Tag: UPS

Percussive: A Rap on the Door

Dr. J.D. Wilkins3 Comments

percussive

Does nobody knock on the door anymore?  Amazon.com has become one of my favorite shopping stores, because I can avoid the crowds.  However, what I’ve discovered is that even UPS and FedEx delivery people seldom ring the doorbell, or simply knock on the door anymore.  What’s up with that?

Or… is it possible I’ve become so inoculated or desensitized to these sounds that I attribute my own failing as theirs?  I’m trying very hard as I write this to think back to Tuesday last week when we received a package by UPS and evaluate:  Did they ring or knock, or did I just not “hear” it, because I wasn’t in a “hearing” mode?

What if…

What if God is pounding on the door of your heart and mind, and in our 21st-century mindset we are simply not listening anymore?  We’ve seemingly developed the innate capability of “filtering” what we hear and don’t hear today.  You know people like this don’t you?  They can be sitting two feet away, and so involved with their “mobile device” that once it registers that you’ve spoken, they may or may not look up and respond, “huh?”

What if…

What if God is sending out signals that are clear and percussive like the rapping of knuckles on solid wood, resonating with grace, love, forgiveness, and compassion, but we fail to receive these signals or messages, because we can’t seem to tune in anymore?

What if …

What if God decided He would just filter us out, like we’ve filtered Him out?  Then what happens to verses like… Matthew 7:7… Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you?

What if we knock on heaven’s door, and God doesn’t even look up, but murmurs in our direction, “huh?”

You don’t really want God to do this, any more than you want your children or spouse to do this to you, right?

So, then, why do we do it?

Why do we miss out on the most significant aspects of a relationship with God?  When God knocks on your heart’s door, your mind’s door, it is a percussive reminder that you need Him more than you think you do.

Today, why not put down the mobile device, and pick up the actual written word of God, and spend some time with Jesus?

Percussive

 

Timing, Delivery, Result

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

Daily Post: Delivery

delivery

What do UPS, FED-EX, Golf Professionals, and Preachers all have in common?  Timing, delivery, and results.

Almost every golf instructor in the world will tell you:

If you want to become a good golfer, you must learn to swing (deliver) the club on an inside-to-outside path.  There are many reasons, but the simplest is the inside-out swing path is nearly slice-proof; enabling you to hit a draw,  it transfers more energy (power) to the ball, which means more distance in the shot.  Combine this swing path with the right timing, and the results will astound you. (follow the arrows in the image)

UPS and their nemesis, Fed-Ex, along with all serious competitors in the shipping industry will tell you, it’s all about timing, delivery, and results.

If they are honest, with themselves and with their congregation/listeners, Pastors and Teachers all over the world will say the most impactful sermon or bible lesson has three elements: timing, delivery, and results.

For the optimum and singularly perfect application of this truth, consider if you will, the command of Jesus to His followers just before His return to heaven, after His resurrection.

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This command is given authoritatively because Jesus has already been crucified, resurrected, and glorified on earth.  He didn’t come right out of the box with this statement when He first arrived, and asked John the Baptist to baptize Him.  Instead He took His time, spending three full years living out the proof of His authority before the eyes of the world.  Then He DELIVERED this truth in the most self-less act of love ever demonstrated on earth, by taking the SIN of the world on Himself at the cross.  The ultimate proof of His ability to deliver US from DEATH, was revealed by delivering HIMSELF from death, and leaving the tomb behind.  This command He gave in authority, supported by the delivery of His grace, resulted in 2,000+ years of folks doing exactly what He commanded.  Because they were filled with His power, led by His Spirit, and glorifying God with their lives.  Beautiful, is it not?

Has anything changed that would cause us to believe this command is not valid for our lives today?  Has the whole world suddenly come to trust God, be saved, and start glorifying Him, and I missed it?  No, the words of Jesus are just as important for you and I today, as when they were first spoken to the first Christ-followers.

These words, this command, travels on an inside-out path.

It’s impossible for you to have a sense that you are supposed to go, if you’ve never come to see Jesus as Lord.  It’s an “inside” choice.  Willingly yielding your whole life to the Lordship of Jesus is the first step in being a “disciple” – or Christ-follower.  Once this step is taken, the very first visible delivery of your testimony of faith to the world is supposed to be baptism.  The singular purpose of baptism is to identify yourself as a Christ-follower, and a member of the body of Christ, the church (universal).  It is “out” of these “inside” decisions, that the followers of Jesus are commanded to go spread His love to the rest of the world.

Inside-out.

Timing, delivery, result.

It still works today.

Do you see it?  Are you in it?  Need more practice?

So do I.

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