Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Relationship with God’ Category

INDEPENDENT NO MORE (Part 2)

Posted in Bible, Dependence on God, Devotional, God, Gospels, John, New Testament, Walking with God, tagged , , , , on August 31, 2010|

THE LIE OF INDEPENDENCE AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Independence from God is never equivalent to freedom.  It is in total dependence on God that we have freedom – freedom from sin, freedom from fear, freedom from worry and anxiety and most-importantly, freedom from judgment – the judgment of a holy God due sinful man.  All men are sinful.  The Bible teaches that none are righteous and that the wages of sin is death.  The only true freedom is that which comes from God.  Only He can promise a genuine and lasting freedom.

When I was sixteen, I obtained the first key to my “independence” from my parents.  I started working at the Jacksonville Pharmacy in Jacksonville, Maryland.  You might have a hard time understanding what a coup that really was.  Practically everyone in our loosely-defined town went into that Pharmacy at least once a week.  Some came in every day or evening on their way home from work.  It was a hub of activity and community news.

It was that $3.35 per hour that gave me my first real “independence” (so called).  From that point forward, I purchased my car, my gas, my insurance, my incidentals, etc.  I thought of myself as independent even though I was only 16 and still living at home.  I thought I was independent, but looking back now, I can see I really wasn’t totally free of dependence on my parents for the roof over my head, health insurance, food and other expenses of everyday life.

I can draw a parallel to my spiritual life.  During my college years, I turned from my relationship with God to assert my independence from His restrictions.  (I now see them as cords of love.)  I took on sin and tried to be its master.  I think you can guess how that ended.  It mastered me.  I sinned well and with frequency and depravity and thought little of God.  I had become “independent”, a place I would never recommend.  It was a place filled with emptiness and despair and darkness so heavy it can push all the air out of your lungs.  Independence from God was a place of slow death of my soul – a death that would have gone on for eternity, a death that would have separated me from God forever.  It is a law of nature that independence brings death.  What happens to the flower cut from the stem?  The branch cut from the tree?    Death.  Life is found and sustained only with connection to the vine.

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.” (Jesus speaking)

Read Full Post »

INDEPENDENT NO MORE (Part 1)

Posted in Dependence on God, Devotional, God, Relationship with God, tagged , , , , , on August 27, 2010| 2 Comments »

Putting aside self-sufficiency for good

According to C. Hummel in Tyranny of the Urgent, “The root of all sin is self-sufficiency,  independence from the rule of God.  When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him.”

DEPENDENCE

According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  The message is clearly, “Be as weak as possible, and I will make known my strength through you.”

We (mankind), were designed to depend.  If you go back to the garden, God’s design was that mankind should live his life forever (remember they were not prohibited from the Tree of Life) in fellowship with God.  He desired not that man rely on his own wisdom or knowledge of good and evil, but that man would make his decisions based on his close fellowship with God.  Several possible explanations for God’s design come to mind:

  • It could be that God knew that a moral standard of good and evil, right and wrong, would not be sufficient for us.  We, apart from fellowship with God, would choose evil over good.  It could be that God, for His sheer delight, desired to impart His wisdom and guidance to us, one by one and day by day.  The picture is one of a loving and involved father teaching and guiding a beloved son or daughter.
  • It could also be that God knew that we cannot keep very many rules or guidelines on our own without encouragement and reminder.
  • It could be He knew that our greatest need is the constant unconditional love of our Father.  It is the fuel for our human souls.  It is what keeps us healthy and able to move forward.
  • It could be that these reasons and purposes are only known to the Almighty.  In any event, a life of unbroken fellowship with the Father was God’s first choice for us.
It was a grasp at self-dependence that severed that fellowship in the garden of Eden more than 6,000 years ago.  You know the story.  Eve was deceived by the serpent.  She fell prey to two of his well-worn strategies:
  1. First, she was not clear on what God had said, so she was easily deceived by the serpent’s misrepresentation of God’s word.
  2. Second, she was lured into believing the lies of the serpent because of her desire to be independent of God (to be like a god herself).

    3. THE BAD NEWS . . . The root of all independence is that same desire in each of us. The consequence of Eve’s grab for independence was separation from God for herself and her family.

    THE GOOD NEWS . . . The cross is the provision for restored fellowship and dependence on God.  God has made a way to restore what was lost in the garden.  Hallelujah!

Read Full Post »

Stop and Smell the Roses

Posted in God, Relationship with God, worship, tagged , , , on July 30, 2010| 2 Comments »

It may seem a little odd for me to wax poetic given my usual steady fare of Bible studies and such, but I have found myself of late just thinking about my God and how sweet He is to me.

My God has delivered me from the battle and set me in a quiet meadow with sweet-smelling flowers (actually it is a 1/2 vegetable/ 1/2 flower garden in Southern California, but stay with me here).

He has led me beside clear waters that allow me to reflect on who I was, who I have become through my recent trials and who He would have me be and how He would shape me into that person (This, of course, means more trials).

He has given me to a godly husband and a child that desires to do well with the LORD.

He has set me in the company of quality women of faith to encourage and sharpen me.

He has given me the desires of my heart as best I have been able to figure them.

He has never left me or forsook me (not that I didn’t give Him plenty of reason), and His mercies are new every morning.  I get to wake up a daughter of the King and go to sleep in the shadow of the wings of the Most High God.

This is living!

Read Full Post »

Give it all . . . hold nothing back

Posted in Bible, Gospels, Jesus, John 6, New Testament, Surrender, tagged , , , , , , , on July 8, 2010|

Do you remember the story of the loaves and the fish in John 6?  Although it is a familiar story, it is worth taking a closer look at exactly what was happening.

We are told a boy had 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish.  Apparently the boy gave them to the disciples.  The disciples gave them to Jesus.

Observations:
  • The disciples gave it all (5 loaves and 2 fish) to Jesus.
  • Jesus took it all from them.
  • Jesus gave thanks for all to the Father.
  • The Father blessed it all.
  • Jesus gave it all back to the disciples to give out to the 5,000 sitting on the ground.
  • The people were filled by what they received – there was no want.

So how does this apply to me, to you?  I need to give all that I have (or get from anyone) to Jesus.  I need to hold nothing back as a safety net or back up in case of future need.  It is in the giving of it all that I show my total trust and surrender to God.

Jesus will take all that I have and God will bless it.  The little I had will be multiplied.  Jesus will bless it and divide it – break it to make it useful for others.  Passing through the hands of the Savior, what little I had will become plenteous and abundant.  Giving it back to me after blessing it and breaking it, Jesus wants to help to distribute it.  It is not mine any longer because I gave it all to Him.

May He who has done exceeding abundantly above and beyond what you can think or imagine take what you have and cause it to nourish many.  May you hold nothing back!

Thank you Father that you love us enough to require everything of us.  Thank you that you do not desire us to have any confidence in our own abilities or supplies.  Thank you that we are children of the Most High God, so our every need will be met through Your provision.  May You multiply what we have for Your glory!

Read Full Post »

National Day of Prayer

Posted in National Day of Prayer, Prayer, Relationship with God, tagged , , , on May 6, 2010| 2 Comments »

I pray this day finds you thinking about the one and only true God who hears and answers prayers.  I can’t imagine not having God to turn to in times of difficulty.  I can’t imagine feeling that I was alone with all the confusion, evil and darkness (and that is just within my own heart).  I can’t imagine not having One to worship with all my heart, soul and strength.  Prayer can be all of that and so much more.

Some thoughts on prayer:

  • God already knows my every need, my every thought, my every concern, so prayer to God is not about information transfer from me to God.  In going to God in prayer, I recognize who He is.  I recognize that He is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and He desires to help me.  In prayer, I learn about God.
  • In my life, when I ask for help, sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t.  Sometimes when I need help, I can’t ask for it because of weakness or fear.  With God, when I need help, He always comes through, and even when I can’t find the words to ask, God helps me anyway.  He is closer than a brother.
  • I see the needs of others, but I don’t have the resources to help them, and I don’t really know anyone to ask who does have the resources and would be willing to help.  That is what is so great about God.  He has the cattle on a thousand hills.  He is the source of all things.  Through prayer, I have access to God’s limitless resources not only for myself, but also for those I see in need.  My Heavenly Father hears me.
  • Prayer is about relationship.  I cannot comprehend the width, length, depth and height of the love of God, a love which passes knowledge, without being in moment-by-moment contact with God through prayer, the idea of praying without ceasing.
  • Prayer is an ongoing and continuing dialog with God.   I share my needs, and I learn of His endless resources.  I share my fear, and I learn of His close presence, the strength and protection of His everlasting arms, and the safety of abiding in the shadow of the almighty.  I share my victories, and I learn of His provision and how to say “thanks.”  I find myself powerless and lost, and I learn of His character, His awesome power, mercy and grace.

It is my God, and my God alone who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think.  I only learn that when I am in prayer and relationship with God.

Read Full Post »

Psalm 15 – A Closer Look

Posted in Devotional, Moral Relativism, Psalms, Relationship with God, tagged , , , , on April 17, 2010|

I don’t know about you, but I love to spend time with God, in His presence.  The problem I have is that I am not always in His presence.  Sometimes I am not there.  I know one day I will be in His presence forevermore, but until then, I must look at the things on this side of eternity that keep me from being constantly in the presence of God.

