Life Is Fragile: Handle With Prayer
Life is fragile: Handle with prayer.
Remember that Jesus will always be there
To hear our problems and to gather our tears,
To calm the storms, and to settle the fears.
It does not matter how great or how small,
Jesus will answer to our every call.
Just call on the Lord, it matters not when-
His office is not closed at half-past ten.
He's never on lunch, He can't take a break;
If He did, this old world would just crumble and shake.
His lines are never busy, He won't put you on hold.
He won't ask you twice what He's already been told.
There's no account number, nor address to give;
No matter where you've moved, He knows where you live.
Yes, the Lord always answers, He never leaves home.
He won't leave us to handle it all on our own.
So when things get rough, and things aren't fair,
Remember: Life is fragile, so handle with prayer.
By Gloria J. Ames
James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Recenlty my friend Franklin Becker gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. Franklin gave us all a wake-up call. He testified that sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering.
Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up.
You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but He said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for.
We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions. Pastor Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to head the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives.
To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees.
Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God.
As a poster I had on my wall in college said: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Prayer is the sound of the mustard seed of faith in your life; it is the gratitude that transforms healing into wholeness; it is the pesky persistence of the widow demanding what is right for herself and for the world. The life-blood of faith, your prayer will mark the difference between faith and faithlessness, and that is a wonderful blessing!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat.
We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy! God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels,
and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us.
Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE. (James 4:7).PRAY AND PRAY AGAIN> LIFE IS FRAGILE< HANDLE WITH PRAYER!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
School of Prayer No. 3: Life is Fragile, Part Two
Prayer is the sound of the mustard seed of faith in your life; it is the gratitude that transforms healing into wholeness; it is the pesky persistence of the widow demanding what is right for herself and for the world. The life-blood of faith, your prayer will mark the difference between faith and faithlessness, and that is a wonderful blessing!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat. We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, like sin in our lives, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy!
God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels, and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us. Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
These thoughts come from without, and are often due to the promptings of fallen spirits. The only cure for wandering thoughts is to get our minds fixed upon God. Undoubtedly a man's worst foe is himself. Prayer is a great gift for a child of God -- and one who is living as a child of God should pray and pray again. It is a mighty spiritual weaopn. Use it. Be the Prayer Warrior you are called to be!
God is propelling us into a different level of prayer. let us seek God for direction, listen to His voice, and incorporate prayer into every aspect of our daily life. The Bible tells us it will begin to make a powerful difference in our spiritual well-being.
I once read a statement that said, "Seven days without prayer makes one weak." And by experience I found that to be true. The more consistently I prayed, the better I was able to handle what each day would bring. The less I prayed, the more stressful my life became. Then, if circumstances seemingly spiraled out of control, I was left with no spiritual strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy. I learned the hard way that daily prayer really isn’t an option, but a necessity. Prayer needs to be our default -- what we go to in every instance. No griping, just prayer. No gossip, just prayer. No worry, just prayer. Prayer is the answer to life's questions, becuase Jesus has given us the authority to pray in His Name.
LIfe is Fragile -- Handle with Prayer!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat. We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, like sin in our lives, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy!
God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels, and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us. Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
These thoughts come from without, and are often due to the promptings of fallen spirits. The only cure for wandering thoughts is to get our minds fixed upon God. Undoubtedly a man's worst foe is himself. Prayer is a great gift for a child of God -- and one who is living as a child of God should pray and pray again. It is a mighty spiritual weaopn. Use it. Be the Prayer Warrior you are called to be!
God is propelling us into a different level of prayer. let us seek God for direction, listen to His voice, and incorporate prayer into every aspect of our daily life. The Bible tells us it will begin to make a powerful difference in our spiritual well-being.
I once read a statement that said, "Seven days without prayer makes one weak." And by experience I found that to be true. The more consistently I prayed, the better I was able to handle what each day would bring. The less I prayed, the more stressful my life became. Then, if circumstances seemingly spiraled out of control, I was left with no spiritual strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy. I learned the hard way that daily prayer really isn’t an option, but a necessity. Prayer needs to be our default -- what we go to in every instance. No griping, just prayer. No gossip, just prayer. No worry, just prayer. Prayer is the answer to life's questions, becuase Jesus has given us the authority to pray in His Name.
LIfe is Fragile -- Handle with Prayer!
School of Prayer No. 3 -- Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer, Part One
When I was in college I had a poster that said something very profound in just a few words -- "Life is fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Life can be tough. We live in a broken world and the brokenness touches us at times. Sometimes it affects our lives more than other times. Sometimes that hurt and shattered-ness seems to affect some people more than others. But know this -- everyone you know is dealing with some problem, and they can use the blessing of your prayers.
We cannot be sure what tomorrow may bring. The Bible tells us that fact. James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Last week one of our members gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. His situation gave us all a wake-up call: he was a healthy man in the prime of his life, workind hard all day, then eh gets a headache, and, when it gets worse he goes to the emergency room. The word comes back that he has bleeding on the brain. and suddenly he is being med-flighted by helicopter to the Mayo Clnic miles away. Thank God he recovered! But here we see a picture of how fragile this life can be!
Sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering. Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up. You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for. We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions.
The great Presbyterian Pastor Willis Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is one for patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to heed the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives. To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God.
Prayer is not just simple asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees."10 Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God. It is true: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Life can be tough. We live in a broken world and the brokenness touches us at times. Sometimes it affects our lives more than other times. Sometimes that hurt and shattered-ness seems to affect some people more than others. But know this -- everyone you know is dealing with some problem, and they can use the blessing of your prayers.
We cannot be sure what tomorrow may bring. The Bible tells us that fact. James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Last week one of our members gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. His situation gave us all a wake-up call: he was a healthy man in the prime of his life, workind hard all day, then eh gets a headache, and, when it gets worse he goes to the emergency room. The word comes back that he has bleeding on the brain. and suddenly he is being med-flighted by helicopter to the Mayo Clnic miles away. Thank God he recovered! But here we see a picture of how fragile this life can be!
Sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering. Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up. You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for. We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions.
The great Presbyterian Pastor Willis Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is one for patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to heed the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives. To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God.
Prayer is not just simple asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees."10 Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God. It is true: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Monday, November 02, 2009
School of Prayer Number 2, Part Two: Prayer BInds Our Soul to God
In my father's office when I was a child was a plaque over his desk that said simply "PRAYER CHANGES THINGS." A simple statement it was, but oh so powerful to one who beleives it! I still have that plaque from my father's things, and I firmly believe the truth it proclaims for us.
Throughout the centuries faithful followers of God have proclaimed the power of prayer.
In Psalm 62, we find: "For God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God, On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge, is God. Trust in God at all times, O people; pour out your heart before God.”
"Our hearts are restless, God, until they find their rest in thee," as did Augustine sixteen hundred years ago.
"Prayer binds our soul to God." Julian of Norwich said that in 1400.
Jesus Himself prayeed this prayer: "Holy Father, keep (thy disciples) in thy name … that they may be one, even as we are one… That they may all be one even as thou, father, art in me and I in thee, that they may also be in us…" Jesus said that in his farewell prayer in John Chapter 17.
The Bible and Christian leaders through the ages make enormous claims about prayer, and they all say that prayer does matter, that it reflects and reveals our created connection not only to the Body of Christ but to the whole of the universe and the transcendence and immanence of God. And they mean that what we do for a moment before bed, or for an hour in the middle of the night,
what we do every morning reading scripture or every once in a while in airplanes and hospital rooms has a power, a purpose, and a presence. God wants, the world needs, our prayer. And, brothers and sisters, if Jesus is right, and I know that He is, then it is worth our time and understanding and attention and practice to pray and to pray well.
It is worth our mature thought, too. For what prayer can offer is reality based, not magic based. It is grounded in the goodness and omnipresence of God and in the admission that we can't reverse the irreversible but that we must pursue the possible. One author writes that if every baseball player's prayers at bat were answered they would all hit 1000, and the game would be ruined in 24 hours. But, again, prayer represents God's invitation to participate in bringing the world closer to the fullness and reflection of God's character.
It's not about magic. It's about hope and joy in God. It is not about every prayer answered yes, but the adventure of finding out God’s answers to our prayers, and our interaction with His loving presence in our lives!
How do you begin to pray? Well, it is a conversation with God. A sentence will do , but I hope it grows into a wonderful exchange, with not only you talking, but you listening. You will soon find that listening for God is the most fun of all. And do not forget to praise God.
For over 5,000 years Jewish and then Christian prayer form has begun with praise or blessing for God. To be thankful is a lifestyle for Christians – we are to have an attitude of gratitude, not complaint or lament or depression. These all may come, but praising God will chase them away. If you are having trouble praying, pray anyway – say “PRAISE THE LORD!” and say the Lord’s Prayer. But I pray your prayer life becomes as deep and wide as ocean.
John Chapman, a contemporary writer, says "The only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much." It makes a difference. To ourselves, to our God, to God's creation.
Prayer has many forms -- public, private, liturgical, petitionary, intercessory, confessional, invocational, and more -- and they all come down to this: prayer is God's gift, revealing the union that we have with the divine and the creation and the cosmos -- even with one another.
When we pray it changes the way the world is and what the world can be. It is simple, and complex, and it is something to be done, and done again. To be practiced, alone and together, as the key to our lives, so let us be a people and a House of Prayer. REMEMBER -- PRAYER CHANGES THINGS AND PRAYER CHANGES THE ONE WHO PRAYS FOR THE BETTER! Change the world one prayer at a time!
Throughout the centuries faithful followers of God have proclaimed the power of prayer.
In Psalm 62, we find: "For God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God, On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge, is God. Trust in God at all times, O people; pour out your heart before God.”
"Our hearts are restless, God, until they find their rest in thee," as did Augustine sixteen hundred years ago.
"Prayer binds our soul to God." Julian of Norwich said that in 1400.
Jesus Himself prayeed this prayer: "Holy Father, keep (thy disciples) in thy name … that they may be one, even as we are one… That they may all be one even as thou, father, art in me and I in thee, that they may also be in us…" Jesus said that in his farewell prayer in John Chapter 17.
The Bible and Christian leaders through the ages make enormous claims about prayer, and they all say that prayer does matter, that it reflects and reveals our created connection not only to the Body of Christ but to the whole of the universe and the transcendence and immanence of God. And they mean that what we do for a moment before bed, or for an hour in the middle of the night,
what we do every morning reading scripture or every once in a while in airplanes and hospital rooms has a power, a purpose, and a presence. God wants, the world needs, our prayer. And, brothers and sisters, if Jesus is right, and I know that He is, then it is worth our time and understanding and attention and practice to pray and to pray well.
It is worth our mature thought, too. For what prayer can offer is reality based, not magic based. It is grounded in the goodness and omnipresence of God and in the admission that we can't reverse the irreversible but that we must pursue the possible. One author writes that if every baseball player's prayers at bat were answered they would all hit 1000, and the game would be ruined in 24 hours. But, again, prayer represents God's invitation to participate in bringing the world closer to the fullness and reflection of God's character.
It's not about magic. It's about hope and joy in God. It is not about every prayer answered yes, but the adventure of finding out God’s answers to our prayers, and our interaction with His loving presence in our lives!
