The Kingdom of God is an oven. | You are a chocolate chip cookie.

Making Cookies Step 19, by Rex Roof

*Thanks to "Freedom Ministry #3 Kingdom of God" for this analogy*

The Kingdom of God is like an oven (A Parable).

Imagine you are a round lump of cookie dough. You are standing there, on the counter, minding your own business. All you've ever wanted to be was a cookie. You are made of the same stuff the cookies are. But sadly, you are not a cookie. In fact, you've been standing around waiting to become a cookie so long, you've gotten a little dry around the edges.

You try so hard to be a cookie. You want it badly. You think cookie thoughts, you go to the cookie conventions, you read all the best cookie books... You just don't understand why you aren't a cookie yet!

What could the missing ingredient be? 

One day, you stand near the edge, just a bit too far over the edge, and you fall. You plummet down, and you find your landing on a large tray. The tray is in motion, and you are swept away with that motion.

Then the motion carries you into "The Oven". You find The Oven to be a large scary place, and the atmosphere is so foreign to you. There is something terrifying and exciting about it, all at once. As the atmosphere of that oven gets on you and around you, it begins to make you uncomfortable. It starts making changes in you, that you are not certain that you are ready for. These are chemical changes that cannot be undone.

Eventually you get used to the atmosphere of the oven, and you like it here. You find something exciting is happening in you and around you. Others are in the atmosphere with you, and they too are going through this same atmosphere, and experiencing these same changes, and you are feeling community for the first time.

Finally, you exit the oven and go back to your old home on the counter, but you have changed. You are no longer a lump of cookie dough, you are a cookie. Others notice the change and remark about it. Some think you are arrogant for becoming a cookie, after all, everyone in your family is just a cookie dough, what makes you so special.

Others though, precious other cookie dough lumps come to you, and they ask you about the changes you've experienced, and they beg you for the secret... How did you become a cookie? What is hard? Was it a lot of work... and you think back to your experience. You realize that all the WORK you did before entering the oven was pointless, worthless, effort. The only thing a cookie dough needs, in order to become a cookie, is to allow themselves to be placed on the tray, carried with the motion, and expose themselves long enough to the atmosphere of The Oven.

Become A Cookie Too

The only thing a cookie dough needs, in order to become a cookie:

• Allow yourself to be placed on the tray
• YOU don't jump on the tray, you must be placed there.
• Ask the baker to be placed on the tray. 
• (Die to self, Ask Jesus to take your life in exchange for His)

• Yield to be carried with the motion
• Ask the Holy Spirit into your heart and life. 
• Be Spirit Led, yield to His Voice and His Leading. 

• Expose themselves long enough to the atmosphere of The Oven. 
• Expose yourself to the presence of God often enough, and long enough, that you are changed into his image. The only thing the atmosphere of God's presence can do, is make you more like Him.

When you enter the atmosphere of the King, the power of His presence is applied to you by your merely being there and you are changed.  You don't become more like Jesus by knowing more... the pharisees tried that. Saul was killing Christians when he knew the Hebrew Bible better than most of Christians. It wasn't until he was subjected to The Presence that he was changed into something new.

The purpose of prayer and worship isn't so that we can check off that we did it, like a religious exercise. The purpose of prayer and worship is so that we can enter His Presence, and be exposed to His Atmosphere, and be changed.

CookieDough can't try to become a cookie; except by yielding to prolonged exposure to the atmosphere of the oven. Tweet That!

The big difference between you and the cookie is that in the case of the cookie, too much exposure can ruin the cookie, and no amount of time or atmosphere outside of the oven will change this one back into a cookie dough.

We humans are always in flux. Ever changing to be more full of self, or more like Him. We must continually apply the atmosphere, over and over, in order to effect and preserve the change we look for. Until the day we are sealed forever in His Presence, we must seek it regularly. Only then will we become and continue to be the cookie we desire to be. More time in The Oven, just enhances our cookie-ness. The less time we spend in The Oven, the more dough like we re-become.

Spend some time in the oven this week.


In other words... will I #BeStillBeLed?


---

And now I leave you with a question:

What do you think about Grace?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

• Grace: The Power To Change, Dr Jim Richards

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

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Dark Room - Ashlund

10/18/14 | Writing Practice

Once seated the light was immediately absent. Completely absent. The only thing Ash could see was the flashes of white dots dancing around his eyes from having been in the light moments earlier. What utter and stark contrast to the room he was in. The sound... or lack of sound... in this room was astonishing. It was though sound itself was being sucked out. He could hear nothing but a ringing for the first few minutes. After a while, the ringing subsided and he could hear the beating of his own heart, and the sloshing of bodily fluids throughout his own body.



