A wonderful gift for a Kindle reader…available for download….Dive in with us as we share our experiences, insights, resources, hopes, prayers, doubts, questions, struggles and triumphs as we pursue The God Of More…He Who created and lived The Porpoise Diving Life.…by Bill Dahl

“If the message that God wants to get across to us is just about getting our beliefs right, then he didn’t need to come himself. There is only one reason for God to come himself, because in issues of love you just can’t have someone else stand in for you.” — Erwin McManus – in A Faith & Culture Devotional – p.39.

I always pray when I get on an airplane. My prayer is for safe travel. After the plane takes off and we reach cruising altitude, I begin to pray another prayer. It starts when the flight attendant in the first class cabin shuts the drapes that separate first class from coach.

My prayer is please send someone else this time Lord. Please. In the past several years, God has chosen not to answer this prayer. “Here they come again! It’s the peanuts and pretzel patrol.“

Can you imagine having a business where thousands of times everyday you have your customers as a physically captive audience? You have the opportunity to feed them something as an expression of your gratitude for their business. You decide to give them a bag of peanuts or pretzels (rarely both or more than one bag per person). Why? Who made this decision? Do you know how this makes us feel? What sense does this make?

How do I get over my disappointment? Every time I get a bag of peanuts or pretzels on an airplane, I use it as an opportunity to praise God saying: “Thank you Lord for the nourishment only You provide that is so dynamically superior to peanuts & pretzels. I am grateful Lord that you nourish us from your love and abundance, no matter what the cost.”

Thank you Jesus for treating us like loved ones rather than expenses, burdens, nuisances, cattle or inconveniences. Approach the Lord today hungry for the nourishment that only He can provide. I am grateful that I am truly someone in your eyes. Ours is not the God who serves nourishment of peanuts & pretzels to the beloved. Be kind to flight attendants. They’re just serving what someone gave them to share with us.  Pray for the airlines….and the people employed by the U.S. auto companies while you’re at it.

I adore this quote from C.S. Lewis:

“We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character.“

[i]

Peterson, Eugene H. The Jesus Way – A conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way, William B. Eerdsman Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI Copyright © 2007 by Eugene H. Peterson. P. 22

Living a life of faith.
A relationship with the invisible God.
Forgive me if I confess,
At times it seems very odd.

Yearning to hear his voice,
Anxiety cinches up its’ noose.
Yearning for relief,
I feel like a screws come loose.

Living through these times,
I pray for His supernatural jolt.
Reassurance from on high,
That I’m not some faceless nut without a bolt.

I understand so little about the ways of God,
His mysteries that seem to tease ya.
Sometimes I wish I didn’t remember what I know.
Afflicted with a disease called Christiamnesia.

History may someday tells us,
It’s what we think we know that causes our regret.
Yes God equipped us all with memory,
Counterbalanced by the ability to forget.

What if we could awaken tomorrow?
Slate wiped clean with what we knew today.
And encountered the person of Jesus,
Sweeping the leaves on our pathway.

He lifts his eyes and says “Good morning!”
As you stumble out your door.
Will you engage Him in conversation?
Or blow by Him in pursuit of something more.

You find yourself at Starbucks,
Waiting impatiently in that line.
From behind you hear “How you doin?”
Without turning around you say, “I’m fine.”

As you pay for your order,
You turn and catch His glance.
You’re startled by His presence,
You almost wet your pants.

As you head for the exit,
You feel winters forthcoming breezes.
A warm hand on your right shoulder says,
“What’s your name? My name’s Jesus.”

He motions to a table and says,
“Do you have time to chat?
Befuddled by it all you surrender.
Unable to make excuses with this or that.

An unusual sensation envelopes you,
With this stranger you begin to share.
“I awoke today realizing I forgot what I know about God.”
“It’s really been quite a scare.”

He gazes at you with loving eyes and says,
“Your future need not be determined by your past.”
“Perhaps you’ve received a blessing?”
“Maybe what you think know is not intended to last.”

