Sunday, April 27, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Friday, December 20, 2013
The Greatest Danger
THE CHRISTMAS MODEL FOR MISSIONS
“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” —John 17:18
Christmas is a model for missions. Missions is a mirror of Christmas. As I, so you. For example, danger. Christ came to his own and his own received him not. So you. They plotted against him. So you. He had no permanent home. So you. They trumped up false charges against him. So you. They whipped and mocked him. So you. He died after three years of ministry. So you.
But there is a worse danger than any of these which Jesus escaped. So you!
In the mid-16th century Francis Xavier (1506–1552), a Catholic missionary, wrote to Father Perez of Malacca (today part of Indonesia) about the perils of his mission to China. He said,
The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and
confidence in the mercy of God... To distrust him
would be a far more terrible thing than any physical
evil which all the enemies of God put together could
inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither
the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us
in the slightest degree.
The greatest danger a missionary faces is to distrust the mercy of God... (from Good News of Great Joy Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper - December 18 reading)
Isn't that the greatest danger that any person faces - to distrust the mercy of God? And, oh how the Enemy works at making it so. He will stop at nothing! He is not passive!! He doesn't care how he steals, kills and destroys our trust, only that he does! "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy!" (John 10:10a) His ways have not changed since the Garden of Eden.
But You came, Jesus, that we may have life, and have it more abundantly! (John 10:10b) Not just life - ABUNDANT LIFE!!
Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief! Help me to remember that this light momentary affliction is preparing for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Help me to not look to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. Help me to not lose trust and confidence in Your mercy! That truly is the greatest danger of them all! Help!
The greatest danger a missionary faces is to distrust the mercy of God... (from Good News of Great Joy Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper - December 18 reading)
Isn't that the greatest danger that any person faces - to distrust the mercy of God? And, oh how the Enemy works at making it so. He will stop at nothing! He is not passive!! He doesn't care how he steals, kills and destroys our trust, only that he does! "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy!" (John 10:10a) His ways have not changed since the Garden of Eden.
But You came, Jesus, that we may have life, and have it more abundantly! (John 10:10b) Not just life - ABUNDANT LIFE!!
Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief! Help me to remember that this light momentary affliction is preparing for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Help me to not look to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. Help me to not lose trust and confidence in Your mercy! That truly is the greatest danger of them all! Help!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Advent - Days 6 and 7
Day 6: Prince of Peace
Can there be a more fitting way to come towards the end of the first week of Advent than to focus on the Prince of Peace!
For in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. -Colossians 1:20
Much more on this next week...
Day 7: Waiting for our Hope
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of The LORD, as the waters cover the sea. -Habakkuk 2:14
What beautiful words! What a blessed promise to lead us into Week 2 of Advent where we'll focus on peace! Future peace, but also peace right here, right now - in the midst of turmoil everywhere we turn.
I am reminded of these words, written by Ann Blocker as she was dying of breast cancer. As would be natural, she had lots of concerns and fears, and she was struggling to give all this over to her Wonderful Counselor, her Mighty God and Everlasting Father, to her Prince of Peace. It was as if He spoke these words into her soul, quieting the anxiety...
Can you trust me, child?
Not only for ultimate eternity, of which you know next to nothing, and so are not tempted to meddle...
But for the little span of your life between the Now and Then, where you envision decline and separations and failures, impairments, pain, bereavements, disappointments...
Do you find me qualified to be Lord of your (last) days?
Ahhh! There is the question! I can trust that someday the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of The Lord, but can I trust that He has my today covered? Is my hope not only steadfast for Eternity, but steadfast and strong for Now? I do not have any life-threatening illness that I know of, but this question becomes ever more real as I march rapidly towards 60, and then 70... As I march towards the very real possibility of future physical frailty, the very physical unknown... Thirty-something seems like yesterday!!
Is the One who came and is coming qualified not only to be Lord of Eternity, but Lord of my everyday? Peace will only come as I answer, "Yes, Lord!" There is no other answer!
