This morning I received a message from a sister in Christ (Marvette) who told me that our friend (Lyn) has gone to be with the Lord leaving behind her husband and our friend (Danny) and his two sons. We grieve with Danny and his sons but that grieving's sting is removed by the knowing that Lyn is with Jesus, living in the land of the living while we still live in the land of the dying.
As we pray for the Lord's return, God lays on our hearts the families who wait on this side for Him to come back, with all our loved ones following Him (Rev. 19:14). We miss them and sorrow in our hearts like we sorrow for the absence of Lord's coming. We continue to remind each other - If the Lord is faithful in keeping His promise that "you shall surely die" (Gen.2:17), He too is faithful in His promise to all who have placed their trust in Him - "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though He dies, yet he lives. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11:25-26) And He is faithful in His promise - "Know for certain, I am coming soon." (Rev.22:20)
O loved one, who has to wait on this side of heaven, longing for that day when you will not only see those you have grown to love here on earth, but you will see our Lord Jesus face to face, let His promises give you rest in this time of grieving. We love you and continue to pray for you as we wait for Him to come.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Praying for Jesus to return
Praying for His return.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. (Luke 1:10 ESV)
But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13 ESV)
Many of us have read the story in Luke about how God the Father had prepared the way for His Son to come to earth. For hundreds and thousands of years, the Children of Israel longed for their Deliverer to come and they would pray for His coming. Little girls would hear from when they were small that maybe one day they could be the one who would be so blessed to bring about the birth of their Deliverer just as Moses’ mom was fortunate to give birth to the great God ordained deliverer, Moses. This was that hope upon the godly Israel’s heart.
We know after Luke 1 that through the prayers of Israel, God brought about His Son and they did not receive Him (John 1:11). They continued to pray for their Deliverer. And though they were looking at Him in the face, they could not come to believe this was their Deliverer. We know this by Mark 2:18-22 (18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” ESV)
Now we may say, “how sad, here Israel prayed for their Deliverer to come and longed for Him to come and when He shows up, they don’t realize it.” But before we are too quick to judge Israel for their missing the mark, I have to ask myself, “Have I even aimed at the mark?” What I mean is, when was the last time you or I prayed and fasted for the Lord Jesus, who we now know, to come back? You know when I had cancer, many said, (and this was so encouraging to me) “we are praying for you as you go to NY to have that operation and we are asking the Lord to bring you back.” Many prayed and even fasted for me to come through that cancer and return to AZ. And when the Lord heard your prayers, you and I rejoiced like it was nobody’s business.
And then when I read these verses, my heart is convicted. “O Lord, who is fasting and praying and longing and hoping and crying out to You for You to return. O Lord, it is one thing to remove cancer from my body and I am so thankful for this, but it is another thing to remove completely Satan’s dominion over this earth and to bring about a new heaven and a new earth. And who is praying to that end?”
O dear brother and sister in Christ, rejoice if the Lord is calling you to pray like that. He did that with Israel and He will certainly do it again with His Children who have called on Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
May we be like John in Revelations 22:20b “...Even so, Come Lord Jesus.” or the saints who were before God - “They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:10 ESV)
May we be that generation who cries out to the Lord - “O Lord Jesus, we are praying that You come back.” What a joy it will be for the Savior to find this kind of faith on earth.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. (Luke 1:10 ESV)
But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13 ESV)
Many of us have read the story in Luke about how God the Father had prepared the way for His Son to come to earth. For hundreds and thousands of years, the Children of Israel longed for their Deliverer to come and they would pray for His coming. Little girls would hear from when they were small that maybe one day they could be the one who would be so blessed to bring about the birth of their Deliverer just as Moses’ mom was fortunate to give birth to the great God ordained deliverer, Moses. This was that hope upon the godly Israel’s heart.
We know after Luke 1 that through the prayers of Israel, God brought about His Son and they did not receive Him (John 1:11). They continued to pray for their Deliverer. And though they were looking at Him in the face, they could not come to believe this was their Deliverer. We know this by Mark 2:18-22 (18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” ESV)
Now we may say, “how sad, here Israel prayed for their Deliverer to come and longed for Him to come and when He shows up, they don’t realize it.” But before we are too quick to judge Israel for their missing the mark, I have to ask myself, “Have I even aimed at the mark?” What I mean is, when was the last time you or I prayed and fasted for the Lord Jesus, who we now know, to come back? You know when I had cancer, many said, (and this was so encouraging to me) “we are praying for you as you go to NY to have that operation and we are asking the Lord to bring you back.” Many prayed and even fasted for me to come through that cancer and return to AZ. And when the Lord heard your prayers, you and I rejoiced like it was nobody’s business.
