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1 Chronicles 28:9-10 (NKJV)

"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it."

"for the Lord has chosen you to ....."

...be in that particular office, even though it is a battle on some days.

...mother those kiddos even when the days are long and the nights are short.

...love that man even when he drives you absolutely insane.

...be single at this time in your life for a greater purpose that, right now, only He can see clearly.

...be the only saved person in your entire family, so that you may extend the love and truth of Christ.

...serve those women in ministry.

...pastor that flock.

...teach that class.

...witness to that friend.

...go through whatever hardship you have now.

...celebrate whatever joy is blessing your socks off today.

...be in this generation, this time, right now, to spread the gospel of Christ to the dying world.

"If you seek Him, He will be found by you..."

...any day.

...any time.

...any where.

"be strong and do it."

FRESH EYES

One of the verses I often quote to myself is Psalm 4:8,
I will both lie me down in peace and sleep; For you alone , O lord, make me dwell in safety.
To lie down in peace. To have my mind shut off and stop with all the what ifs. To have all the anxieties and worries and taunts of the enemy silenced. I have laid in bed and not been at peace. I have laid in bed and had my mind go on and on and on. To have prayed for sleep. Safe sleep. Knowing that I am looked after by the Most High God. He alone is the What, and more importantly the Who, my safety depends on.
Earlier this week I started reading the Proverbs again. One day I asked the Lord to give me fresh eyes to read His word with. New revelation. New hope. I came across Proverbs 3:24,
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
In all my searching for passages about sleep, I don't remember seeing that one, yet there it is.
And it brought me peace. Sweet sleep gives me fresh eyes. Fresh eyes to see others instead of myself. Fresh eyes to see the goodness of God in my own life when the world wants to dish out a lot of bad. Fresh eyes to see needs I can meet, joys I can celebrate, and burdens I can help carry.

If you have tired eyes, eyes that have their vision blurred by any number of things thrown your way, ask Him for fresh ones. Ask Christ for sweet sleep so that you may wake up in the morning with eyes ready to see the glories of His creation in and around you.
He will deliberately deliver.

NO HEIGHT OR DEPTH (OF EMOTION)

I have been reading about David the past month or so. Reading a lot of Psalms. David felt it all didn't he? Felt it all deeply. He mourned deeply. He praised deeply. When he was angry at people he deeply asked God to wipe them off the planet. Some of the angry prayers I am not sure I could pray for God to do to someone else, but our boy David is right there in the mix. He is so human. So flawed. So much in need of God. So in love with God. Knowing all of that brings me comfort. David is just a reflection of us. He was just as messed up as the rest of us. He acted out of fear at times. He showed great courage and restraint one minute and was a selfish pompous punk the next.

Yet while it brings me comfort to know we are so much alike, what brings me peace and hope is that God stuck it out with him. God never abandoned David, even in David's worst moments. God still loved him. God still shepherded him. God was still the Rock David could cling to, even in the middle of his own personal storm.

God chose to be there.

He deliberately made Himself available for David.

He does the same for you and I.

He chose to send Christ so you and I could be in relationship with them.

He deliberately set out the path Christ would walk which would end in His own personal pain for our salvation.

Nothing separated David from His love.

Nothing separates us....except us.

Turn to Him.

Kneel before Jesus.

Call on His name.

Tell Him everything.

It won't be too much for Him.

He will be more than enough for you.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

IT'S A NUMBERS GAME

"And the Lord said to Gideon,"The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites in to their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying,'My own hand has saved me.' "

And He dwindles it down from 32,000 to 10,000.

"But the Lord said to Gideon, " The people are still too many;...." "

And He cut it from 10,000 to 300.

Can you imagine? Having an army of 32,000 men cut to 300? I would be a bit nervous myself. Imagine if it were 32,000 dollars cut down to 300?

Or 32,000 followers on twitter suddenly down to 300?

How about 32,000 church members down to 300?

Just put what ever you want in...32,000 _____________ cut down to 300___________.

32,000 of whatever you put your trust in.

Whittled down to 300.

Why?

The Lord will weed out your "security" in numbers, so that you know it was Him.

In this numbers game called life,

His number is One.

He is the One our security is in, not that bank account.

He is the One we should be following, and not following us.

He is the One we go to church to worship, not having them worship us.

He is the One we can trust.

He is the One we seek to please.

He is the One.

He should be my One.

Forgive me Lord when I have put other things in that position.

May I be deliberate in choosing to elevate nothing else above You.

