Have you ever wondered why we aren't growing more spiritually, even though we are exposed to great sermons in more ways than any other generation in history? There is not only the sermon in church on Sunday, but numerous opportunities to hear famous preachers on TV or through the Internet. Christian books abound, and many people have the opportunity to attend one or several Christian conferences a year. Spiritual food is everywhere, but we seem to be unchanged and even starving in spite of the spiritual buffet.
It's not that we aren't trying. Most of us want to implement the truths we hear. The problem is that they come at us too rapidly and in too great numbers. Who can learn to love their spouse in their love language, start a disciplined Bible study program, spend more time in prayer, implement the three points of Sunday's sermon, apply what they've read in the latest Christian books they've read in their spare time - all in the span of a single week while they are taking care of a hundred other details in the rat race called life? Little wonder that the Bible truths we hear seem to have so little impact on us. They simply become one more thing on the to-do list of our busy lives.
Little did I realize, when I surrendered my devotional life to the Lord, that He would want to break that cycle. For years I've been trying to grow in many different directions, but He wants me to focus on one thing at a time. For me, right now, it is learning to abide in Him - thinking like Him, having His passions, seeing with His eyes. And I will stay focussed on this until He shows me the next step.
What does it mean in a practical way? In a way, it simplifies life, for I can tune out what doesn't fit with what the Lord is doing right now. I don't have to listen to all these sermons - but I do have to learn to commune with Him. His goal is nothing less than teaching me to abide in Him continually. Everything else will flow of it eventually.
What is the Lord emphasizing in your life? How might He want you to focus on that?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Abiding in Christ
I mentioned before my great "experiment" ten day ago of giving over control over my quiet times to the Lord. He continues to surprise me.
This morning I felt led to go John 15: 1-8 (At first I wanted to start reading at John 13, but then thought better of it.) The passage is very familiar, and full of details. I will leave it to the Holy Spirit to speak to you about being a branch, bearing fruit, being helpless without Jesus, etc.
What stopped me short was verse 4, "Abide in Me, and I in you." Clearly this is a command with a promise. If I abide in Him, He will abide in me. The question is, how do I abide in Him? What does this mean? How do I do this, 24/7?
I'm not the only one asking this, of course. I remember reading an autobiography of Hudson Taylor where he describes wrestling with this question. He kept wondering how to "get into" Christ, until a brother in Christ pointed out that God had already done it, and he only needed to accept it. But just reading what worked for Hudson never worked for me. Typically my hang-up is that I try to understand, thinking that if I understand I can implement the solution. But I'm beginning to see that it doesn't work that way.
After going round and round a few times with this question on how to abide, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I was trying too hard. "Simply ask and believe that I have heard you." So I wrote this simple prayer into my journal: "Lord, I ask that I may abide in You. Thank You for hearing me. I'm eager to see what this will look like!"
"Continue to draw close to Me during the day. You are only abiding in snatches right now. I was in constant communion with the Father when I walked the earth as the Son of man to show you that it could be done. (Why else would I have cried out 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' when I was dying at the cross, unless my continual communion with Him was interrupted?)
My response, "Lord, I ask that I may be in constant communion with You through the Holy Spirit."
It's been an interesting morning so far. I find the Holy Spirit saying no to things I want to do, and I have to decide whether to yield to Him and abide in communion with Jesus, or give in to the flesh and live according to the old man. And that while I'm on vacation!
This morning I felt led to go John 15: 1-8 (At first I wanted to start reading at John 13, but then thought better of it.) The passage is very familiar, and full of details. I will leave it to the Holy Spirit to speak to you about being a branch, bearing fruit, being helpless without Jesus, etc.
What stopped me short was verse 4, "Abide in Me, and I in you." Clearly this is a command with a promise. If I abide in Him, He will abide in me. The question is, how do I abide in Him? What does this mean? How do I do this, 24/7?
