Wow.
Do you know the power of your tongue?
No i mean really, do you?
If you think you do, try not using it for awhile.
You'll begin to realize that you had no idea how much power such a tiny muscle holds, and the effect your words have on people.
Last week, i felt God calling me to a speech fast. I jumped on board pretty quickly, but had NO idea what i was getting myself into. I'm mean seriously, not talking for three days straight!? It's harder than you think!
But in all honesty, it has been the best three days I've had in a really long time.
I can't tell you how refreshing it's been to just shut my mouth and listen to Him. He knows so much more than i do! And He's so kind to tell me what's on His heart.
Our problem today isn't that God doesn't speak, it's that we don't listen. We have no idea how to calm down and just be still before Him.
After three days of silence i haven't even begun to scratch the surface! I still have no idea how to 'be still and know that He is God' (Psalm 46:10) But i can tell you that once i stopped talking, and just sat and listened, He talked, A LOT.
You know...God's REALLY talkative-who knew?
And you know something else? He's funny. Yes, He has a great sense of humor, He's witty and fun, and loves to tease. He's all about laughter.
I want to know that side of God better. The One Who laughs and jokes, teases me and smiles all the time. If there's one thing I'm really learning from this fast, it's that my view of God is all wrong!
Ever heard this verse; "So then my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." James 1:19+20
God doesn't give us a whole bunch of rules to follow because He's mean. He's giving us guidelines that will make our life ten times better! I am so grateful that God is quick to listen to me, that He's full of wisdom (slow to speak) and not quick to judge or impart wrath on me. But when do i ever extend that kindness to others?
We're so quick to form opinions about matter that we don't understand fully, to jump to conclusions and judge others unfairly. We don't seek God's wisdom on the matter, we just rely on our own weak fleshy "wisdom" not stopping to think there could be a better answer. What a sad day it is when we value our own opinions higher than God's. (Really speaking to myself here!)
In the past three days, I've had my fair share of seeing many different examples of how words can be used to speak life or death. We really have no idea the power that our tongues hold.
Words effect people. They HURT.
When we speak too quickly, they hurt. When we're dramatic or unrestrained in our use of them, they hurt. When they're spoken without love, they hurt. When used in sarcasm, they hurt. When spoken in anger, they hurt. The list could go on forever...
Words have the power of life or death, but do we truly believe that? Do we practice what we preach? What good is preaching if our words are tainted with death? We can't go all week speaking coarsely, gossiping, lying, and then expect to preach salvation to someone and have any power behind our words!
We need to take a lesson from Jesus on this one (and everything else in life) He never spoke a mean word to anyone, and the Bible repeatedly tells us that people were in awe at the power of His preaching. Did you know He healed people just by speaking it out? (Matt 8:5-13) Jesus packed a serious punch behind His words.
Our words have more power than we can even comprehend. They can open doors in the spiritual and shut them. They have the power to bring love or hate, freedom or bondage, peace or strife-how are you using your words?
We've got to being to take back to control over our tongues, and the power of our speech! I've been so convicted about my speech, and the best part is, i haven't been talking! It's crazy to me how it took not talking to realize i was talking too much, that i was wasting my words and speaking negatively all the time. I think we all need to take a step back and consider the way our words are affecting our lives (and the lives of those around us) on a daily basis.
You want to see a change in your life?
Start taking your words seriously.
SPEAK LIFE!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Called by my name...
Recently, God has given me the grace, to do some intense studying of the Old Testament (OT). I am just fascinated with all that I am learning and all that God is revealing to me! And to whoever thinks that the OT is boring and irrelevant, you need to go back, and start looking at all those stories that you think you know-look again! There is so much to learn!
The more I read in the OT, the more I understand the New Testament (NT). You really can’t even begin to comprehend all that goes on in the NT until you’ve got a grip on the OT, there’s so much there! God revealed Himself in so many ways and did such awesome miracles, sign and wonders!
Did you know that God sustained people for 40 days and nights without eating or drinking anything!? (Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19:8) That a man called down fire from heaven to kill 100 men? (2 Kings 1:9-12) That a war was loosed in the second heaven to keep an angel from responding to a man’s prayer? (Daniel 10:12-14)
I have barely scratched the surface of the OT, and every day I am astounded by new truths about God, new stories about His provision and power. If you want to be stirred up and have your faith increased, start reading about all the miracles God did for Moses!
I have been just wrecked by one passage in particular Exodus 33:12-23, just one of Moses’ many encounters with the Lord. My heart aches over Moses words, and the cry of his heart; to know God!
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Exodus 33:13)
I am so struck by this specific encounter that he had with the Lord, so in awe of God, and jealous of Moses’ time with God. My heart aches to learn about God, to know His personality and His ways, because I want to find favor in His sight!
