Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

Dance!

September 2, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: A prayer of praise and worship, dancing before the Lord, Father God, forgiven, Hope, praise and worship, Psalm 30:11-12, trust | 9 comments

You have turned my sorrow into joyful dancing. No longer am I sad and wearing sackcloth. I thank you from my heart, and I will never stop singing your praises, my Lord and my God. Psalm 30:11-12 (CEV)

A prayer of Praise and Worship:

Heavenly Father,

I come to you today in worship and praise for all you have done for me. I thank you that during those darkest times of my life, those times when I couldn’t feel your presence at all, I know you were there. I praise you for protecting me from my own decisions, and the evil actions of those around me.

I continue to be amazed that you, the Creator God of the universe loves me the way you do; that you have forgiven me of my past, understand the weaknesses that still haunt me, and promise me that my relationship with you will last for eternity because of your Son, Jesus Christ. All, this and because of my position with you, I can call you my daddy.

Like David, I dance before you today. Whether I am in silent worship or a rousing service of praise and worship, my soul dances before you. I can’t contain myself. The praise of my heart finds no words to express themselves. My Spirit will always sing your praise because my worship of you isn’t a time, place or activity. My worship of you is a very part of my essence.

Lord, I am surrounded by many things that still cause me to worry; things that shake my faith at times; actions I take and words I utter that I know are displeasing to you. Forgive me for my weakness. Empower me to praise you during the hard times that still attack me as well as the times of victory and prosperity.

You, O Lord, are my God and I will praise you from the depths of my heart forever and ever. I look forward to the day when my worship is face to face. Amen.

When God’s Anger Seems Unbearable

September 1, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: empty faith, God's silence, Gods anger, grace, hopelessness, joy comes in the morning, mother teresa, Psalm 30:5 | 5 comments

Your anger lasts a little while, but your kindness lasts for a lifetime. At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate. Psalm 30:5 (CEV)

There is a common misconception that if you are living under the will of God you will always feel his presence and power in your life. The reality however, is that sometimes, even if we are working hard for the kingdom, we struggle to find ‘God’ in our lives.

When God seems silent, our natural assumption is that he is angry at us; that we have done something that has separated us from full fellowship with the Father. Some of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time have endured the ‘silence of God’. David asks God why he has forsaken him in several of his writings. Even Jesus Christ asked, “Why have you forsaken me?” as he died on the cross.

Mother Teresa endured several periods of spiritual drought in her life as she ministered to the needy in India. She writes, “If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart”

So how do we handle those times when God seems angry with us? How do we cope with the silence during those times when it seems our prayers barely make it past our lips; when the words from the Bible seem empty and we struggle to find our faith?

There are no easy answers. We can ask God to examine us, to spend a time of serious self-reflection in which we open the floodgates of our soul to him and implore his Spirit to enlighten us. But there are times when even this seems futile. That’s when the promise of Psalm 30:5 may give us comfort.

The Father’s anger lasts for a moment. He is a patient daddy. He doesn’t blow his lid at the smallest infraction, doesn’t lash out unexpectedly and wound our soul. He’s a patient teacher, a friend, a confidant. But there are times when he must rein us in; when he steps back to discipline, to correct, to catch our attention.

But when God’s anger seems directed towards us we can know his anger lasts for short time. When the dawn begins to lighten the eastern horizon we know the darkness of our night is over. The fears, the anxiety, the worry will soon be over. All that was shadows in the dark will be revealed.

In the same way, God will eventually reveal himself to us once more and we will rejoice in his presence. Have faith. Endure those silent times. Focus on the words of promise we have. He loves us with an everlasting love. His anger and silence doesn’t last forever.

PRAYER: Father God, there have been times when I’ve felt your anger and I confess it was my own doing. Selfishness, pride, lust and arrogance convinced me my way was better. There have been other times I’ve sought you and could not find you. I praise you for the promises of your word and that your silence and anger lasts only a short time. Amen.

Whose Will are You Accomplishing?

August 31, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: doing God's will, frustration in ministry, God's will in ministry, grace, Jesus Christ and rejection, John 6:38, knowing God's will | 2 comments

I didn’t come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, John 6:38 (CEV)

Jesus had just fed over 5,000 people from a few pieces of fish and a couple loaves of bread. His miraculous actions caught the attention of the people. They wanted more bread. They wanted to have their needs met. The wanted to make this man, who obviously had the power to accomplish anything, their King.

John chapter six is an interesting transition in Jesus ministry. It begins with the feeding of the 5,000 and ends with him asking the few that remained with him if they too would abandon him.

What was the difference? What caused the many that flocked to see Jesus to leave disillusioned and disappointed? It was the realization that Jesus was intent on doing his father’s will, not his own.

Whether you are in ministry, business or just doing your best at raising your family, it’s always hard to stay on task; to choose a direction and move that way; to keep from missing your personal goals because of distractions.

When that happens, when it’s apparent things aren’t going the way we hoped it can lead to frustration, anger and a sense of failure. Even though Jesus was rejected by many people, we see no sense of disappointment or failure in his reactions. Why? Because the things Jesus sought to do weren’t his own desires but the desires of his Father.

Those of us in ministry may struggle with this the most. We have a desire to see God’s work done in mighty and powerful ways. We have an idea of what God’s church may look like. We set goals for ourselves that we call spiritual/ministry goals but are in reality personal and professional goals.

The result? Disappointed ministry leaders; frustrated ministry recipients and people who need Jesus abandoning the church. Jesus was able to handle the ebb and flow of ministry because his goal wasn’t to build his own ministry. His goal was to do the Father’s will.

