Desire

What is it that you desire?  What is it that you are passionate about?  Take a mental moment and think in your head about what you most want.......    Do you have it?  How many of you thought about a job or career goal?  How many thought about some sort of personal achievement, such as completing a marathon, or mastering the guitar?   How many thought about that nest-egg for retirement, or your children's college education?  Perhaps it getting into a position of leadership?  What we desire and aspire tells us a lot about our state of being and who we are.


It is our desires and passions that drive us.  We often do what we do so that we may move toward attaining what is is we want.  We build relationships with people who will help us further along towards our goals.  We make choices of attire, change our look, move to certain neighborhoods, drive certain types of cars, etc etc, just so that we can fit in and move ourselves closer toward that goal we have our eyes upon.


For many people, that ultimate goal must be obtained at all cost.  People will turn on thier friends and family, lie about a coworker, steal someone elses ideas and claim it for their own.  They will lay traps and snares to catch their competition off guard and destroy their reputation, and besmirch them just so you can advance towards your end.  You want what they have and you will do whatever it takes to get it, even at the expense of others.


Most of the things that people desire are just temporary.  Even when they get to where they think they want to be or achieve what they wanted, they still find emptiness and therefore are driven to keep on pushing and pushing for the next thing and the next thing.  No amount of money ever seems to satisfy, no amount of possessions ever seems to quiet the hunger; no amount of subjects ever satisfies the lust for power. 


I don't think that many people even realize they are doing this.  We've been raised to think that we are just evolved animals that need to look out for number one in a dog eat dog survival of the fittest struggle to pass on the best genes to the next generation as we grow ever closer to a utopia that we will never see as we die and become part of an empty nothingness to be long forgotten except for some sort of legacy we can leave behind to future generations.  It is sad and pitiful.
 

All is vanity.  We may never reach those goals we have, and when we do, they can be stolen away by others, crumble away due to some unforeseen circumstance.  Our life can be cut short before ever reaching the plateau we were ascending to.  Our schemes can backfire and we lose all that we worked towards and put our hopes in.  Why put our trust in things that are so unstable and that will pass away?  Why do we waste our energies on efforts that over time will not matter at all and will pass away into forgetfulness.


Oh what a sad state we humans find ourselves in running to and fro, working and striving for things that in an instant will be gone, putting our trust and hope in activities that lead us to nowhere.  There is nothing in this world that we can take with us when we leave it.  We have no real control over who takes over what we have achieved and what they do with it, nor will we really care.  We will have passed on.


In Luke 12, Jesus is with some folks and is asked by a man to convince his brother to divide his inheritance with him.  Jesus replied, Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?  Then he makes a profound and life changing statement if people understand it. (v15) Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.


Remember the desires we thought about at the beginning?  For most, what came to mind Jesus said is not life.  The cars, jobs, achievements, wealth, houses, trophy spouses, contacts, power, whatever, are not what life is about.


Jesus illustrates this point with a parable beginning in v16  "And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”


"rich towards God".....


That is the key, isn't it?  In Mathew 19, Jesus puts it this way, 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 


The reason that earthly desires never satisfy is because we were designed to please God, not ourselves.  We try to fill that void with things that will never satisfy that desire.  The only way we will ever find true peace, happiness, fulfillment is when we make our desires match Gods desires.  It is when we love God and our neighbors as ourselves that we find true life.  When we understand that all these temporary things are not ours, but are Gods for us to use for His purpose and not our own, our lives are transformed from the slavery of always striving to achieve to the freedom of knowing that God has already achieved what we most want for us through His son Jesus Christ; the forgiveness of sin and being made right with the Father and given the Holy Spirit by which we are refreshed and renewed and given a new view of life that is on an eternal scale, rather than a temporary one.


Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  When we do delight in the Lord, He gives us what to desire, and fulfills it.  And God may love us so much that He may also allow us to enjoy some of those other earthly desires we have, knowing that we will use them for His glory and not our own.


If you have been down this road of constantly striving to achieve things, and finding yourself constantly unsatisfied and frustrated, why not try a different way?  Let someone else do all of the effort and striving.  Give the reins of your life over to Jesus Christ.  Let your desire and goal to be to better understand The Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus made a promise to those who do this.  He said in Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." 