Looking to the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, I can wait with hope; and I can wait with peace...
Friday, December 6, 2013
Advent - Day 5
Day 5: Everlasting Father
No verses transition us from the picture of Mighty God to Everlasting Father quite like Isaiah 40:10-11...
Behold The Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him...He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Mighty Warrior - Gentle Shepherd!
Mighty God - Everlasting Father!
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. -Psalms 68:5
As a father shows compassion to his children, so The Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. -Psalm 103:13
Mighty God - Everlasting Father...
A Paradox that we cannot wrap our minds around, but that's our God! Our Father! Our Hope!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. -Romans 15:13
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Advent - Day 4
Day 4: Mighty God
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. (Deuteronomy 10:17)
Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love... (Nehemiah 9:32a)
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
In Strong's, mighty is defined as "powerful; by implication, warrior, tyrant:— champion, chief, excel, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man."
While I'm extremely grateful that my God is mighty, I must admit that the thought can be a little intimidating to me. I'm so thankful that right on the heels of "mighty" comes the added description that He "is not partial and takes no bribe," He "keeps covenant and steadfast love," and He "will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."
An awesome, mighty God Who rejoices over me with gladness? and quiets me with his love?
That's a God who not only commands my reverence, but also is completely deserving of my full trust in every aspect of my life. Even when my feelings would disagree!
My hope has a very sure Foundation!
Advent - Day 3
The One for Whom we wait has many Names...
Day 3: Wonderful Counselor
Wonderful - he IS wonderful!! And as we behold Him, we are full of wonder...
...that He came to earth as a child - a bloody, helpless, squalling child - for the purpose of showing us the glory of God in the plan of redemption;
...that this same child is the One who made all things, and without Him was not anything made that was made - from the most microscopic fragment (which seems to be getting smaller all the time as we develop more powerful ways to see), to the vastness of the universe and beyond (which seems to be getting larger all the time as we develop more powerful ways to see), and which, from all physical aspects, hangs on NOTHING!
...that this child lived a perfectly sinless life on this sin-cursed earth, and then as a man He humbled Himself and chose to become a curse for me, so that I, who have never known one moment of sinlessness, might become His righteousness. Not only just as if I'd never sinned, but just as if I'd always been innocent! That's important to me!
...that this same child will come again, not as a tiny babe, but as a conquering Hero, Faithful and True, with eyes like a flame of fire, to judge and make war on all evil;
...that this Creator/Baby/Sacrifice/Hero God loves me! And offers Himself as my Counselor! My Advisor! My Lawyer!
My mind can comprehend none of this. So in reverent awe I wonder... and I believe... and I long... and I pray... "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
Advent Day 2
Day 2: Waiting
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You. (Psalm 39:7)
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. (Psalm 62:5-7)
[T]hose who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isa 40:31)
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Rom 8:18-25)
The Hebrew word for "wait" is qawa, which according to Strongs means to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect:— gather (together).
How does "binding together" and "gathering" have anything to do with waiting? What I get from this is that waiting is not a solo sport! We are not called to wait alone. We are bound together - the Comforter within, and the Body without. There are many aspects to the Holy Spirit's work in us, but that is a subject for another time. Today, as I wait, I am so thankful for the Body! We, though many, are one...
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken! (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
As brothers and sisters in The Lord, we are actually to be bound together even as we wait to be free from this bondage to decay. It's a spiritual union that has great and wonderful physical ramifications. We are to comfort and encourage one another in very real and meaningful ways through these "light and momentary afflictions" that can seem like two-ton boulders on our backs. We are to pray for one another, and we are to love one another and build each other up. We are to live in harmony with each other, and never bite or devour each other or cause another to stumble. We are to be kind to one another, bear one another's burdens, submit to one another, and address one another with hymns and psalms and spiritual songs as we eagerly wait to see our Lord and Savior face to face. It is not a small thing we are called to as we wait!
The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” And so we wait... but not alone! And not without MUCH responsibility!
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20)
Advent
For the first time in my life I am intent on observing Advent. I wish I had done this many years ago! I have a daughter-in-law who, with her children, is very purposeful in her enjoyment of these days leading up to Christmas. I find myself wishing I could go back and do the same with mine. But I cannot - those days are past, and regretting what I didn't do accomplishes nothing. Thankfully, I do have today... and tomorrow... And I know that whatever work God does in me at this late stage of life will not be lost on them, and for that I am grateful.
As I was looking for a little guidance on the i-net, I came across a Day 1 writing that was meaningful to me, but on December 2 when I went to read Day 2, I realized I had neglected to note where I had found the first one. Google helped me find Day 1 again, but for the life of me, I cannot find anything more than that by the same author. I don't even know who the author is, other than it seems to be someone from Illinois or Iowa State University.
So... I have decided to venture out a bit on my own. I'm intending to post my thoughts for future reference, but if the writing begins to overtake the real purpose of focusing on the Savior, I'll not continue in it.
The words of Day 1 come from someone else from ISU...
Week 1: Hope
Day 1: The Foundation
What is hope? We use the word all the time. I hope I don’t get sick. I hope my boss is nice to me. I hope my favorite sports team is good this year.
When we use “hope” this way, we really mean something more like wish – a desire for something we want to have happen regardless of feasibility. Biblical hope, on the other hand, is “the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future.” The word “guarantees” demonstrates the vast difference between the fleeting wishes of casual hope and strong promise of biblical hope.
Hope is a future-oriented term, but it is grounded in past events. In the Old Testament, the source of hope for God’s people was God’s proven character and His mighty deeds in history. The Psalmist says, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:5-7). His hope is founded in who God is and what He has done.
When God called Moses to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt, Moses had a list of excuses and doubts. God responded not by building up the person of Moses or even directly answering Moses’ doubts; rather, God redirected Moses’ hope to Himself. He appeals to the foundation of His promise and His ability to perform great deeds on earth (Exodus 6:1-8). After Moses, the Exodus event formed the basis of hope for the people of God. They told the story over and over again. This is why their concept of Messiah was closely linked with terms like “Deliverer.”
Throughout the Bible, true hope is not tested against our ability to hope, but rather against the foundation of God’s ability to deliver. It is a deep longing for God to show himself for who He is again. Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous philosopher and atheist, said a month before he died that he so strongly resisted feelings of despair that he would say to himself, “I know I shall die in hope.” Then in profound sadness, he would add, “But hope needs a foundation.” Without a foundation, we have only wishful thinking or personal ability.
Advent is a season of hope because we look back to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, for “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). We also look forward to the day when Jesus will return, and fulfill our deepest longing to see him face to face. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
Reflection & Prayer: Advent awakens us to this question: “What do I long for now?” If we are weak in hope, perhaps we have vested our hope in weak things: wealth, possessions, reputation, relationships. Perhaps these are the things we long for now. The more we walk around with that question and let it penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully we will experience Advent. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)
As I was looking for a little guidance on the i-net, I came across a Day 1 writing that was meaningful to me, but on December 2 when I went to read Day 2, I realized I had neglected to note where I had found the first one. Google helped me find Day 1 again, but for the life of me, I cannot find anything more than that by the same author. I don't even know who the author is, other than it seems to be someone from Illinois or Iowa State University.
So... I have decided to venture out a bit on my own. I'm intending to post my thoughts for future reference, but if the writing begins to overtake the real purpose of focusing on the Savior, I'll not continue in it.
The words of Day 1 come from someone else from ISU...
Week 1: Hope
Day 1: The Foundation
What is hope? We use the word all the time. I hope I don’t get sick. I hope my boss is nice to me. I hope my favorite sports team is good this year.
