Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Lunch With God


A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him some chips. He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

His smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. He gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, "dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied "I ate potato chips in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime! Embrace all equally!

Have lunch with God.......bring chips.

---Author unknown

Hebrews 13:16 (NIV) And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

1 Timothy 6:18 (NIV) Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Four Spiritual Tools for Counseling

As Christian counselors, our desire is to stir hope in the hearts of others and lead them into an intimate and healing experience with Christ. To this end, we lean upon our training, experience, and tools. We must also recognize the importance of scripture, partnership with the Holy Spirit, empathy, and prayer in the therapy sessions.

Empathy is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another . . .” 1 It’s presumptuous to “fix someone” before gaining some degree of understanding and showing him or her that we are genuinely concerned. We need to take time to listen to their story.

We start by asking questions in an effort to gain knowledge of the hurting person’s needs. What is your concern?” “Would you like to tell me about it? People need the freedom to talk about their pain without fear of reproof. They need to be able to say, “I’m hurting,” “I’m angry,” even “I’m angry with God.” Many times we will share some of our own story to make that empathetic connection.

The Apostle Paul prayed that people would come to know Christ experientially not just cognitively. 2 Unfortunately, many people that you and I work with do not know how to make that experiential connection with the Lord. Empathy and prayer combined can be the bridge that helps hurting people experience Gods love and find renewed hope and deep healing.

It is also important to remember the critical role of the Holy Spirit 3 as we counsel and pray with our clients. We have God’s promise that if we listen we will hear His voice. 4 The Holy Spirit, the comforter/counselor 5 will impress His thoughts upon our minds, giving us needed words of wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and insight. 6

The Holy Spirit enables us to pray specifically 7 in accordance with God’s will 8 in order to accomplish this connection between hurting people and Himself. Here are some guidelines that I employ when leading people to that experiential encounter with Christ.

While listening to the person, I am also listening to the Holy Spirit. Regularly He brings a portion of scripture to my memory 9 that I can share with the person that will touch their heart and offer hopefor example, Lamentations 3:16-20 speaks about expressing to God the deep emotional pain associated with grief. I let them know that grieving is a part of the healing process.


Lamentations 3:21-24 points to the hope that lies beyond the pain and helps the person see that God understands and wants to comfort them. 10 In this way, I till the soil of a person’s heart helping them to receive the seed of God’s word, which will be watered by prayer. In effect, I take them gently by the chin, and lift their head so they can see into the eyes of the One who loves them and see the hope that is in Christ. 11


Finally, I pray for the person, that he or she will be able to experience this hope from God. If sin, and the resulting guilt and shame, is involved, I will invite that person to pray a prayer of specific confession so they can receive the forgiveness God wants so much to give and that they so desperately need. 12

The Holy Spirit can give us the ability to speak 13 to issues authoritatively and with compassion that are beyond our natural or learned abilities. He can enable us to make a relational, empathetic connection and empower us to pray the will of the Father. If we are willing to be His instruments, He will extend His hand into the lives of hurting people through us.


1 Merriam-Webster Online
2 Ephesians 3:19 (AMP)
3 John 16:8, 13
4 John 3:29; 10:4, 16, 27
5 John 16:7
6 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, James 1:5
7 Romans 8:26-27
8 1 John 5:14
9 John 14:26
10 Isaiah 66:13, Matthew 5:4, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
11 Psalm 33:20, 130:5
12 1 John 1:9, Matthew 11:28
13 Luke 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:6