I am sure other people have made the comparison I am about to make, but I am going to make it anyway, because it hit me afresh last week.
Acts 9:3-5
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Acts 9:10
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
Here we have Saul. Religious leader extraordinaire. He knew all the rules. He could read the scrolls. He was as good a Pharisee as one could be. Yet, he had no relationship with God or Jesus. He didn't even recognize the voice of the Lord when He spoke to Him.
Then there is Ananias. A disciple. Maybe he didn't know and keep all the rules. Perhaps he couldn't read all the scrolls. He knew Jesus though. He knew His voice when He called.
One of my concerns is that I don't become more like Saul than Ananias.
I know the rules, I know what and what not to do, I know the Scripture and can quote it, yet I miss the voice of the Lord. I don't even recognize it.
I think it is a healthy concern. Yes, it must be kept in check and not become a window for the enemy to get a foothold in my thoughts, but it is something to be aware of. Even Paul, formerly Saul, warns about it.
1 Timothy 6:20-21
O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.
Guarding my faith. The entirety of it.
What I know the Scriptures say.
What I know to be the heart of God.
What I know He says about me.
Guard it.
Be on guard.
How?
By being in relationship with Him.
By reading the Word, hiding it in my heart, and knowing what it says to be true.
By talking with Him, not in rote prayers, but in honest conversation.
By being quiet before Him and listening.
By being deliberate in my pursuit of Jesus.
John 10:27-28
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
May we be found following our shepherd and led not astray by another.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
WHAT'S YOUR STORY...
And the Lord said,“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)
Tears. The beauty of this verse moved me to tears.
But I have prayed for you.....
Christ prayed for Peter. Just let that sink in. Christ went to His Father on behalf of a man who would soon deny Him. He does the same for us.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Romans 8:26
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Romans 8:34
That your faith should not fail....
Knowing full well that the man was about to do that very thing, but believing that His faith would survive. Isn't amazing how He sees us? We look at Peter's story as an epic fail in the faith department. Y'all, I mean, EPIC! Yet Christ didn't.
Peter's faith might have been battered, but it made it through to the other side.
We can look at David and see an adulterer. A conspirator. A murder. A father who doesn't deal well with his kids. Even a coward at times.
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—
Acts 13:22-23
God sees "a man after My own heart"?
How about Abraham? We see a man who had a child by another women in an attempt to gain the promise. God....He says,
And not being weak in faith, he [Abraham] did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:19-22
Really? Dude who followed his own path to obtain the son God had promised him never wavered in His faith? A tough one for us to see, but not for God.
And when you have returned to Me....
The mere fact that Peter even could is enough to move you to tears. Christ, with open arms, is taking back into the fold a man who denied Him publicly, not once but three times. Christ is longing for Peter to come back. He has plans for Peter when he does.
"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
Isaiah 44:22
...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Titus 2:14
Strengthen your brethern...
Peter had a story to tell. His story was encouragement. His story strengthened others. Hearing of his mistakes, God's grace, and Christ's redemption stiffened the spiritual backbone of those who were walking life out with him. It does the same for us and those we are walking with. It contributes to how we overcome.
Y'all, Christ is so for us. Not that we get what we want and not that we are glorified, but that in our pursuit of Him, He is found. When we fall seeking Him, He picks us up. He is so for us being with Him each and every step of the way. He is for our story being one about Him...about victory... about our deliverance through Him.
He was and is deliberate about it.
Choosing then....choosing now.
You and I can have a story like Peter's.
Like David.
Like Abraham.
You and I just need to choose now.
We need to be deliberate in choosing what our story is going to be, and Who we are going to let write it.
So I ask you-
What's your story?
Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)
Tears. The beauty of this verse moved me to tears.
But I have prayed for you.....
Christ prayed for Peter. Just let that sink in. Christ went to His Father on behalf of a man who would soon deny Him. He does the same for us.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Romans 8:26
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Romans 8:34
That your faith should not fail....
Knowing full well that the man was about to do that very thing, but believing that His faith would survive. Isn't amazing how He sees us? We look at Peter's story as an epic fail in the faith department. Y'all, I mean, EPIC! Yet Christ didn't.
Peter's faith might have been battered, but it made it through to the other side.
We can look at David and see an adulterer. A conspirator. A murder. A father who doesn't deal well with his kids. Even a coward at times.
