The Melody of the Holy Spirit

The apostles said they would not deny Jesus, but they did. In this verse Jesus says, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me.”

We deny Him when we disobey His commands, sin against Him, go our own way instead of His way, focus with intensity on anything more than on Jesus (I’m talking about money, jobs, worldly status, politics, sex, video games, friendships, wanting people to think well of us, anger … the list goes on and on).

The apostles weren’t prepared for what would happen later that night. Jack wasn’t prepared at the retirement party in London. He thought he had everything under control until something simple happened that he wasn’t prepared for.

How about you? Are you prepared for the unforeseen? Are you so close to Jesus that nothing can throw you off stride. The chapter entitled Oops, starting on page 164 in FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH, tells the story of Jack that fateful night. But it’s not just something that happened to Jack. It could happen to any of us at any time.

If you’re interested in the story, here’s a link for you to purchase the book:  http://tinyurl.com/2kja6u7s

On March 6 at 1:30 Central Standard Time, I’ll be on a 10-minute podcast called Central Valley Talk from Fresno, California. I’m being interviewed for my new book, called FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH. In my travels, I’ve found a legion of souls, who amidst all the dangers and problems surrounding them, would like to find the safest place on earth. It exists as surely as the sun comes up in the morning, but you have to know where to look.

I’ll be discussing what my standing is to write a book for addicts and those who love them and showing a graph that gets at the heart of the book’s message – staying as close to Jesus as you can possibly get. Who knows what else the host will ask me. I welcome as many of you to watch as can fit it into your schedule.

These are the sites where you’ll be able to catch the podcast:

Web Channel: CentralValleyTalk.com

  Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/CentralValleyTalk

Facebook Channel: Facebook.com/CentralValleyTalk.tv 

If you’d like to get a copy of the book and read it before the podcast, this Amazon Link will get you to the place where you can order one. http://tinyurl.com/2kja6u7s

I sat two rows behind Audrey at a morning service (called Matin’s) in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin eight years ago and talked to her for 20 minutes after the service ended. She was in her 80s then, wore an old shawl, and was the most humble person I’ve ever met. The following post is a remembrance of her in this year’s January 23 journal entry.

I thought of Audrey today and the Lucy of Wordsworth’s poems. Both unknown, save for a very few. No wealth, no fame, no power, no notices when they died.

Perhaps one day Audrey was taken with pneumonia (I think she lived on the streets or in a desolate dwelling), hospitalized, died, and was buried in a pauper’s grave. Now she is in heaven with Jesus, the lover of her soul.

I am publishing a 30-day devotional written by a woman named Madelyn, entitled

Embracing The Call

30 Days of Encouragement
for Military Spouses

This was her Day 2 entry.

The book of Ruth inspired this title. Ever read it? I encourage you to turn to Ruth in your Bible!

God provided for Ruth and took care of the needs of her and Naomi. Why do we doubt that God won’t provide for us and comfort us in moments of desperation? So far, I’ve experienced God providing me with two jobs and a few friends who truly love the Lord. They have already brought me comfort and support, and I must not forget that is a gift from God. How has God provided for you? Will you join me in giving our struggles and needs to God, believing He will come through for us even if it’s not as we imagined? Ruth exemplifies the “fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Naomi’s people became Ruth’s people, and Naomi’s God became Ruth’s God, which came about because of the woman Ruth decided to be. And let me tell you, as surely as God used Ruth, He will use us too if we let Him!

Pray with me: God, help me believe that You are for me, not against me, and will take care of me. I long to have a heart like Ruth, who made a hard decision and chose to comfort Naomi, and You took care of them and provided for them. I desire to spend time with You each day and to become the woman You have called me to be. Forgive me for not seeing all the blessings You’ve provided me. I pray for a godly community when I find myself in a new place. Amen.

What God does not allow to happen.

For a long time, I saw God’s will fitting into one of two categories.

1. What He causes to happen.
2. What He allows to happen.

I now realize there is a third category.

3. What He does not allow to happen.

In my own life, God did not allow me to die at birth, though I should have and there wasn’t much the doctors could do. Then there was a time I was hanging by my neck on a cyclone fence, with a point of the fence less than an inch from my jugular vein. But God did not allow me to die at that time, nor years later when I should have drowned in Munson Lake.

There have been times too personal and risky to recount here when I could have been incarcerated, lost my mind, been laid off in a college merger, or been taken down by someone bent on destroying me. I could have ended up in major depression for the rest of my life; in fact, I should have. But in all those instances, God did not allow such awful things to happen to me. It was like a hungry pride of lions were surrounding me and closing in. Then, for no apparent reason, they turned around and walked back into the dark forest from whence they came.

I’ve often wondered why, and expect to get an answer one day.

It’s been said that God is the God of a thousand chances. I feel like I’ve used up 900 of them, much like the man in the picture who’s just weathered a storm at sea and finds himself washed up on shore. Like that thankful man, I’ve finally found the safest place on earth.    