Eventually, after what felt like an hour, but it was probably only minutes, he found that even these sounds faded into the background of his attention. He could almost hear his own thoughts. As though that voice in his head, that was always present, telling him what to do, and where to go, and how to act, watch out for that... don't say that... oh man, why did you do that for? It was as though the inner voice became almost audible. As  though he could hear himself think. Or rather as though his thoughts could speak to him audibly. It was an odd sensation, but occupying his mind was the only thing he could do. He'd never admit it to a captor, but solitary confinement was his favorite part of being a prisoner of war. He enjoyed self time, and silence. Accusation follows on the heals of this. Anytime he's alone, it starts. What you should have done differently.



His concentration snapped into focus suddenly with the feeling that he was not alone in this room. He'd known before he entered the room that camera, most likely equipped with monitoring capabilities were on him, and he was being observed... but that wasn't it. He felt the air in the room change, as though someone had entered the room with him. He could hear breathing in the room. He wasn't tied to the chair, he could get up, but where to? He couldn't see, he'd memorized the layout though. He knew the entrance he came from, and he didn't see any other known entry ways. Ash slowed his breathing, and observed with his four remaining senses for any clue as to the whereabouts and intention of the new participant.


***************************



Dr... It's beginning... the biometrics just spiked. The presence is there...



Good, good... let's see how he does. The previous test subjects had no where near the discipline that Mr. Ashlund does. This should be an interesting observation.



***************************


Thank
you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community
with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or
otherwise participate... that would be great!



Please
include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author
page that you want to share with the community also.



*
I may include "Affiliate Links" which means I earn a commission when
you buy products I link to. To see my full about page and disclosures: Click Here



It's Author Fun By Darrell Wolfe



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For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Read more →

Hills

The rolling hills of the 170 hwy rose and fell to his left as he sauntered off to work.

Read more →

Dark Room - Ashlund

10/18/14 | Writing Practice

Once seated the light was immediately absent. Completely absent. The only thing Ash could see was the flashes of white dots dancing around his eyes from having been in the light moments earlier. What utter and stark contrast to the room he was in. The sound... or lack of sound... in this room was astonishing. It was though sound itself was being sucked out. He could hear nothing but a ringing for the first few minutes. After a while, the ringing subsided and he could hear the beating of his own heart, and the sloshing of bodily fluids throughout his own body.

Eventually, after what felt like an hour, but it was probably only minutes, he found that even these sounds faded into the background of his attention. He could almost hear his own thoughts. As though that voice in his head, that was always present, telling him what to do, and where to go, and how to act, watch out for that... don't say that... oh man, why did you do that for? It was as though the inner voice became almost audible. As  though he could hear himself think. Or rather as though his thoughts could speak to him audibly. It was an odd sensation, but occupying his mind was the only thing he could do. He'd never admit it to a captor, but solitary confinement was his favorite part of being a prisoner of war. He enjoyed self time, and silence. Accusation follows on the heals of this. Anytime he's alone, it starts. What you should have done differently.

His concentration snapped into focus suddenly with the feeling that he was not alone in this room. He'd known before he entered the room that camera, most likely equipped with monitoring capabilities were on him, and he was being observed... but that wasn't it. He felt the air in the room change, as though someone had entered the room with him. He could hear breathing in the room. He wasn't tied to the chair, he could get up, but where to? He couldn't see, he'd memorized the layout though. He knew the entrance he came from, and he didn't see any other known entry ways. Ash slowed his breathing, and observed with his four remaining senses for any clue as to the whereabouts and intention of the new participant.

***************************

Dr... It's beginning... the biometrics just spiked. The presence is there...

Good, good... let's see how he does. The previous test subjects had no where near the discipline that Mr. Ashlund does. This should be an interesting observation.

***************************

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great!

Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.

* I may include "Affiliate Links" which means I earn a commission when you buy products I link to. To see my full about page and disclosures: Click Here

It's Author Fun By Darrell Wolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Read more →

Hills

The rolling hills of the 170 hwy rose and fell to his left as he sauntered off to work.

