Revelation in the Rough

This is the Trickiest Topic of Them All This is seriously the hardest blog post to write in this mini-series. There are a lot of forces in this world and many of them use some truth and rightness, mixed with deception and darkness, to fool you into going down the wrong path.  Honestly, I think I've been deceived all the time. It is very difficult in this current world to understand things through God's eyes. The good news is that there are a few times in my life where I know that I was doing the right thing, or receiving a prompting from God. So I hang on to those as a base reference to help me understand better what to do. There are a couple other tricks that I would like to show you today. A Warning Before we Continue Just a warning, if you want these things to work in your life, you better be doing the things in blog post 2 - How to get revelation and blog post 3 - Rolling back the distractions Emphasis (and not for the last time!) on being true to yourself...

The Scary Word! Repentance can be a scary word. Part of that is because the English roots of the word come from meanings like regret, pain, punishment, and sorrow. None of those are especially fun. Luckily, the idea of repentance was around way before the English language was! So there is no need to be afraid here. Here is what I have learned about repentance. A Better Definition of Repentance Apparently, the greek word for repentance is metanoia . This word is better translated as 'turning around', 'a change of mind', or 'change of perception'. I have heard that it has roots in being 'off target', or missing your aim with your arrow. So when I talk about repentance in this blog, I am saying we need to change. We need to get better aim. What are we Aiming At? There are a lot of things to aim at in life. In my last blog post , I talked a lot about how to make life goals. We should generally be aiming at the highest good. When we find ...

Why do you Want It? Got a question for you. Why do you want revelation in the first place? Many people say they love feeling connected, comforted, capable, loved etc. All of those are great reasons. Now I got another question for you. After you are done feeling loved, connected, etc., then what? Do you really think that a happy contented feeling is where it ends? Is that as far as you want to go? Remember that Jesus Christ was always connected to God and that led Him to help all around Him, and even die and take up His body again as a resurrected Being. He didn't sit down on a couch and feel warm inside all day. He went out and did the most good where ever he went. God gives revelation to those who will make the world better with it. So if you want more than what you have, make a life goals to make the world better. How do You do This? Life goals do not need to be complicated. All you need to do is find something to do that will make things better...

Recap! Here is what we got so far: 1 - What is Revelation Revelation is first and foremost a daily communion with your higher power, hopefully resulting in acute experiences. 2- How to Get Revelation Live your life with consistent practices and walk the path of faith. 3 - Rolling Back the Distractions Get rid of the things (6 are highlighted) that keep you from receiving revelation. In other words, find your target, aim for your target, get rid of blockers between you and your target. As peachy as those peaches in blog post 2 . The Greatest Misconception of Recognizing Revelation Attention all passengers! Please hold on to your horses! I believe I have found the greatest misconception of recognizing revelation. Ever. The greatest misconception of recognizing revelation is to think that what you are seeking for are simply feelings.  Stay with me here. When I seek for revelation, I am asking the highest power I know to become part of my life. Feelings are importa...

I am wrapping up a truly bizarre week that held a lot of very difficult internal challenges for me and, as I have looked harder for answers this week than for some time, I felt that it would be appropriate to make some short comments on my experience. I won't go into any details on my challenges, nor will I try to over-refine this post. I want you to get a feel for me going through a real experience, as imperfect as that will be. Here are some thoughts. Pain Sometimes its okay to just tell God you are in pain, because He is the single person that actually understands. In fact, He probably understands more deeply than even you because He knows your present condition and all your past struggles (some of which you have forgotten) and future consequences (most of which you don't know) and how it all fits together. Temple Usually, challenge helps me focus better in the temple. It makes my experience there more real and everything more relate-able. I had a really beautifu...

The Elephant in the Room This is an elephant This is a room This is an elephant in a room Many people I know have tried some of the things that I mentioned in the last post with results below their expectations. I can't claim to know what it is in their proper situations they need to do, but I do know that we have TON of distractions in this world. My first guess, if people are doing the steps they should, is that these distractions are choking off your revelation pipeline.  Let's talk about the main ones. I guarantee you that you have at least some distractions that I list below. Don't feel bad, because it is part of life. This is the elephant in the room. Just realize that you need to find ways to overcome them if you want the revelation pipeline to work better.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Distraction: Materialism Things aren't bad. Things are things. Our focus on things isn't bad. Our focus on certain things instead of better things is.  Th...

Recap! First, a recap on some points from last post . Revelation isn't a point-in-time event, it is a continuous communion. And you gotta work hard at it. I'm not saying stay in the temple every day, but I am saying that Samuel did that in the Bible. If you want the reward, you gotta pay the price. Stay thinking on this, because it is a recurring theme. My super secret agenda is to inspire you past your possible discouragement to really seek out this gift and make your life more fantabulous. How to get Revelation? This is the kicker, the real cahuna, the question of questions. This is what this blog is made for!  Well, this is going to be a bit tricky. To help me out I've brought in a couple experts. May I present C.S. Lewis scripting Eustace Scrubb from Narnia! C.S Lewis said a lot of intelligent things about christianity. In The Silver Chair (part of his most awesome Chronicles of Narnia series), a boy named Eustace gives the down low on how to access...

Story time!  When I was a child in Sunday school, I would get really excited about Samuel the prophet in the old testament. I would listen as Hannah gave him up to Eli the priest, and how he was raised in the temple, and then one night, BAM! Called of God just like that. Voice, probably lights, all the good stuff in revelation. That was my impression of what revelation was growing up. Imagine yourself just sitting there and then you hear a voice and a shining light, and poof! You get a flaming sword or at least a staff and knowledge of everything. Also, who hasn't seen The Ten Commandments? Moses' hair goes all white and he comes back transformed! And then he knows what to do... Right? My Experience My experiences aren't anything like this. What I usually find is that once I get an inspiration or revelation, my next question to God is 'Wow, how do I do that!?' To which I get the impression from God along the lines of 'I'm excited to see what yo...

Intro Welcome to some thoughts in the rough on receiving revelation! So a few years ago, I took a class on receiving revelation. Day one, we probably violated the fire codes for maximum capacity, there were so many people there. By the end of the semester though, there were only a few left. That told me that a lot of people want to know how to receive revelation better. It also told me that learning how to receive revelation is stinkin' tough. So I am going to put a few thoughts down on (e-)paper on what I have learned in hopes that it helps you too. This is definitely a work in progress; expect changes and refinements as we go on. That also means that if you comment, there is a good chance I'll incorporate your question or learning in some way :). Topics Here is what I want to talk about over the next 4-6 weeks. 1. What is revelation?  dispel some misconceptions, and approach revelation as a path, not a point in   time event 2. How to get revelation? ...