One Thing Needed For Every Prayer

Looking into my back yard this morning a saw a small bird that landed on one of my planters. That bird sat there and did not fly away for thirty minutes or more. He was content to sit there in the sun and look around the yard, until he finally saw the bug he wanted crawling in the rock garden. He swooped down quickly to get it an flew off. Definitely, he was a patient fellow.

It made me stop and think about my own life and how I sometimes let it get very cluttered. When that happens I can become easily stressed or dissatisfied with my life. I am so caught up in things that I think are important that I forget to ask God what He wants from me at that moment or what He thinks is important.

In short, I have to be involved in God’s stuff to see God’s stuff. If we seek Him, even in our distress as it says in Psalm 118:5, He hears us and because His mercy endures forever, He will deliver us. He may let us deal with our mistakes that we might learn from them, but in the end, He will deliver us. At the beginning of Psalm 118, in verses 2, 3, and 4, it repeats that the various people that want deliverance have to open their mouth and speak. “His mercy endures forever” is proclaimed by Israel, by the Aaron’s family, and finally by all who fear the Lord. It is very interesting that when they want deliverance, they start by speaking of His mercy. Perhaps that is because we do not deserve the deliverance, but His mercy brings it to us anyway when we turn to Him and ask.

If we want to experience God, we have to be with God. We have to be “in the game” to win. Like the little bird, we have to be in the yard to see it, and we have to be patient. The one thing every prayer needs is someone to pray it, someone “in the game.”

Prayer
Father, we love You. Your mercy endures forever. You never leave us or turn Your back. Please forgive us for getting too busy to spend time with You until we need something. Let us be a part of bringing Your kingdom to the earth. Help us today, Lord, help us today. In Jesus name. Amen.

Broken Arrows

Some years ago I saw a movie by this title, but no this is not about that military term, at least not exactly. What we are discussing is the place where God says He has broken the arrows and bows and shields of the enemy. That sounds like a place I want to live my life – the place where the enemy has no weapons or power against us. God describes this place in Psalm 76:1-3.

As I read this scripture this morning I realized a pattern that was true in the Old Testament Hebrew, the pattern of saying something twice, of repeating the same thing differently. Yes, I just did it there. As I read the first three verses, I saw this pattern in each one. The trouble is I saw that God said He lived in three places in the first two verses, and then called them one place in the third verse. That is when I realized it was not a physical place He was describing. I went back and looked up the meanings of the names Judah, Salem, and Zion. Als the words God, name, tabernacle, and dwelling place. Substituting those meanings we get:

In praise God (actually here the plural gods – angels, Elohim, us as believers) is seen. His position is in strong power. In peaceful completeness is His cover. His physical dwelling (that would be us) is in the pillar of the wilderness desert. There is where the weapons of the enemy have been destroyed. If we can praise and remain in a state of peaceful completeness by trusting God is in us and will prevail, the enemies weapons are broken.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the most High. We put our trust in You, that You live in us and through us. You will break every weapon of the enemy. Please be with Your people today and help them to this place. In Jesus name. Amen.

Why Did The Children Like Him?

We have probably all hear the phrase used, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me.” This was spoke by Jesus in Matthew 19:13. I reread that this morning and realized that I had remembered the passage wrong. I thought Jesus was speaking to the parents; He was not. He was speaking to his disciples, the “new leadership” of the forming church. This is worth looking at.

Jesus had just said it was not for everyone to accept what He was saying, but only those to whom it had been given. Then it was the parents that brought their children to Jesus for Him to bless them, and children are like the rest of us – they always want to be blessed. The disciples tried to hold them back. Why do you suppose the new leaders were doing this which we now know was against His will? Certainly they knew that Jesus was the Messiah. They had seen the miracles. He had chosen each one, one at a time, directly. How could they be so off? I have heard it said that they just did not want people to bother Him. That would be an odd explanation, because that is what they were already doing, walking with Jesus as He reached out to the people. Here is what I think.

The new leadership was well meaning. They were men like all of us, trying to learn at the feet of Jesus. But other than Jesus, what did they know about believing, about religious gatherings, or about being leaders? What they knew they learned mostly from the Sanhedrin, the old leadership. They were around them since childhood, and in the bible those guys were definitely not so friendly or reachable. They exerted control just for the sake of control and because they were in charge. Even though the new leadership had good intentions, and frequently (most often) got it right, even they messed up and sometimes prevented the people from reaching Jesus directly. The good news is, Jesus intervened, as He always does, and blessed the children anyway. Isn’t it good that we can always count on God to get us through and to reach out to us through anything or anyone? Isn’t it good that we can make mistakes and be keeping people from the blessings and power of Jesus, and He gently reaches past us to them? God is good!!!

