Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

Knowing God: See the Whole Picture

January 22, 2016 in Uncategorized | Tags: can I trust God, faith, grace, Is God really good?, Jesus Christ, Knowing God, trust | Leave a comment

Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:5

Several years ago a friend of mine decided to add on to his home. His family had outgrown the present house but they liked the location and there was little available in their price range. So the addition was the best way to go. I spent quite a bit of time with him in the process. I’m not a builder by any means and it was interesting hearing him talk about the project. I’d never realized how important it was to have the whole plan in place before the actual project began. If the details weren’t right, the whole project might be in jeopardy. Once the details were worked out, the whole picture seemed to make sense.

To be honest, even looking at his blueprints didn’t help me see the whole picture because I wasn’t trained to understand all the intricacies of a building plan.

Those blueprints remind me of how we can gain a deeper knowledge of God and his goodness. When we look at individual situations we may think God doesn’t care or that he isn’t involved in our lives. When we have the beauty of gaining the overall perspective of things it’s much easier to understand.

The first four verses of Proverbs chapter two have given us the details, so to speak, of getting a grasp on knowing God in all his fullness. Some may say, “Can we really know God?” After all, we can’t see him, how do we know he exists? We are surrounded by more and more examples of evil seeming to triumph over us.

To know God fully we must make persistent communication with God a priority by looking at nature, reading his word and looking at the example of his love as shown through his son, Jesus Christ. When all those pieces fall in place then we can gain an understanding of God that allows us to see the whole picture and not be misled by the details of life. When you question what God is doing, step back and by faith remember that he is good and only has your best interest in mind. No matter what has gotten you into the situation you are in, God can help you see a way through.

PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that I don’t always understand why you allow things to happen as they do. With my lips I proclaim your power, but with my heart I doubt your ability to help me though. Forgive me for my doubt, give me courage to trust you and wisdom to see the whole picture. Amen.

Knowing God – Priorities

January 21, 2016 in Uncategorized | Tags: Can I know God?, God's love, grace, growing in relationship to God, Jesus Christ, Knowing God, setting priorities | 3 comments

Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Proverbs 2:4

Several years ago I was attending classes at a University about two hours away. I would leave Sunday night and return on Friday. One Sunday, I was just getting ready to leave. The car was packed and all I needed to do was grab my wallet and be on my way. THAT was the problem. My wallet had disappeard!

We looked in every conceivable place and a few other places as well. Some were checked numerous times. I HAD to have that wallet in order to leave. Nothing else mattered at that point. Finally I resigned myself to the fact that it may have been dropped in a park we were at the day before. Most likely someone had found it and taken my cash and credit cards. Trying to find it in the park would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I called the credit card company and was in the process of canceling my card when all the sudden, my wife called from the other room, “Found it!” Somehow my wallet had fallen off the bed and gotten weirdly wedged between the frame and the mattress. How she happened to see it there remains a mystery. However, the crisis was averted and I was on my way in a matter of minutes, very relieved at the outcome.

The things we see as the most important are the things we search for the hardest. When we make knowing God a priority, he responds by revealing himself more fully. Growing deeper into God takes more than casual church attendance or quick, thoughtless prayers. Growing deeper in God means spending as much time with him as we possibly can by spending time in his word, spending quality time with his people and serving him with our God-given gifts.

Your Father is earnestly seeking to reveal himself to you more fully. The enemy will do whatever he can to keep you from that source of power. Make your relationship with God a priority.

PRAYER: Father, my simple prayer to you today is that you would reveal yourself to me in ways I’ve never seen before. In Jesus name, Amen.

Knowing God: Listen

January 20, 2016 in Uncategorized | Tags: God is Good, God's love, grace, listening to God, prayer, Wisdom | Leave a comment

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Proverbs 2:3

“She’s leaving for home tomorrow. I don’t want her to go. I love her, but she says we’ll never work out. What can I do?”

That phone call happened over ten years ago but I still hear the panic in his voice. My friend Bill (not his real name) was several years younger than I was. He was just starting out in life and had finally met the girl of his dreams, although she may have referred to it as a nightmare, not a dream.

Bill had a heart of gold but his youthfulness often got him in trouble because he would often act first, think later (and rarely listen). The woman of his dreams had moved to the Midwest for the summer to stay with a friend and see if things could work with Bill. Obviously, things weren’t going well.

As Bill and I talked on the phone I gleaned a few more details about the situation. His girlfriend told him that the summer had been one of frustration and futility. She was going home because it was obvious things would never work out between them and she didn’t want to waste her time trying to get Bill to listen to her.

I’m no ‘Abigail Van Buren’ but I told Bill that if he really loved her he needed to sit her down, ask her to tell him what needed to happen to make things work, and keep his mouth SHUT. This was not an easy skill for Bill. He would often revert to making excuses, or defending himself or pointing out other people’s weaknesses. Silence and listening weren’t a skill he excelled at.

My advice must have worked. Ten years and three kids later Bill and his bride are happily married. I’d like to take credit, but my advice really wasn’t magic. Each of us need to learn the skill of listening in our relationships with each other and especially with God.

Proverbs 2:3 tells us to “Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.” If you are like me, my prayers are often a list of requests for myself or others. I pray for things and events, but not insight and understanding.

