You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Daniel 6:10 (NLT)
Most of us, when faced with a crisis of any sort, resort to the lessons we learned at the University of Worry.
We worry when the marriage relationship begins to grow cold. We worry when the credit cards come. We worry when the doctor calls us and asks us to come in to discuss the test results. We worry when the phone rings late at night, or sirens go by our house and the kids aren’t home yet.
Worry is basically a human ‘skill’. Animals don’t worry. Jesus tells us the flowers of the field don’t worry. Humans worry. Worry really doesn’t do us any good. Worry redirects our focus for a solution away from God and towards ourselves. It’s really saying “God can’t handle this one, I’m in this alone.”
Worry causes all sorts of emotional, physical and spiritual stress in our lives and none of us needs more stress. When that happens we blame God, others or ourselves for the problem. Playing the ‘blame-game’ when we are worried is self-defeating. Worry is paralyzing and keeps us from seeing solutions clearly.
Daniel was a great man of God. He’d learned through experience that breaking away from the crowd and following God when it didn’t make sense eventually paid off. One day, a law was passed that no one was allowed to pray to their God. Prayers, and faith, were only to be put in government. The sentence for breaking the law was death by lion pit.
So what did Daniel do? He went to his room, opened the window, and began to praise God for all he’d done. Did he pour out his heart for mercy? Doesn’t look like it. Did he plead for protection? Don’t see that in scripture either. Did he beg for deliverance? No sign of that.
What did Daniel do in the face of crisis? He thanked God for all the things he’d done. Paul tells us the same thing in Philippians. He says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
That’s not an easy thing to do. Our humanity screams lies at us. We’re told we are in this alone. We are told God won’t hear us. We’re told lies like ‘God helps those who help themselves’. It’s a hard, hard truth to learn. When faced with crisis in your life, don’t focus on the crisis, focus on the cross.
PRAYER: Father God, it’s easy to say I trust you. It’s much harder to live ‘I trust you’. Especially when the future looks so dark and scary. In the face of adversity help me to praise you for who you are. Give me strength to believe you will do what you say you will do. Amen.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:14 (NLT)
Water amazes me. It can seep through the smallest of cracks in the ground or even through the hardest granite. When it freezes it can break anything that tries to contain it. It beings life to the cracked, parched ground and sustains life on all level.
Water satisfies. Why else would people sit for hours to watch the ocean or a waterfall, or a fountain? It symbolizes freshness, beauty and power. It fosters hope to those who are struggling to survive, or destroys everything in its path. We can harness it to give us power, but we can never contain it.
Is it any wonder that Jesus uses the analogy of water when he refers to the life he has given us through his Spirit? Is it any surprise that water symbolizes the grace he gave us through the cross?
This water, this life he has given us isn’t a stagnant pool, it’s a fountain. It’s not able to be contained, nor should it be hidden from view. It isn’t a flood or a tsunami causing destruction in its path, but a spring bubbling up, unable to be contained, evident to all and sought by those in struggles.
When people are in the wilderness they seek water. When people are in the depths of despair they seek relief. The ‘water’ that Jesus gives them is satisfying, refreshing and life-giving.
As Christ-follower we are the aqueduct bringing life to those in need of a savior. We are the ones Christ has chosen to bring all the benefits of water to those in need. Let your water flow. Let it burst forth to those in need of love, forgiveness, life. Let everything in your past be affected in some way by the ‘water’ of Jesus’ love. The gospel of Jesus Christ is never stagnant, always fresh and powerful!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for the new life you give us through your grace. May the life-giving water of your Spirit flow through me to affect change in those in need of you. Amen.
Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4 (NCV)
One of the most dangerous games we play is the comparison game. Watch a couple children at play. It’s not long before they compare toys, the clothes they are wearing, how tall they are, hair color and a variety of other things. As we get older the rules change somewhat, but the game is the same. We measure ourselves by the yardstick of other people.
Those in struggling marriages look at their friends spouse and say, ‘If only my spouse was like him/her.’
We look at someone else’s child and say, ‘If only my son/daughter would be like so and so’.
We do it at church. ‘I wish I could pray like she does; preach like he does; sing like they do.’
Pastors do it when they measure success rates by the number of people in the pews, the number of baptisms, or by flaunting the number of salvations like a WW1 pilot, stamping the icon on their pulpit.
Writers do it when we measure our success by the books we have published, the blog readers we have or the accolades we get. (Yeah, I know. That one hurts.)
One of the many problems with the comparison game is that it works in reverse as well. When life goes wrong for you, when the relationships fail, the finances fall short, the decisions you make put you in the ‘one of those’ category, comparisons hurt.
It was the comparison game the brought the woman to the well that hot day to meet Jesus. Self-respecting women went to get water in the morning. She went at noon when there was less chance of meeting people, less chance of being looked down on, less chance of the comparison game.
There is subtleness to the comparison game. Well-meaning Sunday School teachers and preachers speak against pride in such a way that we might think we should never be proud of our accomplishments. Never feel good about the work we do or the talents we have lest the ugly serpent ‘pride’ shows up.
