Thy Will Be Done

Good morning,

I woke up this morning, earlier than I should've, due to what is best described as a crazy dream, no doubt fueled by some degree of anxiety.  Then, that was it for sleep.  smh...

Yesterday afternoon I got to meet with a Christian sister, a member of our church, who is bilingual, for the purpose of setting two, newly-translated songs to their melodies.  The plan is to sing these two beautiful songs in Spanish, in Peru.  Our team leaves a week from today.  Just typing that makes my heart beat faster.

The problem is that I've got about 10 days worth of living to pack into about 6, at this point.  Unless I put in 18-hour days, full-tilt, it won't "all get done."

All of this is a great back-drop to today's devotional verse:

"Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Matthew 6:10

Yesterday we looked at the preceding declaration:  "Thy kingdom come."  In doing so, we talked about the will of God, because it is His purpose, His will that His kingdom will come on this Earth.

But, what is God's will, and how do we, how CAN we, know it?
First of all, you must be God's child, a believer/disciple of Jesus Christ.  God does not reveal His will to unbelievers other than His revealed will recorded in His Word, for all people.

Frankly, most of the time, even we, Christ-followers, don't even ask to know God's will.  What we do instead is furtively, frantically go through life like a hamster on it's exercise wheel, hoping we are making the right choices, sometimes not feeling like we are "getting anywhere".  By acting as the captain of our own ship, by exerting our own will in any given situation, we often find ourselves floundering.  Christian, go read Romans 12:1-8.  So much of our Lord's will for us is revealed in those 8 short verses.  Hallelujah!

1.  The Bible is our most certain, dependable source for determining God's will.  It is right there in front of us.  You can be sure that God's will will never contradict what He reveals in Scripture. Here's an example:  "God is leading me to divorce my husband because I'm not attracted to him anymore."   Well, that is most certainly NOT God's will.  Such an attitude/belief is repudiated in scripture!  The same goes for taking God's word out of it's intended context and twisting it for our own purposes. That's not God's will; it's our desire to justify our own sinful behavior.

2.  God reveals His will to us, His children, through prayer.  This is the second source for finding God's will.  His desires are revealed through our relationship with Him.  Often, this is called "walking by faith".  If you want to know God's will about a specific situation, and the Scriptures do not specifically address that, first look to any related, guiding principles revealed in the Bible.  Then, ask God to reveal His specific will to you.  If we first pray, "thy will be done" in an attitude of true submission, He will reveal His will to us.  Exercise your faith!  God wants to take you beyond what you believe to be your "capacity".  He wants to "grow" your faith in Him.  You'll may never "feel" entirely certain about your interpretation of His will, or you would not be walking by faith.
ACT on what you believe His revealed will to be.  My pastor, who grew up on the ocean, likes to put it like this:  "it is easier to steer a vessel that is moving."

3.  Look for confirmation from trusted Christian advisors.  Make sure not to seek counsel from those who are carnal - - not living their lives in accordance with God's word, not seeking God's will in their own lives.  God's Spirit will speak to other godly men or women who can advise you/confirm God's message to you.  Sometimes this confirmation does not come "in person", "face-to-face"; it sometimes comes in the form of books that spiritual giants of the past have been led of the Holy Spirit to write.

Watch out for these pitfalls/mistakes!
1.  Be obedient to what you already know.  God reveals His will to you increasingly, based on your obedience.  If you are walking in disobedience, turn that around (confess, repent, obey).
2.  Don't look to your "feelings" to confirm God's will.  Often our feelings are extremely deceptive.  One of my college profs used to say this:  "Right actions follow right decisions, and right feelings follow right actions."  (Dr. Walter Fremont)
3.  "If I want to do it, it can't be God's will."  (This wrong attitude is the complete opposite of #4 below.)  Look, God gives us talents and spiritual gifts.  He delights in us using them for the furtherance of His kingdom. ("Thy kingdom come!") Yes, we must be on guard to prevent sinful pride from creeping in.  But, God created you with certain abilities; use them joyfully for His glory!
4.  "If it is difficult, it can't possibly be God's will."  Well, no....God frequently asks us to do difficult things.  Look at church history, at the "giants" of the faith.  Were their paths easy?  Almost without exception the answer is "no".  God loves to be "the God of the impossible".  :)
5.  Don't be afraid of God's will.  Sometimes, we get the crazy idea that God does not want what's best for us.  But, He always does, even if it seems doubtful at times.  Revelation 4:11 - - -

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

It takes a great deal of courage to embrace God's will when doing so is "scary", to say to Him "whatever You want".  But, just remember 1 Thessalonians 5:24 - - -

"Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it."  

