6 October 2007
'Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.' Jas 4:8
There may be times when God seems far away. You may feel as if your prayers go unheard. James said there is a simple reason for this and a solution. If you are far from God, it is because your sin has separated you from Him.
God is unchanging. His character stays absolutely holy. His faithfulness remains constant; it is we who change. We allow sin into our lives. We choose our own direction. We spend less and less time with Him in daily devotion and prayer. Then one day we realize that we have gradually grown far away from Him. The solution is straightforward. We are to draw near to God. As we realize our need to be closer to the Father and we begin to return to Him, He meets us even as the father hurried to greet his prodigal son (Lk 15:20).
Drawing near to God requires you to take two actions. First, you must cleanse your hands (Isa 1:15). You must cleanse your way of living. If you have been actively engaged in sin, you must renounce it. If you have done anything to offend or hurt someone, you must make it right.
Second, you are to purify your heart (Ps 51:10). You must make certain your attitudes, thoughts, and motives are right in God's eyes and are in harmony with God's Word. Jesus warned that you cannot serve two masters (Mt 6:24). It is impossible to love anything else as much as you love God and still please Him.
If God seems distant, do what is necessary to cleanse your hands, purify your heart, and draw near to Him.
Amen
Walking with a Limp
5 October 2007
' Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not anwer him a word' 1 Kings 18:20
Sometimes in our walk with God we find that we are spiritually limping. Our prayer life dries up. Our fear exceeds our faith; our guilt exceeds our joy. These limps occur when we don't put all our weight on God's grace.
Today's Scripture calls us to take our place with the people of Israel on Mt. Carmel. There we stand in the presence of two imposing altars. The first altar is not in good shape, because it has not been used often. It is the altar where we worship before the Lord God. Standing beside it is the lone prophet Elijah. The second altar is in very good shape, because it's popular and used often. Around it stand the 450 prophets of the idol Baal.
As we stare at these two altars, we realize that a contest is about to begin. It is a contest between the Lord God and Baal that we have forced, because these gods are competing for our hearts.
Suddenly the air is pierced by the voice of Elijah, who screams at us, "How long will you go limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then follow him, but if Baal then follow him." A choice. You have to make a choice about who or what is your god. That is how spiritual renewal always begins in a person's life -- by confessing you have been limping between two opinions about God.
At the Sunday morning altar we claim to believe God is our Creator, but all week long we worship before the altars that tell us we can create our own lives. So we bow before the Baals called hard work, achievement, and money. With these idols we think we can recreate life to fit our dreams.
At the Sunday morning altar we claim to believe that God is our Deliverer, but all week long we worship before the altars that tell us we are on our own. Some of you have suffered for years through the long drought of broken bodies and broken hearts, loneliness, bad relationships, devastating hurts between parent and child, and guilt.
On Mt. Carmel, in front of all of us, Elijah set the rules for this great contest. First, the prophets of Baal will prepare a sacrifice on their altar, then he will prepare a sacrifice on the altar of the Lord God. They will call upon the name of their god, and he will call upon the name of the Lord God. And the god who answers by fire ... he is God.
From morning to noon, the prophets of Baal danced in front of their altar, crying out, "O Baal, answer us!" With a hint of irony the text says, "they began to limp about the altar they had made." By noon, Elijah is feeling pretty good about the way this thing is going. He starts to tease the prophets of Baal. "Cry louder. Maybe he has wandered away. Maybe he is on a journey. Oh, I know, maybe he fell asleep. You'd better wake him up." So they cry louder, and cut themselves, and bleed for their god. And the text says, "But there was no voice, no answer, no response." That is the problem with Baal. It doesn't matter how frantically you worship, when you need salvation, there will be no response from any god you have made for yourself.
By 3:00 in the afternoon, Elijah figures that enough is enough. It's his turn. He begins by repairing the altar of the Lord God that has been neglected. The building drama of the text suddenly slows down as it contrasts the crazed activity of the prophets of Baal with Elijah's very deliberate activity of repairing the Lord's altar, one stone at a time. True spirituality can't be rushed. It has nothing to do with how hard you try at life and everything to do with your faithfulness in daily prayer and reading of the Bible. One stone at a time, you build a spiritual life.
After repairing the Lord's altar, Elijah places wood on it, and lays a bull on the wood. Then he douses the sacrifice with 12 great jars of water, which in a drought was a greater sacrifice than the bull. After this he prays, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, answer me. Answer me that this people may know that you are God and that you have turned their hearts back."
