Everyday with God is better than a thousand elsewhere!
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Monday, June 10, 2013
Don’t Be Discouraged
It’s funny how some days we seem to have a great deal on our minds, and other days not so much. As I thought about this being the beginning of the work week for many, I wanted to come up with something to encourage myself and others. The first thing I thought of was, don’t be discouraged. Life is big. Big enough that at times it can be overwhelming. Don’t let it.
God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent, according to Numbers 23:19. He will do exactly what He has said. He will make good on what He has spoken. He grants us forgiveness and cleansing from our iniquity that we might be able to draw close to Him. In Psalms 91 He declares He will protect us. In Psalm 113 He declares He raises the poor and the needy out of the dust and the ash heap and sets them with the princes. In Psalms 116 He declares He will grant salvation. In Luke 4:17-20 Jesus said He preached the gospel to the poor; that He came to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to provide the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. God does not lie. These belong to you and to me. We must only ask, believe, and trust.
Prayer
Father, I thank You for Your provision for us through the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. We are lifted from the dust, offered salvation and forgiveness, and the opportunity to be with You always. We are so blessed that You are God and not a man. Please grant forgiveness and wholeness to Your people today, Father. In Jesus name. Amen.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Where To Go For Comfort
From time to time, we all seek comfort from God. I was thinking about this subject this morning reflecting on my son’s race at the race track last night where he crashed his car. He is okay, but the car will definitely need some help. It made me sad for him last night because this is his dream and he just wanted to enjoy it. It also made me think of how often people at church, me included, have needs and ask for prayer. In addition to the thing we need prayer for, we are seeking comfort, or at least I am in those situations. What I thought about this morning is where do I go to find comfort? Do I sit in a closet? Do I go to a beach? Do I sit in the parking lot at work?
In Psalm 116 I see the psalmist describing being lost, and crying out to God who brings salvation in verses 1-13. Just like me, the psalmist was at once thankful and also sought comfort in that state of salvation. So what does the psalmist say he did? Knowing that could be helpful to us. In verses 14-18 it says he paid his vows in the presence of God’s people, which is performing the words of our lips. To do that he calls upon the name of the Lord and offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving. And where does this occur? In the midst of the people, in the house of God, in the middle of Jerusalem. Today, we are the house of God, and we collectively are trying to become the bride of the Lamb, which is the New Jerusalem. The psalmist went there to honor God AND to find comfort. We can too, but we must go where His people are, because God is in in everyone of them. When we are all together, with all our good qualities and all our faults, we are in the midst of God.
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your mercy and loving-kindness toward us all. Today I feel very blessed, not for great possessions or jewels or money, but because I know You love me. I know You love all Your children. I thank You for every one of Your children God, and ask that You reach out to them today, drawing them together in our name, and giving them comfort as they offer up thanksgiving. In Jesus name. Amen.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
How Good And Pleasant
John’s second letter to the church has only one chapter. It speaks about how we are to treat one another with love; that this is what we ought to do. Sadly enough, there are many, some who name the name of Jesus, that believe it is their job to decide who is serving God and who is not. Even John says that the test is those staying in the the teachings of Jesus are those that follow God. Part of the teachings are loving others, forgiveness, mercy, and truth. At the end of John’s letter he says he wants to wait to tell them the rest until they see each other face to face, that their joy might be full. Isn’t it interesting that John finds being together with other believers face to face is what it takes to have joy? Psalms 133:1 exclaims, “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
It appears that God has a plan that has us all together for a reason. It gives us a chance to learn from each other. It gives us a chance to have great joy. This is the doctrine of Jesus – what He was trying to tell us was His way. So, if we separate ourselves from others, or separate others from us, we are not really practicing what He said, right? So the act of pushing others away is an example of not following the teachings of Jesus. And, I think it is possible for us to do this with our words as well. We can draw others close or push them away. A day dedicated to God, like the sabbath, should be a day when our joy can be full, when we can all draw together to worship and praise God.
