It Is What It Is

Posted on November 28, 2010 by day1of1

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. – John 3:7

 
“It is what it is” – an oft quoted phrase that for many years has defined my views on life.  After all, God made me for a purpose, so who am I to do anything that might stand in the way of these things happening.  If God wants me to have that job, I will.  If God wants me to maintain a friendship or a relationship, I will.  If God wants me to have it, I will.  Now on one level this doesn’t seem like a terrible thing – in fact God’s will is going to be done here on earth; after all He is God.  But for me there is more to it, a greater significance that signals a continuing shift in my paradigms.

 
One of the things you will get to know about me pretty quickly is that I am rather flexible.  Compromise is no big concern for me and I am very willing to forego my own preferences to accommodate the needs of others.  This serves me well in certain arenas but overall it has held me back.  This isn’t to say that God has not blessed me; He most certainly has.  However, my inability to decisively pursue the things that I want, the things that God has left for me to accomplish and achieve has put me in the position where I find myself today.

 
And so here is the moment of truth – the point where I make my bold declaration to change things, to do things differently.  Uh…no.  If it were that easy I would have done it years ago and have avoided many of the pitfalls that I’ve experienced.  It’s not that I don’t believe in the power of confession, but I also know that if left to my own abilities all the talk in the world won’t change who I am or the patterns I have established.  I have to rely upon the power of God to actively change me from within, to give me a spirit of submission to His will for my life.  And so I don’t make bold proclamations destined to fail yet again.  Instead I surrender myself to God, asking Him to renew me, to reinvent me, to allow me to be born again.

 
The words of the Newsboys’ song “Born Again” have been a regular reminder of this to me of late.  It is time to take a stand, to no longer look back on a life that I have created but to move forward confidently in the promises God has spoken over my life.  In Him I will lose my fears.  In Him I will receive abundance.  In Him I will be washed clean of my sin.  In Him I will be born again.

 
Born Again (Click here to see a YouTube link featuring the song)

 
Found myself looking into the mirror
Knew I wasn’t who I wanted to be
I was living like the way that I wanted
But my eyes reminded me I’m not free
Believe that I saw, everything that I know
Says I gotta go, tired of going solo
But I’m never gonna go there again

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

I see you’re walking like you’re living in fear
Having trouble even looking at me
Wishing they would give you more than words
Sick of people telling how it should be (how it should be)
What’s your download, where’d you get your info
Saw that I’m show, now you’re in the in-know
I’m gonna tell you what I believe, OH

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

We are the ones, he called by name
Never gonna look back
Let go, let go the guilt the shame
I said I’m never gonna look back
This is who I am

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

This is what it is
This is who I am

I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

I’ve been Born Again

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Unfamiliar

Posted on November 25, 2010 by day1of1

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. – Isaiah 42:16

 
God is taking me there again – to that place where I am stretched beyond my comfort zone.  I’m headed down a path with no real clear sense of what lies ahead.  My experiences are insufficient to provide a contingency.  My comfort is limited when put into the perspective of personal ability.  Simply put, I’m trusting Him totally to take me where I’m supposed to be.

 
There’s something about places that are unfamiliar.  Unlike a spot you’ve visited dozens of times, new places stimulate the senses.  It opens your eyes and your mind to the new realities and the possibilities of what might be.  Think about the feeling of discovering a new restaurant and finding the perfect meal?  Does that ever happen at McDonald’s?  Of course not, and they really don’t want it to.  Mickey D’s is stable, safe, and consistent.  There’s little fear of it being horrendous, but even less opportunity for it to be memorable.

 
I don’t want to live the rest of my life in the comfort of what always has been.  I don’t dread looking back on the path I’ve traveled – I’ve learned much, accomplished much, and believe that God has used those experiences to mold me to be the person I am today.  But that’s not where it ends either.  I want to race into tomorrow with momentum built up from today.  I want to feel the rush that can only come from living life on the edge with God leading the way to new and unimaginable things.  My paradigms have shifted, but they’re not anchored yet.  My goals have expanded and they’ll continue to grow wider.  God has revealed things about my future that I am excited to receive.  But He has also left some things beyond my reach, outside of my vision to keep me stretched, moving forward, pressing ahead.

 
It’s a strange contradiction, but I find myself waiting with patient expectation, filled with an eagerness to know the fullness of God’s blessings for me in His time.  This drives me to do today’s work with more passion and focus so that I can experience tomorrow’s blessing as a result.