Time to Shape Up

The last couple of weeks have been very introspective.  Some long and arduous issues had come to at least a temporary end and as we moved into the new year season.   I was hit hard with the Romans 12, 1-2 theme of having a renewed mind through submission to the Lord.  Not only did I write about it, but was also presented with several teachings from various sources on those exact verses. 


One of the things I got to look at was the fact that there is sin in the camp.  With that there are two options.  Either there is a lack of faith that God can deal with it, or there is willful disobedience in just flat out wanting to continue in sin.  Neither one is that good.  We can be confident that God will forgive us if we confess our sins.  If Jesus asks us to forgive 70 X 7 in a day, surely the Father will exceed that in mercy.


Another thing we have to look at is , do we fear the Lord?  This should be one of the drivers to be obedient unto Him.  If we are being disobedient, than we do not have the proper fear of the Lord.  Our fear should be two fold.  We should be scared of what God may do to us in disobedience.  Punishment is never fun.  It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.  On the flipside, and what we need to have more of, is not the fear of punishment, but fear in letting God down.  When I was a child, there was nothing worse than disappointing my Dad.  I loved him so much and wanted his love.  If I broke the rules, I knew that I had hurt him, and that was worse than any punishment.  We should feel the same way towards God.


Another aspect I have been looking at is being the living sacrifice being our reasonable service.  If we were to totally commit to God, what things are standing in the way?  Is there a hobby we love that we might have to set aside?  Is there a job we have that is taking all of our time and energy?  Would we rather sit around and watch our TV program than to get down on our knees in prayer time, or to study God's word?  Our reasonable service calls for us to put God first, and our desires into submission.


All of these issues could be blocking the Lord from using us mightily, or preventing our prayers from being answered.  Our blessing could be right around the corner, but we can be just like the wanderers in the wilderness who, when within just a few miles of the promise, lost their chance and spent the rest of their days just wandering about because they were unable to trust in God with all their hearts.  Why would God use us and bless us mightily if we are unwilling to submit ourselves to Him?  How can we hear Him and get His guidance if we have an unrepentent heart and choose to sin against Him? 


In this new year and as we approach the day of atonement, we need to be taking stock of ourselves and ask as David did, to ask God to examine our hearts and see if there be any wicked way in us.  If you are serious, don't be surprised to see trying situations arise.  It is when we are jostled about that what is on the inside of us spills out.  How we react to situations reveals to us what is in our hearts.  Do we fret and cry and moan and groan, complaining why me, oh poor me?  Or do we get down on our knees in prayer and open up our books and ask God to show us what He is trying to teach us?


We are coming up on trying times, my friends.  We need to be getting our houses in order.  We need to be getting ourselves right with God.  Playtime is over and it is time to grow up.   God isn't seeking ability, but availability. 


Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

When the Going Gets Tough

Have you ever gotten mad at God?  There are times where things just don't seem to fit together like you thought, or you did not get the answer from Him you expected, and life just is not going at all smoothly.  I'm not talking about something superficial like you didn't get that new car you asked for.  I'm talking about gut wrenching issues, agonizing hurt, after long periods of time pleading.  Something that just makes you drop to your knees and scream, Why Lord?

You may be wondering, why Lord. why do the evil succeed?  Why do they get away with it?  How long, oh Lord, must I deal with this or that situation?  Why is it that I never seem to come out on top, Lord?  Why is it that I have been alone so long waiting?  Have you not heard me?  Can't you see that I am hurting?  Why have you not delivered me? 

I think many of us get to these desperate heart aching points in our walk where we just cannot see or understand the plan God is working in or through us.  Times where we almost can't find any words to express the anguish that we are feeling or the desperation that we are experiencing.  What are we supposed to do?  How are we to carry on when it just seems like the world is falling in on top of us and the bottom has dropped away?

I've been facing such situations recently, so as much as this is sharing with others, it is also a little therapy for myself here.  All those types of questions are swirling around in my head, and I am asking and pleading, wondering when is it going to end?  What am I supposed to do?

I got a word before the intensity of the situation I am in ramped up several hundred degrees. 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

When we are upset and troubled, even wounded deeply to our core, we still need to carry on in a way that is pleasing to God.  He made a promise to us in that verse.  We can't let our pain become so great that we begin hurting others.  We need to keep our focus on God and doing what is right, treating others as we ourselves want to be treated, doing our jobs to the best of our ability, being honest, not being a gossiper, etc etc...  If we do those things, we have a harvest coming.  We might not know when it is or how it is, but we can rest assured that it will come when it is ripe and ready and perfect for us.

