“‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch’… ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ ‘…from now on you will catch men.’” Luke 5:4, 5, 10.
When my children were small there were many challenging days as I stayed home with them for twelve years. At the time, there was nothing glamorous in raising children as one day fades into the next without fanfare or appreciation. One day it was unusually challenging at which point I looked at my children and said I was going to my room and that my day was done. It was only 3:15 in the afternoon but exhaustion knows no time. Obviously, I had to reappear in 30 minutes or so and be mommy again for another 4 hours.
Poor Peter had to be gritting his teeth while explaining this to Jesus. He had just come in from a night of nothing. He had gone out the evening before with a plan, a hope and an expectation. Frustrated and exhausted his night had obviously been in vain…no profit…no yield…no gain. All he wanted to do was clean the boat and hang the nets. But the Lord had other plans for him and the plans involved his obedience at the most difficult time…he was tired, exhausted and discouraged. Sound familiar?
God will require things of us when we have nothing more to give. We are much more willing to surrender and depend on Him for everything when we are at our lowest. When we are obedient, God will bless our nets like He did Peter with such an abundance for which we never could have dreamed. Peter’s yield was so great that it required others to help pull in the net. ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’ Eph. 3:20.
When God blesses us He does not intend for us to hold tightly to the blessings. Blessings from God are meant to go beyond us. Once Peter was blessed God exhorted him to go and bless others by sharing the gift of salvation. He was to catch men instead of fish with every skill God had given him.
God rewarded Peter on one of the lowest mornings of his life. Because of his obedience generations have been blessed by this little fisherman who cast his net one more time. Don’t give up – the yield will be more than you can pull in.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Remembering...
“Why have you rejected us forever, O God…Remember the people you purchased…” Psalm 74:1-2
On the surface this psalm seems to infer that God has forgotten His children. David’s plea goes much deeper than trying to jog God’s memory. In the Bible ‘to remember’ is to express concern for someone followed up with an act of loving care. When the Bible refers to God remembering someone or something, we are about to see a mighty act of God occur.
Gen 8:1 – ‘But God remembered Noah…and he sent a wind over the earth.’
Gen 9:15 – ‘I will remember my covenant between me and you…I never again will destroy…’
Ex. 2:24, 3:8 – ‘God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant… ‘So, I have come down to rescue…’
What David was basically pleading throughout this entire chapter was for God to do something…anything! He was despairingly reminiscing about all of the ways God ‘remembered’ His children in the past by reciting His mighty works and wonders. In Psalm 98 and 136 David is singing praises to God of how He has remembered His children and has been faithful. ‘…to the One who remembered us in our lowly state’, ‘He has remembered His love and His faithfulness.’ David's plea reminds me of a Christian song, 'Lord, move or move me!'
Wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, God will remember you and will move Heaven and earth to deliver you from your circumstances. It is not a matter of will He? but a matter of He will!
Will you remember Him?
On the surface this psalm seems to infer that God has forgotten His children. David’s plea goes much deeper than trying to jog God’s memory. In the Bible ‘to remember’ is to express concern for someone followed up with an act of loving care. When the Bible refers to God remembering someone or something, we are about to see a mighty act of God occur.
Gen 8:1 – ‘But God remembered Noah…and he sent a wind over the earth.’
Gen 9:15 – ‘I will remember my covenant between me and you…I never again will destroy…’
Ex. 2:24, 3:8 – ‘God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant… ‘So, I have come down to rescue…’
What David was basically pleading throughout this entire chapter was for God to do something…anything! He was despairingly reminiscing about all of the ways God ‘remembered’ His children in the past by reciting His mighty works and wonders. In Psalm 98 and 136 David is singing praises to God of how He has remembered His children and has been faithful. ‘…to the One who remembered us in our lowly state’, ‘He has remembered His love and His faithfulness.’ David's plea reminds me of a Christian song, 'Lord, move or move me!'
Wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, God will remember you and will move Heaven and earth to deliver you from your circumstances. It is not a matter of will He? but a matter of He will!
Will you remember Him?
Monday, August 29, 2011
From Manger to Cross - A Parent's Journey
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” Luke 1:45
When considering the life of Mary, mother of Christ, I was moved to tears this morning realizing her journey from the manger to the cross. She knelt to cuddle Him and 33 years later she knelt to mourn Him. I am moved by this today due to fact that Kristen will be 30 on her next birthday. As many of you know, Kristen was a practicing heroin addict for 8 years and through the grace of God walked away from that life 7 years ago. Since that time, she has sponsored many other addicts, lived an extremely strict and disciplined life, deepened her walk with Christ and has made a life-changing impact on others through her testimony. She is only three years away from when Mary’s little boy became one third of the Trinity. I still see her as that little girl as I am sure Mary saw Jesus as she knelt at His feet on the cross.
We have the privilege of looking backwards at dear Mary’s story which is summed up in a tight little package ending in the glorious appearance from her Son after He is resurrected. What the Bible leaves silent is her day to day suffering at the unfolding of the ministry of Jesus…her fears…her heartbreak. The focus was not in the details of her emotions but rather the complete trust and obedience in her walk. She had to trust that wherever God led her and her Son was the ultimate purpose of His life and the glorification of God.
We cannot see the mission that God has chosen for our children. We can only pray to Him and trust that whatever unfolds will be used towards the mission that He has determined for that child. From our children’s birth to death we are entrusted with an amazing privilege called parenthood. Proverbs states that if we raise a child with Christ at the center that child will return to Christ.
Sometimes our role in God’s mission, like Mary’s, may be to parent one who will make a great contribution in the mission of God with their own ministry down the road. Their eventual ministry might have been accompanied by our greatest pain, but the mission would have been impossible without us. Look towards Mary when watching painful circumstances with your own children and be encouraged that one sweet day the reunion of that child that you ‘trained in the way they should go’ will be yours.
‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.’ Romans 12:12.
When considering the life of Mary, mother of Christ, I was moved to tears this morning realizing her journey from the manger to the cross. She knelt to cuddle Him and 33 years later she knelt to mourn Him. I am moved by this today due to fact that Kristen will be 30 on her next birthday. As many of you know, Kristen was a practicing heroin addict for 8 years and through the grace of God walked away from that life 7 years ago. Since that time, she has sponsored many other addicts, lived an extremely strict and disciplined life, deepened her walk with Christ and has made a life-changing impact on others through her testimony. She is only three years away from when Mary’s little boy became one third of the Trinity. I still see her as that little girl as I am sure Mary saw Jesus as she knelt at His feet on the cross.
We have the privilege of looking backwards at dear Mary’s story which is summed up in a tight little package ending in the glorious appearance from her Son after He is resurrected. What the Bible leaves silent is her day to day suffering at the unfolding of the ministry of Jesus…her fears…her heartbreak. The focus was not in the details of her emotions but rather the complete trust and obedience in her walk. She had to trust that wherever God led her and her Son was the ultimate purpose of His life and the glorification of God.
We cannot see the mission that God has chosen for our children. We can only pray to Him and trust that whatever unfolds will be used towards the mission that He has determined for that child. From our children’s birth to death we are entrusted with an amazing privilege called parenthood. Proverbs states that if we raise a child with Christ at the center that child will return to Christ.
