The Secret Things of God- Book Review

Today's review is on 'The Secret Things of God-Unlocking the Treasures Reserved For You' by Henry Cloud. He is a psychologist and writes from this perspective with his faith. This book is a Christian answer to Rhonda Byrne's 'The Secret'. -"In that book, Byrne explores our relationship to the universe and how understanding what lies beyond the veil drastically affects our lives, relationships, and goals. The fact that millions have responded to The Secret shows the deep hunger we all have for two things: one, we all want to understand the nature of the universe and those things beyond what we can see; and, two, we all have a hunger for principles and practices that make life work."
He bases this book on I Corinthians 4:1 'Regard us... as those entrusted with the secret things of God.' He starts out with his testimony, others he influenced and how it changes his approach to presenting God, and how he learns what is in us. He goes through many hangups we have and how to get past them. Many of them have to do with our upbringing.
I listened to the unabridged audio book. The first cd is boring and goes through how this book came about. A lot of it is stuff you already know. Then he moves on to the actual 'secrets' and you hear the psychobabble... or so I thought. I am not into the psychological answers but spiritual. However the more I listened to him the more God worked in my heart and showed me stuff in my life that needs fixed and how the stuff got there. The timing for this book in my life was perfect because I'm willing to hear from God to make my life more like Jesus. I listened to the third cd three times and still need to listen to it again to grasp all the stuff in it to change the patterns in my life.
I almost stopped listening after the first cd. That would have been a colossal mistake. Read/listen to this book, it will show you how far you've come, need to go, and deceived you have let yourself become.
The secrets involve your relationship to God and others such as trust, happiness, thoughts, freedom, pain, forgiveness, applying the Word, choices/lessons, listening, anger, purpose, accomplishment, intimacy, and guilt.
This book in bringing us to 'unlocking the treasures reserved for us' is really bringing us to God and in doing so makes us change, grow, look at ourselves, and face the truth, accept it, or reject it. To fulfill our true purpose here on earth we need real relationships with each other and most importantly with God. Living a secluded life guessing at what it's all about leaves us deceived and unhappy. However like the reason this blog exists, we can be open and honest to fix the problems and become who God made us to be.
I rate this book 10 out of 10. You cannot read through this book without being changed or at least in a position to do so. You may be faced with uncomfortable things you need to look at in your life, but in doing that you grow closer to God and have peace and contentment afterwards.

It is Well

I originally wanted to start this post by calling it 'Frustration'. Needless to say God turned it around pretty quickly! I was frustrated with several areas in life. Things were just being difficult and irritating. Since originally wanting to post this God has revealed some of these frustrations being rooted in my selfish ways (surprise, surprise!!).
Well as the title reads, It is well! I went to a men's Bible study and then to a follow up meeting that allows us men to talk about our problems, victories and application of the Word and the study into our lives. As recently posted in 'revival' I wrote out the whole ordeal. Leaving that get together, I felt connected to men that are just like me. They love the Lord and fight to strive to live like they do. Talking about God with others that love Him is such a rush! We get going on how He works and how good He really is. We tell of what He's telling us and what He does as we trust in Him. Afterwards the joy is overflowing and pondering begins. You start thinking of how else God can move and what He will do. How close to the Bible are we living? And on and on it goes. We just sit there with a big smile on our face because it is well!
I was going to work that night and it got me thinking about what I like. I had the windows down a clear road and K-Love on the radio. After that meeting I was in heaven with this combination of things. I just love driving fast with the wind flying through my hair or just the breeze on my face. The warm summer night and the fresh air, ahhhhhhh!!! Listening to David Crowder, Newsboys, and other bands that sing of God's mercy and goodness. All the while I'm thinking how good God is and how He's going to use me. I love you Jesus!!! You are soooo good.
It is well indeed!!

Quote

Here is a quote from Adam Mogk spoken on the farewell speech video during graduation ceremony: "A picture may be worth a thousand words but the experience will leave you speechless."
I was blown away when I heard this!