I'm not the only one asking this, of course. I remember reading an autobiography of Hudson Taylor where he describes wrestling with this question. He kept wondering how to "get into" Christ, until a brother in Christ pointed out that God had already done it, and he only needed to accept it. But just reading what worked for Hudson never worked for me. Typically my hang-up is that I try to understand, thinking that if I understand I can implement the solution. But I'm beginning to see that it doesn't work that way.
After going round and round a few times with this question on how to abide, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I was trying too hard. "Simply ask and believe that I have heard you." So I wrote this simple prayer into my journal: "Lord, I ask that I may abide in You. Thank You for hearing me. I'm eager to see what this will look like!"
"Continue to draw close to Me during the day. You are only abiding in snatches right now. I was in constant communion with the Father when I walked the earth as the Son of man to show you that it could be done. (Why else would I have cried out 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' when I was dying at the cross, unless my continual communion with Him was interrupted?)
My response, "Lord, I ask that I may be in constant communion with You through the Holy Spirit."
It's been an interesting morning so far. I find the Holy Spirit saying no to things I want to do, and I have to decide whether to yield to Him and abide in communion with Jesus, or give in to the flesh and live according to the old man. And that while I'm on vacation!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Give me your eyes, Lord!
A couple of Sundays ago a phrase in my pastor's sermon struck me. He was talking about John 4:35, where the fields were already ripe for the harvest, although they thought the harvest was still four months out. "Jesus sees from the other side of faith," he said. Hm, that is true a lot, I thought. Jesus saw redemption where the world saw prostitutes and tax collectors. He saw provision where the disciples could only see that they had forgotten to take bread (Mk. 8,16). He sees the heart, we see the outside. The list is endless.
The only remedy seems to begin seeing like Jesus, and the only way to do that is simply by asking in faith. It's like that song, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord," only on a more permanent basis. When I prayed this prayer, "Give me your eyes, Lord," I sensed the Lord asking, "Do you really want this?", and when I said yes, He reminded me of 1 John 5,14-15 and I had faith that He heard me and is answering that prayer.
At first I thought He would give me deep insights into the needs of people I met (and He might well do that at some point) or enable me to have a positive attitude of faith about everything. Alas, I'm still as blind to the spiritual needs of those around me and how I could meet them, and only occasionally do I seem to have a bit more faith. (But then, it's been only nine days since my prayer.)
Have you ever wrestled with a Scripture or a passage, wondering what on earth it means, and the harder you try the less you seem to understand it? For years, Romans 6 with its insistence that I had died with Christ was such a passage for me. No matter how hard I tried, I didn't feel dead, and besides, when would that have happened? How could it have happened at the cross, when I wasn't even born yet?
This morning the Holy Spirit has been showing me that I've been going about it all wrong. I've been trying to understand with my mind first and then engage the heart. But it is the heart that needs to understand first (another word for "believing with the heart"), and then the mind will catch on.
And then He just about blew me away when He opened my eyes to John 3:5, and I saw it with the eyes of Jesus: "... unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." This familiar verse has been interpreted in various ways when it talks about being "born of water." It hit me that both parts, the birth of the Spirit and the birth of water, are spiritual events. Jesus is talking of water baptism here, something He always stressed as being necessary for being saved (Mk. 16, 16). (The fact that there are exceptions to the rule, like the thief on the cross, doesn't mean it's not mandatory for believers.) Moreover, Romans 6:3-4 tells us that through our baptism we were baptized into Christ's death and buried with Him, so that we could walk in newness of life. Our baptism is the point of contact where our old self dies with Christ on the cross and we no longer live (Gal. 2,20). We are born again and enter the Kingdom of God.
I've been baptized as a believer more than 30 years ago, but I believe this is true even if I wasn't aware of it at the time. God has been faithful to do His part to join me ito Christ's death and bury the old self. Now He's beginning to open my eyes to this powerful truth, and I understand why Paul can exhort us to put off the old self like filthy rags and put on the garments of the new self which is being made to be like Christ. I wonder what this will mean on a daily basis...? I'm excited to find out more about it as I'm seeing a little more with the eyes of Jesus each day.
