Tag Archives: prayer

Inspirational, Motivational

WHAT YOUR SPIRITUAL THERMO”STATE” SAYS ABOUT YOU

thermostateWHAT YOUR SPIRITUAL THERMO”STATE” SAYS ABOUT YOU

Much of today’s Christian thought, pulpit speak, blogs and written works seem to focus a great deal on “YOU.” After all “you” are important to God and He does care about “you.” This is all true, you are important to God and He does care about you but have you ever considered how concerned God is about the ugly side of “You?” The ugly side, of us all, is not the side that struggles with sin but the portion of us that tries to justify and persist living in violation of a Holy God.

This past week Jeannette and I had some amazing times of fellowship with other Christians, not from our church, and throughout the course of our conversations our friends expressed their overall dissatisfaction with their personal walk of faith. At the conclusion we left, in total agreement, knowing there needed to be a change and the change had to begin with us. In your home you have a thermostat that will read the temperature of your house as well as allow you to cool or heart your home to your desired level of comfort. Spiritually we too have an index that gives us a gauge as to where we are resting within the plans and purposes of the Father and the Kingdom. It is this spiritual index the Father uses to poll our coldness or warmth towards Him. And when we are indifferent to the Spirit’s prompting it reveals the ugly side of us.

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9) This illustration of prayer, that Jesus uses, is one of an obedient child asking for a good thing. Yet, if we have grown cold or indifferent, even when we go to the Father in prayer, we may ask of Him “good things” without giving thought to our ugliness. (cf. Matthew 5:45.) Oswald Chambers says, “Never say it is not God’s will to give you what you ask, don’t sit down and faint, but find out the reason, turn up the index. Are you rightly related to your wife, to your husband, to your children, to your fellow-students—are you a ‘good child’ there? ‘Oh, Lord, I have been irritable and cross, but I do want spiritual blessing.’ You cannot have it, you will have to do without until you come into the attitude of a good child.”

I have been guilty of confusing my defiance for devotion and my arguing, with the Father, for justification of what I believed He owed me. It was during these seasons of selfishness I discovered I was irritable to the Cross and not checking my own spiritual thermostat. In a short: the ugly me was showing through. Do you remember the story I told of the families Jeannette and I were spending time with? Knowing we were responsible to change the thermostat in our lives; Jeannette invited the wife, of this couple, to join her and several other women for Saturday morning prayer (beginning at 7:30 am). Do you know what her response was? “7:30am Oh, that’s too early!” A quick look at her own thermostat would have revealed she had become too comfortable with an “ugly me” spiritual climate for her life. Sadly, even given the opportunity, many talk about wanting to make the necessary spiritual adjustments but rather keep the status quo.
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Have you ever asked God to give you money, for something you want, when there is something you have not paid for? Have you been asking God for liberty while you are withholding it from someone who owes you something?  Have you not forgiven someone his trespasses; or have not been kind to him; or have not been living as God’s child among your relatives and friends? Such questions and situations challenge the ugly side of us all.

You are important to God! It is the ugly side of us Jesus desires to correct and this will only come through the washing and regeneration by His Holy Spirit. When we allow the Holy Spirit to adjust our thermostat then we, as children of God, will live and walk in His light and truth. Prayer, with most of us, has been turned into a pious platitude. When the thermostat is cold false humility and self-elevated spirituality become the emotional tricks we use, in a vain attempt, to create a mystical communion with God that gives us a temporary thrill. Naturally we are all good at producing fogs and mists that, to the untrained eye and lazy spirit, for a season can look as if God moving in our lives. If we turn up our spiritual thermostat we will see, very clearly, the ugly us. The Holy Spirit will reveal the broken friendships, debt, bitterness, unforgiveness, hate, and temper of mind that needs correcting. Until we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to change us it is no use praying, while trying to keep the “ugly me” alive. We need to commit to living in Spirit and by the Holy Spirit so our lives become the beautiful workmanship of His hands and our prayer life is one where Jesus says, “Everyone that asketh receiveth.”

Blessings – JOSHUA

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Inspirational, Motivational

THE BEAUTIFUL GIFT OF THE NEW BIRTH

THE BEAUTIFUL GIFT OF THE NEW BIRTH

[wallcoo_com]_Black_and_white_newborn_baby_photo_A baby sleeping cozily_ISPC006042This week, for many children and youth, marked the beginning of a new school year. At our house the morning starts with dropping a freshman off at the high school and a first grader at the elementary school. It may sound a cliché but it really does feel like just yesterday when they were both babies in my arms. With each season my children enter into a new birth as they grow from one stage to another. Likewise, as adults, we too can experience new births in our professions, relationships and even our spiritual walk. But how does a person experience a new birth spiritually? Or asked another way, How can a man be born when he is old?

