The Proper Approach To God in Prayer

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

2 Kings 19:19

Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

One of these days we are going to find ourselves in a tough situation. Its going to be as hard as the day the armies of Sennacherib, King of Assyria surrounded the city of God's people. But for most of you, life may very well pass by with little tough times. No matter. Prayer is the daily focus we must have in our lives if we are to be close to the Lord.

God's people often pray hard when there is something hard to pray about. Yet no matter what our level of difficulties are, prayer needs to be just as serious, deep, sincere and directed in our most prosperous day as in our most perilous day!

When I think of prayer I think about King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19. The situation was grim. The opposing armies encamped around the city were fierce, ready, willing to destroy just as they had done all the neighboring city states in the area. They were bold to brag on two points, 1. They did it all themselves, 2. They conquered all the gods who were supposed to be mightier than they.

Now when you come to a situation in life that looms just like Hezekiah's enemies, what shall we do. Here is the formula, and is not a magic one or any such thing, its just the proper response to tribulation before our God, lest we try to handle it ourselves.

Let's see the problem,

1. Assyria was the most powerful nation at the time, eating up as many vulnerable people they could.

2. They had all the means to carry out all their threats.

3. They taunted anyone with any allies other than themselves

4. They outnumbered any opposing force

5. They described in detail what they would do to anyone who was for them or against them

In Short, they wanted to be ruler over everything.

Let's see the players

1. Sennacherib, devout worshipper of Nisroch, the god of the Assyrians, confident in himself and his power.

2. Hezekiah, devout worshipper of the Jehovah God, the God of all Creation, confident in HIM and and HIS power

What did Hezekiah do?

1. He heard the taunting of Rabshekah and Sennacherib.

2. He received the letters and took them to the house of God

3. On His Knees--No, the text doesn't say it, but anyone who is submissive to God does so, thus He laid the accusations out before the Lord

4. He desired that all the world would know by the defeat of the most powerful army, that it was THE LORD who is God alone in the Earth.

5. He was confident in the answer given him by the prophet Isaiah.

So how does all this relate today,

Simply, Satan is still Satan. When we find ourselves in tribulation, his first move is to try to dethrone our image of God and His power in our lives. This is what life on his end is all about, to discredit God wherever he can and cause God's people to turn from Him. This is what the Assyrians did, they stood outside the city walls and attempted to demoralize the people to weaken their resolve to fight. Satan will attack us, cause fear and doubt to surround us on all sides and let us "know" its hopeless, God has left us, there is no use to call on Him or anyone to save you or me. I have first hand knowledge of this and I have faltered listening to Satan. Interestingly noted that Hezekiah instructed the people not to answer the taunting of the enemy. Such we are taught in Scripture to resist the Devil and he will flee from you, James 4:7

The problems we face are real, just as the army encamped were real. The problems are not going to go away on their own unless God acts on our behalf. Here is where we get down to business. Hezekiah did the right thing, the thing we oft neglect, he took all the care cast upon him and went straight to the Source, God, the Only One who could ever help them.

We should do like wise. Hezekiah poured out before the Lord in this fashion and so should we:

1. Came before God in the proper manner, Humbled

2. Admitted the peoples weakness and the enemies strength

3. Acknowledged God's power and His control

4. Desired for God's glory to be the greatest reason for their deliverance

When we come to God with a problem just as similar we need to do theses things too. We cannot come on our own strength. We cannot come on our own terms. We must be Humble. We cannot bargain, barter, negotiate! We must come just as we always have been, Helpless and Humble before God. We do so and acknowledge His Sovereign Power and Authority. You see it is through the WEAK He glorifies Himself. Sennacherib thought Power came through might. He was wrong.

Sennacherib's largest mistake was to proclaim himself mightier than the God who made him, and it cost him literally everything.

So what happened to the vulnerable weak people of God? The Lord heard Hezekiah's heartfelt faithful prayer. Thus Israel never drew a sword, notched an arrow, or threw a stone. The next morning Sennacherib noticed God walked through his camp last night. All that the pagan king trusted in, was now laid dead by the hand of the angel of the Lord. To be exact, 185,000 slaughtered with no effort whatsoever. That is our God! He is Powerful, Strong To Save and is more than able to Deliver.

