THE OVERSHADOWING PERSONAL DELIVERANCE
"I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally - "Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey." That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are a matter of indifference, we have to sit loosely to all those things; if we do not, there will be panic and heartbreak and distress. That is the inwardness of the overshadowing of personal deliverance.
The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on Jesus Christ's errands, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, Do not be bothered with whether you are being justly dealt with or not. To look for justice is a sign of deflection from devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will begin to grouse and to indulge in the discontent of self-pity - Why should I be treated like this? If we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we meet, whether it is just or unjust. Jesus says - Go steadily on with what I have told you to do and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance. The most devout among us become atheistic in this connection; we do not believe God, we enthrone common sense and tack the name of God on to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts.
Adapted from "My utmost for his Highest" by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Prescription For Peace
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
You are probably familiar with Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I decided that to bring home the impact of the verses I would have a little fun and paraphrase the passage from a negative standpoint. In other words, I turned this prescription for peace into a no-fail prescription for anxiety. My result looked like this: "Do not be calm about anything, but in everything, by dwelling on it constantly and feeling picked on by God, with thoughts like 'and this is the thanks I get,' present your aggravations to everyone you know but Him. And the acid in your stomach, which transcends all milk products, will cause you an ulcer, and the doctor bills will cause you a heart attack and you will lose your mind."
Without a doubt, avoiding prayer is a sure prescription for anxiety, a certain way to avoid peace. To experience the kind of peace that covers all circumstances, the Bible challenges us to develop active, authentic (what I like to call "meaty") prayer lives. Prayer with real substance to it—original thoughts flowing from a highly individualized heart, personal and intimate. Often, we do everything but pray. We tend to want something more "substantial." Even studying the Bible, going to church, talking to the pastor, or receiving counsel seems more tangible than prayer.
What victory the enemy has in winning us over to prayerlessness! He would rather we do anything than pray. He'd rather see us serve ourselves into the ground, because he knows we'll eventually grow resentful without prayer. He'd rather see us study the Bible into the wee hours of the morning, because he knows we'll never have a deep understanding and power to live what we've learned without prayer. He knows prayerless lives are powerless lives, while prayerful lives are powerful lives!
In Ephesians 1, Paul named specific blessings that can come through prayer. He prayed that his spiritual offspring would receive "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better" (v.17). He asked God to open the eyes of their hearts so they could "know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe" (vv.18-19). The better we know God (v.17), the more we trust Him. The more we trust Him, the more we sense His peace when the wintry winds blow against us.
At the grocery store recently I was amused by the label on a lotion that claimed it was an effective stress reliever. I could hear a baby screaming on the next aisle. I had a brief impulse to offer the lotion to the poor mom pushing the cranky cargo. I was too afraid I might get a little stress reliever thrown on my face. You see, this world can't seem to come up with a real, lasting solution to the stresses and strains of life.
A few days ago I again saw the best advice the world seems to have: "Just remember two things: (1) Don't sweat the small stuff. (2) It's all small stuff." That advice is so shallow. It's not all small stuff. I have a friend whose son was paralyzed in an accident his senior year in high school. I pray almost daily for a list of people, from age four to seventy-four, who are battling cancer. Two recently came off my list and into heaven. My precious friend's husband, an honest, hardworking believer with a son in college, just lost his job—again. Not long ago, three tornadoes whipped through my hometown—stealing, killing, and destroying. No, it's not all small stuff.
Worldly philosophy is forced to minimize difficulty because it has no real answers. You and I know better than the small-stuff philosophy. We face a lot of big stuff out there. Only through prayer are we washed in peace.
Lord, there are issues in my life that have caused me untold anxiety and grief. I've done everything I could think of to get peace, except the one thing I knew all along would help me. My frenzied mind has led me astray from the stillness and focus I need to pray. I confess the sin of prayerlessness and ask Your forgiveness. Instead of being anxious, help me present my requests to You in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. According to Your Word, please guard my heart and mind with Your peace, which transcends all understanding. Thank You, God, for Your great patience, love and comfort. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Adapted from Breaking Free, by Beth Moore
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
You are probably familiar with Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I decided that to bring home the impact of the verses I would have a little fun and paraphrase the passage from a negative standpoint. In other words, I turned this prescription for peace into a no-fail prescription for anxiety. My result looked like this: "Do not be calm about anything, but in everything, by dwelling on it constantly and feeling picked on by God, with thoughts like 'and this is the thanks I get,' present your aggravations to everyone you know but Him. And the acid in your stomach, which transcends all milk products, will cause you an ulcer, and the doctor bills will cause you a heart attack and you will lose your mind."