Who will perform it?  He will.  It can actually bring relief when we come to a place of such total surrender, remembering that our omnipotent, loving Father will never fail us.

Again, the most important thing is for us to bring our will in line with His.  If this is our starting point, praying this simple prayer in submission and reverence, discovering God's will for a specific situation will be much easier.

Father, I thank You for not letting me have my own way all the time.  I am grateful for free will, yet terrified of it too.  Surely, I have no idea how many times you have rescued me from my own foolish desires.  Thank you SO much!  Empower me to choose well, to use my resources wisely in the furtherance of Your kingdom.  I know that the best place to be is in the center of Your will.  I earnestly desire my will to be engulfed by Yours.  May Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:
Dr. George F. Anderson, sermon, 1/2014
Prince, Derek. Secrets of a Prayer Warrior. Grand Rapids: Chosen, 2009. Print.

What God Wants

Good morning,

He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 46:10

A member of my church is facilitating a 13-week Bible study, starting this Sunday.  It's called, "Experiencing God", and it's an expanded/revised study based on the very famous book by Henry Blackaby.  The subtitle of the study is "knowing and doing God's will".  As I said yesterday, there are no coincidences with God.  So, I am thinking of doing this study with that group....just when I got my Sunday afternoons back, after practicing for that play for 8 months.  I haven't told the Hubster yet; he'll say that I'm crazy...again.

Let's move on in our study of The Lord's Prayer by examining the next phrase.  Here it is:

"Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Matthew 6:10

Remember, this is from Jesus, who was modeling for His disciples how to pray.  These sentences are the first two petitions in The Lord's Prayer.  They aren't requests for any of our personal individual needs.  These are requests/petitions designed to bring our desires in line with those of God.

What does God want?  What are His purposes?  What is important to Him, on a global level?

God has declared many times in the Bible that He will one day establish His Kingdom here on earth. He will do that in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, a biological descendant of David, who was promised that his descendant would rule and reign "forever" (1 Chronicles 17:11-14). That reign will commence after the great battle of Armageddon and will last for 1000 years, on this physical planet we call Earth.  It will be a physical kingdom.  

We are also praying, in that declarative sentence (6:10), for His spiritual kingdom to be expanded, established in the hearts of people who do not yet know Him.  We are praying for the Holy Spirit to be unleashed, asking that more and more people will come to a heart knowledge of the Truth, that more and more will accept Jesus as Lord and be snatched from a certain eternity in Hell.

At this moment, where is the kingdom of God?  It is most surely in Heaven, while simultaneously being here on Earth in the hearts of Believers.  Jesus said to His followers, 

"The kingdom of God is within you."

Luke 17:21

It is through His lordship in each believer's heart that His kingdom is expanded, one-by-one.

So, when we pray The Lord's Prayer, we are asking God to do what He has already said that He will ultimately do.  We are praying for the ONLY solution to the problems that plague our fallen race of beings.  

Romans 14:17 - - 

For the kingdom of God is not food and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness - - - the only holiness acceptable to God is that provided through the finished work of His Son, and given to us for our salvation.  In and of ourselves, we possess absolutely NO righteousness.  Righteousness is listed first because it is the indispensable "first characteristic" of being part of God's kingdom.

Peace  - - - peace is not listed first, because you cannot have peace without righteousness.  Some Christians go all around the world "working for peace" by meeting the humanitarian needs of people. That is wonderful and necessary to "be Christ's hands and feet".  But, what good does this if we do not simultaneously share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ?  What good does it do if we meet their physical needs, yet leave them bound for Hell?  None.  So, let's not be fooled by this world's version of "righteousness".  There is only one kind of righteous that brings true peace and that changes lives for all eternity.  You wonder why peace has fled America?  It is because God's righteousness, manifested in the hearts of men and women, is largely absent.

Joy - - - true joy comes from only one Source, and that is the Holy Spirit of God.  It transcends circumstances, even the worst that this sin-stained world serves up to us, because it is supernatural.  It is God's gift to those of us in His kingdom. This joy is grounded in our certainty that He is with us through thick-and-thin, forever.

