Jul 25 2019
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Heard His Still, Small Voice?

By Sodwana Bay

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it”—Isaiah 30:21 Still, small voice—the words come from the First Book of Kings. The Prophet Elijah emerged from a cave on the mountain called Horeb: “ . . a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire . . .” (1 Kings 19:11-12). After the fire, Elijah heard a “still, small voice.” God’s voice. God taught Elijah something that day. He taught us. He demonstrated, in dramatic manner, a preferred method of communication. So, what is the “still, small voice”? Well, it’s more about our thoughts than about an audible voice. So, thoughts . . . they can be crystallized in many ways: in words—sort of an inner voice—or perhaps as pictures, feelings, or impulses. Originating them in the mind of another is neither complicated, nor difficult. We do it every day. Engaging in conversation with someone, we direct their thinking and they ours. There are limits, of course. We need some combination of physical media—ink on paper, pixels on screens, ones and zeros flowing over wires, vibrations of vocal cords, waves of electromagnetic radiation. Does God need physical media to originate thoughts in our minds? No, of course not. If we follow the King, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is there already—he dwells within us (Romans 8:9-11). Okay, so what do we do? Could’ve God already been at work in your mind, originating thoughts? I’ll bet. Could it be that you didn’t notice, didn’t recognize it? Begin today, brother, to sift. Begin to note which thoughts are likely yours alone, which were clearly originated by others . . . and which just might’ve been originated by God.    

Jul 22 2019
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Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 5:5

By Sodwana Bay

Be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” — 1 Peter 5:5 Thoughts on Today’s Verse…. The word “submissive” is often positive or negative based on its relationship to us personally. It’s nice having someone serve us submissively, but serving someone else submissively is hard work. Unfortunately, we are selfish way too much of the time. But God is at work in direct opposition to anyone who is full of pride and unwilling to serve others, especially if those “others” are older believers! Whether it’s easy to wear the clothes our Father demands or not, we are to intentionally clothe ourselves with humility! My Prayer… Father, thank you so much for the great heroes of faith listed in Scripture. Thank you for those other heroes of faith who have shared their examples and lives with me. Bless them with strength and health. And Father, please use me to bless and to serve all of your children, especially those who have lived many years in faithful service to you and your Kingdom. Because of the grace of Jesus, and in his name I pray. Amen.

Jul 19 2019
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Better Get Used to Mystery

By Sodwana Bay

. . . my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts—Isaiah 55:9 We men go through lengthy stretches of our lives with an “I’ve got this” posture. We convince ourselves we know what’s best in any particular situation or what’s right against any particular problem. We convince ourselves that we “get it.” We maintain this belief . . . until we can’t anymore . . . until we find we don’t actually know all that we think we know. We maintain it until we finally face the reality that God is God and we are not. “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:24-25). Never can we have God’s knowledge or wisdom. Because of who he is, because of who we are, there’ll always be a tremendous amount of mystery in the relationship. We must be willing to accept and embrace it—and not let it become an impediment. We may “need” to know why something is the way it is or why something happened the way it did, but most times we simply cannot—and still we must believe, and still we must obey. To be in right relation to God we must instead adopt a posture of “I don’t know . . . and I’ll do what he asks nonetheless.” Okay, so what do we do? Fill in the following blanks, brother, according to your story: I don’t know why ____________ happened, but I’ll trust God nonetheless. I don’t know why I had to experience ____________, but I’ll love him nonetheless. I don’t know why I am experiencing ____________ right now, but I’ll follow him nonetheless. I don’t know why he is pushing me out of what’s comfortable by ____________, but I’ll go nonetheless.

Jul 16 2019
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Healthy mind and SOUL…

By Sodwana Bay

How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, GOD; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it. Psalm 119:11 MSG

Jul 15 2019
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Never Again…

By Sodwana Bay

Verse of the Day Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. Galatians 5:1 MSG

Jul 04 2019
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Hitting the Throttle – GO GO GO!

By Sodwana Bay

Hitting the Throttle And we all . . . are being transformed . . . from one degree of glory to another—2 Corinthians 3:18 There’s a pattern to the lives of men trying to follow Jesus Christ: sin, confession, repentance, change . . . sin, confession, repentance, change. There are other aspects to these men’s lives, but this pattern is always present. It ensures that lives are transformed, over time—that sins change and lessen in severity through the cycles of the pattern. It is, in this way, an upward spiral of increasingly coming into the character of Jesus. The pattern ensures that no man gets stuck in sin, or worse, in a downward, ever more severe, spiral of sin. God the Holy Spirit—when and if we offer our lives to Jesus—will guide us into upward spirals. If we hold onto our lives, though, we’ll inevitably slip into downward ones. It may not be obvious at first, maybe not for years, until we can deny it no longer—until anger, anxiety, depression, despondency, loneliness, isolation, boredom, or rebellion take over. And, even then, we can still offer our lives to Jesus and begin upward spirals. The penitent thief, crucified next to Jesus, began one just minutes before his death (Luke 23:40-43). Now, being men, a question arises: can we hit the throttle of change? Can we speed the velocity of our upward spirals? Absolutely. The Spirit does most of the work—it’s called grace. But, we can couple more and more of our obedience to more and more of his grace and, thereby, crank up the speed of our transformations . . . and, in fact, the transformations of our faith communities. Okay, so what do we do? Get into community with other men. Create a safe place for authentic, raw confession. Encourage each other to turn from sin, from wrong beliefs about yourselves and about God. Pray expectantly for ever more change. Do just those . . . and things will get interesting quickly.