How do you begin to pray? Well, it is a conversation with God. A sentence will do , but I hope it grows into a wonderful exchange, with not only you talking, but you listening. You will soon find that listening for God is the most fun of all. And do not forget to praise God.
For over 5,000 years Jewish and then Christian prayer form has begun with praise or blessing for God. To be thankful is a lifestyle for Christians – we are to have an attitude of gratitude, not complaint or lament or depression. These all may come, but praising God will chase them away. If you are having trouble praying, pray anyway – say “PRAISE THE LORD!” and say the Lord’s Prayer. But I pray your prayer life becomes as deep and wide as ocean.
John Chapman, a contemporary writer, says "The only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much." It makes a difference. To ourselves, to our God, to God's creation.
Prayer has many forms -- public, private, liturgical, petitionary, intercessory, confessional, invocational, and more -- and they all come down to this: prayer is God's gift, revealing the union that we have with the divine and the creation and the cosmos -- even with one another.
When we pray it changes the way the world is and what the world can be. It is simple, and complex, and it is something to be done, and done again. To be practiced, alone and together, as the key to our lives, so let us be a people and a House of Prayer. REMEMBER -- PRAYER CHANGES THINGS AND PRAYER CHANGES THE ONE WHO PRAYS FOR THE BETTER! Change the world one prayer at a time!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
School of Prayer No.2, Part One -- Prayer Changes Things and Prayer Changes the One Who Prays!
Hear me now, people – this is a great and important truth -- God hears and answers prayer If you will ask it shall be given unto you, if you seek you shall find, and if you knock it shall be open unto you! That our joy may be full, Jesus said. It is how we are able to stand the fiery trials; THE JOY OF THE LORD is our strength!
Psalms 1 says blessed is the man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, someone who meditates in His law day and night, David said, that he would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water -- Living water that will flow from the inner most part of your being! From your belly springing up into everlasting life!
You are like a tree brings forth fruit in its season, his leaf also shall not wither (The gift or calling God has placed in your life will not fade away, you can keep the same anointing that will cause you to bring forth much fruit!) and whatsoever you do God shall cause it to prosper! You will be blessed in your deed because you are a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
God’s eyes are over watching over the righteous and His ears are opened unto their cries! And if you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior His blood makes you one of the Righteous, Praise the Lord! He hears and answers prayers! Prayer changes things; it changes people, circumstances, and situations. Prayer is one of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
James tells us that: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! What a powerful promise. Christ makes you righteous through His blood and then he gives you prayer as a mighty spiritual weapon and He urges you to use it!
You and I belong to God. For in the waters of Baptism God has washed away our sins. In our Baptismal waters God has given to you new life in Christ. You have been saved: “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7
When Martin Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." Now that kind of focus would lend to a fervent prayer. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, not on our problems!
Friends, there is power in prayer. It changes things – and it changes us for the better when we pray. There is power in prayer because prayer turns away from self and to God. Luther put it well: “we are beggars, all of us. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to the cross we cling.”
In prayer we come to the Savior, to the Spirit, to God the Father. Humbly we come, and we are lifted up in his power as we cling to the cross. We bow our heads and He crowns us with His righteousness and love. What a mighty God we serve!
What is it that troubles you today? Know that God hears you in Christ. There is power in prayer because our God is powerful and able to save. He has saved us, and so we pray to him as his Children, made right by the blood of Christ and the amazing grace of His salvation. He gives us the right and privilege to pray – the mighty tool of God that He has placed in your hands.
Prayer is a miraculous, wonderful gift from God to us, from your heavenly father to YOU! "Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be." Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be. With God's participation. The Bible tells us that God is everywhere. Our God is omnipresent to us.
Our relationship with God can enhance our ability to lead lives of peace, justice, and beauty. Prayer builds this relationship and goes to the depths of ourselves. Prayer is our openness to the God, who pervades the universe and therefore ourselves, and this prayer is also this God's openness to us.
Because God desires us to pray, God has also ordained that Prayer increases the effectiveness of God's work with the world? God's invitation to us to pray -- indeed, God's gracious command to us to pray -- suggests the possibility that our prayers make a difference to God, and therefore, as John Wesley eloquently stated, might possibly make a difference to what God can do in the world, because God gave dominion on the earth to humankind and Jesus gave authority on the earth to his followers, those that believe in Him. And that, brothers and sisters, is us!
Psalms 1 says blessed is the man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, someone who meditates in His law day and night, David said, that he would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water -- Living water that will flow from the inner most part of your being! From your belly springing up into everlasting life!
You are like a tree brings forth fruit in its season, his leaf also shall not wither (The gift or calling God has placed in your life will not fade away, you can keep the same anointing that will cause you to bring forth much fruit!) and whatsoever you do God shall cause it to prosper! You will be blessed in your deed because you are a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
God’s eyes are over watching over the righteous and His ears are opened unto their cries! And if you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior His blood makes you one of the Righteous, Praise the Lord! He hears and answers prayers! Prayer changes things; it changes people, circumstances, and situations. Prayer is one of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
James tells us that: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! What a powerful promise. Christ makes you righteous through His blood and then he gives you prayer as a mighty spiritual weapon and He urges you to use it!
You and I belong to God. For in the waters of Baptism God has washed away our sins. In our Baptismal waters God has given to you new life in Christ. You have been saved: “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7
When Martin Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." Now that kind of focus would lend to a fervent prayer. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, not on our problems!
Friends, there is power in prayer. It changes things – and it changes us for the better when we pray. There is power in prayer because prayer turns away from self and to God. Luther put it well: “we are beggars, all of us. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to the cross we cling.”
In prayer we come to the Savior, to the Spirit, to God the Father. Humbly we come, and we are lifted up in his power as we cling to the cross. We bow our heads and He crowns us with His righteousness and love. What a mighty God we serve!
What is it that troubles you today? Know that God hears you in Christ. There is power in prayer because our God is powerful and able to save. He has saved us, and so we pray to him as his Children, made right by the blood of Christ and the amazing grace of His salvation. He gives us the right and privilege to pray – the mighty tool of God that He has placed in your hands.
Prayer is a miraculous, wonderful gift from God to us, from your heavenly father to YOU! "Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be." Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be. With God's participation. The Bible tells us that God is everywhere. Our God is omnipresent to us.
Our relationship with God can enhance our ability to lead lives of peace, justice, and beauty. Prayer builds this relationship and goes to the depths of ourselves. Prayer is our openness to the God, who pervades the universe and therefore ourselves, and this prayer is also this God's openness to us.
Because God desires us to pray, God has also ordained that Prayer increases the effectiveness of God's work with the world? God's invitation to us to pray -- indeed, God's gracious command to us to pray -- suggests the possibility that our prayers make a difference to God, and therefore, as John Wesley eloquently stated, might possibly make a difference to what God can do in the world, because God gave dominion on the earth to humankind and Jesus gave authority on the earth to his followers, those that believe in Him. And that, brothers and sisters, is us!
Friday, October 30, 2009
School of Prayer No. 1, Part Two: Lessons from Abraham-- Called to Pray for Other People
In Genesis 20 we get the curious story of Abram, King Abimilech and Sarah.
For a while Abraham stayed in Gerar. While in Gerar the king, Abimelech, came to Abraham. Abraham told him that his wife, Sarah, was really his sister. Abimelech therefore took Sarah.
Then God told Abimelech in a dream “You are as good as dead because of the women you have taken: she is a married women.” Abimelech explained that he didn’t know she was married and Abraham told him that they were brother and sister. God said that Abimelech could either return Sarah to Abraham or have he, and everyone he knows, die.
Now Abimelech summoned all of his officials and told them what happened, obviously they were all afraid. Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and asked “What was your reason for doing this?” Abram replied, “I said to myself: ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will surely kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.“‘“
Then Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, slaves, and Sarah, and told him he can live where ever he would like in my lands. Abimelech gave Sarah 1000 shekels for his offense against them.
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
We Find Abraham (who would become Abraham), mighty man of God, lying, and seeming to lack faith that God can defend him, so he takes matters into his own hand and lies! Fearing that Abimelech, a Philistine king, was a man who had no fear of God, Abraham played Sarah to be his sister rather than his wife. Once again Sarah found herself being taken to be the wife of a pagan king.
What now of the promises of God? How can God give Sarah a son of Abraham if she is to become the wife of another? And how can Abraham- the patriarch of our faith, who trusts God with his soul, be so unfaithful to God when it comes to trusting him with his physical welfare? The scripture here also reveals a very important piece of information: Abraham had formed this policy back in Ur: Abraham said, "And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is the kindness which thou shalt shew unto me, at every place wither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother."
Abraham had become a new man since that day back in Ur, and had even had his name changed; yet we still see evidence of his old man- the man who feared. He had never address this old sin and now we see it popping up again. But God would be faithful when Abraham was not.
Abraham thought God was unable to change the ways of a pagan man, but as the scripture says, "the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord" God also protected Sarah by keeping Abimelech from her. God then warned him in a dream that he was a man's wife.
And faithful and loving God did not condemn Abraham and take away his recorded righteousness but told Abimelech, "he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live." When we would have left Abraham to fend for himself in his own selfish choice, God stepped in a restored him. This is the FIRST CASE OF SOMEONE PRAYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE IN THE BIBLE. It teaches us that God desires us to pray for one another and he will answer such prayers when they are heartfelt and true.
This plight of Abraham should seem painfully familiar to us. How often have we fallen into the same sinful traps time after time? How often have we trusted God for something great only to turn away from him in fear over something small?
How often are our own problems a result of our own bad decisions? But God does not forget us. He waits to restore us, and to use us to pray for those we have hurt. How often he shows us that even the Heathen are in his hand and that he is in control over all things. How often does he call on you to pray for other people?
For a while Abraham stayed in Gerar. While in Gerar the king, Abimelech, came to Abraham. Abraham told him that his wife, Sarah, was really his sister. Abimelech therefore took Sarah.
Then God told Abimelech in a dream “You are as good as dead because of the women you have taken: she is a married women.” Abimelech explained that he didn’t know she was married and Abraham told him that they were brother and sister. God said that Abimelech could either return Sarah to Abraham or have he, and everyone he knows, die.
Now Abimelech summoned all of his officials and told them what happened, obviously they were all afraid. Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and asked “What was your reason for doing this?” Abram replied, “I said to myself: ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will surely kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.“‘“
Then Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, slaves, and Sarah, and told him he can live where ever he would like in my lands. Abimelech gave Sarah 1000 shekels for his offense against them.
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
We Find Abraham (who would become Abraham), mighty man of God, lying, and seeming to lack faith that God can defend him, so he takes matters into his own hand and lies! Fearing that Abimelech, a Philistine king, was a man who had no fear of God, Abraham played Sarah to be his sister rather than his wife. Once again Sarah found herself being taken to be the wife of a pagan king.
What now of the promises of God? How can God give Sarah a son of Abraham if she is to become the wife of another? And how can Abraham- the patriarch of our faith, who trusts God with his soul, be so unfaithful to God when it comes to trusting him with his physical welfare? The scripture here also reveals a very important piece of information: Abraham had formed this policy back in Ur: Abraham said, "And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is the kindness which thou shalt shew unto me, at every place wither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother."
