will struggle. (Paul referred to this inner struggle in Rom. 7)  God understands and He Himself will help us “stand tall” again.

Fifth, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, ABIDE, ABIDE, ABIDE, ABIDE. This requires ongoing quantity and quality time with God.

Sixth, OBEY HIS PROMPTINGS…a constant and purposeful choice.

Seventh: Amidst all, live with a resolute attitude of thankfulness and praise.

How can we say these things? Because Cleary’s constantly live in trials…even this last week. Oh, our trials may look different than yours, but the fundamental lessons are the same.

Let’s finish strong; He is coming for us SOON. May God bless us as we live for Him this week!

Much love,

Shaun and Betsy

Heatin' Up 9-17-12

Jesus desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 2:4-5

This week, an Iranian Muslim man came to Christ.

What a thrill it was to witness this middle-aged shop owner lift his head upward to heaven and shout aloud these words (in front of customers and employees):  

"Jesus Christ come into my life and be my Lord and Savior!

... I am a sinner! ... Forgive me of my sins! 

I want You as my God and Lord of my Life! .... 

THEN…

HALLELUIA!!!! I AM FREE!!! I AM FREE!!! 

Do you know how lucky we are? Why you (Betsy)? Why me?

Praise You, Lord Jesus Christ…

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I AM FREEEEEE!!!!!

Of course, this is the SHORT story. The longer version is even more thrilling!

~Despite current events Jesus is alive and well, and people are coming to a salvational knowledge of Him like never before. ~Just last week in our small sphere of influence there was a Jewish later-aged woman and a college-aged boy in addition to this Muslim man.

Christ shares:

"This is the will of Him (the Father) who sent Me (Jesus),

 that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life;

And I will raise him up at the last day." Jn. 6:40

~Sharing Jesus’ love and truth…

What a thrill…what a privilege...what a responsibility.

The world is ‘heating up’ fast. He is coming for us so soon. (Matt. 24; 2 Thess. 2)

We treasure your prayers for our new brothers and sisters.

Living for Him in His arms of love,

~Shaun and Betsy

Summer 2012 Couples Events

Dare to Swim Upstream 9-11-12

“The waters that come down from upstream,

and they shall stand as a heap." Jos. 3:13

As with the Jordan waters, one day, God will cause the anti-God streams of society to “stand as a heap” and acknowledge Him for Who He is. Until that day, we each have responsibility.

Take our 3 kids for example:

One’s in high school, one’s in college, and one’s a college graduate in the work force.

Each is fearfully and wonderfully made.

Each has an exclusive call on and divine purpose in this life.

Each has unique instruction for this specific season in life.

YET

Each of their environments is distinctive.

Each of them has a unique temperament, talents, abilities and life-stories.

And each has a daily choice to believe or not to believe in God’s plan, and to take (or refuse to take) the necessary steps to fulfill this plan.

~~And although dad, mom and others offer great advice, our 3 must ultimately look to God for direction navigating life and answer to God for steps taken (or neglected).

The same for each one of us.

With an attitude of love and reverence to God, let’s choose to ‘live purposeful’, and celebrate the Lord’s goodness in this life.

Even if our disposition is ‘the quiet sort’, let’s be ‘deemed weird’ and dare to swim upstream against the current of an ever-increasing anti-God society.

“The joy of the LORD is your strength…celebrate with great joy.”

Neh. 8:10-12

Living for Him,

Shaun and Betsy

Break and Play 9-4-12

The world and its desires pass away, but the man

who does the will of God lives forever. 1Jn. 2:17

It’s football season once again. And whether or not you are a football fan, we all agree that the first secret of success on the football field is to break the huddle and play the game.

The secret to successful living is no different.

Simplified formula for team play: Get on the team, develop a strategic game plan with the Coach, “train” diligently with deliberate focus, then, wholeheartedly play the game as the Coach directs.

This formula is no different for the Believer.

Whether one’s “game” is:

• Tim Tebow, allowing God to use his talents on a high profile NFL platform;
• OR dear family friends recently adopting a girl from the sex traffic industry;
• OR investing in the real-life needs of a co-worker;
• OR sharing Jesus’ love with our airplane/bus seat mate;
• OR observing a need and filling it with whatever God has personally blessed us with….

…Each of us has a unique call on our life, intended by our Creator to be played out for His team, according to His game plan, in this game of life.

(~Played out, not hidden and protected in some kind of “holy huddle.”)

We are called to be in the world!
(Yet, we are not to be of the world. Remember, Jesus visited “shadowy” places not as a wild-haired partaker of darkness, but as a love-filled witness to the Light, and He calls us to do the same.)

~~And with regard to sharing the John 3:16 message, the coolest thing is this: “Success” is not measured in another’s response to the Message. No, success is measured in how well I obey God’s promptings to deliver His Message in word and deed. ~The “results” are God’s business, His deal; and thus, the “heat” is off us.

Playing “the game” this week for His glory! He’s coming soon.

Much love,

Shaun and Betsy