Higher Grounds: Finding Common Ground Series, #3

By Lee Warren

You never know where God might show up.

 

In this collection of personal essays, you'll read about him showing up a nursing home during a Christmas caroling excursion, in a bowling alley during a rock concert, in the contents of a family Bible, in a restaurant as two elderly people seek the company of strangers, and so much more. 

 

If you enjoyed author Lee Warren's book of coffee shop essays, "Common Grounds: Contemplations, Confessions, and (Unexpected) Connections from the Coffee Shop," and the follow-up, "Sacred Grounds: First Loves, First Experiences, and First Favorites," then you'll love this third dose of introspection that will remind you to always be on the lookout for God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lee Warren
• Release date: Sep 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386500285

Lee Warren

Other Titles by Lee Warren  In This Series Mercy Inn: A Christmas Novella (The Mercy Inn Series, Book 1) Comeback: A Mercy Inn Series Short Story Essays Common Grounds: Contemplations, Confessions, and (Unexpected) Connections from the Coffee Shop Sacred Grounds: First Loves, First Experiences, and First Favorites Higher Grounds: When God Steps into the Here and Now Devotionals and Gift Books Single Servings: 90 Devotions to Feed Your Soul Fun Facts for Sports Lovers  Inspiring Thoughts for Golfers Racin’ Flat Out for Christ: Spiritual Lessons from the World of NASCAR The Experience of Christmas: Devotions & Activities for Families Finishing Well: Living with the End in Mind (A Devotional) Flying Solo: 30 Devotions to Encourage the Never-Married Writing Write That Devotional Book: From Dream to Reality Write That Book in 30 Days: Daily Inspirational Readings You can find out more about Lee Warren’s books here: http://www.leewarren.info/books Subscribe to Lee’s email list to receive a FREE copy of his Finishing Well: Living with the End in Mind devotional e-book. You will also receive notifications about discounts on his newest books, and become eligible for random giveaways. Sign up here: http://www.leewarren.info/email-list Follow Lee on social media: https://www.facebook.com/leewarrenauthor https://twitter.com/leewarren Visit Lee’s website: http://www.leewarren.info

Book preview

Lee Warren

Higher Grounds

When God Steps into the Here and Now

Copyright © 2017 by Lee Warren

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

All Scripture taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV® Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Contents

Preface

God in a Nursing Home

How Great Thou Art

The Kmart Bible

God in a Bowling Alley

One Act of Kindness

The Haircut

A Clean Break

Son, I Believe

Dad’s Bible

Dad’s Funeral

Thrown into the Fire

Out of the Mouth of Babes

The Patient Pastor

Feeding Jesus

Clothing Jesus

Family Bible

Sin Will Keep You from This Book

Watched by an Angel

Checking the Box

Lord, Save Us

The Sunday School Trailer

Dancing to Forget

A Touchstone

Down Goes Frazier

Do the Next Thing

Throw It Down, Moses

I Love You

A Taste of Heaven

A Stomachache and a Cute Nurse

A Tale of Two Kitties

Other Titles by Lee Warren

Preface

In Exodus 3, Moses was busy minding his own business, keeping the flock for his father-in-law, Jethro. He led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb—referred to in verse one as the mountain of God. Horeb is also known as Sinai (they were two peaks on the same mountain). Commentators say Moses led the flock there because the west side of the wilderness had good pastures. All told, it was a three-day journey from Egypt to Horeb. Apparently, he believed it was worth the trouble. But he couldn’t have expected what came next.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. When Moses examined the bush, he saw that it was burning but not being consumed.

I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned, Moses said.

God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses!

And Moses said, Here I am.

Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

God stepped into the here and now of Moses’ life to tell him he wanted him to confront Pharaoh, who had been oppressing God’s people.

You know the story. Moses made excuses, pointing out his weaknesses. He wasn’t a man of renown. In fact, he was a poor shepherd at this point in his life. Who was he to confront Pharaoh, he wondered out loud.

The short answer was, he was God’s ambassador and the Lord promised to go with him. But that wasn’t good enough. Moses wasn’t an eloquent man. Instead, he was slow of speech and of tongue. How could God possibly want him to go? Of course, all of the reasons he offered were probably the exact reasons God chose him. But yet, God stepped into the here and now while Moses was at work, telling him what he wanted him to do.

Acts 10 records another instance of God stepping into the here and now. Peter is lodging in Joppa with a man named Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He goes up on Simon’s housetop to pray about the sixth hour and became hungry while he was up there. Who among us can’t relate to a grumbling stomach during a prayer meeting? While Simon’s family is preparing a meal inside, Peter falls into a trance and sees the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth (verse 11).

The last thing Peter probably expected when he began to pray was to fall into a trance so he could get a glimpse of heaven in which all manner of animals, reptiles, and birds would appear and be deemed as clean food. God wanted him to know that the ceremonial law had been fulfilled—that all animals were now acceptable for consumption, and he chose to do so by meeting Peter right where he was, on a rooftop in Joppa.

In Genesis 21, Sarah’s jealousy got the best of her and she asked Abraham to send Hagar away. He provided bread and a skin of water and sent her away with their child, Ishmael. She departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. After her water supply ran out, she put her child under a bush and distanced herself from him, about a bowshot away, because she couldn’t bear to watch him die. As she wept, God stepped into her here and now.

An angel called out to Hagar from heaven. What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation (verses 17-18).

God opened her eyes and she caught the scent of water. She approached the well and filled her skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy … (verse 20). The act itself is incredible. God heard the cry of a little boy. But think about it for a minute. He actually sent an angel to meet the needs of the boy who would one day go on to give birth to a religion that has been at odds with Christianity for centuries. Who but God would show such mercy?

Who can understand his ways? Or why he chooses to step into the here and now when he does? My guess is, you can point to dozens of instances when he did so in your own life. Maybe you didn’t always understand how you ended up on higher ground, but he showed up there and it made a lasting difference in your life and in the lives of those you love.

Higher ground, in the sense that I’m referring to the concept in this book, isn’t a higher physical location. We don’t climb higher to reach God. He has already descended to reach us. Instead, what I’m referring to is a higher spiritual location—one in which we have a heightened sense of God’s presence. Intellectually, we always know that God is with us, but we don’t always sense it. When we do, however, it changes everything.

That’s what this book is about. My experiences are different than yours, but I hope that as you read about mine, you’ll be reminded of God’s faithfulness in your life.

God in a Nursing Home

In 2010, my small group of maybe eighteen people from church stepped into the entryway of a nursing home during the Christmas season. The leader of the group handed out a packet of lyrics and we paired up to share them. Our nervous laughter probably told the residents that we had no idea what we were doing. But it was time.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

‘Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay apparel,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la.

Troll the ancient Yule tide carol,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Some of the fa la la la las were just a little too high for me to hit, so I exercised my right to remain silent in those moments. A few people clapped, including a woman who appeared to be a nurse. Later, I learned we had some competition. Someone in our group told me a Victoria’s Secret ad was on TV while we were singing Deck the Halls and some of the male residents weren’t exactly paying attention to us.

We moved down one of the hallways to where some of the residents live, and we were just about to launch into Jingle Bells when a woman approached us in her bathrobe.

Thank you so much for coming. She patted her hands. Can I sing with you?

Of course!

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

O’er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bobtails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight!

Seeing the joy in the woman’s face as she sang with us was a holy moment. Our group of eighteen became nineteen. She stayed with us for the remainder of our visit.

Doors began to open, and residents peeked out. I kept wondering if we were interrupting somebody’s favorite TV show, but other than during the brief Victoria’s Secret ad, we seemed to have everyone’s attention. Residents began to wave at us.