What Do You Think?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. [Psalm 139.23-24] 

Of all the things I hide in my heart, it is the anxious thoughts that betray me most. If it is truly impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11.6), then anxious thoughts (fears and doubts) are what I should be most concerned about.

Where do I even begin to address my worries and fears?

I must seek out and take every opportunity to think and live in faith instead of fear. If I am not actively looking, I will not see what faithless things in me God is pointing out.

How important is this issue? Well, if I don't get rid of my anxious thoughts, I am in constant offense against God and I am not travelling along the path of everlasting life!

Father, please point out the doubts and fears in me so that I might forsake them with boldly blind faith in You. So be it.

God Is Good

Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. [Psalm 103.2] 

Good things are God's business. 

God is good. 

Heaven is good. 

Everything God plans and does is good.

Because God is good, no evil can reside in or around Him. This includes heaven. Evil only exists as the manifestation of no good just as cold only exists as the manifestation of no heat or darkness only exists as the manifestation of no light.

If only God's people would focus on (never forget) His goodness instead of the evil all around them. This problem evidently pre-dates Psalm 103.2. It requires intentional effort to remember the goodness of God and this is first seen in the Garden of Eden.

There is a reason Satan wanted Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He used, "You will be like God..." as the enticement, but his nefarious main intention was for them to know evil because knowing evil introduced them to fear which is the opposite of faith.

Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Satan accomplished his pawn-like task as evidenced in Adam and Eve hiding out of fear because they "saw" they were naked. Their disobedience revealed "evil" (because it was in disobedience) instead of "good" and therefore Adam and Eve found themselves deceived and shamefully vulnerable (naked).

This all factors into God's plan (from the beginning) to have fellowship with mankind (that could only be achieved) through mutual relationship (decidedly desiring one another). Man's choice to "be like God" put him in the unique position of separation from God thus requiring an act of his decided will to be restored (or not) to relationship with God. In other words, God does not want relationship with robots created without freewill. Instead, God wants to be loved back by the explicit will of the one whom He loves creating a mutual relationship of fellowship. 

In short, everything that took place in the Garden of Eden, by design, set the stage for Jesus to pay the penalty for disobedience so that the evil and good man became acquainted with upon eating the forbidden fruit could provide the platform from which man could decidedly submit to God in faith because He is good.

If we forget the good things God has done, we are left only to remember the evil things spawned by sin that lead us to fear. And, here is where we need to be particularly leery of idols that promise to do (at a price) what God Himself, in all His goodness, promised to do for us freely. It is fear that drives man to the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology, circumventing every opportunity for faith in God alone that declares, "The LORD is my Shepherd - I shall not want!"

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, died for our sin so that from our decided will to submit to God, we might believe in Him enjoying everything the "Good News"  of His life, death and resurrection provides.

We must never forget the good things God does for us!

Father, may I never forget the good things You have done for me. You are good and Your mercy endures forever! May my eyes constantly see and recognize all Your goodness in Jesus Christ and may my will be found decidedly believing in Him as the Way to get to You! So be it!

A Hard Question

No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do! [Psalm 86.8] 

Debt, insurance, medicine and technology are all pagan gods. They promise to do for people what God said He alone would do. 

But, debt, insurance, medicine and technology are not like God! They cannot do what God can do. Their limited remedies are only a token of what the Lord is capable of. And, even when they appear to do what God promised, they do so at great expense.

Neither debt, insurance, medicine nor technology raised Jesus from the dead.

Here is a hard question: Why has Christianity embraced the pagan gods of debt, insurance, medicine and technology?

Father, I wish we would ask ourselves this hard question every day and humbly and patiently allow Your Spirit to answer us through the Truth of Your Word (and not the religion of man). So be it.

Quiet Waiting

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. [Psalm 62.1-2] 

Waiting quietly before God is not something most of us want to do. I know I don't.

Unanswered prayer is a tough one though, is it not? Unanswered prayer leads most people to one of two conclusions.

The first, and I believe most popular, explanation for unanswered prayer is that God is withholding for unknown reasons. The second, and least popular, is that the one praying is praying amiss.

There is a third possible reason why prayers are unanswered however. That is simply that prayers remain unanswered because they are not yet answered. I don't mean to come across as facetious, but there is indeed a time and place in unanswered prayer for quiet waiting.

Quiet waiting may be the highest form of faith known to man. It fully trusts God's timing. It fully trusts the character of God. It fully trusts that its petition has been heard. It fully trusts every promise in the Bible. It fully trusts the redemption provided by Jesus Christ. There is only victory in quiet waiting because God alone is the fullness - the sum total of it.