And then when I read these verses, my heart is convicted. “O Lord, who is fasting and praying and longing and hoping and crying out to You for You to return. O Lord, it is one thing to remove cancer from my body and I am so thankful for this, but it is another thing to remove completely Satan’s dominion over this earth and to bring about a new heaven and a new earth. And who is praying to that end?”
O dear brother and sister in Christ, rejoice if the Lord is calling you to pray like that. He did that with Israel and He will certainly do it again with His Children who have called on Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
May we be like John in Revelations 22:20b “...Even so, Come Lord Jesus.” or the saints who were before God - “They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:10 ESV)
May we be that generation who cries out to the Lord - “O Lord Jesus, we are praying that You come back.” What a joy it will be for the Savior to find this kind of faith on earth.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Little Faith Builder
A little faith builder.
This morning I was reading in John 6 (thinking about a conversation I had with someone yesterday who thought that we can lose the Salvation that the Lord gave to us.)
After Jesus feeds the 5000 (can’t imagine how good that blessed bread and fish was) Jesus was talking later in the chapter to the “disciples” who were following because they were intrigued by all that He could do and were just wanting to know more about this man. And Christ does not let them sit on a fence like this for long at all.
He says in verse 26-27 that they were more concerned about their stomachs and were not coming to Him for what He really came to give them (Himself). There is a discussion that continues from this point on and as Jesus explains to them about what they should really be wanting, they get more and more aggravated at His words. At one point, they are so frustrated, because they want physical bread and He is talking to them about spiritual bread (though in physical terms). He is revealing to them that He is the “Bread of Life” and they should be hungering and running after Him.
In John 6:57-58, Jesus says something that they refused to heed but caused my heart to leap with joy. This is what He said: “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Did you catch those last 7 words? My mind raced back to Genesis 2 where God made a promise to Adam that if he eats from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would surely die. Adam eats from the forbidden tree and God has kept His promise and all men die. Every time a person dies, it should stir our hearts and jolt our minds – God keeps His promises.
But in John 6:58 we have Jesus, the Son of God, making to us another promise (be sure it will be kept as God’s promise in the garden to Adam) – “He who eats this bread will live forever.”
So I have to ask – “When did you eat This Bread?” When did you partake in faith our Lord Jesus Christ? When did you cry out to Him in faith to save you? When did you put your complete trust in Him?
When you did, that is when the life forever began – life that will never be taken away and life you have no way of keeping just as man has no way of not dying. These are promises from our Lord. Just as one man ate of the forbidden fruit and died (as God promised), so we who eats of “This Bread” (Jesus) lives eternally (just as God promised.)
Now you may ask, “how is this a faith builder?” Well just as you asked the Lord in faith to take away my cancer and that He did according to His will (which He was not obligated to do nor ever made a promise in His word that He would do.) Then if you cried out in faith for me how more sure will He save you who have cried to Him in faith to save you. He has already obligated Himself and will keep the promise to save you as you see here in John 6:58 (see also Rom. 10:9-13).
So take heart, you who may think that you could lose the salvation that the Lord has promised to those who call on Him – He will never break His promise. That is for sure.
This morning I was reading in John 6 (thinking about a conversation I had with someone yesterday who thought that we can lose the Salvation that the Lord gave to us.)
After Jesus feeds the 5000 (can’t imagine how good that blessed bread and fish was) Jesus was talking later in the chapter to the “disciples” who were following because they were intrigued by all that He could do and were just wanting to know more about this man. And Christ does not let them sit on a fence like this for long at all.
He says in verse 26-27 that they were more concerned about their stomachs and were not coming to Him for what He really came to give them (Himself). There is a discussion that continues from this point on and as Jesus explains to them about what they should really be wanting, they get more and more aggravated at His words. At one point, they are so frustrated, because they want physical bread and He is talking to them about spiritual bread (though in physical terms). He is revealing to them that He is the “Bread of Life” and they should be hungering and running after Him.
In John 6:57-58, Jesus says something that they refused to heed but caused my heart to leap with joy. This is what He said: “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Did you catch those last 7 words? My mind raced back to Genesis 2 where God made a promise to Adam that if he eats from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would surely die. Adam eats from the forbidden tree and God has kept His promise and all men die. Every time a person dies, it should stir our hearts and jolt our minds – God keeps His promises.
