Selfless Obedience

In Job 38-42, God himself “questions” Job.  Questions is a really, really, nice way to say that God got all up in Job’s business and attitude.  In a series of questions, God describes himself, well, really he describes his works.  Slowly digesting each question that God asks Job is a very “awe-ing” time.  It filled me with wonder and gave me a fresh perspective on God’s hugeness, power, and majesty.

In Job 42:7-10 (click to read), it isn’t until Job prays FOR his friends – these same three friends who have accused, berated, and wrecklessly represented the Lord for 30+ chapters – that God restores to Job all Job lost in the trials (v10).

Two things struck me:

1.  Not until Job took his eyes off his own misery and trouble, did God restore and end his misery and trouble.  Job had to minister and be concerned with others… even those who he most likely wasn’t very pleased with at the time.  Personally, I’d have been ticked at them and wanted to curse them instead of pray for them.

2.  Just as God allowed the trials and circumstances surrounding Job’s troubles and losses, He also orchestrated Job’s praying for his friends and his own ultimate restortation.  God addresses these friends in v7 and tells them that Job has to pray for them.  This gets Job’s eyes off his own troubles (after he’s had a correction in his attitude and his own significance) and on to praying for his friends.  Isn’t it just like Father to send what we need our way?

And this is the point for me.  In the midst of trials -whatever form they take – I need to continue to be aware and look for those opportunities to do God’s bidding, regardless of how I feel at the time, and regardless of how I feel about who I am ministering to.

I am to be on guard for God opportunities… be aware for what He’s doing around me and join in on His work… Ephesians 2:10 (The Message) “He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.“

I wrote a blog a few months ago about this verse in Ephesians.  See it here.  Interesting… different passages… same lesson.  Who says God’s word isn’t alive?

Its all about me

I was reading in Acts 6 today.  One thing stuck out to me in this chapter that got me thinking.  In the beginning of the chapter some people are upset because they have gotten forgotten and left out.  The disciples are telling each other and the others who are in a high place of authority in the church that they cant do it anymore.  The disciples were trying to hear God for them and the church as well as do all the admin type stuff, splitting up of the goods, distributing and caring for everyone else that kind of thing.  Well they decide instead of continuing to do things for others they would put other wise men there and they would just learn the word of God.  Its kind of backwards for me to think like that.  Its a lot like an airplane ride.  When you get on and they go through the whole mess about the oxygen masks you have to wear if you happen to crash.  I have always thought they had it wrong or backwards you know.  I don’t have kids, that I know of, but I think if I was about to crash I would put their masks on first to make sure they have oxygen and don’t die.  Because of my love for them I would prepare them and give to them first and then worry about myself.  But really the airline has it right.  If I don’t put my mask on first and I pass out or something happens to me then the kids don’t get any oxygen at all, no one will be their to provide for them and give them the breath they need to survive.  I cant die first or everyone else around me that I need to tend to dies as well.  The disciples understood this and took care of themselves so they would have something to give out to others.  It seems easy I guess, but I know myself well enough to know that I don’t do that.  I try to take care of everything else around me and then the left over time I give to myself to learn or do something good for me.  As well what the disciples did was not only get people on the bus they put them in the correct seat.  Once those guys came in and took care of that Acts says “and all the people were pleased.”  So when I make a decision to provide and take care of me. not selfishly, but with the understanding that I need the breath before I can give it away, and then I get people into the Kingdom and put them at their correct jobs everyone is pleased.  It was a good reminder that if the plane is going down to make sure I have prepared myself first before I tend to everyone else.  So this life really is all about me huh?

Where does it start?

Now that you have read about Acts 5, let’s go back to 2 Chronicles…

So, I am reading 2 Chronicles 9 and I get to verses 13 – 28.  In these verses the writer describes many of Solomon’s treasures and again discusses the greatness of his wisdom.  In the words of the great orator Ben Massey “What the crap, man?”  This guy has it all.  Now, we know that he ends up marrying all these gals and his heart is turned away from the Lord, but how?

As I was reading this morning God showed me something that I hadn’t seen or thought of.  Solomon’s wealth exceeded that of all the other kingdoms of this world (2 Chron 9:22).  Other kings would come to visit to listen to his wisdom (2 Chron 9:23).  All of Solomon’s cups were made of gold, they wouldn’t even consider drinking out of silver, for that was too common during Solomon’s reign (2 Chron 9:20).  The list of Solomon’s accomplishments are extensive.  I’m sorry, the list of whose accomplishments?  Did Solomon have wisdom?  Did Solomon have wealth?  I thought that the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.