Sometimes our role in God’s mission, like Mary’s, may be to parent one who will make a great contribution in the mission of God with their own ministry down the road. Their eventual ministry might have been accompanied by our greatest pain, but the mission would have been impossible without us. Look towards Mary when watching painful circumstances with your own children and be encouraged that one sweet day the reunion of that child that you ‘trained in the way they should go’ will be yours.
‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.’ Romans 12:12.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Hero Who Heals
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor…because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.’” Heb. 8:10-11
God kept His promise to me and He will keep His promise to you. God’s covenant with His children was…is…and will be. We can each know God in our intellect through the faith of others. We can witness how He moves in the midst of the lives of others but until we have our own defining moment and crisis of belief we cannot know Him with our hearts.
I had the privilege of growing up in a family that kept Christ at the center. I was given powerful intellectual truths about God early in life but really didn’t know God until much later in my adult life. It wasn’t until God set up circumstances that made me completely dependent upon Him that His character and faithfulness were written in my heart. When God heals the pain and suffering of our heart, we will not be able to forget the Hero who healed. It is through these ‘deep cuts and healing’ encounters with God which moves Him from the intellect to the heart.
Every one of us, from the least to the greatest, will experience God in both mind (our knowledge of God) and heart (our encounters with God) – it is His guarantee.
We cannot apply a God we do not know to a wound we cannot heal.
God kept His promise to me and He will keep His promise to you. God’s covenant with His children was…is…and will be. We can each know God in our intellect through the faith of others. We can witness how He moves in the midst of the lives of others but until we have our own defining moment and crisis of belief we cannot know Him with our hearts.
I had the privilege of growing up in a family that kept Christ at the center. I was given powerful intellectual truths about God early in life but really didn’t know God until much later in my adult life. It wasn’t until God set up circumstances that made me completely dependent upon Him that His character and faithfulness were written in my heart. When God heals the pain and suffering of our heart, we will not be able to forget the Hero who healed. It is through these ‘deep cuts and healing’ encounters with God which moves Him from the intellect to the heart.
Every one of us, from the least to the greatest, will experience God in both mind (our knowledge of God) and heart (our encounters with God) – it is His guarantee.
We cannot apply a God we do not know to a wound we cannot heal.
Friday, August 26, 2011
In This World...
“He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Eph. 1:4, 11
Each of us has been born with three divine truths. We have been chosen by God, we are being transformed by God and we have been called on mission by God. These truths span the course of our lives. It sounds simple enough but the rub comes in when we accept and realize that there is a force who is working relentlessly to foil this plan for each of us. Consider the life of Jesus... chosen by God, predestined for purpose by God and was enabled and sustained through God during His walk on earth.
Once the ministry of Jesus was born He immediately was led out into the wilderness for a season of testing. Satan waited until the end of the season in the wilderness anticipating the time when Jesus was experiencing His greatest hunger and His lowest resistance. He offered the very thing that God had promised Jesus but without the pain and suffering. Satan doesn’t offer new ideas, just borrowed ideas with shortcuts. The devil doesn’t have an original idea in his head but simply counterfeits whatever God does and says. God said, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.’ Ps. 2:8. The counterfeiter ‘led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you…if you worship me, it will be all yours.'” John 4:5-7. Of course, Jesus chose faithfulness to God through citing scripture. Jesus passed with flying colors but would we?
Think about a time in your life when your pain was so intense and your despair was so deep. What if Satan could have shown us before hand the suffering we could avoid if we would follow him, what would our choice be? Especially if he waited until we had begun to experience the hunger and exhaustion of our circumstances? It is through our struggles that we must endure that develops in us the character of Christ to do the will of our Father. We spend most of our lives trying to avoid pain. These avoidances delay the development of the image of Christ required in accomplishing the mission for which we were called. “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” Phil 1:29.
If we are in this world, trouble and pain will find us. ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.' John 16:33.
Each of us has been born with three divine truths. We have been chosen by God, we are being transformed by God and we have been called on mission by God. These truths span the course of our lives. It sounds simple enough but the rub comes in when we accept and realize that there is a force who is working relentlessly to foil this plan for each of us. Consider the life of Jesus... chosen by God, predestined for purpose by God and was enabled and sustained through God during His walk on earth.
Once the ministry of Jesus was born He immediately was led out into the wilderness for a season of testing. Satan waited until the end of the season in the wilderness anticipating the time when Jesus was experiencing His greatest hunger and His lowest resistance. He offered the very thing that God had promised Jesus but without the pain and suffering. Satan doesn’t offer new ideas, just borrowed ideas with shortcuts. The devil doesn’t have an original idea in his head but simply counterfeits whatever God does and says. God said, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.’ Ps. 2:8. The counterfeiter ‘led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you…if you worship me, it will be all yours.'” John 4:5-7. Of course, Jesus chose faithfulness to God through citing scripture. Jesus passed with flying colors but would we?
Think about a time in your life when your pain was so intense and your despair was so deep. What if Satan could have shown us before hand the suffering we could avoid if we would follow him, what would our choice be? Especially if he waited until we had begun to experience the hunger and exhaustion of our circumstances? It is through our struggles that we must endure that develops in us the character of Christ to do the will of our Father. We spend most of our lives trying to avoid pain. These avoidances delay the development of the image of Christ required in accomplishing the mission for which we were called. “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” Phil 1:29.
If we are in this world, trouble and pain will find us. ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.' John 16:33.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Who Is Our King?
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Pet. 2:9.
With the political season heating up towards the 2012 elections, there will be those who emerge on the landscape to whom many of us will ‘hitch our wagon’ in their rise to power. Their life will be spotlighted for a season and we will not be able to learn enough about them. Our appetites will be insatiable and our curiosity will be non-relenting. Some of us will even be the hands and feet of the person who is rising to power. So where is this same passion for the King who already reigns? Where is the intrigue for the One who sits on the throne? What are our hands and feet accomplishing in His rise to power on earth?
We already have a Ruler and unfortunately we also have a power that is trying to be a frontrunner hoping to tear down and destroy His mission. This hopeful frontrunner's name is Satan and he fights dirty with lies, deceit and evil. He is so crafty we do not even realize the ways we further his purpose and power. Our hands and feet are working to further the mission of one of these two powers on earth. We cannot serve both of these powers and must recognize the way God is calling us to be on mission with Him.
Through Him we are called to serve in a particular assignment from small to large depending upon His purposes. We are to be available and willing to be vessels in His rise to power on earth and be part of the Light that shines in the darkness. Satan knows that God will always reign and rule and no one will be able to dethrone Him. However, Satan also knows that we are the hands and feet of God in the earthly kingdom to accomplish God’s ultimate mission for the eternal kingdom.
If we are to reign with the King in the heavenly kingdom, we must first serve with the King in the earthly kingdom.
With the political season heating up towards the 2012 elections, there will be those who emerge on the landscape to whom many of us will ‘hitch our wagon’ in their rise to power. Their life will be spotlighted for a season and we will not be able to learn enough about them. Our appetites will be insatiable and our curiosity will be non-relenting. Some of us will even be the hands and feet of the person who is rising to power. So where is this same passion for the King who already reigns? Where is the intrigue for the One who sits on the throne? What are our hands and feet accomplishing in His rise to power on earth?
We already have a Ruler and unfortunately we also have a power that is trying to be a frontrunner hoping to tear down and destroy His mission. This hopeful frontrunner's name is Satan and he fights dirty with lies, deceit and evil. He is so crafty we do not even realize the ways we further his purpose and power. Our hands and feet are working to further the mission of one of these two powers on earth. We cannot serve both of these powers and must recognize the way God is calling us to be on mission with Him.
