How is your prayer life? I have to be honest, mine isn't the best right now. I acknowledge God throughout the day with quick little "thank you's" or "can you's"...but I haven't been spending time communicating with him. I haven't been really talking to Him and I definitely haven't been listening. How did I realize this you might ask? Through the wisdom of Solomon.
1 Kings 3:9-13 - 9"So give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" 10It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days."
There are a few things we can learn from Solomon here:
1. We must pray.
God didn't just give Solomon wisdom. He had to ask for it. God could easily give us everything we want or need for He knows our hearts (Psalm 44:21). But I truly believe that He wants us to communicate with Him to entrust Him with our wants and needs, the secrets of our hearts. He craves that intimacy with us.
It is easy to push that time with Him aside, to place it on the back-burner (trust me, I know). But why!?! If we truly desire an intimate relationship with God, then we must communicate with Him. If a husband and wife don't communicate with one another their marriage slowly begins to fall apart, they lose the intimacy they had on the day they said "I do." Communication is ESSENTIAL in any relationship.
And let us never forget that, "When [we] pray, [our] prayers are heard by the same God who answered Moses' prayer for water in the desert, the God who gave Abraham and his barren wife a son, and the God who made the slave Joseph second in power only to Pharaoh" (Francis Chan, Crazy Love, pg. 116). Isn't that amazing!?!
2. When we pray, we need to put God first.
Solomon was praying for discernment so that he would be able to do the job that God had called him to do - "By this choice Solomon made it appear that he desired to be good more than great, and to serve God's honour more than to advance his own" (Henry). How different would our prayer life look if we were to apply this concept? How different would our lives look if we were to apply this concept? Instead of approaching God with a list of things we selfishly want or need what if we approached Him as Solomon did and prayed for the things that will help us succeed in serving Him?
3. When God answers, we need to be faithful with what He gives us.
Sometimes God will say "no." And we must respect that. But often times He does say "yes," just as He did with Solomon. He even blessed Solomon with the riches and honor he didn't ask for!
Unfortunately, in the end, Solomon didn't use his riches, honor, or wisdom faithfully. He became unfaithful, brutish, and even worshipped the gods of the Moabites - "He received much; but he would have received much more, had he been faithful to the grace given. No character in the sacred writings disappoints us more than the character of Solomon" (Clarke).
We cannot use what God gives us to our advantage, we cannot squander His blessings away, we cannot turn our back on Him and expect everything to remain the same. We must be faithful to Him and all that He gives us, whether that be wisdom, courage, wealth, or fame.
I hope I sparked something in your mind today. I challenge you today to look at your prayer life and see what needs fixing.
Do you need to communicate more intimately with God?
Do you need to put Him first in your prayer life?
Are you having trouble being faithful with what He has given you?
Make this a checklist and look back on it often. Our walk with God is a journey and while one thing might come easy now, it could be a struggle next month. But for today, pick one of these things and go pray. Drop everything you are doing right now and give Him some time to truly and deeply communicate with you.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Box Syndrome
1 Kings 2:4 - so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.
Not too terribly long after this Babylon took over and the Israelites lived in exile for a very long time.
I kept looking at this verse thinking, "If only Israel hadn't messed up...if only they had followed these simple instructions..."
Maybe we would still be under Israel's reign - a wonderfully united nation of God...
But someone else would have messed up. I guess it was probably inevitable.
The thing is...why is it so hard?? Those instructions seem pretty simple.
Not too terribly long after this Babylon took over and the Israelites lived in exile for a very long time.
I kept looking at this verse thinking, "If only Israel hadn't messed up...if only they had followed these simple instructions..."
Maybe we would still be under Israel's reign - a wonderfully united nation of God...
But someone else would have messed up. I guess it was probably inevitable.
The thing is...why is it so hard?? Those instructions seem pretty simple.
- Be careful of your way
- Walk before God in truth
- With all your heart and with all your soul
I think it's that "all" that gets us. I think we all truly want to give God our heart and soul...but only parts, not all, I meant that's just a little bit excessive don't you think??
Justin and I had a long talk on our way home from Michigan yesterday about how people can separate their faith from politics. For us, that is an impossibility. I will not vote for a man who literally covers up crosses in any area that he is speaking. I cannot do so in regards to my faith. But for others, the two are completely separate things. I referred to it as "Box Syndrome" - they have each section of their lives perfectly boxed up and labeled. One for "Faith," one for "Politics," "Friends," "Family", "Recreation/Hobbies," "Business," etc. Not one box invades another...everything is separate. And if you are living with "Box Syndrome" then I suppose the only box God gets is the "Faith" box. Does that sound like God is getting ALL of our heart and soul??? I don't think so. Our "Faith" should be the box the encompasses all other boxes. We shouldn't be able to access any of the other boxes without first having to open our "Faith" box.
So here's to not taking the easy way out - gather up all of those boxes today and put them in one collective box - the "Faith" box. Give God ALL of your heart and soul today...see how much it will truly change and shape your life! (For the good of course!)
Friday, October 26, 2012
He Has a Purpose
God has a purpose for your life. What? You don't think so? You're not good enough? You don't have enough faith? You're too scared?
None of that matters. God will still use you.
1 Samuel 27:1 - Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand." (ESV)
Background: Saul was still king and his current mission in life was to kill David.
But hadn't David been anointed in order to be the next king? Hand chosen by God? Why then did he think he would die at the hand of Saul?
He was doubting. This statement "proceeded from gross distrust of God's promise and providence; and that after such repeated demonstrations of God's peculiar care over him" (Wesley). God had done so much for David already! Before he was even 20, David had defeated Goliath - a giant that the toughest, most experienced, bravest soldiers of Israel wouldn't even dare go up against. Time and time again, God had provided for David is amazing ways...yet David forgot all of this in an instant and ran scared for his life.
Not only was David doubting and untrusting at this point, he ran to the one place he shouldn't have. The Philistines are enemies of Israel (Goliath was a Philistine), outside of "God's chosen," and they worshiped other gods! David was running to a place where one day, as king, he would have to wage war! And he was abandoning the very people he had been anointed to rule and protect (Henry).
He messed up. Big time. But (spoiler alert) Saul did not kill David and David did become the King of Israel!
God still used him.
God did not choose "perfect" people then, and he doesn't choose "perfect" people now. God will use you, no matter your imperfections, no matter your fears or your doubts. He has a purpose for you.
I challenge you today to discover what that purpose might be and start living it.
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
None of that matters. God will still use you.
1 Samuel 27:1 - Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand." (ESV)
Background: Saul was still king and his current mission in life was to kill David.
But hadn't David been anointed in order to be the next king? Hand chosen by God? Why then did he think he would die at the hand of Saul?
He was doubting. This statement "proceeded from gross distrust of God's promise and providence; and that after such repeated demonstrations of God's peculiar care over him" (Wesley). God had done so much for David already! Before he was even 20, David had defeated Goliath - a giant that the toughest, most experienced, bravest soldiers of Israel wouldn't even dare go up against. Time and time again, God had provided for David is amazing ways...yet David forgot all of this in an instant and ran scared for his life.
Not only was David doubting and untrusting at this point, he ran to the one place he shouldn't have. The Philistines are enemies of Israel (Goliath was a Philistine), outside of "God's chosen," and they worshiped other gods! David was running to a place where one day, as king, he would have to wage war! And he was abandoning the very people he had been anointed to rule and protect (Henry).
He messed up. Big time. But (spoiler alert) Saul did not kill David and David did become the King of Israel!
God still used him.
God did not choose "perfect" people then, and he doesn't choose "perfect" people now. God will use you, no matter your imperfections, no matter your fears or your doubts. He has a purpose for you.
I challenge you today to discover what that purpose might be and start living it.
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Think.
I'm sure we've all heard the phrase, "Think before you speak" or "Think before you act." Both phrases are very good advice. But how often do we actually apply that advice to our lives? This is one of those times where the phrase "Much easier said than done" is very easy to apply! :)
1 Samuel 25:30-31 - 30 And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.
Yes, this section is a little bit confusing. Abigail is speaking to David here. Who is Abigail you might ask? She is the wife of a certain man named Nabal. Nabal had refused to help out David's men in quite a rude and ungracious way. David was outraged at Nabal's reply and immediately set out to avenge him. Abigail met him halfway and talked him out of his revenge mind set.