Then he steps back and throws his arms up to heaven. Suddenly a bolt of fire shot down from the sky and the altar exploded into flames! The fire consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, and licked up all the water. "When all of the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, 'The Lord indeed is God. The Lord indeed is God.'" Revival had just broken out on Mt. Carmel.
Keep us moving, O God, in good times and through the long droughts, keep us moving with all our devotion focused on you who are so devoted to us. Amen.
' Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not anwer him a word' 1 Kings 18:20
Sometimes in our walk with God we find that we are spiritually limping. Our prayer life dries up. Our fear exceeds our faith; our guilt exceeds our joy. These limps occur when we don't put all our weight on God's grace.
Today's Scripture calls us to take our place with the people of Israel on Mt. Carmel. There we stand in the presence of two imposing altars. The first altar is not in good shape, because it has not been used often. It is the altar where we worship before the Lord God. Standing beside it is the lone prophet Elijah. The second altar is in very good shape, because it's popular and used often. Around it stand the 450 prophets of the idol Baal.
As we stare at these two altars, we realize that a contest is about to begin. It is a contest between the Lord God and Baal that we have forced, because these gods are competing for our hearts.
Suddenly the air is pierced by the voice of Elijah, who screams at us, "How long will you go limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then follow him, but if Baal then follow him." A choice. You have to make a choice about who or what is your god. That is how spiritual renewal always begins in a person's life -- by confessing you have been limping between two opinions about God.
At the Sunday morning altar we claim to believe God is our Creator, but all week long we worship before the altars that tell us we can create our own lives. So we bow before the Baals called hard work, achievement, and money. With these idols we think we can recreate life to fit our dreams.
At the Sunday morning altar we claim to believe that God is our Deliverer, but all week long we worship before the altars that tell us we are on our own. Some of you have suffered for years through the long drought of broken bodies and broken hearts, loneliness, bad relationships, devastating hurts between parent and child, and guilt.
On Mt. Carmel, in front of all of us, Elijah set the rules for this great contest. First, the prophets of Baal will prepare a sacrifice on their altar, then he will prepare a sacrifice on the altar of the Lord God. They will call upon the name of their god, and he will call upon the name of the Lord God. And the god who answers by fire ... he is God.
From morning to noon, the prophets of Baal danced in front of their altar, crying out, "O Baal, answer us!" With a hint of irony the text says, "they began to limp about the altar they had made." By noon, Elijah is feeling pretty good about the way this thing is going. He starts to tease the prophets of Baal. "Cry louder. Maybe he has wandered away. Maybe he is on a journey. Oh, I know, maybe he fell asleep. You'd better wake him up." So they cry louder, and cut themselves, and bleed for their god. And the text says, "But there was no voice, no answer, no response." That is the problem with Baal. It doesn't matter how frantically you worship, when you need salvation, there will be no response from any god you have made for yourself.
By 3:00 in the afternoon, Elijah figures that enough is enough. It's his turn. He begins by repairing the altar of the Lord God that has been neglected. The building drama of the text suddenly slows down as it contrasts the crazed activity of the prophets of Baal with Elijah's very deliberate activity of repairing the Lord's altar, one stone at a time. True spirituality can't be rushed. It has nothing to do with how hard you try at life and everything to do with your faithfulness in daily prayer and reading of the Bible. One stone at a time, you build a spiritual life.
After repairing the Lord's altar, Elijah places wood on it, and lays a bull on the wood. Then he douses the sacrifice with 12 great jars of water, which in a drought was a greater sacrifice than the bull. After this he prays, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, answer me. Answer me that this people may know that you are God and that you have turned their hearts back."
Then he steps back and throws his arms up to heaven. Suddenly a bolt of fire shot down from the sky and the altar exploded into flames! The fire consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, and licked up all the water. "When all of the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, 'The Lord indeed is God. The Lord indeed is God.'" Revival had just broken out on Mt. Carmel.
Keep us moving, O God, in good times and through the long droughts, keep us moving with all our devotion focused on you who are so devoted to us. Amen.
Let God Arise
4 October 2007
For he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Ex 17:16
The Amalekites were the persistent and relentless enemies of the Israelites. When the Israelites sought to enter the Promised Land, the Amalekites stood in their way (Ex 17:8-16). Once the Israelites were in the Promised Land and seeking to enjoy what God had given them, the Amalekites joined the Midianites to torment them in the days of Gideon (Jdg 6:3). It was an Amalekite that caused the downfall of King Saul (1Sa 15:9,28). The Amalekites continually sought to hinder the progress of God's people and to rob them of God's blessing. Thus God swore His enmity against them for eternity.