When we use “hope” this way, we really mean something more like wish – a desire for something we want to have happen regardless of feasibility. Biblical hope, on the other hand, is “the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future.” The word “guarantees” demonstrates the vast difference between the fleeting wishes of casual hope and strong promise of biblical hope.
Hope is a future-oriented term, but it is grounded in past events. In the Old Testament, the source of hope for God’s people was God’s proven character and His mighty deeds in history. The Psalmist says, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:5-7). His hope is founded in who God is and what He has done.
When God called Moses to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt, Moses had a list of excuses and doubts. God responded not by building up the person of Moses or even directly answering Moses’ doubts; rather, God redirected Moses’ hope to Himself. He appeals to the foundation of His promise and His ability to perform great deeds on earth (Exodus 6:1-8). After Moses, the Exodus event formed the basis of hope for the people of God. They told the story over and over again. This is why their concept of Messiah was closely linked with terms like “Deliverer.”
Throughout the Bible, true hope is not tested against our ability to hope, but rather against the foundation of God’s ability to deliver. It is a deep longing for God to show himself for who He is again. Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous philosopher and atheist, said a month before he died that he so strongly resisted feelings of despair that he would say to himself, “I know I shall die in hope.” Then in profound sadness, he would add, “But hope needs a foundation.” Without a foundation, we have only wishful thinking or personal ability.
Advent is a season of hope because we look back to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, for “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). We also look forward to the day when Jesus will return, and fulfill our deepest longing to see him face to face. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
Reflection & Prayer: Advent awakens us to this question: “What do I long for now?” If we are weak in hope, perhaps we have vested our hope in weak things: wealth, possessions, reputation, relationships. Perhaps these are the things we long for now. The more we walk around with that question and let it penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully we will experience Advent. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Hold Me Up!
It's early morning, and the house is quiet - it's dark outside, and everyone is still sleeping. I love this time! I sit in comfort (please don't let that be an idol!), and I soak in the beautiful truths in Your Word. I feel like I can walk victoriously through anything. But last night reminded me again that I cannot!
Not even half of our family is here under one roof, but still there are 11 kids, with eight of them being six and under. That makes for lots of noise and lots of mess; lots of cooking and lots of dishwashing; lots of crying and lots of "Hey, Mimi...you know what?" And things are not yet as they should be with my husband, family... Trying to function in the midst of chaos has always been a challenge for me. And while I know that I am growing in my walk with You, I still fail so often and so miserably. Like last night...
My attitude went completely south by the evening hours. My focus turned inward and it became all about me - "Oh, woe is poor me!" "No one cares! No one understands! No one has it as hard as I do!" "Am I even a believer? How can I be and still feel this way??" "God, why aren't You faster at changing me? I want to be perfect, as You are perfect!"
In the quiet of the early morning hours I see things so differently. Last night even my desire for perfection was all about me - so that I wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of not being seen as perfect!! So easily I move to worldly sorrow and take my eyes off of You, the Beginner and the Completer of my faith. So quickly my soul begins to shrivel!
Thank you for Romans 7 this morning!! "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate! For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!"
Thank you for this prayer verse this morning... "Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statues continually." (Psalm 119:117) Please do that, Lord! Thank You for reminding me it IS all about You. You hold me up! So that I may be safe - yasa' - open, wide, free! Not shriveled!! You support me so that I am free to have regard for Your statutes continually...like "suffer the little children!" And "prefer one another!" And "reverence Your husband!" With Your support I am free to love the 1 Corinthians 13 way - in patience and kindness; without envy or boasting; without insisting on my own way; WITHOUT BEING IRRITABLE OR RESENTFUL!!" With You holding me up, I can bear all things and endure all things...and count it all joy!!
Lord, only by Your power can this day end differently. Please let me be singing when the evening comes! And when I do, let me remember that it is ONLY because YOU hold me up!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Lord, Send Us a Man!