Look to Him in faith, knowing that no matter how fierce the adversary looks, God is Greater. Its so hard and we are tested sorely, but this life is not the end. Our Home and Hope is with Him, YET know that IN THIS LIFE, our God does Deliver, He does Save, He does do Miracles!!! To deny that, we must take a knife and remove 2 Kings 19 from the only Book God ever wrote! When you consider how God delivers and His power to heal, what Joy should be ours. I will be the first to admit that its hard even difficult to take our eyes off the visible and put it on Him. Destruction seems so real and hope so vanished. Let us encourage one another to trust in our God who delivers and come to Him Properly in Prayer. God delights in our Faith in Him (Heb. 11:6). May our chief aim be that of Hezekiah, to desire the whole world See our God by seeing the Hand of His Miraculous Deliverance. May it be so with us today, whatever we are facing, and as I write this we are facing hard times. I don't know when someone will read this, but when you do, know that our God is Greater and Stronger than all who oppose us. May we trust in His ark of Safety.

Lord, we need your Help! We are vulnerable to the attacks of the world, sickness and Satan. We come before You with humble hearts acknowledging Yourself as the only God and that we are looking to You for our deliverance as did Hezekiah. May our chief desire to be through our Deliverance is that Your Name which is above all will be clearly seen and believed on by a watching world. Make haste to help us. Cleanse our hearts from sin and may we be found abiding in You always we pray, Amen.

Ringing Of The Cowbell

Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:7-10

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

Those of you who have read these devotional blog postings graciously and faithfully to which I owe you my deepest thanks, know that I love bells. I intently hope that Heaven has a bell tower and if it does it will contain the most majestic sounding tones and peals ever known. I can't tell you why I like bells other than the obvious points: the sound, the mechanics, the towers, and just the act of pulling the rope. I have never been a member of a church with a bell, but in every church I visit and think it would be okay to ask, I ring their bells.

Well now its a new year and with New Years come traditions. On New Year's Eve, on the stroke of midnight, we go outside and shout 'Happy New Year!" and then following that ceremonial chant, I would pull out a old cowbell and clang it while we give the ceremonious chant, then grab the accordion and sing Auld Lang Syne, then pray and hit the hay.

Now the cowbell isn't the most melodious instrument you will listen to, but it does have a certain qualities that you may not recognize. These qualities can remind us of the Influence and Presence of God in our lives. No, really it can, I haven't lost it altogether in pulling this together. Lets find out......

The first characteristic of the Cowbell is its Unmistakable Tone.

You do not use a cowbell for a handbell chorus or for the steeple of a majestic cathedral. No that would not be desirable simply because of its flat and rather cheap banging sound. A bell is designed to resonate its peals, and the cowbell is more muted thus not presenting a clear melody. However the cowbell is unmistakable. When the cowbell rings you know exactly what it is. You don't have to wonder what key its in, you just know its a cowbell. The Holy Spirit is like this. Of course His tone is not inharmonious, but His Voice is unmistakable. You know His Voice like sheep knows the voice of the Shepherd. The Spirit's voice is unlike any other voice as it will not lead you into temptation or sin, it seeks to guide you while glorifying God, and it calls out constantly to the believer. The Cowbell can be a welcome sound if you're familiar with it, and thus is the Holy Spirit's voice if you value His calling and help in your life. In fact, you yearn to hear it when you desire to be led by God and the ringing tone so separate from everything else is the sweetest tone you know.

The second example of the Cowbell is when it rings it provides an Indication of Movement.

Obviously by is own given name, the Cowbell is to be worn, by the cow. Actually sheep where a smaller version of the bell too in some instances. But for our discussion the cow is most thought of. Folks on a farm who have a single cow or just a few for various purposes would often need to locate their investment. Sometimes the cow will wonder far off in search of better pasture, or it would sometimes get stuck in a mud bog. In any case, every time the animal moves a bit, the bell around its neck claps its famous flat gong. This aids in the owner finding it. Again this can be an illustration of the Holy Spirit involved in our lives. You see when we move in a certain direction whether it be good or sinful, the Holy Spirit is tied about us to remind us that we are moving and He is going with us. Now the Lord doesn't need a physical device to help Him find His wayward son or daughter, but we need it to remind us of where and what we are involved with and in. Let's suppose you are doing some sort of ministry that the Lord leads you to do. As you do it, the Holy Spirit is there to cheer and encourage you as move forward in your actions for Him. On the other hand you find yourself in a place you know you shouldn't be or watching something on TV you know doesn't fit your God given character, then the Holy Spirit constantly rings out as you move farther into that sin. He reminds you of His presence and that you need to repent and get away from the place your in.