“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (Exodus 33:11)
I want to be a friend of God! That He would speak to me face to face!
I have been praying this passage back to God and seeking His face for encounters like Moses had. Even if Moses got it wrong sometimes, he really got it right here.
“The Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”” (Exodus 33:15+16)
Wow! I want this to be my hearts cry too!
‘God! Don’t send me out, unless Your Presence goes with me! I want Your Presence to be what distinguishes me from everyone else!’
Moses had the right heart here. Just like Solomon, he wanted to know God above all else. But not only did he want to know God, he just wanted to be with God.
I can see his anguish as he thinks about having to leave God’s presence, his closest friend. His heart cries out “If you really like me, then stay with me! Don’t leave me alone!”
I can imagine the please smile of the Father who has worked so hard to get to this point. Not just that Moses would rely on Him for miracles, food and leadership, but that they would be friends. That Moses would truly lean on Him from the very depth of his heart, and long for His presence more than anything else.
If there’s one thing I’ve found since being down here, it’s that God’s presence is addicting! I can’t even imagine what it was like for Moses who literally saw and spoke to God face to face as a friend!
“And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”” (Exodus 33:17)
Wow. My heart turns over in my chest every time I read this. How would you like the God of heaven and earth to speak this over you? To say that He knows you by name, that He is pleased with you?
Well, He does, every day. Every time you glance His way, His heart is stirred by you.
It’s a wonderful thought!
I am grabbing hold of this reality and running with it! God knows me, He cares for me, He wants to be my closest friend and desires to be with me!
And best of all;
He knows me by name.
The more I read in the OT, the more I understand the New Testament (NT). You really can’t even begin to comprehend all that goes on in the NT until you’ve got a grip on the OT, there’s so much there! God revealed Himself in so many ways and did such awesome miracles, sign and wonders!
Did you know that God sustained people for 40 days and nights without eating or drinking anything!? (Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19:8) That a man called down fire from heaven to kill 100 men? (2 Kings 1:9-12) That a war was loosed in the second heaven to keep an angel from responding to a man’s prayer? (Daniel 10:12-14)
I have barely scratched the surface of the OT, and every day I am astounded by new truths about God, new stories about His provision and power. If you want to be stirred up and have your faith increased, start reading about all the miracles God did for Moses!
I have been just wrecked by one passage in particular Exodus 33:12-23, just one of Moses’ many encounters with the Lord. My heart aches over Moses words, and the cry of his heart; to know God!
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Exodus 33:13)
I am so struck by this specific encounter that he had with the Lord, so in awe of God, and jealous of Moses’ time with God. My heart aches to learn about God, to know His personality and His ways, because I want to find favor in His sight!
“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (Exodus 33:11)
I want to be a friend of God! That He would speak to me face to face!
I have been praying this passage back to God and seeking His face for encounters like Moses had. Even if Moses got it wrong sometimes, he really got it right here.
“The Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”” (Exodus 33:15+16)
Wow! I want this to be my hearts cry too!
‘God! Don’t send me out, unless Your Presence goes with me! I want Your Presence to be what distinguishes me from everyone else!’
Moses had the right heart here. Just like Solomon, he wanted to know God above all else. But not only did he want to know God, he just wanted to be with God.
I can see his anguish as he thinks about having to leave God’s presence, his closest friend. His heart cries out “If you really like me, then stay with me! Don’t leave me alone!”
I can imagine the please smile of the Father who has worked so hard to get to this point. Not just that Moses would rely on Him for miracles, food and leadership, but that they would be friends. That Moses would truly lean on Him from the very depth of his heart, and long for His presence more than anything else.
If there’s one thing I’ve found since being down here, it’s that God’s presence is addicting! I can’t even imagine what it was like for Moses who literally saw and spoke to God face to face as a friend!
“And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”” (Exodus 33:17)
Wow. My heart turns over in my chest every time I read this. How would you like the God of heaven and earth to speak this over you? To say that He knows you by name, that He is pleased with you?
Well, He does, every day. Every time you glance His way, His heart is stirred by you.
It’s a wonderful thought!
I am grabbing hold of this reality and running with it! God knows me, He cares for me, He wants to be my closest friend and desires to be with me!
And best of all;
He knows me by name.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
God incomprehensable, made known....
Somewhere, hidden in the dark recesses of every human being, there is the knowledge that somewhere out there, there is someone who is bigger than them. A higher being.
We try to cover it up with denial, with our theories, with rationalization-but the truth is at the core of every human being, they know there is someone out there who is beyond comprehension. And that fact alone scares us. No one wants to believe that compared to this being, they are completely powerless, that there is someone out there that no amount of studying can ever help us to even begin to understand.
We don’t want to be powerless.
Deep within us is the knowledge that there is someone out there that is worthy of our love, worship and obedience, and that has absolute power over our lives whether we like it or not.