I wish I could say that I have been a perfect soldier in this, but really, it is kind of a hard thing to do.  We are hurt and upset and do some things that don't necessarily help, or think we can do something about it and forget that God is the one in control.  We can get caught up in our emotions and reap some consequences we'd rather not.  That is the hard part about the "faint not" in that verse.    We can make things worse when we get like, I got this God.

I think that when we get past the initial "WHY GOD WHY?", we can settle back and look to the word for the practical applications of "how, Lord, how?"  Maybe God will bring some useful verse to remembrance like He did for me with the above verse, or we may stumble upon a teacher on the radio or TV that has a message that speaks to our situation, and we should of course look through the word and meditate upon what it says.  The instructions on what to do can be found there.

Another hard thing that we should be learning to do in tough situations is learning to trust God even more.  It is all well and good to trust God when things are going well, but when things happen and appear to be at their worst, that is when we really need to knuckle down with some serious faith and determined faith that says, despite what I am seeing and feeling, I know that that harvest is out there getting ripe and I have no doubt that if I do as the word says, the blessing is promised to me by God, and God keeps ALL his promises.

Standing In The Gap

The last few weeks have been really tough.  They really have not been terribly tough on what is going on with me personally, but it seems like recently those that are around me are suffering from a myriad of personal crises', some of which are deserving of the personal foul flag for piling on.  Because I care about the people in my life, I am invested into their lives and care about what happens to them.  The biggest frustrations seems to be not being able to do very much about things.  I want to help but I can't in the way that I would like to.


There was a phrase that I learned a long time ago, both by just hearing about it, and by practical application.  The term was 'standing in the gap'.  What I have always understood the term to mean was that an individual would be able to help another through doing things for the person that they may not be able to do for themselves, or taking part of the heat for them to lessen their burdens, or another way was to spiritually breach a gap for them. 


The idea of standing in the gap comes generally from Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.  The previous verse shows that the condition of Israel had gone downhill and the people were acting wickedly.  The idea of seeking one to stand in the gap was to say that one could plead for the people to God.  Someone to stand as an intermediary and plead for mercy from God on behalf of the people.  This same idea can be brought to an individual level as well where some righteous person would plead to god on behalf of others.  I guess some would call this intercessory prayer.


One example of this might be when Abraham was pleading with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that Lot and his family were there.  Abraham pleaded to spare the place for the righteous folks sake.  Unfortunately for the city, Lot and his immediate family did not add up to enough.  But this was a case where Abraham kind of stood in the gap for Lot and family, as well as any other righteous folks that may have been there.


Sometimes standing in the gap for another may put yourself on the line.  Jesus tells us that no greater love does a man have than to lay down his life for his friends.  Sometimes, we have to put ourselves out there to protect friends, family, fellow believers.  It could require literally jumping into the middle of a fight, or placing yourself in harms way to protect another.  Again we can look to Abraham and Lot for this also when Lot was captured and Abraham got his band together to go take out Lots captors and rescue Lot.


There are times too when standing in the gap can be purely spiritual.  You pray and pray hard for lost loved ones and friends, asking God to intervene in their lives and open their eyes to accept Jesus Christ.  Daniel 10:11-13 gives us some insight into this.  We see how when Daniel prayed, the prayer was immediately heard and responded to, but it took 21 days for the angels to fight their way past the demons to accomplish the prayer.  This happens when we pray too, especially when we are praying for the lost.  We are in a war.


Doing these battles takes its own toll on those of us standing in the gap.  We get tired, depressed, weak, etc, during these times.  The Holy Spirit that resides in us as believers desires to help us through this.  He will give us strength, wisdom, understanding, and can do some simple things like making sure our needs our met during these times.  I kings 19 tells the story of how Elijah was ministered to after doing some of the Lords work.  Elijah was so depressed he wished to die, and God had an angel bring him some food to eat to help strengthen him and bring him back into balance.