 
The message is very self-directed, but then again, you know this all full well and live in the same way.  You know what God is speaking to you – the direction in which He’s leading.  You also have things yet unrevealed that you work daily to uncover.  May you find the strength, the passion, and the peace of God through the Holy Spirit at work in your life to make these things possible to the glory of our victorious Lord.

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Under Attack

Posted on November 22, 2010 by day1of1

Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” – Psalm 35:1-3
 
 
Attacks can come from any place and at any time.  They can take on most any form: personal, financial, relationship, physical, emotional, and spiritual.  No matter which form they take or how often they come, attacks are draining.  They take energy to deal with and can leave long-term damage.  Everyone can see the impacts that attacks from even years ago still have on them today.
 
 
How fortunate we are to have a loving God who does not desire us to be overwhelmed by the attacks of earth or enemies.  We need not be defined by our scars because God heals them.  Nor do we need to worry about standing up against the attacks of the world when God is on our side and we use His strength as our sure defense.  There are countless instances in Scripture where God sent in a man or an army into impossible situations and provided miraculous victory.  He saved the lives of Moses, David, Elijah, Peter, and Paul.  He provided miraculous victories against insurmountable odds to Samson and Joshua.  And as we know, what God has done for these faithful followers, He will in principle do for you.
 
 
I pray that you will never experience the life or death situations that are found in the stories I have referenced.  But for any turmoil, every struggle you face, I pray that God will fill you with such a level of faith and protection that nary a hair on your head would be moved.  In the name of Jesus, I pray that God will build you, finishing the work He has begun within you until your destiny is reached and your blessings are made complete.  I stand in agreement with you on this today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of our lives.  May the Spirit of the Lord live and flourish in your every thought, word and deed to the glory of God alone.

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Out of the Dark

Posted on November 15, 2010 by day1of1

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.  The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:44-46 NIV

Think about those places where you can surround yourself in total darkness.  I know people who tell stories of the backwoods on a cloudy night where there is no moon shining.  The absence of city lights combined with the density of the forest will literally choke out any possibility of light reaching the ground.  But these places are few and far between.  For starters, development has become so widespread that there are few uninhabited places left anymore.  Plus the conditions have to be right to make this happen, so while it is not impossible, it is truly rare to find a place in nature that is totally void of light.  (Now before the commentators chime in – I understand that traveling deep into caves and going on a deep sea exploration will also provide darkness – I guess I’d like to keep this in the realm of places you can access more readily).

For most of us, those places where we can experience total darkness are going to be man-made.  And in that realm, it’s not really difficult to create such a place.  Basements, cellars, closets; any room without windows and a door which seals tightly will produce total darkness.  This is an important distinction – man creates total darkness in a creation where God goes out of His way to provide us with illumination.

Don’t see it? (no pun intended).  Consider the way we were created.   Our eyes were designed with pupils that open wider to allow us to see in places where there is extremely low light.  You know this to be true when you turn out the lights in your bedroom at night.  Initially, you can’t see when the lights go out, but in a matter of seconds your eyes adjust to the new light settings and provide you with as much vision as is possible. Plus light will extend as far as it can to bring illumination in darkness.  Draw the curtains and light will still sneak around them.  Shut the door and the light pours underneath.  In fact, a person must work diligently to achieve total separation from light by immersion into darkness (Remember the caves and ocean floor?  The cellar and the closet?)

Do you have dark places in your life?  If you do, you have probably spent time trying to find effective ways to illuminate them.  In the physical realm, a trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot will do the trick.  However, a trip to the hardware store can’t brighten those dark places that exist in our spiritual lives.  What is your dark place spiritually?  Is it the guilt and shame of a sin you feel can’t be forgiven or forgotten?  Is it the impact on your self-esteem caused by abuse or neglect?  Are you still stinging from an offense someone has committed against you, allowing your sorrow and anger to fester?  Is it a feeling of unworthiness that you hold on to so that when the lights grow too bright you can crawl anonymously back into the shadows of your comfortable hiding place?  You see, darkness doesn’t have to be connected to some horrible deed or tragic event – it can be something as simple as holding onto a lingering lie, maintaining your comfort zone, or simply giving up on your hope that anything will ever change.

Darkness comes in different packages but it always produces the same end result.  When you are in darkness you are isolated.  You lose confidence in yourself and in the knowledge of your surroundings.  Darkness causes you to grow fearful, leaving you groping around for anything familiar.  When you find something you think you recognize, something you think will help you, you commit to it without the full assurance of its benefits.  Darkness greatly increases your risk of injury while greatly decreasing your chances of being helped by anyone else.  That’s a pretty hefty list of issues.  How could we possibly solve so many significant and dangerous problems?  It’s simple – turn on the light!