But in John 6:58 we have Jesus, the Son of God, making to us another promise (be sure it will be kept as God’s promise in the garden to Adam) – “He who eats this bread will live forever.”
So I have to ask – “When did you eat This Bread?” When did you partake in faith our Lord Jesus Christ? When did you cry out to Him in faith to save you? When did you put your complete trust in Him?
When you did, that is when the life forever began – life that will never be taken away and life you have no way of keeping just as man has no way of not dying. These are promises from our Lord. Just as one man ate of the forbidden fruit and died (as God promised), so we who eats of “This Bread” (Jesus) lives eternally (just as God promised.)
Now you may ask, “how is this a faith builder?” Well just as you asked the Lord in faith to take away my cancer and that He did according to His will (which He was not obligated to do nor ever made a promise in His word that He would do.) Then if you cried out in faith for me how more sure will He save you who have cried to Him in faith to save you. He has already obligated Himself and will keep the promise to save you as you see here in John 6:58 (see also Rom. 10:9-13).
So take heart, you who may think that you could lose the salvation that the Lord has promised to those who call on Him – He will never break His promise. That is for sure.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Letting Scripture make sense of what is happening in the day.
Letting Scripture make sense of what is happening in the day.
John 20:1-9: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
(NIV)
**Notice that even as they were experiencing the resurrection of Jesus, they were witnessing – HE IS NOT DEAD – that they still did not have an understanding from Scripture. Without scripture, they could have said as the Roman guards – “someone took him!” Without Scripture, they could have said, “He is another God.” Without Scripture, they could have said, “He really never died somehow.” Without Scripture, they could have said, “This is a spooky thing or spirit thing.” Without scripture, they could have said as the Pharisees said one time, “He did this by the power of Beelzebub.” Without scripture, the event, that they were eyewitness of, would not make sense to the rational mind because dead men do not come back to life. Scripture would make all things clear and scripture is what even Jesus used over and over before He went to the cross and after He rose again – Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God was His bread and His way. (Matt. 4:4)
So what is going on in your world today? Know, it is not random chance, it is not by man’s cunning design, it is not by your strength and wisdom, it is not of the spirits and demons of this earth, it is not of just getting up on the wrong side or the right side of bed. Have we taken the time today to look at what is happening in the world, in our community and in our own lives by considering what His word has to say?
"O Lord, thank You for Your word – You are the Word of God and it is You we run to. We need You more than bread or water. We need You, Your Holy Spirit to help us make sense of all that is going on around us in our lives today. We need Your Holy Spirit to make sense of even what we are saying to You (Rom. 8:26). Thank You for making all things work for good to those who love You, those who trust You, those who wait on You. And in Your name we continue to pray, Amen."
John 20:1-9: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
(NIV)
**Notice that even as they were experiencing the resurrection of Jesus, they were witnessing – HE IS NOT DEAD – that they still did not have an understanding from Scripture. Without scripture, they could have said as the Roman guards – “someone took him!” Without Scripture, they could have said, “He is another God.” Without Scripture, they could have said, “He really never died somehow.” Without Scripture, they could have said, “This is a spooky thing or spirit thing.” Without scripture, they could have said as the Pharisees said one time, “He did this by the power of Beelzebub.” Without scripture, the event, that they were eyewitness of, would not make sense to the rational mind because dead men do not come back to life. Scripture would make all things clear and scripture is what even Jesus used over and over before He went to the cross and after He rose again – Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God was His bread and His way. (Matt. 4:4)
So what is going on in your world today? Know, it is not random chance, it is not by man’s cunning design, it is not by your strength and wisdom, it is not of the spirits and demons of this earth, it is not of just getting up on the wrong side or the right side of bed. Have we taken the time today to look at what is happening in the world, in our community and in our own lives by considering what His word has to say?
"O Lord, thank You for Your word – You are the Word of God and it is You we run to. We need You more than bread or water. We need You, Your Holy Spirit to help us make sense of all that is going on around us in our lives today. We need Your Holy Spirit to make sense of even what we are saying to You (Rom. 8:26). Thank You for making all things work for good to those who love You, those who trust You, those who wait on You. And in Your name we continue to pray, Amen."
Thursday, January 12, 2012
“For You Are Holy”
To your left is another song that has ministered to me in the past day. I love how the music supports the words of this beautiful song and how the instruments and voice support the words so carefully penned. I hope you enjoy “For You Are Holy” as I have enjoyed it.