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your rest. Please put mercy in our hearts for each other. Please help us to not stay away from each other, or keep others from being around us. Please help us to have kind and loving words for each other. In Jesus name. Amen.
Friday, June 7, 2013
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.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Always There
A friend of mine was recently telling me a sad story. He has a friend of the family that is a grieving the loss of a loved one. Unfortunately this person with the loss does not believe that the scriptures are literal, or that there is a God other than us. The result is they can only really turn to them self or another human for relief. That will always fail. Reading the scriptures it always stands out to me how believers, both in the old and new testament, cry out to God for help. The scriptures also show people have always looked to God for answers, and have always praised and thanked God for the provision of life.
If we can believe that this world is not just here by accident, then it was created. If we believe the Creator exists and trust that He is on our side, then we can ask for and expect to receive help. We can thank Him for His help, even in advance, it we can but trust that He is for us. It is not always easy, this trust thing, and I certainly do not always get it right, but for this day, this moment, I choose to thank God, the Creator, for being my help in times of trouble, my healer in times of infirmity, and my provider in times of lack. And He is always there.
Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You, the Most High King. Thank You for hearing us, and even actively listening for us to cry out to You. We ask that You continue to show us mercy while You teach us Your ways. We don’t always get it right, but we want to get it right. We love You and want to make You proud of us. We want people to look at our lives and say, “Hey, wow, that must be one of God’s kids!” We thank You for helping us. In Jesus name. Amen.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Many Builders – Part 2
Yesterday in The Many Builders – Part 1 we looked at the need and the value for us to build ourselves up through daily spending time with God. We focused on scripture reading as a means to do that. We also looked at the importance of having other build us up by regularly being around other believers, and our build them up as well. For me, there were times in the past that I forgot the latter point. No man (or woman) is an island. We are to be with other believers in this daily battle and blessing we call life. There is recorded in the bible a very practical example of this.
Nehemiah is the story of one man that had the attention of the king; and he used it to rebuild Jerusalem. As you read through the book you will hear how the Israelites made the journey to Jerusalem to find it had suffered destructive forces. The gates were burned and not working. The protective wall around the city was destroyed and knocked down in many places. And the enemies of the city were free to come and go, plundering the inhabitants at will. Then Nehemiah shows up with people to rebuild. As they begin to do this God revealed to them that the enemy wanted to attack them. What were the builders do, for they were just common folks? First some took up arms, and this caused the enemy to retreat. But from that time forward, every person working on the wall did so with their tools in one hand and a sword in the other (or strapped to their side). They were not just their for themselves, nor were they only going to protect themselves. They were together in one purpose as one community. We are to become the New Jerusalem. We have been plundered by the enemy, some more some less. We need each other to be able to rebuild us. Strap on your sword…
Prayer
Father, we thank You that You always help us fight the enemy. WE thank You that You have provided a way for us to win through the blood of Your Son, Jesus. We thank You for the scriptures that You have provided to help us build ourselves. We thank You that You have provided a community where we can help rebuild each other. Darkness fails. You win. We are with You, and we fight side by side. In Jesus name. Amen.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The Many Builders – Part 1
This past weekend I heard a message from our pastor that was quite good. He was introducing a series of teachings focused on the Psalms. There was something very interesting in what he said. He spoke of spending time reading the scriptures daily as a good practice, and was speaking in particular of the Psalms. The Psalms are one of my favorite books, as those of you that read this daily may now know. He pointed out the many people that have stated that the Psalms deal with emotions. I agree. They are filled with the strong convictions of the psalmists. There are cries to God, with God answering. There are also calls to us to live lives dedicated to God and His work. There are many places that tell us how to build our faith for victory over our enemy with our voice in praise and thanksgiving to God. These scripture build us up.
