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Prayer Partners

25 Jul

Prayer Partners

2 Corinthians 4:7-10    But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Oh how I wish this ministry was a journal sometimes; how I could pour out the details of my struggles here; but it is not to draw attention to me, it is to point you to God. In all of these trials I face, I only seek to show you that I am no different from you; I only seek to show you where my strength to endure them is found. Currently the enemy is in full assault; I am in physical pain, and being hammered with fear and doubt. I am struggling with prayer, and leaning on those close to me as intercessors for me to God. It is times like these that it is critical who you surround yourself with. Can you truly count on them to pray for you? Can they truly count on you to pray for them? When you struggle with words, you must possess and confide in friends that will lift you up to God; there is great power in those prayers.

I must borrow the commentary from my favorite study Bible on this scripture. “Hard pressed is translated ‘afflicted’ in 1:6. In the Greek text, and identical expression occurs in 7:5, where it is rendered ‘troubled on every side’. But in 7:5 Paul adds, ‘Outside were afflictions, inside were fears.’ Perplexed is derived from two Greek words: the word for no plus the word for way. Thus perplexed means ‘to be at a loss’. As believers, we will face trials. But we must remember that God controls trials and uses them to strengthen His people. God’s glory is manifested through broken vessels, through people who endure troubles by relying on His power.” If we were simply passing through life trouble free, where would we ever come to know God? It is in these times of trouble that we come to realize our need for Him.

It always bothers me when I struggle with prayer. Sometimes I just can’t seem to speak; the thoughts in my head get jumbled before they make it to my mouth. I stumble through repetitions that have no heart in them; they come from old habit. I am not an eloquent prayer person with all the “thou art” that seek to impress. I simply talk to God, and love talking to Him. I give Him the highest respect and reverent awe and fear that He deserves. I must know that in the times such as these trials, I have intercessors both as friends, and the Spirit living inside of me. He is with me, uttering the words when I cannot. Romans 8:26 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. Relying on faith and understand of God’s Sovereignty, and the knowledge of heavenly and earthy prayer partners is what brings us through the tough times in life.

 
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Posted by on July 25, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Threefold Cord of Obedience

24 Jul

Threefold Cord of Obedience

Romans 5:1-5    Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Do you understand that living your life as a Christian, in it’s simplest form, is living a life of obedience? Living a life in honor to the One who gave you eternal life? Obeying the things He places on your heart? It is not following a set of rules and regulations; obeying a lawbook becomes legalism, and legalism moves to a point that you feel you obtain salvation on your ability to follow the laws on your own merit. A truly transformed heart is one that is led to obey out of the love that it has for the One who came to live there. There is an eternal difference is the heart that obeys out of duty, rather than the heart that obeys out of love. A heart of duty becomes a hard heart that stiffens at those calls of obedience; it has the “okay, if I must” attitude towards the call. The loving heart is humbled and in awe of the tugs the Spirit leads them to; it is honored to express it’s love in obedience to those calls.

A week ago I responded to one of those such calls. I knew I must obey, but I did not move in that duty of obedience, I moved in the awe of it. God lays these big things before us, all to draw us closer to Him thru our obedience. Satan creeps in the thoughts and shadows of it, and begins his work. These are the tribulations that Paul speaks of; Satan means them for evil, God means them for good. I am in the midst of these tribulations; I expected these tribulations, and I prayed and knew that God could be glorified through them. James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Over and over again you will hear testimony of how God did his greatest work in a believers life when they faced their greatest trials of life. These trials may not be the life changers, but the seemingly endless barrage of enemy fire that comes daily. In all of them, look to God for strength in them.

A friend of mine told me the other day of how the devil was riding his back. In the next sentence he said of how Satan must still not realize that Christ has risen. He is risen indeed; Satan and sin were eternally defeated at the cross; Paul speaks above of how you stand justified before a holy God that will declare eternal judgement one day. But as a child of His, you can rest in the faith, hope, and peace as Paul speaks of. The trials of life are the cords that twist you tighter to Him. That hope cannot be taken away by the world once you grasp the certainty of it. Those tugs of obedience, the loving heart that responds, the twists of the tribulations, all tighten and strengthen your cord of life found in Him.

