“When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” John 11:32
This story holds a special place in my heart for the reasons you would assume. In addition to my own grief after losing Beth and Daddy, this is the battle cry of everyone’s grief. On the heels of our statement, ‘Lord, if you had been here…’ we follow up in our hearts, ‘Lord, you could have and chose not to.’ Mary and Martha loved Jesus but were angry with the fact that He was silent during the duration of their beloved brother’s illness. I do not believe they ever expected Lazarus’ illness to go as far as death. They had seen Jesus perform many miracles on strangers, so they naturally expected He would perform the life sustaining miracle on His precious friend. But Jesus remained silent…He stayed away for four days until the situation was hopeless.
How do we reconcile that our Father of love sometimes chooses to remain silent and not move in ways for which we plead and beg? My Bible Study exhorts that there are two reasons for God’s silence. The first reason is that the person offering the prayer is living with an unconfessed sin. The importance of searching our hearts daily and confessing any sin that may stand between our heart and the heart of God is paramount. Once we have sincerely confessed that sin and received God’s forgiveness our relationship with God once again has the free flow of fellowship.
If we feel that sin is not at the base of His silence we must trust in faith that His silence is to teach us more of His character. Knowledge in Him is an inexhaustible resource for which we will never fully possess. Many times in my life He has remained silent on certain requests to show me a greater revelation. Personally, in the deaths of my family members He knew that I was absolutely reconciled that He could heal and save them. However, He had for me a greater service than lip service. His plan and purpose for my life involved a grief ministry which could possibly reconcile the hearts of many to the heart of God. I needed experience in my ministry to authenticate and power His plan. I do not believe that God took my family members for that purpose alone but His silence in my asking fueled many purposes in His activity in the kingdom.
When you are experiencing a time of silence, the importance of ‘being still’ and waiting on Him is essential in the life of a Christian. ‘Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.’ Zec. 2:13. Silence IS sometimes golden as the King decides when to stand and move. It is up to Him to determine the degree of revelation for which He desires us to experience to spiritually mature. Sometimes God’s silence is a delay and sometimes it is an answer. Either way He is King with or without our blessings.
Even without our blessings, we will still be blessed for He is King and Father.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Holy Interpreters
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Co. 2:14-15
When I was 15 years old, I had the privilege of going on a school trip with a group of students who took French. We had a great time for the most part but I will never be able to forget one experience in particular. I was walking through a department store up a flight of stairs when three men in regular street clothes approached me. They began speaking fluent French and unfortunately I couldn’t understand them. I realized they were angry, anxious and accusing me of something. They pushed me up against the wall and grabbed my sweater out of my hands. It wasn’t until another shopper who spoke both English and French was able to explain the concern of these gentlemen. They were undercover policemen accusing me of shoplifting using my sweater to hide the items. Once they grabbed my sweater and realized nothing was under it they apologized and departed. I was a nervous wreck the rest of the day and was eternally grateful for the interpreter.
The Holy Spirit acts as our spiritual interpreter in our relationship with God. We travel through our lives making decisions and creating circumstances that may not be in our best interest. Without the aid of the Holy Spirit to lift certain truths regarding our lives, we could be approaching life blindly and unable to ascertain God’s message. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct us we more we will be able to understand the beautiful language of God. He definitely speaks another language, one that is ‘too lofty and wonderful for us to understand.’ We must carry within us that beautiful spiritual interpreter who will softly impress His love language on our hearts and minds.
When we are allowing the Holy Spirit the full flow of God we are all speaking the same language.
When I was 15 years old, I had the privilege of going on a school trip with a group of students who took French. We had a great time for the most part but I will never be able to forget one experience in particular. I was walking through a department store up a flight of stairs when three men in regular street clothes approached me. They began speaking fluent French and unfortunately I couldn’t understand them. I realized they were angry, anxious and accusing me of something. They pushed me up against the wall and grabbed my sweater out of my hands. It wasn’t until another shopper who spoke both English and French was able to explain the concern of these gentlemen. They were undercover policemen accusing me of shoplifting using my sweater to hide the items. Once they grabbed my sweater and realized nothing was under it they apologized and departed. I was a nervous wreck the rest of the day and was eternally grateful for the interpreter.
The Holy Spirit acts as our spiritual interpreter in our relationship with God. We travel through our lives making decisions and creating circumstances that may not be in our best interest. Without the aid of the Holy Spirit to lift certain truths regarding our lives, we could be approaching life blindly and unable to ascertain God’s message. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct us we more we will be able to understand the beautiful language of God. He definitely speaks another language, one that is ‘too lofty and wonderful for us to understand.’ We must carry within us that beautiful spiritual interpreter who will softly impress His love language on our hearts and minds.