Abraham had become a new man since that day back in Ur, and had even had his name changed; yet we still see evidence of his old man- the man who feared. He had never address this old sin and now we see it popping up again. But God would be faithful when Abraham was not.
Abraham thought God was unable to change the ways of a pagan man, but as the scripture says, "the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord" God also protected Sarah by keeping Abimelech from her. God then warned him in a dream that he was a man's wife.
And faithful and loving God did not condemn Abraham and take away his recorded righteousness but told Abimelech, "he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live." When we would have left Abraham to fend for himself in his own selfish choice, God stepped in a restored him. This is the FIRST CASE OF SOMEONE PRAYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE IN THE BIBLE. It teaches us that God desires us to pray for one another and he will answer such prayers when they are heartfelt and true.
This plight of Abraham should seem painfully familiar to us. How often have we fallen into the same sinful traps time after time? How often have we trusted God for something great only to turn away from him in fear over something small?
How often are our own problems a result of our own bad decisions? But God does not forget us. He waits to restore us, and to use us to pray for those we have hurt. How often he shows us that even the Heathen are in his hand and that he is in control over all things. How often does he call on you to pray for other people?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
School of Prayer No.1 God Desires for Us to Pray
The apostle Paul has a word from God which we need to hear all the time, The word is found in his first letter to Timothy, chapter 2, verses 1–4:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thankgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
The main point of the text is the command to pray, and Paul mentions three things about this command to pray that we should listen to very carefully. First, he mentions its paramount importance: "First of all, I urge you to pray!" Second, he mentions the wideness of its scope: "Pray for all men, especially kings and all in high positions." Third, he mentions the content or aim of these prayers: they include thanksgiving and the request that our lives be spent in peace and tranquility to the end that men might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
Prayer Is of First Importance
First, let's focus on the paramount importance of the command to pray for others. Why Paul thinks this is of first importance becomes clear when we look at the preceding context. Notice the word "then" or "therefore" in verse 1: "First of all, then (or therefore), I urge that you pray for all men." That word alerts us to the fact that Paul's command to pray for all men is an inference or a conclusion that follows from something he had just said. In the preceding verses (1:18–20)
Paul is saying is that in order for your ship of faith to stay afloat, you need to see to it that you don't do the things your conscience condemns or leave undone the things which your conscience demands. Paul's charge to Timothy to hold on to faith by keeping a good conscience is tremendously important, and any help Paul gives on how to keep a good conscience should be received with open arms. We are to pray because God desires us to pray!
In the Great Commandments of Mark 12:28-31, all God's instruction is summed up in this: Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, anything we do to people that is unloving will prick our conscience and threaten our faith. With that as a foundation we can start to see why prayer for other people is at the top of Paul's list of things we must do in order to keep a clear conscience.
What Makes Prayer So Important?
I see three reasons why prayer for other people is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience, in view of Jesus' teaching that love is our greatest duty. First, prayer taps the power of God on behalf of others. We could try to help others, even presidents and congressmen and governors and mayors and aldermen and police chiefs, without praying for them. And, judged from a very limited perspective, we might do a little good that way. But the little good that we could do by our little power is not worthy to be compared with the great good God can do for people that he sets out to work for. So if we want the best for people, if we really love them, of first importance will be prayers on their behalf. The first thing you do for a person, if you love them, is to ask God to work for them. Of course, God's answer to your prayer will almost always include your work of love, but it will also include much more than you alone could accomplish.
A second reason prayer is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience is that it is the easiest step of love. You don't even have to get out of bed to pray for kings and all those in high positions. It requires no financial sacrifice and no great physical exertion. Of all the forms that love for others can take, prayer is the easiest. And isn't it true that if you are unwilling to do something easy for the good of another, then it is very unlikely that you will be willing to do something hard for them? So it makes sense that Paul, in urging us to keep our consciences clear, would first of all urge us to do the easiest act of love, to pray for people.
And the third reason prayer is of first importance in keeping our consciences clear is that it reaches farther in its effects than anything else we can do. Before the satellites were orbiting the earth we could broadcast a TV program live across the country but not around the world. But now it is easy to reach the other side of the world with a live broadcast by sending our signal out into space and bouncing it off a satellite.
That is the way it is with prayer. If a Christian wants to do the most good possible to the most people in the short time he has, he will turn to God first, whose influence reaches, without interruption, to every molecule and every mind in the universe.
Paul urges you first of all to fulfill the love command by praying for all men, because prayer taps the power of God on their behalf, prayer is the first and easiest step of love, and prayer reaches farther in its good effects than anything else we can do.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thankgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
The main point of the text is the command to pray, and Paul mentions three things about this command to pray that we should listen to very carefully. First, he mentions its paramount importance: "First of all, I urge you to pray!" Second, he mentions the wideness of its scope: "Pray for all men, especially kings and all in high positions." Third, he mentions the content or aim of these prayers: they include thanksgiving and the request that our lives be spent in peace and tranquility to the end that men might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
Prayer Is of First Importance
First, let's focus on the paramount importance of the command to pray for others. Why Paul thinks this is of first importance becomes clear when we look at the preceding context. Notice the word "then" or "therefore" in verse 1: "First of all, then (or therefore), I urge that you pray for all men." That word alerts us to the fact that Paul's command to pray for all men is an inference or a conclusion that follows from something he had just said. In the preceding verses (1:18–20)
Paul is saying is that in order for your ship of faith to stay afloat, you need to see to it that you don't do the things your conscience condemns or leave undone the things which your conscience demands. Paul's charge to Timothy to hold on to faith by keeping a good conscience is tremendously important, and any help Paul gives on how to keep a good conscience should be received with open arms. We are to pray because God desires us to pray!
In the Great Commandments of Mark 12:28-31, all God's instruction is summed up in this: Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, anything we do to people that is unloving will prick our conscience and threaten our faith. With that as a foundation we can start to see why prayer for other people is at the top of Paul's list of things we must do in order to keep a clear conscience.
What Makes Prayer So Important?
I see three reasons why prayer for other people is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience, in view of Jesus' teaching that love is our greatest duty. First, prayer taps the power of God on behalf of others. We could try to help others, even presidents and congressmen and governors and mayors and aldermen and police chiefs, without praying for them. And, judged from a very limited perspective, we might do a little good that way. But the little good that we could do by our little power is not worthy to be compared with the great good God can do for people that he sets out to work for. So if we want the best for people, if we really love them, of first importance will be prayers on their behalf. The first thing you do for a person, if you love them, is to ask God to work for them. Of course, God's answer to your prayer will almost always include your work of love, but it will also include much more than you alone could accomplish.
A second reason prayer is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience is that it is the easiest step of love. You don't even have to get out of bed to pray for kings and all those in high positions. It requires no financial sacrifice and no great physical exertion. Of all the forms that love for others can take, prayer is the easiest. And isn't it true that if you are unwilling to do something easy for the good of another, then it is very unlikely that you will be willing to do something hard for them? So it makes sense that Paul, in urging us to keep our consciences clear, would first of all urge us to do the easiest act of love, to pray for people.
And the third reason prayer is of first importance in keeping our consciences clear is that it reaches farther in its effects than anything else we can do. Before the satellites were orbiting the earth we could broadcast a TV program live across the country but not around the world. But now it is easy to reach the other side of the world with a live broadcast by sending our signal out into space and bouncing it off a satellite.
That is the way it is with prayer. If a Christian wants to do the most good possible to the most people in the short time he has, he will turn to God first, whose influence reaches, without interruption, to every molecule and every mind in the universe.
Paul urges you first of all to fulfill the love command by praying for all men, because prayer taps the power of God on their behalf, prayer is the first and easiest step of love, and prayer reaches farther in its good effects than anything else we can do.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
What the BIble Says About the Shepherd -- Do Not Forget Your Calling to Fully Love the Sheep
In a haunting portion of Holy Scripture, in Ezekiel 34, The Lord calls out the leaders of the people of Israel in exile. He says:
You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Ezekiel 34:4-8
It comes through the centuries to us as a check list for pastors and elders and all leaders of churches. How are we doing on compassionately reaching out to the hurting, the confused, and the lost. Are we reaching out in love and treating them as a shepherd tenderly treats his or her sheep?
The Pastor is usually known as the shepherd; in fact, pastor is the Latin word for herdsman or shepherd. The 23rd Psalm says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” This beautiful piece of literature, which is deeply embedded in its Old Testament milieu, has also proven meaningful to people of many different religious traditions.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me – your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The rhythm and the words seem to evoke a comforting and soothing presence, even in the midst of danger or loss.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” The Lord, the shepherd, is a gracious host, preparing a table of generous sustenance and blessing even when one is in the midst of enemies.
The 23rd Psalm presents a protective and empowering picture of God as a shepherd to God’s people, and it is daunting that one of the titles ordained folks like me are known by is Pastor – shepherd. Ours is a great responsibility -- sometimes the weight of it seems overwhelming. The prophet Jeremiah underlined the weight of the calling when he said, “Thus saith the Lord: ‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.’”Jeremiah 23:1
The story from the Gospel of John highlights the difference between the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy, (John 10:10)and the Good Shepherd, who comes to lead and protect the sheep.
In all these texts, the good shepherd protects and empowers the flock; the bad shepherd is too harsh and forgets his true calling. Sometimes the voices of the culture may lead pastors astray. Sometimes it is the well-meaning, but misguided voices of the congregation, echoing positions taken by past pastors that may no longer apply in the current situation. It is easy to get off the message that God has given you as your core theme. God in Ezekiel and Jeremiah tells us to stop it, to get on our knees and repent, and to return to the call He has given us with renewed commitment.
It is in the area of marriages that I have struggled. In my first three pastorates I held the view, shared by my session boards, that you married anyone who legitimately wanted to come to the Lord to be married, whether they were living together or not. Marriage is a sin-stopper. It puts a couple on the right track.
In my current pastorate, I tried to uphold the standards set by a previous pastor, some that were and are firmly held by current members of the congregation. I have tried, oh Lord, I have tried, and I have spent many sleepless nights. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier not to celebrate any marriages at all. But that is not possible, so I have sought to uphold these standards and still be as loving as possible.
The problem is that such standards are artificial and legalistic and so hard to implement fairly. And upholding artificial conditional standards gets in the way of loving unconditionally, and such unconditional love is the Jesus way.
And how do you judge someone as more worthy of a wedding in their home church than someone else? Just because two people have different addresses, does it mean that they are not "living together" at least part of the time. And how can you prove that their has been no premarital sex? I daresay there have been lots of brides who have gone down the ailse with another person growing inside them.
Two of my heroes are President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. Reagan was divorced when he remarried in 1952 to actress Nancy Davis at a time when she was already become pregnant. Their marriage was on March 4, while daughter Patti was born on October 21 of the same year. God blessed the Reagan's marriage despite this fact.
Take another person that many people respect -- the Reverend and lawyer Pat Robertson. When he ran for President (and he finished second in the Iowa caucuses, polling ahead of future president George H. W. Bush),Time magazine dug up Robertson's marriage license, and found that he was married in August of 1954, about ten weeks before his first son's birthday. Robertson said he and his wife had always celebrates their anniversary in March, on his own birthday, "because our son was conceived that day."