It occurred to me as I listened that he was building in me and others the instructions and directions to becoming what God is calling us to become. Paul spoke about the many builders in 1 Corinthians 3. It takes more than us alone to build us up. It takes the church community around us. We are becoming the bride, the New Jerusalem spoken of in Revelations 21:9-11. Nehemiah needed many people to rebuild the old Jerusalem and the wall. It is important then that we do read daily, as much as is within us. And it is important to realize that we also need the builders of the community to help us build.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the many people You send our way to help us to be built into the bride of the Lamb. I ask that You bless those that build, and those that are being built today, Lord, with the desire and the ability to continue to press towards the mark of the high calling in the Messiah Jesus. Please forgive us all for those things we do that we should not, and for not doing that which we should. Help us to shift that. In Jesus name. Amen.
Monday, June 3, 2013
We Can Do This!
It occurred to me this morning that God, who is always on our side, is a good King. A bad king, a bad ruler, would give the people tasks that were impossible or nearly impossible. This would be like the ruler in Egypt as Moses was born that ordered the male children killed twice. It would be like Herod that killed all the young boys in an attempt to kill Jesus. Bad kings, bad rulers, do bad to their subjects. That is really how the devil treats us. But God is a good King. He gives us life, and the power to live it.
When I thought about these things, I began to just sing words of praise. They were not words to any song, just words of praise to a tune (as good a tune as I can sing anyway). It was like Psalm 118, where the psalmist is singing praise to God for Hi mercy. The sound of victory was heard in my tent this morning! It helped me continue to think good things, to think of God, and I bet He was liking it, too! We can do this!
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High, the One True King of the universe. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for being on our side in the struggle we call life. Thank You for lifting us up that we might have joy and praise Your name forever! In Jesus name. Amen.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Greatest Comfort Of All
There was a time in my life, and in the lives of many that I know, when life was not as good as it could have been. Every day seemed to have this something fearful in it. It was like something hanging over my head or sneaking up behind me. It was like someone scraping fingernails on a chalkboard (for those of us that remember chalk boards) only on the inside. That feeling just left me feeling like I was missing out on something, there was an empty space where there should not be one. That’s when I met Jesus, and everything changed. No more empty space.
These days I can still find struggles and challenges. While there is no empty space, there is something that calls from within me. That calling is God calling to my spirit to come and spend time with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When I take that time to do that, I get renewed; I feel better on the inside. In Psalm 113 we see the psalmist praising God continually. In verse 7 it says He raises the poor out of the dust and the needy out of the ash heap. After that God sets them up to be with the princes. I do believe this is referring to physical needs, but I also think it refers to what happens when we give our life to Jesus, and then do it every day. No more void within.
Prayer
Father, I ask a blessing on all of Your people today that they would feel Your comfort. I ask that You remind us all that You are calling us to spend our lives with You. And I ask that anyone that might read this that may not be with You would turn, ask forgiveness, and ask for Jesus to rule and reign in their heart today. In Jesus name. Amen.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The Return From Captivity
This morning my wife and I discussed a scripture that speaks of the return of God returning His people from captivity. In Psalms 126 we see that those that went out sowing in tears will return in joy bringing the fruit of their labors with them. This reminded me of the sabbath because when Jesus returns, one day we shall all live with Him in peace and joy. What a great image that placed in my mind, for everyone to return to God happy and joyful!
There was another scripture that helped me to think of how we get from this sabbath to that sabbath. Psalms 56 speaks of how our enemies must turn back. What causes their retreat? When we cry out to God, He is on our side, and they know that they must turn away or face God. Likely that would turn out bad for them. It also says we need not be afraid, because God is for us. It helps me to be able to rest to know that God will turn away our enemies when we call out to Him, in preparation for that day when Jesus rules and reigns on the earth.
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the One True Most High God. We eagerly await the day when we see You face to face. Please be with Your people on this sabbath and every day, turning away their enemies when they call out to You. In Jesus name. Amen.