In these verses we see her appeal to his conscience, his heart:
"She cannot but think that if he should avenge himself it would afterwards be a grief and an offence of heart to him...She is confident that if he pass by the offense it will afterwards be no grief to him; but, on the contrary, it would yield him unspeakable satisfaction that his wisdom and grace had go the better of his passion" (Henry).
She knows he would regret this vengeance later. After all, it would have been reckless and causeless "for though Nabal had been guilty of abominable rudeness, and ingratitude; yet he had done nothing worthy of death, by the laws of God or man. And whatsoever he had done, the rest of his family were innocent" (Wesley).
If only we all had an Abigail to intercede and give us a chance to think about the actions in which we are about to partake. It would be so much better for us if "when we are tempted to sin we should consider how it will appear in the reflection. Let us never do any thing for which our own consciences will afterwards have occasion to upbraid us and which we shall look back upon with regret" (Henry).
I challenge you today to think before you speak and think before you act. When does the reflection of sin every prove good? It doesn't! Think.
1 Samuel 25:30-31 - 30 And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.
Yes, this section is a little bit confusing. Abigail is speaking to David here. Who is Abigail you might ask? She is the wife of a certain man named Nabal. Nabal had refused to help out David's men in quite a rude and ungracious way. David was outraged at Nabal's reply and immediately set out to avenge him. Abigail met him halfway and talked him out of his revenge mind set.
In these verses we see her appeal to his conscience, his heart:
"She cannot but think that if he should avenge himself it would afterwards be a grief and an offence of heart to him...She is confident that if he pass by the offense it will afterwards be no grief to him; but, on the contrary, it would yield him unspeakable satisfaction that his wisdom and grace had go the better of his passion" (Henry).
She knows he would regret this vengeance later. After all, it would have been reckless and causeless "for though Nabal had been guilty of abominable rudeness, and ingratitude; yet he had done nothing worthy of death, by the laws of God or man. And whatsoever he had done, the rest of his family were innocent" (Wesley).
If only we all had an Abigail to intercede and give us a chance to think about the actions in which we are about to partake. It would be so much better for us if "when we are tempted to sin we should consider how it will appear in the reflection. Let us never do any thing for which our own consciences will afterwards have occasion to upbraid us and which we shall look back upon with regret" (Henry).
I challenge you today to think before you speak and think before you act. When does the reflection of sin every prove good? It doesn't! Think.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Tell-Tale Heart
In elementary school my best friend had a super sensitive conscience. If she did anything remotely wrong...even if it really wasn't a big deal, she would get very upset. Tears would fall and apologies would be profusely made. I often look back on those times and wonder if that is part of the innocence of a child that God has called us to maintain.
1 Samuel 24:5 - It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.
"Conscience" is actually translated from the Hebrew word used for "heart." Most translations leave "heart" in the text, but a few, as seen above, change it to "conscience" in order for it to make more sense (Parallel Bible). However, "bothered" is defined in the Hebrew as "to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill" (Strong's H5221). It makes much more sense when paired with "heart" instead of "conscience" for the lexicon explains that his heart "palpitated most vehemently and struck his internal breast." I've had that feeling once or twice - you know you've done something wrong and your heart feels like its going to jump out of your chest - you can even hear it beating extra loudly *thump thump* * thump thump*
David had a chance to kill Saul here and he didn't. Instead, he simply cut off the edge of Saul's robe. Doesn't really seem like he did anything wrong does it? But it bothered David "because it was an affront to Saul's royal dignity" (Henry). Saul was still king and David shouldn't have done anything to disrespect his authority.
Henry makes a great point here: "It is a good thing to have a heart within us smiting us for sins that seem little; it is a sign that conscience is awake and tender, and will be the means of preventing greater sins." If it doesn't bother us to lie or cheat on a test/taxes or disrespect authority...then how do we know it would bother us to murder or steal or kidnap? Each time we sin and it doesn't bother us, it builds up an immunity to our conscience. We are putting a wall between our heart and our actions, making it easier and easier to sin.
I challenge you today to let your heart, your conscience speak to you! Don't ignore it! What are you doing that your heart is telling you you shouldn't? Listen to that *thump thump* *thump thump* and let it break down the walls of indifference. Every little sin should bother us until we make a change!
1 Samuel 24:5 - It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.
"Conscience" is actually translated from the Hebrew word used for "heart." Most translations leave "heart" in the text, but a few, as seen above, change it to "conscience" in order for it to make more sense (Parallel Bible). However, "bothered" is defined in the Hebrew as "to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill" (Strong's H5221). It makes much more sense when paired with "heart" instead of "conscience" for the lexicon explains that his heart "palpitated most vehemently and struck his internal breast." I've had that feeling once or twice - you know you've done something wrong and your heart feels like its going to jump out of your chest - you can even hear it beating extra loudly *thump thump* * thump thump*
David had a chance to kill Saul here and he didn't. Instead, he simply cut off the edge of Saul's robe. Doesn't really seem like he did anything wrong does it? But it bothered David "because it was an affront to Saul's royal dignity" (Henry). Saul was still king and David shouldn't have done anything to disrespect his authority.
Henry makes a great point here: "It is a good thing to have a heart within us smiting us for sins that seem little; it is a sign that conscience is awake and tender, and will be the means of preventing greater sins." If it doesn't bother us to lie or cheat on a test/taxes or disrespect authority...then how do we know it would bother us to murder or steal or kidnap? Each time we sin and it doesn't bother us, it builds up an immunity to our conscience. We are putting a wall between our heart and our actions, making it easier and easier to sin.
I challenge you today to let your heart, your conscience speak to you! Don't ignore it! What are you doing that your heart is telling you you shouldn't? Listen to that *thump thump* *thump thump* and let it break down the walls of indifference. Every little sin should bother us until we make a change!
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Weak Things of This World
Everyone has heard at least one story of someone unexpected making a huge difference in this world. The story that pops to my mind first is of a 21 year old girl who moved to Africa. I can't recall her name or any specific details but I know the story and I want to share it with you. After a brief missions trip to Africa, this girl could not get the homeless children she had seen out of her mind. So she decided to do something about it. She moved to Africa and adopted not one or two or even three children, but close to 20 children who were living on the streets. Now, they all have a home, and she is "mama." Because of her, these children will know the love of Christ and they have a future full of love and shelter.
1 Samuel 17:32-33 - 32 David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 33 Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."
From Day 1, no one expected David to be anything great. He was the youngest of countless sons (not even 20) and his job was merely to tend to the sheep. He wasn't even supposed to be near the battle, a novice at such things (Wesley). But none of that stopped David. You see, God often uses the unexpected, the weak, the untalented to accomplish His goals.
The difference is our attitude. David was willing and committed as we can see in verse 32. You see, "a person with a [willing] attitude is like a bumblebee. The bumblebee should not be able to fly, because the size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to its wingspread makes flying aerodynamically impossible. But the bumblebee, being ignorant of scientific theory, flies anyway and makes honey every day" (John Maxwell, Real Leadership, pg. 144). David shouldn't have been able to take down Goliath, he shouldn't have even had the courage. But David knew that God was on his side.
And he was looking out for the good of the people, not himself. No one else was even willing to attempt to fight with Goliath. Because of this the Israelites seemed doomed for failure. David knew that God didn't want His people to fail, so he stepped up to do what was for the best of the community, despite the fact that everyone told him he was going to fail or that he seemed the most unlikely candidate to defeat such a giant.
How often are we willing to look past ourselves and look out for the good of the church? How often do we attempt the impossible, knowing that we shouldn't be able to accomplish such a task? I am weak. I'm not very talented. I'm not any more special than anyone else I speak to throughout the week. But God can use me! After all, like David's story, "God often [does] great things for his people by the weak things of this world" (Wesley).