Finally, a Cowbell stays true to its purposes.

As I mentioned earlier, you never will have a sweet sounding cowbell chorus, its not designed so to be. You don't use a cowbell for any other purpose than its intent to help you find the cow. You also will find that the Holy Spirit always stays true to His purposes. The Holy Spirit cannot be one thing today and be all about something else tomorrow. Whatever God's Word says, the Spirit backs up. Whatever God's character dictates, the Spirit follows with it. We might tend to view the Trinity as three persons with the same goal yet a tendency to offer a bit different views on things. So it is with a family. The mom and dad are supposed to be agreed totally on a certain policy, yet, the child knows that he or she may be able to get on or the other parent to bend a bit to waver from the dictate and be on the child's side when he or she wants something. This is not the case with God's Spirit. You cannot go to one member of the Trinity and expect that Person to act differently. We should be so thankful that God doesn't change or is not wavering in His statutes and decisions, otherwise we would be in eternal jeopardy. Be assured that whatever the Holy Spirit renders to you, God the Father and God the Son support it wholeheartedly. The purposes of the Holy Spirit are to guide, direct, admonish, encourage, seek, provide wisdom and encouragement and to be our constant Helper and Companion. These purposes never change in their intent and function, just as a cowbell cannot change what it is intended for.

Do you have a cowbell in your home? You may not, but they aren't that expensive to obtain. Consider getting one and let it be a reminder to you of God's present working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Panning For Gold

Scripture Reading:
John 8:32, "And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."

In the 1840s, America experienced what was called "The California Gold Rush." Thousands of "prospectors" stormed over the Rocky Mountains into California. Any stream they could find they started mining near and they would dredge the streams for gold. With a sieve they would shake a large group of gravel substance. The sediment would fall through the sieve leaving the gold behind. The only problem was that many sites did not reveal gold. In fact most of the mines in the early days turned out to be flops. The hype was that there was gold everywhere, which there was not. Men spent their lives and fortunes digging constantly for something that, where they were located, never existed.

In life, people are panning for "gold." Gold in this sense is not the physical metal, but its answers to life's questions. They take a bunch of opinions and philosophies and shake and shake till whatever is left over must be the answer they are looking for. Gold to a searching person comes in the form of truth. Truth sets us free as we find in the words of Christ in our Scripture reference reading.

As believers in Christ we do not have to "pan" for Truths. Truth in the Scripture is not obscure and hidden, but is very plainly seen. The Bible was written for us to mine out Scriptural gold to live by. At first reading though you may seem to find yourself wondering about how to prospect this truth from the pages of Scripture. Here are some helps to either get you started or keep you going.

1. Most Bibles have reference sections and sections that deal with issues that we face and list references to find passages that deal with them.
2. Study guides are available that shows you the Scripture and explains the passage to help your understanding. NOTE, understand, these are men's opinions, most of them are good, but prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to help you discern the Truth is the only way to know.
3. Search out other Scriptures by cross references. These are simply a related passage of Scripture reference found in the margin or center of many Bibles.
4. Good Online Bible study software can be found, many of them for free or a nominal price. These are invaluable for looking up things and cross referencing.

Now with these in mind, there are some hindrances that some believers face when looking for Scriptural Truth. These are with their remedies:

1. The Bible is such a big book, how can I even be sure where to start? Answer: Start in John's Gospel to learn about the Saviour Christ. Start in the book of Psalms to know more about the heart of man towards God. Read the books of Ephesians and Romans to find out about Godly Christian life.

2. What if I have trouble understanding what I read? Answer: The only way to understand anything in the Scriptures is to ask God for revelation. Even the most seasoned student of the Bible must do this. God's Word is not a puzzle for the believer, so ask Him in prayer for the understanding. Like Philip in the New Testament book of Acts, God will send someone your way to help you understand.