Through Him we are called to serve in a particular assignment from small to large depending upon His purposes. We are to be available and willing to be vessels in His rise to power on earth and be part of the Light that shines in the darkness. Satan knows that God will always reign and rule and no one will be able to dethrone Him. However, Satan also knows that we are the hands and feet of God in the earthly kingdom to accomplish God’s ultimate mission for the eternal kingdom.
If we are to reign with the King in the heavenly kingdom, we must first serve with the King in the earthly kingdom.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Give Them Their King!
“But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations…’ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, ‘Listen to them and give them a king.’” 1 Samuel 8:19-22.
The old statement ‘Be careful what you ask for’ resonates as far back as time began. God had shown Himself continuously and without interruption to His chosen children, the Israelites. They wanted for nothing and had everything – but ‘everything’ is all in the eyes of the beholder.
When our daughter rebelled against everything we had taught her in a sense of family and faith I kept telling the LORD (and my daughter) that she should be happy! I couldn’t understand how she couldn’t see her incredible blessings and the love that she was rejecting. Samuel had the same perspective but did not share that with the Israelites. Their perspective was their reality.
One of the most difficult challenges we face is witnessing our loved ones as they make bad decisions in their choices. Thankfully, we have a God who sees the final outcome and has everything required to bring our loved ones back around. ‘Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to the thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.”’ Exodus 34:5-7
God will give His children over to themselves and their desires. He will allow their desires to lead them to the consequences which lead back to Him. The road starts with Him and ends with Him.
‘They want a king? Give them a king!’
The old statement ‘Be careful what you ask for’ resonates as far back as time began. God had shown Himself continuously and without interruption to His chosen children, the Israelites. They wanted for nothing and had everything – but ‘everything’ is all in the eyes of the beholder.
When our daughter rebelled against everything we had taught her in a sense of family and faith I kept telling the LORD (and my daughter) that she should be happy! I couldn’t understand how she couldn’t see her incredible blessings and the love that she was rejecting. Samuel had the same perspective but did not share that with the Israelites. Their perspective was their reality.
One of the most difficult challenges we face is witnessing our loved ones as they make bad decisions in their choices. Thankfully, we have a God who sees the final outcome and has everything required to bring our loved ones back around. ‘Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to the thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.”’ Exodus 34:5-7
God will give His children over to themselves and their desires. He will allow their desires to lead them to the consequences which lead back to Him. The road starts with Him and ends with Him.
‘They want a king? Give them a king!’
Monday, August 22, 2011
Starving the Flesh
“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place…Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51: 6, 10.
I am sure that God would like a day off from creating. Just in my own life alone, I am constantly requiring the creation of a pure heart. Seems like my thoughts allow impurities to seep in and compromise God’s truth that He places in my inner parts. Some of my thoughts are habitual thoughts from the past and some of my thoughts are deceitful lies from the enemy that he is so successful in controlling me.
God’s goal for every one of His children is truth and wisdom in the inmost place. The word inmost means deepest, private, secret and intimate. God has access to each of these places and with our repentance and permission He will teach, create, renew and sustain.
Our thoughts primarily appear in the flesh and through choice we replace them in the spirit. We must recognize that the flesh thoughts will always be lies the enemy provides. “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom 8:6. We must tear down the arguments in our minds that contradict God’s knowledge and truth. Once these arguments or justifications are imploded, replacing them with new truths is the essential key in a steadfast spirit that will hold up to the lies the next go around.
“Either our thoughts have control of us through the power of the enemy or we have control of them through the power of God.” Beth Moore. There is no middle ground and no compromise.
Every thought must be categorized as truth or lie according to the Word. There isn’t great difficulty in discerning which is which, just difficulty in possessing the self-discipline of the process. Some lies have kept us nourished for so long they have become somewhat of a comfort food for us.
I say, “Starve the flesh and feed the spirit!” as I once read and our Creator will not have such a big job ahead of Him!
I am sure that God would like a day off from creating. Just in my own life alone, I am constantly requiring the creation of a pure heart. Seems like my thoughts allow impurities to seep in and compromise God’s truth that He places in my inner parts. Some of my thoughts are habitual thoughts from the past and some of my thoughts are deceitful lies from the enemy that he is so successful in controlling me.
God’s goal for every one of His children is truth and wisdom in the inmost place. The word inmost means deepest, private, secret and intimate. God has access to each of these places and with our repentance and permission He will teach, create, renew and sustain.
Our thoughts primarily appear in the flesh and through choice we replace them in the spirit. We must recognize that the flesh thoughts will always be lies the enemy provides. “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom 8:6. We must tear down the arguments in our minds that contradict God’s knowledge and truth. Once these arguments or justifications are imploded, replacing them with new truths is the essential key in a steadfast spirit that will hold up to the lies the next go around.
“Either our thoughts have control of us through the power of the enemy or we have control of them through the power of God.” Beth Moore. There is no middle ground and no compromise.
Every thought must be categorized as truth or lie according to the Word. There isn’t great difficulty in discerning which is which, just difficulty in possessing the self-discipline of the process. Some lies have kept us nourished for so long they have become somewhat of a comfort food for us.
I say, “Starve the flesh and feed the spirit!” as I once read and our Creator will not have such a big job ahead of Him!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Where Can I Flee?
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:7-10.
The writings of David always make my heart soar as he echoes in beauty the feelings in my heart. His writings were always drenched with adoration and praise to God with an awareness of human frailties. Our emotions have us bouncing all over the place in the flesh but David knows the importance of anchoring the one constant truth – God’s presence- within the unstable emotions of mankind. I feel that he may be assigning places demonstrating our extreme emotional movement as we have mountaintop experiences with God (the heavens) and valley dwellings (the depths). He speaks of rising with the dawn (feeling God’s presence) and settling on the far side (realizing God’s silence). I cannot help but to notice these extreme visualizations form the cross – to the north, the south, the east and the west. It seems more than ironic that his beautiful poetry could be foreshadowing the work at Calvary with Jesus.
‘He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.’ Apostle’s Creed. Christ now sits to the right of His Father by God’s grace and His assignment. Christ is the right hand of God and acts as the bridge between God and man. It doesn’t matter where we go with our human emotions, the Holy Spirit goes with us to guide and hold us. Once a child of God we cannot go places where God is absent for His spirit is in us and moves through us. Like David, we too can travel emotionally in all directions - '...I go...I flee...I make...I rise...I settle...'
The entire chapter is filled with an outpouring of David’s heart but words we can echo in our prayers. There is something very powerful in reading this chapter aloud in the presence of God. You will be blessed to repeat the passions of an ordinary man who did extraordinary things by placing God at the center of every aspect of his life, no matter what his emotions were saying.
The writings of David always make my heart soar as he echoes in beauty the feelings in my heart. His writings were always drenched with adoration and praise to God with an awareness of human frailties. Our emotions have us bouncing all over the place in the flesh but David knows the importance of anchoring the one constant truth – God’s presence- within the unstable emotions of mankind. I feel that he may be assigning places demonstrating our extreme emotional movement as we have mountaintop experiences with God (the heavens) and valley dwellings (the depths). He speaks of rising with the dawn (feeling God’s presence) and settling on the far side (realizing God’s silence). I cannot help but to notice these extreme visualizations form the cross – to the north, the south, the east and the west. It seems more than ironic that his beautiful poetry could be foreshadowing the work at Calvary with Jesus.