In this short Psalm (5 verses only), the Psalmist asks the question, “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy hill?  Another way to think about this is who can live with God or be in constant, unbroken fellowship with God?  The Psalmist answers:

  • A person who does the right thing even in his or her heart where only God can see.  This is the idea of personal integrity.
  • A person who displays right conduct toward others in word, deed and thought.
  • A person who views evil as God does and views God’s people as God does.  The first part of that is probably the easier part.  Sometimes God’s people can be challenging, and we forget how God views them.  They are precious to Him.
  • A person who accepts God’s provision and follows God’s order with money, not taking advantage of the poor for gain, not trying to get gain by dishonest means.

All the qualifications of the person who is in constant, unbroken fellowship with God, who dwells on His holy hill are based on a standard – God’s standard.  God is the measuring stick in each case.  The conclusion one easily draws from this consistent standard is that moral relativism, the idea that each person can follow his or her own moral standard, is a lie.  There is no moral relativism, only a moral absolute.  The absolute standard for right and wrong, for good and evil, is God’s law.  Learn it, love it and live it!

Read Full Post »

Psalm 13 – A Closer Look

Posted in Crying out to God, Devotional, Exhortation, Hope, In times of difficulty, Psalms, salvation, tagged , , , , on April 9, 2010|

Psalm 13 begins with the Psalmist sounding like he is accusing God.  “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?  How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”  (Ps. 13:1-2)

In these verses, the Psalmist evidences an uncertainty about God.  Uncertainty can cause one to doubt God’s motives or doubt God’s timing.   Sometimes when we become fearful and afraid, we accuse God.  We mistakenly consider Him to be reacting to us like the humans around us who may forget us or hide their faces from us or allow our enemies to over take us and do nothing to help.  But God is not like us or those around us.  He will not forget us.  Isaiah 49:15 tells us,  “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.”  Deut 31:6 tells us, “do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

From accusation in verses 1-2, the Psalmist moves into calling out to God and reasoning with God in verses 3-4.  In these verses, he says, “consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.”

Finally, the Psalmist makes a choice in verse 5.   He states, ‘but I have trusted in Your mercy.”  He decides to trust in God’s mercy.  He decides to believe  and act upon what He knows about God.  This is internal to the Psalmist.  A choice to believe God and trust God must come from within.  I must, like priests carrying the ark across the Jordan, step into the water first rather than waiting for them to recede.  Trusting God is a choice I must make daily,  sometimes moment by moment.

From that choice, there is an immediate reward, the Psalmist says, “my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”  When I choose to trust God, I am impacted in my walk with God, in my fellowship with God.  He immediately reinforces the positive step I have taken.

Verse 6 gives us the result for ministry, ” I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”  When I trust God, my heart rejoices in His salvation, and from that comes an outpouring from me to those around me.  I will sing to the LORD!  I will declare to the world about my God, about His great bounty, His mercy, and His faithfulness!
To review, here is the progression:
  • Accusation against God
  • Calling out/reasoning with God
  • Trust in God (choose)
  • Receive from God
  • Give out in ministry

We all have times of accusing or doubting God, even if it is only in our thoughts.  The important thing is to move forward in the progression.  Cry out to God, choose to trust God, receive from God and then give out what you have received to those around you.

Read Full Post »

How Shall I Go On?

Posted in Crying out to God, Exhortation, God, Hope, In times of difficulty, Jehovah Jireh, Psalms, Relationship with God, Waiting on God, tagged , , , , on April 8, 2010|

Perhaps you have had a day (or two) when you asked the LORD, “How shall I go on?”  Perhaps it is illness, drug addiction, abusive relationship, fear, enemies who would seek to destroy you or just a sense of overwhelming fatigue . . . in looking at your circumstances, did you turn to God and ask, “How shall I go on?”  And what did He say?

  • Wait? Sometimes the LORD says to wait.  Don’t go forward or back.  Don’t go to the left or the right.  Don’t seek to change your circumstances, just wait.  Sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part.  But we wait because He is God.  Like a parent who tells a child to stay on the curb because a car is coming, God tells us to wait because He sees all things and knows all things.  He tells us to wait because that is best for us.  He promises “strengthen your heart” while you wait.  (Ps. 27:14)  Psalm 37:9 promises that ” those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.”    Isaiah says, “who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”   (Isa. 40:31)  As you wait, the LORD may give you new strength.  He may allow you to soar above your troubles, keeping them from disturbing your peace.   He may take away your fatigue, allowing you to go a little further.
  • Cry out? Sometimes the LORD would have us to cry out to Him, recognizing that He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides everything.  There is certainly lots of scriptural support for crying out to God in times of trouble.  Psalm 18:6 tells us, “In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.”  In Psalm 34:17, we read, “the righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.”  Psalm 56:9 tells us when ” I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.  In Psalm 57:2, it says, “I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.”   He is a God who hears and answers, so maybe He would have you to cry out, expecting His response.