When we are allowing the Holy Spirit the full flow of God we are all speaking the same language.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Standing Firm
“The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Psalm 33:10-11. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
I love the definition of the words foil and thwart. To foil is to prevent somebody from succeeding in something; to obscure the trail in order to hinder pursuers. Thwart is to frustrate something thereby preventing somebody or somebody’s plan from being successful.
I have a wonderful example of this verse and I have praised God frequently for Him intervening and ‘thwarting’ my plan. Years ago when I had secretly mounted up thousands of dollars of debt, the opportunity arose for my husband to be transferred to Australia with his company. Along with that move would be a substantial amount of money for relocation. At the time I handled all finances (hence the chaos!) and knew that I would be able to pay off a big chunk of the debt with that check. I prayed and prayed that God would allow this move to happen. I never prayed for His will but begged Him to allow my plan to succeed. My motivation was so displaced from the will of God and I am so thankful that He ‘frustrated my plan.’ I was going down a trail that He ‘obscured and hindered.’
Not only did He command me to confront my fears and unconfessed sin with my husband but He also protected our family. Bruce’s company did not win the bid to go to Australia and within 6-9 months the chosen company was displaced from the job. Bruce most likely would have been displaced and out of a job. Praise God that He thwarts the purposes of His people and that ‘the LORD’s purpose prevails!’
Looking back and realizing our plans that the LORD did not allow are as important as remembering the ones He did!
I love the definition of the words foil and thwart. To foil is to prevent somebody from succeeding in something; to obscure the trail in order to hinder pursuers. Thwart is to frustrate something thereby preventing somebody or somebody’s plan from being successful.
I have a wonderful example of this verse and I have praised God frequently for Him intervening and ‘thwarting’ my plan. Years ago when I had secretly mounted up thousands of dollars of debt, the opportunity arose for my husband to be transferred to Australia with his company. Along with that move would be a substantial amount of money for relocation. At the time I handled all finances (hence the chaos!) and knew that I would be able to pay off a big chunk of the debt with that check. I prayed and prayed that God would allow this move to happen. I never prayed for His will but begged Him to allow my plan to succeed. My motivation was so displaced from the will of God and I am so thankful that He ‘frustrated my plan.’ I was going down a trail that He ‘obscured and hindered.’
Not only did He command me to confront my fears and unconfessed sin with my husband but He also protected our family. Bruce’s company did not win the bid to go to Australia and within 6-9 months the chosen company was displaced from the job. Bruce most likely would have been displaced and out of a job. Praise God that He thwarts the purposes of His people and that ‘the LORD’s purpose prevails!’
Looking back and realizing our plans that the LORD did not allow are as important as remembering the ones He did!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Our Treasure Map
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him…but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God…No one knows the thoughts of the Spirit of God…He will guide you into all truth…He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” 1 Cor. 2:9-11, John 16:13-14
When our children were young we always made Christmas morning a little more fun by leaving clues around the house pointing to their gifts. Their gifts would eventually be revealed to them on our terms. We would lead them note by note with instructions of where to go next. Sometimes a note would instruct them to go into the basement, up the stairs, into the refrigerator, etc… One of us would have to accompany Caroline for she feared certain areas in the house (garage, loft). At the end of the search the gift was revealed making the search as important as the discovery.
God has given us everything required to discovery His best for us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If we have accepted God through the death and resurrection of Christ, confessed our sins and turned away from our old lives we have this treasure map within us. The Spirit searches what God has in mind for each of our lives, and step by step the search for these precious revelations for our lives will be revealed.
When one set of instructions lead us into dark and uncomfortable places God will be by our side to walk with us and comfort us. We do not have to fear for our Parent goes behind us, before us and around us. He hovers above us and moves with us as we go forward towards our spiritual revelations.
We cannot take short-cuts in finding the will of God for our lives. We must use the step by step instructions revealed to find our spiritual treasures. He will reveal these treasures through our inner treasure map, the Holy Spirit.
When our children were young we always made Christmas morning a little more fun by leaving clues around the house pointing to their gifts. Their gifts would eventually be revealed to them on our terms. We would lead them note by note with instructions of where to go next. Sometimes a note would instruct them to go into the basement, up the stairs, into the refrigerator, etc… One of us would have to accompany Caroline for she feared certain areas in the house (garage, loft). At the end of the search the gift was revealed making the search as important as the discovery.
God has given us everything required to discovery His best for us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If we have accepted God through the death and resurrection of Christ, confessed our sins and turned away from our old lives we have this treasure map within us. The Spirit searches what God has in mind for each of our lives, and step by step the search for these precious revelations for our lives will be revealed.