The greatest blessing of this life - - to be God's child, to be part of His kingdom.

Tomorrow:  we'll drill down on "His will".

Almighty One, in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah had a vision of You.  He saw You seated upon a throne, high and lifted up, with Your glory filling that celestial Temple.  Your throne was surrounded by seraphs, those angelic beings with six wings, who continually call out, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the God of Angel Armies! The whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:1-3) Father, may Your kingdom come, in billions of human hearts and one day, physically on this Earth. In Jesus' name, amen.

Genie God

Good morning,

After yesterday's exhaustive post, we are going to change gears a bit.  I'm reading (for pleasure) a book by a man named Derek Prince, a saint who has gone on to be with Jesus.

In his early years, Dr. Prince was a professor of philosophy at Oxford University, in England.  Then, he got conscripted into the British military service.  A scholar of Plato, he had read all of Plato's works, in the original Greek.  Dr. Prince was a very learned man.  He had been meaning to read the Bible, simply because so much of philosophy made little sense intellectually, in answering the big questions of life, such as "Where did I come from?"  "Where am I going?"  "Why am I here?"  So, when he packed up his battle gear, he took a copy of the Bible along.

"Through reading the Bible, however, I met the Author.  And once I met the Author the book made the most wonderful sense to me.  I found there the answers that I had not found in philosophy.  I found a description of the beginning of things that explained me to myself.  When I read the story of the creation of man in Genesis 1-3, I understood what was going on inside of me."

Hallelujah!  Derek Prince went on to become a great prayer warrior.  He wrote a book, the one I'm now reading, called Secrets of a Prayer Warrior.  I began to read this book a few years ago, but never finished it, for some reason.  It is easy to read, but hard to digest.  Do you know what I mean?  There are things about prayer that I don't think I'll ever truly understand, no matter how well explained.

At any rate, in chapter 5, Dr. Prince shares his thoughts on The Lord's Prayer, one of my most favorites.  So, we are going to deconstruct it here.  Some of these thoughts are his and some are from other sources.  First, the passage itself - - Matthew 6:5-15 (NKJV)

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.[c]

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Verses 5 and 6 remind me of the prayer habits of the women in the movie War Room, which I've mentioned here recently.  Of course, we can pray anywhere, but going to a special place repeatedly to pray and doing so diligently with faithfulness is often helpful in order to maintain a consistent, effective prayer life.  Whether we clean out a closet and literally pray inside of it or not, it is absolutely vital that we pray consistently and fervently.  (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

The main point Jesus was making in those two verses in Matthew 6, though, was not to pray in order to "show-off" in front of others.  On the other hand, I've been in small groups as well as large groups of Christians who, when given the opportunity to pray out loud, decline to do so.  That is not what the Lord wants either.  Some of us are so timid about the very important function of corporate prayer (several believers praying together) that they simply will not do it aloud.  Dr. Prince makes the following comment about persistent prayer, using as an example the church of Jerusalem who prayed for Peter's release from prison in Acts 12.
"Sometimes God will not work merely through the prayer of an individual.  It takes the corporate prayer of a group of committed believers praying together."  Most Christians instinctively know this through the Holy Spirit, and that is why we ask other believers to pray for us about various things.

There is an important principle in verse 8.  What do we usually do when we pray?  We go straight to "Gimme, gimme, gimme", don't we?  It is as if we think that God somehow does not know what we need or that we think he is some sort of magic genie!  Some have described this as "vending machine prayer".  Jesus, in His example of how we should pray, points out that this is clearly "not cool".  It's not that we should not lay our needs at God's feet.  It is just that it is irreverent and disrespectful to ignore the praise, thanksgiving and worship aspects of prayer.

Jesus began, "Our Father, who is in Heaven, Your name is hallowed."   That is adoration, a statement of faith, an exclamation of praise, an attitude of submission and worship.  You might find it helpful to begin your time of prayer with a psalm or with a collection of praise verses.  Beth Moore has written a book called, Praying God's Word.  The subtitle is, "Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds".  Wow!  Her assertion, a biblical one, is that when we pray back to God the promises and truths of His written Word, we are breaking Satan's strong chains that have attached themselves to various aspects of our lives.  Amen to that!  Back on point, however, this book contains many compilations of scripture on various topics.  One such chapter concerns overcoming idolatry.  The scriptures compiled in that chapter are scriptures that exalt the name and glory and various attributes of God. These are wonderful to pray back to our Father, in worship, to exalt His magnificent, matchless name.  There are other, such as Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer.  I was bemused to see that, when I took a break and went to read aloud the morning prayers for Day Eight (I did this after having started to blog about The Lord's Prayer) that very prayer was featured.  God makes no "coincidences".