The sad truth is, people would rather believe in Satan, than believe in God.
Why anyone would rather choose to believe that there is an evil lord out there whose only thought is to hurt me rather than an all loving God is beyond me.
No wait, it’s not.
Satan is simple, he can be defined by our natural minds. He is not all powerful, nor omnipresent or omnipotent. Thus, he is easier to understand, and because we can put limits on him and understand him to an extent, we are more comfortable accepting him.
People don’t want to believe in God, because they have wrong paradigms about Him. We don’t understand Him, and thus we are intimidated by Him.
But our poor little minds, cannot even begin to comprehend a God, who is all powerful, created the heavens and the earth, has absolute power and has no beginning. Just consider with me for a second, Genesis 1:1;
“In the beginning God…”
Now I’m going to stop you right there, yes I know that it continues “created the heavens and the earth”, but how often do you stop to just consider those four words.
In the beginning…..GOD.
“But wait!” We say, “who created God!? Where did He come from?”
Our problem with God is that we can’t define Him. Our theories and ideas cannot confine Him. He cannot be measured; He is without beginning and without an end.
Friends, it’s because we are created beings.
We were not meant to comprehend His majesty, it’s part of His mystery.
He puts questions in our hearts that we would draw closer to Him in search of those questions.
His servant Job said this; “He spreads the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under the weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters, for a boundary between light and darkness. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! We then can understand the thunder of his power?” (Job 26:7-10,14)
His majesty, and awesome splendor is beyond anything we can understand, but because we know we can’t fully comprehend Him, we’d rather dismiss Him all together than grapple with the deep things of God.
The worst part is, because we’re scared to get lost in the depths of God, we’ve robbed ourselves of the joy of trembling before Him.
We’d rather keep our views that He is a lofty far away being who only shows up to force us into submission with His will, than consider someone our minds cannot comprehend.
But I’m here to tell you, He will reveal Himself to you! He already has!
Through Christ Jesus, His son, He revealed Himself to us. He revealed His heart of love to us, that He would go as far, as to sacrifice the one He loved the most, just so we, could be with Him for eternity.
God longs for you to know Him, to truly know Him, His personality and how He longs for you.
If we really begin to take into consideration someone, who holds all power, but who willingly allows us to choose Him or not, it begins to unnerve us. No one is used to that kind of love. And then we take it a step further, not only does He lovingly allow us our own rights to choose Him or not, He sent His son to die on the cross. Jesus died for us, for all our sins, yet He Himself was sinless. Our minds know the injustice of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf, and yet we choose to scorn Him.
This sacrifice, because we do not understand the weightiness of it, does nothing to move our hearts and help us understand His love for us.
But this is not a story! This was a real man, with real emotions and feelings! He had a body, and suffered beyond description just so that we could know and love the Father the way He does.
Beloved, I think that is what unnerves us truly the most.
Why would a God so incomprehensible humble Himself to the point of dying for His very creation?
Because, He loves you.
Desperately.
Beyond anything you can understand.
Our weak views of love, are nothing compared to the way He feels for us.
And yet we’re so scared of that love. Love that transcends all boundaries. Love that’s so complete it shakes you to your very core.
Do you know that God?
Do you know that God who is so awesome in power that He spoke the world into being? But who is so humble in love He died for the very ones He created?
First, we need to study His majesty. And embrace a real perspective of a incompressible God.
And then study His love in light of His majesty so our hearts are blown away by His sacrifice.
And then it’s a simple choice.
Who wouldn’t love someone who loved them to the point of death?
Because He loved me first…
I love him.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Things that confound the Wise
Oh the great mysteries of God!
Everyday i am shocked by a new facet of His beauty!
Truly ladies and gentlemen, if you are bored with God-you need revival! You need to Holy Spirit to break in a liven things up, because there is never a dull moment with God! And if you think you have God all figured out, you had better head back to Genesis, for who can know the Eternal One?
Recently i have been stuck in 1 Corinthians 2. I never realized how much i was missing by neglecting the Holy Spirit in me! He is our power cord to God! Our direct link.
Truly, we cannot even begin to understand God with out the help of the Holy Spirit inside of us. The "wisdom" of man never can and never will comprehend God eternal, the one who was there before time, who has no beginning and no end.
My poor little brain can hardly even handle thinking about someone that big!
But God will reveal His great mysteries to us by His Spirit (1 Cor 2:10) if we only ask Him (James 1:5)
The problem is, that we come at God with our limited understanding, and try to apply what we know to Him, thus putting His character in a box that is far too small for Him. We cannot understand by the ways of this world or our human "wisdom".
Let's put aside our humanistic thinking and study the deep things of God!
"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that had been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understand it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." -1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Are you guys reading what i am!?