When one set of instructions lead us into dark and uncomfortable places God will be by our side to walk with us and comfort us. We do not have to fear for our Parent goes behind us, before us and around us. He hovers above us and moves with us as we go forward towards our spiritual revelations.
We cannot take short-cuts in finding the will of God for our lives. We must use the step by step instructions revealed to find our spiritual treasures. He will reveal these treasures through our inner treasure map, the Holy Spirit.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Belonging
“He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear God is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:47
Throughout the Bible we testify to the divine encounters between God and mankind. We learn of the encounter between God and Moses at the burning bush. We read about how Noah encountered God and carried out His desire to build an ark. We are blessed by the encounter of Mary, mother of Jesus and the angel of the LORD. God has revealed Himself to mankind since the beginning of time. Relationship has always been at the base of the heart of God. God has spoken through unique ways to individual people through their pursuit of an intimate relationship with God.
Based on Experiencing God – Knowing and Doing the Will of God, the four essential truths in these divine encounters are accessible for every Christian.
-When God speaks, it will be unique to our relationship with Him. We will not have a burning bush experience. Moses’ revelation was unique to him just as our experience will be unique to us. For me, it was a writing experience through which He spoke.
-When God speaks, we will know it is God. Moses didn’t say, ‘Who is there?’ ‘How is this bush burning?’ It was only when I began pursuing fellowship with God daily that He revealed His will for me to work on Grandmother’s book. I knew it was God speaking to me.
-When God speaks, we understand what He is saying. Moses didn’t say, ‘What is this burning bush trying to show me?’ In 2007, when I read through Grandmother’s journal searching for what God was trying to show me I read an entry she had recorded on July 31, 1997. She wrote, “At hand, however is the completion of this book - that is doing my part on it. The financing, getting an agent, getting it published and distributed is God’s work. He has promised to take care of it. I rest on Him.” It was at this point I realized what God was saying to me.
-When God speaks, we will have a divine encounter with God. Upon reading that entry, I dropped to my knees in humility that I was encountering God within the divine encounter for which my precious grandmother had encountered God.
God cares first about relationship with His children. The recognition and message will come as a result of fellowship with God. He will reveal who He is through the uniqueness of who we are.
Throughout the Bible we testify to the divine encounters between God and mankind. We learn of the encounter between God and Moses at the burning bush. We read about how Noah encountered God and carried out His desire to build an ark. We are blessed by the encounter of Mary, mother of Jesus and the angel of the LORD. God has revealed Himself to mankind since the beginning of time. Relationship has always been at the base of the heart of God. God has spoken through unique ways to individual people through their pursuit of an intimate relationship with God.
Based on Experiencing God – Knowing and Doing the Will of God, the four essential truths in these divine encounters are accessible for every Christian.
-When God speaks, it will be unique to our relationship with Him. We will not have a burning bush experience. Moses’ revelation was unique to him just as our experience will be unique to us. For me, it was a writing experience through which He spoke.
-When God speaks, we will know it is God. Moses didn’t say, ‘Who is there?’ ‘How is this bush burning?’ It was only when I began pursuing fellowship with God daily that He revealed His will for me to work on Grandmother’s book. I knew it was God speaking to me.
-When God speaks, we understand what He is saying. Moses didn’t say, ‘What is this burning bush trying to show me?’ In 2007, when I read through Grandmother’s journal searching for what God was trying to show me I read an entry she had recorded on July 31, 1997. She wrote, “At hand, however is the completion of this book - that is doing my part on it. The financing, getting an agent, getting it published and distributed is God’s work. He has promised to take care of it. I rest on Him.” It was at this point I realized what God was saying to me.
-When God speaks, we will have a divine encounter with God. Upon reading that entry, I dropped to my knees in humility that I was encountering God within the divine encounter for which my precious grandmother had encountered God.
God cares first about relationship with His children. The recognition and message will come as a result of fellowship with God. He will reveal who He is through the uniqueness of who we are.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What Shall I Do?
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33)But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33
God has laid this passage of Scripture on my heart over and over again for the past few weeks. My grandmother used to pray for a year verse for the upcoming year that would anchor all prayers and guidance from God. Through her journals I witnessed them coming alive on paper. Back in 2007, I started praying in the same manner and each year have also been given specific verses. I know that verse 33 is my 2011 Year Verse. I was able to see the first fruit of that realization yesterday.
I have a friend who is going through a separation. She certainly has a basis for their parting but the husband doesn’t want it. It has been tenuous at best with much anger, bitterness and hurt. She talked him into going through mediation instead of separate attorneys to avoid additional polarization between the two of them for the sake of the children. We had a circle of people praying leading up to the mediation for both parties. The mediation went great and remained peaceful and calm throughout, providing a fair and mutual agreement for all parties. I asked her how she prayed specifically and she named the following prayer items:
For God’s presence to be in that room;
For God to soften both her heart and the heart of her husband;
For God to comfort both parties during this meeting;
For God’s wisdom in this arrangement.