‘He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.’ Apostle’s Creed. Christ now sits to the right of His Father by God’s grace and His assignment. Christ is the right hand of God and acts as the bridge between God and man. It doesn’t matter where we go with our human emotions, the Holy Spirit goes with us to guide and hold us. Once a child of God we cannot go places where God is absent for His spirit is in us and moves through us. Like David, we too can travel emotionally in all directions - '...I go...I flee...I make...I rise...I settle...'
The entire chapter is filled with an outpouring of David’s heart but words we can echo in our prayers. There is something very powerful in reading this chapter aloud in the presence of God. You will be blessed to repeat the passions of an ordinary man who did extraordinary things by placing God at the center of every aspect of his life, no matter what his emotions were saying.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Ready to Tumble
“…like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions” Deut. 32:11
This morning we take a second look at yesterday’s verse concentrating on the mother eagle’s responsibility once she stirs up the nest. The imagery is powerful as she sits suspended in air above her eaglets to show them how big and powerful she is…she is all they need. ‘She seems to say… “Never fear; I am here…I know you sit on briars. I know you are crying, but I have everything under control.” On Mission With God, p. 71.
Once the little eaglets climb upon the wings of their mother she takes them high up in the air and then pushes them off to teach them to fly. Some fly the first time nudged and others go into a free fall tumbling to the earth. They never plunge to their death however because their mother has it all under control. The mother eagle swoops down and catches them and returns them to the nest…but they have seen the view from above and desire more. Their destiny is secure as long as their flight is instructed by their mother. This process continues until each of them has mastered their flight.
We, too, have a powerful and omniscient parent who shows us His power and glory as He anchors Himself around us to comfort and encourage us. He invites us to climb aboard His wings for a flight that will be eye opening and life transforming. We cannot get the same view from the nest that we can get from the air. Although scary, trust in God is the basis of the flight…do we trust Him to navigate and nudge us in His timing?
About 8 years ago, God stirred up my life one night and shoved me out of my imprisoning nest. I had secretly mounted up thousands of dollars in credit card debt and that night God communicated with me that enough was enough…He was ready to show me the view from above. He impressed upon me such a sense of urgency that I woke up my husband and came clean on everything. What a free fall but God had already been preparing my husband’s heart. The fall was dizzying but the flight was worth it. To fulfill the purpose for which God had created me I had to be placed in a faith-creating position. I had to climb upon His wings, take flight with Him and be prepared to tumble until my little wings were strong enough to fly on faith.
What felt like life threatening ended up life transforming!
This morning we take a second look at yesterday’s verse concentrating on the mother eagle’s responsibility once she stirs up the nest. The imagery is powerful as she sits suspended in air above her eaglets to show them how big and powerful she is…she is all they need. ‘She seems to say… “Never fear; I am here…I know you sit on briars. I know you are crying, but I have everything under control.” On Mission With God, p. 71.
Once the little eaglets climb upon the wings of their mother she takes them high up in the air and then pushes them off to teach them to fly. Some fly the first time nudged and others go into a free fall tumbling to the earth. They never plunge to their death however because their mother has it all under control. The mother eagle swoops down and catches them and returns them to the nest…but they have seen the view from above and desire more. Their destiny is secure as long as their flight is instructed by their mother. This process continues until each of them has mastered their flight.
We, too, have a powerful and omniscient parent who shows us His power and glory as He anchors Himself around us to comfort and encourage us. He invites us to climb aboard His wings for a flight that will be eye opening and life transforming. We cannot get the same view from the nest that we can get from the air. Although scary, trust in God is the basis of the flight…do we trust Him to navigate and nudge us in His timing?
About 8 years ago, God stirred up my life one night and shoved me out of my imprisoning nest. I had secretly mounted up thousands of dollars in credit card debt and that night God communicated with me that enough was enough…He was ready to show me the view from above. He impressed upon me such a sense of urgency that I woke up my husband and came clean on everything. What a free fall but God had already been preparing my husband’s heart. The fall was dizzying but the flight was worth it. To fulfill the purpose for which God had created me I had to be placed in a faith-creating position. I had to climb upon His wings, take flight with Him and be prepared to tumble until my little wings were strong enough to fly on faith.
What felt like life threatening ended up life transforming!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Sitting on Briars
“…like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions” Deut. 32:11.
This beautiful analogy is one given to us as a treasure to store in our hearts. There is nothing more powerful in the air that possesses such beauty and strength as the eagle. In relation to our verse I was blessed this morning by the additional information in my Bible Study, On Mission With God, p. 70. It states that ‘When an eagle gets ready to build its nest, it finds a crag or a ledge where wild animals cannot get to it. There the eagle weaves such a large, solid nest out of sticks, branches, briars or bones that even the high, swirling winds cannot blow it down. Then it lines that nest with feathers, cloth, papers, or anything soft for comfort. The little eaglets hatch in that cozy environment…they are safe. The mother eagle knows that these eagles were not born to sit in a nest all their lives. When the time comes to fly, she reaches into the nest, pulls out all the soft down…sits the eaglets down on the briars…They begin to cry out because everywhere they turn, they get stuck.’
Sound familiar? When we get too comfortable in life God will stir our lives in a way that will challenge us to fly and will remove the comfort that has been ours in the past. There will certainly be seasons when our nest is lined with soft feathers and security and other times our nest rocks out of control. Just like the eagle hovers over its young, so does God hover over His children. He never leaves us during the times we must sit down on briars and will not allow us to stay uncomfortable one day longer than necessary. He knows that the little eaglets will not choose to remain where the discomforts lie but rather will choose to fly once the security is in place.
If we are stuck in one stage of our spiritual development we can be assured that our nest will be stirred up…we were not born to sit in a nest all of our lives.
This beautiful analogy is one given to us as a treasure to store in our hearts. There is nothing more powerful in the air that possesses such beauty and strength as the eagle. In relation to our verse I was blessed this morning by the additional information in my Bible Study, On Mission With God, p. 70. It states that ‘When an eagle gets ready to build its nest, it finds a crag or a ledge where wild animals cannot get to it. There the eagle weaves such a large, solid nest out of sticks, branches, briars or bones that even the high, swirling winds cannot blow it down. Then it lines that nest with feathers, cloth, papers, or anything soft for comfort. The little eaglets hatch in that cozy environment…they are safe. The mother eagle knows that these eagles were not born to sit in a nest all their lives. When the time comes to fly, she reaches into the nest, pulls out all the soft down…sits the eaglets down on the briars…They begin to cry out because everywhere they turn, they get stuck.’
Sound familiar? When we get too comfortable in life God will stir our lives in a way that will challenge us to fly and will remove the comfort that has been ours in the past. There will certainly be seasons when our nest is lined with soft feathers and security and other times our nest rocks out of control. Just like the eagle hovers over its young, so does God hover over His children. He never leaves us during the times we must sit down on briars and will not allow us to stay uncomfortable one day longer than necessary. He knows that the little eaglets will not choose to remain where the discomforts lie but rather will choose to fly once the security is in place.
If we are stuck in one stage of our spiritual development we can be assured that our nest will be stirred up…we were not born to sit in a nest all of our lives.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Arms Wide Open
“I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke…I will free you from being slaves…and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm…I will take you…and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke…” Ex. 6:6-7.
