Selfishness vs The Spirit of God

Last Night I was reading Gal 5:16-17  "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." 

As I meditated on this passage, I saw how different our perspective and selfish inclination is (The Flesh) than what God desires.  When we focus on ourselves, our tendency is towards gratifying the desires of our flesh, and this is where we get in trouble.  When our thoughts are all about 'me' we lose our ability to see things from God's perspective.  As Paul writes - they are contrary to one another. I must learn to embrace the perspective John the Baptist had - I must decrease and He (God) must increase. We must learn to look to God's Spirit for correct perspective, leaving our self-focused ways behind.

Lord help me to live by Your Spirit - changing my focus and thoughts on what You say is important, rather than what I think is important.

Heavenly Vision

Last night I was reading Luke 9:10-17 and was thinking about how Jesus and His disciples looked at the feeding of 5000 people with a completely different perspective.  The disciples were looking at the situation from a purely earthly, natural perspective.  Jesus, on the other hand, saw the potential of the Father's power and will.  The disciples figured they needed to either send the people out to forage for themselves, or buy food themselves for the crowd.  Interestingly, the disciples didn't even have enough food for themselves, unless they were big loaves and bigger fish.  Anyway, Jesus knew that in Heaven  His Father had everything under control, and had blessings to pour out, even though it would require a miracle to see it happen.

I was thinking about how often when confronted with difficult situations (especially when I appear to be lacking myself), I am exactly like the disciples.    I am constantly trying to figure it out on my own, with what I have at hand, rather than stopping and seeing what the Father says He will do in the situation.

Lord, please help me to develop heavenly eyes - eyes that look to You first, seeing what You see, understanding what You have planned.

Perseverance in Prayer

This weekend I was reading a book about John G. Lake, an evangelist and healer who lived in the early 1900's.  He had an awesome healing ministry in Spokane Washington, and many years of powerful ministry in South Africa.  One particular story caught my attention, that of a young woman, Louise Reniboldt, who was injured in a surgery and unable to speak for 3 1/2 years.  She went to John G. Lake's healing ministry in Spokane where they ministered to her and prayed for 26 days!  One the 26th day she was completely healed and  able to speak, where before she was unable to make even a sound.  The reason this story caught my attention was the fact that they prayed for 26 days - continuing to believe God for a miracle.  When I think of my prayers, if I pray for someone for 5 minutes - I think thats pretty good,  30 - 60 minutes would seem extensive.  But 26 Days - almost unfathomable in our microwave society!

God grant us the understanding and ability to persevere in prayer - maintaining our faith in You, believing that You are the Healer, that You are faithful, and that You Love us beyond understanding.  Help us to learn to patiently wait for You!

The Spirit Without Limit

In the Third Chapter of John, in verse 34 it says, "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit."  What an awesome statement!  God pours out the Spirit without Limit, never ending, limitless, constantly flowing.  Jesus in His human-ness is a model of what God offers to all of us!  This statement fills me with hope!  


No Limit means exactly that - no limit!  Nothing limits the Spirit!  Lord help to understand and grasp living in the reality of this statement!

The Importance of Listening

This morning I was reading Isaiah 55 and was meditating on verses 2 & 3.  It says, "...Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live."

I though it interesting how many times in two verses God says to listen to Him.  The results of listening are equally interesting - we will enjoy the richest of fare (provision) and we will live!  That grabbed my attention!  How often do I go through my day listening to everything but God?  

God help me to Listen, Listen, Listen - that you might guide me to Your provision and life!

God's Plans?

I was reading Isaiah 30:1 this morning.  It says, "“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;"

As I read that verse I thought about my own life, and how often I am carrying out plans that I never even consulted the Lord about, nor received from the Lord.  He calls those who act this way obstinate children, I guess because they want it their way, and are unwilling to listen to God.  Some might call this the school of hard knocks, and defeat.  Further in the verse, its clear that the people are running to Egypt for safety, rather than turning to God who demonstrated over and over His ability to save them.  How often do we look to something or someone, other than God, for help?

Lord help me to always listen to You, to wait for You to divulge Your plans, to not set my mind and heart on my way!  Help me to wait on You!

God's Ways

I was reading Psalm 67:1-2  this morning.   It says, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—^[b] 2 so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations."  I was intrigued by the wording in bold above - so that Your ways may be known.  I was reminded of Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," Declares the Lord."


