John 2
Do we have passion for God’s house? What is God’s house, where does He live? Is it in something we can make from brick and mortar or is it something more? God is omnipresent but He dwells among His people, we saw that in the Old Testament with Moses and how the veil separated the Holy from humanity so that He may live among them and we see it in the New Testament as Jesus walked, talked, loved, healed, taught, and ultimately laid down His life so that we could commune with God and He with us once again, as it was in the garden before sin took hold. Passion… God gave everything from the beginning of time to be part of our lives so when Jesus saw the unclean in that holy place He was consumed with it. How can we, being His followers be any less passionate about the condition of our hearts, the place where God dwells?
Lord, sometimes I forget who you are and lose sight of your passion for people. You are the Ancient of Days Daniel chapter seven talks about and you are my friend. You are king David’s Strong tower and Paul’s burning desire and Peter’s companion and teacher. Teach me to love people more and support my wife and children in all situations so that they may know you better, teach me to be more like Jesus today, amen.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
"Come follow Me." Jesus
John 1
I love the picture in John 1 where you see people so hungry for the Messiah, the Savior because it brings them to the greatest decision they will ever make and it’s an opportunity to see the Holy Spirit of God work in their lives. Very quickly you see two camps, those who choose to believe and those who don’t but even those who were ready to believe required God’s touch and confirmation. For John saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and resting on Jesus, for Nathanael it was the moment Jesus told him what he was doing before Philip came and got him, for John’s two disciples it was their teacher’s simple words, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” The same is true for us, our souls were parched and dry and we were thirsty, our hearts were heavy and in need of rest, our minds had come to a dead end road not knowing what to do. All these things happened so that we might recognize our own need for a Savior, the Messiah! Once we heard of Jesus we only needed confirmation from God, through His Holy Spirit. Many come to this place yet cannot believe but others do. The longer I follow Jesus the more I know this is where I belong, notice I didn’t say it became easier but my determination has increased expeditiously and my soul longs for more of Him consistently through the good and the bad, through times of plenty and times of want. Paul said in (Romans 8:38 NLT) “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.” And that is why we follow Him.
I love the picture in John 1 where you see people so hungry for the Messiah, the Savior because it brings them to the greatest decision they will ever make and it’s an opportunity to see the Holy Spirit of God work in their lives. Very quickly you see two camps, those who choose to believe and those who don’t but even those who were ready to believe required God’s touch and confirmation. For John saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and resting on Jesus, for Nathanael it was the moment Jesus told him what he was doing before Philip came and got him, for John’s two disciples it was their teacher’s simple words, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” The same is true for us, our souls were parched and dry and we were thirsty, our hearts were heavy and in need of rest, our minds had come to a dead end road not knowing what to do. All these things happened so that we might recognize our own need for a Savior, the Messiah! Once we heard of Jesus we only needed confirmation from God, through His Holy Spirit. Many come to this place yet cannot believe but others do. The longer I follow Jesus the more I know this is where I belong, notice I didn’t say it became easier but my determination has increased expeditiously and my soul longs for more of Him consistently through the good and the bad, through times of plenty and times of want. Paul said in (Romans 8:38 NLT) “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.” And that is why we follow Him.
Monday, August 6, 2012
When you least expect it
Luke 24
When you least expect it God’s goodness shines through. It seems you hold out as long as you humanly can just to learn God has been waiting for you to relinquish control and you think, “If I had known this I would have let go a long time ago.” But that’s exactly the lesson we need to learn. Over and over we are reminded of this until one day we, without consideration, look to Him first in all things. We need Him not because we are incapable of doing things on our own but because we can, that’s the reason we need Him. Because our ways are not His, when we work things out apart from Him we drift from where we were meant to be and purpose is lost but God is good and like the disciples it seems to be many times in our dismay that God appears and gives us new hope and joy.
When you least expect it God’s goodness shines through. It seems you hold out as long as you humanly can just to learn God has been waiting for you to relinquish control and you think, “If I had known this I would have let go a long time ago.” But that’s exactly the lesson we need to learn. Over and over we are reminded of this until one day we, without consideration, look to Him first in all things. We need Him not because we are incapable of doing things on our own but because we can, that’s the reason we need Him. Because our ways are not His, when we work things out apart from Him we drift from where we were meant to be and purpose is lost but God is good and like the disciples it seems to be many times in our dismay that God appears and gives us new hope and joy.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
a prayer of thankfulness
Lord, help me to trust you more so that I may speak when you say so and remain quiet as you lead. Help me to know the difference between my will and yours so that I may know the truth. In this life at best we see things dimly but when your glory has come we will have new eyes, eyes that allow us to see you and your purpose for all that confuse us now. Surely goodness and mercy cover me all the days of my life, for you have delivered me so that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever more. God, I love you as best I know how but one day I will be free to love you even more and my heart cries out for that day to come quickly! Blessings and glory be unto your name and with a right mind and clean heart I declare You are my salvation unto whom shall I run but you? You are my refuge and my shelter in time of need.
