Who is God? All hail the power.... (part 6)

Whose am I? Do I follow His perfect will, even seek what His will is? Jesus says in Matthew 12:50 that I am in His family then. Am I the child that sits on His lap or at His feet as He tells me stories of Moses and Jacob and Joshua and of His son, as He sits laughing with me? (Matt 19:14; Mk 10:14; Luke 18:16). Do I allow Him to control my life, a life I truly have no control over anyway and is obviously formed from my worship? (John 15:5,6)  How do I become His child? The first step is to believe. That is not the only ingredient, although many say that that is all that is required. There are passages in the bible that say to believe, Acts 5:14 being one in which the believers were added to His church. Is it just by their belief? Not according to James.  The second chapter of the book of James is a wonderful treatise on faith and how our actions speak our faith. Much as our actions of love speak our words of love more than the words themselves. Words define the thought, actions give those words power. If I have faith, then I will treat everyone as Jesus wants me to treat them, I will not treat anyone with a better position any better, I will take pity on those in need and really try to help them out. I will take care of my brethren, and those who have lost their parents, particularly fathers, and of the widows. That can only come with stepping out on that belief. Once I believe, I turn my heart to Him. (Acts 9:35-47; Acts 11:21).  And that faith is solidified in my step into the realm of obedience. When I see what He wants me to do, that He wants me to be sealed forever with Him, and all that seal entails, then I will understand ( and have come to that understanding while I was studying to become a Christian) that baptism is a part of that. (Acts 2:41,47) Because it doesn’t just take faith, it doesn’t just take turning away, it takes commitment to be holy and separate forever. Only then can I become a functionally unit of His body. (Romans 12:4,5)

Who is God? All Hail the power...(part 5)

And the effects of my personal moanings to God for salvation cannot be denied either. When I have run from the LORD’s purpose, when I have told God I wasn’t going to do what He directed but was going to go another way that I thought was best, then the storm comes up. And up I go in a big tidal wave and am swept up in doing doing doing…and then a fish comes along to save me from this storm that I caused, all because God has a purpose for me. (Jonah 2:1-10) and then I admit that God saves me, God provided the fish, God needs me to do His will. And my prayer to Him is moaning of why me. Any time I hurt, or I am in pain, why me? Any time, and God will answer. But I need to go before Him and ask Him. I need to ask for others’ help as well to pray for me, I need the elders when I am sick, and my brethren when I sin and need accountability to help me realize that Jesus in fact saves.

 

 

Who is God? All hail the pwer... (part 4)

This kind of relationship only comes with acknowledging that I do believe he will do what he says he will do. (Mark 11:24,25) and that we truly can have that relationship together.

As I read the bible when I became a Christian , I came upon the story of Jonah. And have read it many times henceforth, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized that it wasn’t until Jonah decided not to avoid God that God listened to him and helped him. (Jonah 2:1) Pretty much that was the answer Jonah wanted at that time. But his other prayers weren’t answered. Much as God doesn’t always answer me in what I may desire, as much as I may consult Him (Hab 1:2). It may have nothing to do with whether or not I have or will avoid Him or whether my steps have gone in the same manner He so desires. He just may not think this is the right time. But whether it is or not the right time, whether He answers now or 10 years from now, my persistence pays off always. (Luke 2:37). For example, I have a very difficult relationship with my mom. She and I just do not see eye to eye on many things, never have, never will, and she chooses to live with me because she believes she should, not because she wants to, not because she enjoys our relationship, but because she wants the company I can afford her. She asked me if she could move in with me. And I put her off, knowing that I really needed to go to God in prayer before I answered her. As I did. And His answer was for her to come. Why? Only He knows. And so when my brother died in 1997 and my mom’s house sold in May. She moved in with me. Nothing changed in her heart. I was and always will be her child, I have never grown up in her eyes. In her eyes, I cannot take care of myself even though I am a federal Veterinarian. It has not been an easy time, because above all things, mother doesn’t communicate with me really well. While she doesn’t want me to know things going on in her life, she nonetheless wants to know all things in mine, has an opinion about each and everyone of my friends and says so even forgets to give me their phone messages. But through all of this, I have learned to stand my ground with her, and we have become somewhat of friends. Perhaps not close friends, but friends nonetheless. Persistence through prayer is what this is all about, because if I cannot communicate my desires and my aches and pains to the Almighty, it will be difficult at best communicating with a human being. And persistence in prayer has everything to do with how I worship. Do I obligatorily go on Sunday, or do I go with my heart prayerfully, wanting to grow in Him and know the mystery of being part of the Bride of Christ? When I move without an answer from God, I risk doing something that will not please Him. On the other hand, I must know when to move, being like Jesus and saying, “Not my will but Thine”.  I must always remember stillness, to hear Him speak to me to say when or not, to go privately before Him (Matt 14:23), to make time not just on Sundays, but to do this every single day of my life, to walk and wake in His shadow, to honestly be His. Even during my time with the body. In worship, there is a corporate stillness, a hush over the crowd if you will. In the body, there I and my brethren in Christ listen to His will, share His meal, listen to His prayers for us and our for each other. While I may want to shout, there is time and a place for that. And while God tells us we are to shout His name, He also tells us to be silent and know He is Lord. And praising is only a whispering of His name. And in this whole silence, one of my biggest problems is my lack of faith that God will talk to me --  and that my prayer is one-sided, as though offering appeasements to an idol. But I have come to realize this is not true. God and I are in communication with one another always in my stillness. I become part and parcel of the corporate body in the silence with which we all approach God, much more than shouting and clapping and raising my hands can ever bring, because all of us are listening to Him, not to demonstrate our emotions, but to combine our spirits to His Holy Spirit. Abraham prayed this prayer for His family in Gen 12:5,8 and Jacob in Gen 35:3, an altar of thanksgiving. Cornelius in Acts 10:2 led to his and their conversion to Christ. The results of serious corporate prayer cannot be denied. The joining of spirits within God’s spirit cannot be denied. (Matt 18:19; Acts 1:13, 14)  

Who is God: All hail the Power (part 3)

I want to be at God’s feet, being nurtured by the fruit of His Spirit. I want to greet Him at His throne, praise Him for being on that throne, and acknowledge that He is in control of not only my daily needs but also those needs that arise when I hurt and struggle. (Lk 11:2-4, Matt 6:9-13). God is always on the throne, the King, the Ruler of all nature, and yet I in my finite wisdom want to replace Him with me. My prayers, when humble, when acknowledging that He is LORD and always will be, halt the tendency to say, “God, I know better. Let me handle this.” I want to seek His face, I want to knock at the door, because I know that all good gifts do indeed come from God. (Lk 11:8-13) I know that God is always there. I want to love Him and have faith in Him forever, the way He wants me to. I want to listen to His heart and do as He says. I want to pray openly as I sit at His feet. I want to be honest and true to God when we talk. This will only happen when I allow Him to remove the bricks in my walls and show me to myself the way He made me, not the way I think I am. As long as that wall is up, I have a false image of who I think is on the other side. Once He begins removing the bricks I can see the true image, His image, in which I was created. But it only happens if I allow Him. Why? Because He wants to hear me say, “You are in control. The only one Who knows me the way I should be known.” Brick by brick. “But God...” Brick. “Don’t you see?” Brick  As the bricks are removed, the result of those concerns and worries comes across crystal clear. Brick. Worrying does no good, because that means I continually take God off the throne, or at least think I do. Brick. And He loves it best when I am trying to understand and trying to walk with Him. He loves my search, because He knows the end result can only meaning knowing Him deeper and seeing Him more clearly. But He love most of all when I allow Him to take me to the answers. When the bricks come down, when I see Him face to face, without the veil. When I know He loves me, has always loved me, and will always love me. This is why I will die, to get to the point where God  can lift the final brick from my wall and I can see me and Him through His eyes, for my eyes while on earth cannot distinguish illusion from truth, but His can, through eternity. (Job 21:5) Prayer is not to benefit Him, but exists that the bricks can come down and I can see clearly and follow more nearly and love Him more dearly. (Godspell, “Day by Day”) My attitude can then be like Jesus’ in Matt 26:29, one of acceptance of what the Father wants him to do, even though it is quite difficult for him to understand (Mr 14:36, Lk 22:42). My prayer in worship needs to be of that humble, submissive attitude that accepts rather than understands. It needs to be like that of David, who in II Sam 12;22, 23, fasted and wept over his sick and dying child and then once the child was dead became accepting of the Lord’s will. It needs to be of the attitude of Job, who tore his clothing, shaved his head, and prostrated himself on the ground worshipping God in humbleness. (Job 1:20,21) Nor should my prayer life be obvious to anyone. (Matt 6:6)And above all, I must maintain my humility, not pray a list of expectations, but pray as though God could refuse me (because he could) and come before him pleading and contritely (Gen 19:20; Gen 24:12; Gen 32:9-12) Only in my honest supplication and pleading to God as a Father and King will I be able to stop satan (Luke 22:31,32). I have to fully believe that if I ask the door will be opened (Matt 7:7,8) and that the comforter was sent for me as well as for the apostles so that I would know how to give account(John 14:16). The only way I can stop my enemies is through prayer, because by praying and going in God’s presence, I can truly put aside all concerns for failure. For in God there is no such thing as failure. (Neh 4:9) So when I pray I must seek His Glorious Visage, that Face that conveys the peace that passes all understanding (Ps 27:8; Ps 105:3,4). When I call upon Him, He comes full and with His coming, all His truths become evident, His words plain, His existence true. (Ps 145:18)

Who is God? All hail the power....(part 2)

I am created in God’s image. That is my core. Jesus lives at the center of that core. He was, after all, that part of the triune that created me, and I was in His image. When I die, the glory of God will be demonstrated to me and through me because I will be transformed by Him into Him. I’m thinking of the skin of an apple that I am peeling the red skin away to reveal some off white fruit. Further and further back until I no longer look like what I perceive as the red-skinned, different from the green-skinned, or yellow-skinned apples. Once my skin is peeled it reveals the fruit that is not unlike other apples. God sees me this way. Until I can get to this layer, I won’t be able to look at myself the way God views me. Now that my skin is gone, I can see my core and I can now know my core. Because my core is God’s core.