I was thinking about how desperately we need to know His ways!  We look at the world and things don't make sense.  We know He could have stopped the earthquake and Tsunami.  We know He could intervene as He did in the Old Testament, causing the sea to even stop!  Yet, in His ways this is all perfectly in accordance with His purposes.


I also find it interesting that as God blesses us, and is gracious to us, that some of His ways become known to us!  We catch a glimpse of His awesomeness and love; His mercy and forgiveness; His faithfulness and gentleness.


God teach us Your ways, reveal Your ways to us!  We deeply want to know You more.

When the Earth Quakes

Recently, before the Giant Quake hit Japan, I was reading Psalm 75:3 "When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm."


At the time, the world was being shaken by the events in the Mid-East, and it seemed like we were all being shaken.  Now, even more, we are shaken - literally! 


It is good to know that in the midst of all this, God is in control!  Our hearts go out to the people of Japan.  Our minds tell us that something like that could happen to us - major devastation from natural disasters.  We can feel so powerless in the face of this all, but God's message is clear in everything.  He is firmly in control.


God we trust ourselves to your mercy and goodness!

Love and Obedience

I was reading John 14:23-24 this morning and it says,"Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."


I was thinking how often this verse, in religious fervor, gets turned around - "if you obey my teaching, you love me" where the emphasis becomes obedience, rather than love!  Sometimes word equations like this can be reversed and still be true, in this case, I don't believe so.  Love would become, in our eyes, duty and work and this can lead to resentment, bitterness, etc.  


It is critical we get this right - its our love for Him that compels our obedience, not because we have to, but because we want to!


What a great promise for those of us who get swept away by our love for Him - He and the Father will come and make their home with us!

Love is Key

Recently I was reading 1 John 4, which is all about Love.  Our love is one of the key indicators of our walk with God and our relationship with Him.  God is love, it originates with Him, and is one His attributes that He is most clear about, all through the Bible.  His relationship with all of us is based on His love for us!  He is not some unemotional, cosmic creator, who has no feelings for that which He created.  Rather, He loves us more deeply, more passionately than we can ever comprehend. 


Our ability to Love anything, and each other, comes from Him, and is meant to be a sign to those around us of our relationship with Him.  Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  It can't be any clearer than that!


God help us to Love one another, as You loved us!

The Hand of God

Yesterday I was reading Isaiah 66:14, "When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes."


I was caught by the section about His hand being revealed to His servants.  I decided to do a little research into the Hebrew word translated as 'hand'.  The Hebrew word usually refers to the hand - as a sign of authority, power, provision, and direction.

So, God will make known to His servants His provision, His authority, His power and His direction!  I know I need all of that in my life!

Lord, I pray that You would reveal Your hand in greater measure to us all.

God's Name is Good!

This morning I was reading Psalm 52 and verse 9 stood out to me.  It says, " For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good."  I was struck by this simple statement.  


This is like the old days, when a 'man's word was good', but in this case its God's name! If you study the different names of God in scripture, you get a sense of how this can be true, each time God reveals one of His names, He is also revealing part of His character.  We understand this concept by our associating people with their family name - i.e. 'Oh, you are one of those Smiths'. We know, or think we know, something a about a persons character by their name.


In this case, David is familiar with the name(s) of God and is willing to put his hope in the name of God - I guess one could say by taking Him name - because His Name is good!  Am I willing to put my hope in the name of God, and His son Jesus?  Am I willing to take on the name of God, call myself one of His family?

Drawing Near to God

I was reading Jeremiah 30:21, "Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me— for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the LORD."

I was struck by the question the Lord asked - "Who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?"  He Lord is looking for those who want to be close to Him, for the one who will make the effort to be close to Him.  When He finds one, He will bring that person near.  

How do I devote myself to being close to God?  I believe the answer is prayer, communication, opening one's life, setting our priorities so we can pursue God.  All difficult in this present age f distraction and self focus.

Lord help me to devote myself to being close to You!

Eternal Eyes

I have become more and more aware of the reality of our final destiny, especially as I think about our rapidly changing world.  I was reading 2 Cor 4:18 which says," ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  Here Paul talks about the reality of all our lives, what we are surrounded by here is temporary.  In the midst of my day-today live, I often forget that this is all passing away, and the only things that really matter are eternal. 


God help me to live my life with an eternal perspective, putting proper weight on the things that really matter. Help me to fix my eyes, my mind and my heart on those things.