Now, I know me and most of my friends…  I start accumulating all this stuff, and over time I’d begin thinking I was all that!  What were his 700 wives saying?  Do you think these women talking in his ear were giving God the glory or Solomon?  Could there have been an issue with pride?

James 4:6 saya that God resists the proud.  Is it possible that the way in which Solomon’s wives turned his heart from God was through puffing up Solomon?  Did God resist him because of his arrogance?  Did he begin to see himself as wise.  Were great things to common for Solomon?  Oh, how easy it is for us to get caught up in pride.  Solomon was no different.  We must always remember where our gifts and abilities come from.  God’s glory above our own.  He will lift up the humble, but we must gve Him the glory and lift His name higher.

Father, I pray that you will remove all selfish pride from me today.  I cannot imagine trying to live life with you resisting my every move.  Do not allow me to ever get puffed up by the things over which you have given me stewardship.  I pray that I will always remember that it’s all yours; everything!

Changing Lives…

Colossians 1:4-6 (NLT)

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good New. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

The Good News bears fruit by changing lives just as it changed mine. There ’s much to unpack in that statement.

• Am I sharing the Good News?
• Is it changing others lives everywhere?
• Did it change my life? When did it change my life?
• Is it still changing my life?

OK. These questions are a little haunting, especially if I ask myself is the Good News changing lives in my own home? How different is my family from the rest of the world? Is God’s word impacting their lives? Why or why not? The why or why not is directly related to Question #1. Am I sharing with my family – my wife, my sons, my daughters – the impact and change God’s word has on my own life?

Lord, please help me realize and be attentive to “teachable moments” with my family. I Peter 3:15 says “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ” I ask to be attentive and ready Lord, especially to those in my own household. In Jesus’ name… Amen.

What?!

Acts 5 begins with Ananias and Sapphira.  Then moves to the disciples and the church doing many miracles.  Then they get arrested, beaten, thrown out, and released. 

When I look at the whole chapter I see how much it correlates to my spiritual life.  Ananias and Sapphira didn’t get struck down because they didn’t give everything to the church but because they lied to the Holy Spirit.  The disciples had something brand new they had never experienced before in the Holy Spirit and now these people in the church are grieving that thing and robbing from it and lying to it.  The disciples didn’t know alot about the Holy Spirit at that time and so any falsehood or blatant sin like that could cause this new power to leave or be squelched, as it is today. 

What also amazes me about that chapter is the disciples get beaten and then go out rejoicing and asking for more.  Is it because the miracles and the Holy Spirit sustained them so much that the pain didn’t matter? Did God protest their physical bodies from the pain?  I started thinking back on all the worship times I have had on Quests and remembering the power in that room, how heavy it was and thick, and how at that point in that presence everything else seemed to fade away and not be as important. All the pain and trials and stuff I was going through seemed trite and cheap.  How then can I live so much in the Spirit all the time that if I get beaten or stoned or messed up I will walk away rejoicing and thanking God because even through that the Spirit sustains me.

Ultimately don’t come in here messing up this thing we have and lie to the Holy Spirit it just might cost you your life.  God will not be mocked, something inside of me is dying when I walk like Ananias and Sapphira.  Then get ready and spend as much time with the Spirit in obedience.  They got put in jail and told not to preach like this or they will be beat, let out that night, and that morning they were back at it.  As soon as they were told to they acted, obedience then, not when they were ready, when they were told.  And then they got beat and left thanking God.

Dad help me with my obedience.  When you tell me to do something let me do it as soon as you say, not when its most convenient for me.  If that is what it takes to walk in the spirit like they did, and see the miracles they saw, and rejoice when my life sucks and really mean it, then God that is what I want.

Sin Unaware…

Passage:

Psalm 19:12-14 (NLT)12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

There was a time in my life when I was completely blind to my own sin. Scary? Not then. But looking back on it, I’m thankful God didn’t strike me dead. I am grateful for the work he has done so far in exposing my sinful nature, my “deceitful heart” as Jeremiah 17:9 (Click to see) puts it.

