There is a saying that we have all used. “It’s just common sense”. Common sense tells us not to drive on the wrong side of the road, it tells us to stop at a Stop Sign and look both way before crossing… Well, we look anyway, even if we don’t actually stop. Common sense tells us to go the other way if we see lions or tigers or bears coming our way. Common sense can be very helpful in many parts of life. It keeps us out of trouble and out of danger.

Now some of us would say the common sense is on the decline. If you have ever watched any of those videos about people doing stupid stuff, you will agree. Robbers take video of themselves stealing stuff, and then post the videos on the web, just to make sure they get caught. People lie and cheat to get what they want, with no real understanding of the consequences. Of course I’m just as bad. I get behind the wheel of my car, and I sometimes do stupid stuff, completely ignoring my common sense that tells me I should know better. I guess common sense only works if you listen to it.

There is another kind of sense that is not at all common. The kind I’m talking about is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to me regularly, and when I listen, he also keeps me out of trouble. The great thing about the Holy Spirit is that He is all knowledgable about what I should do. That is really cool, but I still have to listen to him and act if I am going to get the benefit of His knowledge. Trouble is, I don’t always do that. Getting into a competition with another driver is one example.

The Bible tells us to Pray without ceasing. I take that to mean that we need to listen to the Holy Spirit when He speaks, which can be pretty much any time of the day or night. Here is more of that verse;

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; (even when you’re driving) for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”

I like that first part, pray all the time, and be happy while you are doing it. Then the last part comes in with a kicker, Do not quench the Spirit. Kind of like saying pay attention and listen. Don’t ignore Him.

If I would take my own advice, I think I might do a lot less crazy stuff behind the wheel. That is my goal, do less crazy stuff, and listen to the Un-common Sense of the Holy Spirit. How about you?

You have all heard the illustration about the onion; how there is one visible layer, but if you remove that, there is another layer under it , and so on, until you get to the core. As members of motorcycle clubs, one of the outer layers of our onion is brotherhood. Brotherhood is one of those outer layers. It is based on years of building a relationship with integrity. We build integrity when we are who we say we are, and we do what we say we will do. Integrity is built through decision making. We make a decision, and we always follow through with whatever the decision was. Under the decision making layer is another layer that I will call conscience. Your conscience is the core that influences decision making; it tells you to do something that you might not otherwise automatically do.

I got into a relatively minor car accident some years ago, and my first thought and action was to leave the scene. In that case, I actually did leave. I ran away. Fortunately, even though I wasn’t a Christian at the time, God was working in my life and he had other plans. An off duty police officer saw what was happening and chased me until my conscience kicked in and told me to go back. Sometime we are slow to respond to our conscience. My first choice could have had a serious effect on the rest of my life if I hadn’t listened.

We all have a conscience. We can listen to it, or we can tell it to shut up, and go about our business. You might say that listening to our conscience is an important part of making decisions and maintaining our integrity. Integrity makes us trustworthy, which leads us to the brotherhood that we enjoy as part of our clubs.

Everyone has a conscience, but as a Christian, I also have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit actually does more than my conscience, He leads me to accomplish the plan God has for my life. Sometimes that means reminding me to pray for someone I know that is having a difficult time. Sometimes it means turning off the TV to call someone who need encouragement. Sometimes it means getting over my dislike of traffic and going to make a hospital visit.

There are lots of examples in the Bible of how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Here are just two;

Mark 13:11 says; “When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 8:14; “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

The Sprit tells us what to say when we are in trouble, and when we are led by the Sprit, then we are called the sons of God.

That is pretty great stuff, but unlike our conscience, we actually have to have a relationship with God to hear the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t yell, He whispers in our ear. We have to actually tune our hearing to hear him at all. That is done by prayer, which is just talking to God. So, if you don’t know Jesus personally, but would like to, talk to him, quietly, or with a friend. If You already know Jesus, but you haven’t heard the Holy Spirit speak lately, then humble yourself before God, ask Him to speak to you.

Then all we have to do is listen and respond when He speaks. That is my desire, how about you?

We had our monthly chapter meeting for New Life Riders at Spring Hill this evening. As usual, we had great Spring Hill food. My favorite is the Chicken Sandwich, which comes on a bun. Sounds ordinary, but the chicken “slab” is fried to perfections, and it is huge, close to 7 inches across. You definitely don’t go away hungry from Spring Hill.

Another special item this evening was my presentation of hand made pendants to the President and Vice President. They were made by a friend of mine who currently resides in the Arizona Federal Penitentiary. He and I have been corresponding for quite a while, and developed a pretty close friendship. He is quite an artisan, and the bead work of these pendants is really very nice. I included a close up of the one he made for me. Debbie and the two chapter officer recipients were ver pleased to receive them.