I've been slowly making my way through a large book on prayer by E.M. Bounds. It's actually a collection of smaller books on the subject by that author. The last several days, the name of the book within the book that I've been reading is "Power through Prayer." It deals with the man in the pulpit, and how above all else, he must be a man of prayer. With that in mind, I have been turning selections of E.M. Bounds' words into prayer as we seek a man for the pulpit of our own church...
Lord, send to us a man-
-whom the Holy Spirit can use - a man of prayer, a man mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer!
-whose preaching is not performance, but the outflow of his life!
-who is not a timid timeserver, place-seeker, men-pleaser, men-fearer, but is strong in faith in God and His Word!
-who is great in holiness, great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity, great for God!
-whose sufficiency is not in learning or planning, but whose sufficiency is in You!
-whose life and words are energized by the Spirit. Truth unquickened by God's Spirit deadens as much as, or more than, error.
-who has been broken down in the inner man - surrendered to You; who has died to self. Only crucified preaching can give life. Crucified preaching can only come from a crucified man.
-who has sought, studied, fathomed, experienced the deep things of God; who has stood before the "throne, high and lifted up."
-who knows how to pray short, live, real heart prayers - direct, specific, ardent, simple, anointed prayers in the pulpit. Whose short public prayers are effective and efficient because long, private ones have preceded them. Who can say with Martin Luther, "I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer."
-who goes to the (prayer) closet first, the study and activities second; who understands that prayer is the most serious work of our most serious years. Preachers who are the mightiest in their closets with You are the mightiest in their pulpits with men.
-who understands that talking to men about God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is still greater. Prayerless words, both in and out of the pulpit, are deadening.
-who prays "always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watches thereunto with all perseverance." (Eph. 6:18)
-who seeks You and seeks You early; who follows hard after You!
-who understands that there is an infinite distance between the betterment of an age by the force of an advancing civilization and its betterment by the increase of holiness and Christlikeness by the energy of prayer. "The Jews' golden, religious age crucified Christ. During the time of Christ, there was never more so-called piety, never less praying; never more indulgence, never less sacrifice; never more idolatry, never less devotion God; never more temple worship, never less God worship; never more lip service, never less heart service; never more churchgoers, never fewer saints." (pg. 494)
-who realizes that a prepared heart is much more important than a prepared sermon. A prepared heart will make a prepared sermon!
-who watches and fasts and prays!
-who has the simplicity, docility, humility, and faith of a child's heart.
-who has grace enough to preach the Gospel; who has struggled with his own heart and taught it humility, faith, love, truth, mercy, sympathy, and courage.
-who does not, in his sermons, make the mistake of including more thought than prayer, more head than heart.
-who sows with his heart in his study so as to reap a harvest for God. The closet is the heart's study.
-who is not afraid to weep, because it is he who "goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed." He it is who will come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:6)
-who is not earnest, but anointed! Oftentimes men grow exceedingly earnest over their own plans or movements. Earnestness may be selfishness in disguise. Anointing comes to the preacher not in the study but in the closet. It is the sweetest exhalation of the Holy Spirit. Earnestness is good and impressive; genius is gifted and great. Thought kindles and inspires, but it takes a divine endowment - a more powerful energy than earnestness, genius, or thought - to break the chains of sin. Unction is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, separating the believer for God's work and qualifying him for it. Without it, no true spiritual results are accomplished. Without anointing, the preacher is as potent as the pulpit itself.
-who realizes that anointing is a conditional gift. Its presence is perpetuated and increased by the same process by which it was at first secured - by unceasing prayer to God, by impassioned desires after God, by seeking it with tireless zeal, by deeming all else loss and failure without it.
-who understands that this anointing comes directly from God in answer to prayer. Only praying hearts are filled with this holy oil. Only praying lips are anointed with this divine unction!