The only remedy seems to begin seeing like Jesus, and the only way to do that is simply by asking in faith. It's like that song, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord," only on a more permanent basis. When I prayed this prayer, "Give me your eyes, Lord," I sensed the Lord asking, "Do you really want this?", and when I said yes, He reminded me of 1 John 5,14-15 and I had faith that He heard me and is answering that prayer.
At first I thought He would give me deep insights into the needs of people I met (and He might well do that at some point) or enable me to have a positive attitude of faith about everything. Alas, I'm still as blind to the spiritual needs of those around me and how I could meet them, and only occasionally do I seem to have a bit more faith. (But then, it's been only nine days since my prayer.)
Have you ever wrestled with a Scripture or a passage, wondering what on earth it means, and the harder you try the less you seem to understand it? For years, Romans 6 with its insistence that I had died with Christ was such a passage for me. No matter how hard I tried, I didn't feel dead, and besides, when would that have happened? How could it have happened at the cross, when I wasn't even born yet?
This morning the Holy Spirit has been showing me that I've been going about it all wrong. I've been trying to understand with my mind first and then engage the heart. But it is the heart that needs to understand first (another word for "believing with the heart"), and then the mind will catch on.
And then He just about blew me away when He opened my eyes to John 3:5, and I saw it with the eyes of Jesus: "... unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." This familiar verse has been interpreted in various ways when it talks about being "born of water." It hit me that both parts, the birth of the Spirit and the birth of water, are spiritual events. Jesus is talking of water baptism here, something He always stressed as being necessary for being saved (Mk. 16, 16). (The fact that there are exceptions to the rule, like the thief on the cross, doesn't mean it's not mandatory for believers.) Moreover, Romans 6:3-4 tells us that through our baptism we were baptized into Christ's death and buried with Him, so that we could walk in newness of life. Our baptism is the point of contact where our old self dies with Christ on the cross and we no longer live (Gal. 2,20). We are born again and enter the Kingdom of God.
I've been baptized as a believer more than 30 years ago, but I believe this is true even if I wasn't aware of it at the time. God has been faithful to do His part to join me ito Christ's death and bury the old self. Now He's beginning to open my eyes to this powerful truth, and I understand why Paul can exhort us to put off the old self like filthy rags and put on the garments of the new self which is being made to be like Christ. I wonder what this will mean on a daily basis...? I'm excited to find out more about it as I'm seeing a little more with the eyes of Jesus each day.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A Revolutionary Thought
The other day, when I was in prayer, I had a revolutionary thought - so revolutionary that it must have been the Lord, because I never thought of it before in over 30 years of daily devotions.
First, the Lord reminded me that He, too, was looking forward to our daily time together. Though this wasn't a new idea, it warmed my heart. But then, a little later, as I was praying, I heard Him saying, "Why don't you give Me control over our time together?"
This really shocked me. As a young Christian I had learned about the necessity of daily Bible reading and prayer, and I had stuck to it fairly faithfully throughout the years. Since my strength is studying the Bible, I actually spent most of my time in Bible study, and comparatively little in prayer. Lately, I'd become so dissatisfied with my personal prayer life that I kept crying out to the Lord, "Teach me to pray!"
At first I hesitated. What would happen? Would I have to stop following my Bible reading plan which worked some days but not others? What if nothing happened? What would be my part? I did get the impression that my part was to continue showing up daily, faithfully, seeking Him with all my heart. But He wanted me to let go of my religious rituals and let Him take over.
The more I thought about His request to have control over our time together, the more it made sense. He is just as interested in our time together, and of the two of us He clearly is the senior partner, the One with more experience. He loved me, and I could trust Him. When I thought about Jesus meeting with the Father, I just couldn't picture Him spending all of His time talking and none listening.
Anyway, anytime the Lord asks you a direct question like this, you say yes. I did, excited to see what would happen.
