In the book of Psalms we are told to delight ourselves in the Lord and he will give us the desires of our heart. The secret to receiving the desires of our heart rest in whether or not we delight in the Lord. If we delight in the Lord we will seek out his presence daily, walking with him and talking with him,
In John 8:29, Jesus tells us the secret to dwelling in God's presence. He states, "The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." Always doing what pleases God may have come naturally to Jesus; he is, after all, God. However, it's not that easy for me. Every day, in every decision, I must make a conscious choice to choose that thing which pleases God.
The book of Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Pleasing God involves more that just believing that he is who he says he is. Pleasing God involves believing that he will provide for those who earnestly seek him.
As I spend time in God's presence, in praise and prayer, consciously seeking his will day by day and moment by moment for my life and the lives of those around me. I find my desires are no longer the same as they were before. Instead of desiring the things this world has to offer, I find the things I desire most are lining up with God's will and his desires for those he loves.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Contentment In Grief
It was three weeks ago, tonight at midnight, that my brother left this earth and joined his Savior in heaven. In the days following his death and during the visitation and funeral, I wept and grieved my brothers passing. Yet there is this underlying feeling that permeates my being and it feels so strange and out of place when I dwell on it. It is a feeling of contentment, contentment and joy.
When he suffered his stroke he was not a follower of Christ. After being awakened from his coma, he told me and others on more than one occasion that God had given him a second chance. A week before he passed from this world to the next he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and told his fiance and my father that he intended to walk again, work again and that he was going to live his life for God.
My heart questions just like others why God would take him now. According to the world, I should be anything but content with the way things turned out. And yet my brother was given the second chance that I asked God for and he accepted it. Because of the promises of God's Word I know that my brother is in heaven with God today.
Would I rather have had more time walking with my brother on this earth as he journeyed here with God? Yes! Would I want him to leave the splendor of where he is now to return to me and my family? Absolutely not!! Does this mean there will be no more tears? No, because I will still miss him, especially as the holidays come around and at different family functions.
Contentment comes from knowing I will see him again. Knowing where he is, brings the joy.
When he suffered his stroke he was not a follower of Christ. After being awakened from his coma, he told me and others on more than one occasion that God had given him a second chance. A week before he passed from this world to the next he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and told his fiance and my father that he intended to walk again, work again and that he was going to live his life for God.
My heart questions just like others why God would take him now. According to the world, I should be anything but content with the way things turned out. And yet my brother was given the second chance that I asked God for and he accepted it. Because of the promises of God's Word I know that my brother is in heaven with God today.
Would I rather have had more time walking with my brother on this earth as he journeyed here with God? Yes! Would I want him to leave the splendor of where he is now to return to me and my family? Absolutely not!! Does this mean there will be no more tears? No, because I will still miss him, especially as the holidays come around and at different family functions.
Contentment comes from knowing I will see him again. Knowing where he is, brings the joy.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Why Bother Praying For Our Nation
Our nation has been drifting further and further from God for years. On almost a daily basis we read about laws being passed to remove God's word from our government. This week there was talk about not using the Bible during the Presidential Inauguration. Thankfully the petitioning of God's blessing and protection upon this nation was still a part of the inauguration ceremony.
It is easy to get discouraged and feel that it is a waste of time to continue to pray for our nation, especially when the Bible tells us that as the time of Christ's return grows nearer things will just get worse. So why should we bother to pray for this nation that seems determined to turn its back on God? We continue to pray because God Still Answers Prayer and His Word is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In I Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructs Timothy to pray, intercede and offer thanks for all people, even for kings and those in authority over us. The reason we should pray - so that we can live in godly peace and dignity. In the New English Translation, Paul says "Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
It is hard sometimes to find an American who has something positive to say about our government and the choices our leaders are making. Perhaps that is another reason we should be praying for our leaders. After all, when we are praying for someone we are far less likely to criticize them.
It is easy to get discouraged and feel that it is a waste of time to continue to pray for our nation, especially when the Bible tells us that as the time of Christ's return grows nearer things will just get worse. So why should we bother to pray for this nation that seems determined to turn its back on God? We continue to pray because God Still Answers Prayer and His Word is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In I Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructs Timothy to pray, intercede and offer thanks for all people, even for kings and those in authority over us. The reason we should pray - so that we can live in godly peace and dignity. In the New English Translation, Paul says "Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
It is hard sometimes to find an American who has something positive to say about our government and the choices our leaders are making. Perhaps that is another reason we should be praying for our leaders. After all, when we are praying for someone we are far less likely to criticize them.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Spiritual Goals
January is the month for setting new goals and resolutions. What are your spiritual resolutions and goals for the coming year. I have set my goals for this year from the apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians. In Colossians 1:9, Paul tells the Colossians that he has not ceased to pray for their spiritual growth. It will take a lifetime to attain many of these goals but my prayer is to continue to grow in each area.
- Lord, fill me with the knowledge of Your will in spiritual wisdom and understanding.
- Help me, Lord, to walk in a manner worthy of being called Your child.
- May I please You, Lord, in all respects.
- Lord, may I bear fruit in every good work.
- Lord, help me to increase in Your knowledge every day.
- Lord, strengthen me with power, according to Your glorious might.
- Lord, may I remain steadfast.
- Lord, increase my patience as I do Your work.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Submitting To Authority
The idea of submitting to anyone goes against our human nature. When Satan entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve the temptation centered around submission. Would she continue to submit to God and obey his instructions or would she assert her own free will and reject God's authority. Since that time one individual's insistence on inserting their free will over another's has been the start of mankind's freefall to destruction.