By Reverend Pat's thinking, everyone who has a child before marriage, or has one on the way, was "married" by God at the child's conception. I post this fact, not because I wish to put down Reverend Pat, since I admire much that he has done for the Lord, but to show that God can still use a person who makes mistakes in their life. There are many more examples like this -- perhaps you know some from personal friends and experiences. Remember, we are all sinners saved by grace. As a good friend of mine reminds me -- when you point that finger, three are pointing back at you.
I now see that some of my efforts in "raising a standard" were hurtful to ones who needed love and compassion, not finger-pointing. I now see that when I was thinking I was throwing them a lifeline, I was tossing them a rock.
So it is that I repent. In some areas of my ministry, since I came to my current call, in an effort to align with what I thought were church standards set in place by other pastors in another time, I have at times been too Pharisaic, too legalistic, too judgmental. For that I apologize to God, to the people, and to myself.
God gave Billy Graham and Dwight L. Moody core salvation messages. He gave Mother Teresa one of great pastoral care for the poor and the sick. He has given me the core message of the transcendent power of love and the miraculous power of prayer and the deeper things of God.
That is where I must major. That is where I am called -- to glorify God and point to His love, mercy and grace, and to win those lost and hurt back to the Lord with examples of that great love He gives us, not kick them in the teeth or beat them with a judgement stick. For the times I may have done that, I apologize. I must let God deal with their hearts, even as I give my heart to them as a shepherd. May I live as an apostle of His love all the rest of my life. May I be a loving shepherd.
Clearly, I am not the only one who misses it sometimes, who may have heard other voices and reacted in error. All of us need to help each other in recognizing and differentiating between the voice of the thief-the stranger, and the voice of Jesus – the Good Shepherd. And a strong faith should give us the courage to act with compassion and love as Jesus did. May the grace of Jesus Christ-the Good Shepherd, guide and protect you, now and always. Amen.
You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Ezekiel 34:4-8
It comes through the centuries to us as a check list for pastors and elders and all leaders of churches. How are we doing on compassionately reaching out to the hurting, the confused, and the lost. Are we reaching out in love and treating them as a shepherd tenderly treats his or her sheep?
The Pastor is usually known as the shepherd; in fact, pastor is the Latin word for herdsman or shepherd. The 23rd Psalm says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” This beautiful piece of literature, which is deeply embedded in its Old Testament milieu, has also proven meaningful to people of many different religious traditions.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me – your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The rhythm and the words seem to evoke a comforting and soothing presence, even in the midst of danger or loss.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” The Lord, the shepherd, is a gracious host, preparing a table of generous sustenance and blessing even when one is in the midst of enemies.
The 23rd Psalm presents a protective and empowering picture of God as a shepherd to God’s people, and it is daunting that one of the titles ordained folks like me are known by is Pastor – shepherd. Ours is a great responsibility -- sometimes the weight of it seems overwhelming. The prophet Jeremiah underlined the weight of the calling when he said, “Thus saith the Lord: ‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.’”Jeremiah 23:1
The story from the Gospel of John highlights the difference between the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy, (John 10:10)and the Good Shepherd, who comes to lead and protect the sheep.
In all these texts, the good shepherd protects and empowers the flock; the bad shepherd is too harsh and forgets his true calling. Sometimes the voices of the culture may lead pastors astray. Sometimes it is the well-meaning, but misguided voices of the congregation, echoing positions taken by past pastors that may no longer apply in the current situation. It is easy to get off the message that God has given you as your core theme. God in Ezekiel and Jeremiah tells us to stop it, to get on our knees and repent, and to return to the call He has given us with renewed commitment.
It is in the area of marriages that I have struggled. In my first three pastorates I held the view, shared by my session boards, that you married anyone who legitimately wanted to come to the Lord to be married, whether they were living together or not. Marriage is a sin-stopper. It puts a couple on the right track.
In my current pastorate, I tried to uphold the standards set by a previous pastor, some that were and are firmly held by current members of the congregation. I have tried, oh Lord, I have tried, and I have spent many sleepless nights. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier not to celebrate any marriages at all. But that is not possible, so I have sought to uphold these standards and still be as loving as possible.
The problem is that such standards are artificial and legalistic and so hard to implement fairly. And upholding artificial conditional standards gets in the way of loving unconditionally, and such unconditional love is the Jesus way.
And how do you judge someone as more worthy of a wedding in their home church than someone else? Just because two people have different addresses, does it mean that they are not "living together" at least part of the time. And how can you prove that their has been no premarital sex? I daresay there have been lots of brides who have gone down the ailse with another person growing inside them.
Two of my heroes are President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. Reagan was divorced when he remarried in 1952 to actress Nancy Davis at a time when she was already become pregnant. Their marriage was on March 4, while daughter Patti was born on October 21 of the same year. God blessed the Reagan's marriage despite this fact.
Take another person that many people respect -- the Reverend and lawyer Pat Robertson. When he ran for President (and he finished second in the Iowa caucuses, polling ahead of future president George H. W. Bush),Time magazine dug up Robertson's marriage license, and found that he was married in August of 1954, about ten weeks before his first son's birthday. Robertson said he and his wife had always celebrates their anniversary in March, on his own birthday, "because our son was conceived that day."
By Reverend Pat's thinking, everyone who has a child before marriage, or has one on the way, was "married" by God at the child's conception. I post this fact, not because I wish to put down Reverend Pat, since I admire much that he has done for the Lord, but to show that God can still use a person who makes mistakes in their life. There are many more examples like this -- perhaps you know some from personal friends and experiences. Remember, we are all sinners saved by grace. As a good friend of mine reminds me -- when you point that finger, three are pointing back at you.
I now see that some of my efforts in "raising a standard" were hurtful to ones who needed love and compassion, not finger-pointing. I now see that when I was thinking I was throwing them a lifeline, I was tossing them a rock.
So it is that I repent. In some areas of my ministry, since I came to my current call, in an effort to align with what I thought were church standards set in place by other pastors in another time, I have at times been too Pharisaic, too legalistic, too judgmental. For that I apologize to God, to the people, and to myself.
God gave Billy Graham and Dwight L. Moody core salvation messages. He gave Mother Teresa one of great pastoral care for the poor and the sick. He has given me the core message of the transcendent power of love and the miraculous power of prayer and the deeper things of God.
That is where I must major. That is where I am called -- to glorify God and point to His love, mercy and grace, and to win those lost and hurt back to the Lord with examples of that great love He gives us, not kick them in the teeth or beat them with a judgement stick. For the times I may have done that, I apologize. I must let God deal with their hearts, even as I give my heart to them as a shepherd. May I live as an apostle of His love all the rest of my life. May I be a loving shepherd.
Clearly, I am not the only one who misses it sometimes, who may have heard other voices and reacted in error. All of us need to help each other in recognizing and differentiating between the voice of the thief-the stranger, and the voice of Jesus – the Good Shepherd. And a strong faith should give us the courage to act with compassion and love as Jesus did. May the grace of Jesus Christ-the Good Shepherd, guide and protect you, now and always. Amen.
Pray for the youth, Pray for the Children
Please pray for our youth. It is a complex world they live in, and they need to be clothed in our prayers. Sometimes I feel that our youth grow up too fast, that they are thrown into the mix so quickly that they miss some of the joys I experienced in my high school years. Their schedules are full of activity, but is there room or time for careful reflection and gentle personal growth of a deeper nature? In an "it's all about me" world, is there any true focus on thinking beyond oneself, in helping others, and in intentionally living the Christian life.. In a world filled with so much greed and self-centeredness, the church cries out for a balance in life. The Bible gives us a path, the Jesus Way, but the world competes savagely for their attention. They need our nurture, our direction, and our prayers.
Proverbs 22:6 is just as true now as when it was written "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Youth are children, especially until they are 18 and in many ways until they are 21, and sometimes beyond that arbitrary age. Training is NOT letting children and youth have their own way all of the time. It involves guidance and leadership by the adults in their lives, and definitely by those who are their parents and by others caring adults who are in the churches they are affiliated with in their young lives. So we must pray fervently for them. It is our Christian duty to pray for them individually each day.
We are living in a time where there is less and less parental training, and more and more influence from the macro-culture and from peers. The vast communications revolution has made television and DVD movies the great electrobic babysitters. The constant struggle to make ends meet financially has forced a great majority of couples to both be working, limiting parental time with children from what the amount it was for centuries. So it is that we live in difficult times, and many of our national problmes are wrought by these societal situations and their impact on contempory lives. All the more we find the need to get down on our knees and to pray for our children and youth.
Proverbs 22:6 is just as true now as when it was written "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Youth are children, especially until they are 18 and in many ways until they are 21, and sometimes beyond that arbitrary age. Training is NOT letting children and youth have their own way all of the time. It involves guidance and leadership by the adults in their lives, and definitely by those who are their parents and by others caring adults who are in the churches they are affiliated with in their young lives. So we must pray fervently for them. It is our Christian duty to pray for them individually each day.
We are living in a time where there is less and less parental training, and more and more influence from the macro-culture and from peers. The vast communications revolution has made television and DVD movies the great electrobic babysitters. The constant struggle to make ends meet financially has forced a great majority of couples to both be working, limiting parental time with children from what the amount it was for centuries. So it is that we live in difficult times, and many of our national problmes are wrought by these societal situations and their impact on contempory lives. All the more we find the need to get down on our knees and to pray for our children and youth.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Aunt Virginia Dances in Heaven
My aunt Virginia Boyd went home to be with the Lord this week. She was a woman of faith and courage who had lived with a chronic, difficult illness for many years. She had contracted a rare blood condition that continually threatened and weakened her immune system many years ago. It caused her to have to seek experimental treatments to keep alive, often accompanied by long stays in the hospital.
Virgina Stephens Boyd lived a life that was hard, but she always met the challenges with a strong faith, a constant sense of good humor, and a beautiful smile. Her witness to the world was one of strength in the face of difficulty, and of believing in God's ultimate grace in the pits of situations that would put many of us into deep depression and despair.
Even before her own illness, Virginia lost her only daughter, Cathy Boyd, to leukemia at the age of 15. It was a terrible tragedy to lose such a bright child as Cathy, who had her own great courage in the face of devastating illness. I remember going to a movie with Cathy and Virginia, "The Summer of '42," when Cathy was having treatments in Gainesville, Florida in the early seventies while I was in college at the University of Florida. They were still smiling and fighting, though the prognosis was bleak. But then Virginia had to do that act that is always so out of sync with the natural thythms of life -- she had to bury her child.
However, Aunt Virginia always had a well of dignity and compassion that she could drink from, because of her strong faith in the Lord. Cathy's death devastated my Uncle Henry also, but Virginia nursed him back from depression with her good cheer and love and prayer. She was a model wife and mother and aunt. Even when Uncle Henry also died of leukemia in the early nineties, Virginia's faith, and her loving sisters, kept her moving ahead, living for Jesus and contributing to the world.