God has faithfully exposed and removed the planks from my eye, so to speak; those giant pink elephants in the room; the blatant sins and attitudes that were easy for everyone else to see but me.

Now the work continues… to be diligent about finding the hidden stuff, the stuff I’m still blind to. The “hidden faults” that David references in this passage. This is where the real work begins and it only comes by daily being in His presence and in His word to let it wash over me.

I need a Savior. I need a heart gardener. I need my Father in heaven to continually mold this heart into the vessel He needs it to be. That process includes His Word, His revelation and faithful men who will daily sharpen me.

Papa, keep digging. Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer! Amen.

What am I hiding?

I read 2 Chronicles 8 this morning.  As I was reading, verse 11 jumped out at me.  Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, ‘”My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.“

Pharaoh’s daughter worshipped pagan gods.  Solomon new that he couldn’t have his pagan wife living where the ark was, so he built her a nice home and moved her.  Instead of leading his wife into worship of the one true God, he hid her from God’s presence.  Do we do this?  Do I do this?  Do I have things in my life to which I am committed that I have not surrendered to the will of the Father?  Instead, I set these things up with their own home and just kind of keep them out of the presence of God.  If I keep my pride and my jeslousy in another house, maybe God won’t know about them.

Proverbs 26:11 says “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.“  We know from I Kings 11 that Solomon, the wisest man in all the world, does just that.  Solomon turned his back on God because he continued to set up houses (and eventually temples) for his pagan wives.  He repeated his foolish act over and over again.  He continued to think that he could hide his lovers from God.  It didn’t work for him and won’t work for us.

We must live our lives wide open. Nothing hidden; all open to the light.  We cannot hide anything from God anyway, and trying only leads us to separation from Him.

Father, I surrender everything that I am to you.  Search my heart and if there be any wicked way, remove it far from me.  I do not want to keep anything hidden from you today.  Holy Spirit, reveal to me those things or areas in my life that keep me separated from Father.

I have said too much…

Click to see Job 40:3-5

Job has just spent the last 2 chapters getting absolutely pasted by the Lord.

Granted, there is NO WAY I could have maintained my integrity and not sinned against the Lord with my mouth had I just been through what Job had been through for the last 38 chapters.  But this is his response.

“I am nothing… I will cover my mouth with my hand… I have said too much already.  I have nothing more to say,” in all humility and reverence to the Lord God Almighty.  Then God goes on for the rest of Chapter 40 and all of 41 all up in Job’s business.  I’m sure God would have just struck me dead.  One big lighting bolt from nowhere.  ZZZZAPPP!

This is an exercise I need to practice.  Putting my hand on my mouth, especially when I deal with my family and specifically my kids.  Oh the words that I say!

Father, close my mouth like you closed the mouthes of the lions when Daniel was in the den.  I surrender my tongue to You.  You use it for your glory, not my satisfaction.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Distractions

I am reading the book “my utmost for HIS highest” and for Nov. 23 its talks about distractions, but what really nailed me was this “Until we get back into a quiet mood before HIM, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.” and ” When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with GOD.”
This is the first time/day I have read this book and Father showed me it was for this day.  I have allowed human ingenuity (PRIDE) to guide me and discernment of others, being judgementa to tell me that I’m doing good.  Thank you Pappa for revealing that.  It was no accident that this is where I started this walk with YOU.

Which Death?

I read Romans 5:12-18 and Romans 6:1-4 today. Romans 5 was kind of confusing, I mean I get the general idea of the passage that Adam brought death and Christ brings life. It was just difficult for me to really dig into it because of how wordy it was to me. It seems as though Father is taking me back through some of the basic principles of my walk and showing them to me in different ways, which I’m okay with. So here’s what I took away from those two passages: Because of Adam’s sin, death entered the world. James 1:15 says, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” So right away, as soon as I was born I was doomed to a physical death.  Romans 5:14 says, “Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.” So even if I had been perfect as a child, which trust me I wasn’t, I was still going to die. However, when Christ entered the scene (earth), he died a physical death taking the burden of all sin, past and future. When he rose again, he took the power of death, everyone knows the story. So each day, I can choose to live my life in sin, which leads to death. Or I can kill my flesh, and have eternal life. Romans 6:3-4 says, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” I don’t know about you guys, but the second death in this story sounds a lot better to me, after that death I get eternal life. Awesome. Let me know what you guys think.