Yet God is clear in his instruction on submission, especially in his instruction on submission to those who have been placed in authority over us. God's Word says we are to submit to all human institutions (I Peter 2:13), leaders (Hebrews 13:7) and governing authorities (Romans 13:1).
Human institutions would include those in leadership in our government, the President, Governor, Mayor, etc. Leaders are parents, teachers and pastors. Governing authorities include all of the above including law enforcement, employers, supervisors and leadership positions within the church.
Why is submitting to leadership so important to God and, therefore, to us? Actually God gives us several reasons.
Yet God is clear in his instruction on submission, especially in his instruction on submission to those who have been placed in authority over us. God's Word says we are to submit to all human institutions (I Peter 2:13), leaders (Hebrews 13:7) and governing authorities (Romans 13:1).
Human institutions would include those in leadership in our government, the President, Governor, Mayor, etc. Leaders are parents, teachers and pastors. Governing authorities include all of the above including law enforcement, employers, supervisors and leadership positions within the church.
Why is submitting to leadership so important to God and, therefore, to us? Actually God gives us several reasons.
- All authority, whether human or spiritual, has been appointed by God. (Romans 13:1)
- They have been appointed to keep watch over our souls. (Hebrews 13:17)
- As leaders appointed by God, they will give an account of their work. (Hebrews 13:17)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
REGRETS
(Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. - Proverbs 3:5,6)
Lately I've been looking back over my life and thinking abut where I've been, hopes and dreams I had but never accomplished, ways I have failed God and disappointed my family. I'm not feeling very much like a child of the King, more like a child of the exile. I wanted more from my life, a family, my own home, financial security. It's hard not to see my life as a total waste sometimes. Yet I know that I am where I am because of failed opportunities to trust God and not for any failure on God's part to be there for me. If God had not been there for me in many instances I would have been far worse off. God has asked me to trust Him to be my provider, my companion and my security.
I want to trust. Father God, help me to trust.
Lately I've been looking back over my life and thinking abut where I've been, hopes and dreams I had but never accomplished, ways I have failed God and disappointed my family. I'm not feeling very much like a child of the King, more like a child of the exile. I wanted more from my life, a family, my own home, financial security. It's hard not to see my life as a total waste sometimes. Yet I know that I am where I am because of failed opportunities to trust God and not for any failure on God's part to be there for me. If God had not been there for me in many instances I would have been far worse off. God has asked me to trust Him to be my provider, my companion and my security.
I want to trust. Father God, help me to trust.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
In Heaven
(Our Father IN HEAVEN, hallowed be Your Name. - Matthew 6:9)
It's important to me as I pray the Lord's Prayer to remember that He is in Heaven. Because He is in Heaven He sees things from a totally different viewpoint than I do. He sees the beginning and the end and everything in between. I may not be able to understand the whats, whys and wherefores of things that have, are and will happen in my life but God does. He saw everything that has happened, is happening and will happen long before it ever occurred.
One of my favorite books was written by Gene Edwards. It is part of his series, The Chronicles of The Door. In the fourth book of the series, The Triumph, the archangel Michael is ready to burst through the doors of heaven to protect his Lord from the Jews at the time of trial before the crucifixion. The Lord has instructed him to remain in heaven and to not interfere. The other angels are watching in horror as Michael reaches for the door for the laws of heaven are clear; if he rebels a third of them must follow. Just as Michael begins to open the door, Recorder, the angel whose job it is to record all things that have happened, tells Michael there is something he must see. Michael and Recorder travel forward in time to the great white throne judgement and Michael tries to understand how what is happening on earth now is effecting what is happening in heaven. Recorder is also seeing these things for the first time because they are events that have not yet happened. The amazement, bewilderment and awe that these two created beings experience as they try to comprehend the mind of God is so well written that I can feel myself experiencing the same emotions as I read.
Father, I can never begin to understand things from your viewpoint. Even if given the opportunity to witness the unfolding of time as portrayed in this book, I too would be unable to put into words the majesty of your plan for my life and the lives of those I love. So I can only say, Lord, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
It's important to me as I pray the Lord's Prayer to remember that He is in Heaven. Because He is in Heaven He sees things from a totally different viewpoint than I do. He sees the beginning and the end and everything in between. I may not be able to understand the whats, whys and wherefores of things that have, are and will happen in my life but God does. He saw everything that has happened, is happening and will happen long before it ever occurred.
One of my favorite books was written by Gene Edwards. It is part of his series, The Chronicles of The Door. In the fourth book of the series, The Triumph, the archangel Michael is ready to burst through the doors of heaven to protect his Lord from the Jews at the time of trial before the crucifixion. The Lord has instructed him to remain in heaven and to not interfere. The other angels are watching in horror as Michael reaches for the door for the laws of heaven are clear; if he rebels a third of them must follow. Just as Michael begins to open the door, Recorder, the angel whose job it is to record all things that have happened, tells Michael there is something he must see. Michael and Recorder travel forward in time to the great white throne judgement and Michael tries to understand how what is happening on earth now is effecting what is happening in heaven. Recorder is also seeing these things for the first time because they are events that have not yet happened. The amazement, bewilderment and awe that these two created beings experience as they try to comprehend the mind of God is so well written that I can feel myself experiencing the same emotions as I read.
Father, I can never begin to understand things from your viewpoint. Even if given the opportunity to witness the unfolding of time as portrayed in this book, I too would be unable to put into words the majesty of your plan for my life and the lives of those I love. So I can only say, Lord, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
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