Wait on the Lord

 

There is a fallacy in the teaching of the modern church, which states that God can only use us, if we are already moving. If we read God's Word and the biographies of great men and women of God, this is not the case.

Contemporary teachers say that only as we do God's work can we discern His will. However, the truth is that God can only use someone who is spending time on their knees in prayer (Isaiah 55:3).

If we make our own plans and goals, and pursue our own dreams, then we repeatedly walk outside of God's will. If we attempt to meet every need in every person's life, we often thwart God's plans in their life.

However, as we wait on the Lord, He will always hear us and respond (Psalm 40:1; John 16:24; Ephesians 3:20). He gives us courage and the strength we need to face the trials ahead of us (Psalm 27:14). We find our rest and hope only in God (Psalm 62:5).

We do not wait on the Lord by filling the minutes of our life with stressful activity and busy work. This distracts us from lingering in His presence and hearing from Him with our whole being (Psalm 130:5).

We do not even need to defend our self, when we are harmed or wronged. As we wait on the Lord, He avenges us (Proverbs 20:22). God's wisdom deals with the situation better than our human efforts ever could

It may take time to hear from God. We may wait for days, months or years to discern His direction and will for a certain situation (Jeremiah 42:7). If we rush ahead of God, we will undoubtedly fail.

Once we pray and hear from God's Spirit on the course of action, which He plans for us to take, then we can start moving in the direction in which He is leading us.

Prayer:

Father God, it is so hard for us to wait. We get so nervous and anxious when we wait in line or for some appointment at an office. In this modern era, we are constantly on our phone, checking messages, texting or listening to the news. 

We fail to make time to quiet our soul, enter into our spirit and hear from You. You desire to bring us into a deeper union with You, but this only comes as we wait on You.

Remind us that You love to spend time with us. You even enjoy long bouts of companionable silence with us. You delight in our praises (Psalm 147:1), and You rejoice over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Help us to walk in Your Spirit and to wait on Your direction for each moment of our day.

Thought for the Day:

The Lord is good to those who hope in Him and seek His will and guidance in everything we think, say and do. - Lamentations 3:25

Praying up a Storm

 

If we allow our thoughts to randomly flit through our mind, we run the chance of making decisions that do not honor God and that will tend to bring us hardship and shame. Satan and God both influenced our thoughts (1 Timothy 4:1). Our thoughts, even our subconscious thoughts that we are not aware of at the time, influence our feelings. Our heart is deceitful and wicked, and we should submit both our thoughts and our emotions to God at all times (Jeremiah 17:9). We can control our thoughts by using them to pray each moment of the day. We control our emotions by sharing them honestly and kindly before they build up and explode.

We start in a place of aloneness (all-one-ness) with God. God has the perfect formula for prayer. Vain repetition in prayer does not honor God nor does it help us in any way (Matthew 6:7). Quoting scripture to God in an attempt to force His hand to provide what we want is useless and insulting to Him. We can use Bible verses in our prayers, but not to twist God’s arm to do our will. Sit in a very still and quiet place with your journal. Submit all of your thoughts and emotions to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5).

As you do, jot them down in your journal. You can even write out your prayers in your journal. Pray for everyone the Lord brings to your mind, issues in your life about which you need His wisdom, besetting sins that trouble you, negative emotions that crowd out His joy in your life, world news, unreached people groups, the persecuted church, government officials, etc. Whatever the Spirit brings to your mind. Another way to pray is when you see someone who reminds you of someone you know, pray for that person you see, as well as the person you know.

When you hear an emergency vehicle siren, pray for the people impacted by that emergency: for God to meet their needs and to reveal Himself to them. As you travel in the car, pray for the people with Christian symbols or bumper stickers on their car; if they are bold enough to display their faith, they could use your prayers. When someone dials the wrong number and they get you instead, tell them the reason they called is for you to tell them that God loves them and has a perfect plan for their life. Then, pray for that person as the Lord brings them to your mind.

We do not pray in order to force God’s hand to do our will, but we follow Jesus’ example and pray according to His will (Luke 22:42). As we seek God’s will, our thoughts and heart become one with His. We are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3-4). It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. We do not have to summon our faith, because we are filled with the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). Obedience to God’s will is the common denominator of all people of faith in the Bible. Their example gives us a peek into the life of people of prayer.

Prayer:

Father God, we all long to hear Your voice. You are our Abba Father and You desire nothing more than to commune with Your Body each moment of our day. Remind us to listen more and to talk less throughout the day; so that we can be led by Your Spirit to accomplish the works, which You prepared for us even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2:9-10). Help us to discern Your Spirit from the voice of the flesh, the world and Satan, which all try to negatively influence our thinking and behavior. As we read Your living Word, allow the verses to penetrate our heart and to sanctify our soul (Hebrews 4:12).

Thought for the Day:

We have confidence that God hears us in our prayers when we ask according to His will. - 1 John 5:14-15

True Friendship

As King-elect of Israel, David served King Saul by playing his harp and singing in order to calm Saul’s troubled soul. Saul relied on David, but was also jealous of God’s anointing on the young man’s life. He had a need for David, but also a hatred that burned so deeply that he often tried to take David’s life (1 Samuel 20:1-17).

One day, Saul’s son Jonathan looked at David and realized that in him he had a brother for life. They were soulmates, so they made a covenant between them. Jonathan gave David all that he possessed and did whatever David needed in order to protect his beloved friend from his father’s cruelty, even to the point of giving up his own life (1 Samuel 18:1-4).