Perplexed you sink back in your chair,
Bringing your latte to your lips.
Listening intently to His every word,
As He speaks between His sips.

“Maybe, God is trying to teach you
Well beyond what you think that you now know.
Have you thought about the possibility?
What presently fills your head retards your ability to grow?”

“Oh, the little children!
How precious is their simplicity.
Hearts and minds void of adult clutter,
Enhances their receptivity.”

“As you grow older you begin to worship,
The things you think you know that make you smart.
This affliction called Christiamnesia,
Allows you to make a brand new start.”

“Thank Me each and every morning
For the ignorance that you now know.
That’s the dimension of your life,
Where our relationship can grow.”

“The idol of knowledge must tumble,
It’s humility we must restore.
The pedestal is Mine.
For I am the God of More.”

“How can the mind of man,
Think you have captured the essence of Me, your God?”
Such a posture precludes Me from revealing more of Myself,
It’s unacceptable and quite odd.”

“Rise from here and move on My  child,
It’s more of Me that will surely please ya.
Be grateful each and every day,
Cherish the blessing of Christiamnesia.”

He rose from our table,
On my forehead he placed a kiss.
“I have more folks to talk to now.
In a crowd like this one cannot miss!”

“Perhaps you might wish to share the revelation,
The blessing of Christiamnesia that you now see.”
I rose from my seat and moved to join Him,
As He whispered “Follow Me.”

So you want to be a leader?
Perhaps you’ve been told you must become one “just like me.”
The value of your life may depend upon the manner in which,
You lead the way for the rest of us, too deaf, dumb and blind to see.

Hurry! Grab the latest leadership literature!
Soak up every seminar, mentor, pamphlet and CD.
If you’re bold enough to Google® the term,
You can read for all eternity.

Eventually you’ll obtain your chance,
Translating intellectual theory into actual practice.
Leading other human beings who silently greet you with,
“Who do you think you are? Nobody even asked us!”

Everyday’s a challenge.
You will encounter yours.
The salesman who sells you a boat then says,
“It’s four hundred extra for the oars.”

Perhaps you have become a victim,
Misled and wounded by “makes sense” worldly philosophy.
This straightforward stuff about leadership,
Isn’t as harmless as it’s cracked up to be.

Many have become disillusioned with this leadership stuff,
Feeling excluded, self worth something less than it should be.
When they hear the insatiable appetite calling out for leaders,
Their retort’s become, “Leave me alone! This is unnatural to me!”

Awareness is the first step they say,
Recovering from almost every malady.
Addiction to the allure of leadership,
Intoxicates the culture of American Christianity.

No need to fear for His loved ones,
No more aimless wandering and lost sleep.
Lift your eyes to The Shepherd!
Lay down in pastures prepared for His beloved sheep.

So easily we wander,
Each step we take away from Him is our own choice.
Listen to Him calling, “Return to Me my precious one.”
“My sheep, they know my Voice.”

High time to readjust our perspective,
This leadership stuff is out of whack.
It’s when we wander from the protection of His truth,
That we become vulnerable to the evil one’s attack.

I’m not suggesting leadership is wrong.
A course correction is all I’ve detected.
Restoring biblical balance to this leadership issue,
Is what must be corrected.

Pray to Him as you complete this poem,
Repent with tears and quivering lip.
Confess your sin of being deceived,
About His intent for leadership.

Run to Him in the pasture,
Focused on Him, you will not trip
The Shepherd of all sheep awaits you.
The Author of Sheepmanship.™

Created to become.
Designed as less than whole.
This journey to fulfill
The incessant yearning of my soul.

Great Maker of it all.
Bring clarity to this distortion.
Help me celebrate your intention.
To design me as a portion.

The wisdom of men surrounds me.
Worshipping the illusion of the complete.
Lives burned up in the bonfires,
Where we camp out to learn how to compete.

Encircled on all sides,
War, poverty and cancers.
Your creations run helter skelter,
Searching for the answers.

People bobbing on the surface,
Dreams of somehow being swept away and thrilled.
Cemeteries filled with wasted lives.
Misguided attempts to become fulfilled.

Lives measured in years,
Achievements, responsibilities, pleasures and the dollar.
Discarded yardsticks litter the Earth.
Listen, you can hear their former owners holler.
Where will this journey end?
Will we recall where we came from?
Maybe it’s not about finishing in first place.
Perhaps, You’ve birthed us to become.

What are we to do?
Which way are we to turn?
Please speak up and spell it out.
This truth that we must learn.

As the years go by,
I treasure the glimpses beneath Your curtain.
I’m arriving at some conclusions,
One of which I’m rather certain.

This yearning that we feel,
The one that drives us from our core.
I believe it to be Your Spirit,
Inviting us to You, the God of More.

If this is Your truth,
I am yet to be all that I can be.
Help me take my place as Your portion,
At your feet, in forthright humility.

I empty myself before you,
A life filled with clutter and clatter.
Forgive me my sweet Jesus,
For filling my life with things that just don’t matter.

Today I stand before You.
I confess much of what I rationalized as a need.
Was nothing more than falling prey to a continuing deception,
The satisfaction of self-centered, human greed.

I surrender my facade,
To appear complete, together and whole.
It’s the realization that I’m Your portion
That now satisfies my soul.

In a world focused on the answers for,
Self-preservation, diseases, security and abortion.
May we reawaken to the blessing of,
Being designed as Your Portion.

For the millions that have taken Your name,
Those that declare their faith as Christianity.
Perhaps it’s time to declare this new revelation,
As those of Portianity.

“Enough!” He cried,
“Rise! Let us go!”
Disciples resting on their laurels,
Asleep in Gethsemane’s garden, lying low.

Out in a desolate, remote place we asked,
“Where can we find enough to feed this famished horde?”
“Bring Me the seven loaves you have?”
Grace always sufficient, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Leftovers are quite common,
As Jesus satisfies our every need.
Yearning for the wrong stuff we hear His voice,
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.”

Barns filled with earthly treasures,
Crowding out the promise of His joy.
Frantically accumulating piles of the meaningless,
That moths and rust destroy.

“For where your treasure is,
There will be your heart.”
A spring-cleaning is in order.
Perhaps today’s the day to start.

Maybe you think this is silly,
Some half-baked truth within this yarn.
Could it be time to reconsider?
What you’re offering to be gathered into His barn.

“If I only Had this or that,
My life would be just fine.”
Accumulating more instead of offering,
Firstfruits for new wine.

Living on bread alone,
He told us this was hollow.
Voracious yearning for more of the wrong stuff,
Choking as we attempt to swallow.

The precious voice of Jesus is drowned out amidst
Insatiable appetites screaming, “I need my piece of the pie!”
Standing in line at the pharmacy,
Filling prescriptions to medicate the lie.

“This is My Son I love, listen to Him
In Him I am well pleased!”
It’s like we need Him to repeat Himself,
He spoke just as we supposedly sneezed.

Recalls from the FDA,
Breakthrough drugs, false promises they tease us.
Creating casualties through greed and deception,
We ignore the outstretched arms of sweet Jesus.

Big Tobacco continues to make cigarettes.
Have you seen their recent ads?
Promotions to stop smoking while
Stealing life’s breath from moms & dads.

On-demand, real-time, on-line,
Anything convenient, portable and fast.
“Time’s my most precious asset!”
Christ’s tears fall to Earth aghast.

There seems to be a disconnect in our lives,
Between enough and more.
It might have something to do with greatness,
An important subject Jesus has addressed before.

It has something to do with our culture,
The insatiable desire to be at the head table of the feast.
We must return to the enduring truth of Christ,
“The greatest among you shall be the least.”

