Holy Crap!
AND YES I SAID; “CRAP!”
I am just having a revolutionary revelationy kind of morning…
Guys & Gals,
Some things are happening within our group that excite me so much. I am hearing how Poppa is stirring you with love for Jesus and how things are changing inside so many of us as we long for more of HIM. As I have been pressured by so many to give papers, reports, conference calls, agendas, plans, schedules, flight information, clearances, meetings and such, I am realizing that the more man wants from me, the more I long for hidden time with my precious friend; Holy Spirit. I cannot tell you what I mean, it is something you have to feel. The more stressed and overwhelmed (in a good way) with the things that are around me, seeing things come into place that I could never have planned and knowing that GOD is giving opportunities to do more than I could have ever imagined, recognizing that we could truly affect nations, instead of being overly confident and excited, like a little child, I want to hide with my Poppa. I have never felt so small and reliant on HIM in my entire life. I cannot go one more step without EVEN MORE OF THE PRESENCE OF JESUS! Does that make sense?
I have seen so many men of GOD get busy with the workings of this life, planning with men and working with the machine that they walk away from their intimacy with the Holy Spirit and yet at this point in time, I can see why they so quickly walk away and begin to work in their own minds and abilities. I have struggled with the fact that people are asking so much from me and I found myself digging deep into MYSELF for the strength and knowledge!!!! I COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS DOING THIS WEEK! So, instead of making meetings and meeting deadlines for Kenya and the US, I HAVE STOPPED DEAD IN MY TRACKS AND REALIZED THE ONLY WAY I CAN GO ON! I must run to Poppa again. It’s only in HIS Spirit and HIS strength that we can move from here, not our own!!!! Some of your words have literally retrained my mind today, (Thanks Devin, Jeanne and others). We MUST STOP! WE MUST PRAY! And not just pray. Prayer is DOING. We need time and space in our lives. We need to stop and allow the SPACE for GOD that is necessary for us to expand. There needs to be space in our home for GOD. There needs to be space in our schedules and calendars for GOD. There needs to be space in our worship services for GOD. There needs to be space at our work for GOD. There needs to be space in our car for GOD. There needs to be space in our worship services for GOD. There needs to be space in our MINDS AND HEARTS AND… You fill in the blank (for GOD)!!!!!
HE MUST HAVE ACCESS! WE MUST PREPARE SPACE AND THEN WAIT!
I have almost finished my prayer closet and it is the prayer closet of prayer closets. I felt like I had to prepare a space for GOD’s Presence to come literally on 4100 Delancy Dr. I can just imagine a big ball of light around the land when HE comes.
And the big thing that is going on inside me is that the more I have coming at me and the more the world’s leaders and such want to hear, the more I need to escape and run away to Jesus. It’s the whole first love thing. (Revelation 2 – “Thank you Kofi and Fidelis circa 2007) So, I have been making myself ready to even spend more time than ever in quiet meditation and even more than that, just listening.
I pray a lot. I don’t listen enough. Listening is HARD. I am reminded of back in the day when I would go deer hunting. I would slip out before light and get in a deer stand and sit in the often bitter cold before day break. As I sat there high aloft, I would rest my mind and allow my ears to become super sensitive. I Could literally imagine in my mind the whole of the forest floor below and I could see in my head all around me even behind me. I could close my eyes, (making sure not to fall asleep because you could fall out of the tree. I don’t know why we never came up with the idea of seatbelts until the late 90’s???) and in my mind’s eye, I could see. I would listen. Deeply listen and could hear even the quietest sound of a twig breaking or a squirrel rustling or even a leaf dropping nearby! And then, there it would be. Just after the sun broke over the top of the hill, I would hear the scuffle and crack of a deer walking toward the eating spot.
You know, I hardly ever took a shot at a deer. I was always pretty slow to shoot because I just thought that it didn’t make sense to shoot anything small that we wouldn’t get much to eat from. So, I would often just sit and listen and watch.
What happened to me?
Why is it so hard to sit and listen and watch? (Matthew 25 – The prepared virgins)
Listening is an ART! It is a GIFT! It is impossible to be a great friend if you cannot listen. And isn’t that what you want? I mean, we talk all the time about how great a friend GOD is to us, but what about us being a great friend to HIM? And more than that, back in the day, people bowed in reverence to the gods because they were a bit afraid of what they could do. I know that more than once, the Jews dropped to their faces due to sheer terror of Y—-H. Why is it that we now do not feel the need for that kind of breathtaking reverence and awe? I want to give reverence and listen. I want to be a friend and listen. I want to listen.
I am relearning that it isn’t about hearing everything GOD has to say. It’s about being available to HIM in case HE wants to say something to me. Even if HE doesn’t, at least I have hallowed the ground and made ready the space. Because HE is worth it.
It’s time to unplug again. Turn everything off. Light a few candles. Quietly worship. Let reverence overtake you and BE.
“It is greed to do all the talking but not to want to listen at all.” – Democritus of Abdera
LISTEN.
WAIT.
WATCH.
“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” – Richard Moss
“Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals.” -J. Isham.
Don’t desire the miracles, they are only HIS hand. Desire HIM. HIS FACE. HIS TOUCH. HIS VOICE. Make Poppa’s heart leap because of HIS excitement of one of HIS kids wanting to be near HIM.
“The first duty of love is to listen.” – Paul Tillich
And DON’T LET DISTRACTIONS STEAL THE PURE JOY OF LISTENING TO POPPA LIKE A CHILD! It is so fun to sit at his feet and listen to him.
“It is only by closing the ears of the soul, or by listening too intently to the clamors of the sense, that we become oblivious of their utterances.” – Alexander Crummel
Just thoughts for starting the year
Blessings!
pd
here are some quotes I found on listening that I like. Since this is an art, we should cultivate it with not only GOD, but others in our daily lives. Just check these out. This is a bonus. HAHAHA!
“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus
“He holds him with his glittering eye– . . . . And listens like a three years’ child.” – Wordworth
“And he goes through life, his mouth open, and his mind closed.” – Shakespeare (the Taming of the Shrew)
“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.” – Wilton Mizner
“Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.” – Frank Tyger
“From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.” – Anon
“A good listener is not someone with nothing to say. A good listener is a good talker with a sore throat.” – Katherine Whitehorn
“Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job is to listen long enough to find it and use it.” – Jack Nichols
And as far as listening to others:
“A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with.” – Kenneth A Wells
“Deep heart listening and speaking your truth generates an exhilarating “heart talk” frequency. “Heart talk” is care in action and builds friendship. As you learn to see everyone as your friend, and not as an enemy, you release judgments. Just keep your heart open to them as you speak your truth.” – Sara Paddison.
“Accustomed to the veneer of noise, to the shibboleths of promotion, public relations, and market research, society is suspicious of those who value silence. Every person in this life has something to teach me – and as soon as I accept that, I open myself to truly listening.” – John Lahr.
Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force…When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life…When we listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other…and it is this little creative fountain inside us that begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected laughter and wisdom. …Well, it is when people really listen to us, with quiet facinated attention, that the little fountain begins to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way. – Brenda Ueland.
Dustin Hedrick
Senior Pastor
The Tapestry Vineyard Church
PO Box 2394
Kensington, MD 20891
Phone 301-251-4082 x13
Fax 240-206-3244
Email dustinhedrick@tapestrychurch.com
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