“O Lord, you taught us to pray… Hollowed by Your Name… You are Holy and apart from You there are non like You. When I look in the sky it is though I see your eyes. When I look in my heart I know you see my heart. For You are Holy Lord, O so Holy and there is non like You, none like You. Thank you for reaching down to us, for becoming like us, taking on flesh (John 1:14) and showing us what it is like to truly be Holy here on earth. Only through You can we come close to Your holiness. And as we approach Your throne through the Blood of your Holy Son, we will continue to cry – You alone are Holy. And we love You and adore You.
Monday, January 9, 2012
When the impossible becomes possible. Luke 18:27
This Friday a friend (Doug) sent me an email about a teenage gal (Elizabeth) who has brain cancer that is inoperative. Her situation is serious in the fact that Chemo or Radiation will not work either – we are looking at an impossible situation. And then on the same evening, I read about a young girl who passed away 1/5/12 who after battling cancer in the brain for 10 months (due to the same kind of cancer that Elizabeth has).
The Lord is calling us to have faith. Faith in which He commands as found in Luke 17 when He says all we need is the faith of a mustard seed. Faith that will persist like that which Jesus spoke of in Luke 17. And when we exercise the faith that He so generously gives to us we begin to see what faith is really used for – salvation of others. In Chapter 18 the disciples look at something that is more impossible than for a camel to go through an eye of a needle (which is impossible). The salvation of man is impossible with man. The best man can produce, his own righteousness, is filthy rags to God. So we need the Lord to do the impossible in our lives. We need the Lord to do the impossible in those we love and in those He lays on our hearts to pray for.
Daily we have opportunity to run to the Lord Jesus and watch Him do what is beyond our dreams. There are a number of you who did that when you prayed for me in my cancer situation. In the same way you ran to the Lord concerning my condition, I am asking you and others to run to the Lord for those who maybe at this moment seem like they are beyond any hope. You, mom – who has a son who has forsaken the Lord Jesus Christ. You, dad – who has a daughter living in total rebellion to all authority. You, brother or sister – who has a sibling who you looked up to, but now has gone astray and has no desire to return. You, doctor or nurse – who after looking at the test results, say there is nothing more we can do. You, son or daughter – who has Mom and Dad divorcing and throwing all hope for keeping their promise made before you were born, overboard into the waves of despair. You, who has sinned – totally unable to see any hope of forgiveness or mercy from our Lord and God. To all who are looking at the impossible – it is possible with God and He is certain to do something about your condition or loved one’s condition as you and I cry out to Him. Do not delay, right now as He is laying on your heart that someone – cry out to Him now.
The Lord is calling us to have faith. Faith in which He commands as found in Luke 17 when He says all we need is the faith of a mustard seed. Faith that will persist like that which Jesus spoke of in Luke 17. And when we exercise the faith that He so generously gives to us we begin to see what faith is really used for – salvation of others. In Chapter 18 the disciples look at something that is more impossible than for a camel to go through an eye of a needle (which is impossible). The salvation of man is impossible with man. The best man can produce, his own righteousness, is filthy rags to God. So we need the Lord to do the impossible in our lives. We need the Lord to do the impossible in those we love and in those He lays on our hearts to pray for.
Daily we have opportunity to run to the Lord Jesus and watch Him do what is beyond our dreams. There are a number of you who did that when you prayed for me in my cancer situation. In the same way you ran to the Lord concerning my condition, I am asking you and others to run to the Lord for those who maybe at this moment seem like they are beyond any hope. You, mom – who has a son who has forsaken the Lord Jesus Christ. You, dad – who has a daughter living in total rebellion to all authority. You, brother or sister – who has a sibling who you looked up to, but now has gone astray and has no desire to return. You, doctor or nurse – who after looking at the test results, say there is nothing more we can do. You, son or daughter – who has Mom and Dad divorcing and throwing all hope for keeping their promise made before you were born, overboard into the waves of despair. You, who has sinned – totally unable to see any hope of forgiveness or mercy from our Lord and God. To all who are looking at the impossible – it is possible with God and He is certain to do something about your condition or loved one’s condition as you and I cry out to Him. Do not delay, right now as He is laying on your heart that someone – cry out to Him now.