This is one of the most compassionate and beautiful promises God gave Moses, His people and every one of us today. It is the promise from a Father to His children of the past, present and future. It was their promise, it is our promise and it will be the promise of all generations who follow.
This morning my heart is tender as I visualize the anchor of this promise. God was giving a future hope of redemption as He spoke to Moses. What Moses could only hear in theory we have seen played out through history. We now know this promise was fulfilled on the cross by those precious arms stretched out redeeming each of us once and for all. We are the recipients of the yoke of sin being removed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. His weak arms were stretched from one side of the cross to the other in order that we may know Him as Lord and Savior after His death and resurrection.
Every day there are people who live under the yoke of something…addiction, fear, and diseases to name a few. Enslavement to anything is a discouraging and despairing cloud under which we all live at some point in our lives. Satan can even enslave us with our own ministries. He takes whatever is pure, noble and spiritual and distorts, disorients and distracts. His job is to both confuse and deceive us with the message that the work on the cross fell short…that the outstretched arms weren’t enough to liberate…to redeem…to save.
God’s promises are tried, true and eternal. God will free us from all enslavement if we will truly believe that His work on the cross was enough, is enough and will always be enough. As Grandmother said, HE IS LORD OF EVERYTHING OR HE IS LORD OF NOTHING!
This is one of the most compassionate and beautiful promises God gave Moses, His people and every one of us today. It is the promise from a Father to His children of the past, present and future. It was their promise, it is our promise and it will be the promise of all generations who follow.
This morning my heart is tender as I visualize the anchor of this promise. God was giving a future hope of redemption as He spoke to Moses. What Moses could only hear in theory we have seen played out through history. We now know this promise was fulfilled on the cross by those precious arms stretched out redeeming each of us once and for all. We are the recipients of the yoke of sin being removed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. His weak arms were stretched from one side of the cross to the other in order that we may know Him as Lord and Savior after His death and resurrection.
Every day there are people who live under the yoke of something…addiction, fear, and diseases to name a few. Enslavement to anything is a discouraging and despairing cloud under which we all live at some point in our lives. Satan can even enslave us with our own ministries. He takes whatever is pure, noble and spiritual and distorts, disorients and distracts. His job is to both confuse and deceive us with the message that the work on the cross fell short…that the outstretched arms weren’t enough to liberate…to redeem…to save.
God’s promises are tried, true and eternal. God will free us from all enslavement if we will truly believe that His work on the cross was enough, is enough and will always be enough. As Grandmother said, HE IS LORD OF EVERYTHING OR HE IS LORD OF NOTHING!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Who Am I?
“Who am I, that I should go…?” Ex. 3:11.
Every one of us at some point in our life has probably asked God the very question Moses asked of Him. It is the battle cry of mankind over the course of time when approaching God and questioning the ability to accomplish what He is requiring. I never know what divine nuggets God is going to drop into my mind each morning but I know to expect them. This morning it was realization that when Moses was called to be God’s instrument in rescuing the Israelites he was eighty years old. The other question I would be asking of God is “Why now? Lord, I have been roaming around on the back side of this desert for 40 years!” Moses fled for his life in Egypt after interceding for the physical cruelty against one of his Hebrew brothers resulting in the murder of the Egyptian slave driver. I am sure that God used the 40 years to develop Moses into the character of faith that God required for this deliverance.
The other realization that I had this morning was that Moses came 500 years after Abraham was given the original promise of establishing God’s people. Just as we look backwards in history to understand the great faith of those who went before us, Moses had most likely heard of the covenant between God and Abraham. They didn’t have a Bible to read back then, but rather stories passed down through the generations. So Moses was just as removed from those champions of faith as we are removed from his story. Every generation has their own spiritual mark to make on the ultimate mission of God – that every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord and Savior bringing all to His eternity at the proper time.
The older we get we more we develop into that ‘slow down’ mentality. We set as our goal that period in our lives where all things are winding down and rest is entitled and deserved. When reflecting over the life of Abraham and Moses I am reminded that these two men were closer to the end of their lives opposed to their earlier lives of youth and vitality. God will use us daily in His mission but it will be in direct correlation with our level of faith and obedience. God is in no hurry and He is not going anywhere. The mission is unchanging and He will use whoever is approachable, faithful and willing.
I am only fifty and was totally worn out after taking my six and three year old grandchildren to the beach a while back for 3 days! I can’t imagine being called to bring a couple hundred thousand whining and ungrateful Israelites through the desert for forty years. (At least I had a pool and water park for the grandkids!)
We must change our slow down mentality and gear up for God as we get older. With every year that passes we are hopefully becoming more spiritually seasoned. It is God who has gotten us to this point in our lives so why not offer our praise and thankfulness for His faithfulness in obedience to whatever He asks of us.
Who am I indeed?
Every one of us at some point in our life has probably asked God the very question Moses asked of Him. It is the battle cry of mankind over the course of time when approaching God and questioning the ability to accomplish what He is requiring. I never know what divine nuggets God is going to drop into my mind each morning but I know to expect them. This morning it was realization that when Moses was called to be God’s instrument in rescuing the Israelites he was eighty years old. The other question I would be asking of God is “Why now? Lord, I have been roaming around on the back side of this desert for 40 years!” Moses fled for his life in Egypt after interceding for the physical cruelty against one of his Hebrew brothers resulting in the murder of the Egyptian slave driver. I am sure that God used the 40 years to develop Moses into the character of faith that God required for this deliverance.
The other realization that I had this morning was that Moses came 500 years after Abraham was given the original promise of establishing God’s people. Just as we look backwards in history to understand the great faith of those who went before us, Moses had most likely heard of the covenant between God and Abraham. They didn’t have a Bible to read back then, but rather stories passed down through the generations. So Moses was just as removed from those champions of faith as we are removed from his story. Every generation has their own spiritual mark to make on the ultimate mission of God – that every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord and Savior bringing all to His eternity at the proper time.
The older we get we more we develop into that ‘slow down’ mentality. We set as our goal that period in our lives where all things are winding down and rest is entitled and deserved. When reflecting over the life of Abraham and Moses I am reminded that these two men were closer to the end of their lives opposed to their earlier lives of youth and vitality. God will use us daily in His mission but it will be in direct correlation with our level of faith and obedience. God is in no hurry and He is not going anywhere. The mission is unchanging and He will use whoever is approachable, faithful and willing.
I am only fifty and was totally worn out after taking my six and three year old grandchildren to the beach a while back for 3 days! I can’t imagine being called to bring a couple hundred thousand whining and ungrateful Israelites through the desert for forty years. (At least I had a pool and water park for the grandkids!)
We must change our slow down mentality and gear up for God as we get older. With every year that passes we are hopefully becoming more spiritually seasoned. It is God who has gotten us to this point in our lives so why not offer our praise and thankfulness for His faithfulness in obedience to whatever He asks of us.
Who am I indeed?
Friday, August 12, 2011
Spiritual Pride
“Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.” Luke 22:24.
The fellowship and intimacy that we develop with God should be the priority in each of our lives. In Christ, we should grow in wisdom and knowledge but also abide in humility. It is a difficult balance to own but I have had the pleasure of knowing an expert in achieving her balanced faith powered by complete humility – my precious grandmother. If anyone had the authority to feel like they were in ‘the inner circle with God’ (which only exists in our ego for God has no favorites) it would be Grandmother. But she knew the importance of her contribution as an equal member in the Body of Christ. She realized that to operate as an island in her faith she would miss out on the revelations God had for her through others. She was as far from possessing spiritual pride as you could get.