What is the Father’s will? Jesus answers it himself. To bring people to a relationship with him built on forgiveness, mercy and grace. Notice Jesus makes no reference to rules and regulations. He makes not promises of physical provision although this most certainly was proven to be important to him. But the defining characteristic of Jesus’ ministry was doing the Father’s will, not catering to the wants and desires of society.

Whether you are in a full-time ministry, a lay minister or simply a person seeking to share what you have found in Jesus Christ, remember our goal is not to add numbers to our ‘salvation/ministry’ ledger. It’s to seek the Father’s will for our lives and pursue it.

PRAYER: Father, I confess that often my energy is distracted to my own will and desires. Empower me with your Spirit to seek your will and allow you to do it in my life so others will see Jesus, not me. Amen.

Is There an Eliphaz in Your Life?

August 30, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: eliphaz, grace, Jesus Christ, Job, Job 22:22, judgmental people, listening to God, Patience with people | 1 comment

Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. Job 22:22 (NIV)

Job was perhaps the most spiritual man on earth during his time. There is no other place in the Bible where God seems to give a man such a stunning recommendation as he does Job. Job is known for his godliness, his patience and his lack of good friends.

In the midst of Job’s trials, Eliphaz steps in and pleads with Job to see the light. His wealth was gone. His family was gone. His health left him as well and he ended up sitting in a pile of ashes scraping boils with a broken dinner plate. To top it off, his wife had lost heart and wished he’d just die so he’d be out of his suffering. Talk about a downer!

When things go dreadfully wrong in our lives there always seem to be a generous supply of people willing to step in and tell us exactly why we are in that predicament and offer solutions to getting out.

Eliphaz was just the man for the task. He pleads with Job to come to his senses. “All this can be over if you will just turn your life over to God! Listen to him. Return to him. Quit being so evil and greedy and he’ll restore you!” (My paraphrase)

Maybe you have an Eliphaz in your life. Someone who scrutinizes every move you make and are ready in a heartbeat to point out why your way is wrong and their way is best. Eliphaz’s seem to have experienced every illness, every legal situation and every relational issue known to man. Their profound experience allows them the opportunity to share with the world the way to happiness.

Only one problem with Eliphaz. He didn’t have a clue as to why Job was suffering. Job didn’t either. The only one that did was God and he wasn’t talking. Give him credit though. Eliphaz was following a misconception that began in the Garden of Eden and will continue until the end of time. It’s the notion that God only speaks to us in certain ways and at certain times.

Eliphaz (and all his ancestors to this day) would have done well to practice what he preached to Job. His words in Job 22:22 are words each of us needs to follow. Rather than listening to all the ‘Eliphaz’s’ in the world, we need to learn to listen to God himself.

Does God use people to speak his word? Certainly, but not always. He would much rather speak directly to us individually through prayer and reading his word than to speak through a translator.

Calamity doesn’t always come as result of sin. Disaster isn’t always Gods way of punishing us. Sometimes God allows the bad things in our lives to bring us closer to him, but not always. The next time an ‘Eliphaz’ steps forward with all the answers to your problems, listen respectfully and then go to the Father and see if what Eliphaz says matches up with your Heavenly Father.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for the Eliphaz’s in my life for they teach me patience. Give me wisdom to follow you even when they try to convince me their way is best. Amen.

He knows Abuse

August 29, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: 1 Peter 2:23, abused, bullied, Does Jesus care about my abuse, emotional pain, emotionally abused, fear, identity, trust | 3 comments

Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly. 1 Peter 2:23 (CEV)

“Although he was abused, he never tried to get even.”

What a statement of strength, love and faith about Jesus Christ! When abuse happens, those who suffer the abuse may withdraw into a shell and lose themselves in the pain of the wound. Others may strike back at the abuser or become an abuser themselves using their victims as a way of ‘getting even’ with the offender in their own lives.

Abuse, by definition is the improper treatment of someone else. Physical abuse brings harm to one’s physical body, but bruises heal. Emotional abuse is harder to diagnose. Emotional abuse leaves much deeper scars; the bruises are not seen by the human eye; the pain can last a lifetime.

Jesus Christ was abused for us. He suffered emotionally, physically and spiritually on our behalf. That is refreshing to me for two reasons. First of all, when I’m treated unfairly he completely understands my pain. He’s felt the pain of rejection. He’s heard the voices of insult and false accusation. He was misrepresented and misunderstood. If you are a victim of abuse, you have someone who knows how you feel.

The fact that Jesus was abused also helps me realize how I can best handle abuse. Jesus didn’t get angry at his abusers. As God in the flesh he could have wiped them out with a single word, but he made no threats. Why? How was he able to endure the words and actions of evil people against his body and emotions?

It was faith. Faith gave Jesus Christ the power to endure the abuse leveled against him. Most of us put our faith in ourselves ultimately. We rely on our own power to endure, our own power to plow through the wilderness. When we are mistreated and abused the biggest damage is done to our identity. We believe we are worthless. We blame ourselves. We become angry and bitter.

On the other hand, when our identity is placed in the hands of a loving, all-powerful and forgiving God, we endure the attacks because our value is secure as a result of his power. If today, you are a victim of abuse, not matter how harsh and how unfair, remember this. The God of Heaven sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to live among us. He was abused and beaten on your behalf so you could experience the love of His father.

The wounds you bear may never heal completely, but a relationship with him is like soothing oil that heals to the very depth of your soul. Come to him. He knows how you feel.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I pray today for those who are the victims of evil acts that have destroyed their lives. I ask that they may find the relief that comes from a relationship with you. Thank you for enduring all you did for me. Thank you Father for making me who I am. Amen.