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—
Acts 13:22-23
God sees "a man after My own heart"?
How about Abraham? We see a man who had a child by another women in an attempt to gain the promise. God....He says,
And not being weak in faith, he [Abraham] did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:19-22
Really? Dude who followed his own path to obtain the son God had promised him never wavered in His faith? A tough one for us to see, but not for God.
And when you have returned to Me....
The mere fact that Peter even could is enough to move you to tears. Christ, with open arms, is taking back into the fold a man who denied Him publicly, not once but three times. Christ is longing for Peter to come back. He has plans for Peter when he does.
"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
Isaiah 44:22
...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Titus 2:14
Strengthen your brethern...
Peter had a story to tell. His story was encouragement. His story strengthened others. Hearing of his mistakes, God's grace, and Christ's redemption stiffened the spiritual backbone of those who were walking life out with him. It does the same for us and those we are walking with. It contributes to how we overcome.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Revelation 12:11
Y'all, Christ is so for us. Not that we get what we want and not that we are glorified, but that in our pursuit of Him, He is found. When we fall seeking Him, He picks us up. He is so for us being with Him each and every step of the way. He is for our story being one about Him...about victory... about our deliverance through Him.
He was and is deliberate about it.
Choosing then....choosing now.
You and I can have a story like Peter's.
Like David.
Like Abraham.
You and I just need to choose now.
We need to be deliberate in choosing what our story is going to be, and Who we are going to let write it.
So I ask you-
What's your story?
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:13 (NKJV)
Underneath I wrote -
Be ready - he comes again.
Again. The enemy comes again. At a time that works best for him, not me. He doesn't come when I am on my game. Nope, he comes when my game is compromised. Maybe after a victory. When that sense of pride and self-sufficiency comes in. When I forget Who was the source of that very victory. Maybe after a shocking blow. One that has knocked me to my knees. One that has shaken the very foundations of my faith. Maybe somewhere in the middle. Where I have just gotten lazy and comfortable. Where the battles seem easy. Where the road seems wide and level. The enemy doesn't care. I had better. I must be deliberate in keeping myself submitted Jesus, deliberate in keeping my armor on, and deliberate in fighting the good fight.
I don't fight, as Paul says, as "one who beats the air", but as one who has great hope because all though the enemy will come again, so will Jesus.
Luke 4:13 (NKJV)
Underneath I wrote -
Be ready - he comes again.
Again. The enemy comes again. At a time that works best for him, not me. He doesn't come when I am on my game. Nope, he comes when my game is compromised. Maybe after a victory. When that sense of pride and self-sufficiency comes in. When I forget Who was the source of that very victory. Maybe after a shocking blow. One that has knocked me to my knees. One that has shaken the very foundations of my faith. Maybe somewhere in the middle. Where I have just gotten lazy and comfortable. Where the battles seem easy. Where the road seems wide and level. The enemy doesn't care. I had better. I must be deliberate in keeping myself submitted Jesus, deliberate in keeping my armor on, and deliberate in fighting the good fight.
I don't fight, as Paul says, as "one who beats the air", but as one who has great hope because all though the enemy will come again, so will Jesus.
Revelation 19:11-16
(NKJV)
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.
LORD OF LORDS.
And our deliverance will be most definitely be deliberate.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
Luke 8:35 (NKJV)
..." came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind"...
If you, like me,
face some of your strongest battles in your thought life,
this scripture brings a world of hope.
Hope that I can have a right mind.
One not given over to thoughts of
fear
anxiety
insecurity
vain imaginations
worry
hopelessness
panic
loneliness
jealousy
you can add your own to the list.
Hope of where such a mind can be found.
At the feet of Jesus
where we find this promise
For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
See yourself.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Clothed in His righteousness.
In your right mind.
Confident of the One whose feet you sit at.
It is a beautiful picture.
It can be yours.
In Christ Jesus,
You, and I,
can have a beautiful mind.
Oh dear ones, let's deliberetly give it over to Him.
He can deliver us.
2 Corinthians 10:5
"casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"
Friday, March 16, 2012
ARE WE HEARING?
Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Mark 4:24-25 (NKJV)
I have written this post at least three times. There is so much I could say. So much I thought to say. The bottom line is this-
If we think we aren't hearing from God, maybe it is because you and I didn't use what we heard previously. Whether it be in a general act of obedience or a specific call to faith - did we use what we heard? I know for myself, the times I haven't, I did feel as though I lost something. The times I did, I heard Him even more clearly the next time.