 
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Posted by on July 24, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Not vanity

21 Jul

Not vanity

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11   The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

My work is very physically demanding; the hotter it gets the more I work. Friday a long day in the heat caught up to me; I suffered from dehydration all day Saturday. The results are extreme headaches and body fatigue, yet I also had to work again Saturday through it; the benefits of being self employed. Some days it really tugs on the mind, and this morning I thought of the book of Ecclesiastes after getting some more rest. This book of Solomon points to the vanity of life in so many ways; to those that pursue all the things in life, yet never think of the eternal life after this temporal one. At some point in your life you must realize the life after this; where you place your faith will determine your destiny.

The commentaries on the word vanity in Ecclesiastes are intriguing. There is much struggle to interpret the word correctly; many times it is referred to a vapor, which in a simple understanding is fleeting, or temporary. The word vanity is used 38 times in Ecclesiastes, and it is used in different nuances to describe what is being pursued. The book is a book of pursuit by the man who pursued knowledge; he found it as a gift from God, and came to realize it’s burden and loss. Ecclesiastes 1:16 I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The American Dream is the pursuit of “stuff”. The dream of the Christian should be their life after with Christ, and their evangelical pursuit of this life for others to know of Him. The entire Bible points to Christ, and our need for Him. The more time you spend there, the more you come to understand the vanity of this life. The more you understand what Solomon tires to describe, the more you will invest your energies in the eternal. You come to understand the the highs and lows of life are vanity, the demands of life are vanity, the only thing that is not fleeting is the eternal promise of the Hope that lies within you. A hearts desire to spread that Good News is the heart of a disciple, and that is what He called us to be.

 
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Posted by on July 21, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Early Hope

18 Jul

Early Hope

Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

The day has not yet dawned,
I arise early to seek You;
I move from slumber to your presence
You are here to meet me too.

The expectant heart tugs
Seeking my Lord every day;
In prayer and His Word
To find strength and the way.

The world teaches self
No time for Him only me;
He teaches selflessness
As disciples lives should be.

Where is your focus
What are your first thoughts?
The tasks for the day
Or the One whom you were bought?

You say you want change
From Him you want more;
A heart daily seeking Him
Finds what is in store.

Daily prayer and his Word
Should be priorities in your day;
To prepare and align your heart
Through them He shows the way.

Alone you will fail
Together you will succeed;
The Book of Life, God’s spoken words
Will meet your daily need.

My life forever changed
When I opened His book
Starting my every day in there
Eternal hope is what I took.

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Where does your heart lie?

17 Jul

Where does your heart lie?

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

God is stirring my soul……I know not yet what his plans are for me, but yet I feel him at work in me. My yearning is to bring you along side me, to walk together in this journey of faith. Our world is running headlong away form God and I want you to turn with me and run to God. I am so tired of what I see around me; I am so tired of my own daily failures in so many areas. I prayed to God this morning for the closeness I have felt at times with Him; those days usually in Fasts that I know I am walking in the Spirit, abiding in Him. A time when my spiritual awareness is heightened, when my focus is on God, and him alone. Oh, how this world and the ruler of it succeed in their abilities to take our eyes off God. There are countless ways that seemingly take our eyes off Him, many ways may be seemingly good, yet move the focus towards ourselves and not our Savior.

I seemingly seem to be having trouble focusing; the elevated stresses and strains of life are plaguing my memory. My hearts desire is to draw closer to my Savior; to walk in his Spirit abiding in Him each day. To be in the center of His Will for my life, and to use my life to draw glory to Him. To be a better father, husband, and leader of my family. To point them to the One who can offer them what I cannot. To point others to what I have found in my soul from the daily time in His Word. To show others that the only change they will ever find in their lives is found in Christ, and found in seeking Him every single day. More than a one time prayer, but a heart that is after God. A heart that lives as in Matthew 6:33 Seek Ye first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. All those things that you say that you want from God, what are you doing to find the answers to them? Are you spending daily time with Him in prayer and His Word? Are you living for the world 6.5 days a week and expecting all from Him for a small time on Sunday?

What does the word abide mean to you? Abide is a state of being; being in Christ. His Spirit comes to live in you as a result of your repentant heart and Salvation. When He comes to dwell there, do you spend your time repressing the things that He is showing you? Do you deny those sins that He is revealing to you? Do you let Him do his work inside you, and change you from the inside out as only He can? Testimonies to the power of Christ are born in lives transformed. Rescued and delivered from sin; eternally forgiven, and eternally rewarded for those that truly seek Him. We are called to live our lives as disciples; to deny ourselves and live an obedient heart for His Will for our lives for each day. An abiding heart is an obedient heart; and each day brings a test of obedience; of where your heart lies.