When I saw her for the last time on this earth, when I was in Florida with my brother in August, she was very weak physically. But the quick mind was active and that gentle smile was there, and she was asking about my wife and children, as he always did. She was always hoping and praying for the best for all of us. She continued to have great love and compassion for my mother, my sister, my brother and myself, long after Uncle Henry, my mother's brother, and my dad Sherman had gone on to be with the Lord.
Yes, my aunt Virginia is gone and the world is not quite as good a place without her here. But there is a new woman dancing in heaven with her beloved husband, and pausing to hold her daughter's hand, all of them rejoicing with theier Lord and Savior. And I am sure taht sweet woman will be waiting at Heaven's gate when we all get there, too. And she will be smiling that gentle smile, filled with intelligence and faith.
Virgina Stephens Boyd lived a life that was hard, but she always met the challenges with a strong faith, a constant sense of good humor, and a beautiful smile. Her witness to the world was one of strength in the face of difficulty, and of believing in God's ultimate grace in the pits of situations that would put many of us into deep depression and despair.
Even before her own illness, Virginia lost her only daughter, Cathy Boyd, to leukemia at the age of 15. It was a terrible tragedy to lose such a bright child as Cathy, who had her own great courage in the face of devastating illness. I remember going to a movie with Cathy and Virginia, "The Summer of '42," when Cathy was having treatments in Gainesville, Florida in the early seventies while I was in college at the University of Florida. They were still smiling and fighting, though the prognosis was bleak. But then Virginia had to do that act that is always so out of sync with the natural thythms of life -- she had to bury her child.
However, Aunt Virginia always had a well of dignity and compassion that she could drink from, because of her strong faith in the Lord. Cathy's death devastated my Uncle Henry also, but Virginia nursed him back from depression with her good cheer and love and prayer. She was a model wife and mother and aunt. Even when Uncle Henry also died of leukemia in the early nineties, Virginia's faith, and her loving sisters, kept her moving ahead, living for Jesus and contributing to the world.
When I saw her for the last time on this earth, when I was in Florida with my brother in August, she was very weak physically. But the quick mind was active and that gentle smile was there, and she was asking about my wife and children, as he always did. She was always hoping and praying for the best for all of us. She continued to have great love and compassion for my mother, my sister, my brother and myself, long after Uncle Henry, my mother's brother, and my dad Sherman had gone on to be with the Lord.
Yes, my aunt Virginia is gone and the world is not quite as good a place without her here. But there is a new woman dancing in heaven with her beloved husband, and pausing to hold her daughter's hand, all of them rejoicing with theier Lord and Savior. And I am sure taht sweet woman will be waiting at Heaven's gate when we all get there, too. And she will be smiling that gentle smile, filled with intelligence and faith.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Marriage is a Covenant Made Before and With God
Some Key Thoughts on Christian Marriage
According to Scripture marriage is ordained by God as an intimate and permanent partnership between a man and a woman in which the two become one in the whole of life. The ideal is an active lifelong monogamous heterosexual relationship. Sexual, emotional, physical and spiritual fulfillment are important goals of a marriage relationship that places God at its centre. Christian marriage is the ideal foundation for the birth and raising of children.
Some key biblical passages on marriage principles: Gen 1:26-28; 2:21-24; Mt 19:6; 1 Cor 7:1-40; 13:1-13; 2 Cor 6:14; Eph 5:21-33; 1 Th 4:3-7; Heb 13:4; 1 Pet 3:1-7.
Marriage is a solemn commitment, a holy event before God. It is a covenant -- the highest level of union in humanity. The vows one takes are not only vows to their beloved one, but also vows to God, witnessed by the church.
"I the groom, take thee, the bride, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health 'til death do us part."
"I, the bride, take thee, the groom, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health 'til death do us part."
Those words or a slight variation of them have served Christians for centuries, and we couldn't find anything that better expressed what we were committing to each other. They expressed the vows we are making — an irrevocable commitment to each other with God as our witness.
According to Scripture marriage is ordained by God as an intimate and permanent partnership between a man and a woman in which the two become one in the whole of life. The ideal is an active lifelong monogamous heterosexual relationship. Sexual, emotional, physical and spiritual fulfillment are important goals of a marriage relationship that places God at its centre. Christian marriage is the ideal foundation for the birth and raising of children.
Some key biblical passages on marriage principles: Gen 1:26-28; 2:21-24; Mt 19:6; 1 Cor 7:1-40; 13:1-13; 2 Cor 6:14; Eph 5:21-33; 1 Th 4:3-7; Heb 13:4; 1 Pet 3:1-7.
Marriage is a solemn commitment, a holy event before God. It is a covenant -- the highest level of union in humanity. The vows one takes are not only vows to their beloved one, but also vows to God, witnessed by the church.
"I the groom, take thee, the bride, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health 'til death do us part."
"I, the bride, take thee, the groom, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health 'til death do us part."
Those words or a slight variation of them have served Christians for centuries, and we couldn't find anything that better expressed what we were committing to each other. They expressed the vows we are making — an irrevocable commitment to each other with God as our witness.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Types of Prayer -- Be a Prayer Warrior for Jesus!
Prayer is basically talking with God. It is simply expressing your heart and spending time with Him. It is not a one way activity, God speaks, we listen, we speak and God listens to our hearts. Prayer can be exciting, powerful and fulfilling.
may this blog column inspire you to pursue your own personal study on this subject.
Types of Prayer
A. Thanksgiving
B. Petition
C. Prevailing
D. Praying For Others
A. Thanksgiving- Giving thanks to God for all things in your life. We are commanded to give thanks in all circumstances. Being thankful is being grateful for his protection , provision, blessing, and most of all for his Son.
B. Petition- We ask God for the specific things we need in our life. Give us our daily bread. Give us the things we need to survive, a roof over our heads, employment etc. Petitions are usually self orientated, presenting our personal needs to our Heavenly Father, in trust that He will provide. Be specific in your petitions, pray in details and not in generalities.
C. Prevailing Prayer- fervent consistent insistent prayer until a breakthrough takes place, whether in your personal life, or for someone else ( intercession). Example Believing for emotional or physical healing.
Biblical Example: Luke 18:1-8.(NIV) Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, `Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
D Praying For Others- Love on its knees in prayer, for others. Pleading on behalf of the needs of someone else. Standing in the gap, that is, praying prayers of repentance, etc., identifying yourself with the sins of those for which you are in prayer.
Biblical Example: Nehemiah, a godly man, identified with the sins of his people, praying prayers of repentance, asking the Lord to forgive and to have mercy and to raise up once again the nation of Israel. Read Nehemiah 1 for this story. Be a prayer warrior for the Lord!
may this blog column inspire you to pursue your own personal study on this subject.
Types of Prayer
A. Thanksgiving
B. Petition
C. Prevailing
D. Praying For Others
A. Thanksgiving- Giving thanks to God for all things in your life. We are commanded to give thanks in all circumstances. Being thankful is being grateful for his protection , provision, blessing, and most of all for his Son.
B. Petition- We ask God for the specific things we need in our life. Give us our daily bread. Give us the things we need to survive, a roof over our heads, employment etc. Petitions are usually self orientated, presenting our personal needs to our Heavenly Father, in trust that He will provide. Be specific in your petitions, pray in details and not in generalities.
C. Prevailing Prayer- fervent consistent insistent prayer until a breakthrough takes place, whether in your personal life, or for someone else ( intercession). Example Believing for emotional or physical healing.
Biblical Example: Luke 18:1-8.(NIV) Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, `Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
D Praying For Others- Love on its knees in prayer, for others. Pleading on behalf of the needs of someone else. Standing in the gap, that is, praying prayers of repentance, etc., identifying yourself with the sins of those for which you are in prayer.
Biblical Example: Nehemiah, a godly man, identified with the sins of his people, praying prayers of repentance, asking the Lord to forgive and to have mercy and to raise up once again the nation of Israel. Read Nehemiah 1 for this story. Be a prayer warrior for the Lord!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Be Still and Know that He is God! Be Quiet and Listen for His Guidance and Compassion
The Lord has strongly impressed upon me that we need to be qyiet before Him, and listen for His still, gentle voice. "Be still and Know that I am God!" Psalm 46:10
Listening to God - Preparing Your Heart to Hear Him
Listening to God is like listening to anyone-before you can hear Him, you must be ready to listen. Just as in a conversation, you cannot hear the other person if you are talking or if your mind is distracted. So it is with God. If you want to hear Him speak, you must be quiet and you must be focused on what He is saying. Regular conversation with God can transform your life! Consider identifying a place and time to meet with God everyday.
Prayer is how you begin a conversation with God. Think of it as saying "hello."
Listening to God - How Can I Hear Him?
Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around you and focus your thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks.
We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done.
King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8).
He sought God's direction in the morning, at the beginning of the day. Like a general in God's army, he wanted to hear from his Commanding Officer before he entered into battle. Beginning each day fresh with God is a great reminder that, as the Scripture says, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22, 23). You must find the time of day that works for you, but morning is the best time if that is possible.
Listening to God requires a heart committed to understand His message. God often speaks to us in visual images. Consider the example of the prophet Habakkuk, in Habakkuk chapter 2. The prophet longed to hear from God! He was so determined that he was willing to stand and wait as long as it took. "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…" (Habakkuk 2:1).
In order to listen to God and receive His instruction, we must want to do His will, much as Habakkuk did. God honors the heart that is fully surrendered to Him. If we are stubbornly clinging to our own desires, we are likely to get a garbled message that will not be God's voice at all. As a result, we are likely to continue pursuing a path that is contrary to the one God has designed for our lives.
Psalm 40:8 says, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
When you listen to God and obey Him, you will discover a life that is full and rich with purpose, confident you are following the Master's plan.
Listening to God - Preparing Your Heart to Hear Him
Listening to God is like listening to anyone-before you can hear Him, you must be ready to listen. Just as in a conversation, you cannot hear the other person if you are talking or if your mind is distracted. So it is with God. If you want to hear Him speak, you must be quiet and you must be focused on what He is saying. Regular conversation with God can transform your life! Consider identifying a place and time to meet with God everyday.
Prayer is how you begin a conversation with God. Think of it as saying "hello."
Listening to God - How Can I Hear Him?
Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around you and focus your thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks.
We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done.
King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8).
He sought God's direction in the morning, at the beginning of the day. Like a general in God's army, he wanted to hear from his Commanding Officer before he entered into battle. Beginning each day fresh with God is a great reminder that, as the Scripture says, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22, 23). You must find the time of day that works for you, but morning is the best time if that is possible.
Listening to God requires a heart committed to understand His message. God often speaks to us in visual images. Consider the example of the prophet Habakkuk, in Habakkuk chapter 2. The prophet longed to hear from God! He was so determined that he was willing to stand and wait as long as it took. "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…" (Habakkuk 2:1).
In order to listen to God and receive His instruction, we must want to do His will, much as Habakkuk did. God honors the heart that is fully surrendered to Him. If we are stubbornly clinging to our own desires, we are likely to get a garbled message that will not be God's voice at all. As a result, we are likely to continue pursuing a path that is contrary to the one God has designed for our lives.