-who gives himself "continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word." (Acts 6:4)
-who prays exceedingly night and day!! (1Thess. 3:10)
"God wants elect men, men of whom self and the world have been severely crucified. Their bankruptcy has so totally ruined self and the world that there is neither hope nor desire of recovery. God wants men who by this insolvency and crucifixion have turned toward Him with perfect hearts." (It appears Bounds calls a "perfect" heart one that truly knows its own total depravity! Much food for future thought here...)
It was in my reading today that prayer for "a man" turned to conviction in my own heart...
He quotes Jonathan Edwards... "If some Christians who have been complaining of their ministers had said and acted less before men and had applied themselves with all their might to cry to God for their ministers - has, as it were, risen and stormed heaven with their humble, fervent, and incessant prayers for them - they should have been much more in the way of success."
And back to E.M. Bounds... "Our laborers must be God-chosen, God-sent, and God-commissioned. But God does not send these laborers into His harvest without prayer. The failure of the laborers is owing to the failure of prayer. The scarcity of laborers in the harvest is due to the fact that the church fails to pray for laborers according to His command."
I have not prayed near enough for previous pastors! Lord, I cannot ask for a praying man in the pulpit while I am not a praying woman in the pew! Lord, send us a praying man - YES!! But more than that, MAKE US a praying people! Make ME a praying woman!
Lord, send to us a man-
-whom the Holy Spirit can use - a man of prayer, a man mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer!
-whose preaching is not performance, but the outflow of his life!
-who is not a timid timeserver, place-seeker, men-pleaser, men-fearer, but is strong in faith in God and His Word!
-who is great in holiness, great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity, great for God!
-whose sufficiency is not in learning or planning, but whose sufficiency is in You!
-whose life and words are energized by the Spirit. Truth unquickened by God's Spirit deadens as much as, or more than, error.
-who has been broken down in the inner man - surrendered to You; who has died to self. Only crucified preaching can give life. Crucified preaching can only come from a crucified man.
-who has sought, studied, fathomed, experienced the deep things of God; who has stood before the "throne, high and lifted up."
-who knows how to pray short, live, real heart prayers - direct, specific, ardent, simple, anointed prayers in the pulpit. Whose short public prayers are effective and efficient because long, private ones have preceded them. Who can say with Martin Luther, "I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer."
-who goes to the (prayer) closet first, the study and activities second; who understands that prayer is the most serious work of our most serious years. Preachers who are the mightiest in their closets with You are the mightiest in their pulpits with men.
-who understands that talking to men about God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is still greater. Prayerless words, both in and out of the pulpit, are deadening.
-who prays "always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watches thereunto with all perseverance." (Eph. 6:18)
-who seeks You and seeks You early; who follows hard after You!
-who understands that there is an infinite distance between the betterment of an age by the force of an advancing civilization and its betterment by the increase of holiness and Christlikeness by the energy of prayer. "The Jews' golden, religious age crucified Christ. During the time of Christ, there was never more so-called piety, never less praying; never more indulgence, never less sacrifice; never more idolatry, never less devotion God; never more temple worship, never less God worship; never more lip service, never less heart service; never more churchgoers, never fewer saints." (pg. 494)
-who realizes that a prepared heart is much more important than a prepared sermon. A prepared heart will make a prepared sermon!
-who watches and fasts and prays!
-who has the simplicity, docility, humility, and faith of a child's heart.
-who has grace enough to preach the Gospel; who has struggled with his own heart and taught it humility, faith, love, truth, mercy, sympathy, and courage.
-who does not, in his sermons, make the mistake of including more thought than prayer, more head than heart.
-who sows with his heart in his study so as to reap a harvest for God. The closet is the heart's study.
-who is not afraid to weep, because it is he who "goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed." He it is who will come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:6)
-who is not earnest, but anointed! Oftentimes men grow exceedingly earnest over their own plans or movements. Earnestness may be selfishness in disguise. Anointing comes to the preacher not in the study but in the closet. It is the sweetest exhalation of the Holy Spirit. Earnestness is good and impressive; genius is gifted and great. Thought kindles and inspires, but it takes a divine endowment - a more powerful energy than earnestness, genius, or thought - to break the chains of sin. Unction is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, separating the believer for God's work and qualifying him for it. Without it, no true spiritual results are accomplished. Without anointing, the preacher is as potent as the pulpit itself.