2 Cor. 6:1-2 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Hearts that cry beyond words.
Luke 11:34 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. (NKJV)
Romans 9:1- 3 - I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, (NKJV)
Romans 10:1 – Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
Matthew 16:26 - "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
This week, the Lord has burdened my heart as well as my family’s heart, as well as students and teacher’s hearts with some very pressing concerns for others. Here are some of the requests that have reached our hearts this week. A teacher’s mother who is facing death and the mother may not know Christ. A friend’s father who at 81 just discovered he has cancer and is not expected to live but 6 months at best. A friends daughter who has walked out of the family’s life and has walked away from the Lord and declared she is not one of HIS. A student who has declared that he does not believe in Jesus or has faith at all in God. A freshmen student has just been diagnosed with leukemia (two different students without knowing it, made the same request). A student’s dad and a student’s mom have cancer. A father is dealing with blood clots. A teenager just found out that she has cancer on the brain, which can’t be operated on nor treated with chemo or radiation. A praise that one student reported that she is cancer free at this time. Two daughters and a son from three different families have turned their backs on Jesus for a lifestyle of homosexuality. Two sons from two different families have turned their backs on Jesus and have rejected Him. Multiple requests for grandparents and relatives have been listed who are facing major health issues. A persecuted believer was mentioned today (twice by two different students in two different classes – the same name came up causing us to pray for him as well as a host of believers). The list goes on and on as our hearts, like Jesus, like Paul and like these families, hearts that break and cry out to our Lord –
“O Lord, we come to You with great sorrow and continued grief on our hearts for the these who are facing such horrendous things. It is this on going disease of the flesh that causes us to look to You and it is the sin of rejection and unbelief that breaks our hearts beyond words and tries our faith, that faith that was given by You. Lord, You said, ‘if a man gains the whole world, and looses his soul, what profit is it?” O Lord, our children, our fathers and mothers, or extended family members and our dear friends mean more to us then our own soul. And so we cry out to You and say, as Paul would say, for I wish I could exchange places with anyone of these in order for them to have YOU. These people are like our own souls and we come to You now on their behalf as we came to You when we became aware of our own deepest need – when we cried out for YOU. We now come with that same heart for these dear loved ones. O, Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and hear our cry. We beg You as the gentile women begged You for even a crumb on behalf of her daughter. In that same determination we still come to You today. And we know that whoever calls upon Your name, O Lord Jesus, You save. Amen. “
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
If you could ask for anything from the Lord….
In Luke 11, the disciples came to the Lord Jesus and asked him to teach them how to pray. Our Lord gives them a timeless model prayer that many over the years have used to address our heavenly Father.
Then the Lord speaks to the issue of persisting in prayer. We are prone to present our requests at the alter and then if nothing happens within our defined time period, we give up, forgetting that we are speaking to the Lord of eternity – it puts patience and persistence in a whole new light. What is a few days, a few weeks, a few months, a few years or even a life time when it comes to us approaching the Lord who is everlasting and forever. (He literally has the time.)
In Luke 11:9-13, we come to the famous Ask, Seek, Knock passage where we are instructed by the Lord to ask for something, seek something and keep on knocking on the door for something. Many jump ahead and start sharing their wish list at this point, especially when we read that if an evil father would not give his son a stone when that son asked for bread… we jump ahead and start asking for that which fills the stomach or any of deep desires. And often readers overlook the end of vs. 13 –
“how much more will your heavenly Father give the HOLY SPIRIT to those who ask Him.” The Lord is so ready to not give us a “thing”, a “prize”, a “toy” or a “only-you can-have-it something” but He is so ready to give us “Someone” who can be shared with this world and is beyond any thought that would ever enter the mind of men. He is wanting to give to us, who ask of Him, who seek from Him and who are willing to knock and not give up knocking… the His Holy Spirit, who fills us and empowers us.
This is so wonderful to know: we can have the Holy Spirit dwell within us. But then I again think, what if I ask this not for me, but for those who I know and love. My wife, daughters, parents, brothers, sisters, extended family, and for friends, students who I teach daily, teachers, church family, pastors, elders, etc. What about if I ran to the Lord as I did for myself to ask for the Holy Spirit, but this time I run to Him for you. What more could the Lord do when His holy bride and children are full and controlled entirely by the Holy Spirit. That is my prayer this new year.
“O Lord, we need your precious, powerful, convicting, always instructing and exhorting Holy Spirit. And You have already promised that He will be given to those who ask. So we ask in Your most holy Name, Jesus. Amen.”
Then the Lord speaks to the issue of persisting in prayer. We are prone to present our requests at the alter and then if nothing happens within our defined time period, we give up, forgetting that we are speaking to the Lord of eternity – it puts patience and persistence in a whole new light. What is a few days, a few weeks, a few months, a few years or even a life time when it comes to us approaching the Lord who is everlasting and forever. (He literally has the time.)