Deliberately listening.
Deliberately using.
So that you and I can be deliberately delivered.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
FALTERING
Right now I am working through Lysa Terkeurst's Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl participant's guide sans video. My lesson a couple of weeks ago had me reading 1 Kings 18:20 -39.The story is about the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It is a familiar story to me. I have read many times. Yet, in doing so, I somehow missed this -
And Elijah came to all the people and said,"How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Ball, follow him." (vs. 21)
See that up there in the bold? It has been with me since I read it.
How long will I falter between two opinions? How long will I stumble going between the two? How long will I allow the going back and forth to weaken me in my purpose? How long have I been doing this? How long will I let it keep going on?
I find myself running between the opinion of man, which changes on a dime, and the opinion of God, which is eternal truth. I worry what people think at times. I have let people's opinion define me. I have been nice and turned my head at sin because the world says that is how a Christian should act instead of speaking the truth from a heart saturated with the love of Christ as God has told us to.
To give you a minor example, the other night in life group (or house church or small group or whatever your church calls it) our leader ended our time together by reading a story from The Voice of the Martyrs about children from the Sudan who were beaten for not renouncing Christ as the Lord. C...H...I...L...D...R...E...N. Then we were asked, if we wanted, to pray out loud for our group and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sort of a round table time. I wanted to, I did, and I bawled like a baby through the whole thing. Tears freely flowing. Not a big scene mind you, but a steady stream of water running down my cheeks. We finished up, headed our separate ways, and it started. (Now let me tell you upfront we are new to this group and they don't know us very well and we don't know them.)
You are such a baby. They are going to think you don't have it together. They are all thinking you are just a big mess. You are an embarrassment to your husband. You made everyone uncomfortable. Do not EVER pray out loud again. You need to apologize to your leader and his wife.
That is how it goes, isn't it? I, mean, that was in the first 3 minutes after we got in the car to go home.
But while I was going back and forth in my mind, these thoughts came to me....
Do not apologize for your heart being broken for this. Your heart should be broken for this. Do not apologize for weeping while you pray for them.
Even now, I think to myself I sing the song lyrics that say break my heart for what breaks Yours and yet I felt the need to apologize when it happened? Because I was worried what my life group might think?
I could take on those words said by the enemy and could never speak again in the group. I could listen to what I think the opinion of man might be. Or I could keep pressing on seeking the opinion and truth of God, tears and all.
I don't know which two opinions you might be going between, but I do know this, you are faltering. You are stumbling. You are falling. Just like I am.
We need to choose today to stop it. We need to choose today to pick who we will serve. We need to choose Christ. We need to stop running back and forth, turn our faces toward Christ, set our feet to walking on the steady ground He provides and move forward!
With purpose.
Sure-footed.
Each step...
DELIBERATE.
Sweet Jesus, help us.
And Elijah came to all the people and said,"How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Ball, follow him." (vs. 21)
See that up there in the bold? It has been with me since I read it.
How long will I falter between two opinions? How long will I stumble going between the two? How long will I allow the going back and forth to weaken me in my purpose? How long have I been doing this? How long will I let it keep going on?
I find myself running between the opinion of man, which changes on a dime, and the opinion of God, which is eternal truth. I worry what people think at times. I have let people's opinion define me. I have been nice and turned my head at sin because the world says that is how a Christian should act instead of speaking the truth from a heart saturated with the love of Christ as God has told us to.
To give you a minor example, the other night in life group (or house church or small group or whatever your church calls it) our leader ended our time together by reading a story from The Voice of the Martyrs about children from the Sudan who were beaten for not renouncing Christ as the Lord. C...H...I...L...D...R...E...N. Then we were asked, if we wanted, to pray out loud for our group and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sort of a round table time. I wanted to, I did, and I bawled like a baby through the whole thing. Tears freely flowing. Not a big scene mind you, but a steady stream of water running down my cheeks. We finished up, headed our separate ways, and it started. (Now let me tell you upfront we are new to this group and they don't know us very well and we don't know them.)
You are such a baby. They are going to think you don't have it together. They are all thinking you are just a big mess. You are an embarrassment to your husband. You made everyone uncomfortable. Do not EVER pray out loud again. You need to apologize to your leader and his wife.