3. There are so many versions of the Bible out there, which one do I choose? Answer: In my neck of the woods, preachers will tell you to "stick with the original King James Version." That is not bad advice, but there are other good translations. The New King James and the English Standard Version are excellent choices with up to date language usage. I personally discourage the popular "The Message." It is a paraphrase version of the Bible which takes extreme liberties with the Scripture where there can be no room for such actions. I could elaborate more but what we find is people get their feelings hurt when their version is not listed. This is a shame. But the ones I have listed are great translations of Inspired Scripture. The word of God is inspired by God, not any translation though. Again prayer is the key for guidance.

4. What if I read Scripture that I don't agree with? Answer: There is no variance here. Our validation of Scripture is not at issue. We either believe it or not, we either receive it or not. The Scripture does not change. What we need to do is ask God to humble us and submit to His Word as the authority for our lives, no matter what we agree with or not.

5. Is it okay to ask for human help in understanding Scripture? Answer: Absolutely. In fact a Bible study group really helps grow a person. You need to find a group of like minded believers. Your church has one I am sure. People vary on their opinions of things in the Bible, but, the concrete foundations must be agreed on. Sometimes the best outlet is a good friend who has had more years of study than you, who would be glad to help you in your study.

God does not want us to be ignorant of His Word. God has not given us a desire to know Him and then left us on our own to find Him. We don't have to be like those early gold miners, hoping to find Truth somewhere someday. We have access to God right now, as sure and certain for every believer no matter who they are or where they are.

Start mining the truths today. One thing for sure, no matter where you read in the Bible, you will always know God better. from it.

Lord, take Your Word and place it in our hearts, so that we may know You and serve You more abundantly and with cheer. Thank You for being open to us and graciously provide what we so much need. In Your Name, Amen.

Image Source

Alone In The Field

Scripture Reading: I Kings 19:4-18

Do you ever feel as if you are the only Christian on the planet? Maybe at times you may feel as if you're the only Christian still committed to the Faith while others are making tragic compromises. We all make allusions to what it is like to be a Christian or a servant of the Lord. I have likened the life of service as a Christian in most cases as a soldier, possibly a Knight or one of the "mighty men" as described about in the Bible. Paul used this allusion when he wrote to Timothy, "endure harness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." So oftne we get caught up in the battle of trying to maintain our lives in the present evil world while balancing a life that should witness for Christ, that we feel discouraged as a soldier does when he or she feels cut off.
The picture above sort of illustrates this feeling we have from time to time. The other day I was parking my car in the work lot as usual. While getting out and going to the office door I spied what I thought was a little green army man. I had to do a double take to make sure. Sure enough, there this little soldier all of 3/4 inch tall was laying on his side in what was to his scale a massive territory of asphalt. All alone he was holding up his gun looking around for the enemy (ok not really) but you get the idea. So I picked him up and he now sits on my desk.
Many times in a battle, a squad or company of soldiers will fan out to take charge of an area. Many times though they can stray too far away from the others and not visibly see or be seen by their comrades. They fear the worst. "I am alone to fight as the rest of my comrades have already fallen."

Seeing that little guy reminds me of how it can look to us in life. There is this huge seemingly endless world of evil and we are the tiny speck of Christ's Light. We should be on the offensive, but we cower in fear most times on the defensive. We huddle in our Spiritual fox holes as the enemy is all around us. Should this be our viewpoint? Certainly not.

