I read a very interesting statement from Oswald Chambers in his daily devotional My Utmost For His Highest. In the January 6th devotion entitled Worship, he wrote, "Days set apart for quiet (time with God) can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. " There is nothing wrong with setting aside a day to worship the Lord and listen to what He has to say to you, but if that is, in essence, the entirety of your time with Him, it will never satisfy you or glorify Him the way it should.
We should never easy our "conscience" - the prompting of the Spirit - in calling for daily time with Him by promising to spend one whole day with Him later. First we will miss what He is calling for us to day today. It will do us no good to find out in two weeks that a fellow brother or sister needed encouragement or a helping hand now.
Another problem is that we can not truly fill ourselves up this way either. It's like starving yourself for a month and then trying to feast: Your stomach has shrunk and there is simply no way to get it all in. Why do we expect the bread of life to work any different?
There is nothing wrong with dedicating a whole day to the Lord. In fact we all should! Just never let that be a substitute for our daily relationship with Him. Coming to God once a month or so doesn't allow us to get our fill of the Spirit, just as going to a church to worship God only on Sundays doesn't make a slave to Christ.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mysterious Ways
"The Lord works in mysterious ways."
I've always loved this quote. Though it doesn't come directly from the Bible, it is a pretty good summation. What's even better is when you experience it.
Last night I was... well, let's just say, "out of sorts". Not only was I hurting physically, but crankiness and a general sense of gloom and doom had settled in. Trying to get over the funk, I read a few chapters of a Christian fictional book I love and have recently started again. It didn't work.
My next thought was to watch a little T.V., so I started streaming a series I'm slowly going through. But just as I got to the title, I knew it wouldn't work. So God and I had a little chat...
The Spirit brought His Word to mind. "Read some." I felt Him say.
Ever the arguer, I replied, "But I've already read two days worth today and I want to be able to meditate on what I've read. Not just fly through it."
Silence.
"Fine," I thought. "Once telling me should be enough. It's not like You don't know how flustered and frustrated I am."
The Scripture was good, but the prayer at the end of the devotional floored me:
"My Father and my God, forgive me if in times of trial and distress I look for comfort in the wrong places. You and You alone are able to meet my soul's deepest needs. Help me to see this not merely as on option but as a conviction. In Jesus' name. Amen"
AMEN.
I've always loved this quote. Though it doesn't come directly from the Bible, it is a pretty good summation. What's even better is when you experience it.
Last night I was... well, let's just say, "out of sorts". Not only was I hurting physically, but crankiness and a general sense of gloom and doom had settled in. Trying to get over the funk, I read a few chapters of a Christian fictional book I love and have recently started again. It didn't work.
My next thought was to watch a little T.V., so I started streaming a series I'm slowly going through. But just as I got to the title, I knew it wouldn't work. So God and I had a little chat...
The Spirit brought His Word to mind. "Read some." I felt Him say.
Ever the arguer, I replied, "But I've already read two days worth today and I want to be able to meditate on what I've read. Not just fly through it."
Silence.
"Fine," I thought. "Once telling me should be enough. It's not like You don't know how flustered and frustrated I am."
The Scripture was good, but the prayer at the end of the devotional floored me:
"My Father and my God, forgive me if in times of trial and distress I look for comfort in the wrong places. You and You alone are able to meet my soul's deepest needs. Help me to see this not merely as on option but as a conviction. In Jesus' name. Amen"
AMEN.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Satisfy Us
Lord -- how long?
Turn and have compassion on Your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad for days.
Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity.
Let Your work be seen by Your servants, and Your splendor by their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands -- establish the works of our hands!
Psalm 90:13-17
Yesterday I talked about how to know if we were serving the Lord or someone else. No matter what path we were on, when humbling ourselves before the Lord in a difficult circumstance, we start out on a level playing field, crying to Him from there. Let's be honest, many times when we cry to God for help it's because we long to be satisfied in some way, and verse 14 gives us a road map in order to reach that destination. "Satisfy us in the morning..."
OK, servant, God just told you that in order to be satisfied with His faithful love we need to allow Him to do... "it in the morning...so that we may shout for joy and be glad for days." I've come to believe that is very true. God loves us enough and lets us exercise our free will in that He never demands a specific time for us to come to Him for fellowship, but He's given us plenty of hints. Come to Him in the morning. There is plenty of reference to mornings throughout the Bible. (Psalm 30:5; 143:8; Lamentations 3:22-23; Zephaniah 3:5; Mark 1:35)
So test it. Go to God and His Word in the morning. As His children, I believe with all my heart, that we can not help but to have a gladness and joy even in the midst of trials.
IF we read His Word and listen to Him every morning.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Lord-- How Long?
This morning the Spirit spoke to me through Psalm 90:13-17.
Lord -- how long?
Turn and have compassion on Your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad for days.
Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity.
Let Your work be seen by Your servants, and Your splendor by their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands -- establish the works of our hands!
How many times have we cried out, "How long, Lord?" I don't know about you, but there have been many times in my life. We should cry out to Him, but it is the next line that made me pause and ponder- "Turn and have compassion on Your servants." When we cry out to God for help, one of the first questions we need to ask ourself is, "Have I truly been His servant recently? Or, have I been serving myself and/or others?"
