Digging Deeper – November 17, 2023
You have spent your years here on earth having fun, satisfying your every whim, and now your fat hearts are ready for the slaughter.
James 5:5 (TLB)
THE GOD POCKET
In a video sermon series I watched years ago, the speaker talked about how we are put on this earth to be a conduit of God’s love for other people. Instead of me trying to manufacture human feelings towards others, God wants to love my wife, children, friends, co-workers – through me! And he wants to love ME through THEM! This notion raises the bar and re-frames our purpose for existence! The problem is, I’m not very good at it.
I’m sure you can’t relate, but most of my time is spent thinking about how I can make life easier for myself, not how I can bless others. James had some tough words for people like me. Just re-read the verse for today, James 5:5. Ouch.
The good news is I have consistently placed other people around me to wrestle with these harsh realities. They are known as my men’s small group. Not long ago, we went through a book by pastor and author Bruce Wilkinson entitled, You Were Born for This. In a nutshell, Dr. Wilkinson reemphasized the same idea I touched on earlier: we were put here to be a blessing to others. Some of the stories he shares are modern-day miracles that will give you chills. He also shares some practical ways you and I can begin to open our hearts to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to lead us in this area. Enter the “God Pocket.”
For those of you who still carry a wallet (think: George Costanza), the God Pocket is the hidden compartment deep within the folds, where only Blockbuster Video membership cards and voter precinct cards can be found. Dr. Wilkinson encourages us to pray to the Lord and ask for guidance on a certain dollar amount we can place in the God Pocket. Then, we wait.
What are we waiting on, exactly? For the Holy Spirit to nudge us and guide us in how we should bless someone with the money in the God Pocket! And, while we need to be patient to hear from the Lord, once we get that “gut feeling,” we’d better act! The moment is often fleeting!
What do we do when the God Pocket is empty? We start again – pray and obey!
I wouldn’t mind having a “Fat Heart.” But not fat from self-indulgence. I want my fat heart to be overly stuffed with the things of God, and ready to bless another when I have the chance.
- Pray this week how God can love someone through you!
- Ask God to help you find your “God Pocket” and seek His guidance on an amount that could bless someone in need.
C.A. Phillips serves as Communications Pastor and Director of Men’s Groups at NorthStar Church. He is a graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and he loves the Dawgs and the Atlanta Braves. He has two (grown) boys and lives in Kennesaw with his wife, Amy, and their German Shepherd, Abby.