Galatians is the book of grace. The book of freedom in Christ. Paul tells us “Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4 (NCV)” The message is really two-fold. On the one hand I will never look at my talents and abilities and make you feel inferior. God made you the way he did. I’ll accept that.
On the other hand, I too am a child of God. I have different gifts talents and abilities. Life has taken me down a different road than it’s take you. That doesn’t make me less loved of God. That doesn’t make me less of his child. I will not allow your opinion of me to alter, in any way, my opinion of myself (in Christ) or my opinion of you.
PRAYER: Lord thank you for making me, me. I have bruises and blemishes. I fail (sometimes miserably) and sometimes I need an attitude adjustment. Still, you love me and for that I am eternally grateful. Keep me from comparing myself to others. Protect me from those intent on comparing themselves to me. Amen.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3
“He made all things.” Let those words pause in your mind for a moment. The original languages give the sense of detail, not overall systems. Walk out on a star filled night and look up. How far can you see? In a sense you can see to eternity for there is no canopy.
Every star? He put it there for you. Scientists think that perhaps every star may have a solar system with planets. Does that mean there is life out there? Frankly, I don’t care. I’m more amazed at the enormity of space and the enormity of the God who created it!
“He made all things.” I love to look at newborn babies. Those tiny, tiny fingers and tiny toes. The newness of life. What a miracle. The complexity of life, of growing! Even the brain function it takes to read this sentence is utterly amazing! And to think that the whole process of life from beginning to end is not simply set in motion, but guided, ordained by its maker. Astounding!
And when I think of the unseen world. The fact that our bodies are made up of so many different cells, each working together to bring us life; to help us think, reason, feel, be passionate. The way love makes you feel when it grows and endures the tough times. Exciting!
The one who made the mountains with all their grandeur also made the fragile flower, so delicate to touch yet able to withstand ferocious winds. Soft to touch but able to endure the toughest drought. Saplings springing from the hardest granite.
Take some time to look around you. Look past the pain of life, just for a moment. Ignore the fear and worry of the future, just for a minute. Take a deep breath and enjoy the creativity of the many colors in the sunset; the beauty of the fallen snow; the creativity that surrounds us.
All this was made by Jesus and he did it for you. The bible tells us he came to his own and they didn’t take time to notice. Who were his own? Was it the rocks he created? The animals he formed? The water he separated from the land? Nope. It was the only thing scripture says was made in his image. You and I. He made us in his image because he knew that would be the best way to enjoy the world he created.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. I’ve been so distracted of late by the worries of life. I see the pain others are going through. I feel my own agony. Just for a moment let me see the beauty you’ve created for me. Thank you for loving me enough to put me where I am. Amen.
To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me. Colossians 1:29 (NCV)
Do a study of the Old Testament and you will see a phrase from time to time that goes something like this: ‘And the Spirit of the Lord came upon them/him/her.’ When God’s Spirit comes on the scene you know something exciting is going to happen. When the Spirit of the Lord ‘came upon’ people in the Old Testament there was no question that the actions taken by the person ‘under the power of the Spirit’ was acting on God’s behalf.
People were raised from the dead; received supernatural powers; were given wisdom beyond comprehension. Nations fell and lives were changed when God’s Spirit ‘came upon’ people.
Fast forward to some of Jesus’ last days on earth. The time was fast approaching when he would be brutally murdered on the cross. His time with his followers was short. In John 14 Jesus gives the disciples a totally new revelation, one that when completed would change the course of history. Jesus promises that after he is gone God the Father would send his very own Spirit to help, to guide, to teach and to empower the followers of Jesus to do the work of the Kingdom!
In the Old Testament the Spirit ‘came upon’ people. Now, the Holy Spirit ‘lives in’ people! What a marvelous promise. We no longer need to wait for the Spirit to come to us, He’s here! Living inside me! He sees all the things I see, hears the things I hear, feel the pain I feel, lives through the hardship I live through. He feels the pain of my loneliness; sees the heartache of my failures; hears the words of my accusers!
It’s so easy in the Christian life to ‘know the fact of the Spirit’s presence’ without experiencing the ‘power of the Spirit’s presence.’ We get distracted by the cares of the world and start to believe that we are in this struggle alone. We start to rely on our own efforts, seek the praises of men, or measure our worth by the gifts, talents and abilities others consider worthy.
Don’t let the things you see and feel in this world take away from the power that lives within you. Paul says, in our verse for today, that he struggles using Christ’s strength, not his own to do the work God called him to do.
What work has God called you do to today? Do it in the strength of the Spirit, not your own. Whether it be managing a huge corporation or tending to children in a day care, whether it is flipping burgers at the local fast-food shop, or cleaning rooms in the local hotel. God has called you to a work and given you his Spirit to strengthen you!
PRAYER: Father I thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives in me every second of my day. Forgive me for the times I try to take matters into my own hands and do them in my own strength. Help me use the power within, the power of your Spirit to live. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 