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.