Physically speaking, the disciples were obviously in the inner circle of Jesus as they walked, learned and received from Him daily. Right up to the end Christ still taught them this powerful lesson – the importance of realizing you are only one equal part of the Body. God sent me this message back in March of this year as I was awakened with His words, ‘In Christ no man is an island.’ I knew immediately that I was going to receive a spiritual mentor which He was faithful sending in April. Receiving all that God desires to send us brings power to the following verses:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me. May they be brought into complete unity to let the world know…” John 17:22-23.
Christians were meant to be interdependent on each other within the Body of Christ. We are to recognize that in some seasons we are to give to the Body and other seasons we are to receive from the Body. It is the way of the perfect balance that our Christ Jesus understood so well.
Even Jesus asked for prayer….
The fellowship and intimacy that we develop with God should be the priority in each of our lives. In Christ, we should grow in wisdom and knowledge but also abide in humility. It is a difficult balance to own but I have had the pleasure of knowing an expert in achieving her balanced faith powered by complete humility – my precious grandmother. If anyone had the authority to feel like they were in ‘the inner circle with God’ (which only exists in our ego for God has no favorites) it would be Grandmother. But she knew the importance of her contribution as an equal member in the Body of Christ. She realized that to operate as an island in her faith she would miss out on the revelations God had for her through others. She was as far from possessing spiritual pride as you could get.
Physically speaking, the disciples were obviously in the inner circle of Jesus as they walked, learned and received from Him daily. Right up to the end Christ still taught them this powerful lesson – the importance of realizing you are only one equal part of the Body. God sent me this message back in March of this year as I was awakened with His words, ‘In Christ no man is an island.’ I knew immediately that I was going to receive a spiritual mentor which He was faithful sending in April. Receiving all that God desires to send us brings power to the following verses:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me. May they be brought into complete unity to let the world know…” John 17:22-23.
Christians were meant to be interdependent on each other within the Body of Christ. We are to recognize that in some seasons we are to give to the Body and other seasons we are to receive from the Body. It is the way of the perfect balance that our Christ Jesus understood so well.
Even Jesus asked for prayer….
Thursday, August 11, 2011
There Above It...
“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground on which you are lying…All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’” Gen 28: 12-15.
I am constantly amazed at the new awareness in Scripture I have read many times but new messages are revealed. The passage above is an exchange between Jacob and God at a time in Jacob’s life when a reaffirmation of promise is required. No doubt Jacob had grown up hearing the promises of God through generations that preceded him, but God knew the importance of Jacob experiencing Him personally – an experience and promise that Jacob could own himself.
I can relate to the necessity of our personal ownership of our relationship with God. I grew up knowing God through my grandparents and parents, but it wasn’t until I had my own encounters with God that He established Himself in my own land. His promises were made to me and many have all been realized. There are still some promises claimed but not yet realized on the horizon just as Jacob’s unfulfilled promise. There is great importance in preparing our children and grandchildren for the appearance of the Lord. It is through our description and testimony of ways that the Lord has delivered us that will help our children recognize God when that beautiful stairway to heaven is revealed to them. He will make Himself real and personal to each of us if we will open our hearts and minds to His appearance and Presence.
My commentary states, ‘Jacob had a wonderful dream in which he saw a staircase extending from earth to heaven. This suggested ‘the fact of a real, uninterrupted, and close communion between heaven and earth, and in particular between God in His glory and man in his solitude.’ P. 64.
Our testimony of the times that ‘there above it stood the Lord’ will be the authentic story of our faith that will bless all those in our sphere of influence.
I am constantly amazed at the new awareness in Scripture I have read many times but new messages are revealed. The passage above is an exchange between Jacob and God at a time in Jacob’s life when a reaffirmation of promise is required. No doubt Jacob had grown up hearing the promises of God through generations that preceded him, but God knew the importance of Jacob experiencing Him personally – an experience and promise that Jacob could own himself.
I can relate to the necessity of our personal ownership of our relationship with God. I grew up knowing God through my grandparents and parents, but it wasn’t until I had my own encounters with God that He established Himself in my own land. His promises were made to me and many have all been realized. There are still some promises claimed but not yet realized on the horizon just as Jacob’s unfulfilled promise. There is great importance in preparing our children and grandchildren for the appearance of the Lord. It is through our description and testimony of ways that the Lord has delivered us that will help our children recognize God when that beautiful stairway to heaven is revealed to them. He will make Himself real and personal to each of us if we will open our hearts and minds to His appearance and Presence.
My commentary states, ‘Jacob had a wonderful dream in which he saw a staircase extending from earth to heaven. This suggested ‘the fact of a real, uninterrupted, and close communion between heaven and earth, and in particular between God in His glory and man in his solitude.’ P. 64.
Our testimony of the times that ‘there above it stood the Lord’ will be the authentic story of our faith that will bless all those in our sphere of influence.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
He Remembers...
"Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant…The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:36
I know that the Old Testament can be very intimidating to read and somewhat confusing but I have taken some of my greatest lessons from Exodus and the process of the Israelites being delivered from their slavery and captivity. It is not difficult to place yourself in the sandals of these slaves of Egypt. We are all prisoners of something that controls our lives with a destiny to be freed through Christ.
The first verse states that God remembered…not to say He had ever forgotten them but rather the perfect time of the covenant fulfilled was upon them. Whenever the Bible states that God ‘remembered’ there is always a move on the part of God to act on the behalf of the person for whom God is delivering. God not only delivered the Israelites from their slavery but He arranged a set of circumstances and attitudes among the Egyptians for them to allow the Israelites to plunder their riches. The Israelites owned nothing but were delivered with the best of riches possessed by the Egyptians.
God does the same for us as we are being delivered from our captors. Our riches may not be tangible items for which we can hold but they will be items of polished beauty such as compassion, humility, God-focus and a stronger faith. There will be plunder that we attain through the remembrance of God and the action He takes on our behalf. We will not be delivered from slavery to victory without the riches of God no matter what the length of stay in our slavery. Only through the remembrance of God and the timing of His deliverance are we able to live beyond our human responses in our wilderness and reside in the divine grace of His riches.
There will always be plunder to attain from our escape from slavery. Don’t just retake already surrendered ground – allow Him to expand your territory and enjoy the plunder.
I know that the Old Testament can be very intimidating to read and somewhat confusing but I have taken some of my greatest lessons from Exodus and the process of the Israelites being delivered from their slavery and captivity. It is not difficult to place yourself in the sandals of these slaves of Egypt. We are all prisoners of something that controls our lives with a destiny to be freed through Christ.
The first verse states that God remembered…not to say He had ever forgotten them but rather the perfect time of the covenant fulfilled was upon them. Whenever the Bible states that God ‘remembered’ there is always a move on the part of God to act on the behalf of the person for whom God is delivering. God not only delivered the Israelites from their slavery but He arranged a set of circumstances and attitudes among the Egyptians for them to allow the Israelites to plunder their riches. The Israelites owned nothing but were delivered with the best of riches possessed by the Egyptians.