Have you ever been confused about which Person of the Trinity to pray to?  Sometimes I am.  On the one hand, I think you can pray to any of the Three or to all at one time.  Perhaps it is a moot point. Usually, I pray to the Father, as Jesus did.  It is only through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that God becomes our true Father.  I only mention this because it is a matter I find a little confusing...

"Hallowed" - - what does that mean?  It means "holy".  When we pray this, we are acknowledging the utter perfectness, the holiness of our Father.  That realization and acknowledgement should bring us to our spiritual "knees" in reverence.  His name is completely holy.  Matthew Henry has this to say about that:

1. Hallowed be thy name. It is the same word that in other places is translated sanctified. But here the old word hallowed is retained, only because people were used to it in the Lord's prayer. In these words, (1.) We give glory to God; it may be taken not as a petition, but as an adoration; as that, the Lord be magnified, or glorified, for God's holiness is the greatness and glory of all his perfections. We must begin our prayers with praising God, and it is very fit he should be first served, and that we should give glory to God, before we expect to receive mercy and grace from him. Let him have praise of his perfections, and then let us have the benefit of them.

We'll continue our study of prayer tomorrow.

O Lord, my God, You re very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.  You wrap Yourself in light as with a garment.  You stretch out the heaves like a tent and lay the beams of Your upper chambers on their waters.  You make the clouds Your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind.  You make winds Your messengers, flames of fire Your servants.  (Psalm 104:1-4)

Sources:
http://www.lords-prayer-words.com/meaning_commentary_matthew_henry_2.html#ixzz3l9ynPJC5
Moore, Beth. Praying God's Word. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2009. Print.
Prince, Derek. Secrets of a Prayer Warrior. Grand Rapids: Chosen, 2009. Print.
Bailie, John. A Diary of Private Prayer. N.p.: Charles Scribners & Sons, 1949. Print.

Wait For It....

Good morning,

Happy Labor Day!

There are only two women mentioned by name in "the roll call of faith".  That is what I've often heard Hebrews 11 called.  Such a beautiful and heart-breaking chapter!

Since Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, called these two particular women by name, I thought it sensible to look at their lives.  We'll start with Sarai/Sarah (Hebrews 11:10-11).

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

There is an American cultural saying that is used when telling a joke or a story right before the ending or the punchline.  As the teller is nearing that point, he or she says, "Wait for it....wait for it...." and then comes the zinger!  This saying reminds me of the life of Sarai/Sarah.

Here are some facts about this remarkable woman:

1.  She is not even mentioned in Scripture until she is 65 years old.  At that time, we find her living in a land called Ur, which most scholars place in southern Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates River.  This would be modern day southern Iraq or Kuwait.
2.  She was married to Abram/Abraham, her half-brother.  In those days, there was no biblical prohibition against marrying a close relative.  It was not part of God's law, delivered through Moses and the Levites, that such prohibitions were issued.  (See Leviticus 18:16-18 and 20:17-21.) Their mutual father was Terah.   Ur was an incredibly wealthy city of that day; it is reasonable to conclude that Terah also was rather wealthy.
3.  Abram and Sarai left Ur as relatively young people, at the urging of Terah.  Ur was a highly pagan society, where the moon god was widely worshipped.  Perhaps Terah wanted to move his family to more pure surroundings.  Abram was nine generations descended from Shem, Noah's son.  The fact that Abram knew and followed Jehovah God indicates that knowledge of Yahweh had flowed through that family line since the Great Flood. Other contemporaries of Abram (Job and Melchizedek {Gen. 14:18} ) indicate that true followers of Yahweh were scattered throughout the general region of the middle east.
4.  (Gen. 11:13) Terah went with them on the first leg of this journey.  After about 650 miles they temporarily lived at Harran, until Terah's death some years later.  Speculation is that he was unable to journey farther.  It is not recorded exactly how long they stayed there.
5.  At age 65 (Abram was 75), Sarai again left all that she knew to follow her husband on the remainder of the 1000-mile journey across the desert to the land of Canaan.  They left because they both worshipped Yahweh, who had given them the command to go, along with a tremendous promise (Gen. 12:1-3).  Even considering that people lived much longer than we do, in those days, this was still quite a physical and emotional challenge for a woman of 65.  Yet, Sarai respected and obeyed her husband.