-who realizes that anointing is a conditional gift. Its presence is perpetuated and increased by the same process by which it was at first secured - by unceasing prayer to God, by impassioned desires after God, by seeking it with tireless zeal, by deeming all else loss and failure without it.
-who understands that this anointing comes directly from God in answer to prayer. Only praying hearts are filled with this holy oil. Only praying lips are anointed with this divine unction!
-who gives himself "continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word." (Acts 6:4)
-who prays exceedingly night and day!! (1Thess. 3:10)
"God wants elect men, men of whom self and the world have been severely crucified. Their bankruptcy has so totally ruined self and the world that there is neither hope nor desire of recovery. God wants men who by this insolvency and crucifixion have turned toward Him with perfect hearts." (It appears Bounds calls a "perfect" heart one that truly knows its own total depravity! Much food for future thought here...)
It was in my reading today that prayer for "a man" turned to conviction in my own heart...
He quotes Jonathan Edwards... "If some Christians who have been complaining of their ministers had said and acted less before men and had applied themselves with all their might to cry to God for their ministers - has, as it were, risen and stormed heaven with their humble, fervent, and incessant prayers for them - they should have been much more in the way of success."
And back to E.M. Bounds... "Our laborers must be God-chosen, God-sent, and God-commissioned. But God does not send these laborers into His harvest without prayer. The failure of the laborers is owing to the failure of prayer. The scarcity of laborers in the harvest is due to the fact that the church fails to pray for laborers according to His command."
I have not prayed near enough for previous pastors! Lord, I cannot ask for a praying man in the pulpit while I am not a praying woman in the pew! Lord, send us a praying man - YES!! But more than that, MAKE US a praying people! Make ME a praying woman!
Monday, November 11, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Take Up Your Cross!
Holy God!
Sinful man!
Irreconcilable difference!
The cross! God's wrath poured out on a sinless sacrifice!
Reconciliation! Beautiful reconciliation!
The cross is the place where truth and grace meet. Law fulfilled. Mercy extended. Impossible reconciliation becomes possible.
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself..." (2 Corinthians 5:18a)
Christ took up His cross. He made it possible for grace to be extended without truth being compromised. If we are of those who have been reconciled by the cross to God, we are commanded to take up our cross daily...
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." -Jesus (Mark 8:34; Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:23)
What is that cross? It for sure can be a picture of many things...
In my younger years I thought that my cross was any hard thing that I was asked to "grin and bear." At one point it was having five kiddos in the space of time that I was sure was meant for only two. Another time it was having a husband who put in very long hours away from me and those same five kiddos. I bore...but I failed miserably in the grin department! Growing definitely needed!
I remember listening to Joni Eareckson Tada some years later. She said she had come to realize that her cross was not her wheelchair near as much as it was her attitude towards her wheel chair. Light bulb moment for me! For sure our attitudes, especially towards hard things and difficult people, can be something that we need to "crucify" on a daily basis. So much truth and insight there and those words helped me grow up a bit when I heard them.
Over the past years I've been going through some very difficult things. As is God's way, He doesn't take us through the hard stuff without a purpose - or rather two purposes! Our good and His glory! Today I see another way of looking at this picture of "taking up our cross"...
Old Testament or New - God has always been, and always will be, complete and perfect grace and truth! Perfect love without compromising truth! We are all called to the process of becoming more like Christ, who modeled for us the Father's perfection in these two characteristics. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) In our sinful humanity, we are so bent toward being out of balance, towards pendulum swings one way or the other. We have our full-of-truth people and our full-of-grace people. Our my-way-or-the-highway bunch and our wouldn't-hurt-your-feelings-for-the-world folks. And then sometimes in our effort to do it right, we react and swing totally opposite of our bent! One group may look kinder than the other, and the other may look more bold than the first, but as for handling conflict God's Way, both are way off base! Neither extreme gets God's results.
