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But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! John 15:7
Remaining in Jesus is easy when times are good. When the checkbook balances, when the kids are excelling in good things, when your relationships are strong at home, and at work, when you finish your to do list every single day, it’s easy to remain in Jesus.
During those times, you may thank Him for all of His blessings. You may remember all of his promises and bask in his grace. You may even have the courage to testify to his greatness at church!
But what about those other times? Those times, and every road seems to be a dead end.
Those times when you struggle and strive to make things right and yet nothing seems to work.
Those times when the work that you have to do ahead of you seems overwhelming and you wonder how anything will ever get done.
Those times when you don’t even meet your own expectations, much less the expectations of others.
The gospels are full of people facing hopeless situation’s.
The dad, who’s a little boy would have seizures and throw himself into the fire or water.
The mom who followed the funeral procession out of town for her only son.
The woman humiliated because she was caught in the act of adultery.
The woman whose life was a mess, and after five divorces was living with a man who didn’t even value her enough to marry her?
Jesus makes a statement a couple of times in the gospels about the fact that we can have whatever we hope to have or accomplish. It’s a pretty amazing promise! And it’s one that has caused many to abandon the faith. They asked, and they didn’t receive so they decided the promise was invalid.
But the key to ‘getting what we want’ is being so close to Jesus that we want the same things he wants.
Fame is temporary. Possessions can be lost. Relationships can crumble. Good health that can be taken from you in an instant. Those who thought you could count on, can stab you in the back or throw you under the bus.
Abiding in Jesus is more than attending church on Sunday. It’s more than Bible study. It’s more than prayer. All of those things are good, but abiding in Jesus is more about growing in relationship with Him. When that happens, you find your needs are met more often because your desires have changed.
Lord Jesus, help us to learn what it really means to abide in you. To draw so close to you so that your very thoughts become our thoughts, your desires become our desires, and your ways become our ways.
Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them. Isaiah 43:7
What’s your story? You have one you know. We all do. They may not be on the written page, but they are written on your heart and most likely on the hearts of many around you.
Everyday you write a chapter. Some may be mundane. Some you may revisit because they are exciting. Others you wish you could erase, but you can’t.
The thing about stories is they are written to bring glory to the author. No one spends days and weeks and months writing a book they don’t want published. Every aspiring author dreams of being on the ‘New York Times Best Sellers List’. Quite honestly, stories are written for the glory of the author.
So let me ask again, what’s your story? Is it one you’d like to keep buried on the closet shelf?
What if you could rewrite the story of you? What if each word, each page, each chapter was, well, enjoyable. You know, the kind of story you can’t put down, that you can’t wait to read the ending.
Here’s the good news. Your story can be rewritten. Not by you, but by the most creative person who ever existed!
By putting your faith in Jesus, God the Father calls you to Himself. Why? Because you are a story that brings Him glory.
There’s nothing you can do to earn it. He doesn’t expect you to do anything but accept his gift of a story that’s creative and fulfilled.
Ever read a story that has a counter plot. You know the kind where the hero or heroin is well on the way to victory but the villain in the story is trying to sabotage him or her.
Yeah, that’s your story too. But wait to the end. You win! And when you win, you bring glory to the author, God the Father.
Let Him write your story!
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15
“Get some rest”, the doctor told me, “The best thing you can do for your healing is to get good rest.“
Resting is much easier said than done. It’s difficult to rest when everyone around you is busy doing things. Especially those things that you used to do. Even though you know the best thing you can do is to rest, your mind tells you the worst thing you can do is rest. It’s a horrible dichotomy.
Maybe you’ve seen that too. Resting isn’t the same as sleeping. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you don’t feel rested. Oh, you slept, but you didn’t rest. Even if you’re sleeping, your mind wouldn’t quit. It seemed like you were constantly reminded of the bills that weren’t getting paid, the relationships that were strained, the guilt and shame you feel for your past or the workplace struggles you need to address in the morning.
Resting is essential for healing. Your body needs time to regroup. Your body needs time to do what it is created to do naturally. To heal.
What’s true in the physical realm, is true in our spiritual/emotional lives as well. God speaks through Isaiah to tell us that our strength does not come from our activity. Our healing doesn’t come from the work that we do. Our healing and strength comes from quietness and confidence.
The psalmist writes, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Our confidence doesn’t come from anything we can do. Our confidence comes from knowing that God has everything in control.
True rest leads to healing, healing comes when we have confidence in the promises that God has given us. Promises of forgiveness. Promises of safety. Promises of grace.
Do you need some rest today? Not just physical rest, but spiritual or emotional rest? Ask the Holy Spirit now, to help you to have confidence in the strength God gives you. He is the source of all healing and all rest.
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25 (HCSB)
Have you ever thought about how much of our life is spent waiting. We learned to wait in line in kindergarten. We learned to wait until Christmas to open packages. We’ve learned to wait in traffic tieups.
Waiting is hard. Especially when what we are waiting for is important to us. Most of us, I think, see waiting as a waste of time. WE have things to do. WE have places to get to. WE have people to see. Notice, often times our waiting is an emphasis on WE not HE.
Waiting can be beneficial. I love what what John Ortberg says: “Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”
Abraham had to wait for Isaac to be born. Joseph had to wait until the pharaoh saw his value. David had to wait before he ascended the throne. God gave him.
The Bible does not say that these people were idle in their waiting. The Bible doesn’t tell us this, but I’m quite sure that all of these people and the many others in the Bible who had to wait, we’re going about life as usual, and praying that God would fulfill his promises.
Waiting can be hard when we have a vision that doesn’t seem to be close to being fulfilled.
Waiting can be hard when illness keeps us from doing the things we want to do.
Waiting can be hard when finances don’t come in as we had hoped, or a job situation doesn’t fulfill our expectations.
Waiting can be hard when relationships are strained.
God‘s timing is perfect. Ours? Not so much.
Use those times of waiting as times of worship. Spend more time in deeper and more reflective prayer. Use them as a time to see God more.
The Bible tells us that he reveals himself to those who seek him. And part of seeking is waiting.
Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:20
How are you today?
The question is a common one when people greet each other. There’s a couple ironies to the question though. Often we ask that without really wanting or waiting for an answer!
Secondly, when we are asked that question we respond with, “good!” or some other sterile generic version of the answer.
Then, of course, there are those people who, when asked, give you a detailed answer much longer you needed. (We tend to avoid that question to those people.)
For those times when we are sincere with each other, the question is a valid one. We want to know how the other person is feeling, what’s going on in their lives and perhaps how we can support/pray for them.
Feelings are powerful. They can determine our outlook on life, affect how we respond to crisis, and impact our relationships.
They also make us vulnerable and that’s the scary part. Few of us would respond to “How are you feeling today” by saying, “I’m feeling really guilty today” or “I’m really ashamed today, thanks for asking.”
During those times when our feelings can get the best of us it’s nice to know God not only knows our deepest, most secret feelings. He is stronger than them!
Rather than focusing on our feelings, which can be fickle, focus on our God and His promises to love, forgive and strengthen us when emotions try to tear us away.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 