WHINERS...YEP....THAT IS WHAT THEY WERE

and so am I. My bible reading plan has me just finishing up Joshua. I couldn't help but notice a contrast between Joshua and Moses. When Moses was called out back in Exodus 3, he had every excuse possible why he shouldn't and couldn't be the one to deliver the people. Skip on over to Joshua and we see a different leader. Joshua seems to be a man of action. I read no whining by Joshua when he was called to be the leader. The Lord said do it and Joshua went at it. Full force. Right up until chapter 7, when Israel got their tails handed to them. Then we see a different Joshua. A tad bit of a dramatic Joshua. A whining Joshua. And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all - to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!" Joshua 7: 7 (NKJV) He is ripping his clothes, throwing dirt on his head, lying on the ground....whining. Echoing the complaints of the generation before. And the Lord had heard enough. So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?" Joshua 7:11 (NKJV) Having kids, I can put my own inflection on those statements. I have said similar words to my own boys. I have been frustrated with them at times with their fits. I have been embarrassed by them. I get how He feels a little bit. These passages reminded me of several things. First, I am not alone in my pity parties. I am not the first to have them and I won't be the last. Second, the Lord gets tired of them. He gets to the point where He has heard enough of my whining and calls me to get up. Thirdly, even though He may be frustrated with me or embarrassed by the fit I throw, just like me with my boys, He always loves. In the very midst of my pity party He loves me. In His correction to get up, He loves me. Deliberately....

WHO NEEDS TO SEE?

"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments or not."

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NKJV)



Kinda stinks doesn't it. The thought that the Lord our God would deliberately deliver us into a "wilderness" to test our hearts. We have to admit, though, we can understand why. Why He needs to know if we have such a heart. Nevertheless, not exactly warm fuzzies. It should give us hope though. Hope that He is still working on us. Hope that the state of our heart still matters to Him. Hope that He is testing us, to see if we are ready for what's next.

The seeing, however, is actually ours. He already knows. We need to see that He is it. Jesus Christ is to be our overriding focus. We need to see we need Him. We need to see God doesn't leave us. Even in the barren land, when we can't see anything for miles, He still provides. In the thick forest, when we can't see anything 2 feet in front of our face, He is still leading. In either case, all we need to see is Him.

If you are feeling a wilderness season coming on, or perhaps are in the thick of it now, don't get caught up in what you don't see.

Be deliberate in what you do see.

See Jesus.

He sees you.

And every step you need to take.

SUCH A HEART...

"...'I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all they have spoken. Oh that they would have such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!' "
Deuteronomy 5:28-29 (NKJV)

The more I read, and re-read, the Old Testament, the more I see how much like the children of Israel I can be. They acknowledged the awesomeness of God. They knew He was the only God. They said all the right things.
But in their hearts...
It hurts me when I find myself doing the same thing.
Recounting all the things I have head knowledge about regarding God, things I believe, but in my heart...
When I KNOW what the Bible has said about Him and me, but in my heart...
I can tell others what Scripture promises them, I mean us , but in my heart...
I can speak truth, but in my heart...
You will find past hurts and future fears.
Look closely and you will see worries, doubts and disappointments trying to speak up.
They are all saying something.
Speaking truth without actually speaking the Truth to my heart.
It is easy, I find, to be busting forth with boldness when things are good. When miracles are happening. To proclaim and believe with my whole heart the goodness and greatness of Christ.
But like the Israelites, when I become afraid, where does my heart turn?
When I don't get the answer I think I want, what happens to my heart?
Does it shatter and scar?
Become hard and hopeless?
Maybe seal off a piece of itself?
My flesh wants it to.
My enemy wants it to.
I, and you, have to be deliberate in those moments.
Deliberately choosing which way our hearts will go.
Not that we don't have broken hearts, but that we don't keep them that way.
Not the we don't feel hurt, but we don't stay that way.
We choose to deliberately deliver our hearts to Christ Jesus.
We lay them before our Father, pieces broken off by fear and hurt, and we let Him heal it.
We let Him restore it.
Trusting that He will.
Trusting that the brokenness He has allowed is for our good and believing, through that same shattered vessel, He will bring wholeness.

Holy Spirit, give us such a heart.

Lord, give us hearts like Yours. Hearts that trust You. Hearts that fear You in a healthy manner. Hearts that know You are for us and that You are working daily to complete the good work You have started in us, painful as it may seem at times. More than anything Jesus, give us hearts that love you above all else. As the song says, may we not raise our hearts to another. In Jesus Name, Amen.