Prayer
Father, King of the universe, we love You. Please forgive us for not always getting it right. We are just human, like everyone else that You want to reach. Please help us to learn to bring people to Jesus, and not keep them away. And when we mess up, please gently reach past us to them anyway like You always have. In Jesus name. Amen.

Let Me Know Your Thoughts

For a few months now I have been placing these posts here, and many people have signed up. I thought it might be a good time to get some customer feedback. Originally this site was to be the product of two people, but it ended up just one. As a result I have only been adding the devotionals here. What I would like to know is if this is helpful to you. If you would be so kind, please go to the Contact Form page under the Contact Us link and give us some feedback.

Would you like video content?

Would you like to have a place to be interactive?

What more would yo like to see here?

I normally have that form shut down except to members, but it is open for the next few days to see what comes up for people.

Please, let me know your thoughts…

-Doc

How Does God Decide?

This morning in my prayer time I was talking to God about how He selects people to do different tasks. My reading lead me to Psalms 86. I was curious that the psalmist claimed to be holy, but later said things about God’s forgiveness and also asked God to make his heart singular or one. For me, I know that while I try to be holy, I struggle to not make mistakes. So what did the psalmist mean, and what does that have to do with God deciding to use us to do something?

The more I read this Psalm, the more I realized that the psalmist was really referring to the attempt of holiness, not the attainment. He was crying out to God to say, “Here I am. I am doing all I can to keep Your commands and statutes. Please forgive me when I do not, and help me get my heart in the right place to be united with only You.” That is something that any one of us can actually do. We can acknowledge where we are and are not doing what God asks, ask for forgiveness, and ask for God to help us with our heart. In the end, in verse 17, the psalmist asks God to show up in his life in a way that is a sign to those that would oppress him, that they might be ashamed, because it really was God that comforted him all along. Yep. That’s what I want. Sign me up.

Prayer
Father, we are so glad You are the King. We praise You and thank You for Your loving kindness toward us and for Your forgiveness. We are but dust, but You raise us up. Please unite our hearts with You. Please help make our hearts to be holy unto You. Please make us a sign for good. In Jesus name. Amen.

Mercy and Truth

These are two of my favorite words in the scriptures. They seem to appear together frequently, especially in the Psalms. I think God has placed these together often for a reason. I think they are so connected it would be difficult to have one without the other. I can think of several very good examples of what I am saying.

When I sin, I can have mercy from God through the forgiveness of the sin IF I will tell Him the truth and confess my sin, calling it sin. If I choose not to tell this truth and repent, then in God’s mercy He will let me taste the fruit of that sin, which is death. I am not referring to merely a physical death, but that gnawing feeling we get when we know we have blown it and life is not as bright and shiny as it once was. Another example is that God has provided a way out for everyone, the Truth that the Messiah was His Son, Jesus. If we accept that Truth and confess our sins seeking to turn and seeking forgiveness, in His mercy God forgives. For me, I need regular doses of both of these, Mercy and Truth, every day.

Prayer
Father, thank You so much for Your mercy and Your truth. Thank You that You are quick to forgive our sins, if we will just tell the truth, confess them to You as sin, and turn from them. Thank You for the mercy You show every time we do. Please be with Your people today, and give them the Mercy and the Truth they need for today. In Jesus name. Amen

Why Wait

Many of us have likely experienced a burst of enthusiasm about something in our lives, whether it is the moment we will graduate, that next promotion at work, or perhaps something we think God has in store for us in the way of ministry. If you are like me, I can get very anxious about moving things along. My wife calls this being impatient. I think the scriptures agree with her, but don’t tell her I said so. Oh wait, this is the web… Anyway, what do we see in the scriptures about this enthusiasm?

Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, where hoped is the Greek word elpis and means eager anticipation. So the eagerness is good. James 1:3-4 says that the testing of faith works patience, and patience will bring us to perfection (maturity) where we lack nothing. Hmmm. So it sounds like we are to remain eager, over a period of time where we learn patience, and the end result is maturity and we lack nothing. That sounds like a pretty good deal. But being me, I want to know how long I have to wait.