We as Christians are involved in some deep struggles whether we know it or not.  We will often be asked to or feel the need to stand in the gap for others individually or as a group.   It is what we do.  Sharing the gospel and ministering is hard work and may require much of us mentally, physically, and spiritually.  We can trust that God will see us through if we are acting under His authority. 


Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

The Babies Bathwater

Often times we wonder where it is that we strayed.  Not just personally, but collectively.  There was a time where the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in His word the Bible was the foundation for us as individuals, families, communities, regions, states, and as a nation.  It was such an infused part of most everyone lifestyles and our overall culture that Christianity and the United States were seen as inseparable.  


Now we look around today and see all manner of ungodliness occurring and accepted as normal.  Our own leader has even declared that we are no longer a Christian nation, and he is right.  In the void left by peoples lack of personal responsibility as forged by their fear of the Lord, government has stepped into that role as God and savior of the people.  Because of peoples immoralities, government has had to make laws that infringe upon every aspect of our lives.  We as a people can no linger be trusted to do what is right.  Sadly though, those same people are in the government trying to tell us what is right.


We know the situation we are in, but we do wonder how we got here.  The last couple of weeks and a little light bulb action from above and I think I can put a finger on a least a good portion of what happened.  I've talked to a lot of different people from a lot of different churches and other beliefs as well as no belief at all.  It seems like everyone has their own doctrine, and it has gotten to the point where unless you are in lock step with what the other believes, you are a heretic, a false teacher, someone to be shunned.  The Love of God does not reside with many any longer.  The Gospel of Christ has been replaced with doctrines of men.  We are full of pride and arrogance.  We are backbiters, and lovers of self.  I say these things with great shame.


This I don't believe is an accident.  The enemy has always set about to divide and conquer.  Many of the divisions are like long lasting feuds that linger on and on even to the point where no one remembers what really started it, but they all know their talking points and have their preconceived ideas to label each other with.  It's gotten to be a free for all or a witch hunt where everyone is pointing fingers and yelling FALSE TEACHER!  


I think this goes on because we are so woefully illiterate biblically.  Many folks know the scriptures... the ones that support their church doctrine.  Show them some others that contradict that and hoo boy, thems fightin words.  Others know so much that they literally can't see the forest through the trees.  They have gone to colleges and were taught under liberal professors who sliced and diced, shaked and baked that Bible so much that it was left looking like a lump of unrecognizable slop.


This fear of false teachers is a big one.  We have whole segments of the gospel torn away because we are afraid of false teaching.  This is where we throw the baby out with the bathwater.    Many folks are horribly weak in faith because they threw out the scriptures about faith because there was a word of faith false teaching.  So as to avoid going anywhere near there, they throw out the teachings on faith.  Because we have charlatans running around with their miracle circus', many throw out completely that God can and does work supernaturally in our lives and will heal and deliver us.  People are so afraid to be under the law that they want to throw out the law completely as if it did not exist.  then there are others who throw out everything God says about prospering us in our lives because they are afraid of the false prosperity gospel.  And it goes on.


The only way to safely navigate oneself through all of this mess is by getting into the word themselves and setting aside the teachings of the church or a particular teacher and do so with a sincere heart in asking God to reveal the truth to you.  The Holy spirit will guide the sincere heart in the path to take and safely guide us through the dark and dangerous forests of doubt, disbelief, and skepticism. 


Will it be an easy journey?    No.  Friends, family, strangers, everyone might accuse you, negate you, get mad at you, deny you, abandon you...  and yes, there are times where they could even hurt or kill you for the sake of the truth of the Gospel.  Remember that it was the religious folks that put Jesus to death.  Jesus assures us that for His sake people will indeed hate you and persecute you.   He tells us to count it all joy when this happens.  The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is all that matters though.  Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life; no man going to the father but by Him.  You won't get to heaven following a church doctrine or a teaching of men.  


Read your bibles, and talk to God as you do.  Let your questions and concerns be known to him.  His spirit will answer a sincere heart.

Oh My People

Oh my People
Where are my people?

Down I came
From up on high
And took a walk
To find out this thing.
I walked to and fro
Hither and yonder
Visited here and there

Oh My People
Where are my people?

I stopped at a building
That bore my name.
I sat quietly in the back pew
Just watching
They spoke
They sung
They prayed
Not a one greeted me.
Several I visited
All the same
I slipped out
And no one noticed.