5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

1 Peter 3:5-6 (NIV)

See also Genesis 18:12, where we indeed find Sarah addressing Abraham as "lord".
6.  Sarai was extremely beautiful, even into her old age.  The Bible records two instances where Abram presented her as his sister (which technically was true) in order to preserve his life and her safety.  Two kings, a pharaoh of Egypt (Gen. 12:12-20) and also Abimelech, king of Gerar (Gen. 20) wanted to take Sarai/Sarah as wife, but were prevented by God. On this latter occasion, she was nearly 90!
7.  Despite her obvious beauty, her marriage to a wonderful man and being a woman of great wealth, Sarai/Sarah lived with a deep, all-consuming grief over her barrenness.  For approximately 60 years, she had tried to conceive with her husband, to no avail.  She had heard of God promising and reiterating His promise to Abram/Abraham no less than 3 times (Gen. 12:3, 13:16 and 15:1-6)!
8.  By the time Sarai/Sarah was 75, she had made a trip to Egypt, as mentioned above, and returned with her husband to the area of Bethel, a fertile land of many springs.  Sarai/Sarah, however, continued to be infertile.  She had heard from Abram the promise of God (Gen. 12:2-3) to her husband ten years earlier (note that the promise was not to her, but to her husband); and, accordingly, she determined to step into the role of God.  Let's have a personal moment of silent reflection....
Can any of us women unequivocally declare that we would have done any different?  This foolhardy ploy was the greatest mistake of her life, one that she would regret for the rest of her days. (Don't miss, though, that Abram agreed to this ill-hatched {pardon the pun} plan!)

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slavenamed Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years,Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

Gen. 16:1-3

{Polygamy was never God's design.  Genesis 16:3 is the first recorded instance of polygamy involving a righteous man.  It was a poor example that Abram set for his descendants, one which was later seen with Jacob (Leah and Rachel), David (Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba, etc.), Solomon (1000 wives/concubines!) and has carried on in the Ishmael branch of the Abrahamic line to this day.}

Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.

Psalm 127:1

9.  In spite of this strategic error and gross lapse of faith Sarai/Sarah is mentioned in "the roll call of faith".   Why?  Because even after all the debacle with Hagar and Ishmael, Sarai/Sarah still judged God to be faithful in His promises.  It was only in this, the 4th reiteration of God's promise to the couple, that God specifically included Sarai/Sarah in the promise.  Prior to this....listen now....she was only taking Abram's word that "God said so".  Think about the implications of that!  I marvel at how she trusted her husband.
Let me ask you to go read Genesis 17.
It was at this time that God gave the couple their covenant names:  Abram ("exalted father") to Abraham ("father of many") and Sarai ("princess") to Sarah ("mother of nations").

10.  We find in Genesis 18:1-15 that El Shaddai (the new name Jehovah God revealed to Abraham in Gen. 17:1) appeared to Abraham a 5th time.  It was at this appearing He gave a timeline to the promise (18:10).  And, it seems He visited with the express purpose of allowing Sarah to hear this promise personally since He asked (rhetorically) where Sarah was.  Sarah was listening to the conversation, behind a fold of the tent.
What are we to make of the fact that Sarah laughed when she overheard El Shaddai (which means "all-sufficient, all-powerful God (El)"?  Who can blame her?  I certainly do not.
Her laughter was replaced by fear as she realized that God Himself was sitting under her tree, eating her food.  How did she know this?  She had not laughed aloud, only to herself.  Yet, God had heard her, and said so (18:15).  This so terrified Sarah that she lied about having laughed to herself.

11.  Despite it all, we see that Sarah had a sense of humor about how God had dealt with her.  When Isaac was born, she obediently (and bemusedly, most likely) named him "Laughter".  That is what the name Isaac means, in Hebrew.