Read more →

Two Trees | The Tree of Knowledge vs The Tree of Life.

Misty Trees By James Whitesmith

The Tale of Two Trees

Genesis 2:9 English Standard Version

And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Man Full Of ZOE

Once upon a time there was a Man, created in the image of God himself. He walked as a representative of God on this earth. This Man was clothed with the very glory of God, so that he was naked, but not ashamed. He knew no sin, sickness, or death of any kind. He had the very power of God flowing through him, connecting him to both heaven and earth at all times. Man never needed his physical senses to know and understand the world around him. Rather, he took pleasure in those senses to explore this world. The knowing, what to call something, how to treat it, what to do, and not to do... this flowed freely from heaven into him, and through him to the world around him.

This essence, this force, this flow was called: ZOE. Often translated LIFE. He could speak to a seed, and it would grow. He could see a new creature, and instantly know what to call it, and the creature would take on the very attributes of the name it was given. This man was reigning on earth as a king and god (small g). He was God's representative. He only said what he heard the Father say, and only did what he saw the Father do. It was a constant free flow of ZOE into him, and through him. He had the power in him to bless the entire planet.

Man and Woman

Man and Woman worked together in this garden, creating, flowing freely from one project to the next. Resting, not out of tiredness, but out of design. They worked in harmony. During the first and last part of each day, Father would come and walk with his children. Man and Woman would laugh and joke with Father. Tease Him over something one of His creation had done that day, often it was the monkeys making a seen.

At night, they would lay down with each other, and sleep. It was never too cold or too hot. It never rained, water came up from the earth and watered the plants. Streams flowed from the garden to water the whole planet.

Two Trees

Also in this garden planet, there were two trees right next to each other. One tree contained the essence of ZOE. Each morning, Man and Woman would travel to the center of the garden, and take of the tree of ZOE and eat. They would be refilled for that day with the LIFE force and essence of the Father. Then, they would head out into the bare earth beyond on the garden, and plant, create, and tend. They would reproduce what Father had created in the garden, on the rest of the planet.

This went on for many days, years maybe. It was hard to tell, because they never quite felt a need to measure time, as we do now.

 There was another tree in the midst of the Garden, right next to the ZOE tree. It's fruit looked equally as good. However, Father had warned them sternly, that this was the only tree in the entire planet they were NOT to eat from.

The Tree of Knowledge

One day, Man was in the garden with Woman, his other half. They were flowing together in wonderful and beautiful ways. As they approached the tree of ZOE this particular morning, there was another new creature, there were so many all the time. This one was long, like a vine, tall like a tree, and it had legs like stone, and wings on it's back. This particular creature was brilliant in it's shimmering colors, and it breathed fire from time to time. Dragon, some later called him. Serpent, others called him. His offspring were called dinosaurs, lizards, and snakes.

Dragon had blocked the way to the tree of ZOE this day, and directed their attention to the other tree, the Tree of Knowledge. It was this tree that Father had said not to touch: "For in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die!" It was the only time they'd ever seen him stern. Father was always so jovial.

The Dragon

Dragon began a dialogue, and convinced Woman that the Father had lied, and that this tree would make them equal to Father. Woman was deceived and picked one of the fruit and held it in her gaze for some time...  pondering. Man was not deceived. He felt in his heart that this was wrong, and yet, something in him wanted it to be true. Then he saw Woman eat of it. She did not change instantly. Nothing happened. This death, Father warned of did not take place. Woman's face enlightened. As though she were receiving revelation upon revelation. She smiled broadly and nodded. Speechless.Woman took another fruit from the tree, and gave it to Man.

Man held it in his gaze for a moment, then so curious over what she must be experiencing, he bit into it. Man too began to experience a host of information coming to him. Dragon smiled at them. But then... Dragon snarled... and laughed, wickedly. Just as soon as Man and Woman had experienced the thrill of the knowledge (and temptations) of Evil, they experienced the pain of the knowledge of Good. Rules, regulations, things they must do to be right... naked... they were naked... fear gripped them, and they were terrified. They hurried to hid sew fig leaves together to hide their nakedness.

Later, after they sat arguing over whose fault this was, the wind changed... the temperature dropped a few degrees... they heard His footsteps, Father was coming...

The Fallout

It's been over 100 years since that day. It used be so easy. Man and Woman, they used to just know what to do, without having to think about it, or try. Now everything is so hard.