You will recall the time the prophet Elijah had won a tremendous victory over the Devil and his hosts at Mt. Carmel. God had just sent fire down and consumed a burnt offering and the altar it was on. Later, Elijsh ran from the wicked Queen Jezabel and hid himself in a cave. He feared for his life, he feared it was over, but God had a different asnwer. He told Elijah there was yet 7,000 faithful followers of God that had not gone over to Baal. In facing stern worldly opposition, what can we learn by this "lone soldier's" account to put into practice in our lives today.
First, God is mightier than the hosts of evil.
Elijah saw something on Mt. Carmel that none had seen before. The awesome display of God's power over puny mortal idol worshippers was astounding. The Enemy, Satan, is strong and cannot be defeated by ourselves. Yet the Scriptures say that demons tremble in fear (greatly afraid) of the same God who is on OUR side. The reason for the apparent increase of evil in our day and time is that Satan knows his time is short to afflict the Church. Yet in all this we can boldly say because of Jesus Christ, "Greater is He that is within me, than he that is in the world." If you have any doubts that evil will seize the day, read the book of Revelation, it graphically spells out the horrible doom of all those who oppose Christ and His Church. Martin Luther said in his famous hymn, "the prince of darkness grimm, we tremble not at him, his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him."
Second, God will not be without a faithful remnant.
No matter what time period or event that takes place in the Bible, God is never completely destitute of true faithful followers. Even when times seem the darkest, like today, there is still a mighty army present. It is my personal belief that the reason why evil has not conquered more of the world than it has is because the church is still in the world holding the onslaught at bay. Once removed in the Rapture, the man of sin, the Anti-Christ will be revealed and despair will take on new meaning. Not for us the church. We will be literally "Air Lifted" out of the battle zone and shall return victorious as we watch our matchless King of Kings speak the evil world out of existence. In the meantime, where are all the Christians? It is true that some who profess to be are turning away from the Lord, never really being one of His. There are others who are fearful not knowing the power of the Lord. There are those who have compromised the faith and have let evil run over them, and there are those who stand unashamed to proclaim the Gospel as it is written for the Lord has His remnant. Are you a part of this remnant? Do you stand firm for the faith? If you do, seek out the discouraged and encourage them to stand firm too.
Lastly, God will encourage us when no one else will.
Look who came to minister to Elijah holed up in the cave and in the wilderness. First God sent His angel to bring him food. Secondly God spoke audibly to Elijsh and personally told him where he stood in numbers after Elijah surely knew he was the last one left. I am not knocking Elijsh. I can honestly say though I have never felt totally alone in spiritual battle (though I have felt this way many times about other matters) but I have noticed our numbers of the faithful shrinking. I am seeing many good churches close because it was not popular to attend there. I have heard sermons get politically correct and never mention Hell because it was no longer popular. I have seen worship songs go from majestic hymns to pop culture entertainment. I could go on. However, its important to remember that Jesus said in Matt 28:20, "I will be with you to the end of the world." So no matter how loud sin booms around us, no matter how many brethren falter, God will encourage us through His Word and the Holy Spirit. We know we are not cut off from Headquarters when we hear the voice of the Spirit of God within us. He urges us to hold on a little longer and serve Him faithfully. One thing we know for sure is that God will not judge us by the group, but by our individual faithfulness to Him. So keep on.

I know at times we find ourselves seemingly cut off from all things Godly. Even now it seems that some Chrisitans don't know what Truth of Godliness even is. We dare not boast ourselves of having arrived, rather, we need to encourage one another to fight another day for the King. Do you feel cut off as if there is no one out there to have comradery with? This is one of the reasons why I write this blog every week. I don't know how many subscribers there are, but as many as get this, please forward it on to saved and lost people alike. Don't isolate yourself from others, help the broken, lift up the fallen, remind them of Jesus by bearing His heart and Spirit in you. Get involved in the local church, go to Prayer Meetings, come back to Sunday PM services. You will be blessed and you will not feel so alone in the battle.

Heavenly Father, I know I feel very lonely at times, I am sure others do too. Help us Lord to look to You. Take away our fears of the enemy and help us to stand firm in You. In Your Name, Amen.

Faced WIth Glory

Scripture Reading: John 1:11-14

I used to do a fair amount of scenic photography. Needless to say a lot of it wasn't very good and the remainder now resides on a hard drive. I was told once by a photography judge that a sunrise or sunset photo never scores well because it is what a lot of amateurs turn in. The judges grow tired of seeing the same old thing. There is a particular waterfall photo of mine I am fond of (yes, on a hard drive) in fact it may be my best photo I ever took, yet, in all this a photo like the above can not be improved upon. Not so much my ability to photograph it is wonderful, but the majesty and reflection of it True Author is most glorious. Being a photographer, Light, interests me. I am interested by its rays, hues, direction, shadowing, it all speaks of the Creator. Look at this photo for a moment. See the glory of gold beyond into the depths of it. Does it make you want to go far into the picture and experience this brilliance? This photo only represents the sun's magnificence. One day we will see the Son's magnificence, there will be no comparison.