6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Genesis 21:6-7

12.  The last time we see Sarah mentioned in Genesis, she makes a demand of her husband that is rooted in her deep faith in God's promise to Isaac.  Sarah demands that Hagar and her son, Ishmael, who was at that time about 16 years old, be sent away.  Things had come to a head when the family was celebrating Isaac being weaned.  Isaac would have been a 2-3 year old toddler at this time. Ishmael made the serious error of ridiculing Isaac.  This action caused Sarah to realize that Ishmael's continued presence would continue to be a threat to God's purpose for Isaac.  God affirmed her actions in Gen. 21:12.  Furthermore, neither Ishmael nor Hagar was utterly abandoned by God. Some type of family ties did remain, as we discover both sons burying their father in Gen. 25:9-10.

So, we see both a great woman of faith and also of great flaws.  The hallmarks of her character were her submissive obedience to her husband, her faith in God's promises and her sense of humor.

Dear El Shaddai, 
Like Sarai/Sarah, I have had trouble holding on to Your promises revealed in Scripture.  I understand her struggles in that area.  This truth has been brought home to me through my study of such a great woman of faith.  It has been terribly humbling.  I confess my own personal faith deficit and ask You to please increase my supply.  I also want to emulate her in her submissive obedience to her husband, and area in which I also fall short of the "gold standard".  Help me to keep my sense of humor when doubt threatens to creep in and take over.  Help me to keep my heart's eyes firmly focused on You. 
In Jesus' name, amen.


Sources:

MacArthur, John. "Sarah: Hoping Against Hope." Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You. Nashville, TN: Nelson, 2005. 27-50. Print.

http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ur_of_chaldees.html

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Sarah-Sarai-Sara

http://www.myredeemerlives.com/namesofgod/el-shaddai.html

Fly, Firefly, Fly!

Good morning,

Right in the middle of "life" this week, one of my best high school friends "moved on up".  The last time I saw her was about five years ago.  Although we were close in high school we lost touch after graduation, except for infrequent high school reunions.  She went on to serve God faithfully for more than 40 years, as a wife, mother, school teacher.  Her testimony was to God's grace in her life.

What I remember most about her was her calm and gentle spirit.  She was naturally quiet and reserved.  While we were in high school, she lost her mother to sudden illness.  Her mother had been a beautiful, precious, vivacious soul.  We all grieved over this loss.  But, her mother would have been proud of the godly life my friend lived.

It is my loss that we did not remain close over these 40 years.  I guess that such parting-of-the-ways is a result of going out to fulfill one's calling.  However, there is a "tie that binds", as the song goes ... the Holy Spirit of God who lived in her and also in me. Later today, I will be traveling with my best childhood friend to pay my respects and to rejoice with her loved ones. We are secure in the knowledge of where her soul now resides.

I heard a conversation yesterday between someone I dearly love and a second person I greatly respect. They agreed together that neither one of them "is religious".  With great difficulty, I kept my mouth shut, because it was "neither the time nor the place", if you know what I mean.  Do you see, though, that they most certainly ARE religious?  They are merely worshipping something or someone else other than the One who created them.

The god of this world, Satan, has blinded so many to the Truth.

Even if you read this and scoff at that statement, let me ask you this.  What if you are right and I am wrong?  Well, I will have lived a life of peace and joy, even in the middle of various trials along the way, and when I die....nothing.  I will have lost nothing except, you may argue, a few years of temporary, earthly pleasures.  But, what if you are the one who is mistaken...about the meaning and purpose of life, about there being an eternity of either Heaven or Hell?  Are you really willing to gamble your eternal soul, based on what someone else has told you, without doing a thorough investigation of the matter?

C.S. Lewis was a tremendously intelligent man, a professor of English at Oxford University, London. He reached that point of saying, "I've got to check this Jesus stuff out, to see if it is true."  He wrote a book about his journey of discovery.  It is entitled, Mere Christianity.  Here is some of what he wrote:
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” 

In so many ways, we are like a lightning bug trapped in a jar.  Did you ever do that, as a kid?  Trap a firefly (we call them "lightning bugs" here in the South) in a jar, with holes in the lid?  The bug knows it does not belong in the jar.  There is something within its very DNA that cries out to that fact.  It is in a hostile environment.  Its entire existence is spent trying to get to that world where it belongs, and it won't find any true satisfaction until it does.

We are not mere flesh and blood and bone.  One of the unbelievers I mentioned above said yesterday, "We really have very little understanding of how the human brain works.  It is a miracle."  Yeah.  A divinely created miracle.
There is a soul within each of our bodies, and that soul is the "real us", and it will live somewhere forever. 