Perhaps you’ve had similar things occur to you. Situations that could have done you in or greatly impacted your life, but God did not allow them to happen. Perhaps you too have felt like the man on the seashore. Perhaps you too have longed to find the safest place on earth.  

ABOUT MANNY

The two main characters in this book are Jack, an alcoholic, and Manny, who helps Jack become sober forever. This excerpt is the backstory of Manny.

Jesus chose men from the paths of Galilee to be His apostles, plus one on the road to Damascus. And He’s chosen godly men and women for special purposes up to the present day, including Manny.

Manny’s father had an estate worth five-hundred million dollars that passed to Manny when he died at the age of sixty. Manny, his only son, was thirty-five years old at the time.

Twenty years before his father’s death, Manny had received an inheritance worth more than a half-billion dollars. It was the gift of Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. As those chosen for a special purpose before him, Manny committed his life to obeying whatever God wanted him to do.

As night turned into dawn on the day Manny turned thirty-six, Jesus touched his soul and called him to be His ambassador to those caught up in addictions. Alcohol and drugs topped the list, followed by pornography, gambling, anger, unfaithfulness, unforgiveness, and whatever else one can be addicted to—an endless list.

“I want you to use your great wealth to serve Me,” Manny heard in the depths of his being, where the Spirit of God meets the soul of a believer.

Unlike the rich young ruler who walked away from Jesus, Manny obeyed God’s calling.

“Yes, I’ll heed Your call on my life. I will listen for Your instructions and follow them.” And so it was. 

The Holy Spirit gifted Manny with a discerning spirit, a knowing mind, and a wisdom beyond his humanity. Manny experienced the presence of God so deeply that he saw things as Jesus saw them. He cared as Jesus cared. He understood the souls of men and women better than they understood themselves.

Jesus assigned people for Manny to mentor and minister to. Jack was his latest assignment.

Manny never asked God the question, “Why Jack?” any more than he asked, “Why Angela?” or “Why Yeng?”

“My name is Manny, and God assigned me, in a manner of speaking, to mentor Jack, the alcoholic in this story who overcomes an addiction. When I first met Jack in a church, he had just prayed this prayer.”

“I can’t go on any longer like this, God,” he cried. “Please help me. Please keep me from ever drinking again and bring me out of this darkness I’m in. Show me Your mercy.”

“Jack first thought he could stop his drinking by force of will. When he realized that didn’t work, he turned to God. Little did he realize what that prayer meant. He thought at first that God would take away his desire to drink, but that didn’t happen.

“What did I do to get Jack to overcome his addiction? What did God do? What did Jack do? Good questions, and you’ll find the answer to all of them by reading FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH, coming out January 26th on Amazon and later elsewhere.”

This book is not just for alcoholics and drug addicts. There are scores of other addictions we get caught up in. And if you are one of the few who don’t have any addictions, this is also the story of how to draw so close to Jesus that if He were to stop suddenly, you’d bump into Him. 

“My name is Jack, and I’m an alcoholic. My life has been a struggle – an off-again/on-again drinking problem and making promises to my wife and others that I always end up breaking. I want to stop drinking, but I can’t seem to stay sober long term. It’s a dangerous world I live in. If only there were some safe place I could find.”

Well, there is a safe place for Jack. In fact, it’s the safest place on earth. Where is that safe place? You can find out January 26, when my new book, FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH, is available on Amazon.

This book is not just for alcoholics and drug addicts. There are scores of other addictions we get caught up in. And if you are one of the few who don’t have any addictions, this is also the story of how to draw so close to Jesus that if He were to stop suddenly, you’d bump into Him.

I started writing FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH in January 2023 and have spent more time working on it than any of my previous eight books – about 1,000 hours over the past year. I was blessed with two people who read through early manuscripts and offered valuable insights and suggestions of how to make this the best book I’ve written since my first published work in 2012.

As I look over a physical copy of the book, I am encouraged by the words a person in the publishing business told me.

“Hey Pat, I’ve finished my reading of this edition. It truly is brilliant. It is better than I had hoped for.”

This person had read my second draft thoroughly and had given me suggestions that caused me to do a major rewrite. A second person also read an early draft with an eagle’s eye and made many suggestions about the development of Jack and Manny. With their input, I feel this book will help people understand the troubling world of addictions in a dramatic real-life way.

The test of faith is to look at all the dangers ahead and cast ourselves totally on God’s promises, to commit ourselves to a lifetime of trust and confidence in His Word.

Our heavenly Father is not looking for a faith that deals with one problem at a time. He is looking for a lifetime faith, a lifetime commitment to believe Him for the impossible.

Faith is a commitment we make to obey God. It means setting your heart to obey all that is written in God’s Word, without questioning it or taking it lightly.