God does the same for us as we are being delivered from our captors. Our riches may not be tangible items for which we can hold but they will be items of polished beauty such as compassion, humility, God-focus and a stronger faith. There will be plunder that we attain through the remembrance of God and the action He takes on our behalf. We will not be delivered from slavery to victory without the riches of God no matter what the length of stay in our slavery. Only through the remembrance of God and the timing of His deliverance are we able to live beyond our human responses in our wilderness and reside in the divine grace of His riches.
There will always be plunder to attain from our escape from slavery. Don’t just retake already surrendered ground – allow Him to expand your territory and enjoy the plunder.
Monday, August 8, 2011
So It Will Be...
“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai… ‘Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well.’ … so the LORD inflicted serious diseases… ‘Now then, here is your wife, take her and go!’” Genesis 12:10-20.
First of foremost I feel so badly for Abram because I can relate to fear in some areas of my own life. This was a man who had incredible faith when he was first called by God. God intersected his pagan life and commanded him ‘to leave his country, his people and his father’s household.’ Abram immediately obeyed God, packed up his family and left without even knowing where God was taking him. But then there was a period in his life {a severe famine} when he was doing without…hungry…empty…burdened for his family…and scared. Through his fear he became self-focused instead of God-focused and practically gave up his wife to Pharaoh, the very woman with whom God was going to fulfill His promise to Abraham. As God does so well, He intervened and ‘inflicted diseases on Pharaoh and his household’ at the point of Pharaoh kicking the mother of the promised son (Isaac) out!
Abram’s fear was derailing God’s eternal plan. It seems unfathomable that we are chosen by God to participate in such divine significance with such earthly flaws. Thankfully, God will set out to do what He purposes in spite of our fears. “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” ‘For the LORD Almighty has purposed and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?’ Isaiah 14:24, 27
The answer is no one and no way! My Bible Study, On Mission With God, states ‘God intervened to salvage the situation, but can you imagine what the Egyptian ruler thought about this faithless behavior on Abraham’s part?’ p. 35.
What is our faith saying to others? Are we throwing a decoy out there in our faith to avoid some unpleasantness or are we standing up for God’s purposes no matter what fear is at the base of our hearts? I am so encouraged that God isn’t looking for perfect people with perfect faith – there has only been One. God is simply looking for ordinary people to do extraordinary things through an extraordinary God.
Surely as He has planned!
First of foremost I feel so badly for Abram because I can relate to fear in some areas of my own life. This was a man who had incredible faith when he was first called by God. God intersected his pagan life and commanded him ‘to leave his country, his people and his father’s household.’ Abram immediately obeyed God, packed up his family and left without even knowing where God was taking him. But then there was a period in his life {a severe famine} when he was doing without…hungry…empty…burdened for his family…and scared. Through his fear he became self-focused instead of God-focused and practically gave up his wife to Pharaoh, the very woman with whom God was going to fulfill His promise to Abraham. As God does so well, He intervened and ‘inflicted diseases on Pharaoh and his household’ at the point of Pharaoh kicking the mother of the promised son (Isaac) out!
Abram’s fear was derailing God’s eternal plan. It seems unfathomable that we are chosen by God to participate in such divine significance with such earthly flaws. Thankfully, God will set out to do what He purposes in spite of our fears. “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” ‘For the LORD Almighty has purposed and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?’ Isaiah 14:24, 27
The answer is no one and no way! My Bible Study, On Mission With God, states ‘God intervened to salvage the situation, but can you imagine what the Egyptian ruler thought about this faithless behavior on Abraham’s part?’ p. 35.
What is our faith saying to others? Are we throwing a decoy out there in our faith to avoid some unpleasantness or are we standing up for God’s purposes no matter what fear is at the base of our hearts? I am so encouraged that God isn’t looking for perfect people with perfect faith – there has only been One. God is simply looking for ordinary people to do extraordinary things through an extraordinary God.
Surely as He has planned!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
All Ashore
“When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man…For a long time this man … had lived in tombs…For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained…the man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him… ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’” Luke 8:26-39
This was an encounter between good and evil, perfection and imperfection, Christ and Satan. This is the story of sin in the heart of man. We all have it, we all live among it and we all struggle within our own sin. We all have an appetite of sin for which we have struggled many times throughout our life. We each know within us our appetite of sin which reappears without notice, and ‘seizes us’ over and over again. It is the habitual practice for which Satan uses time and time again due to its past successes. Our sins live in those private and shameful places in our hearts.
But then Christ docks on our shore of sin and steps out of the boat. He faces our sin head on as He exposes, commands and convicts. Satan knows that God is greater than our sin and that He will not be satisfied until our surrender and repentance.
Our sins wrap their chains around us and before we know it we are firmly bound by them. We live in shame and fear of the exposure of these sins. We relegate ourselves to tombs fearful of letting anyone too close. We can be assured that as long as we live in our unconfessed sin, much like this man, ‘we will have not.’ We will be without the peace and contentment that is offered through the cleansing of our heart. We will be without the joy that is found in Him. We will be without a song in our heart testifying of Christ’s great and marvelous forgiveness and deliverance. We will live in tombs!
It is guaranteed that Christ will step ashore on all of our little islands. Meet Him at the water’s edge and welcome Him on your knees. Then return home to that place where shame and fear no longer reside and tell how much God has done for you!
This was an encounter between good and evil, perfection and imperfection, Christ and Satan. This is the story of sin in the heart of man. We all have it, we all live among it and we all struggle within our own sin. We all have an appetite of sin for which we have struggled many times throughout our life. We each know within us our appetite of sin which reappears without notice, and ‘seizes us’ over and over again. It is the habitual practice for which Satan uses time and time again due to its past successes. Our sins live in those private and shameful places in our hearts.
But then Christ docks on our shore of sin and steps out of the boat. He faces our sin head on as He exposes, commands and convicts. Satan knows that God is greater than our sin and that He will not be satisfied until our surrender and repentance.
Our sins wrap their chains around us and before we know it we are firmly bound by them. We live in shame and fear of the exposure of these sins. We relegate ourselves to tombs fearful of letting anyone too close. We can be assured that as long as we live in our unconfessed sin, much like this man, ‘we will have not.’ We will be without the peace and contentment that is offered through the cleansing of our heart. We will be without the joy that is found in Him. We will be without a song in our heart testifying of Christ’s great and marvelous forgiveness and deliverance. We will live in tombs!
It is guaranteed that Christ will step ashore on all of our little islands. Meet Him at the water’s edge and welcome Him on your knees. Then return home to that place where shame and fear no longer reside and tell how much God has done for you!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Compass of God
“Guide me in your truth and teach me.” Psalm 25:5
One of the most awesome inventions in my opinion is the GPS – sort of an updated version of the old fashioned compass of yesteryear. A compass is an instrument which gives a sense of personal directions just like the GPS. While these inventions continue to change over time there is one compass that will never change – God’s. Using the compass of God we will always be able to navigate through the waters of life, both stormy and calm. Our adversities will not leave us stranded when we apply the directions of God.
North of Adversity – When the Israelites were going through the desert they were in foreign territory. They simply had to look north to receive their guidance. ‘By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.’ Ex. 13:21-22. When I look up to the northern sky and see the clouds gently moving I think of God’s promise to His chosen people. Hebrews refers to the count of His faithful servants as ‘clouds of witnesses.’ God leads through ‘a pillar of cloud’ and we are to follow those examples of faith. Look north to see those clouds of faith.