Let's put it simply;
All the people of this age, who think they are so smart with their philosophies and sensible words, really are deceived. It doesn't matter how good they sound, or if the think they can rationalize away the reality of God's existence, their wisdom will -and is- coming to nothing.
But all of God's glory, His wisdom, is accessible to us! We who have His Spirit within us have the opportunity to know the deep things of God!
"For who knows a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit within? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not recieved the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." -1 Corinthians 2:11+12
Did you catch that? God's Spirit is the only One who knows His thoughts, and He freely gave us His Spirit that we might understand. I don't know about you, but i serve a good God!
It's sad to me, that even many Christians remain in the dark about His character because they don't take the time to learn about His personality and ask the Spirit to reveal the deep things of God to them. The Bible is easy to misunderstand and write off as nonsense if we don't have the Spirit of God within in us to help us to understand the deep things He wants to reveal about Himself.
Even just in these last two months, i can't emphasize enough how huge this had been in my spiritual life. Just simply asking God to reveal Himself to me and communing with the Holy Spirit has helped me to grow by leaps and bounds. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to us, we just have to take the time to listen.
I am beginning to understand more and more why the deep things of God scare and confound even the wisest of men. Those with human knowledge think they understand, but they cannot know God without His help.
No one can know God without His help.
Thank you Lord for sending us the Helper! (John 14:26)
Everyday i am shocked by a new facet of His beauty!
Truly ladies and gentlemen, if you are bored with God-you need revival! You need to Holy Spirit to break in a liven things up, because there is never a dull moment with God! And if you think you have God all figured out, you had better head back to Genesis, for who can know the Eternal One?
Recently i have been stuck in 1 Corinthians 2. I never realized how much i was missing by neglecting the Holy Spirit in me! He is our power cord to God! Our direct link.
Truly, we cannot even begin to understand God with out the help of the Holy Spirit inside of us. The "wisdom" of man never can and never will comprehend God eternal, the one who was there before time, who has no beginning and no end.
My poor little brain can hardly even handle thinking about someone that big!
But God will reveal His great mysteries to us by His Spirit (1 Cor 2:10) if we only ask Him (James 1:5)
The problem is, that we come at God with our limited understanding, and try to apply what we know to Him, thus putting His character in a box that is far too small for Him. We cannot understand by the ways of this world or our human "wisdom".
Let's put aside our humanistic thinking and study the deep things of God!
"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that had been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understand it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." -1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Are you guys reading what i am!?
Let's put it simply;
All the people of this age, who think they are so smart with their philosophies and sensible words, really are deceived. It doesn't matter how good they sound, or if the think they can rationalize away the reality of God's existence, their wisdom will -and is- coming to nothing.
But all of God's glory, His wisdom, is accessible to us! We who have His Spirit within us have the opportunity to know the deep things of God!
"For who knows a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit within? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not recieved the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." -1 Corinthians 2:11+12
Did you catch that? God's Spirit is the only One who knows His thoughts, and He freely gave us His Spirit that we might understand. I don't know about you, but i serve a good God!
It's sad to me, that even many Christians remain in the dark about His character because they don't take the time to learn about His personality and ask the Spirit to reveal the deep things of God to them. The Bible is easy to misunderstand and write off as nonsense if we don't have the Spirit of God within in us to help us to understand the deep things He wants to reveal about Himself.
Even just in these last two months, i can't emphasize enough how huge this had been in my spiritual life. Just simply asking God to reveal Himself to me and communing with the Holy Spirit has helped me to grow by leaps and bounds. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to us, we just have to take the time to listen.
I am beginning to understand more and more why the deep things of God scare and confound even the wisest of men. Those with human knowledge think they understand, but they cannot know God without His help.
No one can know God without His help.
Thank you Lord for sending us the Helper! (John 14:26)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
My Daddy, He's not angry...
God, in all His infinite wisdom, often chooses to represent Himself as the Father. But we in our human minds, take that and impose upon Him the picture of our own earthly father, or authority figures in our lives. We see their short comings, their failures and weaknesses and without really realizing it, assume that God has those same problems.
God does not get into moods.
God does not have our same emotions, He does not struggle with holding a grudge. He does not see you for your sin and your down falls. He does not get angry.
Because God is Love. He is the fulfillment of all things good. He is Righteousness, Justice, Peace...
We do wrong, and think that God is disappointed with us, that He's angry, and that some how we have to work to get back into His good graces.
But we do not understand God.
Do you know that He loves us with unconditional love? That He will never stop loving us? Do you walk into His presence with confidence? Knowing that you are the apple of His eye? That you were created especially to fill a place in His heart?
Luke 15, the story of the 'Prodigal Son', is not a story about the son. It is a story about the extravagant love of the Father, who meets us in our sin. (Luke 15:11-32)
"But while he was still a long way off..." (vs.20)
Our Father accepts us. Even in our sin.