Without a doubt, avoiding prayer is a sure prescription for anxiety, a certain way to avoid peace. To experience the kind of peace that covers all circumstances, the Bible challenges us to develop active, authentic (what I like to call "meaty") prayer lives. Prayer with real substance to it—original thoughts flowing from a highly individualized heart, personal and intimate. Often, we do everything but pray. We tend to want something more "substantial." Even studying the Bible, going to church, talking to the pastor, or receiving counsel seems more tangible than prayer.
What victory the enemy has in winning us over to prayerlessness! He would rather we do anything than pray. He'd rather see us serve ourselves into the ground, because he knows we'll eventually grow resentful without prayer. He'd rather see us study the Bible into the wee hours of the morning, because he knows we'll never have a deep understanding and power to live what we've learned without prayer. He knows prayerless lives are powerless lives, while prayerful lives are powerful lives!
In Ephesians 1, Paul named specific blessings that can come through prayer. He prayed that his spiritual offspring would receive "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better" (v.17). He asked God to open the eyes of their hearts so they could "know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe" (vv.18-19). The better we know God (v.17), the more we trust Him. The more we trust Him, the more we sense His peace when the wintry winds blow against us.
At the grocery store recently I was amused by the label on a lotion that claimed it was an effective stress reliever. I could hear a baby screaming on the next aisle. I had a brief impulse to offer the lotion to the poor mom pushing the cranky cargo. I was too afraid I might get a little stress reliever thrown on my face. You see, this world can't seem to come up with a real, lasting solution to the stresses and strains of life.
A few days ago I again saw the best advice the world seems to have: "Just remember two things: (1) Don't sweat the small stuff. (2) It's all small stuff." That advice is so shallow. It's not all small stuff. I have a friend whose son was paralyzed in an accident his senior year in high school. I pray almost daily for a list of people, from age four to seventy-four, who are battling cancer. Two recently came off my list and into heaven. My precious friend's husband, an honest, hardworking believer with a son in college, just lost his job—again. Not long ago, three tornadoes whipped through my hometown—stealing, killing, and destroying. No, it's not all small stuff.
Worldly philosophy is forced to minimize difficulty because it has no real answers. You and I know better than the small-stuff philosophy. We face a lot of big stuff out there. Only through prayer are we washed in peace.
Lord, there are issues in my life that have caused me untold anxiety and grief. I've done everything I could think of to get peace, except the one thing I knew all along would help me. My frenzied mind has led me astray from the stillness and focus I need to pray. I confess the sin of prayerlessness and ask Your forgiveness. Instead of being anxious, help me present my requests to You in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. According to Your Word, please guard my heart and mind with Your peace, which transcends all understanding. Thank You, God, for Your great patience, love and comfort. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Adapted from Breaking Free, by Beth Moore
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
THE SECRET OF THE LORD
"The secret (friendship R.V.) of the Lord is with them that fear Him." Psalm 25:14
What is the sign of a friend? That he tells you secret Sorrows? No, that he tells you secret joys. Many will confide to you their secret sorrows, but the last mark of intimacy is to confide secret joys. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys, or are we telling God our secrets so continually that we leave no room for Him to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God, then we find that God wants to get us into relationship with Himself, to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so wedded to Jesus Christ's idea of prayer - "Thy will be done" - that we catch the secrets of God? The things that make God dear to us are not so much His great big blessings as the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us; He knows every detail of our individual lives.
". . . him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose." At first we want the consciousness of being guided by God, then as we go on we live so much in the consciousness of God that we do not need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing any other will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified God guides us by our ordinary choices, and if we are going to choose what He does not want, He will check, and we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, Stop at once. Never reason it out and say - "I wonder why I shouldn't?" God instructs us in what we choose, that is, He guides our common sense, and we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually saying -
"Now, Lord, what is Thy will?"
"The secret (friendship R.V.) of the Lord is with them that fear Him." Psalm 25:14
What is the sign of a friend? That he tells you secret Sorrows? No, that he tells you secret joys. Many will confide to you their secret sorrows, but the last mark of intimacy is to confide secret joys. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys, or are we telling God our secrets so continually that we leave no room for Him to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God, then we find that God wants to get us into relationship with Himself, to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so wedded to Jesus Christ's idea of prayer - "Thy will be done" - that we catch the secrets of God? The things that make God dear to us are not so much His great big blessings as the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us; He knows every detail of our individual lives.
". . . him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose." At first we want the consciousness of being guided by God, then as we go on we live so much in the consciousness of God that we do not need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing any other will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified God guides us by our ordinary choices, and if we are going to choose what He does not want, He will check, and we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, Stop at once. Never reason it out and say - "I wonder why I shouldn't?" God instructs us in what we choose, that is, He guides our common sense, and we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually saying -
"Now, Lord, what is Thy will?"
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
NOT A BIT OF IT!
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away." 2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never nurses our prejudices, He mortifies them, runs clean athwart them. We imagine that God has a special interest in our particular prejudices; we are quite sure that God will never deal with us as He has to deal with other people. "God must deal with other people in a very stern way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right." We have to learn - "Not a bit of it!" Instead of God being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately wiping them out. It is part of our moral education to have our prejudices run straight across by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is not a bit of the old order left, the old solemnity goes, the old attitude to things goes, and "all things are of God." How are we going to get the life that has no lust, no self-interest, no sensitiveness to pokes, the love that is not provoked, that thinketh no evil, that is always kind? The only way is by allowing not a bit of the old life to be left; but only simple perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God's blessings, but only want Himself. Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him? When once we see God at work, we will never bother our heads about things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in Heaven Whom the world cannot see.
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away." 2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never nurses our prejudices, He mortifies them, runs clean athwart them. We imagine that God has a special interest in our particular prejudices; we are quite sure that God will never deal with us as He has to deal with other people. "God must deal with other people in a very stern way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right." We have to learn - "Not a bit of it!" Instead of God being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately wiping them out. It is part of our moral education to have our prejudices run straight across by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is not a bit of the old order left, the old solemnity goes, the old attitude to things goes, and "all things are of God." How are we going to get the life that has no lust, no self-interest, no sensitiveness to pokes, the love that is not provoked, that thinketh no evil, that is always kind? The only way is by allowing not a bit of the old life to be left; but only simple perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God's blessings, but only want Himself. Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him? When once we see God at work, we will never bother our heads about things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in Heaven Whom the world cannot see.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Are you a runaway, or are you at home?
" Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten and he will bind us up. 2.) After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." (Hosea 6:1-2)
The thought that weighs on my heart this morning is one of gladness. One of thankfulness and appreciation, for I am at home now, but have been found more than once to be a runaway.
This is what I mean by runaway. Have you ever been so deep into the things of God that you didn’t think you could get any closer to him? Things are going great and blessings are flowing. Then all of a sudden you are finding that God is on the back burner and His word and will are not of interest to you. The world becomes enticing and what it has to offer slowly creeps back in one little piece at a time, until you are stagnate and cold. You feel like something is missing in your heart, and deep within you know what it is, but having come from the closeness that you once felt, and the rightness with God that once was there, you don’t admit it. You are now a runaway. Like the prodigal son, you have left the splendor of your father’s house, and with out realizing what you were doing, you are now sitting in a pig pen.
Friend let me express to you that I have been in that pig pen and I am so thankful that I serve a God of restoration.
In the book of Hosea, we find two parallel examples of our tendencies as God’s children to stray, and His ongoing mercy and grace to restore us to our rightful place when we realize that it’s in the pig pen we stand. Here we find not only the example of Israel doing what they do best in the Old Testament and turning from God, but we have an example on a smaller level. The story of one man and the woman he came to love.
God spoke to Hosea and commanded him to take a wife of whoredoms. He not only commanded him to take this type of wife, but commanded him to bare children with her. Why? God says because “the land has committed great whoredome, departing from the Lord."
Many times Gomer (the wife of whoredomes) can be found running away from home, her marriage, and her children, to take part in the life she knew before. And always, Hosea would find her, and bring her home. Hosea grew to love this woman no matter what she did. Just as God, no matter the act, could be found expressing His love for His children and restoring the house of Israel once again. Eventually Gomer came to her senses and realized that it was not the life she lived before that gave her peace and contentment, but the life she lived with her husband, Hosea.
I wonder if we were to take inventory this morning, would we be at home with the Father? Would we be where we know that He would have us to be? Or would we find our selves as a runaway having strayed from God? Friend, wherever you are today be thankful. If you are wrapped up in His love and secure in the fact that you know you are where you are suppose to be, rejoice. If you are finding the more you read, the more uncomfortable you are with the place you are in right now, rejoice. That’s right, I said rejoice.
As I stated above, we serve a God of restoration. Just as the prodigal’s father ran to meet his runaway son with open arms, so will our Father run to meet you with open arms. Hosea 14:4 says “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned from Him.” I beg you dear one, if you are a runaway, don’t waste another minuet in this world trying to pacify yourself and fill a void that only God can fill. You can be complete today. You can be made whole. Come home to where you belong. He’s waiting at the door for you.
Father, I admit to you today that I am far from home. I feel like I’m lost and empty and I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’ve failed you. But I am ready to come home. I am ready for you to take me back in, clean me up, & set me upright and on my feet where I belong. Forgive me for straying so far from you, and help me always to remember under your wing is where I belong. In Jesus name. Amen.
" Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten and he will bind us up. 2.) After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." (Hosea 6:1-2)
The thought that weighs on my heart this morning is one of gladness. One of thankfulness and appreciation, for I am at home now, but have been found more than once to be a runaway.
This is what I mean by runaway. Have you ever been so deep into the things of God that you didn’t think you could get any closer to him? Things are going great and blessings are flowing. Then all of a sudden you are finding that God is on the back burner and His word and will are not of interest to you. The world becomes enticing and what it has to offer slowly creeps back in one little piece at a time, until you are stagnate and cold. You feel like something is missing in your heart, and deep within you know what it is, but having come from the closeness that you once felt, and the rightness with God that once was there, you don’t admit it. You are now a runaway. Like the prodigal son, you have left the splendor of your father’s house, and with out realizing what you were doing, you are now sitting in a pig pen.
Friend let me express to you that I have been in that pig pen and I am so thankful that I serve a God of restoration.
In the book of Hosea, we find two parallel examples of our tendencies as God’s children to stray, and His ongoing mercy and grace to restore us to our rightful place when we realize that it’s in the pig pen we stand. Here we find not only the example of Israel doing what they do best in the Old Testament and turning from God, but we have an example on a smaller level. The story of one man and the woman he came to love.
God spoke to Hosea and commanded him to take a wife of whoredoms. He not only commanded him to take this type of wife, but commanded him to bare children with her. Why? God says because “the land has committed great whoredome, departing from the Lord."
Many times Gomer (the wife of whoredomes) can be found running away from home, her marriage, and her children, to take part in the life she knew before. And always, Hosea would find her, and bring her home. Hosea grew to love this woman no matter what she did. Just as God, no matter the act, could be found expressing His love for His children and restoring the house of Israel once again. Eventually Gomer came to her senses and realized that it was not the life she lived before that gave her peace and contentment, but the life she lived with her husband, Hosea.
I wonder if we were to take inventory this morning, would we be at home with the Father? Would we be where we know that He would have us to be? Or would we find our selves as a runaway having strayed from God? Friend, wherever you are today be thankful. If you are wrapped up in His love and secure in the fact that you know you are where you are suppose to be, rejoice. If you are finding the more you read, the more uncomfortable you are with the place you are in right now, rejoice. That’s right, I said rejoice.
As I stated above, we serve a God of restoration. Just as the prodigal’s father ran to meet his runaway son with open arms, so will our Father run to meet you with open arms. Hosea 14:4 says “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned from Him.” I beg you dear one, if you are a runaway, don’t waste another minuet in this world trying to pacify yourself and fill a void that only God can fill. You can be complete today. You can be made whole. Come home to where you belong. He’s waiting at the door for you.
Father, I admit to you today that I am far from home. I feel like I’m lost and empty and I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’ve failed you. But I am ready to come home. I am ready for you to take me back in, clean me up, & set me upright and on my feet where I belong. Forgive me for straying so far from you, and help me always to remember under your wing is where I belong. In Jesus name. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
