A sign of God’s presence is unsolicited spiritual conversations.

This week I was getting our car fixed. The manager was a beautiful lady in her mid-twenties. As I was paying the bill I noticed a one-word script tattoo on her arm. I asked her what it said. “Resiliencia (translation: Resilient)“. I nodded, paid the bill and drove off. Twenty minutes later I noticed a strange rattling sound coming from my car, and it was getting more pronounced. I decided not to feel annoyed even though this was the end of a day of minimally-productive line-ups and waiting. I drove all the way back to the mechanic shop, got out, and explained my situation. As the mechanic was under our car checking things out I became aware of this manager girl by my side.

“Are you a pastor?”

“Yes. Kind of.”

“I didn’t know you were a pastor.”

“I go to church with Marques”. Marques was the mechanic who was under the car.

After some silence I asked her, “Are you a Christian?”

Blank look.

“Where do you go to church?” 

“(Pause). Everywhere. Nowhere. (Pause). Is my tattoo a sin?”

I was surprised by her question. “Hmm. It was a sin under old testament law. (Thinking). Some people think we should follow some of the Old Testament laws.”

“My life used to be really horrible. It was terrible. Unbearable. I got this tattoo to help keep me on track.”

“I understand. God loves you. He doesn’t care about your tattoo.”

Pause.

“Well, I only have one small tattoo.”

Just then Marques stepped up and gave me the keys. The car was fixed.

I pray daily for God to show us People of Peace (Luke 10). These are the people who will with the people of the Amazon for Jesus. Maybe God will help me connect someone to guide this lady and her friends through a Discovery Bible Study. Discovering what God wants by studying His Word with friends is powerful.
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As we spend time in the morning with God our spiritual force field increases, sometimes manifesting in power encounters, guidance, protection, or unsolicited spiritual conversations. This power leaks out all day long, sometimes quite quickly. This creates a continual need / desire to get refilled. If we go for a long period of time without personal devotions we get very weak, just like not eating physical food for a long time makes us physically weak. Thankfully the Holy Spirit is willing to show us how to maintain a steady, healthy spiritual diet to keep us spiritually strong.

Your thoughts / experiences?

To all who mourn in Israel

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the LORD has planted for his own glory.

Isaiah 61:3

My friend grew up in New York in the mid-1900s. Every so often his grandfather would come to visit. My friend would run to the train station, to greet his grandfather, and to walk back to their house together. His grandfather would always ask, “What do you have in your pocket Danny?” My friend would dig into his pockets, and find something. Sometimes he found a little rock, or a stick, and sometimes there was just a piece of lint. He would  show his grandfather. His grandfather would then reach into his own pocket, where he always found a dollar. “Would you like to trade?”

Our heavenly Father loves to trade us beauty for ashes. God loves to leverage what appear like bad times, to transform them into exceeding good results.

1. Apostle Paul loved to travel, and to plant churches. When he got put in chains, beaten, and thrown in jail, he wrote most of the New Testament. His bad times produced incredible blessings.

2. When Joseph was sold as a slave, this was his ticket to becoming the second most powerful ruler in Egypt.

3. When Abraham left his home and family, and let his nephew Lot choose the luscious rich plains, leaving him in the desert, this was the path to becoming the Father of Christianity, and of much of the Arab world.

4. Jesus permitted Himself to become the ultimate sacrifice for us. He traded His worst experience in exchange for our biggest blessing.

5. When you are in a desperate and potentially horrible place, this never looks like an ideal place to flourish. But God works in mysterious ways. We activate God’s plan with our choices. Our best option during terrible times is to use our will to get closer to Him, which puts us firmly in His plans for us.

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

ESV Psalm 138:3