Archive for January, 2014

The Dilemma of Obedience

January 30th, 2014

Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision —1 Samuel 3:15
God never speaks to us in dramatic ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand. Then we say, “I wonder if that is God’s voice?” Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him “with a strong hand,” that is, by the pressure of his circumstances (Isaiah 8:11). Without the sovereign hand of God Himself, nothing touches our lives. Do we discern His hand at work, or do we see things as mere occurrences?

Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance (1 Samuel 3:9). Every time circumstances press in on you, say, “Speak, Lord,” and make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline— it is meant to bring me to the point of saying, “Speak, Lord.” Think back to a time when God spoke to you. Do you remember what He said? Was it Luke 11:13 , or was it 1 Thessalonians 5:23? As we listen, our ears become more sensitive, and like Jesus, we will hear God all the time.

Should I tell my “Eli” what God has shown to me? This is where the dilemma of obedience hits us. We disobey God by becoming amateur providences and thinking, “I must shield ’Eli,’ ” who represents the best people we know. God did not tell Samuel to tell Eli— he had to decide that for himself. God’s message to you may hurt your “Eli,” buttrying to prevent suffering in another’s life will prove to be an obstruction between your soul and God. It is at your own risk that you prevent someone’s right hand being cut off or right eye being plucked out (see Matthew 5:29-30).

Never ask another person’s advice about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will almost always side with Satan. “. . . I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood . . .”

The Dilemma of Obedience

January 30th, 2014

Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision —1 Samuel 3:15


God never speaks to us in dramatic ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand. Then we say, “I wonder if that is God’s voice?” Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him “with a strong hand,” that is, by the pressure of his circumstances (Isaiah 8:11). Without the sovereign hand of God Himself, nothing touches our lives. Do we discern His hand at work, or do we see things as mere occurrences?Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance (1 Samuel 3:9). Every time circumstances press in on you, say, “Speak, Lord,” and make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline— it is meant to bring me to the point of saying, “Speak, Lord.” Think back to a time when God spoke to you. Do you remember what He said? Was it Luke 11:13 , or was it 1 Thessalonians 5:23? As we listen, our ears become more sensitive, and like Jesus, we will hear God all the time.

Should I tell my “Eli” what God has shown to me? This is where the dilemma of obedience hits us. We disobey God by becoming amateur providences and thinking, “I must shield ’Eli,’ ” who represents the best people we know. God did not tell Samuel to tell Eli— he had to decide that for himself. God’s message to you may hurt your “Eli,” but trying to prevent suffering in another’s life will prove to be an obstruction between your soul and God. It is at your own risk that you prevent someone’s right hand being cut off or right eye being plucked out (see Matthew 5:29-30).

Never ask another person’s advice about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will almost always side with Satan. “. . . I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood . . .” (Galatians 1:16).

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January 30, 2014

Lord, I am not so sure that I want to hear Your voice sometimes. I am afraid I have not measured up, that I have missed the mark over and over.  I am afraid that if hear Your voice it will be a voice reminding me that I have not prayed enough, I have not been obedient, and have failed again and again to be a man after Your own heart.

And God says…”You have not measured up, however, that thought never occurs to Me. When I look at you and your deeds, I can only see Jesus and His perfect obedience and perfect love. That is what I see and feel when I look at you.  When you miss the mark, look to Jesus, and let Jesus remind you of who you are in Him. When you are willful and disobedient, look to Jesus and revel in His obedience. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and everything you need, (including your reminder of your place in Jesus) will be provided. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Acknowledge me in al, your ways and I will make your paths straight.

How Could Someone Be So Ignorant!

January 29th, 2014

Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15


“The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . .” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.
God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do”-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13 .
Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . .” (Psalm 40:8).
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When I am focused on You Lord, it seems that it is all I need. When I am connected to You, Jesus, I can be at peace without answers or solutions, because You are the answer and solution. You fill up my heart and head, when I seek You and You alone.  How is this Lord, and how can I sustain this kind of intimacy?

And God says…” You cannot capture nor seek intimacy with Me, you can only surrender. When you surrender to Me, you are connected. You are not connected when you try to find Me in works, study or even prayer or conformity. Although those are all things that are good .You will find our intimacy in your surrender, allowing Me to live through you; works, study prayer and transformation can then occur.  Seek first the Kingdome of God, which is Jesus, acknowledge the Lord in all you ways. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus!

January 28th, 2014

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14

Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.

Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, The first paragraph mentions stubbornness and self will. Determination and perseverance fit in the same category. And it is rightly noted that these can lead us away from you and your best plan for us.
But we see the same characteristics in all the great Biblical leaders … after they got connected with you and then, with new direction, those same traits that had led astray became valuable. I think mainly of Paul (Saul) who was running hard, the wrong direction. When he got straightened out he ran just as hard … the right direction
Eugene Petersen has a good perspective on getting connected and coming from the right direction in the Message.

