Yesterday I called a ministry that we have supported for many years. Unfortunately we had to stop our monthly support at the beginning of this year due to my being laid off. I called them because I know that they have regular prayer meetings and I wanted to let them know that we are still looking for work. I really take God seriously when He calls us to pray, and so I look for partners who will pray with us just as I partner to pray for others.
If we are not on your prayer list please add us and keep us before the throne of grace. The leader of this ministry spent some time on the phone with me and then he prayed with me. During his prayer he talked to God about how David in the Psalms says, "I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread" (Psalm 37:25). Wow! What an incredible promise from God through David. These simple words were such an encouragement. Why? Because they put my mind and heart and hope where it needs to be, on my Lord. If you are going through a tough time. Remember there is no better place to be than resting in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Showing posts with label provision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label provision. Show all posts
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Why followers of God know peace
In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul bears witness to the fact that God has given him the grace to be content in any situation. What is the key to that contentment? A clear focus and dependence upon God. Paul faced times of plenty and abundance and realized that they were a gift to him from God. Paul faced hunger and need and realized that these too were a gift from God. How can hunger and need be a gift from God? Hunger and need are a gift to the believer who like Paul has a clear focus and dependence on God. Hunger and need are blessed reminders of how much we truly need God to sustain us. By thrusting us into the barren desert of need God helps us to let go of our dependence on things of this earth. We are put in a place where we truly must depend on God. When Paul says, "that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him" he is talking about being able to walk through adversity as well as plenty.
Paul's admonition earlier in the same chapter rings with greater force when we understand his personal heartbeat that follows it (Philippians 4:4-7). Paul started that earlier section with a call to rejoice in the Lord always. The only way you can rejoice ALWAYS is if you see everything that is coming to you as a gift. These are all gifts given to us by God for our own benefit. Paul continues with a call to be gentle with everyone. Even those who are not good to us? In a word yes! Why? Because the Lord is at hand.
He tells us not to worry. What should we do with the things that come our way? We communicate everything to God by prayer and supplication with one unusual thing thrown in - Thanksgiving. Paul wants us to make our request but in the midst of making them to be thankful for these same things because they are truly a gift from God. When your heart is tuned to being thankful and rejoicing in all the things that come our way we will gain something that is astounding. Peace! Not just any peace but the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
Paul's admonition earlier in the same chapter rings with greater force when we understand his personal heartbeat that follows it (Philippians 4:4-7). Paul started that earlier section with a call to rejoice in the Lord always. The only way you can rejoice ALWAYS is if you see everything that is coming to you as a gift. These are all gifts given to us by God for our own benefit. Paul continues with a call to be gentle with everyone. Even those who are not good to us? In a word yes! Why? Because the Lord is at hand.
He tells us not to worry. What should we do with the things that come our way? We communicate everything to God by prayer and supplication with one unusual thing thrown in - Thanksgiving. Paul wants us to make our request but in the midst of making them to be thankful for these same things because they are truly a gift from God. When your heart is tuned to being thankful and rejoicing in all the things that come our way we will gain something that is astounding. Peace! Not just any peace but the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
- Rejoice always - because you see everything coming to you as a gift
- Be gentle with everyone - because the Lord is at hand and He will make things right
- Don't worry - take everything to God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What is faith?
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
The evidence of faith is often a path that would normally be filled with fear and pain.
What I mean by this is that faith is not really faith if it does not meet the definition of Hebrews 11. There we find that faith is defined by assurance and conviction of things not seen. When I say that the evidence of faith is a path normally filled with fear and pain what I am referring to is the evidence of a step of faith taken in the context of living a God focused life in a sinful world. When we step out in faith we will usually experience pain in the objections and ridicule we receive from others. They will not understand the step we are taking because faith is acting on things not seen. Because of not seeing the things we are moving toward they will often be detractors, hence we will experience emotional pain. This will often be done by people calling us to be realistic. If you have peace in the midst of a direction that God is leading you and it does not contradict the Bible then what you are doing is the most realistic thing to do. This pain of isolation and rejection of our decision may be a reinforcement that we really are stepping out in faith. The step itself is the evidence of our faith in our almighty Father God. Normal fear comes into play when we take a step that may be financially risky like quitting a good paying job because of the havoc it is reeking in your family. Trusting that God will protect you when you try to save someone whose drowning and your not a good swimmer yourself. Anything that puts you in a place of risk because of your relationship with Jesus Christ and seeking to honor Him in your life has the potential to bring normal fear with it. But what is remarkable about the step of faith is that it is often devoid of fear. When we are walking by faith and it is to the glory of God, we will often experience an unexplainable peace. This is the peace that passes understanding. This is the peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace Himself. So like Peter in the boat during the storm even when it does not make sense, step out by faith and keep your eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus. Steps like this serve to grow our faith and our relationship with Jesus.
The evidence of faith is often a path that would normally be filled with fear and pain.