There are few people in the world today with that type of commitment and love for one another (Psalms 41:9). Jesus Christ made just such a vow to every human being ever born. He gave His own life as a ransom to pay the sin debt that we owe. He died in our place, so that we would never have to taste death. Our last breath on this earth leads to our very next breath in Heaven, and we owe it all to Jesus Christ. Jesus is a friend that sticks closer to us than a brother (John 15:13-15). He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

At times people find it almost impossible to bond with other human beings. They are so shy or have such limited people skills that they make others uncomfortable around them. Angry people make poor friends and the Bible encourages us to stay away from them (Proverbs 22:24). Jeremiah warns us against hanging out with a brother or neighbor who is a deceiver or slanderer (Jeremiah 9:4).

Paul tells us to stay away from people who love their self, pleasure and money. He warns us against making friends with the proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and heartless, unappeasable, brutal, treacherous, reckless and conceited. He is especially uncomplimentary toward people who act religiously, but who reject the power that could make them godly. He also singles out idlers, gossips and busybodies as poor potential friends (2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 Timothy 5:13-14).

The secret to having friends is to be friendly (Proverbs 18:24). We learn how to be a good friend from the wisdom of God’s Word. We love one another at all times and stand with each other through trials and tribulation (Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 27:6,10). We have concern for one another, we avoid arguing and division, and we share in one another’s pain as well as rejoicing when someone is honored (1 Corinthians 12:25-26).
 
Sometimes a friend speaks the truth to us in love (Ephesians 4:15, 25). This often hurts our feelings and makes us angry. Sparks may fly between us like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17). However, true Christians will always submit to one another and settle our differences with grace and humility (1 Peter 5:5).
 
The fact is that two people facing life together is better than one, because they reap a double reward for their labor. If one falls, the other is there to lift him/her up. We provide warmth for one another in both body and soul. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken; and when Christ is in the center of a friendship, no one will be able to stand against us (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, at times, our friends are too busy or burdened by cares in their own life to help us out. However, You are a friend that sticks closer than a brother (John 15:13-15). You told us that if we ask, You will answer; if we seek, You will show us the way; if we knock You will open the door to us (Luke 11:5-10). Teach us to be this type of friend to one another, and to lift one another up; so that those in the world will see our love for one another and be drawn to our fellowship with You (John 13:35).

Thought for the Day:

True friendship revives the life within our soul.

 

 

Forgiveness, the Two-edged Sword

Read: Matthew 6: 14-15 

“Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” – Luke 17:4

People use all sorts of crutches to endure their times of loneliness and despair, which they feel deep within their soul. They use alcohol, drugs, relationships, shopping, food, money, gambling, codependency, internet, breaking the law, pornography, video games, etc. to mask their pain. They live in denial and make excuses for their behavior. The pain of past encounters usually drives people to make poor choices. They use these alternatives to mask their pain and to deal with life.

These crutches lead to erratic behavior, impaired thinking and judgment, slower reaction times, loss of control, moodiness, slurred speech, double vision, impaired memory, depression, infertility, premature babies, birth defects, increased heart rate, potential cardiac problems, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, asthma, defective immune system, reduced resistance levels to disease and illness and a host of other maladies. They are not a very good way to cope with life’s issues.

There is only one way to fill the void in your soul, and that is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. He calls us to be converted and to repent of our sins, so that our sins may be blotted out of His record book forever (Acts 3:19). If we confess our sins, He is faithful and honorable and He forgives them. He not only forgives them, but He also cleanses us from the penalty of all our unrighteous deeds ( 1 John 1:9). Our sins are like scarlet, but He washes them white as snow with his own blood (Matthew 26:28). Though they are red like crimson, He makes them white as lamb's wool (Isaiah 1:18). Then He brings us times of refreshing as we bask in His presence (Acts 3:19). 

Once we are in Christ, we are a new creation; old things have passed away and all things are becoming new through the process of sanctification (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Him, we have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). Though we have lived in rebellion against Him, He grants us mercy and forgiveness (Daniel 9:9). He has removed our transgressions so completely that, He casts them away as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He also casts all our sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He promises not to remember our sins and lawless deeds ever again (Hebrews 10:17; Isaiah 43:25).

Forgiveness is actually a two-edged sword. If you do not forgive others their trespasses against you, then neither can your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses against Him and other people (Matthew 6:14-15). For some reason forgiveness is foreign to many people. We punish ourselves inordinately and we punish others by holding them accountable for their actions toward us. As soon as you come to Christ in repentance, He forgives all of your sins. Then you are free to forgive others their trespasses against you. Actually, because we freely received God’s Love, we can freely forgive our self and others by realizing that we are all mere mortals striving to do our best.

So, when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you (Mark 11:25). We have redemption and forgiveness of all our sins through His blood, now and for all time (Colossians 1:13-14). Forgiveness gives us freedom from the bondage of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15), which will defile our whole body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5: 23). Forgiveness actually turns those who offended us over to God to deal with and to extract revenge in His timing and in His way (Romans 12:19). We also often fail to accept His forgiveness of our sins as a free gift (Romans 6:23). We attempt to earn it by our works, or we refuse to appropriate it to our lives by forgiving our self and those who mistreat us.

 
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when I fail to forgive my self and others, please remind me that You died to insure our forgiveness. I often find myself attributing mortal characteristics to You, forgetting You are an immortal God. Father God, Satan wants me to fear that You will tire of my failings and eventually reject me totally. I know that the good news is that we may make mistakes, but Your love is not contingent upon our works. You call us to aspire to perfection, but You know that without You we can do nothing (John 15:5). You created us as human beings and You know our character will grow with each trial through which we persevere.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus endured the cross to ensure that we will join Him in eternity.