God is telling us that we don't have to be perfect that He loves us where we are, even in our ugliness.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (vs.20)
All the son had to do, was turn, repent and set out towards his Father. But what verse 20 is telling us, is that although it was the sons choice to head back, the Father was looking for him! How else would He have seen the son while he was still a long ways off!?
God does not turn away, He doesn't give up on us in our sin-He's always looking for us! And the moment we choose to return, He RUNS to us! He is gracious and quick to forgive!
"The son said to the him, 'Father, i have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'" (vs.21)
The son was still stuck in his sin, believing he wasn't worthy of his Father's love. Still too stuck on looking at himself instead of searching the Father. We need to see ourselves the way our heavenly Father sees us.
"But the Father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." (vs.22-24)
First, the Father is looking, second, He runs to meet his son, third he embraces him, kisses him, clothes him, feeds him and rejoices over him-all while he was still a 'long way off'! While he was still in his sin. Not after he'd gotten his life in order and presented himself as a clean package before his Father, but while he was tattered and dressed in rags. Covered in dirt and full of guilt and shame.
Not only does the Father instantly accept him back and forgive him, but He rejoices like his son was dead and restored to life again! What an amazing description of the extravagant love of our Father!
God will never give up on you. He loves you more deeply than any of us can comprehend. Even when we mess up, which we are prone to do, He is quick to cover over all wrongs with love.
All it takes from us is one glance, one conscious step towards Him and He will run to us!
Beloved, we are not sinners who are trying to love God...We are Lovers who struggle with sin!
Don't forget that God created us, thus He knows the weak tendencies of man. He knows us intimately. He knows that we fail, and are prone to run from Him, especially when we are in sin, but He wants us to turn and run to us even in our sin! He is moody and does not hold a grudge.
Our Father, is not a moody Father.
His love and compassion will never change.
He loves you, even in your ugliness.
God does not get into moods.
God does not have our same emotions, He does not struggle with holding a grudge. He does not see you for your sin and your down falls. He does not get angry.
Because God is Love. He is the fulfillment of all things good. He is Righteousness, Justice, Peace...
We do wrong, and think that God is disappointed with us, that He's angry, and that some how we have to work to get back into His good graces.
But we do not understand God.
Do you know that He loves us with unconditional love? That He will never stop loving us? Do you walk into His presence with confidence? Knowing that you are the apple of His eye? That you were created especially to fill a place in His heart?
Luke 15, the story of the 'Prodigal Son', is not a story about the son. It is a story about the extravagant love of the Father, who meets us in our sin. (Luke 15:11-32)
"But while he was still a long way off..." (vs.20)
Our Father accepts us. Even in our sin.
God is telling us that we don't have to be perfect that He loves us where we are, even in our ugliness.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (vs.20)
All the son had to do, was turn, repent and set out towards his Father. But what verse 20 is telling us, is that although it was the sons choice to head back, the Father was looking for him! How else would He have seen the son while he was still a long ways off!?
God does not turn away, He doesn't give up on us in our sin-He's always looking for us! And the moment we choose to return, He RUNS to us! He is gracious and quick to forgive!
"The son said to the him, 'Father, i have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'" (vs.21)
The son was still stuck in his sin, believing he wasn't worthy of his Father's love. Still too stuck on looking at himself instead of searching the Father. We need to see ourselves the way our heavenly Father sees us.
"But the Father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." (vs.22-24)
First, the Father is looking, second, He runs to meet his son, third he embraces him, kisses him, clothes him, feeds him and rejoices over him-all while he was still a 'long way off'! While he was still in his sin. Not after he'd gotten his life in order and presented himself as a clean package before his Father, but while he was tattered and dressed in rags. Covered in dirt and full of guilt and shame.
Not only does the Father instantly accept him back and forgive him, but He rejoices like his son was dead and restored to life again! What an amazing description of the extravagant love of our Father!
God will never give up on you. He loves you more deeply than any of us can comprehend. Even when we mess up, which we are prone to do, He is quick to cover over all wrongs with love.
All it takes from us is one glance, one conscious step towards Him and He will run to us!
Beloved, we are not sinners who are trying to love God...We are Lovers who struggle with sin!
Don't forget that God created us, thus He knows the weak tendencies of man. He knows us intimately. He knows that we fail, and are prone to run from Him, especially when we are in sin, but He wants us to turn and run to us even in our sin! He is moody and does not hold a grudge.
Our Father, is not a moody Father.
His love and compassion will never change.
He loves you, even in your ugliness.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Why Night and Day?
Today we finished our class with Allen Hood on night and day prayer. My heart was so stirred by the revelation of the necessity of night and day prayer! It's so important, and yet we don't even have a partial understanding of why!
Many of the things i share here are notes i took in class. I have a whole 30 page packet about all the reasons why we need night and day prayer, but i'm trying to condense it to the main one-this is going to be hard! Alright so here we go;
Person: "So Steph...What do you do at IHOPU?"
Steph: "Well, we pray...A LOT."
Person: "Wow, you pay money to sit in a room with music playing and pray? What a waste."
Steph: "Oh if only you knew how important my job is before God!"
Person: "...What?"
I feel like i have a battle going on in my head. The above conversation is not real (unless inside my head counts) but sometimes i feel so burdened by the lack of understanding that surrounds night and day prayer and how important it is. If you've ever felt nagging doubts about why you spend your time praying, you know what i'm talking about. I hope to shed some light on the subject.
Many have asked, "Why night and day prayer?" Even before we got down here, we faced some opposition and questions about why we would give up security and comfort to sit in a room and pray to someone we couldn't see? And, i really didn't have an answer for them. Besides feeling a pull in my heart that there was more to life than the comforts of this world, i really couldn't give a sound reason why we are doing what we're doing.
Now i can.
Why you ask should we be contending before the throne for Christ to come back and establish His millennial kingdom here on earth? Why you ask should we spend countless hours praying about the ending of abortion and human trafficking? Why you ask should we devote our lives to night and day worship and prayer? Why you ask should our very being revolve around offering God praise and humbling ourselves before Him?
Because unceasing worship is the only worthy response to the greatness and majesty of God and the worthiness of Jesus Christ.
It's that simple.
God is worthy of so much more than the 30 minutes of worship we grudgingly give Him on a Sunday morning.
Just by asking that question proves how little we know of the God we serve. How little we understand of His majesty.
Just look at the four living creatures! Do you know that they stand before the throne night and day and worship Him? (Is. 6:1-3, Rev. 4:7-8)
Why?
Because they can see the holiness of God and understand that He alone is worthy to be praised. They are just responding to the glory of God, no one makes them worship. The unfallen creatures of the heavens never stop worshiping Him. Only fallen creatures stop worshiping or would ever dare to ask if night and day prayer is worth it.
If the seraphim can worship Him night and day without ceasing, why don't we-we who are His image bearers, bought with noble blood?
Worship, is ascribing value to an object. And yet we go our whole day without once even thinking about the God who laid the very foundations of the earth! (Job 38:4) If we could only catch a glimpse of God in all His awesome splendor, His robes filling the temple (Is. 6:10), we might cry out like Isaiah did; "Woe to me! I am ruined! For i am a man of unclean lips, and i live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have sen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Is. 6:5) Isaiah wasn't saying he had a cursing problem, he was crying 'Woe!' because we as a people don't know how to speak about God!
The unspeakable horror throughout history is that we do not understand the glory of God and do not worship Him the way He deserves! There is nothing any of us can give Him that is worthy of His glory except our unceasing prayer and worship of His awesome splendor.
We've gotten so side tracked by everything else. Missions, preaching, exhorting, evangelism, etc! We have put everything that is of lesser importance above that which is most important! Just worshiping and communing with Him! Our churches have it backwards in America today. Worship does not exist so we can preach, preaching exists so we can understand Him better and more worship can go forth!
We spend more time talking about or prayer requests than actually praying about them! We save prayer to the end of our meetings and services like it's some routine thing that we should do because we've always done it that way! No! Prayer should be a lifestyle! It should be central in everything we do! Our very lives should be a sacrifice of praise! (Rom. 12:1+2)
Our question of 'is night and day prayer worth it' is a testimony that we do not know Him and have been stuck in religion too long.
God's nature both elicits and demands worship, but not just any worship, wholehearted adoration of His being. A burning passion so that the flame on the altar would never go out! (Rev. 8:3+4)
When Jesus comes back to earth to prepare the way for the coming of the Father, this will be the way He runs His government-through prayer and worship. All other church callings will at some point fade away. There will be no need for missions, evangelism or feeding the hungry in God's kingdom. But worship is an eternal reality. It's coming to earth to stay.
So if you're bored with it now, you'd better get your heart right! Cause you're going to be doing it for all of eternity!
We need fresh revelation of the glory of God! Because it is out of that revelation that the fire in our souls is set ablaze with zeal for the Lord, and it is out of THAT place that we should go forth and teach, preach, serve, evangelize and save in the name of Jesus.
Prayer and worship need to be forefront in our churches and daily lives again!
Oh Lord, that You would reveal Your glory to us and fascinate our hearts!
You alone are worthy to be praised!
Many of the things i share here are notes i took in class. I have a whole 30 page packet about all the reasons why we need night and day prayer, but i'm trying to condense it to the main one-this is going to be hard! Alright so here we go;
Person: "So Steph...What do you do at IHOPU?"