Think about this kind of glory. Have you ever defined glory? We think of glory primarily as a tangible visible thing such as a glowing radiant light. Of course this is not wrong as glory can take on that form and does. I think God's glory is the total enrapture of power, wisdom, strength, beauty, holiness, and love in the same person, always the same time, for the same expression. We could expound on how His glory filled the tabernacle, or how His glory is seen in mortal perils, but let's examine this concept of God's glory and what it means to the believer.

First. His Glory is natural. When we say something is natural, or comes natural to us, we mean that it is easy or even indigenous. God did not earn or practice towards glory. God always had every ounce of Glory that He will always possess. That is a staggering thought. God is eminently glorious and glorified by His own works, His creation, His servants, His Son, His Being. To be God equals to be the total personification of Glory. No human can attain this. Satan tried and was thrown out of Heaven. This type of Holy Glory that God has is reserved for Himself. For the believer, we should feel grateful that the type of Glory ascribed to God is not earned, for then none of His promises or character would be true.

Second, His Glory is transferable. Now this may seem to be a contradiction. but it isn't. God can and will transfer some of His own glory into every believer. This is done while we are living on this Earth, and it is done forever in Heaven. God does not horde up what is special to Him. He spared not His own Son, how much more then will He give us glory! We are told that as we work and feed the flock of God, that God will reward us with a Crown of Glory! (1 Peter 5:2-4).
In the Resurrection we will receive Glorified bodies! (Philippians 3:21) John goes on to say that our new glorified bodies will be like His Glorified body! (1 John 3:2) Not only our bodies but our whole spirit will be glorified anew! (2 Cor. 3:18) Even though God will always remain sovereign and ruler of all creation, He shares His riches with us. We are so favored!

Third, His Glory is indescribable. The Glory ascribed to God cannot be fully understood by the limited scope of man's mind. When John wrote the things revealed to Him in Revelation, he had to describe God's glory in terms that are elemental to this sphere. No human definition could be had that totally described the glory, countenance, and wonders of God. The key point in all this though is the realization that God's glory cannot be counterfeited or superseded by any triumph of man. Julius Ceasar, Napoleon, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod or any other persons individually or put together can match an ounce of God's glory. The culmination of the sum of ordered design from one leaf fallen from a tree is enough to dispel the accomplishments of a thousand rulers working a lifetime to establish themselves. Should the glory of God be measured or matched in any human way, we all would be in trouble. God though can never be judged by His creation, nor put down by them. His Glory is indescribable, and for the believer that means that we serve the God whose power cannot be equaled and thus we can be assured of His staying, keeping power.

Fourthly, His Glory is eternal. What good is glory and honor if it dies? I remember a line from an old Errol Flynn movie (1930's) They Died With Their Boots On describing the 7th US Cavalry at the battle of the Little Big Horn. Flynn who played Col. Custer remarked that glory was to be prized above money, fame, women, etc. "because you can take glory with you when it's your time to go." What utter foolishness! Whatever you have in this world stays in this world! Only that which is done for Christ's sake will be rewarded and remembered in Heaven. The Glory of God has no limits of time, place or quality. God's glory has never flickered, never dimmed, never struggled nor ever questioned. Some preachers I have heard say, "Eternity is a long time." No no friends, eternity is timeless. You don't spend eternity, for there is no time to spend and eventually run out. The same is true with God's Glory, it never runs out, never can be spent and not regained. For the believer, we have that certain assurance that because what He has and what He has given to us will last unlike anything we know of in the world.

In conclusion,
We as believer's are so privileged to not only know of His Glory, but to be partakers and beholders of it. We will see first hand true Omnipotence before us. We are so fortunate to have a measure of that same glory imputed to us. We are not treated as orphans or second rate citizens. The Glory of God is unchanging and unique. Though we will never understand the full sum of what His Glory entails, we know that it is not an excuse for harsh governing over us, but is given in fairness and love. We serve a Glorified God and He has chosen us to be a glorified people.

Father thank You that Your Glory is so much more than what we realize. Thank You for the desire to share such an awesome privilege with us. We are unworthy of Your love and fall short of Your Grace and certainly unable to shine in Your Glory. Yet in all these things, You planned we should have all this through Your own dear Son Jesus. Help us to get a grasp on this concept in our lives this week. Thank You that you already see us as we shall be and not what we are now. We love You Lord, thank You for loving us first. In Your Name, Amen.

Are We Receiving?