Quiet waiting is not compelled to "make some noise" publicly justifying unanswered prayers with explanations one way or the other. Quiet waiting is the consensus of "one" who simply believes God without the need for investigation or approval by any other.

Quiet waiting is a fortress of Biblical intimacy with God unadulterated and therefore unshaken by the opinion of others.

Father, I wait quietly before You, for my victory comes from You. You alone are my rock and my salvation; my fortress where I will never be shaken. So be it.

Too Busy?

We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not  knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. [Psalm 39.6-7] 

We are so deceived! We have lost our way!

To think that our busyness is so important is pure faithlessness.

It is no wonder people struggle so much to have relationship with God and people these days. They are simply too busy.

What keeps people so busy? Idolatry mostly.

As I have declared over and again, the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology have enslaved mankind to unending toil to meet their ever-increasing and insatiable demands under the guise of improving man's life. But there is more...

Religion keeps people busy too. People are so busy "fitting into the box" of the idol of religion, busy keeping up with its programs, agendas and schedules, that the most important thing is overlooked. All the while they feign to have relationship with God but frankly have neither the time to enjoy relationship with Him nor the people He brings alongside them. 

Think of this: 

If we do not have time to enjoy fellowship with God, how then can He enjoy fellowship with us?

Relationship is a two-way street! When all is said and done, isn't He all that matters???

We should be challenged to stop and think when we say, "I am too busy..." as it affects our relationship with God and man that we have instead really just been deceived by idols.

All our busy rushing ends in nothing!

Father, help us to stop all the busyness. Help us to re-think our priorities. Help us forsake and cast aside all the idols that have stood between us and You (and therefore also between us and others). May our own words, "I am too busy," be the check in our Spirit that we have lost our way... So be it.

Humbly Victorious

Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. [Psalm 37.1-6] 

O LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart. [Psalm 38.1-8]

Both these passages were written by the same man, David. How can that be?

Is David victorious or defeated? Does he have all his heart desires or is he filled with grief? Is his heart carefree or is he in anguish? Is he innocent or guilty? The contrast between these two passages is stark. It is almost as if David is two different people!

The apostle Paul described this conflict - this battle - the best...

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? [Romans 7.21-24]

That answer to Paul's question, he answered himself:

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. [Romans 8.25] 

Faith in Jesus Christ is not child's play. Although even a child can believe, for any person intent on pleasing God, this battle is real - even if it's simply the battle to believe like a child and not like an adult!

If David's and Paul's words offer any insight to us today, it should be that life is a challenge. Particularly when a person becomes intent on pleasing God, the battle begins. I truly believe anyone who declares they do not have struggles, is a person who is not genuinely pursuing God in God-pleasing faith. Jesus confirms this:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” [John 16.33]

A person who chooses to live like Christ in dauntless faith will have troubles from the outside AND from the inside. Both David and Paul confirm this as well. What the enemy cannot do to us by the hand of others, he will do to us through our own indiscretions. The battle is real and the struggle to believe is ongoing. Living by faith is not an abstract part-time religious thing; it is relentless daily warfare. Some days we need to read Psalm 37 and other days we need to read Psalm 38. Sometimes we need them both in the same day or even the same hour! 

The life of faith is not for lazy or apathetic people. The more we read and meditate on God's Word, the more He reveals to us from it. What confuses us at first, if we patiently continue to seek Truth from it, we will eventually find God's heart in and direction for our lives. 

All the while, the deceiver of mankind works tirelessly to discourage us distracting us from what really matters. His most effective deception is to convince us to focus on ourselves (let that one soak in a while).

The point is, life happens to all of us. Emotion must be taken out of the equation and replaced with tenacious faith in Jesus Christ and operation of His indwelling Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving God in this world (not ourselves). As already stated, this indeed requires tenacity, but also humility. The coexistence of these two characteristics best describes the faith that pleases God - the faith that Paul spoke of in Romans 7. The goal is humble victory in Jesus Christ. There is neither place for condemnation nor arrogance but rather, steadfast circumstance-changing (not abstract) faith in the work of reconciling men unto God.

There is work to be done.

Father, help us to live humbly victorious in Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, help us 'keep it real' in the shadow of His Cross AND our own striving only to reconcile men unto You utilizing mountain-moving faith as it is needed for Your glory. So be it. Yes, so be it.

Come And Talk With Me

Hear me as I pray, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” [Psalm 27.7-8] 

God wants me to come and talk with Him. If I knew nothing else about God but this, it would be enough to honor and respect Him eternally. HE WANTS to have relationship with ME.

With everything the Bible tells us, there is certainly much to talk about!

The interesting thing however is that God will not force me into relationship with Him. I must respond to Him. He wants to talk, but if I am unwilling, there will be no relationship - no conversation.

So...

Hear me as I pray, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” So be it.