Psalm 40:8 says, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
When you listen to God and obey Him, you will discover a life that is full and rich with purpose, confident you are following the Master's plan.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Pray for the Lost and Those Who Seem Blinded by the Darkness -- May They Find Christ's Love!
"Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved" Romans 10:1
Do you ever get sad about the state of those who do not know God, or who knowingly disobey him. You want to help them, jsut as you would want to stop a child from doing something that might harm him or her. But sometimes people are bent toward their own destruction. Still, we must pray for the lost and the ones who are so confused that they put themseles in peril. It is our Christian duty to pray for them in love. Jesus warns of eternal torment for those who reject Him.
We already see the first reason why we should pray for the lost: People are sinners by nature. Salvation requires an overthrow of what we naturally are. Ephesians 2:3 recalls how that,"We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others"
Satan is at work in the world. This sounds terribly old-fashioned to the modern mind, but Scripture teaches this repeatedly. For example, Ephesians 2:2: "You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." The sinister influence of the evil one is internal and dynamic. It has an influential and powerful effect upon the person. Other passages teach the same basic premise and add other nuances of insight:
The Bible teaches that the devil has ensnared the lost. Paul tells us what kind of attitude we should demonstrate in dealing with opponents of the Christian message: "In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (1st Timothy 2:25-26). Notice the entrapment: God has to grant repentance because they are so spiritually disabled that they cannot do it on their own. And notice why this is: they are ensnared and taken captive. We know about substance abuse addictions and sexual addictions and gambling addictions; this is an addiction of self enthronement, a God-rejection addiction.
The devil has deceived the lost. "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1st John 5:19). Yhe unbeliever, in the arms of Satan, islulled to sleep, and unaware of their dangerous plight.
The lost have been blinded. "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded" (2nd Corinthians 4:3-4). One of the problems of being lost is that one cannot see the obvious, they simply do not get it. It is not that it is too deep to fathom; it is not a matter of intelligence. It is a spiritual seeing problem. Ever notice how sometimes you can talk to a person and while otherwise they are very friendly and intelligent, when the conversation turns to Christ suddenly they sound like they don't have any common sense?
So we are burdened for someone. What are some things we can pray for them?
We can pray for God to send conviction, that is that they will sense the urgency of their need. At Pentecost, Peter's sermon was interrupted by his listeners, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Conviction is when God call us to call to account and show us our fault.
We can ask God to send enlightenment. Paul was commissioned by God to go to the gentiles, "To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:18). We can pray that God would call and draw, attracting them to Christ. We can pray that mental strongholds against goodness and God might be pulled down. May their eyes be opened and may they be surrounded by His Love! IN JESUS NAME!
Do you ever get sad about the state of those who do not know God, or who knowingly disobey him. You want to help them, jsut as you would want to stop a child from doing something that might harm him or her. But sometimes people are bent toward their own destruction. Still, we must pray for the lost and the ones who are so confused that they put themseles in peril. It is our Christian duty to pray for them in love. Jesus warns of eternal torment for those who reject Him.
We already see the first reason why we should pray for the lost: People are sinners by nature. Salvation requires an overthrow of what we naturally are. Ephesians 2:3 recalls how that,"We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others"
Satan is at work in the world. This sounds terribly old-fashioned to the modern mind, but Scripture teaches this repeatedly. For example, Ephesians 2:2: "You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." The sinister influence of the evil one is internal and dynamic. It has an influential and powerful effect upon the person. Other passages teach the same basic premise and add other nuances of insight:
The Bible teaches that the devil has ensnared the lost. Paul tells us what kind of attitude we should demonstrate in dealing with opponents of the Christian message: "In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (1st Timothy 2:25-26). Notice the entrapment: God has to grant repentance because they are so spiritually disabled that they cannot do it on their own. And notice why this is: they are ensnared and taken captive. We know about substance abuse addictions and sexual addictions and gambling addictions; this is an addiction of self enthronement, a God-rejection addiction.
The devil has deceived the lost. "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1st John 5:19). Yhe unbeliever, in the arms of Satan, islulled to sleep, and unaware of their dangerous plight.
The lost have been blinded. "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded" (2nd Corinthians 4:3-4). One of the problems of being lost is that one cannot see the obvious, they simply do not get it. It is not that it is too deep to fathom; it is not a matter of intelligence. It is a spiritual seeing problem. Ever notice how sometimes you can talk to a person and while otherwise they are very friendly and intelligent, when the conversation turns to Christ suddenly they sound like they don't have any common sense?
So we are burdened for someone. What are some things we can pray for them?
We can pray for God to send conviction, that is that they will sense the urgency of their need. At Pentecost, Peter's sermon was interrupted by his listeners, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Conviction is when God call us to call to account and show us our fault.
We can ask God to send enlightenment. Paul was commissioned by God to go to the gentiles, "To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:18). We can pray that God would call and draw, attracting them to Christ. We can pray that mental strongholds against goodness and God might be pulled down. May their eyes be opened and may they be surrounded by His Love! IN JESUS NAME!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Pleading the Blood of Jesus Christ, Part Two
Here are four more powerful verses from Scripture showing that all Christians now have God’s power and anointing at their disposal to use when they need it to engage with the dark side of this life:
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)
Notice in this verse we have God’s power over all the power of our enemies, not just against part of their powers. This means we have the ability to come out completely victorious in some of life's battles and struggles, but only if we learn how to use what is available to us.
"Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." (Luke 9:1)
Notice in this verse that Jesus gives the twelve apostles power over all demons, not just some of them. If we have God’s power available to us to defeat all demons, then I believe that we also have God’s power to defeat any and all humans that may try to come against us with any type of unjust action or attack.
"... but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Daniel 11:32)
"Knowing their God" means that we have spent quality time in establishing a good, personal, intimate relationship with the Lord. If we do that, then this verse is telling us that God will strengthen and empower us when we need His power to be able to carry out great exploits and great adventures for Him.
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)
This verse is telling us that God is actually looking for people that He can anoint with His power, but are you willing to pay the price to be able to really walk with His anointing?
As you can see from the way all of the above verses are worded, true Christianity is not a weak, wimpy, or passive religion. As born-again believers, we all have the Holy Spirit literally living and dwelling on the inside of us. As a result, all of our bodies have now become the temple in which He now lives in. His supernatural power is now fully available to all of us in order to help us handle some of the storm clouds that can come against us in ths life.
Protection
And since the shed blood of the Old Testament lambs used for the temporary covering of sins eventually leads to the shedding of Jesus’ blood for permanent and total forgiveness of all of our sins, we also see that the shed blood of the lambs used in the Passover for divine protection also leads to the shed Blood of Jesus having divine protection in it.
Pleading the Blood of Jesus for any deliverance and protection that you may need is just one part of our arsenal. You can also Plead the Blood of Jesus on specific things like your body, your house, your car, your finances, etc. The goal is to Plead the Blood of Jesus on those things in order to protect you before any kind of adversity could come your way.
I urge you to incorporate pleading the blood of Jesus in your prayer life. Christians can either choose to continue to remain passive with their heads stuck in the sand, hoping that neither they nor any of their loved ones will ever come under any kind of direct human or demonic attack - or they can choose to learn how to rise up in the power of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and learn how to spiritually defend themselves using spiritual warfare techniques as given to us out of the Bible!
When the enemy does come, rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit and spiritually defend yourself and engage with the enemy head on, like David did with Goliath. You will be victorious because of the Name and Blood of Jesus Christ!
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)
Notice in this verse we have God’s power over all the power of our enemies, not just against part of their powers. This means we have the ability to come out completely victorious in some of life's battles and struggles, but only if we learn how to use what is available to us.
"Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." (Luke 9:1)
Notice in this verse that Jesus gives the twelve apostles power over all demons, not just some of them. If we have God’s power available to us to defeat all demons, then I believe that we also have God’s power to defeat any and all humans that may try to come against us with any type of unjust action or attack.
"... but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Daniel 11:32)
"Knowing their God" means that we have spent quality time in establishing a good, personal, intimate relationship with the Lord. If we do that, then this verse is telling us that God will strengthen and empower us when we need His power to be able to carry out great exploits and great adventures for Him.
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)
This verse is telling us that God is actually looking for people that He can anoint with His power, but are you willing to pay the price to be able to really walk with His anointing?
As you can see from the way all of the above verses are worded, true Christianity is not a weak, wimpy, or passive religion. As born-again believers, we all have the Holy Spirit literally living and dwelling on the inside of us. As a result, all of our bodies have now become the temple in which He now lives in. His supernatural power is now fully available to all of us in order to help us handle some of the storm clouds that can come against us in ths life.
Protection
And since the shed blood of the Old Testament lambs used for the temporary covering of sins eventually leads to the shedding of Jesus’ blood for permanent and total forgiveness of all of our sins, we also see that the shed blood of the lambs used in the Passover for divine protection also leads to the shed Blood of Jesus having divine protection in it.
Pleading the Blood of Jesus for any deliverance and protection that you may need is just one part of our arsenal. You can also Plead the Blood of Jesus on specific things like your body, your house, your car, your finances, etc. The goal is to Plead the Blood of Jesus on those things in order to protect you before any kind of adversity could come your way.
I urge you to incorporate pleading the blood of Jesus in your prayer life. Christians can either choose to continue to remain passive with their heads stuck in the sand, hoping that neither they nor any of their loved ones will ever come under any kind of direct human or demonic attack - or they can choose to learn how to rise up in the power of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and learn how to spiritually defend themselves using spiritual warfare techniques as given to us out of the Bible!
When the enemy does come, rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit and spiritually defend yourself and engage with the enemy head on, like David did with Goliath. You will be victorious because of the Name and Blood of Jesus Christ!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Pleading the Powerful Blood of Jesus in Your Life
Pleading the Blood of Jesus is not begging, it is a legal term. Our plea, in any situation that merits it, is the Blood of Jesus. When we make this our plea, the Blood is applied for us by the Holy Spirit. When you pray " I plead the Blood of Jesus over... it is then applied in your behalf. And it is more powerful than anything else!
Thare three things contained in the Blood of Jesus – forgiveness, deliverance and protection. Most Christians only know about the first one – forgiveness. They have no idea that there are two other things available to them that will enable them to live a victorious and overcoming life in Jesus while still living down here on this earth. Let us look at forgiveness and deliverance.
Forgiveness
As Christians, we all know that there is definitely forgiveness in the Blood of Jesus. This is the basic central message of true Christianity, that God the Father sent His one and only begotten Son Jesus Christ down to our earth in the flesh to physically die on a cross in order to give us total and permanent forgiveness for all of our sins.
Without Jesus dying and shedding His blood on the cross, there would be no forgiveness and no remission of any of our sins. Here are some extremely powerful verses from Scripture specifically telling us this:
"For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
"But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)
The blood that Jesus personally shed for us on the cross, which caused His physical death, is what leads to our eternal salvation, the forgiveness of all of our sins and entrance into heaven when we die and cross over.
Deliverance
Now what are the Scriptural grounds that will give us the legal right to be able to use Jesus' Blood when taking on any attacks that may come our way? As my grandmother used to do, you can Plead the Blood of Jesus against specific types of attacks such as attacks from demons or other evil people, any kind of physical disease or illness, or any kind of addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Many Christians are not aware of this second component that is in the Blood of Jesus which entitles us to be able to use His Blood to go on the offensive against any adversity that may come our way.