We must also be careful not to answer this question too quickly. Just because we have been "good" and are doing servant-like things does not mean we are serving Him. Sometimes we are only serving our desire to feel worthy, or are not able to say NO to other's requests for their own good paths. Always make sure you take the time to listen to the Spirit in oder to discern is the good we are doing is the good He created for us to do and not someone else. He may have chosen a different path for us that we are resisting.
Tomorrow I'd like to continue on with this portion of Psalm 90, but for now I'm going to meditate on just how obedient a servant I have been. If there are any "Why?", or "How long?" questions in your life, I as you to join me in this. If not... save it for when there are. We are, after all, not perfected yet.
Lord -- how long?
Turn and have compassion on Your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad for days.
Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity.
Let Your work be seen by Your servants, and Your splendor by their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands -- establish the works of our hands!
How many times have we cried out, "How long, Lord?" I don't know about you, but there have been many times in my life. We should cry out to Him, but it is the next line that made me pause and ponder- "Turn and have compassion on Your servants." When we cry out to God for help, one of the first questions we need to ask ourself is, "Have I truly been His servant recently? Or, have I been serving myself and/or others?"
We must also be careful not to answer this question too quickly. Just because we have been "good" and are doing servant-like things does not mean we are serving Him. Sometimes we are only serving our desire to feel worthy, or are not able to say NO to other's requests for their own good paths. Always make sure you take the time to listen to the Spirit in oder to discern is the good we are doing is the good He created for us to do and not someone else. He may have chosen a different path for us that we are resisting.
Tomorrow I'd like to continue on with this portion of Psalm 90, but for now I'm going to meditate on just how obedient a servant I have been. If there are any "Why?", or "How long?" questions in your life, I as you to join me in this. If not... save it for when there are. We are, after all, not perfected yet.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Take A Vacation
Any of you who have known me for very long know that I love many Bill Murray movies. It's not that I like him in particular as an actor, he just picks some really great roles. One of my favorites is in the movie, What About Bob.
Bob, played by Murray, is "...an almost-paralyzed, multi-phobic personality who is in a constant state of panic". He follows his new psychiatrist, Dr. Marvin, on the Dr.'s month long vacation to New Hampshire from New York City. After multiple attempts to get Bob - who is desperately clinging to him for support and advise - to leave, Dr. Marvin writes Bob a new prescription. All it says is, "Take a vacation....from your problems!"
Bob is freed.
Now, you may think I'm going to tell you to take a vacation from your problems, and just trust in the Lord. He knows we all have them. And while that's good advise, that's not what came to mind. Many of us do take multiple vacations a year: To relax, get away, have fun, be with family, or just have an adventure and see/do something new. But, I don't think we, as Americans, need to be told to do that. We seem to have no problem in taking care of ourself in this way. We love vacations. I think the problem may be that we take too many. Let me explain...
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against vacations. In fact, I wish I had more of them! I just believe we have the vacation mentality too often, and the problem with that is the first thing we usually take a break from is God.
Be honest. When you need to read your Bible but are tired or busy, isn't that the first thing you cut out? After a long week of work and/or school which is the first to be cut on the weekend: Sports, or church? When it comes to your quiet time and your brain is fried, how often do we take a break and watch a movie or T.V. show that doesn't exactly help our minds dwell on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, or commendable. (Philippians 4:8)
I say these because I have been guilty of all, and I don't want to be.
So, since we seem to be wired to take these vacations, I'm going to do just that:
I'm going to take a vacation.... from my excuses.
Would you join me on my vacation?
Bob, played by Murray, is "...an almost-paralyzed, multi-phobic personality who is in a constant state of panic". He follows his new psychiatrist, Dr. Marvin, on the Dr.'s month long vacation to New Hampshire from New York City. After multiple attempts to get Bob - who is desperately clinging to him for support and advise - to leave, Dr. Marvin writes Bob a new prescription. All it says is, "Take a vacation....from your problems!"
Bob is freed.
Now, you may think I'm going to tell you to take a vacation from your problems, and just trust in the Lord. He knows we all have them. And while that's good advise, that's not what came to mind. Many of us do take multiple vacations a year: To relax, get away, have fun, be with family, or just have an adventure and see/do something new. But, I don't think we, as Americans, need to be told to do that. We seem to have no problem in taking care of ourself in this way. We love vacations. I think the problem may be that we take too many. Let me explain...
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against vacations. In fact, I wish I had more of them! I just believe we have the vacation mentality too often, and the problem with that is the first thing we usually take a break from is God.
Be honest. When you need to read your Bible but are tired or busy, isn't that the first thing you cut out? After a long week of work and/or school which is the first to be cut on the weekend: Sports, or church? When it comes to your quiet time and your brain is fried, how often do we take a break and watch a movie or T.V. show that doesn't exactly help our minds dwell on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, or commendable. (Philippians 4:8)
I say these because I have been guilty of all, and I don't want to be.
So, since we seem to be wired to take these vacations, I'm going to do just that:
I'm going to take a vacation.... from my excuses.
Would you join me on my vacation?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Here I Am To Worship
God gave me the gift of worship today.
He blessed me with the desire to seek Him diligently over the last few days, to realize my desperate need for Him, to greatly anticipate gathering together with my local family of believers, for it to be my turn to participate on the praise team, and to sing some of my favorite worship songs.
Then after all of those, He had Pastor Mike speak on a subject that is a passion of mine.
I am beyond blessed today, for He's allowing and enabling me to worship Him with all I have.
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