As you move forward in your walk with the Lord, there will be “Amalekites” that will seek to distract and defeat you. God is determined to remove anything that keeps you from experiencing Him to the fullest. If your commitment to your job is keeping you from obedience to Him, God will declare war against it. If a relationship, materialism, or a destructive activity is keeping you from obeying God's will, He will wage relentless war against it. You are precious in God's sight and He will not allow anything that keeps you from His will for your life. King Saul mistakenly thought he could associate with Amalekites and still fulfill the will of the Lord (1Sa 15:8-9). You may also be hesitant to rid yourself of that which causes you to compromise your obedience to God. Don't make the same mistake as King Saul. He did not take the Amalekites seriously enough, and it cost him dearly.
Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered. Amen
For he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Ex 17:16
The Amalekites were the persistent and relentless enemies of the Israelites. When the Israelites sought to enter the Promised Land, the Amalekites stood in their way (Ex 17:8-16). Once the Israelites were in the Promised Land and seeking to enjoy what God had given them, the Amalekites joined the Midianites to torment them in the days of Gideon (Jdg 6:3). It was an Amalekite that caused the downfall of King Saul (1Sa 15:9,28). The Amalekites continually sought to hinder the progress of God's people and to rob them of God's blessing. Thus God swore His enmity against them for eternity.
As you move forward in your walk with the Lord, there will be “Amalekites” that will seek to distract and defeat you. God is determined to remove anything that keeps you from experiencing Him to the fullest. If your commitment to your job is keeping you from obedience to Him, God will declare war against it. If a relationship, materialism, or a destructive activity is keeping you from obeying God's will, He will wage relentless war against it. You are precious in God's sight and He will not allow anything that keeps you from His will for your life. King Saul mistakenly thought he could associate with Amalekites and still fulfill the will of the Lord (1Sa 15:8-9). You may also be hesitant to rid yourself of that which causes you to compromise your obedience to God. Don't make the same mistake as King Saul. He did not take the Amalekites seriously enough, and it cost him dearly.
Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered. Amen
God Remembers
3 October 2007
'Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.'
Isa 49:15
God will never neglect any of His children. God said it would be more likely for a nursing mother to forget the infant at her breast than for Him to forget one of His children! The nursing mother has a keen sensitivity to her baby. Even if the infant is in another room the mother's senses are in tune with her child. The mother knows when it is time to feed and care for the child. The mother never becomes so preoccupied with other things that she neglects the needs of her child.
God chose this fitting imagery to describe how He looks after His people, for He is more sensitive to the needs of His children than even the most loving mother. He anticipates every cry for help. Even before we can call out in need, God is responding with His answer (Isa 65:24). This is one of the most comforting promises God has given to us: that He will never forget us.
Don't let the difficult circumstances you are facing convince you that God has forgotten you. Don't ever assume that God is more concerned with the needs of others....the more significant, more spiritual people than He is with yours. Scripture teaches that God looks upon you with the same love, interest, and concern as a nursing mother would look upon her infant. It should reassure you to know that your Father loves you like that!
Amen
'Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.'
Isa 49:15
God will never neglect any of His children. God said it would be more likely for a nursing mother to forget the infant at her breast than for Him to forget one of His children! The nursing mother has a keen sensitivity to her baby. Even if the infant is in another room the mother's senses are in tune with her child. The mother knows when it is time to feed and care for the child. The mother never becomes so preoccupied with other things that she neglects the needs of her child.
God chose this fitting imagery to describe how He looks after His people, for He is more sensitive to the needs of His children than even the most loving mother. He anticipates every cry for help. Even before we can call out in need, God is responding with His answer (Isa 65:24). This is one of the most comforting promises God has given to us: that He will never forget us.
Don't let the difficult circumstances you are facing convince you that God has forgotten you. Don't ever assume that God is more concerned with the needs of others....the more significant, more spiritual people than He is with yours. Scripture teaches that God looks upon you with the same love, interest, and concern as a nursing mother would look upon her infant. It should reassure you to know that your Father loves you like that!
Amen
Let God Rule in Our Midst
2 October 2007
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done
In heaven, God's will is the only priority. A word from God brings angels to do His bidding, immediately and without question. Jesus instructed us to pray that God would accomplish His will in our world in the same way. This means that God's purposes would be preeminent in our homes, our businesses, our schools, our churches, and our governments.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God's purposes be carried out in the world around them. In modeling how they should pray, Jesus was teaching His disciples how to share God's heart. He demonstrated this again at Gethsemane when He prayed, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Mt 26:39). It is as we seek God's kingdom on earth, and not our own purposes, that we gain the same mind as our heavenly Father. We become co-labourers with God by praying faithfully in agreement with His desires.