Scripture Reading: Revelation 13:9 See also 3:22

While I am writing this, I am without mobile cellular communication.  Fifteen years ago this would be the norm for everyone.  Not so today.  My cell phone was going on the blink and finally laid down and died.  Needless to say that put this little ear receiver out of commission too.   If you're not familiar with this device, it can be either a blessing or an irritant.  This is a typical Bluetooth headset made by Motorola.  It allows the user via voice commands in certain phones to make calls, receive calls, and perform other various functions while your hands remain free.  That is the blessing part.  The irritant part is walking about talking to someone and people give you weird stares as if you're talking to an imaginary friend or having an emotional fit.  Other than that they are nice.  

The one problem with these receivers are that they receive.  So in order to work, they need to have something to send them what they need.  If no phone is actively online and sending transmissions to them, then they are useless pieces of Star Trek looking technological jewelry. Yet they serve one purpose if you're looking for it, and that is a reminder of our relationship with God.  

If we look at our relationship with God as believers in a metaphorical sense, then God is the Transceiver (phone) we are the Receiver (headset).  Now important to note that God does not stop transmitting willfully due to error on His part.  However, we stop receiving willfully due to errors on our part.

First, we stop receiving from God because we get out of range.  A Bluetooth receiver does a good job, but only when its close to the source that feeds it.  When we let unconfessed sin linger in our hearts we drift farther apart from God.  The farther along we go from Him the weaker His voice is heard.  This desire to separate ourselves from Him comes from a lack of understanding His Word.  We see other people seemingly getting by with sin, so why not we? Lovingly that is where we are far different from the world.  The world has a father who doesn't care at all what happens to them.  The father of this world doesn't show any remorse when the children get into deep trouble because of their sin in fact, its welcomed to him.  Our Heavenly Father sees ahead of what we do and knows the consequences.  This is why when we get out of range we feel His discipline rather than hear His voice.  What better a thing it would be to hear a gently rebuke than feel a stern lash.  

Another reason why we drift out of range is because we get overly confident in our own strength.  The fundamental difference in God's parenting and the world's example is that God does not want us to become independent from Him.  God never pushes away a child from His house so that child can go it on his or her own.  Yet we get the urge to leave the comfort of the Father's care for some trifling matter.  We see others seemingly making it in the world without dependence on God so it naturally occurs to us that the same should be true of us.  We resent that Divine hand upon us at times.  

The second area in which we stop receiving from God is  that we are interrupted by other signals.  This is sort of like the previous paragraph with one difference.  The difference is that we are trying our best to depend on God, yet the world's distractions are so great and boisterous we lose our spiritual concentration.  There is so much out there clamoring for our attention.  TV ads, newsstand ads, seemingly innocent humor (that consequently we haven't noticed how gradually rough and evil it becomes).  There are demands on our schedule, listening to complaints and "wisdom" from friends who don't know Christ.  There is loud noise all around out spiritual ears so that it is hard to concentrate on Bible study, prayer, and Christian living according to God's standards.  The way we turn down the noise is to escape the source.  Now of course, we are not totally to separate ourselves from worldly contact, for we have no one to fulfill the Great Commission upon.  Yet, like the old adage, "one rotten apple in the barrel spoils the rest," certainly does apply.  The more we become involved with the practices of the world, the less we are receptive to God.   We need to spend time alone, even if its for a few moments, talking to God in a quiet place, reading a Scripture or reciting one committed to memory.  We cannot make it without Scriptural Truth and devotion towards God.

Lastly, we fail to make the connection many times when God is speaking.  This can result from many things, but somewhere in all the reasons, bitterness and disgruntlement are at the core.  We tend to judge God as we judge men, this is our first mistake.  Too often we see no need in ourselves to listen to God if we have judged God to have seemingly acted in "error" in our lives by not giving us something, allowing something other than we wanted, not answering us on our timetable, etc.   I cannot be writing to you now and say I am innocent of this.  In fact I fail at this a lot.  We question God's sovereignty.  We doubt His ability.  We question His willingness.  All these things compacted together makes us stop our Spiritual ears when God speaks.  To better term it, we go to our spiritual "pouting place."  I am not saying life is easy.  Contrary to modern sermonizing in today's pulpits, life is not getting better, its getting harder.  Jesus plainly told us that you can expect tribulation in this world.  Our joy comes from the certain knowledge that this world of trouble is not our permanent residence.  So when we choose not to hear from God, we typically are angry in some fashion with God.  The wonderful part of this is that God doesn't get as angry with us as we do with Him.  Is He displeased with us when we act so?  Yes Hie is.  Does He come down on us in punishment as we deserve? No He does not.  Yet being angry or unwilling to hear from God can be fearful.  In fact it may be that putting you in a place of fear is the only way you will desire to hear Whom you have shut off. I believe this is a mark of a true believer.  The one who desires to come back to the Father as the prodigal, is one who is truly a Son or Daughter of God.  

