Tag Archives: Jesus

January 23, 2013 · 7:42 AM

Praying Isn’t Complicated

I wonder if we try to complicate prayer sometimes. We think that God speaks King James English and try to pray that way to Him. We try to use big words we barely understand hoping to impress Him. We make a list of what we’re going to pray for as if He doesn’t know our needs. We make sure we are serious and have a somber attitude because somehow we aren’t respecting Him if we’re not. We practice the structure to make sure it includes certain things as if the right structure will move Him to act and make my prayer more powerful.

The truth is that prayer is simply a conversation. God isn’t concerned with the format or syntax of your prayer. He’s concerned about the heart that it is coming from. The most powerful prayers are the most well thought out ones. They are born out of a heart in need of communicating to God. They are given in desperation. They are the most honest ones. God desires to have a real conversation with you. One that is born out of your need and desire to hear from Him.

I grew up believing the loudest, fastest prayer is the one that’s heard. I’ve read books that say slow contemplative prayers are the ones that work. What really works is when you pour your heart out to Him and tell Him what’s on your mind. He’s not scared of the doubts you have or the thoughts you think. He knows them already and He still loves you and desires to meet with you daily.

I think even daily is too far a part between prayers honestly. I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to never stop praying. How can we do that? Simple. Prayer is simply communication with God. We just don’t stop communicating with Him throughout our day. Just like you would call, email, text or Facebook someone throughout your day as you thought about them, you would send little prayers to God throughout the day as you needed.

Don’t get me wrong. There are still times you need to have longer than a text conversations with God just like you would have longer conversations with a friend. A relationship is built on time and communication. God desires both from you. He wants to spend time with you, hear what you have to say and also say things to you. Most of us rarely stop to listen to what He has to say to us. It could be that we’re scared of what He’d tell us or ask us. It could be that doubt of thinking it’s your own mind talking that keeps you from listening. Whatever it is, be honest with Him about it.

In John 10:27, Jesus said, “The sheep that are my own hear and are listening to my voice (AMP).” There are two verbs in that verse that are important. We need to hear His voice and be listening for it. Don’t be afraid to stop and listen to what God is saying to you today. Write it down if you want. Put it in a journal. Measure it against the Bible. God will never contradict Himself or what He said in the Bible. That’s one way you can know if it’s God.

Today, I want you to have an honest conversation with God. Tell Him your fears, hopes and dreams. Ask Him the questions you’ve been afraid of asking in the past. Speak to Him like you would a friend. Don’t complicate it. Be real. After that, stop and listen. Hear what He has to say to you. It could be a little or a lot depending on how long it’s been since you’ve given Him the opportunity to speak. Let me know how it goes.

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January 22, 2013 · 8:03 AM

My Declaration

I refuse to live an ordinary Christian life. I will not be in the habit of going to church, I will be the Church. I will be the hands and feet of Jesus. I will choose to open my eyes to the needs of those around me and fight for those who have no strength. I will not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to their plea. I will give all my strength to defend the weak and the broken. I cannot sit idly by and hope someone else will do what God called each of us to do.

I will stand for what is right and true. I will honor God in my word, deed and life. I will be a leader and not a follower. A pioneer who is not afraid of the unknown. I will forge ahead when the nights are dark, the roads are blocked and the mountains are too steep so that I can accomplish that which I am called to do. I will not fail or allow others around me to either. I will push, challenge and motivate them to continue on even when they are out of hope, breath and faith.

I will not wait until the battle is nigh before I prepare. I will pray up, store up and lift up so I will get up, build up and live up to my calling. I will cast down every stronghold, tear down every imagination and beat down the fear that would try to prevent me from walking this path and running this race. I will sharpen my Sword and grow my Shield by being a man of prayer and God’s Word. I will do what it takes to win this war.

I will build the wall with one hand on a brick and the other on my Sword. I will stand ready to defend the work that God has called me to. I will not falter. I will not waiver. I will not be distracted by the things of this world. I will remain focused on the fight and keep my eyes on the prize. I may get struck down, but I will not be destroyed. I may be mocked, but I will not cower. I will stand in the gap where others have fallen.