Woman is raising two boys... "How do I do this mothering thing? It looked so easy when the animals did it."

Man is finding problems in his tending the garden. It's not full of the life it once had, it doesn't produce as easily, and there are weeds and thorns hindering his work. He's pricked his finger again today.

They both look longingly at the two trees. Wishing they'd gone the other way. Dragon has disappeared... no one had seen him in a while. His offspring still roamed the earth though, making a fuss of things.

They could see the trees, but they could not reach them. Their muscles ached at the end of the day now. The ZOE would have taken care of that, prevented it even. They didn't even realize what they'd lost. Until it was too late.

Lessons from the Two Trees

Did you know Satan has two primary weapons again us? The knowledge of Good and the knowledge of Evil. We all know what evil we ought to avoid, or at least, we try to be aware of it. But do we realize that when he's pushing us from behind to try harder, try harder, try harder, do more, do more, do more... that's ALSO the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Jesus didn't come so that we would be able to do better... or know better.

He came that we might have life, ZOE, and have life in more and more abundant quantities.

Jesus came to restore ALL that was lost in the Garden, and more. When God restores he doesn't just bring back to original condition, He makes it better.

My job isn't to KNOW more about God, or the bible. My job is to tap into the ZOE of God, and flow with him.

Say what I hear Him say.

Do what I see Him do.

In other words... will I #BeStillBeLed?

---

And now I leave you with a question:

What do you think about Grace?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

• Grace: The Power To Change, Dr Jim Richards

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

-

Subscribe By Email

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Be Still and Be Led by His Still Small Voice

Just Sit Back and Relax! by Vinoth Chandar

Romans 8:14 NKJV 
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

On July 7, 2014, I wrote a post in my bible study journal on Being Led. Then on July 14, 2014, on this blog I wrote "Faith Is... A Faith Journey To Being Led". I now know that this topic will be with me for some time to come. I ended that article with this statement:

If you don't hear the voice of God in your life, you can't have faith.

Period.

So how do you do that?

In that series of posts, I ended by talking about Faith Failures, and how doubt comes from not hearing the active present tense voice of God.

I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers; however, I may be able to open the door, take a peek, and tell you what I see from my current vantage point. Let's have a discussion about hearing the voice of God. These are just a few things I've learned to put into practice recently that have yielded some amazing results.

Be Still

Psalm 46:10 ESV
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

The first time I've ever came into contact with this concept on a practical level was through an article from one of my favorite bloggers, Michael Hyatt, entitled: "The Practice Of Stillness." Here is a small excerpt:

What Is Stillness? 

Beck’s premise is that “doing nothing is the most productive activity you will ever undertake.” By doing nothing, she means literally doing nothing. 

• This is not prayer (at least not in the sense of talking to God) 
• It is not problem-solving. 
• It is not planning. 

 Doing nothing is being still, quieting your mind (and the cacophony of voices), and simply being. (Read the rest of this great article HERE)

Well, like Michael, I am a high achiever. I want to be moving, and going. I once heard Dave Ramsey ask a caller if she was a first born. She replied "Yes, how did you know?" Dave said: "I am too. The thing about first born kids, is that as soon as they identify a goal, they immediately feel as though they are already late! You need to learn how to relax girl!"

I immediately saw myself in this comment and took the command "relax" to heart. I'm always moving inside, even sitting perfectly still... I'm thinking about what I could/should be doing to be more productive!

So I started to put this practice of being still to work in my life. It was quite interesting. I get up, brush my teeth, wash my hair, get dressed, and do my bounce and shake. I do all this first to ensure my body is fully awake and I won't be going back to sleep. Then I find my place to be still and I literally just be still. I don't pray out loud, I don't read, study, nothing. I Be Still...

Sometimes, I'll even do this throughout the day. I'll do it before getting out of bed, then get ready and do it in my office, and then again at my desk periodically throughout the day to re-center. 

However, I put my own perspective and spin on it. You see, being still is fine. But I found my mind still wondered so many places. I'm not looking to adapt eastern meditation and slap a Christian label on it. I'm not looking to empty my mind, I'm looking to bring divine focus to it. I wanted to know from God what he felt about this. There is nothing the world does that it didn't get from God at some level, twisted as it may be. So I asked God about this stillness.

I realized the verse doesn't just say to Be Still...

It says to Be Still And Know....

So I allow my mind to rest, let my thoughts float for a few moments, like so much dust falling from an unused ceiling fan. However, as I do this I am drawing my attention inward and upward. I say softly: "Speak Father, I'm listening." or "Speak Holy Spirit, I'm listening." or "Speak Jesus, I'm listening."

As I do this I find myself hearing more and more clearly. The first few times were vague impressions. Later, I would start to hear things more clearly. One day, for example, I came out of the house and went to the car and the battery was dead, I'd left the lights on. Usually this would result in my angry outburst. But I've been practicing stillness. So this day I said: "Father, I'm going to trust you and not be upset."

Right then I heard him say: "Start in Faith. If you were expecting someone to come you'd have your cables out." Now, there hadn't been anyone in site, no-one, since I got out to the car. But I went to get my cables, just as I brought them back to the front of the car, my neighbor pulls out of her garage. Then at my signal, she drives over to give me a jump. Then drives on her way.

That may seem like a small thing to you, but I was jumping for joy! I ended up leaving 5 minutes late, instead of 30 or more.

And Know... that Still Small Voice

1 Kings 19:7-17 NKJV
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1 Kings 19:12 ESV
And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

Half of the reason for being still, is hearing. It's not enough to be still, one must hear also. It's a matter of hearing God's voice speak directly to you. That voice may come 1,000 different ways. However, I have found for me it most often comes in two forms.

1. Whispers
 
2. Impressions

Whispers

One point of this verse in 1 Kings is to show you that if you are surrounded by too much noise it's hard to hear God clearly when you need to. In order to hear Him, you will need to shut off, shut down, and shut out, all the other noises. That includes, especially includes, the constant barrage of thoughts in your head.

If you haven't done this ever, or in a long time, it may come hard. You may not hear anything at first. I liken it to tuning into a radio station (for those old enough to remember radio before the digital revolution). It often begins as static; however, as you dial in you hear more and more clearly.

One great way to start is to get still, allow things to settle, meditate on a verse, and then when you feel start to feel more still inside say out loud-softly: "I Love You Jesus." You will most likely hear: "I love you too."

This voice isn't audible to the ear. It's in the heart.

Have you ever caught yourself talking to yourself... and answering?!

If you haven't you are the rare one, most people have done things like this. Have you ever had competing thoughts in your head/heart? Where do you think the cartoon of the devil on one shoulder and angel on the other came from? They came from this part of your spirit that is tuned to the spiritual realm. It's always tuned there because we are spiritual beings, we can't-not-be. However, when you get born again your spirit is retooled to hear God's kingdom again.

Hearing God's voice is similar to hearing your thoughts; however, the thoughts of God will be qualitatively different from your own. With time, you'll know instantly when you are having a thought, vs, God is giving you one. 

You have spent years, probably, hearing the voice of the enemy/world. You will need to work on re-tuning your antenna to hear God, the same way the old radios used to work. But it's not like you can do nothing and expect 2 years from now to hear better... You actually have to work on tuning in. It takes work, and practice, but it can be done. It's not hard, it's just not comfortable at first.... it will be if you give it time.

Impressions

Acts 15:28 demonstrates that one of the ways HolySpirit does this is to lead through impression. "It seemed good to HolySpirit and to us..." Have you ever had a funny feeling? "I just have this funny feeling I ought: to do this, go there, take a different route, etc".

HolySpirit was given to the body of Christ to lead us into all truth. This doesn't just mean doctrinal truth. This means all truth. If God wants you to take a different route to work today because it will help you avoid an accident, that is a truth HolySpirit was given to lead you into.
 

John 16:13 - GOD'S WORD® Translation
When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won't speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come.

1 John 2 - GOD'S WORD® Translation 
The Holy One has anointed you, so all of you have knowledge.

Listen to this great song about the Stillness!

I vow to #BeStillBeLed (Tweet That)

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

Special Thanks to:

• Michael Hyatt and Dave Ramsey - For all your sage wisdom and advice! I advise that you listen/watch/read/devour all the material these two have to offer.

• "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" By Martha Beck 
• *Disclaimer: I usually only recommend books I've read. I have not read this yet. However, I felt that it was only right that I should give credit for this practice of stillness to the author that inspired the author that I learned it from. I haven't read this book yet, but he got something out of it, and so I'm thinking of buying it myself.

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

And now I leave you with a question:

How you achieve stillness in your life?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

Read more →