At some point in our life we can all look back and find unpleasant seasons. Whether it be moral failures, personal disappointments, immature behaviors and attitudes these past events represent the rags of a former life and an old way of thinking and living. By contrasting a past life with a new birth I am referring to what the Apostle Paul called the “Old Man” and the “New Man.” For the follower of Jesus the old man still has the power to resurrect, very quickly, and with his life come his old virtues, his own religion and the incessant desire to satisfy self above anything else. But the “New Man”, one who is born of the Holy Spirit, manifests itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness.

Is your knowledge of Jesus born of internal spiritual perception, or is it only what you have learned by listening to others? Is there a moment, in your life, that connects you with Jesus as your personal redeemer? Just as every person has a natural history, that explains where they are from and the story of their life, so to every person must have a spiritual history and personal knowledge for their foundation. To be born again or to be living as the “New Man” means that you live the life of Jesus and people see Jesus living in you. “As many as received Him.” (John 1:12.)

Have you ever stopped to consider what Jesus meant when He said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3.) Do you look for signs of the Kingdom? Do you seek out opportunities to live your life with Kingdom hope, truth and principle? Do you possess a Throne Room perspective and perceive the Father’s promptings? The new birth gives, every believer, a new power of vision whereby he or she begins to discern God’s way of living. The Father’s rule is present all the time, but true to His nature; those who are born again have now received His nature and can see His rule.
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Here is an intriguing thought posed by Oslwald Chambers regarding the new man and being born of the Spirit. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,” (1 John 3:9.) Do I seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In the Bible it is never—Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically—A Christian must not sin. The effective working of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin; it means that if we obey the life of God in us, we need not sin.” (Chambers)

“Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7)

Blessings – JOSHUA

 

Christian Apologetics, Inspirational, Motivational

FROM JEWELRY TO REAL IDENTIFICATION

“From Jewelry to Real Identification” 

For those of you who do not know me I’ll let you in on a little secret. I like to wear trendy jewelry. By trendy I don’t mean expensive. What I consider trendy is wearing five silver rings, on one hand, three rings on the other, two necklaces and a leather cuff, if “the mood” strikes me right. Well today I was in one of those moods and decided to wear a necklace that has more of a rocker feel than the life changing symbol is carries. What is the symbol? The Cross. At some point in time we have all owned a cross. Perhaps it is a cherished heirloom or a beautiful accessory but somehow the Cross has slipped into just another symbol, lost in a sea of logo’s and icons, for today’s popular culture consumption. But today I asked myself a challenging question, “What if the Cross moved away from accessory status and returned to a sign of true life, forgiveness and freedom?”

Oswald Chambers said it best, “We are too much given to thinking of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only in order to get into it.” For the believer, in the Biblical Jesus, the Cross should stand for one thing and one thing only – complete, entire and absolute identification with Him!

Every year, when I re-read the Passion of Jesus, I am struck by how much time He spent praying leading up to the Cross as well as dying at Calvary. Are the Father and Son trying to reveal to us a truth about the power of prayer and true identification, of the oneself, with the Cross? I believe so.

“Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” Unfortunately, much of what we have been taught ,on prayer, is much like a “drive thru” mentality. Think about it: We make the line, place an order of what we want and then expect the order to be properly taken and given with our total satisfaction guaranteed.
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The purpose and power of prayer is not to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with the Father. Guess what? God is always speaking and answering every time, but not always in the way we expect. And when we do not get what we have asked for our spiritual immaturity shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Jesus in prayer and on the Cross. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living testimonies of the Father’s grace.

Again Chambers asks an important question we all need to answer: “Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ’s life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has Our Lord’s vicarious life become your vital life? “

I hope and pray “at that day” you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction between you, Him and the Cross.

Blessings – JOSHUA

Inspirational, Motivational

THE LOUD VOICE OF GOD IN WHISPERS

Not long ago I was having a conversation with a fellow Christian and the question came up, “Have you ever heard God speak?” This fascinating question has been mulled over by Christians, in every walk of life, for generations and still we continue to ask as if there has never been an answer. While modern movie magic has gone a long way in making God’s voice as a big, booming, earth-shattering event, the voice of the Spirit can be so gentle, that unless you are living in communion with the Father, you never hear it.

In our marriage Jeannette and I communicate many different ways. Sometimes we have long running discussions that may last days or even weeks. Other times we just having passing one-liners which plant a thought that later require an action. In the same way we should live expecting the full spectrum of conversations with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Have you ever heard a person say, “I just had a check of the Spirit?” For me it can be a feeling, deep within, of peace or caution. Either way such an encounter becomes a prompting of how to act in that moment. In short: this brief conversation is a prompting, by the Spirit, of how to live in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes in the most extraordinarily gentle ways, and if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice you will quench it, and your personal spiritual life will be impaired. His checks always come as a still small voice, so small that no one, but he or she who is in communion with the Father, notices them.