In Luke 11:9-13, we come to the famous Ask, Seek, Knock passage where we are instructed by the Lord to ask for something, seek something and keep on knocking on the door for something. Many jump ahead and start sharing their wish list at this point, especially when we read that if an evil father would not give his son a stone when that son asked for bread… we jump ahead and start asking for that which fills the stomach or any of deep desires. And often readers overlook the end of vs. 13 –
“how much more will your heavenly Father give the HOLY SPIRIT to those who ask Him.” The Lord is so ready to not give us a “thing”, a “prize”, a “toy” or a “only-you can-have-it something” but He is so ready to give us “Someone” who can be shared with this world and is beyond any thought that would ever enter the mind of men. He is wanting to give to us, who ask of Him, who seek from Him and who are willing to knock and not give up knocking… the His Holy Spirit, who fills us and empowers us.
This is so wonderful to know: we can have the Holy Spirit dwell within us. But then I again think, what if I ask this not for me, but for those who I know and love. My wife, daughters, parents, brothers, sisters, extended family, and for friends, students who I teach daily, teachers, church family, pastors, elders, etc. What about if I ran to the Lord as I did for myself to ask for the Holy Spirit, but this time I run to Him for you. What more could the Lord do when His holy bride and children are full and controlled entirely by the Holy Spirit. That is my prayer this new year.
“O Lord, we need your precious, powerful, convicting, always instructing and exhorting Holy Spirit. And You have already promised that He will be given to those who ask. So we ask in Your most holy Name, Jesus. Amen.”
Monday, January 2, 2012
Trying to tell Jesus what to do?
Have you ever wanted something so bad or desired to see something accomplished so greatly that you tried to tell Jesus what to do?
The disciples tried this several times and every attempted command was over-ridden with the most unexpected reply.
Luke 9:12 – the disciples tell Jesus – “Send the multitude away…” Jesus reply, (vs. 13) “You give them something to eat.” The disciples were not expecting that nor could they feed this multitude that numbered 5,000 men (plus families).
Luke 9:13 – “We have no more than five loaves and two fish…
Luke 9:14 – Jesus now give the orders – “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” And most anyone who has read the NT knows what takes place next.
I often tell the students in school, “we don’t tell God what to do, we just present Him with the problem and watch Him do the most unexpected thing, that which the mind would not even conceive, and that which would be impossible for man but not for God. And in the times when you love a person so much that you would go out on the limb to try to tell God what He should do or when you think that you have a solution that the Lord needs to hear – well, He is not obligated to do that which you are requesting. He does obligate Himself though quite often through the promises that He has made in His word. And those promises you can count on, bring before the throne of God and expect to be kept.”
Reading today in Luke, made me smile as I read these dear disciples who were just beginning to come to understand who they were trying to tell what to do. I am not much different in many ways than these men, but I am learning as I read His word and I go through this life – His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). I am so glad though that He, it time, reveals His ways and His thoughts, and even when that is unavailable – I can trust Him.
“Thank you Jesus for being the founder and finisher of our faith. “ (Heb. 12:1-2)
The disciples tried this several times and every attempted command was over-ridden with the most unexpected reply.
Luke 9:12 – the disciples tell Jesus – “Send the multitude away…” Jesus reply, (vs. 13) “You give them something to eat.” The disciples were not expecting that nor could they feed this multitude that numbered 5,000 men (plus families).
Luke 9:13 – “We have no more than five loaves and two fish…
Luke 9:14 – Jesus now give the orders – “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” And most anyone who has read the NT knows what takes place next.
I often tell the students in school, “we don’t tell God what to do, we just present Him with the problem and watch Him do the most unexpected thing, that which the mind would not even conceive, and that which would be impossible for man but not for God. And in the times when you love a person so much that you would go out on the limb to try to tell God what He should do or when you think that you have a solution that the Lord needs to hear – well, He is not obligated to do that which you are requesting. He does obligate Himself though quite often through the promises that He has made in His word. And those promises you can count on, bring before the throne of God and expect to be kept.”
Reading today in Luke, made me smile as I read these dear disciples who were just beginning to come to understand who they were trying to tell what to do. I am not much different in many ways than these men, but I am learning as I read His word and I go through this life – His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). I am so glad though that He, it time, reveals His ways and His thoughts, and even when that is unavailable – I can trust Him.
“Thank you Jesus for being the founder and finisher of our faith. “ (Heb. 12:1-2)
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