Don't think the enemy is far off
Luke 23
Sometimes it is easy to forget there is an enemy of God who has sworn to bring down as many of God’s children as he possibly can. Unaware we get caught up in doing what is right and warring against the desires of our own flesh, so much so that the reason for those struggles is overlooked! Though there were those i.e. the priests and teachers of religious law who planned and schemed Jesus’ death for a long time and this day represented the climax to their intentions, there were also those that were used by the enemy unknowingly that day. At first glance it is difficult to understand how the people could be so blind when Pilate argued with them to release Jesus (verse 20) even he, being a sinner, could see Jesus was innocent but then the Holy Spirit reminded me these people had been prodded and compelled and ultimately blinded by pure evil, so much so that they believed what they were doing was for the best. That wasn’t completely clear to me until I read what took place during and immediately after Jesus’ death (verses 44 – 48). At noon that day the sky was dark, for the sun hid itself (Matthew 27:51-52 the earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened and many godly men and women were raised from the dead) back in Luke the Bible says, “…and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.” But something even more amazing happened, the veil of the temple that God had Moses make in Exodus 26 (1446 B.C.) which separated people from God Holiness, so He might live among His people, was torn that day (30 A.D.) completely down the middle! Then it is revealed in verses 47 and 48 the Bible says, “When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what happened, they went home in deep sorrow.” It was then the blind the enemy used to accomplish his goal had been removed by God Himself, revealing the truth which they were unable to see before. So when circumstances set themselves against you and your flesh seems to win don’t forget there is an enemy that has come with one purpose to steal and kill and destroy but Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Sometimes it is easy to forget there is an enemy of God who has sworn to bring down as many of God’s children as he possibly can. Unaware we get caught up in doing what is right and warring against the desires of our own flesh, so much so that the reason for those struggles is overlooked! Though there were those i.e. the priests and teachers of religious law who planned and schemed Jesus’ death for a long time and this day represented the climax to their intentions, there were also those that were used by the enemy unknowingly that day. At first glance it is difficult to understand how the people could be so blind when Pilate argued with them to release Jesus (verse 20) even he, being a sinner, could see Jesus was innocent but then the Holy Spirit reminded me these people had been prodded and compelled and ultimately blinded by pure evil, so much so that they believed what they were doing was for the best. That wasn’t completely clear to me until I read what took place during and immediately after Jesus’ death (verses 44 – 48). At noon that day the sky was dark, for the sun hid itself (Matthew 27:51-52 the earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened and many godly men and women were raised from the dead) back in Luke the Bible says, “…and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.” But something even more amazing happened, the veil of the temple that God had Moses make in Exodus 26 (1446 B.C.) which separated people from God Holiness, so He might live among His people, was torn that day (30 A.D.) completely down the middle! Then it is revealed in verses 47 and 48 the Bible says, “When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what happened, they went home in deep sorrow.” It was then the blind the enemy used to accomplish his goal had been removed by God Himself, revealing the truth which they were unable to see before. So when circumstances set themselves against you and your flesh seems to win don’t forget there is an enemy that has come with one purpose to steal and kill and destroy but Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The Reason Why
Dear God we don't understand the reasons why but we know You know what it is to hurt and we cannot see the answer but we know there is purpose in this life and we know who holds the answer. If we know you intimately, we know that we are your prized possessions and you care for us so deeply that sometimes Your care is misunderstood by those looking in. For you use the hurt in this life to get our attention and to help us focus. For we’ve seen those who were dead (spiritually) walk in the land of the living, a place even many “living” never see all because You allowed them to go through trouble in this life. In the end we know your goal is not our comfort but our growth and preparation for the eternal You have planned. Even still we want to thank you for answering prayers tonight, only You are good and only You are worthy of all praise.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Seek the Lord
In prayer and supplication I often get it wrong but God spoke to me yesterday and three things were brought to my attention. 1) We are to pray for the mind of Christ. I know in my own life I like to think I have everything worked out and then all my efforts are put into making things happen the way I planned but we are to seek God's desires. 2) Jesus spoke of healing as bread for His children in Matthew chapter 15 as the Canaan woman pleaded with Jesus to heal her daughter. With an incredible love for her Jesus tested her faith and because of her faith her daughter was healed. My point, God knows our needs and the healing of our bodies is as vital as food! In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus compares our heavenly Father’s desires for his children to earthly fathers ~ he said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.” Again pray for the mind of Christ, to really see our situations through His eyes. 3) Don’t doubt! Seek a simple, pure faith that God is who He says He is! The father who’s son was possessed by an evil spirit in Mark chapter 9 was so desperate for God to move in his situation the Bible said he cried out to Jesus, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
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