As a Christ-follower, I know where my eternal home will be.  I know this, beyond all doubt.   It's not because I'm "good".  It is because Jesus Christ was and is and ever will be perfect.  As His child, His righteousness has been conferred to me, forever.
 Again, C.S. Lewis - - 
“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” 
That taste of Heaven, like the light in the firefly is, thanks to Jesus, already inside me.  The Holy Spirit cries out, "Daddy! Father!" to God. 

So my friend, who is newly arrived to Heaven, got there the same "one and only way" I will.  There IS but one way there, and His name is Jesus.  Don't be deceived.  There is a place.  She is there with others I have known here and whom I'll see again, when it comes my turn to "fly, firefly, fly!"

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

Acts 20:24

7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2Hn8fBYbA

Father, I thank you for the privilege of being Your child.  Thank you for possessing me and transforming me by fusing my spirit with Yours forever.  Being in this present world, I have Your downpayment of eternity within me.  That light of life, Your Spirit, will never be extinguished.  And, when it is my time to "move on up", to "fly away", Your Spirit will take me to my forever home.  I thank You and praise You, because You have done this marvelous thing...something I could never achieve or do.  To You is due all the honor and glory and eternal praise.  In Jesus' name, amen.


Source:
1  https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/801500-mere-christianity

War Room

Good morning,

Last week, right in the middle of the play performances, I needed a break, lol!  The movie, "War Room", was in its opening weekend.  Because I had heard that it was a great movie with a Christian message, I asked Hubster to take me to see it Saturday night.  If it was "that good", I wanted to give my money on opening weekend.

I was not disappointed --- great movie.  If you have not seen it, and you are a Christian, go. (Even if you are not a believer, you will find it provocative.)

Why blog about this?

Yesterday, I mentioned that I'm preparing for a mission trip to Peru.  I've been asked to teach Bible to a group of Peruvian ladies in Cusco.  One of the topics I've been asked to teach on is how the women can lead in their churches.

The religious culture of Peru is highly Roman Catholic.  There are a few charismatic Christian churches there as well.  The group we will be working with is called Zona Zegura.  It seeks to make Christian converts and start home churches, of which, last I heard, they had about 12 active, vibrant home-churches established.

This is, of course, a very different model from what we have here in the States, for the most part. There are no huge Sunday School programs to oversee, no children's choirs, etc.

The movie, "War Room", dealt with relationships, specifically relational troubles between human and God, and between husband and wife.  Some of you may find this strange, but before women can minister effectively in the church, regardless of that church's design, first their relationships with God, and then with their husbands (and children) must be right.
That's where we will begin.

We have a mutt dog, named Charlie. He loves to go to the park, which is allowed by city law, as long as he stays on a leash.  However, my idea of walking in the park and his idea of the same are totally different.  Charlie's path is not linear.  It is zig-zaggy, wherever his nose leads him.  He smells everything, licks most things, pees on a few things to mark his territory and, yes, usually wants to make a big...."deposit" (which I, as a dutiful citizen, then clean up).

Let's consider Romans 8:14 (NIV).

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

We who are Christ-followers must allow the Holy Spirit of God to lead us.  We do not lead the Holy Spirit as Charlie wants to do at the park.

The Greek word for "are led" in Romans 8:14 is ἄγονται, , or "agontai".
The meaning or word picture is of an animal being led on a rope or bridle .... or leash.  We get an English word from this Greek word, and it is "agony".  Are you surprised?  Probably not.  Even for the transformed, redeemed soul, the human will does not want to be led.  It is an agonizing struggle. Yet, it is one we must face.

Before we can lead anyone else, we must allow ourselves to be led by God's Spirit.
Ok, so HOW do we do that?
The beautiful message of "War Room" showed us the way.  It's not "magic"; but, well, it IS supernatural.

We are led by the Holy Spirit when we can hear His voice and follow.  And, how do we hear it?  By immersing ourselves in prayer and in the Word of God daily.  (You knew that was coming, didn't you? Oh, I feel the tension in the rope.  The digging in of the heels has begun!  Beloved, I feel your agony because I resisted for over 50 years.)  This is where the battle begins, where leadership begins. If this is not right, none of the rest will be right.  This holy relationship is the foundation for all Christian leadership.  To lead well, we must first follow.