 
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Posted by on July 17, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Transformed

12 Jul

Transformed

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

I have been spending some time in Romans, yesterday coming to this chapter that defines the Christian life and how to live it. Paul presents the summary of how we are to live our lives in just two short sentences; sacrificial love focused only on the One who provides eternal life. Yesterday seemed to bring an internal challenge of a life focused on the present, the problems of the day. Anxiety crept in late in the day, but a late night sermon and focus fought away that demon and rest was gained. This morning the problems of the day loom early, the demon of anxiety tries to awake; the demon tugs to focus on the things of this world and to steal my joy from the day. My mind races at 100mph in these early hours; a war between my ears of good and evil. I have come to expect and accept these battles at times like these; it lets me know I am in the center of God’s Will for me and my life in His Word and this keyboard. All my struggles can be used for good; God can take that which Satan means to draw my eyes away from Him, and draw me closer to Him. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Anything that I openly endure, can all be used to show you God’s mercy, grace, love, and provision for whatever I face. These bouts of anxiety and sometimes depression can all be used to point you to God; to show you how He gives me what I need in all of it. Suffering is only for a minute, and paradise is eternal.

All that I humbly do before you is to attest to the power of a changed life by seeking God every day in His Word and prayer. I lived the life in pursuit of all the lusts of the world for many years. I pursued anything and everything and idolized many things. I lived my life for the moment and the pleasures found in it. God was always a future plan I thought I had, on my timetable. My world changed with a great church and the realization of my sin. The sanctification process began in me, and my life truly changed when I began to read God’s Word every day. I lived my life in pursuit of Matthew 6:33 Seek Ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. With that daily pursuit of Him first; arising early, and in prayer and His Word will change you. He will begin to reveal Himself to you like never before. All that you seek will be answered by the One who has all the answers. The renewing of your mind is found in  The Word. The key to a life that is not conformed to the world, is found in the Word. A genuine, humble heart that seeks God will find Him there, and come to understand more of Him there, and come to live their lives in pursuit of more of Him there

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Posted by on July 12, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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A passage that stands out

11 Jul

A passage that stands out

 Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

There are times in the Bible that you wish were more than even the words of Christ that may be highlighted in red. The scriptures that stand alone; key passages that give you key points of how to live your life as a Christian; Romans 12 is one of those passages. You must “get it” to learn to live how God desires you to live. I love how The Message translation describes this passage:
Romans 12:1 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Anytime that you see a “therefore” in a passage, you must read the prior scriptures to understand it’s meaning. Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen. Paul summed it up in 11:36, but my ESV commentary points out that the Therefore is really pointing to all of Paul’s argument thus presented in Romans. Christ speaks to John in the Book of Revelation with that same summary that Paul speaks of in 11:36. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” You must come to a point in your life that you truly begin to grasp how great God is; how great is his mercy for not giving you what you deserve; how great is his grace in giving you what you do not. How great he is as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe; the Creator and the Sustainer. Only in this understanding will come a life that desires to life as a Romans 12 Christian. You must grasp Paul’s argument in the book of Romans prior, to move to that level of sacrifice He desires that Paul speaks of in Romans 12.

The New Living Translation puts it like this: Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. I have given you three different translations for this scripture, but I cannot speak to your heart. Prayerfully seek God in this scripture on your own; ask him to set you back in reverent awe of him, to produce in you that life that He desires you to live found in this passage.

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Peace in an out of control world

10 Jul

Peace in an out of control world

Romans 11:33-36    Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with another contractor who uses his business as a ministry. We stood out in the parking lot and shared our faith. He asked what one word I would use to encourage someone; His one word was obey, my one word was peace. All throughout the Bible we are shown and must come to understand the Sovereignty of God. Sovereignty is simply defined as a supreme power; God is the definition of THE supreme power. When you read the Bible as a whole, you come to understand the complexity of God’s plan; but at the same time the centrality and simplicity of His plan to offer Salvation to all, and to draw all to Him for eternal paradise. In that understanding comes the peace that my one word describes.