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went to a mall
And stood on the balcony watching
People running to and fro
Concerned about mateial possessions
Not a one gave a
To another passing soul
Scampering about
Bags in hand
Chasing after things
That matter not
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went downtown
And walked amongst the towers
So Cold
Business suits bustling
Chasing mammon
Deadlines to meet
Deals to be
Each looking past
Their fellow man
Sirens blaring
Horns beeping
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I sat down
In the city park
I must have looked
Down and lonely
A grizzled old man
Pushing a shopping cart
Stopped and gave me greeting
And sat down with me
We talked of life
We talked of death
He shared with me
His only food
I walked away
And he blessed me

Oh my people
There are my people.

I walked along 
The city street
Near dusk by
And getting cold
A man walked up
And greeted me
He asked me how I was
And if I needed help
I walked with him
Nearly two miles
I was fed
Given a bed
And an offer for some clothes
In the morn I walked away
And was blessed

                                             Oh my people
                                        There are my people

I Heard A Word

A long awaited vacation had arrived and I was ready.  It was my plan to kind of right the ship and straighten some things out with my free time.  I had kind of slipped into some old habits that I had tried to change so I figured this time would be good to get back into the ways I wanted to go.  At least, that was the plan.  


One thing that I am passionate about is weather photography and videography.  I can't seem to let a good storm slip by, but I had little inklings in my head to stay at home instead of traveling out.  This was going to be difficult since severe weather was in the forecast for the whole week.  I wanted to go out badly, but that inner voice kept saying no.  I watched as online people I know were out catching once in a lifetime twin violent tornadoes, and knew that I could have been there.  But, I had just had the feeling not to.


After a couple days of watching this, and the threat being closer to home, I decided to go out.  I still had the inner voice saying no, but I just kind of half ignored it and figured on a short tentative trip.  I would just drive a few hours, see some storms and be home in the wee hours of the next morning.  


One thing about storm chasing is that you get a lot of time to think...  at least I do since I chase alone.  I sometimes spend that time thinking or talking out loud to God.  That is what I started out doing as I drove off.  The main thing I kept thinking is that I want to hear from God, and hear directly and clearly from Him.  I would like to hear His voice clearly and distinctly without any doubt about whether I was just thinking to myself.  I truly want to know God better.


As the day wore on I just kept on driving.  I kept trying to listen for God, but was not really hearing Him.  my mind would wander about a little, but I really did spend a bit of time trying to listen, almost pleading to hear from Him.  It really was not anything specific I wanted to hear, just a burning desire to hear, to have a closer relationship with my creator.  I often long and ache for that.  I want to be told what I should be doing.  I suppose I was having an ecclesiastical moment where I was looking at life and all of its vanity.  I want meaning, purpose and direction.


After about 4 or 5 hours I found myself half way across the next state and it was closer to get to the storms than to return home.  Tornadoes were starting to drop and I might have a chance to make it before dark; so I kept driving.  I was too late and too dark to see tornadoes but was treated to a fantastic light show and was around 2 tornadic storms.  I was still getting the feeling that I should have stayed home though.


The next day the forecast was the same so I decided to stick around.  A friend offered to feed the cat, so I seemed to have the green light.  It was going to be a great day of storm chasing, or so I thought.  In reality it turned out to be one of the most frustrating chase days I have ever been on.
 

In the morning the car battery died.  My fault really, but I did get a jump rather quickly.  I took a nap around noon parked in this church parking lot only to wake up with the car full of biting flies.  It took hours to finally get most of them out of the car.  I did not notice the moths, but I am still getting them out of the car 3 days later.  I thought I only had one, but I believe I am up to 4 now.


The next thing that happened was the forecast changed some and pushed the threat further away, but I decided as ling as I was there; so I started heading out.  I was using the map to plot a course, but the map could not tell me what was in store.  I was following the highway and entered a town.  Next thing I knew I was on detours and surrounded by water and sandbags on all sides.  A dam had broken and a levee gave way and the entire town had been flooded...  well, the parts that were not sandbagged.  I could not cross the river there...  or in fact hardly anywhere.  I had to backtrack 30 miles before I found a way across the river.  