What I mean by this is that faith is not really faith if it does not meet the definition of Hebrews 11. There we find that faith is defined by assurance and conviction of things not seen. When I say that the evidence of faith is a path normally filled with fear and pain what I am referring to is the evidence of a step of faith taken in the context of living a God focused life in a sinful world. When we step out in faith we will usually experience pain in the objections and ridicule we receive from others. They will not understand the step we are taking because faith is acting on things not seen. Because of not seeing the things we are moving toward they will often be detractors, hence we will experience emotional pain. This will often be done by people calling us to be realistic. If you have peace in the midst of a direction that God is leading you and it does not contradict the Bible then what you are doing is the most realistic thing to do. This pain of isolation and rejection of our decision may be a reinforcement that we really are stepping out in faith. The step itself is the evidence of our faith in our almighty Father God. Normal fear comes into play when we take a step that may be financially risky like quitting a good paying job because of the havoc it is reeking in your family. Trusting that God will protect you when you try to save someone whose drowning and your not a good swimmer yourself. Anything that puts you in a place of risk because of your relationship with Jesus Christ and seeking to honor Him in your life has the potential to bring normal fear with it. But what is remarkable about the step of faith is that it is often devoid of fear. When we are walking by faith and it is to the glory of God, we will often experience an unexplainable peace. This is the peace that passes understanding. This is the peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace Himself. So like Peter in the boat during the storm even when it does not make sense, step out by faith and keep your eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus. Steps like this serve to grow our faith and our relationship with Jesus.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Ignorance is bliss!
We have all heard the phrase but for some reason it struck me today in relation to pride. Pride seems to lurk in every seam and corner of the fabric of life. You can be proud of just about anything. Proud that you have job in this tough economy. Proud that you toughing out not having a job better than your friends are. Proud that you were able to go out to eat. Proud that you saved money and ate in. You can be proud of your kids your parenting your spouse your hobby. You name it and you can be proud of it. I have a tendency to become proud of my writing or my thoughts or if God seems to really work in a persons life I can start to think that it was a good thing I was able to be there to help out. All of the pride that we store up and embrace is nothing but wood hay and stubble. There is not one thing that we have that we have done that is we should be proud of. Everything we have and everything that we are and all the successes we experience are from God and through God and are for the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 8:6). We were created for the glory of God not for our own glory. When God by His grace gives us the grace to rest in His presence and glorify His name--that is when we are truly most satisfied. The promise of satisfaction whispered into our souls by the perverted voice of pride is nothing but a corrupting attempt of our flesh to take to ourselves what is God's. May God grant us the grace to pray that He will keep us focused on Him and away from our pride.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Infant dependency
My wife recently gave birth to twins. This has caused me once again to spend some time reflecting on the marvelous grace of God poured out to us through the experiences of life. Infants remind me of how much He is a supplying and sustaining God.
One of the ways that I see this revealed is in how God caused human infants to be so dependent and helpless. In Matthew 11:25-28 Jesus starts out the passage by thanking the Father that He had revealed these things to children. In the context what is revealed is the mighty power of God in Jesus. He has just denounced a list of cities for rejecting Him after seeing the mighty work of God. There is an innocent acceptance in children. In infants there is an absolute assumption of acceptance. They do not try to win our hearts with any showing of specialness. The cry because they are hungry and it lets us know that they are hungry. They cry sometimes just because they want to be held. There is no doing something for us so that we will do something for them. And quite frankly the idea of quid pro quo here is ridiculous. They are helpless and need our care. The reason that I am drawn to this passage where Jesus thanks God that these things (His majesty and power) have been revealed to children is because of the way it ends. Jesus says "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." To understand a little better what Jesus is saying here we can look at His interaction with children recorded in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17). This story is the one where the disciples are shooing the children away. (As a side note according to Matthew's account this follows the disciples dispute about who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In that dispute Jesus said that they needed to become like children to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-3).) Jesus said to the disciples who were sending the children away that they needed to become like children to enter the kingdom of Heaven. What is a child like? They are dependent. Our idea of children is influenced by our culture. In Jesus' day a boy became a man at his bar-mitzah. A 12 year old would have been an older child. Little children in Jesus day would have been those who were probably six and under. Little children are dependent. They have great needs. They anticipate our love. I think that Jesus' call to come to Him and He would give us rest is in essence a call to become like children. We should remember that we have great needs. We should come with needs depending on Him. We should embrace the unchanging love He's given. Until we become like children we will always be bringing our wood hay and stubble to Jesus. We seem to always be impressed by what we have to offer. None of us has anything to offer. Our best efforts appear as polluted garments (Isaiah 64:6). All we have or ever will have that is of any value comes from Jesus. We truly are like dependent infants producing nothing but poop (Philippians 3:8) and in need of everything. The best we can do in this life is turn our focus to Jesus and bask in the love of our supplying and sustaining God.