In Exodus 2:11 we see Moses eager to free his brethren. What does he do? He kills one of the Egyptians that were abusing them and hides the body. That did not work well, and he had to flee into the desert. But that’s not the end of the story. God had made a promise to the people. You know, like the promises we all have in the scriptures and like to pray and hold on to, right? And Moses likely felt called to do something to bring this to pass. But he did it on his own timing. What was God’s timing? 40 years. Moses was 40 years in the desert before the Angel in the burning bush (Acts 7:30). Now that worked some serious patience. It seems it is good to feel that eagerness, but we just have to hold on to that eagerness while God works patience in us so that we lack nothing.

Prayer
Father, thank You for helping us to learn. Thank You for helping us to remain eager and trusting that You will bring to pass what You have promised. Thank You for never giving up or walking away. Thank You for keeping every promise You ever made. We love You. In Jesus name. Amen.

Do No Harm

Several friends of mine were struggling today. Each of them had been impacted, not by chance, or the weather, or sickness, but by the actions and speaking of other people. As I reflected on each of these situations, I was immediately angry, sad, frustrated… Life is tough enough. Taking care of our families. Taking care of our homes. Taking care of our animals. Worshiping our God. There is plenty for us to do in life, it seems crazy to me that we cannot treat each other decently at times.

In Matthew 5 Jesus said blessed are the merciful. Why? Because they will obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart. Why? Because they will see God! I’m pretty sure if we are harming others there is a good chance we are not completely pure in heart. Blessed are the peace makers. Why? They will be called the sons of God. Now this one is very interesting to me. It seems to me that when we are born again, we become the sons of God, and joint heirs with Jesus. Does this imply that one of the fruits we should see in our lives if we are born again is that we will be peace makers? I do not say these things to judge any man. That is not my place, nor am I worthy of the task. I say them to judge myself, and encourage us all to do the same.

Prayer
Father, please forgive us for not treating the rest of Your kids with respect sometimes. Please help us to take that extra minute before we speak to make sure that what we are about to say is really in everyone’s best interest. Please help us to go that extra mile with those in need, those struggling to be free, those that have been harmed in some way. Let us be ambassadors for You of the peace You have to offer. Let our prayers be answered to bring peace that the whole earth may know that You indeed are the Healer Deliverer King. In Jesus name. Amen

Simply Well Said

This morning as the light crept into the woods behind my house I read Psalm 53. It was a short chapter of scripture with only six verses. Yet in those six verses God says He looks down from heaven on those that do not seek Him. It is a fool that says there is no God. These same people oppose those that do seek God. This displeases God, so much that He says He will scatter their bones in front of us. I do not know how that reads to you, but that sounds like a bad day for them to me. Interestingly enough this scripture also says God will draw His people back to Him. He will lift them up and they will rejoice. That’s us! God will defeat our enemies, driving them away, and will raise us up, and we can rejoice in that deliverance! Praise God!

Prayer
Father, I ask today that You would scatter those that oppose us and drive them away. They are foolish to say that You do not exist. Show them just how wrong they are. I praise You and thank You for watching over those that call upon You, that name the name of Jesus, for You alone are God. In Jesus name. Amen.

God’s Words Are Good

There are some days when reading the scriptures that God seems to be giving me a pretty direct message about something in my life. Other days it seems like I spend time grazing through various scriptures to see what is available to me. There are some clear messages I see in both cases, and also some clear results.

God loves us and wants us to have life. Not a life, but life. By that I mean life is meant to be enjoyed, living for God, and with relationships to other believers. We are meant to enjoy the good things that the planet provides us. In the scriptures this is referred to as blessings, delight, daily bread, and so on. All of it in reverence to God who provides it all. We are to delight in the direction He has given us through the words He has recorded in the bible, through the messages spoken by those that bring us teaching from the scriptures, and in the songs we hear and sing. This is our delight. If we truly seek these things, we will be drawing close to Him, and in His presence are all the blessings of protection and deliverance and wholeness and provision we seek.

Prayer
Father, we want to be people who take their delight in You. We want to seek diligently Your truths in Your scriptures. We ask You give us the wisdom to understand, and the courage to take a stand once we do. We thank you for providing us what we need, and I ask Father that You touch the hearts of Your people today, and raise them up. In Jesus name. Amen.