So how do we stop being unwilling to listen to God.  First repent (turn from) whatever reason you have to hold against God.  Second, re-committ a desire to talk to Him and spend time with Him.  Third, be thankful we have Him as our Helper and ask Him to safeguard our hearts from foolish behavior.  

Are you receiving from God?  Do you desire to be in contact with Him? Or are you still desirous to make it on your own without being connected?  Remember what Jesus said in John 15:5  "I am the vine, you are the branches....apart from Me you cannot do anything."

Heavenly Father, help each of us today to be desirous of Your guidance and Voice.  Help us not to look fondly after what the world calls pleasure.  May we be in tune with Your will.  Thank you for lovingly taking us back when we wander from You.  In Your Name we pray.  Amen.







Image By LabelExpo

Give and Take Prayers, Part 1 of 2

How much of your personal prayer time is consumed with the "taking" or the asking? Would you say 50% or more? I have to admit when I pray it is 80% my asking that dominates the subject of conversation with the Father. I heard a speaker say that we come to God with a grocery list and go up and down the aisles wanting this, asking this, begging for that. I think that some of that reasoning is OK but not completely accurate.

Some of those folks who complain about us seemingly always coming to God with our lists really have no comprehension of our Father's desire for us to do so. One thing we need to understand is that we cannot understand who God is by judging Him or comparing Him with anything human. When someone comes to us with a long list of topics to discuss, our first reaction is to get tired of hearing all this. Not so with God. We forget our Father's ear. We forget that the very act of us coming to Him with that scroll of a list it showing that we depend on Him. God delights when we depend on Him and not on some other "source." We also tend to forget that He has not only an infinite storehouse of blessings but can sovereignly arrange people, events, actions, etc. to meet our needs.

In defense of that speaker I told you about, a constant running complaining attitude of prayer does not delight God's ears anymore than it would our own. When we pray, it is key to remember that we need to pray "in His will." This simply means that what we ask of Him, it is our desire to have whatever He deems that is best for us rather than having it our own way.

When I think of folks (myself majorly included) who have complained and wanted their own way, I think of Israel. Israel so desired a King they couldn't stand it. God desired the rulers were to be His appointed judges, but after unending complaints they got a King in the person of Saul. Saul was just like any other worldly king, and that was the problem, what they wanted was the very thing that would destroy them, and it did. How much better would we be if we waited on God.

However, briefly back to the point of taking in prayer, look at the butterfly photo above. The bush it is attached to is a "butterfly bush" whose very name is because it attracts and supplies these creatures with good. God is like that bush. He doesn't mind how often we come to take of His Person, Time, Spirit, request needs. He is there for us as the bush is for the butterfly. Not to take Him up on His provisions and good nature is foolishness. Do you have a need today? Sure you do, we all do. Then be glad we have a Heavenly Father WILLING to hear us and being there to help us in place of us making it the best we can on our own.  Remember though, God does not respond to our cravings or will overlook things we desire that is not His best for us. We cannot come and treat Him like an ATM machine--push the right buttons and get what I want.  We should be so glad of this.  We don't always fathom the ends of our own desires, but He does, and answers for our good accordingly.

The Bible says in 1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Let's ask Him right now,

Heavenly Father, thank you for desiring to help me. Thank you I can come to you with my needs knowing that none are too great or too small for your heart. Lord, I desire your will in my need today. My need is _________________ and I am asking you to give the wisdom to know what you want and am asking you to provide a solution for me. May I have faith enough to believe you will answer and bring me the help I need. Thank you in your name. Amen.

If this posting has been a blessing to you, forward it to a friend.  Images used are for non profit use on this blog only.  

Image by Jon Browning