Jockeying for position at life’s table we manipulate.
To insure our share of more we muster the unconscionable nerve.
All the while ignoring the sufficiency of His voice,
“To be the greatest you must become a slave and serve.”

If you’re like me and you get to places
Where your life seems unfair and really tough.
Examine the Scripture that populates this poem,
In Jesus Christ we have enough.

Bibliography & Notes:

1  NIV- Mark 14:41-42

2  NIV – Mark 8:4

3  NIV – 2 Cor. 12:9

4  Matthew 15:37

5  NIV – Luke 12:15

6  NIV – 6:19

7  NIV – Matthew 6:21

8  NIV – Luke 3:17

9  NIV – Proverbs 3:9-10

10  NIV – Matthew 4:4

11  NIV – Mark 9:7

12  NIV – Mark 10:16

13  NIV – Acts 17:25

14  NIV – Matthew 27:50

15  NIV – Luke 9:48

16  NIV – Luke 9:48

17  NIV – Mark 10:37

18  NIV – Mark 10:43-44

19  NIV – 2 Cor. 9:8

I take it for granted,
As my feet hit the floor.
Unconscious as I scurry,
To bolt out my front door.

It never crosses my mind,
Until I encounter shifting sand.
What’s beneath this existence?
Upon which I daily stand.

The LORD looks down from heaven,
On the sons of men.
To see if there are any who understand,
Any who seek God and then,

When I tried to understand all this,
It was oppressive to me.
Till I entered the sanctuary of God;
There I understood our final destiny.

The senseless man does not know,
Fools do not understand,
That though the wicked spring up like grass,
They will be destroyed with one wave of His hand.

Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
Allow me to meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow;
Strengthen me so I may avoid repeating blunders.

I am your servant; give me discernment,
So I may understand your way.
It is time for you to act, O LORD.
Your decrees are being broken, each and every day.

Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the LORD understand it fully.
I remained perplexed over the actions,
Of the elected, self-righteous bully.

So I turned my mind to understand,
The stupidity of wickedness, the madness of folly.
How can your creations derive satisfaction?
By inflicting pain on others that makes them jolly?

As I do not know the path of the wind,
Or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
So I cannot understand the work of God,
The Maker of all that doth bloom.

You’ve said, “The ox knows his master,
The donkey his manger owner’s hand,
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”

So He poured out on them his burning anger,
The violence of a war.
It enveloped them in flames,
Yet your Word we continued to ignore;

Ruthless love your efforts continue,
That we may know You, and understand that You are He.
As You said, “Before me no god was formed,
Nor will there be one after Me.”

Oh, Sweet Grace.
Unimaginable gift from above.
Incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Endless mercy, boundless love.

Time and energy spent pursuing
Things I cannot know.
The mysteries of this life,
Fade in and out like a rainbow.

As I seek your truth,
Alive, under where I stand.
I feel your gentle touch,
Your voice steadies my trembling hand.

“Disregard those who claim to have read My Book.
It’s not about what they have to say.
It’s all about a relationship with the One who wrote it.
Return to Me and stay.”

Our world’s enamored with about,
Obsessed with above and under.
My Jesus calls me to within,
Together we adore the wonder.

When I take the question mark and
Turn it upside-down.
I get a “J” for Jesus,
A grateful smile replaces my perplexed frown.

The next time you become bewildered,
About something you don’t understand.
Don’t look above, below or around it,
Embrace His outstretched hand.

On too many pages of my Bible He cries:
“Do you still not understand?”
We’re focused on all the wrong stuff,
We’ve let go of His hand.

It’s where it all starts and stops,
Where it ends and must begin.
He’s not under, over or out there somewhere,
His Spirit resides within.

It’ here that He greets us.
In every second of every day.
It’s when we get distracted,
We undoubtedly lose our way.

I challenge you to rise,
Go outdoors and sense the breezes.
Lift your heart in praise and thanks,
For intimate relationship with Sweet Jesus.