On the way I decided I might as well document some of the flooding.  I stopped at on flooded out crossing and was taking pictures of the creek that was now a lake when I heard this cracking sound.  Yep, someone was out shooting.  I began looking around and then saw a splash and heard a crack again.  Then I saw two old folks in their back yard shooting.  I doubt they knew they were shooting in my direction, so I high tailed it out of there.


The floods and the dilly dallying cost me a chance at more tornadoes.  I finally made it to the area just after dark and the storms were dying.  I started heading back.  I was watching the lightning from tornadic storms about 40 miles to my NE as I drove down the highway when I believe God spoke to me.  No it was not audible as I had asked, but it was unmistakeable and a clear thought in my head and feeling in my heart that goes right along with scripture.  I could almost feel my spirit leap at the thought and I had to write it down right away.


"If you put as much effort into serving Me as you do pursuing your hobby, amazing things will happen."


I know that to be so true.  If only I got as excited about going to fellowship with other believers like I do when I know storms are going to fire up.  If only I so anticipated seeing or hearing  my favorite preachers TV or radio show as I do about watching shows on the weather.  If only I got as jacked up about reading the word as I do about reading the weather forecasts.  If only I was as urgent in alerting others of their spiritual dangers as much as I am about warning them about dangerous weather.  My life would be completely changed.


What are you really passionate about? 

Prayer Ap

I have a confession to make.  I have never been the prayer warrior that I should be or want to be; at least with what I would call "formal" prayer.  I do find myself praying as I go about my life.  I talk to God in the shower, while I am working, as I am in my hobby of storm chasing and heading into a possibly tornadic storm, lol.  I do seem to be lacking in time at home on my knees though.  I always feel like I should be doing that more.

It's not like I haven't tried.  Quite a number of times I have fallen asleep.  Sometimes  I get distracted in thought and kind of drift away from praying.  Quite often I just don't think about doing so.  It has never been an ingrained habit to do formal prayers and have a prayer time.

In my quest to improve in this area, an idea struck me.  What if I downloaded an ap for my phone where I could keep a list of what to pray for, and whether that prayer was answered.  One that would also give me a reminder when it was time to pray.  Surely there has to be one of those.

I went to the ap store and tried several combinations of searches.  I never found exactly what I was looking for.  I did find one free prayer journal but no time reminder on it.  That will be sufficient for now I think. 

What surprised me was how many prayer aps there were, and what the content of them was.  The Muslims seem very devout in their prayers.  There were lots of aps for their prayer times and what to pray.  The Catholics too seem to be very devout in their prayers and have specific prayers to repeat for almost every situation.  They are not all to Jesus, but they have lots of repeatable prayers.  Protestants are not to be outdone when it comes to this.  There too were many aps with repeatable prayers.  And the smattering of other groups had their prayer aps as well.  Come to think of it, I did not see one for Jewish prayer. 

This all struck me as very odd.  It felt to me like all of this was like speaking a magic spell to get what you wanted rather than a deep conversation with your loving creator.  I suppose the "now I lay me down to sleep" memorized prayers are good for little children to remember, but when you grow up, I think you should be able to formulate your own thoughts and words when expressing yourself to your creator. 

Mathew 6:7-8  But when you pray, don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do: for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.  Therefore, don't be like them: for your Father knows what things you need before you ask Him.

Going by what Jesus says here, all those formulaic prayers so many repeat over and over don't get past the ceiling.  Even the prayer that Jesus recites in the following verses has become a vain repetition.  The "Our Father who art in heaven" prayer is not one that will be heard just because you say it over and over.    Jesus in verse 9 explains that we are to pray "after this manner".  The Lords prayer is an outline, not a formula.  I'll save that exposition for another day though.

I guess the point I am getting at is this, prayer is having two way communication with Yahweh.  We speak, He listens.  He speaks, we listen.  Prayer is a way to find out what God wants for us.  Prayer is done so that we can find out how we are supposed to be aligned with what God wants, not for God to answer to what we want.

Jehovah is not some magic genie that is on out beck and call.  We are to be submitted to Him and bend our ways and our thoughts to match His.

I Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing. 

Formal prayers are great, and I would like to do so more, but we should always be in prayer mode, communicating with Adonai; not with repetitious softly spoken magic spells, but with our heartfelt needs, desires, wishes, concerns, etc..  And we should be ready to really listen for a reply.  Communication is a two way street.

I Am SOOOO MAD!!!

Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Boy, this is a hard saying.  Sometimes it just no longer lies within me to keep my peace.  tonight was one of those nights.  My nemesis thorn in the side for the last 9 years crossed the line.  I let them know in no uncertain terms that they had done so.  I asked the boss to intervene and asked that it go up the chain of command.  9 years and nothing has changed, nothing has been done. 

People have praised me for being able to put up with so much for so long, but there are limits.  We all have our limits.  Some days our fuses are a bit shorter than other days and it takes less to light those fuses, and they burn faster.  It was just the wrong day to try pulling passive aggressive stunts on me; the wrong day to swear at me and make false accusations in half under your breath but loud enough to hear tones. 

As I sit and look at these verses in Romans 12, it gets harder though.  What God is asking me to do in the word is beyond me at times.  it is not what I want to do.  It is not what I feel like doing.  I'd like to be able to go back behind the woodshed and open up a can of whoopass.  That is not what the word says to do.  Oh Lord help me in my weakness. 

This little segment of Romans 12 starts out with this admonition, 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.  When we get mad, we are not supposed to act like the world and try to do something to the other person in a sneaky or underhanded way.  No backbiting.  No lying in wait to set them up.  We must be honest in our dealings.  Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:


We go past our opening verse now to verse 19: Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Along with the part of not returning evil for evil, we should not avenge ourselves.  Perhaps snapping back in anger was a bit of that, I'm not sure.  Telling the boss?  It is what we should do in the situation.  Taking it silently for so long is sometimes beyond me, so I must ask for God's spirit to infuse me the right things to do. 


Verse 20: 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  This verse parallels the word of Jesus when he said,  Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  Oh, that is so hard and I try so hard to be like this. This kind of attitude can only come through the Spirit of God.  It does not lie within me to do so. 


This part about pray for them I am hit with in this situation.  This person has been my sworn enemy from almost my first day at the job and for reasons that have nothing to do with me.  In thier head I am somehow at fault for some percieved wrong years in the past that he cannot seem to let go of.  It strikes me at the moment that when we pray for people, especially our enemies, we begin to see them as Jesus sees them, a lost soul in need of a savior just as we were. 


verse 21 concludes: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  This is hard too, but we cannot let evil people and their ways get the better of us.  Being the humans we are, we can only appeal to the holy Spirit to empower us to not be overcome of evil.  It is also the Holy spirit that will reveal ways and empower us to to good to overcome the evil.


I don't wish any ill will toward this person, but I do pray they would just go away or change.  One or the other.  I suppose with Gods sense of humor, I would be the one through which this instrument of change should come about.  Things cannot remain as they are though.  I am at my limit of being able to live peacably with this person.  I've tried the doing good to them.  I'm tired and wanted to rant a bit and end up led into a lesson of how I should be acting in this situation.  Praise the Lord. 

Which Way Do I Go?

The other day I was pondering my work situation and whether or not I should be there. What direction should I go? Do I just chuck it all and wander about, and several other crazy things.  My job is not exactly the most Christian oriented.  Many of the values it promotes are anti-Christian and discussion about faith is suppressed.  It’s been something on my mind as to whether or not I should be working in such an environment.  Am I actually helping to promote an anti-Christian system by assisting in its functioning?


Those are some tough thoughts, and the implications that could arise from the answers would certainly be life altering.  I don’t have a great job, but in this day and age, I really do have a good job.  I get paid more than many and have benefits that many don’t get.  The job has let me live a pretty decent lifestyle.  But, we are not supposed to look at the carnal, are we?  We should not trade principles of God for earthly gain.


I sometimes feel the call like that of Abram.  Get thee up out of thy house and thy kindred and go to a place that I will show you.  I’ve always been kind of a wanderer and there is a bit of romantic appeal to this for me.  I’ve been homeless and broke though and I know what that is like and how unromantic it really is.  Still, if that is what God calls you to, He will provide.  This I know from experience too.  I’m just not quite sure about whether this is for me or not.


On the other hand, I look at Joseph.  Although he did not really have a choice in the matter, he found himself working in places that were extremely against God and His ways; first at the captain of the guards, then as a prisoner, and finally ruling over an ungodly nation.  All the while that he was doing his work, he never compromised his principles between he and God.  He worked hard, accurate, and honestly.  God blessed everything Joseph did because of his faithfulness.  In every situation he found himself in, he was promoted over time to a position of leadership as others saw his hard and honest work, and the blessing god bestowed upon that work.  It was not quick progression, but one that took years, all the while being faithful to God to carry out his duties as best he could so as to honor God.  I’m just not sure about whether this is for me or not.