It’s interesting that Solomon would pen this proverb. He chose insight and understanding over power or wealth because he knew that with insight and understanding the rest would probably naturally fall into place.

Bill learned a valuable lesson each of us need to learn. We serve a God that is all-wise and all-knowing and his desire is to share with us what he knows so we can make wise choices in life. We will learn far more about God by listening to him than talking to him. Using his word as a foundation be deliberate and passionate about coming to him. Hebrews says we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, not timidity. (Hebrews 4:16)

PRAYER: Father God, life at times confuses me. Other times it scares me. Help me learn how to listen to you so that I can gain the wisdom I need to approach the issues I’m facing in life. Thank you for your passionate desire to help me through. Amen.

Knowing God: C.Y.A. (Check Your Attitude)

January 19, 2016 in Uncategorized | Tags: Can I know God?, God, God's love, grace, Knowing God, trust | 2 comments

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Proverbs 2:2

Those of us from my generation remember a time when just changing the channel on the television set was a chore. Not only did you have to get up and walk ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE ROOM and manually turn a dial, once you found the channel you wanted you had another dial to turn which was called various things. The one I remember was fine tuning. You see, back then you had to adjust the tuner ever so slightly to get the clearest picture. Since I always lived in rural areas, the challenge was even trickier some days.

Sometimes we need to ‘fine tune’ our lives spiritually as well. Just as the ‘TV waves’ strayed from time to time, so do we. One of the first things an orchestra conductor does is to listen to the musicians to make sure every instrument is in tune. A good conductor can hear even the slightest variance and that makes all the difference in the performance.

Knowing God as he is requires us to constantly check our attitude according to the tuning fork of his Word. It’s too easy to play the comparison game. It’s safer to follow the religious dogmas and creeds, than it is to measure our lives according to the standard of God’s will. Those standards are clearly spelled out in his Word and exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ.

“Good enough” and “Close is okay” is never an attitude God uses. Everything he does is perfect and he calls us to perfection. Fortunately, he also empowers us to live as perfect as we can through his Holy Spirit.

A daily prayer I’m trying to implement in my own life is an adaptation of what the Psalmist says in Psalm 139. ‘Father, today yourself to me in a way that will direct me to live more closely to your will. Amen’

The real beauty of that short prayer is that your Father want’s to reveal himself to you and he’ll never ask you to change something without empowering you to change. It’s really a matter of trust. If you believe he loves you, you can trust the path he leads you down.

PRAYER: Father, there are so many times I’m distracted by the world or waver in my love for you or others. Show me where to change and how to change. Then, empower me with your Holy Spirit to fine tune my heart to yours. Amen.

Knowing God: Keeping Focused

January 18, 2016 in Uncategorized | Tags: Can I know God?, forgiven, God's love, grace, Jesus Christ, understanding God | 3 comments

Proverbs 2:1 — My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

Chip Ingram, in his book “God, As He Longs for You to See Him” makes the statement, ‘God has created each of us with an innate desire for deep, meaningful fellowship with him.’

We know this to be true from the very beginning for the Bible gives us a brief glimpse into the heart of God when we’re told in Genesis that God walked each evening with Adam and Eve. He talked with them as you would talk with an intimate friend.

While sin placed a barrier between God and man, it didn’t destroy God’s desire for that intimacy that was lost in the garden. When Jesus died for us, the barrier was destroyed and fellowship with God was available once again!

The problem is, the enemy doesn’t want us to realize what a marvelous position we have with God. Our vision of God is clouded with religion, tradition, lies and misunderstandings. So, can we really know God as he wants us to know him? YES!! But how?

Proverbs 2:1-5 gives us path we can follow to know God as he wants to be known. I’ll warn you though, it’s not an easy path to follow. However, it’s well worth the journey.

Proverbs 2:1 tells us, “My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.”

The first step in knowing God is to listen. Listening is a lost art in our society. There are so many distractions calling us away from God. Here’s what I’m learning about listening:

Remove distractions. In my physical life that may mean putting the phone/device down, turning down the TV and/or turning my body in the direction of the one I’m listening to. With God it’s a similar thing. Put away the distractions, get alone when you can give him your undivided attention.
Eye Contact is crucial! It amazes me how much power is behind looking the person you are listening to/talking to has. When you are talking and looking each other in the eyes it seems to put a connection that isn’t easily taken away. The same is true with God. Physical eye contact isn’t possible of course, but train yourself to focus on one object as you seek him. It could be a distant object. It could be a picture or a verse. This one is a tough one, but your Heavenly Father WANTS to build this relationship. When you look into the eyes of God you don’t see judgment, anger or hate, you see love, grace, mercy and passion for you.
See the Love. I’ll confess to you that I may be the world’s biggest sap. However, although we’ve been together for years, there are times when I look into my wife’s eyes and she still takes my breath away. Why? Because I love this woman more than anyone (except Jesus of course). When you seek to know God try to envision the passionate love he has for you. He loved you so much he gave the one thing he cherished most, his son.

To know God as he wants you to know him is to learn to see the great love he has for you and listen to him through His Word (The Holy Bible) and prayer.

PRAYER: Father, there are so many distractions that keep me from really knowing you. Empower me to listen to you, to focus on you, and to see the passion in your eyes for me. I’ve failed you so many times but I want to know you more. Help me to see you in your glory. Amen.