South of Adversity – The next compass point is prayer. When you go to your knees you are honoring God’s desire – fellowship with Him. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He fell with His face to the ground when He prayed to His Father. These were some of Jesus’ darkest hours. When you are in your darkest times, go south to your knees, praise God for everything He is accomplishing and receive His endurance and strength in your weakness.
East of Adversity – When God gave specific instructions of how to build the entrance to the tabernacle His command was an eastern entrance. The prediction of the coming of the Messiah was that He would come from the east. The wise men followed the eastern star to find the Way. The east symbolizes entrance, new beginnings and light for the day such as the sunrise. We never question whether the sun will rise, will move and will light our way. By faith, we expect its appearance each morning, we anticipate the warmth it will provide and count on the light to show us where we are going. We can look towards the east of each day and are reminded that God is the beginning and the entrance into peace.
West of Adversity – At the end of each day no matter what your wilderness has brought God gives us the awesome power of the sunset. The sunset gives us comfort that God has marked another day at its end and He has sustained us. Although it is time for us to rest, the Lord never gets tired and those who rest in Him will find renewal. Just as the sun continues to warm when we cannot see it, God continues to renew us through the night. In the midst of whatever challenges you are experiencing, we can rest on the promise of the sunset that God will renew us through the night if we lift up our weariness to Him at the end of the day.
We cannot afford to travel through life without the compass of God.
One of the most awesome inventions in my opinion is the GPS – sort of an updated version of the old fashioned compass of yesteryear. A compass is an instrument which gives a sense of personal directions just like the GPS. While these inventions continue to change over time there is one compass that will never change – God’s. Using the compass of God we will always be able to navigate through the waters of life, both stormy and calm. Our adversities will not leave us stranded when we apply the directions of God.
North of Adversity – When the Israelites were going through the desert they were in foreign territory. They simply had to look north to receive their guidance. ‘By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.’ Ex. 13:21-22. When I look up to the northern sky and see the clouds gently moving I think of God’s promise to His chosen people. Hebrews refers to the count of His faithful servants as ‘clouds of witnesses.’ God leads through ‘a pillar of cloud’ and we are to follow those examples of faith. Look north to see those clouds of faith.
South of Adversity – The next compass point is prayer. When you go to your knees you are honoring God’s desire – fellowship with Him. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He fell with His face to the ground when He prayed to His Father. These were some of Jesus’ darkest hours. When you are in your darkest times, go south to your knees, praise God for everything He is accomplishing and receive His endurance and strength in your weakness.
East of Adversity – When God gave specific instructions of how to build the entrance to the tabernacle His command was an eastern entrance. The prediction of the coming of the Messiah was that He would come from the east. The wise men followed the eastern star to find the Way. The east symbolizes entrance, new beginnings and light for the day such as the sunrise. We never question whether the sun will rise, will move and will light our way. By faith, we expect its appearance each morning, we anticipate the warmth it will provide and count on the light to show us where we are going. We can look towards the east of each day and are reminded that God is the beginning and the entrance into peace.
West of Adversity – At the end of each day no matter what your wilderness has brought God gives us the awesome power of the sunset. The sunset gives us comfort that God has marked another day at its end and He has sustained us. Although it is time for us to rest, the Lord never gets tired and those who rest in Him will find renewal. Just as the sun continues to warm when we cannot see it, God continues to renew us through the night. In the midst of whatever challenges you are experiencing, we can rest on the promise of the sunset that God will renew us through the night if we lift up our weariness to Him at the end of the day.
We cannot afford to travel through life without the compass of God.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Casualty of War
“When the men of Judah came over to the place that overlooks the desert and looked towards the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped…There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. On the fourth day they assembled where they praised the Lord.” 2 Ch. 20:24, 25b
Although these words are on paper telling of a remarkable experience on a remarkable day at the hands of a remarkable God, this story is alive in 2011.
For five years our desert was terminal diseases with many battles and heartbreaking earthly casualties. It was a season of war after war with armies of uncontrolled emotions and deep despair. It was the wilderness that required complete dependency on God and His daily manna from Heaven. But all deserts have a boundary of entrance and of exit.
As I have come to the place overlooking the desert I praise God that I am beyond that bloody battle. As I reflect, my losses have nothing to do with my loved ones as they are living in the land of abundance with the Devine. What they lacked on earth they have in Heaven. Whatever wounds and sorrow defined them down here have been perfectly healed as they fellowship face to face with the Father. What I do see as dead bodies on the ground as I survey the land is the failure of Satan to destroy during this season. He invaded at a time when I was weak but God prevailed. Satan sought but God fought! This is also your God who is mighty to save in all things and all seasons.
I am living in the third and fourth days now, one of collecting blessings and praising the One who went before me and fought on my behalf. Each of us has either left the desert, is in the desert or will enter the desert. The journey has been marked out before us, so we must anticipate the battles and allow the Commander to fight for us. Satan is behind every battle so our preparation is crucial for triumph. He knows his ineffectiveness against God so he fights dirty. He waits until we are down and out, fearful and so weary we cannot see up ahead. But, he always underestimates and forgets that when we are weak God is strong, and His power begins where our strength ends. When will Satan learn? Our battle strategy is found in 2 Chronicles. ‘You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you…Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’
And when we take up our position of faith, standing on that firm place we will see the battle from afar. We will not allow Satan to swallow up the hope that is ours. And now, atop the mountain looking down on the desert I repeat the words of Paul in 2Tim. 4:16-18.
‘But the Lord stood by my side and gave strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed…and I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely to his…kingdom.’
...and our Father will rescue you too!
Although these words are on paper telling of a remarkable experience on a remarkable day at the hands of a remarkable God, this story is alive in 2011.
For five years our desert was terminal diseases with many battles and heartbreaking earthly casualties. It was a season of war after war with armies of uncontrolled emotions and deep despair. It was the wilderness that required complete dependency on God and His daily manna from Heaven. But all deserts have a boundary of entrance and of exit.
As I have come to the place overlooking the desert I praise God that I am beyond that bloody battle. As I reflect, my losses have nothing to do with my loved ones as they are living in the land of abundance with the Devine. What they lacked on earth they have in Heaven. Whatever wounds and sorrow defined them down here have been perfectly healed as they fellowship face to face with the Father. What I do see as dead bodies on the ground as I survey the land is the failure of Satan to destroy during this season. He invaded at a time when I was weak but God prevailed. Satan sought but God fought! This is also your God who is mighty to save in all things and all seasons.
I am living in the third and fourth days now, one of collecting blessings and praising the One who went before me and fought on my behalf. Each of us has either left the desert, is in the desert or will enter the desert. The journey has been marked out before us, so we must anticipate the battles and allow the Commander to fight for us. Satan is behind every battle so our preparation is crucial for triumph. He knows his ineffectiveness against God so he fights dirty. He waits until we are down and out, fearful and so weary we cannot see up ahead. But, he always underestimates and forgets that when we are weak God is strong, and His power begins where our strength ends. When will Satan learn? Our battle strategy is found in 2 Chronicles. ‘You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you…Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’
And when we take up our position of faith, standing on that firm place we will see the battle from afar. We will not allow Satan to swallow up the hope that is ours. And now, atop the mountain looking down on the desert I repeat the words of Paul in 2Tim. 4:16-18.
‘But the Lord stood by my side and gave strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed…and I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely to his…kingdom.’
...and our Father will rescue you too!
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