In John 12:46, Jesus explains this clearly as He says, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”  You only have to struggle with darkness if you refuse to turn on the light.  Christ came to bring us light.  In Him all of those issues and struggles we face that would otherwise try to shroud us in darkness are exposed.  With illumination comes recognition of the problems, opportunities to solve them, and the vision to overcome and avoid them in the future.  Christ is our light – may He shine brightly to chase away the darkness from every area of our lives.

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Promotion by Erosion

Posted on November 11, 2010 by day1of1

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. – Psalm 27:1-3
Ever come to that place in life where you have reached the conclusion that you have had enough? Now let me be careful here – I’m not talking about doing anything dangerous or harmful to your health. Instead, I’m thinking about those moments in life where you pause, assess things, and say to yourself, “I don’t like where I am today. It’s time for something else.” And so with that in mind, we begin to ask God for a few things. We seek His blessing, asking Him to provide us with new opportunities, new challenges, and promotion to new levels in our life, our work, and in our ministries. But I wonder if we truly understand what it is we are asking for when we approach the throne with this request.
Change is a word that we often talk about. For many, change is desired but unattained. The reason for this is simple: Change of any type requires work. Change without work is deterioration, but even that requires a certain level of energy to be exerted to cause things to break down. Still don’t grasp this?Consider rocks in a stream. Even the hardest of rocks in a current will eventually grow smooth because of the water continually running over them. Think about it – an element as soft as water will create a level of friction strong enough to erode solid rock. The change to the stones will take place over time, but only after they have endured enough friction to effectively change them. But the end results are magnificent – those rocks change from being rough and ugly to something smooth and decorative. So just as a rock will endure enough friction to cause it to change into something more beautiful, we too must face friction in order to experience the change we need and desire.
God is the artisan who is busy at work creating a masterpiece in each and every one of us. However, by choosing man as His medium, God is working with pieces far more challenging than any stone, clay or canvas. The marble didn’t tell Michelangelo where to carve. The canvas never ran away from Picasso as he began to apply the paint. But we – a creation given the will to choose our own path – can prove incredibly difficult and incompliant when He works to make changes in us. Stubbornness, sloth, impatience, and a lack of trust will hinder His abilities to work in us. Some of us avoid change. Some desire it but want it to happen without friction or discomfort. Some are unable to accept it because they are chained to a past that prevents them from embracing the change – no matter how positive it may be. Still others simply know better and reject His changes in favor of making choices on their own.
I don’t want to mislead – allowing the process of change to take place in your life is not easy. Our routines became our routines for a reason. Taking the steps to do what is right, to do what is best, and to do what we’re not immediately comfortable with can leave us facing some of the most difficult challenges we’ll ever know. But ask anyone who has ever accomplished what they set out to do and they’ll tell you that reaching their goal was worth the struggle and the pain. From personal experience, I can tell you that while I may not always like the food options I have been given, I do not miss any one of the 175 pounds that I’ve lost with the help of God. Furthermore, success in one area drives me to work harder to receive the other blessings I ask God for daily: the restoration of a broken relationship, financial stability, improving health, and success in my writing ministry. That’s my list. Here’s my plan – I begin by asking God for these things, to make known the desires of my heart. I follow up by asking for Him to guide me to the resources I need in each of these areas. I follow up learning with actions – taking all of the necessary steps to prepare myself for God to work in my life.
When the pieces are in place and the time is right, I believe that God will do what He has promised to do in my life – and in yours. Maintain your hope, build your faith, and act with the power of our great and mighty God working on your behalf.

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Expectation

Posted on November 8, 2010 by day1of1

I was reading the account in John 11 about the death and resurrection of Lazarus.  I’ve heard the story dozens of times before, but found something new in my reading tonight that I’d like to share with you.  You’re no doubt familiar with the story.  Lazarus falls ill, Jesus is called for but does not arrive in time to save him.  Christ meets Martha and Mary and goes to Lazarus’s tomb where He asks for the stone to be rolled away.  Martha questions this decision, citing that the body would have begun to smell after four days, but Jesus persists.  In John 11:40, He replies to Martha’s objections with this reminder, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

 
It is at that moment in the story that my imagination ran wild.  Earlier, both Martha and Mary had declared boldly that Jesus would have prevented their brother’s death.  Furthermore, it was Martha who confessed to Jesus that, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”  Now Jesus has made a statement to her that had to rock her world.  Why say what He just said, why move the stone if He wasn’t going to raise Lazarus from the dead?  I am trying to place myself in her position, to imagine for a brief moment what hearing that statement must have felt like.  Can you imagine the anticipation of knowing that Christ was about to do something so miraculous in her life?  Maybe she didn’t put the pieces together, but I’d like to think that she knew at the moment that Christ would be bringing her dearly loved brother back from the dead.  How amazing that must have felt!