One of the ways that I see this revealed is in how God caused human infants to be so dependent and helpless. In Matthew 11:25-28 Jesus starts out the passage by thanking the Father that He had revealed these things to children. In the context what is revealed is the mighty power of God in Jesus. He has just denounced a list of cities for rejecting Him after seeing the mighty work of God. There is an innocent acceptance in children. In infants there is an absolute assumption of acceptance. They do not try to win our hearts with any showing of specialness. The cry because they are hungry and it lets us know that they are hungry. They cry sometimes just because they want to be held. There is no doing something for us so that we will do something for them. And quite frankly the idea of quid pro quo here is ridiculous. They are helpless and need our care. The reason that I am drawn to this passage where Jesus thanks God that these things (His majesty and power) have been revealed to children is because of the way it ends. Jesus says "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." To understand a little better what Jesus is saying here we can look at His interaction with children recorded in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17). This story is the one where the disciples are shooing the children away. (As a side note according to Matthew's account this follows the disciples dispute about who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In that dispute Jesus said that they needed to become like children to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-3).) Jesus said to the disciples who were sending the children away that they needed to become like children to enter the kingdom of Heaven. What is a child like? They are dependent. Our idea of children is influenced by our culture. In Jesus' day a boy became a man at his bar-mitzah. A 12 year old would have been an older child. Little children in Jesus day would have been those who were probably six and under. Little children are dependent. They have great needs. They anticipate our love. I think that Jesus' call to come to Him and He would give us rest is in essence a call to become like children. We should remember that we have great needs. We should come with needs depending on Him. We should embrace the unchanging love He's given. Until we become like children we will always be bringing our wood hay and stubble to Jesus. We seem to always be impressed by what we have to offer. None of us has anything to offer. Our best efforts appear as polluted garments (Isaiah 64:6). All we have or ever will have that is of any value comes from Jesus. We truly are like dependent infants producing nothing but poop (Philippians 3:8) and in need of everything. The best we can do in this life is turn our focus to Jesus and bask in the love of our supplying and sustaining God.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Responding to health care legislation
No matter what position you take on this issue one thing is certain. It will cost us more money not less. There is no possible way to add a layer of government oversight to this big of a sector of our economy and not have the total cost be higher at the end of the day. This can only drive us ultimately to a more dire financial position as a country. What does this have to do with living a God focused life? In Jeremiah 25:9 God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant. He served as God's hand of judgement. If you know the story you remember that Nebuchadnezzar took the kingdom of Judah into captivity. This was not a positive thing. Why did God bring all of this destruction on His people? Jeremiah 23:13-19 give us a pretty good clue if we will only listen. In the beginning of this passage God says that the prophets of Baal in Samaria did an unsavory thing by leading the people astray. This is easy to identify. Any cult or thing that man puts his faith in other than God is an unsavory thing in the mind of God. This would include government. Our trust should be in God not the government. The second part of this passage is the toughest and most important. The prophets in Jerusalem are condemned by God not for doing an unsavory thing but for doing a horrible thing. They claimed to speak for God and yet they did not. They told the people the things that they wanted to hear, not the things God was telling the true prophets like Jeremiah. If healthcare legislation drives us to financial ruin and plunges us into a depression or worse it would be the hand of God. We must realize that the reason God brought calamity on Judah was to turn her heart back to Him. For far too long now in America many of the churches have been preaching to people what they want to hear. That message will wither under the wrath of almighty God. He judges harshly those who claim to speak for Him but say what they perceive people want to hear. He judges harshly those who want to hear from people like this. It should be our goal to turn our hearts toward God not legislation for our help. We need to guide our families to look to God, and yes we need to encourage our pastors and elders to point us toward God. We need to say with the Psalmist, “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”(Psalm 121) Our only and best hope is to focus on our marvelous Lord Jesus in every situation.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Happiness: SELF focused vs. God focused - Part 2
This is a continuation of yesterday's post. Yesterday Lucy Danziger published an article called, "4 Simple Secrets to Feeling Happier Every Day." Lucy is the Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine. I plan on addressing the points of her article over several days. Point two in the article is, "Now is the moment! Enjoy it!" Her main point here is slow down. Once again a point that needs to be considered by all of us. But the reason we slow down as Christians is so important. For most of us I think we slow down, when we slow down for the same reasons that Lucy states. It seems to me that a focus on God at the heart of our slowing down will not only give us good memories but will rejuvenate our souls. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Let's take her example of the playground. There are so many things there that can draw our hearts to God and to thanking Him for His great works. We can thank Him for providing us with health to be there. We can thank Him for transportation to get there. We can thank Him for senses to be aware of where we are. We can thank Him for the resources that were used to create the playground. We can thank Him for the plants, animals and bugs that might capture our attention there. The list could go on and on. This heart of thanksgiving will rejuvenate our spirits. Not only will it rejuvenate us, it provides an opportunity for us to direct our children's attention to God as well. It is in waiting on God in the midst of life that our hearts are filled. Isaiah 40:31 says, “but they 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.” Our hearts will rejoice in God as we seek to focus on our Lord Jesus in the midst of the day to day activities of life.
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