Steph: "Well, we pray...A LOT."
Person: "Wow, you pay money to sit in a room with music playing and pray? What a waste."
Steph: "Oh if only you knew how important my job is before God!"
Person: "...What?"
I feel like i have a battle going on in my head. The above conversation is not real (unless inside my head counts) but sometimes i feel so burdened by the lack of understanding that surrounds night and day prayer and how important it is. If you've ever felt nagging doubts about why you spend your time praying, you know what i'm talking about. I hope to shed some light on the subject.
Many have asked, "Why night and day prayer?" Even before we got down here, we faced some opposition and questions about why we would give up security and comfort to sit in a room and pray to someone we couldn't see? And, i really didn't have an answer for them. Besides feeling a pull in my heart that there was more to life than the comforts of this world, i really couldn't give a sound reason why we are doing what we're doing.
Now i can.
Why you ask should we be contending before the throne for Christ to come back and establish His millennial kingdom here on earth? Why you ask should we spend countless hours praying about the ending of abortion and human trafficking? Why you ask should we devote our lives to night and day worship and prayer? Why you ask should our very being revolve around offering God praise and humbling ourselves before Him?
Because unceasing worship is the only worthy response to the greatness and majesty of God and the worthiness of Jesus Christ.
It's that simple.
God is worthy of so much more than the 30 minutes of worship we grudgingly give Him on a Sunday morning.
Just by asking that question proves how little we know of the God we serve. How little we understand of His majesty.
Just look at the four living creatures! Do you know that they stand before the throne night and day and worship Him? (Is. 6:1-3, Rev. 4:7-8)
Why?
Because they can see the holiness of God and understand that He alone is worthy to be praised. They are just responding to the glory of God, no one makes them worship. The unfallen creatures of the heavens never stop worshiping Him. Only fallen creatures stop worshiping or would ever dare to ask if night and day prayer is worth it.
If the seraphim can worship Him night and day without ceasing, why don't we-we who are His image bearers, bought with noble blood?
Worship, is ascribing value to an object. And yet we go our whole day without once even thinking about the God who laid the very foundations of the earth! (Job 38:4) If we could only catch a glimpse of God in all His awesome splendor, His robes filling the temple (Is. 6:10), we might cry out like Isaiah did; "Woe to me! I am ruined! For i am a man of unclean lips, and i live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have sen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Is. 6:5) Isaiah wasn't saying he had a cursing problem, he was crying 'Woe!' because we as a people don't know how to speak about God!
The unspeakable horror throughout history is that we do not understand the glory of God and do not worship Him the way He deserves! There is nothing any of us can give Him that is worthy of His glory except our unceasing prayer and worship of His awesome splendor.
We've gotten so side tracked by everything else. Missions, preaching, exhorting, evangelism, etc! We have put everything that is of lesser importance above that which is most important! Just worshiping and communing with Him! Our churches have it backwards in America today. Worship does not exist so we can preach, preaching exists so we can understand Him better and more worship can go forth!
We spend more time talking about or prayer requests than actually praying about them! We save prayer to the end of our meetings and services like it's some routine thing that we should do because we've always done it that way! No! Prayer should be a lifestyle! It should be central in everything we do! Our very lives should be a sacrifice of praise! (Rom. 12:1+2)
Our question of 'is night and day prayer worth it' is a testimony that we do not know Him and have been stuck in religion too long.
God's nature both elicits and demands worship, but not just any worship, wholehearted adoration of His being. A burning passion so that the flame on the altar would never go out! (Rev. 8:3+4)
When Jesus comes back to earth to prepare the way for the coming of the Father, this will be the way He runs His government-through prayer and worship. All other church callings will at some point fade away. There will be no need for missions, evangelism or feeding the hungry in God's kingdom. But worship is an eternal reality. It's coming to earth to stay.
So if you're bored with it now, you'd better get your heart right! Cause you're going to be doing it for all of eternity!
We need fresh revelation of the glory of God! Because it is out of that revelation that the fire in our souls is set ablaze with zeal for the Lord, and it is out of THAT place that we should go forth and teach, preach, serve, evangelize and save in the name of Jesus.
Prayer and worship need to be forefront in our churches and daily lives again!
Oh Lord, that You would reveal Your glory to us and fascinate our hearts!
You alone are worthy to be praised!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Testify of His Goodness
I just have to take a moment to testify to the goodness of God in the land of the living, i think many will be blessed!
Our new friends, DeAnn and Christian gave up they're comfortable lives back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Kansas city for FMA. After they got here, they realized that they didn't have as much money put away as they thought, and their funds quickly ran out.
We have gotten to know them really well over the past few weeks, and about two weeks ago, they sat with us and told us they literally had no idea where they were going to get the money to pay the rent. So we agreed to pray with them for God's provision.