Perhaps one aspect of denying ourselves and taking up our cross has something to do with bringing those two together as we meet and interact with people every day. Perhaps we are called to take up our cross by offering each person we meet grace and truth. By speaking the truth in love! (Ephesians 4:15) What a novel idea!! ;) "And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments (truth)." (2 John 1:6) Perhaps we are called to the ministry of reconciliation in this world, not by destroying with harsh "truth" only, or deceiving with soft "grace" only. I put these two words in quotes because real truth is not destructively harsh, and real grace is not mushily soft!
Another thing that real truth and real grace are not is comfortable!
Is it comfortable taking up that cross? Was it comfortable for Jesus? Are we called to "comfortable?" Never! Christ consistently calls us to uncomfortable things..."love your enemies; bless those who persecute you; outdo one another in showing honor; never be wise in your own sight; repay no one evil for evil; humble yourselves!" And on and on... We are constantly called to step out of our comfort zones!
If I am a "grace" person, that is a gift from God. But that does not excuse me from exercising truth. I am called to stop hiding behind the guise of a false grace, to stop lying to or running from my friends, family, church family... the people God has placed me into relationship with... and to step out of my comfort zone by taking up my cross and speaking the truth in love!
If I am a "truth" person, that is a gift from God. But that does not excuse me from exercising grace. I am called to stop spewing, leaking or insinuating destructive words (or looks) of "truth" and step out of my comfort zone by taking up my cross and speaking the truth in love!
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself... and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. It's at the cross that reconciliation takes place, both between God and man and on a different level, yet not really, between man and man. Both are completely super-natural events! The world is starved for both, Christian! So let's get uncomfortable! Let's ask God to grow us in the area we are less comfortable with. Let's, each one of us, with a humble courage that can come only from the third Person of the Trinity, take up our cross!!!
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Are the Promises in the Psalms for Me?
As noted in my previous post, I love the Psalms! That love has grown greatly over the last fifteen years. If I was given the choice of keeping only one book from all of the Bible, I think it would have to be the Psalms that I would choose. The Gospel is all over its pages! God's perfection and man's depravity are both displayed and explained as clearly as anywhere in all of Scripture. My heart resonates so strongly with David's and the other writers' in their struggle with sin, doubt, fluctuating emotions... The Psalms, probably more than any other Bible passages, serve to shape my own prayers.
The promises throughout the Psalms are amazing! We are told God is our Rock, our Strength, Fortress, Deliverer, Shield, our Stronghold! We are told we can "call upon The Lord who is worthy to be praised and we are saved from our enemies!" We are told that "he rescued me because he delighted in me!" And He has "equipped me with strength for the battle." (all from Psalm 18) At least 127 times in the Psalms, more than any other book in the Bible, we are told about and assured of God's steadfast love.
I love the words of the Psalms! I want them to be for me, not just for David! I have thought they are, and passages like Romans 4:16 (I share the faith of Abraham) and Galatians 3:29 help to confirm that thinking: "And if you are Christ 's, then you are Abraham' s offspring, heirs according to promise." Also, many of the promises made to the psalmists are given again to New Testament believers. But today I was referred to these words in Isaiah, and I was encouraged afresh!
"Come, EVERYONE WHO THIRSTS, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me; hear that your soul may live; and I WILL MAKE WITH YOU (everyone who thirsts) AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, MY STEADFAST, SURE LOVE FOR DAVID." -Isaiah 55:1-3
Everyone who thirsts! That sure includes me!!! I will continue reading the Psalms with increasing assurance and delight!
And I will also read praying that God makes all of my family, immediate and extended, very thirsty!
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