Romans 11 is the apostle Paul’s detailed description of how Israel fits into God’s ultimate plan to save all the world. Paul goes into detail of God continues to offer grace to His beloved people time and time again; His plans even come to use their rebellion to offer Salvation to the rest of the world. Everything that Israel has ever done, and will ever do, all falls under the Sovereignty of God’s design. He either designed it, or allowed it, but it all will work for his purpose. Our simple minds cannot grasp a speck of the mind of God. But when we come to grasp that understanding, their is a release of our burdens to Him; for we know that He is in control of it ALL.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. This passage is one that we as Christians must lean on in difficult situations in life. This is Sovereignty defined; “all things word together”; we cannot understand how the difficult situations in life can possible be for our, or work out for our good. We only see the present tumults or pain in them; we don’t see past them. But with the heart of understanding comes the peace in them. He has a purpose “for good to those who love God” in every situation in our lives. If you pursue Him with all your heart, He will open your eyes to that Peace I am trying to describe.

 
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Posted by on July 10, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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How will they know?

09 Jul

How will they know?

Romans 10:13-15    For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Paul has been presenting that what was once thought only available to the Jews, is now available to all. The Lord God that all had known the Jews worshipped, had come to give Himself up for those not of Jewish decent too. The saving grace found in Him carried no ruse of exclusivity any longer; all could come to know Him and worship Him for what He freely gave to them. 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. This was no private party with a God all throughout the Old Testament that those opposing the Jews had feared; Paul preached a God of love who had came and paid the ultimate price for all to have forgiveness and access to Him. The doors were opened, and all needed to hear; Paul preached the Gospel with urgency.

I love this set of rhetorical questions that Paul presents here; the “how thens”. You say that you believe in Him, but how then did you come to believe? You at some point must have heard of Him, to come to a point of belief in Him. Someone, somewhere, somehow, presented the Good News of Jesus Christ to you. It may have been received with a hardened heart at the time it was presented; it may have fallen on your seemingly deaf ears; it may have nestled in a corner of your soul until God was ready to humble you to remind you of your need of Him. Paul is stressing the importance of spreading the Good News here, to live your life on mission. And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? Have, or more directly, is your life on mission? Do those around you know of Who you place your faith and hope in? How can they share in your joy if they have not heard of Him?

So much over the past couple of weeks of my life has been centered on missions. God has been putting people in my life that have true hearts for missions; for spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth; with hearts like Paul. I have spent some time with a modern day Paul; he is just encouraging to be in his presence; sold out for Christ and spreading the Good News in a country far away from God. I have friends with true mission hearts such as Paul, I saw and experienced the evidences of it and Him greatly as we gathered to prayerfully send off the next team. The presence of the Holy Spirit was great in that home that evening; He was there, and we were blessed because 15b”How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” My heart is full of joy for those that God has put in my circle to influence me; to encourage me to press on, to feel the love they have for Him and the hearts they have for sharing Him with others. How else will they ever come to know Him?

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Have you heard?

07 Jul

Have you heard?

Romans 9:15-21    For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (ESV)

I timidly tread on this scripture that is steep in theology; I am not qualified to take on the arguments that can be presented here on Election and Sovereignty. I fully accept and rest in the grace of Sovereignty; if it is by Election I rest in that also. What grabs me here is the question found in it; “Why have you made me like this?”. That question is one that we have all most likely gone before God asking. I still in my struggles with sin seemingly go before God with it; I must understand that the sanctification process is a life-long road I must travel. The more time I spend with God in his Word and prayer, the more sin is revealed to me. Even Paul continued to struggle in that realization of sin, of how he wanted to be a better man, but still failed continually. Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Let me present a simplified question on the topic of Election found in these scriptures. If you are even realizing, and questioning God on life here and thereafter, is that not evidence that He is already in pursuit of your heart, and you are a chosen child? Those blinded to Him never see or question any evidences of Him. That tug on your heart you feel, should make you feel special; you are a chosen child of God. The evidences of the evil in this world today are proofs of Satan’s power that surrounds us. God’s leash on him is stretching out just before time for Christ’s return to pull him back and put him up forever. These days that lie before us are not days guaranteed, but evidences of the need for you to repent of your sins and draw near to Christ for eternal rewards. The gospel is going out into all the world at an incredible rate with the evolution of the internet; missionaries are presenting the Good News to places that have never heard. All of this must happen before His return, and it is happening NOW! God has made you “like this” for a purpose; that purpose is to draw you to Him, and that his glory can be revealed in you. We are forgiven by the blood of the Lamb, and able to share by the word of our testimonies.

I love how a good friend of mine always closes his letters,

Until all have heard

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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