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Prayer: Lord, Help me today, to stay connected and learn those “unforced rhythms of grace”

Look Again and Think

January 27th, 2014

Do not worry about your life . . . —Matthew 6:25


A warning which needs to be repeated is that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,” and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult circumstances. It is one steady invasion, and these things will come in like a flood, unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the banner against it.“I say to you, do not worry about your life . . . .” Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing-our relationship to Him. But our common sense shouts loudly and says, “That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, and I must consider what I am going to eat and drink.” Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing yourself to think that He says this while not understanding your circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life. Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). How much trouble has begun to threaten you today? What kind of mean little demons have been looking into your life and saying, “What are your plans for next month— or next summer?” Jesus tells us not to worry about any of these things. Look again and think. Keep your mind on the “much more” of your heavenly Father (Matthew 6:30).

 

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January 27, 2014

Lord, just when I think I have focused on my connection with You, some issue jumps up and grabs my attention.  I lose sight of You and focus on my needs, circumstances and difficulties.  Please help me focus on our connection; help me become a man after Your own heart, stepping out in faith in the ways You would have me live.

And God says…”I know the plans I have for you, for good and a future.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and I will give you the desires of your heart.  Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and everything you need will be provided. Simply seek our connection….I can and will always bless you in this endeavor.  Then notice how I can and will live through you. “

 

Transformed by Beholding

January 23rd, 2014

We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18

The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors. You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware of anything that would spot or tarnish that mirror in you. It is almost always something good that will stain it— something good, but not what is best.

The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord . . . .”

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, Today’s reading confirms something that I’ve been hearing you say recently … That complexity is the enemy of elegant and beautiful solutions. So “Keep It Simple” is a good motto. I heard instructions for the Christian Life reduced down to 4 words at the men’s retreat last week, “Glorify God, Serve People” There seems to be value in distilling a complex thing, like a Christian Life, down to it’s most basic form … so that we can make sure that those monumental basics are getting attended to, and not being squeezed out by “other things” that may be important but are less essential.

Prayer: Lord, help me today to stay focused on you … so that I become a mirror to those around who will look at me and see you.

Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)

January 13th, 2014

When He was alone . . . the twelve asked Him about the parable —Mark 4:10


His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
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January 13, 2013Lord, thank You for reminding me that I do not need to know what to say or pray or even think or feel, I simply need to reach out and call on You. Thank you for reminding me that You know all my needs, my hurts, concerns, and sources of real happiness. Sometimes I forget that You know me better than I know myself; you know what gives me life and life more abundantly, You know how to lift me up and carry me through. Thank You Lord.And God says…”Today, like every day, simply connect with Me, stay in the present, curious about how I will guide your life this day. If you will seek Me first, all you need will be provided. When you seek Me first instead of your own peace, pleasure, and choices, I will lead you into peace and true happiness. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. Trust in Me. I gave you My Son, I will certainly give you all good things. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

Prayerful Inner-Searching

January 9th, 2014

May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:23

“Your whole spirit . . . .” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139 . The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “. . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
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January 9, 2014

Lord, till you are my one desire, please keep making me.  Till you are my one true love, please keep making me.  I know I get distracted, confused and chase my own ways and means. But Lord I am thankful that You keep bringing me to the one place that I want to be; in your arms.

And God says…”I will never leave you nor forsake you.  You are mine. I know the plans I have for you, for a good and wonderful future.  Trust in Me with all your heart, know that if I gave you my only Son, I will give you all that you need for an abundant life.  Seek first the kingdom of God; which is Jesus and you will come to realize that all you need for any and every circumstance has already been given you.  Rest, and trust in Me, and let me make you in the image of My Son.”

Is My Sacrifice Living?

January 8th, 2014

Abraham built an altar . . . ; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar . . . —Genesis 22:9

This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You . . . to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”

We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.

It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice”— to let Him have all your strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, This concept seems clear to grasp but harder to implement. Kind of like the man who said, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Yes, I choose to sacrifice my life for you and your kingdom but help me with the part of me that doesn’t.

Know that it is a process. You see my men and women in the Bible who were in process. Abraham in this story and David and Paul and Peter and all the others. They wrestled the same fight with their flesh that you are wrestling. Try to learn from their experiences. What you can learn from others will be valuable, but limited. What you will learn most from is your personal life and our personal relationship. I will teach you and you will learn quickly and well as you walk closer and hear better. So let’s walk this life together. It’s the best way to live. Best for you. Best for me.

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