That is how it goes, isn't it? I, mean, that was in the first 3 minutes after we got in the car to go home.
But while I was going back and forth in my mind, these thoughts came to me....
Do not apologize for your heart being broken for this. Your heart should be broken for this. Do not apologize for weeping while you pray for them.
Even now, I think to myself I sing the song lyrics that say break my heart for what breaks Yours and yet I felt the need to apologize when it happened? Because I was worried what my life group might think?
I could take on those words said by the enemy and could never speak again in the group. I could listen to what I think the opinion of man might be. Or I could keep pressing on seeking the opinion and truth of God, tears and all.
I don't know which two opinions you might be going between, but I do know this, you are faltering. You are stumbling. You are falling. Just like I am.
We need to choose today to stop it. We need to choose today to pick who we will serve. We need to choose Christ. We need to stop running back and forth, turn our faces toward Christ, set our feet to walking on the steady ground He provides and move forward!
With purpose.
Sure-footed.
Each step...
DELIBERATE.
Sweet Jesus, help us.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
CONTENT WITH MY CROP
Matthew 13:3-8
(NKJV)
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
I have told you before that we raised watermelons when I was a kid growing up in Arkansas. A 30 fold crop would have been nothing to sneeze at. We would have been happy with a 30 fold crop. Until we met the guy who had a 60 fold crop. Then we would have wanted more. Of course, the 60 fold guy would be happy until he met the 100 fold guy.
Now, good can come from wanting a bigger harvest. You can learn ways to improve your planting. You can learn ways to improve your watering and tending to your plants. You can learn ways to utilize what you have to work with to best of its potential.
Bad can come as well. The competitive drive can cause you to over work your land and your workers. You can damage the land for future crops in the drive for the one big crop.
The question that I had was am I as content with my 30 fold as I would be with 60 or 100? Am I satisfied to be the good ground that produces 30 fold? Is it enough? Or does the comparison to other's harvest get me? Does it cause me to stumble in my planting? In my laboring for the "number" instead of the harvest I was made for?
I think it is clear from this verse we are not all going to achieve the same harvest. But that doesn't make one better than the other. After all, it was all good ground. What I need to strive for, and ask Christ every single day to help me with, is making the most of my seed and the land I am to plant in. To work hard and diligently in the planting season I have. Nurture those seeds and then watch as the harvest is reaped.
And be content.
Because the crop He has given me is enough.
For Him.
And it's all for Him.
WARY OF THE IMMEDIATE
Matthew 13:3-8 (NKJV)
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Two things in this passage have my attention and my heart right now.
Today, I'll just hit on the first one.
Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
How many times a day do I wish for immediate results? Immediate financial security? Immediate health? Immediate weight loss? Immediate fame? Our culture is all about immediate. Immediate status updates on Facebook. Immediate tweets. Immediate news coverage. Even in churches we have a desire for the instantaneous. The desire for immediate recognition or leadership roles sound familiar? Immediate "feel good" message from the pulpit that boosts my flesh and not my soul? Immediate acceptance of whatever lifestyle we choose to bring in?
As women, do we ever want immediate friendships? Especially with the popular people?
What I think this says, and what most of us have found out, is that "immediate" doesn't usually last. Immediate doesn't have what it takes to stick around when things get difficult. Immediate without any depth isn't going to cut it.
Don't misunderstand- I believe God can do immediate whenever and however He desires. And I believe He has, does and will. But man...well, man's track record is not so good.
And by man I mean me.
I am challenged by this in my own life to be alert to immediate. I need to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in not only looking for times I seek the immediate, but also for the times I actually get it. Because getting it is sometimes much more dangerous than seeking it.
So while I am guarding my heart against my own flesh, I can be encouraged. Why? Because those times when I am having to dig deep into my faith are growing my roots. Those situations which force me to bury my head in the Word of God are only solidifying me in that very Word. I am encouraged to grow my roots in the good times as well as the bad. The roots I am planting are going to be what sustains me. They are what will keep me fed by the Bread of Life and watered by His Words.
Deliberate.
In digging down deep.
In securing my roots on Christ Jesus.
Roots that are not easily pulled up.
By this world.
By man.
By circumstances.
Deliberate Lord. Let me be, Lord, let me be.
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