As you seek the Lord's will, He will guide your praying. He will invite you not only to pray, but also to become involved in His activity as He answers your prayer. If He places a burden upon you to pray for an individual's salvation, that burden is also His invitation to join His activity in that person's life. Prayer will prepare you to be a servant through whom God can bring about His will on earth. Pray that the Lord's absolute rule on earth will begin in your life. Then watch to see how God uses you to extend His lordship to others.
AmenBe Hungry after Righteouness
1 October 2007
' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled' Mt 5:6
Our problem is that we have never really been hungry and thirsty after God's righteouness. We have allowed the things of this present realm to satisfy our lives and our appetite for Him becomes numb. We have come to Him week after week, year after year, just to have Him fill in the little empty spaces available in our agenda. God is tired of being ' second place' to everything in our lives. He is even more tired of being second to the local church programme and church life!
We can be doing a lot things for Him even in our church activities like feeding the poor, going for mission work, teaching Sunday School etc but we can do all these without Him. Like a husband and wife, they can do a lot of things together but never enjoy the high level of intimacy with one another.
We are reminded that we shall be filled with His presence, His Goodness and His presence as we hunger and thirst for Him. And when God showed up, we are prepared to see 'His train fill the temple' and respond to Him like the prophet Isaiah.
Perhaps, you have allowed other things to fill you up and replace that desire for His presence. Let us ask God to awaken that old hunger in you and fill you with His presence.
Amen
' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled' Mt 5:6
Our problem is that we have never really been hungry and thirsty after God's righteouness. We have allowed the things of this present realm to satisfy our lives and our appetite for Him becomes numb. We have come to Him week after week, year after year, just to have Him fill in the little empty spaces available in our agenda. God is tired of being ' second place' to everything in our lives. He is even more tired of being second to the local church programme and church life!
We can be doing a lot things for Him even in our church activities like feeding the poor, going for mission work, teaching Sunday School etc but we can do all these without Him. Like a husband and wife, they can do a lot of things together but never enjoy the high level of intimacy with one another.
We are reminded that we shall be filled with His presence, His Goodness and His presence as we hunger and thirst for Him. And when God showed up, we are prepared to see 'His train fill the temple' and respond to Him like the prophet Isaiah.
Perhaps, you have allowed other things to fill you up and replace that desire for His presence. Let us ask God to awaken that old hunger in you and fill you with His presence.
Amen
Greatness in the kingdom of God
30 September 2007
' For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as One who serves.' Lk 22:27
How do we measure greatness? From the perspective of the world, the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, and the athletic are considered great and often idolised even they flaunt their immorality. The world claims that it is demeaning to serve others.
God's kingdom completely rejects the world's measure for esteem, giving the greatest honour to the one who serves most. The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God.
When Jesus and His disciples entered the upper room, the disciples looked for a prominent place to sit; Jesus looked for a place to serve. As they waited to be served, Jesus took a towel and basin and washed their feet (John 13:1-15). We, Christians, like to refer ourselves as servants, but we are seldom content to be treated as servants! We are tempted to adopt the world's evaluation of importance. The world will measure your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concern with the number of people you are serving.
If you struggle to be a servant, your heart may have shifted away from the heart of God. Ask Jesus to teach you to serve selflessly and hear the heartbeat of God on those who needed to be served. Watch for His invitation to join Him in serving others.
Amen
' For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as One who serves.' Lk 22:27
How do we measure greatness? From the perspective of the world, the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, and the athletic are considered great and often idolised even they flaunt their immorality. The world claims that it is demeaning to serve others.
God's kingdom completely rejects the world's measure for esteem, giving the greatest honour to the one who serves most. The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God.
When Jesus and His disciples entered the upper room, the disciples looked for a prominent place to sit; Jesus looked for a place to serve. As they waited to be served, Jesus took a towel and basin and washed their feet (John 13:1-15). We, Christians, like to refer ourselves as servants, but we are seldom content to be treated as servants! We are tempted to adopt the world's evaluation of importance. The world will measure your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concern with the number of people you are serving.
If you struggle to be a servant, your heart may have shifted away from the heart of God. Ask Jesus to teach you to serve selflessly and hear the heartbeat of God on those who needed to be served. Watch for His invitation to join Him in serving others.
Amen
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