Well, a few days later, Christian told us that the IHOP kitchens had accepted his application from among 40 others-he got a job! A not only a job, but in an atmosphere where God would be glorified and it would work around our crazy school schedule! They were so thrilled!
So that was break through number one, break through number two came today.
Jeremy was in the prayer room this morning, and felt God pulling him towards Christian, that maybe he needed to talk about something. Christian ended up breaking down, and saying that they needed some serious breakthrough in their finances, though the job was an answer to prayer, he started working on an off week and wouldn't receive a pay check in time to pay his bills. So they went to the back, and Jeremy spoke whatever words God gave him to say over Christian. They prayed, and Christian was set free from relying on himself for money. They both came to the radical realization of how completely God wants control of your life and everything in it.
The main focus this morning in our prayer set, was that 'this is that day for break through, and this is the day for answered prayers'. So with that resonating in our spirits, we headed to our next class.
Not 45 minutes later, we're in our practicum, and Corey Russell is speaking to us just giving us some new announcements, and all of the sudden, he pulls a envelope our of his pocket and asked if Christian would come up front. In total confusion, Christian went forward. Corey told him that someone gave him the envelope, with Christian's name on it, and asked him to pass it along.
I'm not sure how much was in it-but that envelope was THICK!!! Can i just say that God provides for us!?
Even though He lets us be stretched, and waits until the eleventh hour, He will provide.
Just one or many testimonies to come of the goodness of God!
He is so good!
On a personal note, i received a vision today, that i feel is for the church in America.
God put a heavy emphasis in my heart while crying out for California, that 'it's not too late'. If we'd only turn to Him, who knows but that He might not relent and leave a blessing in the place of judgment? (Joel 2:14)
As i was meditating on the word, i saw the U.S. laid out before me. Two hands rose up from either end of the nation, reaching towards heaven. They were covered with blood, with the sins of our nation.
The set continued on, and i cried out for mercy for our nation. And God kept telling me; "it's not too late".
And then i saw as we (the church) raised our hands, repented and turned away from wickedness, God washed ours hands of the sinful blood and covered our clean hands with the blood of the lamb.
There is power in the name of Jesus.
Beloved it's not too late!
Return.
Our new friends, DeAnn and Christian gave up they're comfortable lives back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Kansas city for FMA. After they got here, they realized that they didn't have as much money put away as they thought, and their funds quickly ran out.
We have gotten to know them really well over the past few weeks, and about two weeks ago, they sat with us and told us they literally had no idea where they were going to get the money to pay the rent. So we agreed to pray with them for God's provision.
Well, a few days later, Christian told us that the IHOP kitchens had accepted his application from among 40 others-he got a job! A not only a job, but in an atmosphere where God would be glorified and it would work around our crazy school schedule! They were so thrilled!
So that was break through number one, break through number two came today.
Jeremy was in the prayer room this morning, and felt God pulling him towards Christian, that maybe he needed to talk about something. Christian ended up breaking down, and saying that they needed some serious breakthrough in their finances, though the job was an answer to prayer, he started working on an off week and wouldn't receive a pay check in time to pay his bills. So they went to the back, and Jeremy spoke whatever words God gave him to say over Christian. They prayed, and Christian was set free from relying on himself for money. They both came to the radical realization of how completely God wants control of your life and everything in it.
The main focus this morning in our prayer set, was that 'this is that day for break through, and this is the day for answered prayers'. So with that resonating in our spirits, we headed to our next class.
Not 45 minutes later, we're in our practicum, and Corey Russell is speaking to us just giving us some new announcements, and all of the sudden, he pulls a envelope our of his pocket and asked if Christian would come up front. In total confusion, Christian went forward. Corey told him that someone gave him the envelope, with Christian's name on it, and asked him to pass it along.
I'm not sure how much was in it-but that envelope was THICK!!! Can i just say that God provides for us!?
Even though He lets us be stretched, and waits until the eleventh hour, He will provide.
Just one or many testimonies to come of the goodness of God!
He is so good!
On a personal note, i received a vision today, that i feel is for the church in America.
God put a heavy emphasis in my heart while crying out for California, that 'it's not too late'. If we'd only turn to Him, who knows but that He might not relent and leave a blessing in the place of judgment? (Joel 2:14)
As i was meditating on the word, i saw the U.S. laid out before me. Two hands rose up from either end of the nation, reaching towards heaven. They were covered with blood, with the sins of our nation.
The set continued on, and i cried out for mercy for our nation. And God kept telling me; "it's not too late".
And then i saw as we (the church) raised our hands, repented and turned away from wickedness, God washed ours hands of the sinful blood and covered our clean hands with the blood of the lamb.
There is power in the name of Jesus.
Beloved it's not too late!
Return.
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