I know that Christ is coming and time is short. I must choose to act now and not procrastinate. The sun is setting. The night is near. I will not rest. I will not let up or give up. I will work until He comes and gets me. And when He comes, He will have no trouble recognizing me. I will be in His fields laboring as He asked. I will have spent time with Him and He with me. It is only then that I will hear Him say, “Well done. Come and find your rest.” Until then I won’t let up, slow down or give in. There is too much to be done and too many others living ordinary Christian lives.

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January 21, 2013 · 8:17 AM

AKAPA

I listened to a seven minute excerpt from “A Call to Anguish” by David Wilkerson this morning. It’s one of the heaviest, convicting sermons I’ve ever heard. I listen to it ever so often to challenge myself spiritually. Every time I hear that sermon, I know there is more I can do. I realize I don’t have enough passion yet to do everything God wants to do through me. This morning I saw a map to long term effective action while listening to that sermon. I’d like to share it with you and at the end, I’ll link to that sermon.

The first step any of us have toward action is Awareness. How can you act unless you are aware of a problem? The old saying “Ignorance is bliss” comes to mind. If we don’t know about things, we don’t have to worry about them or be burdened with them. Once you become aware of a problem, you have a choice to either ignore that information or to dig deeper. Sadly, when most of us hear a shocking statistic, we choose to ignore it and think we could never make a difference.

For those who choose not to ignore it, they want to know more about it which leads us to Knowledge. To successfully overcome any problem or need, you first must understand it completely. You need knowledge of what is going on, how did it get this bad and what is the cost of inaction. For many, knowledge prompts concern which prompts some action. It can be giving money, temporarily helping or praying for a solution. If you only gain knowledge, this is where your action stops.

If you let that knowledge sink down into your soul, it will engulf you. You will begin to move into the next step which is Anguish. This is where God places this burden deep in your soul. You begin to feel the pain that He feels for the situation. You cry over it, weep over it and intercede. During these times, God begins to weave this need into your soul and into the fibers of who you are. You can never look at anything the same way again. Everything frivolous thing you do will translate to what could have been done to solve that problem with that money, time or energy.

Once that Anguish is placed in you, it creates Passion. Passion isn’t something that is a fly by night feeling. It is powerful. It is contagious. It shows in everything you do. When you are passionate about something, you don’t have to tell others, they can see it in you. Passion is what will give you light in the dark nights. It will see the possible when you are surrounded by the impossible. It is what gets you to take that step of faith when you can’t see the path. It is that “it” factor that no one can describe.

Once you have Passion in you, it will translate to Action. Not just a temporary action born out of concern, but a long lasting action that keeps working when it feels like you aren’t making a difference. This action doesn’t require faith, it produces it. There is no force that can stop this because your heart is beating with God’s heart. Your actions are His actions. You have become His hands and feet and put His Word into practice on a daily, consistent basis. This is how movements get started and real change is created.

So, where are you in this journey? Are you at Awareness, Knowledge, Anguish, Passion or Action? I once had someone ask me, “What are you passionate about?” I didn’t have an answer as far as a cause went. You see, like many of us, I stop at Knowledge because I know the price of the next step. I haven’t been willing to pay it. That’s changing now. My prayer today is for God to break my heart and lead me into Anguish because I know that will produce Passion and then long term Action. Are you brave enough to pray that prayer?

Here is the link to that sermon I promised. Please, don’t click this lightly. This will challenge you and probably convict you. It does me every time.

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January 18, 2013 · 6:45 AM

Let Go

As I mentioned here I will be studying Joseph’s life more in depth this year. I want to share with you something else I found while reading about him. In Genesis 42, the famine had spread from Egypt to the surrounding countries. Jacob, his father, heard that there was food in Egypt. In order to keep from starving, he sent 10 of his remaining 11 sons to go buy food there.

Since Joseph had correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, he was placed in charge of selling the food they had been storing in the seven years of plenty. His brothers came in and bowed before him. He recognized them, but they didn’t. Immediately God reminded him of his dream and how it had just been fulfilled. He used an interpreter to speak to them and accused them of being spies. He then put them in jail for three days.

After three days he visited them and said he would release 9 of them and hold one until they returned with the youngest. He also filled their sacks with grain and secretly returned their money to them in the bags of grain. When they got home, they told their father what had happened and what the Egyptian wanted. They then emptied their sacks and found the money that was to pay for the grain. In verse 36, Jacob exclaims, “Everything is going against me!”

I find it interesting how Jacob crumbles in this situation. You and I have the privilege of knowing how the story ends, but he didn’t. We can see how God was lining things up for him to take care of his family and then to return his son he thought was dead. All that was being asked of him was to send all of his sons back to Egypt to get the last one. In his mind he was giving up everything, not knowing that he was about to be completely taken care of.

I wonder how many times in our own lives, God is trying to work things out for our own good and we think the sky is falling. He asks us to give things up that are precious to us and we cry out, “Everything is going against me” when really everything is lining up for Him to give us more. Our perspective is so focused on the now that we can’t see what God is trying to do. What if Jacob had decided not to send his 10 remaining sons to get the one? What if he chose not to give up everything? How would history have changed?

God is lining things up in our lives. He is asking us to let go of things we’re holding onto so He can fulfill dreams in your life. Everything is not working against you. It’s being worked for your good. You have to trust Him and let go of what He’s asking you to. So what is it that He’s asking you to let go of? What is it that He wants you to trust Him with? Are you willing to let go of everything so He can fulfill your dream and His promise?

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January 17, 2013 · 7:57 AM

Wrongfully Arrested

My wife told me a joke last week that got me to thinking. There was a lady who was in a hurry to get where she was going. She was tailgating people and weaving in and out of traffic. She was riding the bumper of a truck when the light turned yellow. Instead of speeding through it, the truck stopped. She was furious! She started banging her steering wheel, screaming and making hand gestures that showed she was upset.

About that time, there was a knock on her window. She hadn’t noticed the police lights behind her. He arrested her and took her to jail. About an hour later, they came and got her out of jail to release her. While they were processing her, the arresting cop was there. He said, “Im sorry, ma’am for arresting you. When I saw how you were driving and acting and then read your bumper stickers that said, ‘WWJD, Follow me to Sunday School, My boss is a Jewish carpenter and God is my co-pilot’ I assumed you had stolen the car.”

Now that’s funny, but it’s also true of how most of us act. We advertise Christianity to everyone around us through bumper stickers, the Bible we carry, the tracts we leave laying around and telling others that we’re believers. But what about our actions? I’ve always heard it said that actions speak louder than words. How do we act when we think no one is looking? How do we respond when nothing goes our way? What do we do when we are hit with one trial after another?

I know we’re still human and we will respond like that lady did from time to time. I know have been guilty on several occasions. What message does that send when we behave that way? We are called to be different. To live different, to act different and to respond differently than others. When we tell others we are Christians, it feels like they’re waiting on us to mess up. Guess what, you will at some point. Why? Because we’re still human and have that nature in us. It’s what we do after we mess up that makes the difference.

I wonder how the lady in the joke responded after she left the station. Did she remove the bumper stickers from her car? Did she repent and ask God to give her the strength to be a better witness? I know that’s what I would have done in that situation. I would have gone crawling to God, begging for His forgiveness and looking for ways to be a better light in this dark place. That’s the beauty of Christianity. That’s the unfathomable thing about God’s grace. That’s what gives me hope.

We all mess up. We all deny Christ with our lives at times. The witness to others is that even when I royally mess up, I can find mercy, grace and forgiveness in Christ. While others may not forget what I did, God can. No one can live a completely righteous life, but we can live a life dominated by God’s grace and make that our witness. People know you can’t be perfect, but they want to know they can be forgiven. They want to know if there is enough grace for what they’ve done. There is.

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January 16, 2013 · 8:06 AM

Victory of the Mind

I was reading Romans chapters 7 and 8 this morning. In Romans 7, Paul is very transparent with us. He shares the struggles he faced in wrestling with sin in his life. I always like to think of Paul as a super Christian. The man wrote most of the New Testament in the Bible. But here in chapter 7, he is sharing the inner struggle we all face. It is summed up in verses 19 and 21 that say, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway… I have discovered this principle of life – that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.”

Does that sound like you? I know it sums me up perfectly. We all struggle with sin because our sin nature still lives in us. We all succumb to it when it rears its head in our lives. In verse 24, Paul used the word “dominate” to describe what his sinful nature was doing to him. It isn’t until we get to chapter 8 until he tells us how to overcome. One of the first paths to victory he mentions is in verse 6. It says, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

That leads me to the question, “How do I stop my mind from being controlled by my sinful nature and start letting it be controlled by the Spirit?” I think it starts with what you choose to put in your mind. What movies, TV shows, books and magazines are you looking at? Are they things that cause you to think about sin? Then you need to watch or read something else so that those seeds won’t be planted in your mind. Controlling what goes in will help control your actions. Switch to watching or reading something more wholesome. Plant good, godly things in your mind.

The next thing you can do is take control over those thoughts. Don’t entertain the thoughts that walk you down the path to sin. II Corinthians 10:5 tells us to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” If that thought doesn’t belong, take it captive and cast it out. Last week my pastor said when those thoughts enter his head, he says out loud, “You have no right to invade my mind.” That’s how you take it captive and cast it out.

Lastly, we need to have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” We can have the mind of Christ. It’s not easy to get or maintain. It takes a conscious effort to ask for it and then maintain it by thinking good things. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. If your thoughts don’t line up with these, take them captive when they come in and then consciously force yourself to think on these things.

The battle of the mind isn’t easy. We’ll fight it our entire lives until we are made perfect. Just because we have the sinful nature living in us doesn’t mean we have to be dominated by. We can have victory. These are three things I have found to help me win the battles. I’m curious to know what ways you have found victory in the battle of the mind. Leave me a comment as to what you’ve found and let’s help each other win.

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January 15, 2013 · 7:59 AM

Volun-told

Have you ever been in the situation where someone asked for a volunteer and no one offered? Or have you ever seen someone in need and said, “Someone should help them”? It happens all the time. When that happens at work and someone gets chosen for the job, we say, “You just got volun-told!” When someone gets volun-told, they usually aren’t happy about it and rarely put their best effort forward.

Have you ever been volun-told by God? I have a few times. I start to pray for someone and God says, “You go help.” I start looking for excuses why I can’t help. I don’t know if it’s humorous to God or if it frustrates Him. I’m willing to pray for someone, but I’m not ready to be the answer to that prayer. Why? It’s the same reason any of don’t want to. It means we have to get involved.

What we don’t think about is that the moment we pray for someone else, we get involved. We are asking God to move on their behalf and are putting ourself in service. At work we also say that you can’t point out a problem unless you come up with a solution. It doesn’t have to be the right solution, but it needs to show that you are looking for a way to make it better. I don’t know that God needs our solutions to problems, but He does need us to be a part of the solution.

We are not here just to take and keep the good things God gives to us. We are to take those things and reinvest them. What God gives us is not our own. We are merely stewards of it. Whatever God has given you, it is to be used to be the solution for someone else, not just for your benefit. Our faith requires action. Yes, prayer is action. Yes, God can do the miraculous and provide supernaturally. Why would I want Him to do that and rob myself of the blessing of being used by Him to provide?

God doesn’t need you or I to do things in this world. He chooses to offer us opportunities to volunteer though. Are we too busy to be Jesus to someone today? Are we so caught up doing things for ourselves that we fail to do things for someone else? Jesus said when we do things for others, we’re doing it to Him, even if it is a cup of water. We get blinded into thinking that volunteering means long term commitment. Sometimes it is, but other times it’s just handing a cup of water to someone.

James 2:16 asks what good is it if you tell someone to stay warm and eat well and then don’t give that person any food or clothes. In essence that is what we are doing when we are willing to pray for someone without being willing to be that answer to prayer. Who is it in your path that needs you to be their answer? What can you do to give a “cup of water” to someone today? Are you waiting to be volun-told or will you receive the blessing by saying “Here am I, send me” like Isaiah?

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January 14, 2013 · 8:09 AM

Busses, Borders and Bombs

I love to tell the story of my bus ride from Cairo to Tel Aviv. I arrived in downtown Cairo early in the morning to catch my bus. This would be my second trip to Israel and this time I was taking friends with me. As we got on the outskirts of town, we met up with about 20 other busses and headed as a caravan through the Sinai peninsula. As soon as we arrived at the border, we had to walk through customs and then meet an Israeli bus on the other side to go the rest of the way.

After standing in line for a long time to get through customs, we walked out the door, through about 10 yards of what I call “no man’s land”, walked through a gate and then we were officially in Israel. There were about 20 busses on the other side waiting. All we had to do was find our bus and then the adventure would continue. The problem was we couldn’t find our bus.

All of the busses left and there were about 30 of us standing around. To say we weren’t happy would be an understatement. I was looking bad for having organized the trip. Finally, after a long 10 minutes, we see a bus come speeding up. The driver and his helper apologized and quickly loaded our belongings. When we got going, they apologized again and explained that things had happened that prevented them from arriving on time.

As the young lady took our tickets, she recognized me from my previous trip. I remembered her name and we began chatting. She asked where we were staying in Tel Aviv and what our plans were. I told her where we were staying and explained that since there had been a bus bomb in Jerusalem the day before, we planned on starting in Tel Aviv and would work our way to Jerusalem later in the week. She said where we were staying was on the way to the bus terminal and she’d be happy to drop us off at a shopping area near it.

As we made our way into Tel Aviv, the music on the radio stopped and the news came on. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I could understand the urgency in the reporters voice and the sirens coming through his microphone. I looked into the big mirror that bus drivers have and could see tears rolling down his face. I looked over and saw my friend. She was crying too. After a couple of minutes, I said, “Segal, is that from yesterday’s bombing?” She shook her head no. She then said, “We’re going to have to drop you off at the bus station instead of that shopping plaza.”

I said, “No problem. That’s what we had planned anyway. We’re good.” She then looked me in the eye and said, “You don’t understand. I have to drop you off at the bus station because someone just blew themselves up in the shopping plaza where we were going to drop you. They had a backpack full of explosives and pellets that shot out and killed many people.” It hit me that if that bus had been on time, we would have been standing in that shopping plaza at the time of the explosion. I then prayed, thanked God for protection and asked for forgiveness for complaining.

We may not always understand why things are preventing us from getting somewhere on time. We may never know why it seems like no matter how hard we try to do something it doesn’t work. What I’ve learned is that God is in control and I should be patient. God is either keeping me from something that is happening or is using me to prevent someone else from being somewhere at a certain time.

Whether it’s physically going somewhere or wanting something to happen in our lives, it’s easy to get impatient. We want things to happen in our timing and rarely want to wait for His timing. I’m not someone who likes to be patient, but I’m learning to. When God plants a dream in you, calls you to something or has made a promise to you have patience. He is working things together to line things up for His timing not yours. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finished.”

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January 11, 2013 · 8:18 AM

From Defeat to Victory

I used to worry a lot. There were things going on in my life that I couldn’t control. Things were happening faster than I could react to them. That worry lead to stress. That stress then lead to high blood pressure. My doctor put me on blood pressure meds, but they didn’t work. I’m thinking she probably should have put me on anxiety meds. I’m glad she didn’t because medicine wasn’t the answer I needed. My answer came through a friend who wasn’t scared to say something.

She asked me some questions that got me to thinking. She asked, “Are the things that are happening to you a surprise to God? Is God worried about them? Or is He still on His throne and in control?” Well I knew the answers to those questions, but didn’t want to say it. They did make me think about how I was looking at things. I had gotten so caught up in the problems and things popping up in my life that I allowed God to be taken out of the equation.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. I think many of us get caught up in our daily life and the problems that catch us unaware. We allow them to consume us to the point that it dominates how and what we think. When that happens to us, it’s easy to make our problems bigger than the God we serve. It doesn’t happen over night either. It comes from a constant bombardment of things that attack us. It’s a war technique that is happening to you.

Think back to Desert Storm. Our initial operations there had a code name of “Shock and Awe”. Most war plans, game plans and plans of attack begin with some type of shock and awe. They do it because if you aren’t expecting it, it will throw you off course, force you to make poor decisions and it gives the attacker the upper hand. It is designed to break your will and to keep you from fighting back. Submission is its goal.

I had submitted to the things that were coming at me faster than I could handle. I left the fundamentals that I had been taught. Once I did that, I began to be defeated. Defeat is the ultimate goal of our attacker. Once we are defeated, we are no longer a threat. Defeat breeds worry and depression which are cyclical and keep you from fighting. They take our mind out of the war that is going on and eventually remove the thought that God still cares and is our path to victory.

My friends questions caused me to put God back in the equation. When God is added in to the battles in your life, victories are multiplied. God cares deeply about where you are. He is not unaware of the things that are plaguing your mind right now. He is silently waiting for you to remember Him and to get back to the fundamentals which are praying and reading His Word. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you need a faith boost this morning, get into God’s Word. Read it out loud. Speak the promises of God and reclaim your mind. Victory is at stake.

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January 10, 2013 · 7:25 AM

Hope for Your Dream

I have been thinking a lot about Joseph, the son of Jacob. I have committed to do a study on him to see what I can glean from his life. We know how his father gave him a coat of many colors and how his brothers despised him, but I want to know who he really was and how we can apply things from his life to ours. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more posts about him soon. His story is found in Genesis 37-45.

Today, I want to focus on him in prison. Many years had passed since God had given him a dream that his family would bow down to him. I can imagine Joseph sitting in that prison wondering about that dream. I wonder if he wished he had never told his brothers about the dream God gave him. After he told them, they threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery where he was falsely accused and now sitting in a prison to rot.

I think a lot of us are at that point right now. God birthed a dream in you and you began to share it. You then noticed that when you shared it, things in your life began to fall apart. When things in our lives fall apart, we begin to seclude ourselves. We pull back from others. It may be because you don’t want them to catch your bad luck, because you want to protect them from anything bad coming your way or you could just be embarrassed from everything that’s happening.

When we seclude ourselves, we build walls. When we build walls, we find ourselves in prison like Joseph. You may not be in a physical prison like he was, but you are still secluded and alone making you feel like you’re in prison. It’s easy to sit in that prison and think that the dream is dead. It is not! Just like a seed planted in the earth grows dormant so that it can grow, the dream God placed in you may be dormant before it can grow.

I personally know the pain of thinking that a dream is dead due to circumstances. God’s promises are not bound by the circumstances in your life. He is not unaware of what you are facing today. You cannot let your circumstances dictate that the dream is dead. If God has planted it, He will grow it no matter where you are or what you’re going through. His Word never returns void. It’s in the depths of our prisons that our dreams can grow. In those dark places where we think there is no life, God is there cultivating you and that dream.

It often takes us getting to the end of our rope before the dream comes back alive so that we will always know that the dream was realized not by our own strength or doing, but by God alone. He is the one who gave it to you and He is the one who will fulfill it. You, like Joseph, are simply being put into position for the realization of your dream. If Joseph had never been in prison, no one would have known he could interpret the Pharaoh’s dream and his family would have been lost.

If you’re in that dark prison today, don’t despair. Keep hope with you. Know that God is putting you into position so that dream can be realized. God is working in your life through the good and the bad to bring about what He promised. He works all things together for your good. You are not alone. You are not forgotten in your prison. You have a God who sees you, loves you and is working for your good. Continue to trust Him and be patient.

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