September 14th, 2022 – 4:36am:

This morning as I woke to the new day God whispered, “Take only what fits below the seat in front of you.” He was referring to my trip to Israel. I am packing for my trip now. My bank account has -$17.72. But today I will give away almost everything that I have again to bring me down to just what will fit under the seat in front of me on the flight to Israel. God will provide the rest.

I was thinking about what it is like to serve a Living God. To have a personal relationship with Him. To “listen and obey” Him…

Yesterday I woke from a nap at 4:30pm and instantly God whispered… “You’re going to the movie showing tonight get ready.” My friends, the ones who are hosting me here at their farm, are part of a local film society. Last night they were going to show a film at a local theater. I had wanted to go but they told me it was for members only… and I do not have the money to join. So after I woke from my nap and God told me to get ready to go to the movie I jumped in the shower and got dressed. I sat at my computer briefly when the phone rang, it was my friend, I answer, “Hey Matt, I’ve been waiting for your call. What’s up?” He asked if I received his texts, I hadn’t, but checked and there they were. They had decided to pay for my membership to the film society so that I could attend the movie. So I went along with them and saw the movie as God has told me I would earlier.

Why tell this story? This is my “normal” in my walk with Him. This is a normal day for me. God speaks quite clearly as I go through life, in fact, this is how my whole life has been. I can tell story after story of God telling me what was coming next. I’m not sure why God does this, but He does.

How do I get to Israel and attend a University with $14.00 USD? God will provide at just the right time for my journey. In the way He wants to provide.

In my service of the Lord it is not my job to figure out how to obey but simply to obey when He tells me what to do and when to do it. I’m not perfect in this walk of obedience, absolutely not, but His grace covers the times I’ve failed Him. He gentle guides me back to the path and shifts it to make a new way. Then it’s back to walk alongside Him… onward.

I fully understand when Jesus told His disciples that He had bread to eat that they knew nothing about, His bread was to do the will of the One that sent Him. This is my bread, my daily substance.

Yesterday, in the morning I was out of “snore strips” the plastic band-aids that keep me alive during the night… sleep apnea is terrible… and the girl from this farm took me with her to Waco and helped me get the “snore strips” from Sam’s club. Now I have enough of them to last me well into next year. God provides again. Story after story…

God told me long ago that my life would be a spectacle, a living example for others. Well that it has been, every single day since He said that. Live generously. Give everything. God provides. Listen and obey. Walk with Him. He is real.

“What can God do with someone who’s life is totally devoted to Him?”

My life is also a witness and a testimony to those who encounter me… and it’s also a judgement. Without excuse. You’ve been told and the example has been set. That is the harsher part of my journey. Not that this needs to be, since God clearly states:

“For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.” – Romans‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

A Christian’s life is not about making converts. Have you ever actually read the Great Commission?:

“Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”” – Matthew‬ ‭28:18-20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

It is not my job to save people. Only Jesus saves. It is my job to live a life of obedience to God as best I’m able and to teach those God sends me to to do the same. This is discipleship.

God is sending me to Israel to love the people there that He puts in my path. It is the moments that I will talk with them and share my journey of faith. The speaking plainly of all God has done for me, in me, and through me to those who need a nudge toward Him. Those right on the edge of a powerful life of faith! Those right on the edge of living a daily walk of faith! Those right on the doorstep of the kingdom of God.

That is what God has used me to do for the past four and half years. He has sent me to people, to individuals, all over the world to simply say, “God is real.”