Something else happened that day when Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus also defeated Satan and all of the powers of darkness that day! Here are some specific Scripture verses proving this point for you:
"… that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:14)
"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13)
"Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelations 12:11)
What defeated Satan and all his dark powers? The physical death of Jesus on the cross. And what did Jesus do when He died that day on the cross for all of us? He shed His Blood!
This is why Pleading the Blood of Jesus works so well in real life combat situations when it really is needed to defeat attacks that come against us from the dark side.
Many Christians are not aware of this second fact about the Blood of Jesus - that the Blood can also be used to engage with our enemies when they do try to launch an attack against us. I believe that all of the above Scripture verses definitely tell us that the blood that Jesus shed that day on the cross has totally defeated Satan and all of his dark powers.
The only thing remaining is for Christians to realize and grab a hold of this powerful truth and not to be afraid to use when they need it - especially when demons or other bad and evil people attempt to come against them with any type of unjust actions or attacks. Learn to plead the Blood of Jesus in your prayers.
Thare three things contained in the Blood of Jesus – forgiveness, deliverance and protection. Most Christians only know about the first one – forgiveness. They have no idea that there are two other things available to them that will enable them to live a victorious and overcoming life in Jesus while still living down here on this earth. Let us look at forgiveness and deliverance.
Forgiveness
As Christians, we all know that there is definitely forgiveness in the Blood of Jesus. This is the basic central message of true Christianity, that God the Father sent His one and only begotten Son Jesus Christ down to our earth in the flesh to physically die on a cross in order to give us total and permanent forgiveness for all of our sins.
Without Jesus dying and shedding His blood on the cross, there would be no forgiveness and no remission of any of our sins. Here are some extremely powerful verses from Scripture specifically telling us this:
"For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
"But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)
The blood that Jesus personally shed for us on the cross, which caused His physical death, is what leads to our eternal salvation, the forgiveness of all of our sins and entrance into heaven when we die and cross over.
Deliverance
Now what are the Scriptural grounds that will give us the legal right to be able to use Jesus' Blood when taking on any attacks that may come our way? As my grandmother used to do, you can Plead the Blood of Jesus against specific types of attacks such as attacks from demons or other evil people, any kind of physical disease or illness, or any kind of addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Many Christians are not aware of this second component that is in the Blood of Jesus which entitles us to be able to use His Blood to go on the offensive against any adversity that may come our way.
Something else happened that day when Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus also defeated Satan and all of the powers of darkness that day! Here are some specific Scripture verses proving this point for you:
"… that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:14)
"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13)
"Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelations 12:11)
What defeated Satan and all his dark powers? The physical death of Jesus on the cross. And what did Jesus do when He died that day on the cross for all of us? He shed His Blood!
This is why Pleading the Blood of Jesus works so well in real life combat situations when it really is needed to defeat attacks that come against us from the dark side.
Many Christians are not aware of this second fact about the Blood of Jesus - that the Blood can also be used to engage with our enemies when they do try to launch an attack against us. I believe that all of the above Scripture verses definitely tell us that the blood that Jesus shed that day on the cross has totally defeated Satan and all of his dark powers.
The only thing remaining is for Christians to realize and grab a hold of this powerful truth and not to be afraid to use when they need it - especially when demons or other bad and evil people attempt to come against them with any type of unjust actions or attacks. Learn to plead the Blood of Jesus in your prayers.
Power in the Blood, Part Two
God provided a system of atonment with blood, first with purified animals, then with Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God! In Jesus, God would give the ultimate blood for us. His precious Son would go to Calvary and shed His blood for you and me. That was the purpose behind the earlier purified animal sacrifices in the Old Testament! It was all pointing to the cross!
In sacrifices there is the altar. A place associated with death and suffering. The altar was a bloody, grim place also marked by the blood the dead and dying. From the altar arose the smoke of the sacrifices that burned there continually. It was a place of suffering.
Again, this all pointed ahead to a time when the Son of God would go to an altar called the cross and would shed His blood the redemption of mankind. Please never lose sight of the terrible price Jesus paid for us. He suffered terribly so that we might be saved. Just as the sacrifices of old were tied to the altar and burned with fire, Jesus was nailed to His altar and burned in the fire of divine wrath! The price He paid was a terrible price!
God reminds them that the reason He gave them the blood sacrifices was to make an atonement for their sins. The word “atonement” means “a covering”. God gave them the blood as a means of covering their sins and of bringing them into fellowship with Himself. Lest we forget, sin separates us from the presence of God, But the blood of Jesus has the power to bring us together!
One of the most remarkable truths in the Bible is the fact that God genuinely wants to have fellowship with you and me. He has proven this be the lengths He has gone to, to bring us together. The fact that God would place our value above that of another life is an amazing thing! To me, it is absolute proof of the power of the love of God for humanity. That He would value us more than the life of His own Son is a truth that is wonderful beyond words.
The Blood of Jesus Covers Sin - The blood of Christ was given to cover sin. That is, when the blood was shed and applied to the altar, God saw the blood and not the sin. It was removed from His sight and He accepted the blood of the innocent sacrifice in place of the guilt of the sinner.
The Blood of Jesus Cleanses Sin - When we come to the New Testament and to the death of Jesus on the cross, we find a sacrifice that was filled with a power that the Old Testament sacrificial system could never know. What we find about the blood of Jesus is that it has the power to take away sin!
Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will never have to be repeated! It was a one-time for all-time offering that forever removes the sins of every person who places their faith in Him and His shed blood!
The Blood of Jesus Converts The Sinner - When a person comes to Jesus by faith and is saved by grace, that person is forever changed. The blood of the Lamb has the power to convert the soul. Not only will God cleanse away your sins, but He will forever change your life. The blood of Jesus has the power to make us into new creatures in Christ.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says in 13:12: “Jesus suffered ... in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.” This means that we are all saints, holy people, people protected and empowered by God’s holiness. Because Jesus shares his own holiness with us by giving us his blood as a covering, we can approach our heavenly Father with great boldness and confidence as if we were Jesus himself and had his status as God’s Son. We enjoy the privilege of access to heaven here on earth as we receive the holy Sacrament. When we take the Lord’s Supper we can “enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus” and “approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:19-22).
We can bring our own needs and the needs of others to God in prayer. Together with the word of God and body of Jesus, his blood is the most holy thing that you have from God. It presents you holy before God. You are as holy in God’s eyes as Jesus is, because you are covered spirituatlly with his Blood. Since you share in Christ’s holiness, your body is the temple of the living God. Wherever you go God goes with you. God uses you to reach out and touch other people. Whether they know it or not, they meet Him through you. Since you are Christ’s ambassador, you may live your life as in God’s presence; you belong to his holy priests that bring people and their needs to God in prayer, just as they bring God and his blessings to the people around them. All this is yours because of the blood of Jesus! Blood that consecrates you before God.
Blood is indeed a remarkable, powerful substance. We depend on it to remain alive and healthy. But the holy blood of Jesus is an even more remarkable substance, something far more powerful than human blood.
There is power in His blood. His blood brings life and cleansing and holiness to those who take him at his word when he says in Matthew 26:27-28: “Drink from this cup, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Believe it and you will receive its blessings. Believe that you receive eternal life in his blood and he will give you eternal life. Believe that you receive cleansing from sin in his blood and he will cleanse you through and through. Believe that. Believe and receive. Then you will have good reason to rejoice and sing: THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD!
In sacrifices there is the altar. A place associated with death and suffering. The altar was a bloody, grim place also marked by the blood the dead and dying. From the altar arose the smoke of the sacrifices that burned there continually. It was a place of suffering.
Again, this all pointed ahead to a time when the Son of God would go to an altar called the cross and would shed His blood the redemption of mankind. Please never lose sight of the terrible price Jesus paid for us. He suffered terribly so that we might be saved. Just as the sacrifices of old were tied to the altar and burned with fire, Jesus was nailed to His altar and burned in the fire of divine wrath! The price He paid was a terrible price!
God reminds them that the reason He gave them the blood sacrifices was to make an atonement for their sins. The word “atonement” means “a covering”. God gave them the blood as a means of covering their sins and of bringing them into fellowship with Himself. Lest we forget, sin separates us from the presence of God, But the blood of Jesus has the power to bring us together!
One of the most remarkable truths in the Bible is the fact that God genuinely wants to have fellowship with you and me. He has proven this be the lengths He has gone to, to bring us together. The fact that God would place our value above that of another life is an amazing thing! To me, it is absolute proof of the power of the love of God for humanity. That He would value us more than the life of His own Son is a truth that is wonderful beyond words.
The Blood of Jesus Covers Sin - The blood of Christ was given to cover sin. That is, when the blood was shed and applied to the altar, God saw the blood and not the sin. It was removed from His sight and He accepted the blood of the innocent sacrifice in place of the guilt of the sinner.
The Blood of Jesus Cleanses Sin - When we come to the New Testament and to the death of Jesus on the cross, we find a sacrifice that was filled with a power that the Old Testament sacrificial system could never know. What we find about the blood of Jesus is that it has the power to take away sin!
Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will never have to be repeated! It was a one-time for all-time offering that forever removes the sins of every person who places their faith in Him and His shed blood!
The Blood of Jesus Converts The Sinner - When a person comes to Jesus by faith and is saved by grace, that person is forever changed. The blood of the Lamb has the power to convert the soul. Not only will God cleanse away your sins, but He will forever change your life. The blood of Jesus has the power to make us into new creatures in Christ.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says in 13:12: “Jesus suffered ... in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.” This means that we are all saints, holy people, people protected and empowered by God’s holiness. Because Jesus shares his own holiness with us by giving us his blood as a covering, we can approach our heavenly Father with great boldness and confidence as if we were Jesus himself and had his status as God’s Son. We enjoy the privilege of access to heaven here on earth as we receive the holy Sacrament. When we take the Lord’s Supper we can “enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus” and “approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:19-22).
We can bring our own needs and the needs of others to God in prayer. Together with the word of God and body of Jesus, his blood is the most holy thing that you have from God. It presents you holy before God. You are as holy in God’s eyes as Jesus is, because you are covered spirituatlly with his Blood. Since you share in Christ’s holiness, your body is the temple of the living God. Wherever you go God goes with you. God uses you to reach out and touch other people. Whether they know it or not, they meet Him through you. Since you are Christ’s ambassador, you may live your life as in God’s presence; you belong to his holy priests that bring people and their needs to God in prayer, just as they bring God and his blessings to the people around them. All this is yours because of the blood of Jesus! Blood that consecrates you before God.
Blood is indeed a remarkable, powerful substance. We depend on it to remain alive and healthy. But the holy blood of Jesus is an even more remarkable substance, something far more powerful than human blood.
There is power in His blood. His blood brings life and cleansing and holiness to those who take him at his word when he says in Matthew 26:27-28: “Drink from this cup, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Believe it and you will receive its blessings. Believe that you receive eternal life in his blood and he will give you eternal life. Believe that you receive cleansing from sin in his blood and he will cleanse you through and through. Believe that. Believe and receive. Then you will have good reason to rejoice and sing: THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Importance of Human Blood - and the Wonder Working Power of Christ's Blood!