Oswald Chambers said, “Beware if in personal testimony you have to hark back and say—‘Once, so many years ago, I was saved.’ If you are walking in the light, there is no harking back, the past is transfused into the present wonder of communion with God. If you get out of the light you become a sentimental Christian and live on memories, your testimony has a hard, metallic note. Beware of trying to patch up a present refusal to walk in the light by recalling past experiences when you did walk in the light. Whenever the Spirit checks, call a halt and get the thing right, or you will go on grieving Him without knowing it.”
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Maybe you are in a crisis, a dry season or feel as if you haven’t head from the Spirit for far too long? Suppose God has brought you to a place of encounter and you nearly engage Him but not quite? The Father will engineer the encounter again and again but it will not be as it was before. If we are not discerning, of the Spirit, than we will miss the awesome opportunity of obedience to His will. But if you go through the encounter, listening to the Spirit, there will be a testimony of praise to God. “Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go.” (Chambers)

BLESSINGS – JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Motivational

“FROM BIG WHEELS TO TRAINING WHEELS TO RIDING A BIKE”

“From Big Wheels to Training Wheels and Finally  Riding a Bike”

Do any of you remember big wheels? If so, then you probably owned one at some point in your childhood. If not, then the picture (below) shows you all you need to know and I can still remember pedaling all summer hearing the sound of pavement grinding underneath those large plastic wheels. Then, I experienced the training wheels phase of learning to ride a bike and though I can’t remember this time too clearly I am reliving it, in some ways, as I am teaching my daughter how to ride her bike. Eventually, she like I, and millions of others will learn how to ride a bike.

In our journey with Jesus we too have to learn how to mature from big wheels to training wheels and eventually riding a bike. Using God’s intended spiritual pedal system (the Holy Spirit) you begin to mature to a place where the training wheels are no longer necessary to hold you up and this is demonstrated in the life of Elijah and Elisha.

The great prophet Elisha who, in some ways, experienced more miraculous events than his mentor, began learning on the “training wheel” of Elijah. As a mentor Elijah was there to help, guide and instruct Elisha through his “training wheels” season because  it was necessary for Elisha to learn how to pedal. However, a time soon came when Elisha was ready to pedal on his own and he would have to let go of Elijah.

But why? Isn’t it better to always have Elijah close by? Wouldn’t it have been best for Jesus to stay with His disciples a little bit longer? It sounds like a flawless plan, perfect and without error but that is not the plan of the Kingdom. God’s plan for our life is not keep us pedaling on big wheels or training wheels but to prepare us solo bike journey (with Him). We would all say, “Something is wrong?” if we witnessed a grown adult, on a professional bike, still needing training wheels which is why God’s Kingdom intention is for you to let the Holy Spirit guide you in all truth and when you say, “I cannot go on without Elijah.” God says you must.

Oswald Chambers spoke of three alones every believer must face in their walk of faith. The first is the “ALONE AT YOUR JORDAN.” This is the place where there is the type of separation, and there is no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one can take the responsibility for you. It is at this season in life you have to apply what you learned when you were with your Elijah. “You have been to Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are up against it alone. It is no use saying you cannot go; this experience has come, and you must go. If you want to know whether God is the God you have faith to believe Him to be, then go through your Jordan alone.” (Chambers)
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 “ALONE AT YOUR JERICHO.” Jericho is the place where you have seen your Elijah do great things. “When you come to your Jericho you have a strong disinclination to take the initiative and trust in God, you want someone else to take it for you. If you remain true to what you learned with Elijah, you will get the sign that God is with you.” (Chambers)

 “ALONE AT YOUR BETHEL.” At your Bethel you will find yourself at commonsense’s failure and at the beginning of God’s perspective. “When you get to your wits’ end and feel inclined to succumb to panic, don’t; stand true to God and He will bring His truth out in a way that will make your life a sacrament. Put into practice what you learned with your Elijah, use his cloak and pray. Determine to trust in God and do not look for Elijah any more.” (Chambers)

We all face alone times in our life. It feels great when the company of friends, family and allies hold up your arms, co-labor with you and press toward the goal of the Kingdom. And yet, as wonderful as these times are, we need to remember they are training seasons preparing you for those alone times where it is just you and God. In those seasons the Holy Spirit is never far off and God’s silence should not be mistaken for His absence. It is the alone times we remember what God has done, for us, and promised to do. So, boldly get off your big wheels, or training wheels, and start riding your bike.

He is with you at Jordan, Jericho and Bethel…and He is with you now in your next season!

Blessings – JOSHUA