"Lord, I want to learn how to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I know that You sent Him to be a Leader and a Guide for my life, so today I open my heart to Him. I ask You to help me learn to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice and to know what He is leading me to do. With all my heart, I request that You help me become sensitive to Him so that He can lead me in all the paths You have designed for my life".1  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:
1 http://www.renner.org/holy-spirit/learning-to-follow-the-leader/
2 http://biblehub.com/text/romans/8-14.htm

Visible Sign of an Inward Grace

Good morning,

We are still in 1 Corinthians 11, with the focus being on verses 17-34.  I won't reproduce them here for the sake of space.  Just open another browser window and google the text.  It will pop right up and you can then switch back and forth as needed.

Let me take a moment for a "programming note".  After we finish this chapter, I will be taking a brief hiatus from 1 Corinthians.  I had wanted to finish the book.  However, I am feeling the pressure to prepare for my upcoming Peru mission trip, and I will be exploring topics here related to that trip over the next few days.  I'll be doing some Bible teaching in the Cusco area, and I'd appreciate your prayers for the trip, overall.

What is a "sacrament"?  Wikipedia1 defines it as "a Christian rite recognized as of particular importance or significance".

Ok, so here was the situation in Corinth.  The believers would routinely have the evening meal together.  We see this mentioned in Acts 2:42 and 46.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  46 And day by day,attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people.

It appears that, as part of the evening fellowship meal, they would celebrate the Lord's Supper together.  So far, so good.  Not a bad plan, right?

But, unfortunately, the divisions and spiritual immaturity of the believers were causing problems at these occasions.  People were behaving in a cliquish manner, separating themselves according to who followed whom, was baptized by whom, who brought the best food to the table, etc.  This behavior caused shame to the visitors and to the believers who had less to bring.  It also led to some getting drunk and embarrassing themselves.  Then, when it came time to have the Lord's Supper, people were already in a carnal state.  They were not approaching the Lord's Table with the reverence it deserved.

So, there were two main problems here, both stemming from carnality and selfishness.  The first was that these believers were at a family reunion, but not acting like family.  The second was that they were not celebrating the Lord's Supper the way Jesus intended.  There was no self-examination preceding the eating of the bread and wine elements.

This is hard for us to relate to because we don't live communally, as did the Corinthian believers, nor do we usually partake of the Lord's Supper after we have eaten a meal together.  However, I am sure that, if we did, we'd be tempted to act as these young believers did.

The element of self-examination before taking the elements of the Lord's Supper, though, IS relevant to us.  The Roman Catholics believe in a doctrine called "transubstantiation", which means that the elements of bread and "wine" (or grape juice, in some Christian denominations) literally become the body and blood of Christ.  I don't believe this to be true, but I do believe that there is something mystical and supernatural about the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  Jesus commanded His followers (us) to do it (Luke 22:19), as a way to commemorate His sacrifice and to remember it.

What should we do before participating in the Lord's Supper sacrament?
1.  We should look inward.
We should honestly examine our hearts and confess our dependency on God.  We should confess and vow to make right any unconfessed sin in our lives.
Paul says in verse 31 that we are to "judge ourselves" by the standard of holiness that God has established.  By that standard, none of us is, in and of ourselves apart from Christ, worthy to step up to the Lord's table.
2.  We should be remember and be thankful.
Christ's sacrifice is the only remedy for our fallen state.  His finished work of redemption on our behalf was unfathomably costly to Him and to Father.  We can never be thankful enough.  When we participate appropriately in this ceremony, we are providing to ourselves and to the world a visible sign of an inward grace.  His grace was lavished on us at the moment of our accepting His finished work for us. We carry that grace with us always now.  We are proclaiming the Lord's death until He returns (vs. 26).

Oddly, Paul says that approaching the sacrament of the Lord's Supper inappropriately will bring judgment from God on us.  In verse 31, he says that we can either judge ourselves, as described above, or we will be judged by God for our cavalier attitudes.  Paul explicitly said that the Corinthians were experiencing sickness and that some had even died ("sleep") because of their lack of reverence for the Lord's Supper.  That is a mystical thing, but I'm not going to question it.  Better to just do as commanded.

I want to close by pointing out that the Bible does not command how often we should participate in this sacrament.  Some Christians do it every day.  Others do it once a week.  Others do it once every 3 months, and so on.  "How often" is not the point.  "How reverently" IS the point.

Father God, thank you for Your Son, whose body was broken for me, whose blood was spilled for me.  I am grateful that Your Son, Jesus, gave us, His church, this way to remember His unbelievable sacrifice for us.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrament