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And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30
Think for a moment of the person you love more than anyone else in this world. Get a good picture in your mind. Take a few minutes to gaze (in your minds eye) on every one of their features. Focus on the reasons you fell in love.
One suggestion as your doing this. It might be a good idea NOT to do this when you are in the presence of this person. You may find yourself staring at them and freaking them out!
Now, how many hairs are there on your loved ones head? What? You don’t know? Are you thinking I’m the one that’s crazy? Well then, you must not love that person.
Now your probably angry with me. Of course you love them, you are thinking. Your maybe tempted to shout “You have no right telling me that I do or don’t love _______! And you’d be right.
But here’s my point. When you love someone, really, really love them you know everything you can about them. You know their likes and dislikes. You know that makes them scared and what gives them comfort. You even sacrifice your own comfort to make them comfortable.
Jesus tells us that God loves us so much that he knows has the hairs on my head numbered! Imagine that for a moment. It doesn’t just say he knows how many there are. He can point at a hair on my head and say, “Hair number 2,368 is looking a bit frayed today!”.
Now, if God is that familiar with me; if he loves me that much. What do I have to worry about? I like the way Max Lucado says it in his book “A Gentle Thunder”.
“If God had a refrigerator, my picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, my photo would be in it. He sends me flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. When I want to talk, he’ll listen. He could have chosen any place in the universe, but he chose my heart.”
I know I make mistakes. Some days I make more than others. I know I’ll hurt people along the way unintentionally because I tend to be a social klutz at times. There are times when even my closest friends don’t understand my feelings, my fears and the things that make me happy. There are times I don’t even understand me! But my Father does. He even has the hairs on my head numbered.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for your love. There are things coming my way I don’t understand. Some of them scare me to no end. I thank you that in the turmoil that surrounds me you see me. I don’t get lost in the shuffle. You aren’t distracted from my problems because you are needed elsewhere. Thank you that I’m your number one priority today. Help me to be constantly aware of your presence, love and protection. In Jesus name, Amen.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
When you are in a love relationship with someone you want more than anything else to do what they want you to do. You’ll go to any lengths to know their likes and dislikes. You want to know what they are passionate about and do you best to bring that to pass.
Your Father knows your heart. He knows your every passion, your every desire, your every concern. He knows what makes you happy and content. He knows the things that cause you to worry and fill you with anxiety. He knows your deepest, most intimate secrets and he wants to bring each of them into your life.
The problem is, sometimes the things we are passionate about and desire with all of our hearts are things he knows will harm us. No loving father will give his beloved child something that will harm him. That’s not love. That’s abuse.
Your Father in Heaven is a passionate father, a passionate lover if you will. And his passion is you! He earnestly desires you give you his very best. To comfort you in the hard times. To encourage you when you are discouraged. To bring peace in despair. To hold you in illness and when you are mourning.
When we pray the words “your will be done”, what we are really asking our Father is to do his will in us. It’s like we are saying, “I know you love me more than anything. I know you want your best to be done in my life for my sake and your glory. Now, bring it to pass in me. What can I do to bring your will into my life?”
The beauty is, much of that answer has already been done. Your Father in heaven provided his Son for us to show us the way to his heart. He’s given us his Holy Spirit to guide us and give us understanding and peace. He’s given us his word, the Holy Bible, so that we will know the promises he has for us.
You may have taken some wrong paths in life. Perhaps you are in a place you don’t want to be. A place you thought you’d never find yourself. You are wondering if he wants you back, if he can even use you after all the mistakes you’ve made and the people you’ve hurt. Face it, some of those things were just plain rebellion and wanting things your way! Can he still do his will in you?
The answer is yes! God’s forgiveness is based on His passion for us, not because we deserve it in any way. May his will be done in your life.
PRAYER: Father in heaven. I thank you that you are a passionate lover and that your passion for me far exceeds my ability to deserve it. Forgive me for the times I’ve failed you and others. Empower me with your Spirit to live in such a way that your good and perfect will would be done in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:14 (NLT)
What does a person who is being led by the Spirit of God look like? To some he/she is a person who exhibits certain external gifts. To others a person led by God’s Spirit is someone who avoids certain places, words or activities. Some will try to put limitations on how the Spirit works in our day, thus limiting his power to express himself freely.
Spirit led people don’t worship in a particular way. They can worship quietly and solemnly or actively and loudly. Spirit led isn’t an action. Spirit led is an attitude of heart. When we decide how God’s Spirit leads us, it’s our spirit we are following not God’s. When that happens we limit God’s power to our own understanding and our own limitations.
Jesus says that the Spirit of God is one that will lead us to an understanding of what God is like. So to answer the question about what a Spirit-led person looks like we need to answer the question, “What does God look like?” The answer to that question, in my opinion is: “How do you describe God?” His word says that each of us is created in his image. Do we all look alike? NO! Do we all act alike? Definitely not! Do we all have the same likes & dislikes? Ridiculous. God didn’t create robots. We weren’t stamped from the same mold.
So then, Spirit-led people are people who exhibit best what God has made them to be. The Spirit of God empowers us to live to the fullest potential God intended for us. As Max Lucado says in his book “When God Whispers Your Name”, the Holy Spirit helps us in three directions-inwardly (by granting us the gifts of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24), upwardly by praying for us (Romans 8:26), and outwardly by pouring God’s love into us (Romans 5:5.
The Spirit-led person then, isn’t defined by a particular style of worship songs and actions. He’s not defined by a particular spiritual gift (or the lack thereof). He isn’t defined by the name of the church he attends. The spirit-led person exhibits the image of God in their lives through their thoughts, their words and their actions.
My God, Jehovah God is a God of passion. He’s a God of creativity and diversity. He shows himself in the power of the severe storm with thunder and lightning. He shows himself in the silence of falling snow.
He shows his creativity in the sunrise and sunset and in the birth of a new-born child. My God, Jehovah God isn’t bound by the limitations of time or human nature. Nor is he affected by the decisions of political regimes or religious dogmas.
Because I am human and Jehovah God has given me free will, I will, at times, fail to live by the power his Spirit has given me. But because of Jesus I can be forgiven if I repent of my sin. I can brush off the dirt from my falling, be healed by Jesus blood, and continue on because of His mercy and grace.
PRAYER: Father God. I praise you for your creativity and passion. I thank you that even though I stumble and fall, and sometimes I fail miserably, you are always there to forgive me, and help me back to my feet. I pray that you would empower me live according to your Spirit and not the interpretations of man. May others see you in my actions, words and attitude. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” Daniel 6:16
He’d only been doing what he always did. Every morning, noon and night it was the same. Daniel would kneel before an open window where he could spend a few moments talking with his God. Unlike you and me, he didn’t have the continual presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. The promise of a Messiah was years and years in the future. He was still subject to the rules of the Old Testament even though, as an exile in a foreign land he couldn’t sacrifice the way he’d like. But Daniel could pray.
Daniels firm faith in God was his trademark. Even in difficult times. The king knew it and even though he didn’t follow Daniel’s god, his tremendous respect for the way Daniel lived brought huge respect for both Daniel and his God.
Daniel’s enemies knew about his faith too. But they were more interested in personal gain than in religion. As a result of their hatred for Daniel and his people they tricked the King into throwing Daniel in the Lions Den where his death was certain.
The king spent a sleepless night worrying about Daniel. We aren’t told how Daniel slept that night. Surrounded by hungry lions. The remains of previous victims bone’s scattered around. The smell of the lions. For most of us that would have been the makings of a sleepless night too. But I have a feeling Daniel slept like a baby. Daniel knew his God would deliver him.
Did he still have to endure the lions den? Yep. Just like Jonah had to endure the whale, and Abraham had to endure the emotional trauma of nearly sacrificing his son, and the disciple’s had to endure the storm at sea.
But in each situation God came along just in time to provide what was needed. Each person had a different need to be met and only God knew how that need was going to be met best. That’s the way God does things. God knows what we need, when we need it, and he comes through for us every time. The danger comes when we try to take matters into our own hands or force others to do ‘what we think God wants them to do’.
Your heavenly Father knows your situation. Every intimate detail. Only he knows the best time and method for your deliverance. The beauty of following Christ is that we don’t have to worry about tomorrow (or for today for that matter). Our only concern is to draw close to him though prayer, Bible study and fellowship with believers. He’ll take care of the rest in the best way possible and at just the right time for you.
PRAYER: Father God, there are so many things going on in my life right now that scare me, frustrate me and cause me to worry and fear. Empower me by your spirit to learn from the life of Daniel. I feel like I’m surrounded by lions. Help me to see your hand in this. Empower me to trust you to deliver me in your way and your time. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
The Leper probably thought Jesus came to heal for, as a result of Jesus’ touch he was not only physically healed but he was able to go home to family and friends.
The woman caught in adultery probably thought Jesus came to forgive those, like her, who had failed miserably in life and found themselves in a place they never thought they’d be.
To the parents who were forced to interrupt the funeral of their little child, he no doubt came to raise the dead and restore hope to families who have suffered the loss of a child.
To those who were in bondage to a ruthless religion set on performance and rules, it must have seemed like he came to rescue them from the irrelevant and oppressive system of guilt, shame and fear.
Obviously in one sense all those people and thousands more had good reason to think that. Their hope was restored. Their emotions were healed. Their bodies, once racked with pain were healed. But, that’s not why Jesus came. Jesus Christ came for one purpose and one purpose only. Oh, sure, he gave us a glimpse of what God was like. He showed us the power of a loving Father and the emptiness of religion gone irrelevant. But Jesus came to die. That was his sole purpose in coming.
The manger. The teachings. The miracles. All valuable lessons. But if he hadn’t died for our sins all of that would have been wasted. If he hadn’t risen from the dead, none of us would have the hope of eternity with him waiting for us.
Now, you say, there are many people who have died for a cause. It’s being done on a daily basis. Many who give their lives to rescue others and help others ‘in the line of duty. You’d be right of course. But all of those people who die for a cause are still dead.
Jesus separates himself from them for two major reasons. One he was without sin himself. Jesus Christ, the son of the living God was completely innocent of any wrong doing. Secondly, unlike the others, Jesus lives! He defeated death so that you can have eternal life with him.
That’s grace! There is nothing you can do to earn it. Nothing you can do to keep it. All he asks in return is that you love him and show him that love by living for him. Jesus’ only reason for living was to die so that my only reason for living is to live for him.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank you for the examples you gave here on earth of love, healing, mercy and compassion. I praise you for your willingness to die for me even though, in my rebellion, I continue to do things I know I shouldn’t do. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to show you my love by living a life set-apart from the fickle morals of our society. In your precious and holy name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 