I think back to my early days as a Christian and how I was prophesied as a minister of God and trained in that.  Is that the direction I am going?  I’m not even sure how to get there.  Am I to end up having a church?  Is this here kind of like my church?  What is God preparing me for?  Where is this blog even going?  Lol


Mainly I suppose it is that we need to be obedient in the small things.  If we tell the truth, help others, love, do our work as unto God, be obedient; eventually we will find out the answers we have about what is to occur.  We have to trust God that he has our futures in control and we need to just be obedient day by day.
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Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The Devils Deception

I Peter 5: ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:


Nowadays you don’t hear a lot of sermons about the devil or what he is up to.  I don’t really hear a lot of discussion about him either.  I think it is important to be reminded sometimes that we have an enemy out there; an enemy who wants to destroy us.  Many of us are not even engaged in the battle, unaware of what is going on.  Let’s take a look at what he is up to.


In Isaiah 14 it is written of the devil, ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  That closing phrase holds the key to most of what the devil is up to.  He wants to be like the Most High.  He is a counterfeiter, a knock off brand, trying to duplicate the original.


He has two intentions, either to take you with him into the pit, or if you are saved, to make you as ineffectual as possible.  It is the latter that I intend to deal with.  The Devil want to strip you of your power, your authority, and your protection.  He wants you to not believe what is true, and fall for a lie.  He wants to keep you off your knees, out of the word, and in denial of what God has promised for us.


The most likely place you would find the devil and his demons is probably not where you would expect.  They don’t need to spend time down at the local tavern, or brothel.  He already has those people and they are no threat to him.  The most likely place to find him is at the church.  He might be behind the pulpit or in the leadership of the church making sure the message is all gobbledygook.  He’ll take what god has said and promised and pervert it.  In doing so He knows that not only will he fool those who fall for the perversion, but also get those who are not to then reject what God offers because they think it is perversion.


For example, the devil has taken a perfectly legitimate gift of tongues and perverted it into a bunch of over-emotional diarrhea of the mouth gibberish that looks to the outsider like a scene from a loony bin. The real gift of tongues is found in Acts 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.  This is quite different than the crazy babbling we hear in some circles today.  Yes, I know I am stepping on some toes here.  This topic often gets into heated discussions.  But the devil likes that too when he can get Christians acting hateful toward one another instead of loving as Christ said.  Some people, because of the perversion, deny the gift of tongues even operates today. 


And this is how the devil operates; a point by point copycat perversion of everything God has set in place.  Healings is another.  We see ministers slapping people around on stage and people falling out and flopping around like a fish out of water.  This isn’t healing.  This is perversion.  Because of this perversion, many don’t even believe in divine healing.  Another tool stolen away from us.  More arguments and divisions among Christians. 


Dreams, prophecies, prosperity, and other doctrines that have been twisted and perverted by the evil angels of light sent only to deceive and divide the family of God.  Any more you get attacked by other Christians if you say you believe even the true biblical gifts.  It is even to the point where people don’t even think God communicates to us any longer.  How ineffectual can we get when we even deny the voice of the Father?  Satan has his people out there doing evil deeds claiming “God told them” it was ok.  It has become so common and widespread that when someone does really hear from God, they are not believed.  They might not even believe it if it happened to themselves, they have become so gunshy because of the perversion.


And of course there is the word.  If the devil can pervert and distort the word, he can destroy the standard by which we measure all things.  If he can get us to doubt its authenticity, or authority; question what it says or just plain not believe what it says, he can manipulate us into perversion.  Every year there seems to be some new translation coming out, each one more removed from the original text and meaning.  Some of the newer translations have verses that use words that change the meaning of the verse 180 degrees.  If he can make us think the word is unreliable, than anything goes after that.


If we can be made to believe that God no longer communicates with us, what is the point of prayer?  Disrupting the communication between God and man, getting them to believe a lie, dividing the body, isolating the individual, then going in to devour them as a ravenous and roaring lion; this is the plan of the devil.