This woman sought the things of God first and foremost instead of praying for her wishes. She didn’t approach God with a wish list of what she needed to live on. She sought the things that she knew were more important than the logistics of the meeting. She prayed for the higher things placing her husband’s comfort at the top. We should not worry about the things of this world for when we are seeking ‘first His kingdom and His righteousness all things will be given to us as well.’
God has laid this passage of Scripture on my heart over and over again for the past few weeks. My grandmother used to pray for a year verse for the upcoming year that would anchor all prayers and guidance from God. Through her journals I witnessed them coming alive on paper. Back in 2007, I started praying in the same manner and each year have also been given specific verses. I know that verse 33 is my 2011 Year Verse. I was able to see the first fruit of that realization yesterday.
I have a friend who is going through a separation. She certainly has a basis for their parting but the husband doesn’t want it. It has been tenuous at best with much anger, bitterness and hurt. She talked him into going through mediation instead of separate attorneys to avoid additional polarization between the two of them for the sake of the children. We had a circle of people praying leading up to the mediation for both parties. The mediation went great and remained peaceful and calm throughout, providing a fair and mutual agreement for all parties. I asked her how she prayed specifically and she named the following prayer items:
For God’s presence to be in that room;
For God to soften both her heart and the heart of her husband;
For God to comfort both parties during this meeting;
For God’s wisdom in this arrangement.
This woman sought the things of God first and foremost instead of praying for her wishes. She didn’t approach God with a wish list of what she needed to live on. She sought the things that she knew were more important than the logistics of the meeting. She prayed for the higher things placing her husband’s comfort at the top. We should not worry about the things of this world for when we are seeking ‘first His kingdom and His righteousness all things will be given to us as well.’
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
As The Deer Pants...
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan.’” Psalm 42:1-6
I rarely use a passage this long because of the depth of truth we can glean from one precious Word of God. This passage has so much truth and honesty from the heart of a grieving Christian. This Psalm was written by King David, a man described in the Bible as ‘a man after God’s heart’. He was one of the most spiritual champions who ever lived and yet this passage is proof that he felt as if he lacked God’s presence in this situation. He likened his soul to a deer who was completely depleted of nourishment. He admitted his need to experience not just God but the living God. The one who can comfort, rescue and spiritually nourish. He speaks in his heart journal the need to ‘remember’ what God has done in the past since he cannot feel Him in his present. He acknowledges that he used to be a leader in his faith but has lost his place in line. He no longer leads the spiritual pack but falls in despair. He acknowledges his distress, despair and spiritual depression. He then raises the essential principle of despair – continue praising God apart from the circumstances. He claims that God is still his Savior and His God. He ends with remembering the God with whom he has met at other disparaging times of his life until He can see the Savior delivering him in this situation.
Who can relate to this heart cry to God this morning? I know I can on some levels. In my present situation it feels as if resolution will never come. I must recall the times when he has ‘calmed greater waters than these and made higher mountains come down.’
While our faith can be so strong in some arenas it can be so fragile in others. Just because the sun is behind the clouds doesn’t mean it isn’t warming the earth. Our faith in God keeps us warm even when we feel we are in the cold darkness.
I rarely use a passage this long because of the depth of truth we can glean from one precious Word of God. This passage has so much truth and honesty from the heart of a grieving Christian. This Psalm was written by King David, a man described in the Bible as ‘a man after God’s heart’. He was one of the most spiritual champions who ever lived and yet this passage is proof that he felt as if he lacked God’s presence in this situation. He likened his soul to a deer who was completely depleted of nourishment. He admitted his need to experience not just God but the living God. The one who can comfort, rescue and spiritually nourish. He speaks in his heart journal the need to ‘remember’ what God has done in the past since he cannot feel Him in his present. He acknowledges that he used to be a leader in his faith but has lost his place in line. He no longer leads the spiritual pack but falls in despair. He acknowledges his distress, despair and spiritual depression. He then raises the essential principle of despair – continue praising God apart from the circumstances. He claims that God is still his Savior and His God. He ends with remembering the God with whom he has met at other disparaging times of his life until He can see the Savior delivering him in this situation.
Who can relate to this heart cry to God this morning? I know I can on some levels. In my present situation it feels as if resolution will never come. I must recall the times when he has ‘calmed greater waters than these and made higher mountains come down.’
While our faith can be so strong in some arenas it can be so fragile in others. Just because the sun is behind the clouds doesn’t mean it isn’t warming the earth. Our faith in God keeps us warm even when we feel we are in the cold darkness.
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