 
And that got me to thinking, how is that feeling any different than the emotions that you or I might feel on a daily basis when Christ speaks over our lives, promising to do what He said He would do in our lives if we would only believe?  You see, even though we are not mourning the loss of a recently departed loved one, we, like Martha and Mary cannot hide from God the true desires of our hearts.  God knows these things and is ready to provide them to us as well, in both the natural and supernatural realms.  How fortunate we are that He knows us so well, making it possible for us to believe, to confess, and to expect such great things.  And so if Martha’s heart was filled with even a fraction of the joy that I feel about those things for which I am believing, confessing, and expecting from the Lord, I can say with all certainty that in fact, I do know what she was feeling at that amazing moment.  And in faith, I know that you feel it too.

 
May God bless and keep you.  May He fill your life with every gift that He has stored up for you so that you will know the same joy that filled Martha’s heart when He answered her prayers.

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Still

Posted on November 4, 2010 by day1of1

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

I love you.  Always have.  Always will.

I loved you before I even knew you.  I have loved you from the moment I first thought about you, imagining who you would be and what you would mean to me.

From that time I have spent every minute of every day preparing for you.  I have provided for your every need, considered your heart’s desires, and continue to give you every good thing I have set aside for you.  I don’t do this because I have to – I choose to do it because I have chosen you.  You are special – unlike any other.  You hold a special place in all of creation.  This only serves to make me love you more.  Why do I do this?

I do it because I love you and I want you to love me too.

Yes, it’s that simple.  Everything I have done, am doing, and ever will do hinges on my strong desire to have a relationship with you.  I enjoy our time together.  I appreciate what we have shared.  Looking forward, it is my hope to be able to share love with you forever.

That is my hope when we are together.  That is my hope when we are apart.

Apart – a devastating place.  You might be surprised that despite my best efforts I am sometimes separated from one that I love.  This is because love is a choice, and something that I will not force.  To do so would cause it to cease to be love, and your love is what I desire.  So what can I do when you choose to turn away?  There are only two choices…

I can let you go, or I can love you even more.

I could cut you loose, but why would I?  Who could possibly replace you?  You are an original – the one and only.  You were made with a purpose; filled with a unique anointing.  There is no substitute for you.  There is nothing else in all of creation that I desire more.

And so my response is to love you more.  I wait for you patiently when you turn your back to me.  I follow wherever you go every time you walk away.  I search for you when you go missing, and when your wandering puts you in danger I come to your rescue.  Your captors can not keep you.  The ransom has been paid.  The cost was great but so too was the prize I claimed.  Nothing can ever change my heart: no words, no thoughts, no insubordinate acts.  It’s not possible because…

You are still the love of my life.

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Running

Posted on October 31, 2010 by day1of1

One of the unique things about the movie Forrest Gump is the way the movie divides itself up into chapters of his life.  You have childhood, college, military service, ping pong, and shrimp boat captain, just to name a few.  And while they all have their own important place in the development of the movie with a few common themes that connect them, there is one chapter that creates an interesting parallel with the lives that many struggling Christians find themselves living.

Early one morning Jenny had confessed to Forrest that she did love him, we find her inexplicably getting into a cab, bags packed, leaving for God knows where.  Even the cab driver greets her with the question, “Where are you running off to”?  Her answer was a firm yet unconvincing “I’m not running.”  But despite saying the words, it is clear that she is, once again, running away from the only man she has ever known to love her unconditionally.  As an observer, you feel frustrated by her actions mixed with sorrow for her inability to receive Forrest’s love.  She is denying both her and Forrest the opportunity to live and love together.  Instead, she made the choice to run.

Forrest awakes and is obviously confused by Jenny’s latest departure.  As he sits on his porch and assesses this latest turn in his life, he suddenly rises and begins running across his yard, down the street, and ultimately across the country several times.  As the movie eventually tells us, Forrest ran for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours (which is surprising to hear him say this – knowing a fact like that seems more consistent with Rain Man than Forrest Gump).  This isn’t the first time Jenny left him, nor is it the first time he had to make a choice about what to do with his life, but at that moment, he made the choice to run.

What seems strange to me throughout this segment of the film is the followers Forrest gets.  Consider the words of the first guy who decides to join him on his travels.
“It’s you.  I can’t believe it’s really you.  It was like an alarm went off in my head.  I said, Here’s a guy that’s got his act together.  Here’s somebody who has the answer.  I’ll follow you anywhere, Mr. Gump.”
Is this guy serious?  He heard about this guy who’s running back and forth across the country without any real reason or cause and decided to join him because he had figured things out.  A lost soul in search of answers will look for them in some of the most interesting places, and so he made the choice to run.
All good runners have one thing in common: they have a destination in mind.  It can be a place, a distance, or a time.  But each of these runners seemed to be running for very different reasons.  Forrest was surprised that people couldn’t understand this, but is it really so hard to understand?  I think that if you bring things back into a proper perspective, it becomes easy to see how dangerous running can be.

Jenny was running away – away from her pain, guilt, and shame.  She was unable to face what had happened before and the hurt gave her a deep sense of worthlessness.  Because of her fear, she ran away from the best thing that she had been given.  Sadder still is the fact that she knew it but still worked hard to justify her actions in terms that made sense to her.  Her story is tragic because of the 2 lives that this would ultimately cost her.  You see, she lost her physical life due to illness, but she also lost the life of love, peace, and joy that Forrest would have provided.
Speaking of Forrest, he too is a runner.  His reason for running was no reason in particular.  He tells you this.  With TV reporters probing him with questions about why he was running, he explains, “I just felt like running.”  No reason in particular – just something to do.  Now even with Forrest’s limited intelligence he should have known that he had other options – focused purposes to explore, for that matter – spend some of that time running around looking for her.  But no, he just ran.  Barriers didn’t stop him – they merely turned him in a different direction.  As he reached oceans, he said that he would turn around and keep on running.  This sounds admirable – perseverance, sacrifice, dedication and initiative are all words you could use, but you could also say backtracking, retreating, and escaping.  No, he wasn’t running away from something like Jenny – he was just running to move; passing the time until something else happened to give him reason to stop.

Our third runner is the young man who follows Forrest wherever he goes.  This runner differs from the first two, but his rationale is equally empty.  He runs simply to follow.  He has no specific knowledge of where he should be going; of what he should do.  So he started searching for what looked good and without stepping back and seeing the bigger picture – he ran with it.  Think about it objectively – would you walk up to somebody you heard about on TV or read about in the Sunday paper and immediately drop everything in your life to follow him as his crossed the country doing nothing except running?  This sounds absurd, but how many people do you know who have given away their life to someone else for one reason or another without a thought of the consequences that might follow?

God speaks clearly to our trio of runners, and to those of us who can relate to them.
For the Jennys who think they are strong enough to outrun their life’s hurts there’s Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Jenny – please don’t throw away what God is giving you.  Stop running and let Him heal you, soften your heart, ease your fears, and let you know the fullness of what He has for you.
Our Forrests are given the words of Ephesians 2:10: ” For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Your life has a purpose.  God made you with a specific destiny in mind.  We must not waste time or energy simply being busy.  We must seek out our purposes and pursue them boldly.  Forrest – discover what it is you are supposed to learn in your current situation and use this knowledge to boldly move into the next chapter fully prepared for what God is bringing you.
And finally, for our hopeless follower looking for someone, anyone who can give him direction I offer Proverbs 28:5: “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.”  The world answers questions with more questions that more often than not leave us unsatisfied.  The Lord offers clarity and truth beyond anything the world can bring.  Young Man – stop running, fall to your knees and seek the face and voice of God to give your life direction, focus, and clarity.  In Him you will find the answers to every question you have.

Run with a purpose and a destination in mind – one established through by seeking God’s perfect will for our lives.  Train with vigor – preparing yourself by following the regimen that God has given you.  Finally, complete your work by running the race with all you have.  Give everything so that in Him you may run victoriously, receiving your great and glorious reward from the One who desires that you never run away from Him.

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Blown Away

Posted on October 27, 2010 by day1of1

Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11:22-24

The weather forecast for this morning was unlike one I had ever heard before.  The forecast called for extremely unstable weather – sustained high winds, strong gusts, severe storms, heavy rain, and possible tornadoes.  The radio announcer described the weather we’d experience today as potentially the most severe storm to hit the Great Lakes region in decades.  Strong words to describe conditions that could quickly become dangerous.

As the day progressed the sky got cloudy.  The winds picked up, a little.  It rained, a little.  And by the time I drove home from work this afternoon, I was under blue skies and reaching for my sunglasses.  I know that others in the region may have experienced some bad weather today, but that simply was not the case in my area.  Hour by hour, it became apparent that the doom predicted by the meteorologists simply wasn’t going to materialize.  As this developed, so too did the reactions from people.  I watched people at work, read comments on Facebook, and heard reporters on the radio speak critically of the weather forecast for the day.  “Where’s the storm?”  “Why do they scare people like that?”  “Once again they predict the worst and nothing ever happens.”  I heard more, but you get the idea.

So, what happened?  I’m sure there are sound scientific reasons that could be explained by a meteorologist, but let me give you my explanation.  I, along with many others in the area prayed it away.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We prayed the storm away.

In Mark 11 Jesus explains the power that prayer has in our lives.  If you believe and ask in prayer, it will happen.  Today’s weather was threatening and I had children who would potentially be out in those conditions. There was no way that I was going to just hope for the best – I took it to God.  I asked that God would let the storm would pass without endangering my children.  After praying, I went about my day confident that God would do what I had asked Him to do, and you saw the results.

Some of you may think that I am bragging – but I’m not.  I don’t think for a moment that God is sitting in heaven waiting for me to call the shots.  But He was clear that I am supposed to ask Him for the desires of my heart in prayer, so I did.  Once asked, I need to leave it in His hands, staying confident in Him to do what I have asked as it aligns with His will expressed in His word.  It’s simple: I did what God told me to do and God did what He promised to do.  Still don’t believe me?  That’s okay – I didn’t say it anyway, so you’re not disagreeing with me – you’re disagreeing with God.

Think about the power God is giving you through the prayers we bring.  What situations in your life or in the lives of people you know need to be restored, fixed, and improved?  Pray for God to act in these things without hesitation and without doubt.  He will return what was lost, fix what was broken, provide what is needed, protect you from danger, resolve what is plaguing you, and maximize the blessings He has chosen to give you.  God will heal sickness, improve finances, comfort hurts, restore relationships, build confidence, forgive sins, console the grieving, and so much more.

Put your total trust in Him, and unlike the weather, you’ll be blown away!

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Childlike

Posted on October 25, 2010 by day1of1

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God – Ephesians 3:17-19

 
This morning as I lied in bed, lingering there after completing my prayers, I was struck with something interesting:  my daughter’s knee into the small of my back.  It amazes me how a 45 pound girl can deliver a shot in her sleep that could win her an Ultimate Fighting Championship title.  This painful wake-up call got me thinking about how blessed I am.  Blessed with a child who loves me enough to want to be with me, blessed to be able to provide her with that level of security, and yes – blessed to have ibuprofen on hand for just such an emergency.  But all kidding aside, this morning’s encounter gave me an interesting revelation about the love of a child in relation to the love that God has for us.

 
The love that a young child holds for their parents is amazing. You can’t appreciate it unless you are a parent.  The feeling of your infant curled up in your arms, warm, safe, and happy is a blessing and a joy.

 
The love of a child is great, but it becomes pure bliss once that love is shared by choice.  Early in their lives, children are so physically, emotionally, and psychologically dependent upon their parents that they find it easy to show them love.  It’s natural.  However, in time those children develop and begin to formulate their own views and opinions – including decisions about who they love and why.  To realize that your child has reached a point where they know who you are, what you stand for, your strengths and your weaknesses and after all of that they still throw their arms around you and say without doubt or hesitation, “I love you” – that is when you feel the full power of the love they have for you.

 
It is unfortunate, but far too many people view God and the love that He has for us in the same way that they view the love of a child.  Why do people treat God as if He has no choice but to love us – like He’s required to and therefore has no say in the matter?  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  God is not bound by some universal code to love us – it is His choice. 

 
In Jeremiah 31:3, God shows us the choice He made when He says, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’”  There is nothing forced about these statements – this was a conscious decision He made on our behalf.  And how much does God love us?  Ephesians 5:2 eliminates any doubt as Paul explains the choice Jesus made on our behalf, beseeching us to, “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

 
Love is an amazing gift from God that He allows us to share with Him and those special people He brings into our lives.  May we be ready, willing, and committed to make the choice to love with the fullness that was established for us in Genesis, confirmed for us at Golgotha, and willingly renewed every day by our great and wonderful God.

 
But now, I must be off to bed.  I seem to get my best sleep earlier in the evening, before my “guest” arrives.

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