Hindrences

Alright, this was copied mostly from an email, then edited, and posted much later than the post time. It is funny how God puts the puzzle pieces together when I am 'writing in the Spirit'. This is the second time I've received clarity when I was writing an email to encourage another. God moves in mysterious ways and ways we know not of. He moves when we don't expect it. He's moving when we don't realize it. While we're spinning our wheels, His plan is moving right on schedule.
Anyways, here's my epiphany:

I have been reading other blogs and talking to relatives. In doing that I have had numerous prayer requests come in and the blahs of not wanting to pray or feelings like God would not even listen because of my lack of effort in my relationship with Him lately. Well after some prayer and thought about it. I realized it was an attack to stop me from praying! My job as a Christian is to encourage and pray. Praying is way harder than encouraging for me when I am less than motivated. My prayers are important and God hears them and He answers them. Lately He's answered many of them. The enemy wants that to stop so he's turned up the heat and weakened me spiritually and physically.
When our eyes are on other stuff rather than Jesus, our perspective is skewed and the devil has ground to emphasize the wrong stuff while we are 'confused' about what we perceive as the truth around us. We tend to believe the lies because they are familiar.

Rom. 12:2-3 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.'

We become untransformed when we get the 'don't feel like its'. I guess the answer to being blah about God is to pray. Act on the mustard seed faith you still have and trust He will respond. The other answer or additional answer is to read His word. I am amazed at what a 'David heart' does to the hand of God. It moves in your life like you know it can but still you don't expect it to. For some reason we have it ingrained in us that we are not worthy and He is hindered by our imperfection.
I was even getting life threatening requests. How can you not pray when you get a request like that? The verse that says 'your prayers will be hindered' comes to mind for why we think God won't answer us. I need to investigate this further!

Funny how when you cry out for help from God and others, He answers you and gives you peace.

James 5:16 'Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.'
I was praying because they needed prayer and this is what I do. I might not have felt like it but I did it anyways believing God heard and answered my prayers. In this action God was confirming my gift and showing me I need to pray because He will answer those prayers. When my job is to pray, God gives opportunities to pray.
I almost forgot tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. Pray. Pray in numbers. God answers group prayers. The more crying out to Him the faster He moves.

Answered Prayer Too

Well the goodness of God continues! While at work last night I realized what His word was for me this morning. I Thess. 5:17- Pray continually. This was a very short word and I didn't see the application until 14 hours later. Wow! The words in this case mean pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. There were times I remembered the situation and had no words to pray. I didn't feel like praying. I didn't want to pray because I was hurt and didn't see any answer in sight. Day after day and no peep of results. Nada, Zippo, Nothing. I prayed anyways. I cared for them and believed God beyond my belief. God changed all that in one instant! He is a BIG God!!!
Reflecting back on answered prayer after remembering this morning's word, I remembered other major prayers that were answered recently. Somebody was misdiagnosed with a disease and could not receive health insurance because of it. I prayed for a new test to prove they didn't have this disease. Within a week's time a test result came back declaring no disease!! I knew nothing of the test beforehand either!! Their high blood pressure was normal too (another answered prayer)!
I also have a friend that has a dad in the hospital with colon cancer. Their relationship hasn't been very good neither. This past weekend the surgery was found to be a success (test results still pending) and they had the best father-son time together ever while he visited.
We serve an awesome God!! Do not give up on your prayers. God is bigger than any disease, offense, sin, or problem! Hang in there and you too will see the glory of God!