Well, this has been a week ago. The main change so far has been that I'm spending a lot more time in prayer, even if I spend less time reading Jeremiah or Ezekiel. During some of my early-morning prayer time I'm reading a book by Lynne Hammand on spirit-led prayer called, "The Master Is Calling", which is exactly what I need right now. All of a sudden, since the Lord (Jesus, the Holy Spirit?) took over control over my quiet time, I'm spending time in real communion with Him, and prayer seems to flow out of it.
I'd like to invite you to consider giving over control of your time with the Lord to Him. It's an act of faith, a step of trust that He will not let you down. It doesn't mean you never get to talk again - in fact, one of the first things He said to me was, "Be honest with Me." Scripture confirms that we are to pour out our hearts to Him. I can't tell you what will happen if you take this step of surrender - it will be different for each of you. I only know it will be good.
First, the Lord reminded me that He, too, was looking forward to our daily time together. Though this wasn't a new idea, it warmed my heart. But then, a little later, as I was praying, I heard Him saying, "Why don't you give Me control over our time together?"
This really shocked me. As a young Christian I had learned about the necessity of daily Bible reading and prayer, and I had stuck to it fairly faithfully throughout the years. Since my strength is studying the Bible, I actually spent most of my time in Bible study, and comparatively little in prayer. Lately, I'd become so dissatisfied with my personal prayer life that I kept crying out to the Lord, "Teach me to pray!"
At first I hesitated. What would happen? Would I have to stop following my Bible reading plan which worked some days but not others? What if nothing happened? What would be my part? I did get the impression that my part was to continue showing up daily, faithfully, seeking Him with all my heart. But He wanted me to let go of my religious rituals and let Him take over.
The more I thought about His request to have control over our time together, the more it made sense. He is just as interested in our time together, and of the two of us He clearly is the senior partner, the One with more experience. He loved me, and I could trust Him. When I thought about Jesus meeting with the Father, I just couldn't picture Him spending all of His time talking and none listening.
Anyway, anytime the Lord asks you a direct question like this, you say yes. I did, excited to see what would happen.
Well, this has been a week ago. The main change so far has been that I'm spending a lot more time in prayer, even if I spend less time reading Jeremiah or Ezekiel. During some of my early-morning prayer time I'm reading a book by Lynne Hammand on spirit-led prayer called, "The Master Is Calling", which is exactly what I need right now. All of a sudden, since the Lord (Jesus, the Holy Spirit?) took over control over my quiet time, I'm spending time in real communion with Him, and prayer seems to flow out of it.
I'd like to invite you to consider giving over control of your time with the Lord to Him. It's an act of faith, a step of trust that He will not let you down. It doesn't mean you never get to talk again - in fact, one of the first things He said to me was, "Be honest with Me." Scripture confirms that we are to pour out our hearts to Him. I can't tell you what will happen if you take this step of surrender - it will be different for each of you. I only know it will be good.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
On loving other Christians
Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit starting to dig in a new area in your life, and suddenly you realize that he's opening a whole can of worms where you thought everything was pretty much in order?
Well, he's been convicting me about something by dropping little thoughts here and there. I must confess that there are some - shall I say many - Christians I don't really like. With some it's their political view, with others their theology, with still others the fact that they are on TV and I'm not. Which is, most likely, envy on my part.
Yet Jesus told his disciples, "Love one another, as I have loved you." This little bomb shell has more power than the largest atom bomb. First, it is a commandment, not an option. If you want a commentary on this commandment, read 1 John. It makes you shudder. Second, how does Jesus love us? Unconditionally, even when we blow it, even when he has to correct us because we are wrong. Ouch! Third, it is meant for us, not just for the original apostles (see Mt. 28). I'm convinced, if we Christians took it seriously, our churches would be radically different.
So I'm embarking on a journey to love my fellow Christians. Keep tuned!
Well, he's been convicting me about something by dropping little thoughts here and there. I must confess that there are some - shall I say many - Christians I don't really like. With some it's their political view, with others their theology, with still others the fact that they are on TV and I'm not. Which is, most likely, envy on my part.