The blood is the source of life for all creatures on earth. Even plants have sap that is akin to blood in purpose, but among animals we see again and again the importance of the blood, and especially in humans.
In the pages of Scripture, I have come to understand that God gave His people scientific truth that was centuries ahead of that possessed by men at the time. Leviticus 17:11 states that blood that is the life of the physical flesh and it is still the blood of Jesus that is the life of the soul.
BLOOD IS A PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE
The Purpose Of The Blood - The very life of the body is contained in the blood. As I stated earlier, medical science didn’t understand this until the advent of powerful microscopes that now allow doctors to look at the blood and better understand its function in the body. Among the substances of the body, the blood is unique. Consider these facts:
The blood is the only tissue of the body that is mobile. The body produces many fluids, but the blood is literally liquid tissue. Other fluids are limited to certain areas of the body, but the blood touches every single cell in the human body.
There are about 5 quarts of blood in the average human body. This blood travels through your body every 23 seconds. As it does, the blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of your body, bringing life as it travels. At the same time, the same blood also removes the waste products from the cells. This waste never contaminates the good things the blood carries which the body needs. Imagine, if you will, the local garbage truck picking up your trash and also delivering your meals uncovered.
While the red cells in the body are carrying oxygen rich hemoglobin, and nutrients to the cells, another part of the blood known as “leucocytes” or white blood cells are present to defend the body against outside invaders. When the body is injured, you may notice a swelling in the area of the injury. This is caused by blood being rushed to the injured area, blood that is rich in white blood cells. These cells have the power to kill and engulf germs and infections. As they do their job, they die in the process and are expelled from the body, along with the infection, in a material we call pus. All of this is going on in the blood!
There is more that the blood does, such as carrying antibodies and antitoxins, but just these simple insights are enough to let us know that the blood is extremely vital to the existence of the human body.
The Power Of The Blood - The power of the blood in the human body is so great that an infection in the bloodstream has the power to infect the entire body, and the loss of too much blood has the power to interrupt human life.
While the blood and its importance cannot be overstated in the human body, everything we have said about the blood thus far also has a spiritual application. Just as the blood is necessary to physical life, the blood of Jesus is also necessary for spiritual life! However, the major difference is that in the physical realm, one must have his own blood, in the spiritual realm, we must have the blood of another – the blood of Jesus! There is power in His blood!
In the pages of Scripture, I have come to understand that God gave His people scientific truth that was centuries ahead of that possessed by men at the time. Leviticus 17:11 states that blood that is the life of the physical flesh and it is still the blood of Jesus that is the life of the soul.
BLOOD IS A PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE
The Purpose Of The Blood - The very life of the body is contained in the blood. As I stated earlier, medical science didn’t understand this until the advent of powerful microscopes that now allow doctors to look at the blood and better understand its function in the body. Among the substances of the body, the blood is unique. Consider these facts:
The blood is the only tissue of the body that is mobile. The body produces many fluids, but the blood is literally liquid tissue. Other fluids are limited to certain areas of the body, but the blood touches every single cell in the human body.
There are about 5 quarts of blood in the average human body. This blood travels through your body every 23 seconds. As it does, the blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of your body, bringing life as it travels. At the same time, the same blood also removes the waste products from the cells. This waste never contaminates the good things the blood carries which the body needs. Imagine, if you will, the local garbage truck picking up your trash and also delivering your meals uncovered.
While the red cells in the body are carrying oxygen rich hemoglobin, and nutrients to the cells, another part of the blood known as “leucocytes” or white blood cells are present to defend the body against outside invaders. When the body is injured, you may notice a swelling in the area of the injury. This is caused by blood being rushed to the injured area, blood that is rich in white blood cells. These cells have the power to kill and engulf germs and infections. As they do their job, they die in the process and are expelled from the body, along with the infection, in a material we call pus. All of this is going on in the blood!
There is more that the blood does, such as carrying antibodies and antitoxins, but just these simple insights are enough to let us know that the blood is extremely vital to the existence of the human body.
The Power Of The Blood - The power of the blood in the human body is so great that an infection in the bloodstream has the power to infect the entire body, and the loss of too much blood has the power to interrupt human life.
While the blood and its importance cannot be overstated in the human body, everything we have said about the blood thus far also has a spiritual application. Just as the blood is necessary to physical life, the blood of Jesus is also necessary for spiritual life! However, the major difference is that in the physical realm, one must have his own blood, in the spiritual realm, we must have the blood of another – the blood of Jesus! There is power in His blood!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Knowing God and God's Ways -- Getting to that Place of Knowledge Where We Act on His Word as Ultimate Fact
As we grow as Christians we move from believing, which is the first, primary step, to knowing, which is accepting what we believe as fact and acting on it appropriately. Many people believe that there is a God. They believe that God has a plan for their life. They believe that all things work together for the good of those who love him, but these very same people have not yet grown to the place where they accept these beliefs as a fact and act on them.
There is a major difference between knowing and believing. The Bible tells us that we must believe that God is and that He is the rewarded of those who perform his will. On many other occasions, the Bible talks about believing in order to be saved. Belief is so important. "Lord, help my unbelief," is an important prayer, But we must take our faith beyond belief to knowing. Knowledge of God and God's promises will bring you a new freedom in faith, a new adventure in living, as you receive the blessings God has stored up for you since Jesus purchased them on the cross 2000 years ago.
Friendship is an example that helps us understand. We all have friends and people we trust. For most of us, we believe they are our friends in the good times. But if and when something happens, that is when we find out who our friends truly are. Another example is credit score. We can believe that we have a good score or a bad score, but until we run the report we will not truly know. There is a difference between knowing something with certainty and simply believing. When you get that certainty, tour actions become automatic. That is how God wants us to be with the things of God.
When we get to that knowing area, our prayers are more effective. Knowing makes the difference when you lose your job and you ask God why did He let this happen, instead of where are you taking me. Knowing is what makes the difference when you are faced with a difficult situation and you ask God "why did you let this happen to me," instead you ask, "Okay Lord, what am I supposed to learn from this?"
Knowing God is essential to Christian growth. Too much of Christianity is based on belief in God rather than knowing God. Some of you may say this is just semantics. It is not. Consider people who have lost their faith. Is that even possible? Can anyone truly lose their faith? I don’t believe so. How can anyone lose faith in something they know to be true? You can’t. People lose faith in things they simply believe in. The reason many people lose faith and leave the church is because they simply believed in God and somewhere down the road, they were persuaded otherwise.
Some will say all you have to do is believe; no one can know. That is not true. God never intended for us to know him by testing him in a lab. We know God because he will reveal himself to us. Scripture clearly tells us that we are supposed to know. After Jesus reappeared to prove to Thomas that He has risen, he said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). The night before Jesus was arrested He explicitly told the disciples how we who will not see Him will know that God is who he says he is. He said, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:17-19).
In order for us to preserve the church, we must teach people to know God and go beyond simply believing. We must know that he loves us and of his plans for our lives. This knowing should not be based on an intellectual knowing but on the indwelling Holy Spirit, which Jesus left as our comforter. God did not call us to have an abstract belief concerning him, he called us to know him.
There is a major difference between knowing and believing. The Bible tells us that we must believe that God is and that He is the rewarded of those who perform his will. On many other occasions, the Bible talks about believing in order to be saved. Belief is so important. "Lord, help my unbelief," is an important prayer, But we must take our faith beyond belief to knowing. Knowledge of God and God's promises will bring you a new freedom in faith, a new adventure in living, as you receive the blessings God has stored up for you since Jesus purchased them on the cross 2000 years ago.
Friendship is an example that helps us understand. We all have friends and people we trust. For most of us, we believe they are our friends in the good times. But if and when something happens, that is when we find out who our friends truly are. Another example is credit score. We can believe that we have a good score or a bad score, but until we run the report we will not truly know. There is a difference between knowing something with certainty and simply believing. When you get that certainty, tour actions become automatic. That is how God wants us to be with the things of God.
When we get to that knowing area, our prayers are more effective. Knowing makes the difference when you lose your job and you ask God why did He let this happen, instead of where are you taking me. Knowing is what makes the difference when you are faced with a difficult situation and you ask God "why did you let this happen to me," instead you ask, "Okay Lord, what am I supposed to learn from this?"
Knowing God is essential to Christian growth. Too much of Christianity is based on belief in God rather than knowing God. Some of you may say this is just semantics. It is not. Consider people who have lost their faith. Is that even possible? Can anyone truly lose their faith? I don’t believe so. How can anyone lose faith in something they know to be true? You can’t. People lose faith in things they simply believe in. The reason many people lose faith and leave the church is because they simply believed in God and somewhere down the road, they were persuaded otherwise.
Some will say all you have to do is believe; no one can know. That is not true. God never intended for us to know him by testing him in a lab. We know God because he will reveal himself to us. Scripture clearly tells us that we are supposed to know. After Jesus reappeared to prove to Thomas that He has risen, he said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). The night before Jesus was arrested He explicitly told the disciples how we who will not see Him will know that God is who he says he is. He said, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:17-19).
In order for us to preserve the church, we must teach people to know God and go beyond simply believing. We must know that he loves us and of his plans for our lives. This knowing should not be based on an intellectual knowing but on the indwelling Holy Spirit, which Jesus left as our comforter. God did not call us to have an abstract belief concerning him, he called us to know him.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
We are Called to Be People of Faith
Faith is not an optional ingredient in your relationship with God. Faith, simply put, means believing that God is telling the truth about what He says, and that what He says about anything establishes what is true. You don't get very far with God by calling Him a liar.
Hebrews 11:6.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Many times we shy away from asking too much of God, because we don't want to put Him on the spot, or because we're afraid that He "doesn't do things like that." However, we serve a God to whom nothing is impossible, a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we are able to ask or think. Our God has encouraged us to come boldly before His throne to seek grace in our time of need.
As we grow in our knowledge of Him, and as we grow in our obedience to His will, we can grow also in our confidence toward Him, knowing that we will receive those things that we ask of Him in accordance with His will, because we do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Hebrews 11 is a superb chapter on faith, often called the "Hall of Faith," with a listing of heroes of the faith from the Old Testament. Read them and meditate on these lives of victory for God. May they inspire us to grow closer to the Lord and to do His will in our lives and out churches.
Hebrews 11:6.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Many times we shy away from asking too much of God, because we don't want to put Him on the spot, or because we're afraid that He "doesn't do things like that." However, we serve a God to whom nothing is impossible, a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we are able to ask or think. Our God has encouraged us to come boldly before His throne to seek grace in our time of need.
As we grow in our knowledge of Him, and as we grow in our obedience to His will, we can grow also in our confidence toward Him, knowing that we will receive those things that we ask of Him in accordance with His will, because we do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Hebrews 11 is a superb chapter on faith, often called the "Hall of Faith," with a listing of heroes of the faith from the Old Testament. Read them and meditate on these lives of victory for God. May they inspire us to grow closer to the Lord and to do His will in our lives and out churches.
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