God's Will

Life has been hard to handle lately. I had taxes to do which is a big deal to me. Can I say that I hate doing taxes? I would rather get a root canal. I have three months of mail to catch up on. My wife is 'cleaning' and is constantly needing assistance. I will be cleaning now also (now that taxes are done). God's been using me quite a bit to encourage a family to stay on track. In order to do much of what I've done, I have lost sleep. I also use the internet (too much) to read and research stuff. I would be way behind if I just went to sleep when I should.
Well, dealing with all this stuff leaves little time for God. I seem to get going and time just flies by. God is left behind for 'important stuff'. I have been trying to hear Him lately and live in faith. It gets difficult to know what God wants in a given situation if we don't communicate with Him like we should. Sometimes He's really clear and other times you're saying "huh?"
I posted earlier in 'Selfish Update' that I was going to live a risky faith filled life being led by the Holy Spirit. I have been successful so far on this endeavor. However, a line has been crossed that is hard to recover from. To walk in faith involves doing things you don't normally do. It also puts relationships at risk. People could start to look at you funny (or funnier than normal!). You have to take inventory of why you're doing what you are doing. You have to weigh personal comfort and safety against risking it all for the will of God.
The line that has been crossed is the possibility of being wrong, more specifically being wrong with a friend's life. I reflected on the consequences of a possible error on my part, when stepping out in faith. The results were not good. My heart grew heavy and fear tried to step in. I haven't let myself go there until then because walking in risk taking faith is scary enough. Why ponder the possible bad outcome to increase the intensity of taking the action you believe is what God wants? God gives you strength to walk in faith and do it easily. When you take that first step of risking it all, it just gets easier after that because the results encourage you to follow God consistently. You get favor, direction, results, etc. You feel confident and you look for people to help.
OK, what if I'm wrong? What if I chose something that wasn't meant for a family at this time? What if my decision sets them back financially for years to come? Is the risk worth taking in that scenario? Yes the bottom line is it's their decision to make but my encouragement for them to walk in faith is defiantly a factor. I could be held accountable in their eyes. I could lose their friendship. All my trust in them that I allowed to happen, after many relationships of broken trust, could be annihilated. This would be a devastating blow emotionally that I don't know if I could recover from. All this risk just to try and follow God.
Well, to determine if the risk is worth it, I think you need to find the answer in the Bible. Who took risks that changed the world (or their's alone)? Can't you come up with more names than you have fingers and toes? There is: Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, Esther, Daniel, Jonah and Jeremiah just in the Old Testament. How about Just Jesus? Name the risks He took confronting the religious leaders of His day, clearing the temple, preaching of eating His flesh and blood, etc. Jesus had all His friends abandon Him. He lost everything even His life. Was it worth it? Was it worth losing everything to live in God the Father's will? I have to say yes, emphatically yes!! His death is our salvation. We no longer get what we deserve (the wages of sin is death). We gain eternal life. In His leaving we received the Holy Spirit and all His gifts (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control). What did He get? Jesus got to return to His father. He also took back all the authority He laid down in coming to earth. He sits in the judgment seat ready to judge the whole earth. His name is above all names. The list goes on and on.
This is how He wants us to live: risky and passionate. Although this lifestyle is a little nerve racking, I believe the good far outweighs the bad. If we don't do what the Holy Spirit is guiding us to do and protect our reputation, our money, our job, our plan, etc., we will never truly see the glory of God until we get to heaven. I will risk it all for you Jesus.

Cast Away

This is not a review of a movie. It is a reflective look at what I would do in Chuck Noland's shoes and what I wondered about in the situations that arise. To cut the film down to a fast summation: Chuck leaves Kelly, his girlfriend, on Christmas eve with a small gift that probably is an engagement ring. She doesn't open it and he flies off to a distant country on business. The plane goes down and Chuck is marooned on a desert island. After reinventing the wheel, Chuck, after 5 years, finds a will and a way to leave the island and take his chance at the open sea. He is found and brought back to a life that lived on without him. Kelly has married someone else and he feels out of place everywhere he goes. The movie is quite different than any other because there is so little dialog.
Here are some thoughts that I had about the movie:

• If I was Kelly would I have moved on and married somebody else?
• If it was just me and God would I have a friend named Wilson?
• How would my relationship with God be on that deserted island?
• Could I have knocked out that bad tooth with an ice skate?
• What would my reaction be, if after 5 years I found out my fiance left me?
• How different would I be when I got back to my old life?

*OK, my spouse to be just crashed and no survivors were found. How long would I wait until I gave up? Would I move on? These are difficult questions to answer!! I would be the last to give up, I know that. Until I had proof or peace from God I don't think I would move on.
*Wilson the volleyball is a pretend friend Chuck creates to have a companion. Would I adopt this 'friend' also? Maybe, I have always been a little strange.
*I would hope that my relationship with God would grow and He would be my 'Wilson'. However we humans always want a second opinion.
*Pain is a motivator!! I lived with pain from my wisdom teeth for a couple years but I finally gave in. Yep I believe I would have hit the skate with a rock and knocked that thing out.
*I Don't Know if I could have handled the loss of not having her. I think I would have looked at that watch with her picture in it everyday just like he did to gain inspiration and hope, to have something to live for. I am not sure how well my relationship with God would be. I might have needed that extra hope of a loved one back home waiting for me to live with them after I got rescued. To come home after feeling all that for five years and find they 'moved on' would be devastating. I Don't Know if I could handle it.
*Regardless of losing my fiance, My life would be different. Especially if I had that high powered traveling job he had. I would think the Lord would have given me a good idea of what I would be doing from then on. I had a lot of time and dialog with Him. He also had to get me motivated and casting visions of a future off the island.
To sum it all up, I see being marooned on a deserted island as fertile ground for the Lord to work with. What other distractions would there be? You might start worshiping yourself like when he started a fire. He was all proud of himself. I think God would have told me how to do it. When you got nothing you have got to depend on God!
Tell me what you think. What would you do in each situation?