Yet Jesus told his disciples, "Love one another, as I have loved you." This little bomb shell has more power than the largest atom bomb. First, it is a commandment, not an option. If you want a commentary on this commandment, read 1 John. It makes you shudder. Second, how does Jesus love us? Unconditionally, even when we blow it, even when he has to correct us because we are wrong. Ouch! Third, it is meant for us, not just for the original apostles (see Mt. 28). I'm convinced, if we Christians took it seriously, our churches would be radically different.
So I'm embarking on a journey to love my fellow Christians. Keep tuned!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Putting on the spiritual armor (Part 3)
Okay, so I was wrong.
I've been rereading Ephesians 6, and the more I do, the more I see the emphasis the WORD of GOD puts upon our spiritual armor. That word picture wasn't just Paul's idea, but God's. Oops, sorry, Lord! I definitely don't want to get into trouble with You!
Nevertheless, I still believe that God wants us to take up all seven of the spiritual weapons mentioned, besides all the others like humility, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, etc. (Please send me additions to that list, it would be fun to have a list of our arsenal.)
Last time I looked at truth as an indispensable weapon. The second one is righteousness. Most people automatically think of the imputed righteousness we have in Christ, and that's certainly the most important aspect. But I wonder how this really differs from weapon Nr. 5, salvation.
I want to suggest that there is another aspect to righteousness: living right. It means having a heart that is committed to obeying the Lord fully. If we are consciously disobeying and living in sin, we're vulnerable to the enemy, no matter how much we believe in Christ's death for us. All of us are still immature in many ways, and we fall short, but God looks at the sincerity of our hearts. Stumbling out of immaturity is a far cry from rebellion, though they may look the same on the outside. (Thank you, Mike Bickle, for that insight!) I believe the goal of the Holy Spirit working within us is to make us more and more righteous in our actual righteousness, though on this side of eternity it will never match Christ's perfect righteousness that has been imputed to us.
The third spiritual weapon is a tongue twister, especially for a non-native speaker like me. What on earth does "having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" mean? At the risk of oversimplification I want to suggest that it is simply the declaration of the good news. When we share the gospel with someone, we are extending the kingdom of God and taking away territory from the enemy. No wonder most Christians never open their mouths to witness! It is a spiritual weapon the enemy fears greatly, and he does everything he can to shut it down. Sadly, I haven't overcome his intimidation in this area yet either.
The fourth weapon is faith. As a weapon I believe it can be used both defensively and offensively. Defensively, when we are remembering what the Lord has spoken to us personally through a rhema word at some time. Offensively, when we decide to "live by faith and not by sight" in a given situation, i. e. to trust the Lord and not our circumstances, simply on the basis of his word.
The fifth weapon is salvation - see above. I'd be grateful for any insights on the differences between salvation and righteousness.
The sixth weapon is the word of God, which Scripture calls the "sword of the Spirit." Jesus used it in the tempation in the wilderness in order to defeat Satan. How much more do we need to learn to use it!
The seventh weapon mentioned here is prayer in all its forms. It's prayer in the Spirit, not the flesh or our own imagination, that is effective and powerful. I'm not even going to begin to try to say more about it!
Now, go, take up your armor - and don't take it off when you go to bed, either!
I've been rereading Ephesians 6, and the more I do, the more I see the emphasis the WORD of GOD puts upon our spiritual armor. That word picture wasn't just Paul's idea, but God's. Oops, sorry, Lord! I definitely don't want to get into trouble with You!
Nevertheless, I still believe that God wants us to take up all seven of the spiritual weapons mentioned, besides all the others like humility, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, etc. (Please send me additions to that list, it would be fun to have a list of our arsenal.)
Last time I looked at truth as an indispensable weapon. The second one is righteousness. Most people automatically think of the imputed righteousness we have in Christ, and that's certainly the most important aspect. But I wonder how this really differs from weapon Nr. 5, salvation.