Who is God? All hail the Power....

God is a god that desires a relationship with me and others, in fact with everyone. He wants us to bring ourselves to Him as a sacrifice (Romans 12:1)  as Jesus did. At that moment, when we say, “Here I am Lord, use me as a sacrifice, and  not what I can do”, He is most pleased because we have come to Him with obedience and humility, spurred by love. (Psalm 61:19) And God does not have a “because I said so” attitude, but more of a “because you know me through my revelation to you in Jesus” attitude (John 17:16), And there-in lies repentance for and forgiveness of sin. If we were in actual relationship with Him, there would never have been the need for sacrifices and the Jesus. Since we are His children, and obedience would lead us to act in accordance with His will, then even when we stumble, He gives us a way out. If we live by giving Him sacrifices, as those before Christ, we are only trying to appease Him and not develop a relationship with Him. He is so desirous of Him, He wants to actually die to ourselves becoming a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17),  purify ourselves in Him, and finally be justified by our faith. It is not working ourselves into a frenzy as I have a habit of doing and completely forgetting about my purpose for worship. God wants a heart-felt attitude when we go to worship Him as well as when we are out and about. It is when we can say, like David, in Psalm 63:1-2, that I am earnestly seeking God, thirsting for Him in this desolation we call earth and desirous of being in the Glory of the One true God, the Almighty. It is only then that I can be in relationship with Him.

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 27)

I must pray in faith, like Elias as recounted in James 5:17,18. I must believe His promises of being able to go boldly before the throne (  ) and speak to Him as child to parent. I must treat prayer as though I was talking to God, as in Genesis 4:13-15, and as God spoke to Moses in Exodus 14:15,16 during the crossing of the Red Sea. And I must believe that I will be blessed in my prayer, whatever the outcome, as in Genesis 17:20, when God blessed Ismail, and in Genesis 20:17, when God healed Abimelech and blessed Abraham in his prayer. I know that God answers me and utilizes my capacity, especially when I pray and admit that I am really at His service. I know that because He answered so many in the bible, particularly in Genesis 25:22,23 when Rebekah realized that she indeed had two children within her rather than one. I must know that God is my succor, as Moses did in Exodus 15:25 and Exodus 17:4-6 when Moses cried to the LORD and He indeed provided His people with water, pure and sweet, and with a never ending supply of water, as when Moses struck the Rock. What a parallel to Jesus saying He was the Living Water, and that those who partake of Him would never go thirsty. So God is when I approach Him in prayer. He is eternal, He is not shallow and He shall never run dry. The LORD is my shelter during times of distress. (Psalms 118:5, 120:1), and when I lack knowledge and wisdom of His ways and ask Him to teach me. (Psalm 119:26) When I am weak, He strengthens me. (Psalms 138:3)

Who am I? My relationship with God hrough prayer (part 26)

God is not only a savior, and a listener to prayer, and a deliverer, but he also commands evil and good spirits. The passage in 1 Samuel 16:16-23 describes how only David playing for Saul could sooth him from the effects of the evil spirit that was sent by God. And not only does He command spirits, but He commands creation. Genesis is the perfect example of what He did during the initial days of His creation and His divine guidance, even to the creation of man and woman. He planned this, He planned for man to be created and woman after the man. He knew that man and woman would eventually sin and therefore be thrown out of the garden and so He planned for the coming of His son to show the way back to Him, and His plans came to fruition. And God also plans for certain people to be together in marriage or in friendship. God planned for Rebekah to marry Isaac, in Genesis 24:11-23, and this came to fruition. And He planned that all mankind would come to Him. That comes to fruition in Christ, when we accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Who am I? My relationship to God through prayer (part 25)

No one describes the glory of God and the Oneness of the LORD than the author(s) of Psalms. Psalms 50:14-15 says to give God thanksgiving and to pay homage to Him because He is the Most High God and that He is a deliverer, as Psalms 91:15 also says. Psalms 55:16-17 calls God a Saviour who hears me when I pray. Psalms 154:18-19 says that God is near to those that pray to Him. Psalms 56:9 says that God turns enemies back. Psalms 65:2-5 describe God as being a hearer of prayer, the One who deals with righteousness and who is responsible for my salvation and the salvation of all His people. Psalms 69:33 and Psalms 102:17-20 say that God hears the poor. Psalms 86:5-7 describes God as good. Proverbs 2:3-5 says that God provides and Proverbs 3:6 calls God the One that directs my path. Finally, God grants the desires of those that are righteous. (Proverbs 10:24).

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 24)

And God is so good. He fills me with the Holy Spirit, as He did His people in Acts 4:31. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. He supplies my every need, my food, my shelter, my healing, and my comfort, as in Hosea 12:4, when God sent an angel to comfort Hosea. And yet there are times when He will not remove the “thorn from the flesh” because it is more sufficient that I learn dependence on Him. For in 2 Corinthians 12:,8,9 I am reminded that even Paul was not spared of the thorn. And He is not unaware of me when I do good. He calls me righteous when I believe on Him. And His eyes are on me, as His eyes are on all those who He calls righteous (Psalms 34:15,17) and He tells me He will be my supplier when I seek Him (Psalms 37:4,5). God is my only hope of survival. (Psalms 38:15). And He is my only hope for life.

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 23)

God multitasks for me and for all of His people. God delivers. That’s the promise in Nehemiah 9:27 and Judges 16:28-30. He delivers me, even from severe medical problems that I have had in the past, as He delivered Samson and strengthened him. He delivered me, when I turn to Him as God the Almighty and Father, from oppressors, as in Judges 3:9,15 and 4:3,23,24. As He delivered the people of Israel and allowed them to return and re-build the temple, He delivers me especially when my desire is to do His work. And He answers prayers. He gave Manoah a child in Judges 13:8,9 and answered David’s question in 1 Samuel 30:8 about pursuing an enemy. In 2 Samuel 2:3 God answered David about whether to go into Judah or Hebron. God answers prayers and delivers me, as in Psalm 118:5 and gives me as in Psalms 138:3. God instructs me, as He did Moses in Numbers 12:13-15 and again in Psalms 99:6. He hears my cries for help, as He did Moses in Egypt  (Exodus 2:23-25). And He tells me His history in His Word, as He did in Acts 7:34 and in the entire chapter of Hebrews 11.

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 22)

Something that goes along with this courage as displayed by my friend is fearing the LORD. Does that mean “shivering in your boots”? No, it means to be aware of the consequences of not doing what He wants you do to do and not obeying Him. Seemingly the bible is contradictory because on the one hand it says God doesn’t give us the Spirit of fear in 2 Timothy 1:7. On the other hand, Proverbs 9:10 says that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Which is correct? They both are. God doesn’t want His children to live in fear and walk on eggshells, but they are to respect Him, that what He says is what we should and must do. This is explained well in Proverbs 2:3,5, because He gives us the spirit of understanding. Respect of God results in the delight of righteousness, as stated in Proverbs 10:24.

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 21)

And God is wonderful in His lessons to me. For example, in 1 Samuel 10-20, the story of Hannah teaches me that 1) God wants me to go with a pure heart bringing everything whether sorrowful or joyful to Him, as Hannah did promising her firstborn, the son for which she had waited for so long, to God; 2) I must be prepared to do as I promised, as Hannah was, she followed through on her promise without fail, 3) God has a reason for everything. And God’s time may not be our time. Only God knows the best time for events to occur. Only God knows what is truly best for us. Only God knows whether to say yes, no, or otherwise. In Judges 10:6-11:33 such is a story. Israel has just sinned against God and God gave them over to the Amorites and the Philistines but then delivered them. After a long war against Gilead, God helped them because they were sorrowful and penitent.

 

God nourishes us through prayer, because He is able to deliver us. Psalms 81:10 and 86:5-7 impresses this idea into the reader as well as the fact that He has the power displayed through the Spirit to carry us through anything. I have a friend in Kentucky that really brings this home to me. She had a difficult time with her pregnancy; so difficult she was put in the hospital for the last three weeks of her pregnancy. Then she had to undergo an emergency cesarean section because her blood pressure had gone too high and she was in danger of losing her life. Prior to being admitted to the hospital and during her stay, she collected verses on which to meditate. She related to me that she had forgotten those passages, but that another came to mind, “Be still and know that I am your God” (Psalms 46:10). What a testament to the Spirit of God and the power that He holds! If all Christians would understand His power!

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 20)

Prayer is so wonderful. It is our direct line to God, our private room where we can speak to God. And it avails much because in prayer we see He provides much. For instance, Moses and God had an intimate relationship in which God revealed His intentions to wipe out the Israelites because of their sin, although Moses from time to time implored God not to do this. (Numbers 11:11-35). It worked the other way as well, God approaching Moses much as He does us. Because He knew the suffering of His people, as shown in Exodus 3:7,11. No more evident is this then in Exodus 14:10-11 when Moses is before the Pharoah and the LORD promised to fight for the people. And prayer was useful for confession of sins and not forgetting God but admitting that they did sin against the LORD, as shown in 1 Samuel 12:9-11. Prayer is also useful not only for seeking the wisdom of God, but also in helping me to actually follow that wisdom. (2 Samuel 5:19-25). God through prayer reveals Himself and His promises, as seen in 11 Chronicles 15:1-15 as well as for His people to make a covenant with Him to follow Him and abide by His will. This was true during the rule of Asa, and also many years prior to the Kings, under the leadership of Gideon. (Judges 6:36-40) and the woman that ask Jesus to help her in her unbelief. (Mark 9:24)

Who a I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 19)

 

So if my I take my relationship to God seriously, how does this affect my prayer life? That is, how much do I believe that God will answer my prayers? First, does He answer my prayers? I John 5:14,15 says that most assuredly if I pray according to God’s will then I must know that I will get what I want and certainly what I need. What does it mean to pray according to His will? It means I must pray as Jesus taught, with humility, respect, and love for “Abba”. I must, because that is the relationship that God wants with me, a child-parent relationship. 

 

God does much more than friends or even family would ever do for me. (Luke 11:5-13). God is the spiritual father, mother, sister, brother, friend, etc. I am never alone, not really, because God is still with me, even when I am in a cave and have run away from the rest of humanity, as Elijah did. (I Kings 19:9) Even when I want to give up on people and to tell them they are worthless. Even when I want to break the 10 commandments over their head and then retreat back to Mount Sinai. God will not leave me alone. And He demands that I maintain relationship with others even if I have serious issues with people. That is the reason He puts me in various places, because I must deal with what is between others and myself. And that is why He leaves me in those positions, because if I don’t deal with them at that juncture, life will get harder and harder. Dealing with difficulties is a struggle, but God says that unless I learn to cope and deal then I will not grow. Paul says it best, “Perseverance builds character” (Romans 8:18) More important than that, who am I not to forgive people for sinning against me? When did God leave me in charge? In Genesis 18:23-33, the story of Abraham in Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham asks God about the 10 righteous men and so on, God’s mercy is perhaps not apparent but it is nonetheless there, as is the flip side of that, His judgment. But He and He alone has the right to lay judgment on people. He tells us to be merciful. While He doesn’t tell us not to judge He says be careful how we judge. (Matt 7:1) But that quality is not one of the beatitudes, and then again how many times are we told to be anger and sin not. We cannot focus on the negative, but accentuate the positive. We cannot wish others ill, and expect judgment not to be present for us as well. I had a spiritual brother who has since fallen away, who had issues with accepting total obedience and commitment to God because of what he saw where he was worshipping and because of his various weaknesses that he would not confess to others. And my first reaction was to resent what he did in coming into the body and the people he led away. The next reaction was to realize that perhaps I could have been more of a steward of my knowledge and what God gave me in terms of talents. It is sad and I pray for him consistently, even though I am pained to keep in contact with him because of things he has said about me and others. But Christ would put that aside and tell him that he has to live by the truth and that God called him out of his sin and is willing to put people in his life that would help him. I may be one of those people. I may just be an encourager. Only time will tell. But God’s mercy is all-powerful and He is all knowing. He loves us and He created us to be His beings

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 18)

What of my worship? Who is God in my worship and what role does He play? In I Chronicles 15:16 it just demonstrates that God takes all this seriously.  This scripture was written during David’s time, full of pomp and ceremony and solemnity. It is the attitude carried throughout the bible, although because people and culture changes the way of expressing this solemnity also changes. The point is, God must be taken seriously in worship. My mind and heart must be focused on God to get the full effects of His many blessings as well as His teachings and warnings to me. I remember vividly going to church several times when I was head of this committee or that committee and my heart was not at the service but figuring out what was going on with the committees. That was so wrong, and I repented of it, and when I did, I realized that it was time to step down. God wants my service to others but not if it takes away from Him. In Chronicles 16:4-42, the writer explains so much better than I ever could the purpose behind the focus. In order to focus my mind on praising Him and listening to Him so that I can better serve Him to His glory, my mind must be focused. In order to remember and understand what He has done and that He has done so much for me as well as all of His children, I must focus my mind on Him, because He is focused on me. I must love Him, because He first loved me, and my attitude must be respectful, because He respected and loved me enough to send His Son so that I may be called His child. (John 3:16, John 1:12)

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 17)

It is only God’s voice that can make me as part of God’s family truly joyful. And this is demonstrated in Isaiah 35:1-10. Only He can make me peaceful. Salvation is only found through Him in His Son. God provides me with one road and God is a great Father leading me through the wilderness of my human existence in which His is the only way. In this way Isaiah describes the church, His people, and God in His heaven, not just the nation of Israel. The old nation of Israel, before Roman occupation and ultimate destruction, is not under consideration in Isaiah. As described here, His people are the Church, not the children of Israel. If His people were in Israel then what would be the purpose of bringing Christ into the picture? And why would so many Jews in the New Testament accept Jesus’ words as those of truth when they already had the words of truth? And therefore undergo the change involved in the acceptance of God’s word? God’s word is clear, and while the Jews may be my spiritual ancestors, for me to want to go back to Jewish ways would be denying there was a sacrifice (Hebrews 10) Those are strong words, but those are the Words Paul, a devote Jew and later a devote Jewish Christian, proclaimed. With the coming of Christ, the die was cast. Either I accept His words or I believe the tenet that everyone is alright in God’s eyes.

 

In Exodus 21:17-21 as well as in I John, a very good subject is brought up. How do I treat God? More importantly how does God see that I am treating Him and His people? What does God expect of me? How does He expect me to treat people, not just those that profess His Name but those who are lost as well? God expects me to behave according to what His Son taught, if I want to take my place in that mansion He prepared for me. It is nice to think of Jesus as being loving and kind and having His Father’s Spirit of Grace and Love. But let’s not forget about the obedience that God expects and that this message was delivered through Christ. We must be obedient, we must walk as He walked, we must treat each other the way Christ would treat us. It is not my will that is important, but the will of my Father. And while it is true He gave me a free will, it was not to take advantage of God but to understand that His is a glorious, wonderful will and in fact the only purposeful will.

 

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 16)

Isaiah 61:1-11 is the culmination of this exaltation, the covenant that God makes with me as one of His people, to heal, to free from my imprisonments whatever those may be, to comfort me and to anoint me and all of His people. All of us have the position in His family, this is His promise and those outside of His family will serve His people and me included. There are three things that ring clear in this passage, God loves judgment, hates robbery or deceitfulness, and will direct the work in truth. This is His everlasting covenant. He will be known to all people and will cause growth as seeds sown. What a lovely covenant! The thing that gets confusing for people reading Isaiah is the descriptions in Isaiah of Israel and concepts that it will be saved. (Isaiah 45:16) Is this the Israel of the past? Prior to the Babylonian and Assyrian invasions? Prior to the Roman occupation? Is this the “one nation” that Isaiah so often refers to? It would seem not, because of the exclusiveness of the Jewish religion at the time, but also because Judaism, while it serves to provide a moral and strong background to doing the will of God (if one followed the precepts and not the people), was becoming outmoded in favor of greed and idolatry and politics. No, the nation that Isaiah was describing was the result of the coming of Christ, that Christ would have the authority over this nation and all could come to Him. And He would have a new song, as described in Isaiah 42:1-12, much as Jesus in John 15:12-17 said that He was giving His apostles a new commandment. The new song was so new and at the same time what God had intended all along in order to provide for His children and to nurture His children. (Isaiah 41:12-20). Isaiah is so rich in the descriptions of the Spirit of God and how much He desires to come to Him and obey Him and  how much God desires to gather not just Israel but all people to Him. To accomplish this purpose, He will send His Son. What a breath of fresh air God is!

 

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 15)

 

God is the Father. That relationship encompasses and is far greater than any of the definitions I can put to Him. God is Good (Matt 19:17), God is Love (1 John 4:8) and all that is summed up in Father. Our Father. The Good and loving Father. He is in charge of His house, He knows and calls His children to Him. He supplies, supports, trains, instructs His children with, as in the Dan Fogelberg song, a thundering velvet hand. Most people cannot grasp that concept of God being Daddy, because they do expect thunderbolts to come down. Mostly because in their sin nature most people have been conditioned to fear Him, in the sense of worrying about their fate in His presence. And it is true, in the sense that it would be a shame to be in the hands of an angry God. But God, by letting his children put Christ on when baptized and by sending His son to earth that His children could learn and do His will, has given us this grace and love. He is Father, and He makes it plain to me that He wants me to be His child. Some people have the harsh God in mind only because human fathers are sometimes overly strict disciplinarians with no room for compassion. Some fathers on earth are alcoholics who don’t worry about the effect of that on their children, some are even abusive in that condition. Some are child abusers and pedophiles. No wonder some people see God as mean. But what we forget is that this is not God our Father. Because we forget that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, and our ways are not His ways. He is totally different from anything I will ever encounter, because I have put so much between the world and my true self, whereas God has nothing between Himself and His world. What one sees is what one gets.  “I am Who am” as God told Moses to tell His people. In conjunction with this, is God Who is the creator, Who sent Jesus (Who is after all God, but He is the God made flesh) to create this Earth (Isaiah 45:6-18) .God and only God can build. God and only God can raise some one from the dead. And it is God and Jesus that hold the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Isaiah 29:18-25 and Col 2:1-3. And again and forever God is in control. (Isaiah 40:4-11) God is exalted above all.

Who Am I? : My relationship with God through prayer (part 14)

He has given me His Name as He has all His children (Ephesians 3:15). He calls me one of His precious sheep, as He does all those that believe in Him. (Ezekiel 34:15; John 10:16) Just as the sheep know their master’s voice, so I, being in Him, know Him in truth when He speaks to me. And as such, in His house, I must worship Him and treat all things in worship with reverence and holiness and with the attitude of quietness with my hands.

 

God will tell me what He truly desires through His son. Habbakkuk 2:14 says, “For the earth shall look to His knowledge and wisdom," That is how I know that so often “Jerusalem” mean the purity and spirituality that once existed there and not specifically the geographical location. After all, God is not going to sit on the throne in a physical Jerusalem, anymore than Christ was to come to earth with a heavenly army. The city itself is a concept, an idea where God is understood as this spirit and shall build a Holy City or rather has built one, which had incomparable splendor and protection from the Father. I will, along with the rest of the world who are touched by God, kneel down and become prostrate before Him. All for Him (Zep 2:11) and not for me although my spirit enjoys being conjoined to His.

Who am I: my relationship with God through prayer (part 13)

God makes my voice heard, when otherwise I would be prattle. God gives me joy when I am confronted by pictures of starving children, or hear that a dear relative has fallen victim to cancer. God is the author of this. (Is 38:14-19) And I pray that when I sin, for I will sin being human, that God is not so mad at me that all is lost. All I have loved is gone. My father, my brother perished years ago. But God goes on forever, and He makes the nights seem more comforting and the days more exuberant than I can even imagine. (Is 64:9-12) And then God has taken His infinite mercy and compassion and has turned from me because that is how I treated Him for so long. (Jer 14:19-21) And He only gives me at times that which I think I need but in fact is that which I want. I don’t want to obey Him, I want to fullfill my lusts, like Isreal wanted a king, when God and only God is king. (Jeremiah 32:16-32) And because I am greedy and don’t want to care for those around me. (Lamenations 5:19-22)

 

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 12)

How well I know that sin is a disease only God can cure! My sin of lust has led me to do many things that I perhaps would disdain and call evil, but I was at one point in my life (and can again be, given the right circumstances) caught up in them. God calls me righteous in spite of myself because my prayer allows me to communicate with Him and only Him, going into His throne room. God in the form of the Jehovah-Raphthe heals all wounds, especially those caused by sin. (Ps 38:1-20). And while I am in the midst of my struggle against this sin, and while I am being tempted and tried, and while I am falling from such heights, God gives me the strength and peace and will fill me with His truth, if I will only keep my focus and thoughts upon Him and His glory. Because of God and His great judgments and mercies, I can worship and be joyful in Him and praise Him and please Him, much as David in Psalms 43:1-5. And while those that are deceitful will try to pull me away with temptations, God will still save me if I maintain my focus on Him. (Psalm 38:20-22) It is not difficult asking for help when my enemies are those who do not believe. The rubber meets the road when people that worship with me are the same as those that hurt me. It is when those that call themselves my brothers and sisters spurn or criticize or ridicule me that my heart is really sore and that I come to realize that they do not realize what they are doing, much as I do not know what I am doing when I give into temptations. For you see meanness is a temptation to be selfish and narrow. And if I keep my focus still that God is forever and is faithful then this too shall pass, and my relationships will be enjoyable or at least I will find some enjoyable relationships elsewhere., because God knows I need those just to combat the one sin of thinking I am unlovable. (Psalm 55:1-17) I already know that some people will hate me, but that doesn’t bother me. There are those who mock my worship of God and frankly I don’t care. God alone is worthy of my thoughts and prayers and He alone has the power to overcome my enemies, no matter who they are. (Ps 56:1-13)

Who am I: My relationship with God through prayer (part 11)

Sometimes I am scared of what God will do to me if he finds out that I am not going to church, not fellowshipping, not reading. My concept is that God will be like a taskmaster and give me a swat if I don’t obey him. So there are times when I throw myself at His feet and ask Him for mercy, as though I was a servant of His that owed Him money. Then later down the line, I don’t treat those around me the way I want to be treated, only the way I expect to be treated (Matt 18:26). If I go into any relationship expecting to be chastised or corrected or judged, then given human beings it will happen. With God, however, I am not treated the way I expect. Oh, true enough Jesus says that if I don’t show mercy, I’ll get no mercy. But God doesn’t look at me the way I expect Him to look at me. He views me as His daughter, His child. And when I treat others with a measure of how I wouldn’t want to be treated, He is disappointed in me, and He thwarts me. I remember an incident in second grade. I had made fun of a girl whose religious background was different than mine. I made a rather ugly drawing and slipped it under her desk. When the teacher found it, she pulled me in front of the class to chastise me. But she did something worse. Made me take the paper home, told me to show my parents and have them sign to show that they knew what I had done. So I took the picture and presented it to my father. I never ever wanted to make him angry again. It was the first time I had seen him lose his temper with me, and I would strive to make it the last time. That is the way God is. When I do something that disappoints Him, He will prick my heart in a manner I don’t ever want Him to be hurt again, in a manner that any guilt-trip would seem like a walk in the park. And so my worship gets back on track. Instead of being the unmerciful servant, I become the giving and merciful one. Because that is what God wants me to do. And because that is worship to Him. When I truly tear down those barriers and find out exactly what God wants me to do, I am in obedience to him as was Lydia in Acts (Acts 16:14). Her heart was opened to God, and nothing was held back from Him.

Who am I? My relationship with God through prayer (part 10)

There was once a blind man who sat on the streets and begged. He was born blind. His blindness concerned his parents, and so they set him on the streets to beg and there he sat. Along came another man, who told him of the Kingdom of Heaven and of the love of God and asked the blind man if he believed. And the blind man said, "Lord, I believe. "That’s all it took, after all he had nothing, no walls of financial security or intellectuality or family ties, all things were gone and the blind man was starting from scratch when Jesus came by. (John 9:38). How much heart did this man have? Enough to never deny that Christ was who he was. Do I have that kind of heart? Is my worship indicative of that heart?

Who Am I?My relationship to God through prayer (part 9)

Once upon a time there were prophets telling of God and the creation and the universe. Fortelling of a time when God’s people were obstinate and refused to follow Him. Some of the prophets were even put to death. And God gave them one more chance, and sent His Son, whom the angels were not remiss in worshipping. And the people killed him. (Heb 1:6) and so God said “Who are you truly serving?” And that question was meant as much for me in my worship, as much as it did in those ancient peoples --  who am I serving when I worship? (Deuteron 32:43) Who is it that I want to serve? When Paul went before Tertullus, he was accused of being a rabble-rouser, of causing mayhem and having no concern for public order, and Paul responds, “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law of the prophets.” (Acts 24:14) That is some rabble-rouser! In like manner, I am exhorted by Paul to believe those prophets, believe God, and to worship the King.

 

Who Am I? My Relationship to God through Prayer (part 8)

In worship there is reverence, realizing that there is only one God. This is no more explicit as in Matt 4:10 when Jesus’ response to the temptation that Satan put before him was, “Away from me, Satan. For it is written ‘Worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only’”. This reverence comes from not respecting a place or a congregation and picking sides, and not from thinking one-dimensionally with no room for examination, but by worship of God in the truth and spirit (John 4:2-ff).It is my attitude which God is concerned with. It is that same attitude that will bring unbelievers into the fold to become believers and then followers. The attitude of reverence shown in ICor14:25, “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth”; and in Rev 4:10, “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne...”. This reverence is also shown in Rev 5:14, “...And the four elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever”, and in Rev 7:11, “And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God”. These are the most direct examples, the most descriptive of what happens in worship and recognition of reverence. But again, that is according to an attitude. How is my attitude when I am prostrate? Do I wish I were some place else? Does my mind wander? Or can I prostrate myself without prostrating myself? That is, can I in my heart prostrate myself and fall on my knees before the King, even if I am sitting in a pew? If so, this is the attitude that Christ and God loves. When I sing “Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all!” am I in fact bringing forth the royal diadem in my heart. It is all in attitude. Do I acknowledge His authority and power? (Matt 9:10)  Do I acknowledge him as the Son of God only after I see Him do His thing, turn water to wine, walk on water? Or do I acknowledge His mastery (Matt 15:25)? In the real and true acknowledgement of Jesus as the Son of God, there will be no doubt of His power. While a weaker person will not necessarily doubt him as the Son of God, he will doubt the power and control he has as Son of God. (Matt 28:9-17). Do I doubt His power, having sung, “I surrender all”? That attitude of surrender is important, if I am to withstand the tiniest of temptations.(2Cor12:8,9)

Who am I? My relationship to God through prayer...(part 7)

More often, whenever I am disappointed in others it is I perceive that because they didn’t listen to me. How dare they not listen to me? Why, don’t people understand I have the truth? I know of people that come up with the most ludicrous reason to be involved in worship and yet I am unwilling to hear them explain why, because I believe I know the truth and I don’t want to hear anything else. What a shame! What am I giving up, just so that I can be right? (2Thes2: 4) My intelligence, my ability to put two and two together and still come up with four precludes me from hearing those that say in other universes two and two equal five or three or even zero. It is the ethelthreskeiaf, the worship of the will, that Paul speaks against in Col 2:23 and in Rom. 14. Who am I to judge another man’s servant? What I am doing is precisely what I am accusing the Jews of doing in the early church. They persecuted Christians. They stoned Stephen (Acts 7:59,60) among others. All because this was something new. I do this every time someone introduces a new thought into the congregation and I dismiss it. Or when someone has done that to me. But that is a symptom of what must be happening when I normally sit down to worship, otherwise it wouldn’t rear it’s ugly head. It is when my view becomes horizontal rather than vertical. Am I looking out among the congregation counting who is there? Or am I asking myself why they aren’t there and missing those people and the fellowship in the Lord that I have had with them? This is worship to God. Not attendance, but love of God. And realizing that I and the person in the next pew and the next and the next are His. (Whether they are truly or not is up to God to decide, as with me) It is the heart of the Father I seek after when I worship, whether with people or alone. It is the God in Exodus 20:3 and Deut 5:7 that shall be above all other gods and before Whom comes nothing else, regardless. It gives me the ability to withstand temptation in the desert of Matt 4:10 so that Christ, through me and my surrender of my will, can say, “Get thee hence, satan, for it is written thou shall worship the LORD thy God and Him only shall thou serve.” That to God is as pleasing as the sacrifice that Abel made of his first fruits of his flock, because I am worshipping God and only God, and that is all that occupies my thoughts. It is the sweet aroma that he smells in Gen 8:21 of Noah’s altar that leads God to say He will never destroy the earth in the like manner of a flood again. And it is the sweet aroma that leads Him to cover me with His Son’s blood so that nothing can sever me from Him and there is no condemnation.

Who Am I? My relationship to God through prayer (part 6)

God doesn’t want the incantations of the Pharisees. (Matt 6:7,8) He would rather I come to Him with a simple, “I love you” from me then a long drawn out liturgy of bowing and kneeling. I am His child. I belong at His feet as His friend and daughter (John 15:13). Not as praying through indulgences to get favors or even to survive the heavy burdens others may say I owe, or to do this or to do that. Not trying to do something that would get me into heaven. But already knowing my place is in heaven, sitting with God, at His feet. If I follow His commandments, if I walk in Him, then I am going to get an inheritance, and only God can judge me. (I Kings 3:7-13) And He will give me the wisdom and intelligence He has to get me through any trials. Why? Because He wants me at His feet. He wants me, with my differences from each and every other human being in this universe. He wants me at His side.(2 Chronicles 1:10-12) That the God in heaven wants me there, at His side, that He truly loves me enough to give me an inheritance, to say I am His. I did nothing to earn this. It was Christ where the fruition of my inheritance became a reality. Where the Old Testament connected to the New Testament (Matt 12:40,41). Where I confess that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10, Ezra 10:1), the only Lord and Son of God (Matt 18:16) Do I take this inheritance seriously? Do I ask Him to look at my meditation and consider it? Or is there something I want to hide? Do I forget that God sees everything even if I don’t want Him to? Everything, even my intentions? I must return to the quietness and not be in the open, visible spaces where there are multiple distractions (Matt 6:6). Do I boast about my prayers or am I a truly praying person who like Isaac hides in the middle of the field? Do I go to God like Moses for grace, widom, and guidance? Do I cower before the burning bush and ask for direction (Exodus 33:12-18)? Do I call upon Him, tears of desparation in my heart (Gen 18:26-32)? Do I beseech Him because of Who He is? If I really want a father-daughter relationship, I really need to be on my knees, not just physically but mentally and emotionally and then He will lift me up, as He lifted up Joshus to say “Get thee up, wherefore liest thou upon thy feet?” (Joshua 7:10). I need to be there not in subjection, for He says I am no longer a slave (Rom 8:12-14), not in abjection for He loves me and has raised me like His Son (Rom 6:1-6), but out of respect for the Kingship of the LORD GOD, as I walk out of the Egypts of life saying, “Hear, O, Isreal,  The LORD our GOD is one God” (Deut 6:4). Out of love for the Eternal Parent. Knowing that Father really does know best. I can boldly go to Him because He wants a relationship with me (Heb 4:16). He wants a relationship with me. He wants to grant me grace and mercy. He wants that all should have eternal life. So He reaches out His arms and hands to me, gathers me up, traverses over what seems like an insurmountable ocean and then holds me in His unchanging hand. He can do it all and has. Why shouldn’t I want to be with Him? Why shouldn’t I want to be in constant and consistent contact with Him (1Thes 5:17)? That’s what He wants, and He doesn’t as for much. Who am I to deny the Creator of the Universe, the Lover of my soul, anything?

Who am I...my relationship with God through prayer (part 6)

As much as I am Jesus who was resurrected on the third day, I am also Lazurus. God is glorified through me because of Christ. In baptism, as it will be on that final day, He resurrected me that I may be a witness of His power. I am a new creature (ICor5:17) because of Him, and it is my worship that celebrates Who is in control, really in control, and it is my heart that He has pumped full of His Son’s blood. God is good!!!! And just as the pinnacle of Jesus’ faith was at what is now known as the Last Supper, and all the focus was on the humbling and sacrifice for God to keep His family whole and maintain a unity in the Spirit (for that is after all what the forgiveness of sins is for), so mine is baptism, when I come to the focus of where our salvation is, and Who is in control, and Whose I am because I was created by Him. As much as I try to run. The whole basis of the church was that all could come to Him, not just a nation was saved, but all of His children (John 11:51) that were scattered about. And who are called to be His children? Not just the nation of Isreal, but also those that believed and walked in His light (John 1). So Gentiles who have put Christ on are also His children, as are those Jews who have put Him on. And that makes me His child. And it is through humbleness that I come to Him, to worship Him as He desires. Not in a manner that meets my needs, for this is not what real worship is all about. But what does God call for me to do? How does God want us to proceed? For instance, take the striking of the rock by Moses. All God told Moses to do was to speak to the rock, but Moses chose to strike it. So that others might see that God was serious and that they needed to follow Him, and do what He said and not make up their own rules, He kept Moses, who He valued and called His trusted servant, from entering the promised land. And Moses understood this was because rather than listening to what God wanted, he listened to those he led. And he realized there were consequences for that. (Deut 3:23-27) I must obey God not man (Acts 5:29) always, although my heart is torn, when I put Christ on I have committed myself to that promise, that I will obey God and not man. It is hard not giving in to worldly temptations, but He gives me a way out. Always. I always have a choice, and because of my free will, I always make a choice. And while God won’t take away the thorn, he will buffet me as I deal with my problems. But He wants me to deal with my problems, that is why He will not remove them from me. And He wants me to know that He does care and that He is the One and the Only One carrying me. Whatever triumphs there are come from Him. This is part of worship, acknowledgment of where my blessings come from, and that  those blessings are non-existent without Him. (2 Corinthians 12: 8,9). Not only is my thanksgiving and glorification of God essential to my worship, but also my humble beseeching, for I am in the audience of a King (Luke 18:13), without grumbling (Numbers 16:15), and in full realization of Who is protecting me. Over and over in scripture there are inferences that I need to behave with respect and humility in the presence of the One and Only King, the One and Only God. (Numbers 24:9,10).

Who am I...my relationship with God through prayer (part 5)

This is prayer in worship. Yielding my will to His, understanding what He wants from me, and being encouraged by what He has done in others and in my life to date. Seeing Him in every aspect of my life, even when I was not His. John 11 is a beautiful picture of the worship of God in prayer. It is a beautiful example of knowing oneself, knowing God, and not being frightened of the circumstances. It is the story in which Lazarus is resurrected. Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem when they received word of Lazarus’ illness. And they stay 2 more days right where they were, during which time Lazarus dies. This was, according to Jesus so that Lazarus’ death may glorify God. Even though the apostles don’t yet know the magnitude of Jesus’ claim of Sonship, still thinking in earthly terms. After two days, they travel to Bethany to find Lazarus’ family in mourning and the townspeople gathered to comfort them. And Jesus wept. This was his best friend, a close ally, someone he broke bread with on many occasions. Which is why Mary and Martha couldn’t understand why Jesus delayed, why he wasn’t willing to drop everything to come heal his friend, his brother. But along with this lack of understanding comes the acceptance of Jesus as who he is, and the confession of faith from both of them, that Jesus was the son of God and filled with His glory and empowered by Him. All of history is focused in Him. And suddenly Lazarus emerges from the tomb. And the Pharisees are beginning to see Jesus as a serious threat to their power.

Who am I: My relationship with God through prayer (part 4)

 

When I don’t obey Him and am not faithful and things just don’t go well and I nevertheless expect Him to bail me out because after all that is what He says He does when I am in trouble, He won’t. And I am mystified. Why? Because I have put my God in a box that He has neither asked to be placed in nor wants to be in.  He is not my errand boy, and that is the hardest thing for me to understand. He won’t because He knows I am not serious (Deut 1:45). If I were seriously interested in God as God, I would be more interested in enjoying life as His daughter instead of seeing what the latest scrap is He can get me out of and running to Him only then. That doesn’t mean that when I am obedient to Him, He answers me right away. There are numerous examples where the faithful must wait (Ps 22:1,2; Ps 40:1; Ps 80:4; Ps 88:14; Hab 1:2) and it may seem as if God is not around. But for every storm and flood, God promises a rainbow that says I will not perish from being overwhelmed. While it may seem so, I have not really made Him angry. If I grumble, He may in actuality give me what I want because I asked for it. The old saying is, “Be careful not to ask for what you want...You may get it”. I may be in for a big surprise, thinking I need that which I ask for, and in reality God, knowing better, lets nature take its course and allows me to become imprisoned by gaining what I thought I needed, but in fact only wanted. (There is a difference.) When I am in prison, but still faithful to Him, even though asking for the moon got me into prison in the first place, my bonds will eventually be broken (Acts 12:5) and He’ll lead me to safety (Acts 12:15). When I can say in my own private garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours” (Matt:26:39-47),  something happens to my heart. I am all at once at peace and I can be like the lamb led to slaughter, trusting only God. I realize Who is in control; and when friends fall asleep on me and others betray me, it truly doesn’t matter because God is there. God won’t let harm come to me, even if I am taken off by the soldiers and taken before Pilate. There is purpose in all things. My spirit, my essence will always be intact. This flesh is mortal. This spirit will resurrect when I die. My soul will erupt from a seed to become a seedling and then a flower that bestows its fragrance on everything. And if I hold on to things because I don’t want to hurt someone or be hurt by someone then I deny that resurrection can and will happen. I deny that God does change hearts. I deny that God loves everyone. When I am hurt all I have to do is call 10000 angels to set me free, because by making me Christ, God has empowered me to do so. But the true freedom, the true love of life with Him and the true understanding is that God is looking for those who like Don Quixote in the Man of La Mancha are willing to go to hell for a heavenly cause, whose sacrifice and selflessness extends past themselves. Jesus in Matt 26:48-57 gave himself to humiliation and knew he’d be mocked and beaten because of what he claimed he was. Knowing that on the third day he’d be sitting with His Father once again. Does happen when I sin? It has to. When I sin, and I give myself up, admitting myself powerless to overcome temptations without God, satan will come in and make me feel guilty. But God is above that, will snatch me from satan’s grasp -- but I have to trust He will do that, otherwise I will give in further and further and dig myself deeper into a hole. I have to know in my mind that God is All-powerful (Rom 1:17), that Jesus has come, that there is a resurrection waiting just for me. I have to keep my mind clear by praying to God. Otherwise when I march to hell for that heavenly cause the fires will take my body. The power of may prayer is that God works in all things. Jesus’ cruxifiction in Matt 26,27 was the direct result of Jesus’ prayer of yielding to God’s will. Not only to make it through, but there was peace on His soul throughout the entire process. He said nothing. They beat him and mocked him and he said nothing. Do I have the courage to do that? Do I have the trust in God to do that? Do I allow God to encourage me?

Who am I: my relationship with God through prayer (part 2)

And yet He does answer all things. Whether or not I realize it, God hears me even before I speak (Isaiah 65:24), much as He heard the groanings and cries of suffering from the children of Israel in Exodus 6:5 and 22:23,27. He knows those that suffer and hurts for them. (Jer. 29:12,13; Jer. 31:9) At the same time, all things have a purpose, His purpose and He desires that I understand that He will avenge my pain, or at least assuage it, when His purpose is complete. My task as one of His is to stick with Him.  No matter what. To acknowledge Him as Lord, standing before the alter as Solomon did after those many years and at once praise Him in private and public (1Kings 8:22) Serving Him purely, with a humble heart, as Solomon did (1 Chronicles 28:9) Even when it seems like He is not hearing me, Job 30:20: “I cry unto thee, and thou does not hear me. I stand up and thou regardest me not”.  Even when I am trying to knock the bricks in my wall down my self with all kinds of self-help books and programs, and I am not listening for God. He says He will answer me (Jer 33:3). Even when I tell God I can do by myself, He knows I cannot. But He also knows that I have to come to that realization of the absolute and undeniable truth of “Our Father, Who truly art in heaven, without any doubt or question.” He knows that I have to realize the truth of Job 8:5,6, “If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty: If though were pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee and make the habitat of thy righteousness prosperous.” He has seen to my needs of food, fellowship, fidelity, and faithfulness. And He knows that inherently I, like all other humans, have a need to fill the empty holes and cling to something. It is when I actually understand that I have holes that only God can fill and that my life is not my own, but His, that I understood that my cries and longings have not gone on deaf ears. He had told me a long time before I was born that He will be good to me if I wait on Him in His throne room. (Lev 3:25) and that all I need to do is call on Him, that He is a jealous God for my call (Joel 2: 18, 19,32) When I seek to fill the holes with things that will fade away, God shakes His head because He knows that it is me that is blocking His view. (Amos 5:4-6) Not God. It is my own pride, my own short-sightedness that prevents me from reaping rewards that otherwise could be mine, if I allow God to be as big as He is. My attitude lacks something of humility, and I cannot go before Him truly until I develop the attitude that Hosea describes in Hosea 12:4, “Yea, [Jacob] had power over the angel and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him, he found him in Bethel and thus he spoke with him.” While God knows my heart, he knows when my intentions are haughty and when they are humble, he also listens to the soft cries when I realize I have no where to turn. I too can wrestle with the angel, as long as I come to the realization that I have hit rock bottom and have no where to run to. Then can I “seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually and say, ‘Save us, O God of our salvation and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise’” (1Chronicles 16:11,35, 2Chronicles 7:14)  Then can I seek His kingdom as Matthew says (Matt 6:33ff). That concept is not a new one. It has been in God’s history for quite some time, as in Zephaniah 2:3, and Zechariah 13:9. Jesus carried it through in his teachings over and over to teach his disciples and me in the future about running to God in prayer (Matt 18:19,20, Matt 21:22)

Who is Jesus: The Lamb of God (part 3)

There is only one God. Elijah knew that when he made sacrifice before God to bring rain to His people. (1 King 8:36-38) But He also knew God’s timing was perfect and that because he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and all Israel, He was not required to answer or give answer to anyone. If God chose it to rain, so be it. He burned the fire to prove a point, that Elijah was right, and that Elijah’s acknowledgment was true and steadfast. And that He was with Elijah, as He is with me during trials of faith, always.

 

And what does God answer during those trials? How much do I rely only on God? Enough not to make expectations but enough to know that He really does know best? Do I seek Him while I can still find Him (Is 55:6)? Or do I not take Him seriously and use use Him in a bad way, for my own selfish ambitions? Do I use other idols (money, name, looks, etc.) to get what I want? (IKings 18:24-34) When I elevate those idols to God’s level and use those to get me out of sticky situations or even to get what I want, when the one true God doesn’t, because He has a better way? Once upon a time, the prophet Elijah told the people to pray to the stone god image of Baal they thought could make he could make it rain. Three times they were to invoke Baal. And nothing happened. Then Elijah prayed to God and down came the rain, and the rocks smoked. Why did that happen? Was it that Elijah knew the right button to push, the right handle to turn? Did Elijah use the magic words? Of course not. What Elijah did know was that God was in control and He is in control and will always be in control. Whether or not the rocks were set on fire. Whether or not it rained. God brought this universe into existence. Why should He perform magic tricks for me? And what audacity it is of me to believe that the God that led His people through the wilderness to the land of milk and honey after 400 years of captivity couldn’t set rocks on fire or make it rain!

Who is God:my relationship with God through prayer

 

I allow all kinds of gods in my life. And that hurts God. People He created had no clue. And that continues today. Who the real God was, just that God was something that was entitled to reverence. They were half right. They did what I do whenever I try to shortchange God in worship, whether privately or in the church service. God doesn’t like me to be haphazard and half-way about anything, especially when I am supposed to praise and honor him. He is the one with all the answers the real answers (Proverbs 16:1). He also knows that when that happens feelings of hypocrisy and jealousy crop about what the person being applauded by everyone for their godliness. He knows I am one-step away from stepping out and sinning against my brethren. And that displeases Him most of all. He knows I have set myself up, I have put myself into a compromising position and I will give in regardless, because of my fleshly body. Unless I remember that God has equipped me with His Spirit. And it is that spirit that understands that God is the LORD above all else and we shall have no false gods ahead of Him. (Exodus 20:1ff) God equips me with His Word and with friends that can bring me back into focus if I will remember to call upon their support. And, more importantly, that is what His Spirit will do, if I let Him. That takes practice. Do I love God enough to do that? Does my relationship with God matter more than my job that I am in danger of losing, or that husband that wants me to do something that would compromise my morals but would be good for his business? Does following God’s Word mean more to me than losing friends? If God matters more than what I fear does, then I will listen to Him. I will remember that God was displeased with the golden calf, even though Aaron was trying to be a servant to His people and give them what they desired. I will remember that God commands me to speak His truth to His people, as He did Jeremiah (Jer 26:2) even if I stand alone. Like sacrificing Isaac was for Abraham, this is not one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. But it is what He wants me to do. To speak the truth. To acknowledge Him in all things. To be concerned with what most pleases Him, not how someone looks or what my talents are and how much better and more expressive I am than my brother or sister in Christ. To stand praying to Him and praising Him every day. What a blessing! To be in His holy chamber and sit by Him! (Lk 18:10, Lk 24:53) To be in tune with God. I will listen to Him as He tells me where He needs me and for what purpose. I will also believe deeply the scripture in Isaiah 19:20 that speaks of how when I was oppressed, God brought me from my personal Egypt, the way He heard the cries of the Jews and rescued them. How many times have I read through the numbering of families and the various genealogies that are written of in the Old Testament and found myself either falling asleep trying to get through them or simply wondering why it was in the bible to begin with. Having read it again with the idea of worshipping God in all I do, I have come to the conclusion why it is important for God to have included numbering and genealogical mapping as He insists that biblical writers do. I believe that God found it important first of all to give a history and a background to present day people, a listing so people could trace from whence they came, but also so they have firm footing as to their place in history. But most important to give His history. That even though He has been here forever, He is not untraceable. And He is in control of all tribes, colonies, herds, etc. Each has its specific task to perform in the service of God and a purpose in His kingdom. Because He is in control, I am not the one holding the reigns. I must understand this, that even in storms He will always be in control. (Matt 14:30-33) He’s taken care of all things for me. My main goal is to relax, be His daughter and live according to His love and truth. To be as Joshua, falling at the feet of the LORD his servant (Jos 5:14, 15) and as David when he says to God, “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy LORD and worship thou Him: I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever.” (Ps 45:11-17). To praise Him daily. To acknowledge His royalty and power, as made manifest in the birth of Jesus. And to comfort the one pierced by my acts, as if by my hand He was slain. To mourn the death of one so beautiful and then rejoice that God has raised Him to a new life. (Zec 12:10). And most comforting, to rest in Zion, to cry no more, because He answers all prayers, and knows that life here is painful. (Isaiah 30:19) In his great mercy, he has made that temporary, only giving me what I can handle, and letting me know that He will never forsake me.

Who is Jesus: Lamb of God?

So Who is Jesus? Is He just a man? John, His cousin, called Him the Lamb of God. He is also called out advocate by the apostle John in 1 John 2:1. It was known to the prophets, particularly Jeremiah, that Jesus is LORD (Lamentations 3:57,58) when Jeremiah writes, “Thou drawest near in the day that I called upon thee and Thou saidest ‘Fear not’. Oh LORD Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul. Thou hast redeemed my life”. And Jesus is a man, as we see Him pleading with God for us in John 17, not unlike Jonah in his plea for the life of shipmates he did not know. He also took compassion on those who knew Him not yet wanted to know Him, as He spoke to the thief on the cross and promised him a place with Him.

Worship Christ: follow the LAMB!!!

Why is the sacrifice that Christ made so important? In fact, cleansing and purification was so important to God that He spelled it out in Numbers 19:9-18 about how to make oneself pure and clean. Only when one was clean could one even worship God. And that is still the way. Only when we have been made clean can we worship God. And God takes this so seriously that even the stone tablets were made clean by Moses. The seriously of being holy and pure and clean could not be denied. And how much more is God serious about how we handle the truth of Christ and the fact that He expects our attitudes to be right, not the outside but the inside of us. By faith in His blood, God saves us and Jesus cleans us (Romans 3:25). And we must realize that the tabernacle that Jesus enters into is not an earthly tabernacle but a heavenly one. (Hebrews 9:24) and because of this, He only died once (Hebrews 9:26 and 28). Because His blood cleanses us once and for all, He does need to sacrifice Himself continuously, nor do we need to offer yearly sacrifices, because we are becoming Him and our cross is taken up daily. That is, once we have been baptized we are committed to being like Him, to sacrificing ourselves and becoming holy and pure. We are committed to live a life of love in Jesus (Ephesians 5:2). Only the Lord can wash us clean and forgive us of our sins. (Psalms 51:2, 65:3). In a beautiful analogy, Zechariah describes a fountain that will save and cleanse and purify all of us (Zec 13:1).

Who is Jesus, the Lamb of God?

What is a lamb? Besides being a baby sheep, and dependant upon mom ewe for nourishment, what is a lamb? In biblical times it was used to sacrifice so that one’s sins could be forgiven. For that year. And sacrifices were continual. So that forgiveness was an afterthought. No one discounted that fact that humans would sin. (Romans 3:23). But the fact that loomed large was the fact that the sacrifice made one year didn’t take past sins away nor did it cleanse the conscience. Only Christ could do that. That’s what the Scriptures teach. In Hebrews 9:12-14 for instance Christ is shown as the only sacrifice that was a living sacrifice and with which we could enter the Holiest of Holies. We meaning the common man, me, you, John down the block, Peter in the boat. Because of Christ, we can “enter His gates with praise” as the song says. Those verses go on to say that the blood of goats and bulls and heifers could only change one from being ceremonially unclean to ceremonially clean. Later passages in Hebrews say that the blood of goats and bulls cannot cleanse us (Hebrews 10:4). Only Jesus can cleanse the conscience. He does so through the operation of baptism, not to cleanse the body but the conscience. (1 Peter 3:21)

When I am out of Synch (part 30)

And then again, nowhere in scripture can I see how mistreatment of people is as mistreatment of Christ than in John 8:1-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.

The woman was obviously set up, the Pharisees knew where to find her, and where was the man. Scripture says nothing of the man that was with the woman, only that the Pharisees dragged her out and presented her to Christ. The words Christ then said are so familiar to all, “Those without sin, cast the first stone”. The Pharisees were using that woman to get to Christ, and so their sin was doubled. They wanted to hurt Christ’s reputation and popularity and they cared nothing for what happened to the woman and so they hurt her both physically and emotionally. And that happens every time I lie, cheat, or use other deceitful means for personal gain. And when I am as deceitful as Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:30-37, how Jesus and God weep! How I truly hurt them because I hurt others.

 

When I am out of synch (part 29)

Nothing is more evident about how I can get out of synch than the story of the Adam, Eve and the serpent. In Genesis 3:1-18, are several things in which the deceiver does to Eve and in fact that he also does to me and all other humans. First he deceives me with pleasure, of the taste of the apple, and with power, that the apple from the Tree gave the Knowledge of Good and Evil and, so Adam and Eve thought, knowledge of everything. That is in fact how he deceives me that I will be and know everything to the entire universe. But what this should show me is that while I may know, I cannot always act on that knowledge and do as I want. The knowledge has to be tempered with wisdom. Which is the second thing I am deceived in. Satan convinces me that because I know things I am wise in all things. And this simply is not so. Not if I truly compare myself to God’s wisdom and power. I don’t realize God’s strength, until I am in the midst of storms and turmoils and cannot get myself out. I don’t realize His wisdom until I admit I am a fool, as it says in I Corinthians 4:10, and become one for His sake. God has the power to through me out of paradise, give satan the boot, and lock the gate at the same time teaching me how I can get the key to open the gate at some later date. He renders me the ultimate tough love, and shows me how to grow in Him that I not do what I have done repetitively. He also brings me to a point where I have to make a decision to follow Him or know I am doing what displeases Him and do it anyway. God demonstrates what it is to be a good parent. And He puts me back in synch.

 

When I am out of Synch (part 28)

There is another way to look at it. While God gives us a great deal of latitude, He still expects growth. What nurtures our growth, reliance on other things or on Him? Where am I getting my food? David, as wonderful and inspiring a man as He was, was still a man. I must always keep that into perspective. I must be sure, because those walls will tumble like the walls of Jericho if not. I must begin to look for tools that will bring me closer to God rather than to pull me away, no matter how innocent these may be initially. I must love God, and therefore must love my brother and live in peace.

 

I play piano. Not surprisingly, the piano is my favorite type of instrument in any piece of music I hear. I am awe inspired by piano. And the piano in and of itself is just a tool, not an ends. I must not glorify that above God. Only the LORD is exalted, only He is in control of all things (Is 40:4-11). He has provided me with a place here on earth, and He wants me to be with Him in heaven so He has sent His son to show me how to live in peace and how to love. And that is when I emerge from being out of sorts. That is when I begin to see that perhaps I need to do things differently, to do things not my way but God’s way

When I am out of synch (part 27)

I once heard a lady say that because her voice was bad, she needed an instrument to express her true love of God. What is she telling God? The instrument of her voice that He created was not good enough to express what He meant to her, she needed another object, that while He gave someone the skill and knowledge to build it is nevertheless once removed from His Creation. It is the musician’s invention. And I know there are tone deaf people, but when these people sing to God with more enthusiasm than someone with a pretty voice it is hard to say that God is not pleased, for they are relying on Him and not an instrument. These people are truly worshipping the Creator and not the Created. So there are two types of out of synch here, one in which the person doesn’t care how off key, it is the attitude that counts; and the other in which the person feels inadequately created so that person uses and instrument in place of what God has made. On the surface most people feel sorry for the first and take the other one’s side. On the other hand, deeper, the person that cannot carry a tune and yet has enthusiasm in singing to God understands the weakness within the physical body and the strength in God, and that person can boast in his weakness. (2 Corinthians 10:8-18 ) That person also knows an instrument cannot save, but the God that is the Almighty God and Jesus can.

When I am out of synch (part 26)

In Isaiah 35:1-10, there is the perfect example of what happens when things go wrong. What happens when I clutter my life with earthly things, with things I like that I don’t really care what everyone else likes nor do I want to share those things. What happens when I feel as though I can handle things, things that may in and of themselves not be bad but that take me away from God nonetheless. God wants to make that which would take me away from Him waste. For example, music in the Church. There is such a debate right now among Christians whether or not to use instruments that sometimes it gets heated and God is just not happy seeing Christians war among themselves. Why are instruments necessary? Are they truly necessary? Can not God’s people come before God without pomp and ceremony? Why can’t we have instruments? Why do people have to be so stubborn? And on and on the debate rages and God is not happy. The simplest way is to put all my talents and my self before Him and sometimes that means doing without instruments. Or anything for that matter. We forget that we are not coming to service for us, for our encouragement, although that certainly is a benefit. We come for others, to serve and encourage others. To commune with God, to blend in the heavenly host. To know a truth of God. To learn how to live as His child. To mature and grow as one of His. If I need an instrument to show me His way, that is nothing more than an idol. If I am relying on someone’s preaching to get me by, that too is an idol. How much do I jump in God’s word, how much do I long to hear His message? How much do I yearn for His advice? Am I giving myself to Him or doing what I think is giving myself to Him? Am I bare and lowly and humble before Him? Jesus spoke of going before God as meek people. How can one do that other than to break everything that could keep God from getting in, not an image of God that someone tells us about or plays on their instrument, or paints, but the true God? I, we, must come to know what it the true God.

When I am out of Synch (part 25)

And Jesus knows my condition. He knows I am poor, I mourn, and I am unjustly accused and ridiculed of many things, especially once I decide to follow God. And His great advice is demonstrated through the beatitudes (Matt 5:3), so that whenever I get down or frustrated, God’s other promises are always there. And these are too.

 

That leads to another point. How should I treat the penitent brother? If there is a brother that knows he’s sinned and is truly penitent of his actions, if he is demonstrating godly sorrow as spoken of in 2 Corinthians 2:1-11, then how does God expect me to treat him? Should I make him cower down in front of me or stand up in front of me while I orate to him how bad his sin was, or do I welcome him back? I am taught by Christ, God, and Paul, that I have no right to rebuke someone who has rebuked himself. If he knows he has made God cry, then those that teach tell me to hold him close and encourage him to bigger things.

When I am out of Synch (part 24)

And how many times do I rather than wanting to do the Lord’s will do I look to my own interest. Even though inside of me is the war between doing and being how I know is right versus performing for the masses to see. (Romans 8) In 2 Kings 23:2-11 the King is the one person who wants to get rid of idols and the priests look to their own interests. How sad it is to use holiness as an outer garment, but I do it all the time. I am judgmental, hurtful, because someone is not doing things my way. I say and do but in my heart do I believe in Him? Do I believe the two commandments of loving God above all else and loving my neighbor as myself and do I know in fact who my neighbor is? I want a pure life, one rich in the blessings of God, but I want my idols too, I just cannot give those up. Many times I get an air of self-righteousness because I didn’t travel down the road that many kids travel, I didn’t take drugs, I wasn’t involved in promiscuity, I did what my parents said willingly because I knew they had more sense than me. And then splat!!1 I fall on my face. What a tangled web I weave, according to Shakespeare….why because I want to convince myself that I am better than others, when in reality I am just the same. Then I try to worship with this warring heart. Instead of building God’s house in peace. (1 Chron 22:2-14) Daniel in Dan 8:11-14 says that the Temple would be cleansed. Those downtrodden would rise again and be saved in Christ. And in the church is the mechanism for one to work out one’s salvation after one has become connected with Christ through baptism. He cleaned the Temple to show he is the way to God, not through money nor works but his connection with the Father. Once and for all. Paul warns over and over that Christ was the last hope, and that applied not just to the Hebrews but the me as well. I must follow Christ.

When I am Out of Synch (part 23)

How many times do I whine and complain about this or that, about the elders spending too much money trying to increase and expand the size of the church so they can fill it with more people and build on to fill it with more people and so on and so forth? How many times has God heard me grumble about the flagrant abuse of funds over using that money for evangelizing or helping the poor? What am I doing to help the situation? Am I as Jehoiada did and confronting the elders to put up their monies before asking other’s to put up their pennies? And yet, how many times do I act the sloth, instead of rebuilding the temple of God within someone, I am just not up to the challenge. Self-righteous ness will always be something that can throw me out of His righteousness and Sabbath-rest. (see Heb. 4)

When I am out of synch (part 22)

There is a story during the time of Jehoida the priest, who took back the Temple of the LORD from those who would desecrate it and blaspheme God and who defeated the evil Athaliah. The people then renounced their sin and begged forgiveness. (2 King 11:3-19) There are several principles for me the saved sinner here: 1) Decide the sin is no longer acceptable (John 8:11), 2) Put a strong guard around my heart and mind (Romans 12:2), 3) Flee from sin into the sanctuary of God (James 4:7-8) into a deeper and deeper love and relationship for Him and in Him, and 4) ask for forgiveness. (Matthew 6:9-13) Sin divides me from God, putting anything I choose ahead of God and making that to be the thing that I believe saves me, when it is only the power of God that saves me through Christ and the operation of God. I love Colossians 2:12 in KJV because that is what baptism is, it is an operation of God that connects us to His son, the power of the blood of Christ to forgive me and make me a new creation. God wants me, there is no doubt. But do I want Him enough to accept Him the way He is??? And obey???

When I am out of synch (part 21)

Leviticus 24:10-18 tells of the sin of a man that cursed God and the consequences thereof. The seriousness of me cursing God is that nothing I do will ever salvage that relationship. Once I blaspheme, honestly blaspheme Him there are no more options. I have forced Him to see me on my ugliest level, and have at that point told Him that I am OK, I can do it without Him. At that point He tells me if this is how I want to live, then so be it. That to me is different from arguing with God. When I ask God, “Why?” That is out of a need to be consoled, a need to understand, and a lack of being able to grasp past my three dimensions. That is not, contrary to popular belief, blasphemy.

 

And of course there is my stubbornness in thinking God is weaker than he truly is. Isaiah 36:15-20, tells of the king of Assyria who in his haughtiness couldn’t comprehend the great strength of God, or His great love for Israel. Much as I do when I believe there are others much stronger than He, and those have taken over leaving Him in the dust. When He actually made the dust I think He is lying in, and actually He made the man that mocks Him. And then there are those who are convinced that the jeerers are right, and think they are advising me from the best of intentions, when truly the road of to satan’s home is paved with good intentions. Nothing I can do can make me comprehend just how great a God I serve and so I keep serving, and some day I’ll be singing with Him in heaven.

When I am out of synch (part 20)

In my time of sin, (Joel 2:1-32) there is an arid climate, there is a desert, there is close to unbearable heat and excruciating light, because day by day I am confronted with the truth of who I have become. My life has become barren and empty. But God tells me there is an army to save me, while I tremble in the fear of total annihilation. It’s Jesus’ army, the only army that can overcome the darkness the heart of darkness, the only one who will overtake my heart and change me so that I can truly love God and be blessed in Him. What I don’t comprehend is that Jesus’ army is not an army of strife, of physical brute strength where I am forced physically to change, but an army of love, of the spirit in which I change because I come to know the riches that are in Jesus and because I am allowing God to control my life. Jesus overtakes and overcomes my heart.