I challenge you today to let God use you! No matter what your station in life, no matter your talents or abilities, God can use you if you are willing! Don't let the world tell you you aren't good enough. Those are lies! The truth is that we can ALL be used be God...again, if only we will let Him.
1 Samuel 17:32-33 - 32 David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 33 Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."
From Day 1, no one expected David to be anything great. He was the youngest of countless sons (not even 20) and his job was merely to tend to the sheep. He wasn't even supposed to be near the battle, a novice at such things (Wesley). But none of that stopped David. You see, God often uses the unexpected, the weak, the untalented to accomplish His goals.
The difference is our attitude. David was willing and committed as we can see in verse 32. You see, "a person with a [willing] attitude is like a bumblebee. The bumblebee should not be able to fly, because the size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to its wingspread makes flying aerodynamically impossible. But the bumblebee, being ignorant of scientific theory, flies anyway and makes honey every day" (John Maxwell, Real Leadership, pg. 144). David shouldn't have been able to take down Goliath, he shouldn't have even had the courage. But David knew that God was on his side.
And he was looking out for the good of the people, not himself. No one else was even willing to attempt to fight with Goliath. Because of this the Israelites seemed doomed for failure. David knew that God didn't want His people to fail, so he stepped up to do what was for the best of the community, despite the fact that everyone told him he was going to fail or that he seemed the most unlikely candidate to defeat such a giant.
How often are we willing to look past ourselves and look out for the good of the church? How often do we attempt the impossible, knowing that we shouldn't be able to accomplish such a task? I am weak. I'm not very talented. I'm not any more special than anyone else I speak to throughout the week. But God can use me! After all, like David's story, "God often [does] great things for his people by the weak things of this world" (Wesley).
I challenge you today to let God use you! No matter what your station in life, no matter your talents or abilities, God can use you if you are willing! Don't let the world tell you you aren't good enough. Those are lies! The truth is that we can ALL be used be God...again, if only we will let Him.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
You Have a Beautiful Heart
Our society is completely caught up with looks. From interviews to churches to a simple lunch with friends - how we dress, how we style our hair, how we look, impresses those around us. I'm reminded of a the new ABC series, "The Neighbors" (it is really funny, go check it out) where the teenage girl asks the teenage alien if he thinks she's pretty...then proceeds to say something about "I don't mean pretty on the inside..." Don't we all take offense to that?
"You are so beautiful on the inside."
"Really?? So you think I'm ugly?"
"I didn't say that...I...I...I...just really appreciate and love who you are on the inside..."
*cricket cricket*
"...and out..."
But I think we've got it all wrong.
1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Did you catch that? The Lord looks at the heart! He looks at what is inside. I could have the body of a 6 ft, bleach blonde, Vanity Fair model but if my heart is wicked, it doesn't matter. God does NOT look at our outward appearance! He looks at our heart! (And yes, the Hebrew means the same thing, so no argument there.)
I think the greatest compliment I could ever receive from God would be:
"You are so pretty on the inside. You have a beautiful heart."
And I wouldn't snap back about being ugly on the outside.
I challenge you today to look at the heart of your family, your friends, and every new acquaintance Look past their appearance, whether it is good or bad, and see what their beauty holds on the inside. You might be surprised what you find.
"You are so beautiful on the inside."
"Really?? So you think I'm ugly?"
"I didn't say that...I...I...I...just really appreciate and love who you are on the inside..."
*cricket cricket*
"...and out..."
But I think we've got it all wrong.
1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Did you catch that? The Lord looks at the heart! He looks at what is inside. I could have the body of a 6 ft, bleach blonde, Vanity Fair model but if my heart is wicked, it doesn't matter. God does NOT look at our outward appearance! He looks at our heart! (And yes, the Hebrew means the same thing, so no argument there.)
I think the greatest compliment I could ever receive from God would be:
"You are so pretty on the inside. You have a beautiful heart."
And I wouldn't snap back about being ugly on the outside.
I challenge you today to look at the heart of your family, your friends, and every new acquaintance Look past their appearance, whether it is good or bad, and see what their beauty holds on the inside. You might be surprised what you find.
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