I want to suggest that there is another aspect to righteousness: living right. It means having a heart that is committed to obeying the Lord fully. If we are consciously disobeying and living in sin, we're vulnerable to the enemy, no matter how much we believe in Christ's death for us. All of us are still immature in many ways, and we fall short, but God looks at the sincerity of our hearts. Stumbling out of immaturity is a far cry from rebellion, though they may look the same on the outside. (Thank you, Mike Bickle, for that insight!) I believe the goal of the Holy Spirit working within us is to make us more and more righteous in our actual righteousness, though on this side of eternity it will never match Christ's perfect righteousness that has been imputed to us.
The third spiritual weapon is a tongue twister, especially for a non-native speaker like me. What on earth does "having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" mean? At the risk of oversimplification I want to suggest that it is simply the declaration of the good news. When we share the gospel with someone, we are extending the kingdom of God and taking away territory from the enemy. No wonder most Christians never open their mouths to witness! It is a spiritual weapon the enemy fears greatly, and he does everything he can to shut it down. Sadly, I haven't overcome his intimidation in this area yet either.
The fourth weapon is faith. As a weapon I believe it can be used both defensively and offensively. Defensively, when we are remembering what the Lord has spoken to us personally through a rhema word at some time. Offensively, when we decide to "live by faith and not by sight" in a given situation, i. e. to trust the Lord and not our circumstances, simply on the basis of his word.
The fifth weapon is salvation - see above. I'd be grateful for any insights on the differences between salvation and righteousness.
The sixth weapon is the word of God, which Scripture calls the "sword of the Spirit." Jesus used it in the tempation in the wilderness in order to defeat Satan. How much more do we need to learn to use it!
The seventh weapon mentioned here is prayer in all its forms. It's prayer in the Spirit, not the flesh or our own imagination, that is effective and powerful. I'm not even going to begin to try to say more about it!
Now, go, take up your armor - and don't take it off when you go to bed, either!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Intercession for North Korea
A few months ago the Lord gave me a heavy burden to pray for North Korea through a dream, in which the dictator of that country was assuming control over the whole world. This had been the first time He called me to pray for such a large subject in such a way. Last night I had another dream, which in many ways was a repeat of the first one.
In the interim I have been reading up some on North Korea and following the latest news developments on the Internet. NK is quite possibly the most oppressive country in the world. Millions of people have starved to death, millions languish in labor camps. Only the elite lives well. Christianity is outlawed, of course, and unspeakable things are done to those who are caught and refuse to worship the leader.
Now it seems NK is on a direct collision course with the United States. Did you notice that they detonated their atomic bomb on Memorial Day? No coincidence, I believe. Their missiles can reach Alaska, including the oil fields. The latest threat is the firing of a missile towards Hawaii on July 4th, a threat that the US is taking seriously enough to deploy a missile interceptor system to protect Hawaii. Why haven't we heard this in the news? It's in newspapers on the West coast, where NK can reach within 3-4 years. By the way, they also have a large arsenal of biological and chemical weapons and a huge standing army.
Please join me in praying -- our seventh spiritual weapon. Pray in the spirit above all, and let me know if the Lord shows you more concrete ways to pray.
In the interim I have been reading up some on North Korea and following the latest news developments on the Internet. NK is quite possibly the most oppressive country in the world. Millions of people have starved to death, millions languish in labor camps. Only the elite lives well. Christianity is outlawed, of course, and unspeakable things are done to those who are caught and refuse to worship the leader.
Now it seems NK is on a direct collision course with the United States. Did you notice that they detonated their atomic bomb on Memorial Day? No coincidence, I believe. Their missiles can reach Alaska, including the oil fields. The latest threat is the firing of a missile towards Hawaii on July 4th, a threat that the US is taking seriously enough to deploy a missile interceptor system to protect Hawaii. Why haven't we heard this in the news? It's in newspapers on the West coast, where NK can reach within 3-4 years. By the way, they also have a large arsenal of biological and chemical weapons and a huge standing army.
Please join me in praying -- our seventh spiritual weapon. Pray in the spirit above all, and let me know if the Lord shows you more concrete ways to pray.
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