Whether you wait or you cry, or you cry out while you are waiting, waiting and crying out are done in expectation, in faith.  I wait for God to deliver me, to strengthen me.  I wait because there is none other like Him.   “LORD, what do I wait for?  My hope is in You.”  (Ps. 39:7)   He alone has the words of eternal life.  When I cry out, I cry out to God in faith because God alone knows my circumstances.  God alone has power over all things.  I cry out to God because He alone is God.

Read Full Post »

Looking for Rest?

Posted in Devotional, God, Hope, Jesus, Lover of my soul, Matthew, Relationship with God, salvation, tagged , , , , , , , on March 15, 2010|

Matthew 11:28-30   (Jesus Speaking) says,  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

This scripture speaks to us of 2 aspects of the promise of rest in this scripture.
1. Eternal aspect of the promise of Rest:  Salvation and Eternal life with God
  • The Bible, teaches that it is appointed man once to die and then the judgment.  You will not be able to take your “protections” with you.  Things will not keep you safe from the judgment of God. One day, you will stand totally exposed before the Holiness of God to answer for your life, to answer the questions, “What have you done with my Son, Jesus?”  What will you say?  Not knowing for sure or trying to earn your way can leave your weary and in need of rest.  This is the rest that Jesus is offering.
  • If you haven’t dealt with the issue of eternity, it is likely you have not dealt with your sin.  The older we get, the more are failures and mistakes seem to increase.    Are you weary and heavy laden from carrying the burden of failed marriages?  Failed relationships with family?   Failed parenting?  Failed careers?  Failed attempts to overcome self-destructive addictions or behaviors?  Failed religious experiences?  Despite all your bravado, your jokes, your defenses, do you know deep down that you have fallen short of God’s perfection and there is nothing you can do to bridge that gap?  Does sin weigh on you?  Are your failures heavy?  Have you gone too far?  Have you been too bad, hurt too many, fallen to far?  Even for God?
  • Do you long for rest – to settle with God the issue of your sin – to accept the gift of His Son – the perfect sacrifice – the atonement for your sin?   There is good news!   Jesus offers hope.
  • Jesus will take all you have – all the evil, the sin, failures, pride, self-reliance, arrogance, rage, revenge, abuse.   He’ll trade all your garbage – and for that, He’ll give you rest.
2. A life of rest is characterized by walking by the power and under the direction of the Holy Spirit  There are 6 places you can find rest (6 essential truths – when understood and incorporated into our life, will allow rest)
  • At the cross
  • In the acceptance of God’s Grace
  • In Surrender to Lordship of Jesus
  • In obedience to God
  • In fellowship with God (knowing Him and His promises – spending time with Him)
  • In walking yoked with the Holy Spirit

May you find the rest today that is available through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.  There is much to be busy about, but Jesus told us that the “good part” was sitting at His feet.

Read Full Post »

2 Corinthian 3:2-3

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Bible Study, Devotional, Exhortation, Relationship with God, tagged , , , , , , on March 13, 2010|

 
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 2 Corinthian 3:2-3

1.  As believers, our lives are letters (epistles).

  • Maybe you have heard it said, “You may be the only Bible those close to you ever read.”   If that is so, let your life reflect the gospel as clearly as possible – no mixed messages.
  • God’s plan to share the gospel is through people ministering to people. He desires that our lives be so changed by our relationship with Him that others will wonder, question, and follow.
  • Is the message in the letter written on your heart communicating the message of God’s love to the lost and condemned world around you?

2.  God is the author.

  • Pages don’t write themselves; they have an author
  • God will write your story if you allow Him.  God wrote Esther from captive to queen.  God wrote David from Shepherd boy to mighty warrior to King.  God wrote Joseph from slave to Pharaoh’s second.  God wrote Saul from assassin to Apostle.  God wrote Peter from fisherman to great church leader.  God can write my story to be a great epoch tale of victory over evil if I let Him.
  • God desires to leave His imprint on our lives, marking us as His forever.

3.  He authored us by His Spirit.

  • Give up striving.  This is not about what you do:  how many times you go to church, how much money you give.  This is about surrendering control of your life to Jesus, so He can fully communicate His message to the dying world through you.  To do that, you must first receive the message yourself and let it transform you.   Only then can it hope to transform others.
  • Start soaking up the Word.  Sit with Jesus daily.  Read, study and meditate on the scriptures.  Let them permeate your life.  Let them write your story.
  • Remove barriers to the working of the Holy Spirit in your life.  Confess your sins, allow God to cleanse you by His Spirit.  Pray always and without ceasing, so that you might always be in communion with the author.

May the richness of living for Christ become abundantly clear to you as you draw closer and closer to Jesus.  It was Jesus who promised that sitting at His feet was the “good part” which would not be taken away.  May you settle there and find rest for your soul while you wait.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »