Gary Fultz on...The Steak or the Sizzle? Picture truth #7

Steaks with a Mesquite or Cajun rub in the middle of the wilderness

I know the smell and sizzle carried half a mile because that's how far away the teenagers were when they came running. All to be eaten with black beans, rice, fresh onion,peppers, hot sauce, with fresh fish in an avocado burrito shell. This is as close as I hope to get to a Hungary pack of wolves in human form.
I was on the lookout for vampire teeth showing their true nature. I heard thunder in the distance but there were no clouds. I realized it was stomachs rumbling three stages past the mumbling stage.
I looked at the sun and it hadn't moved much since they raided the extra granola bars and jerky. I was guessing the smell and the sizzle of the steaks would not satisfy this bunch.
No fantasies of the five adults eating the steaks while the teens watched--would come true today.

 First on the scene....steak...steak...steak!

Leverage is often used as a business term. I used it! "No one gets a steak till we get a stack of firewood waist high" I said. Poof...there it was.
"No one gets a steak till the onions and peppers are chopped and the burrito shells are laid out"
No poof but bingedy - bang - clash "where's the band aids?are the steaks done yet? why am I dizzy? Pause to inhale. "why am I growing fangs?"

    I gave God thanks for the food with my eyes open and prayed the big fish would bite.


    Isn't it odd that it's easy to spend a lot of time, energy, and money to devour good food, yet satisfied with the smell and sizzle only, of great spiritual food?
    We settle for going to church or a concert for the smell and sizzle of spiritual food and often don't take the time, energy, or money to just get alone with God in his word (as recorded in the Bible). Pray, fast, Listen to the holy Spirit speaking to us, and finally obeying what God wants us to say and do. Jesus told His disciples who were urging him to eat some food; "I have food that you know nothing about" Then to clarify he said "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:32-34). Read what Frank Aragon says on this in his devotional.
    I know how demanding my stomach is. It can rumble with the best of them. I often let everyone around the campfire do a little taste testing as the food is about ready over the open fire. It good, It's fun, and it would be down right mean to the body if that's all we did. Let's not be "taste testers" for our soul. Are you content with the sizzle? How bad do you want the steak?
    What helps you the most in your food for the soul? Make your comments below... recipe sharing is a good thing!

"Come meet with Me" The sights, the sounds, the sizzle

Gary D

   
   

Food for thought By Gary Fultz

                               Scrambled eggs, coffee after a good Time with God by the fire this morning
I heard it....I heard it again...then again....
    How I start my day has become important to me. I have had to discipline myself to listen to all the voices vying for the days attention starting now. E-mails, weather reports, morning coffee, breakfast, and reading my bible jockey for position while I wander around in PJ's or less wondering where to start.
Me first...
    As I sat up to the computer to read Kirsten Lamb's Blog so I can learn how to blog.
Me first...Again..It was distinct and I didn't need to look around. A couple of months earlier I had heard the same thing, same voice, same request, not urgent but a compelling..."Me First".
    No coffee, no breakfast, or fire in the fireplace; just getting alone with the creator of the universe who whispers "Me First". I have to admit the other voices are louder and more demanding. I guess I let them do that to me. So I read and wonder if God can communicate to me this morning. Does God need some backround music to set the tone? Do I need the backround music to hear God's voice? "Me First"...guess not!
    What do you do when life seems like a barren  wasteland or frozen lake...dead but for the springs?  Can I really hear Gods voice?

   I had been rereading the passage from last sunday's sermon from Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Thirsty

 ¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty,                                      
   come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without cost.
² Why spend money on what is not bread,
   and your labor on what does not satisfy?                                     
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
   and you will delight in the richest of fare.
³ Give ear and come to me;
   listen, that you may live....
    I never realized how many times we are told to listen and how many ways God talks to people. I am going to spend a season of time in study on the subject but I already get the sense that God feels we don't listen very well. I guess the "listen, listen" is a clue. I feel like I'm a four year old being talked to.
    So this morning I listened, spent time with the amazing creator, talked a little myself, and then my parameters were reset for the day. Planning my next adventure fishing, reading and exploring the social networking world with the latest greatest book on the subject, and of course making a fine breakfast (pictured top still steaming hot).
    In what ways does God call you? Do you listen? Let me leave you with a song that often comes to my mind...Whatever it takes...Is quite a call...yet probably comes as a whisper.
    So find a spot, take a walk, get alone, listen for God's voice in his recorded word, Listen for his voice in your busy world, Then invite Him into the rest of your day.
Gary D