Broken Before the Lord….

Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone and all they did was talk talk talk and you couldn’t get a word in edge wise? Ever try to tell someone something important, but they just wouldn’t listen?  We as humans are opinionated, stubborn, and set in our ways. No one can tell us what to do. And if they do we will put our own interpretation on it. Now, think of how God must feel when we do these things to Him. People say that God doesn’t talk to us. That He has turned His back on us. I tell you that we as humans need to learn to shut our mouths and open our ears. God wants to talk to us. He speaks to us all the time. Moses could hear Him plain as day. Why? Well, there were no phones, TV’s, indoor plumbing, cars, and what ever else you can think of. Moses was out in the world away from distractions. He was completely open and able to hear God.

Another aspect to think of is our sheer desire to put us first. For us to feel the Father of all creation we must submit. Submitting may have to come at a price of raising your hands to heaven and telling God that you surrender. When you are broken you can live again. Brokeness is an attitude of the heart that is completely submitted before the Lord.  No stubbornness, resistance, or self-will is within the heart of a person that is completely broken before the Lord.  Jesus said unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and die, it would not bear fruit.  Do you find that you struggle with stubbornness towards God?

We should want to live broken lives before God.  We should volunteer to be broken and embrace it as an act of love from a holy and righteous God. If He breaks us, it is for our own good. We may take comfort in knowing that He will not damage the vessel beyond its ability to be restored. In other words, He won’t put anything on us that we can’t handle. Like Moses, we must let go of what we think we are in control of. We must open our hearts to him. We must close our mouths and open our ears.

^{Psalm 51:15-17}

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
       and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
       you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷ My sacrifices, O God, is a broken spirit;
       a broken and contrite heart,
       O God, you will not despise.

Embrace us in your arms dear God so that we may be broken. May our old ways and self die and may we live for Him!

Love As I Have Loved You……

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."......Jesus (John 13:34-35)

Jesus tells us in to love one another as He has loved us. How much do you show love to those around you? How much do you care about those that are not very kind to you? What sacrifices are you making to help those around you? While all of the kindness, goodness, and joy are wonderful fruits of the Spirit, they are still not as great as love.

Having love like Jesus means growing a love for everyone. That is not always the simplest thing to do. People say mean things. They hurt us, and sometimes it is hard to keep our focus on love. Sometimes we are so hurt that we find it difficult to love anyone, not just those that hurt us. Other times messages get in the way of us loving ourselves, so it is hard to love others.

Still, having a love like Jesus' can be found in our hearts. Through prayer and effort we can find ourselves loving even the most difficult people. We don't have to like someone's actions to love them. Jesus did not like many of the things people around him were doing, but he still loved them. Remember, sin is an action done by a real live person. There is a saying, "hate the sin, not the sinner." We all sin, and Jesus loves us. Sometimes we need to look beyond the act at the person instead.

Lets challenge ourselves this week and focus our prayers on loving the unlovable. Think of people in your life that you have judged by actions, and ask God to help you look beyond the act. Ask God to open your heart to loving those around you as He loves you, and ask him to heal any hurts that keep you from loving others. For us to feel God’s love we have to be willing to be loved. For us to be loved we must love others. It is easy to love those that already love us. But greater is the reward to love those that hate us.

Prayer Does the Body Good….

How would you feel if your friends and family could hear every thought, every word, and every emotion and action you ever said or did? I would say we would be ashamed, embarrassed, couldn’t look any one in the eyes. We lust , steel, commit murder, and who knows what else we do in our minds on an almost hourly basis. Every day, of every month, of every year. Just think of all the times you have looked at that person you can’t stand, there very voice feels like nails going through your skull, and all we could think of is how much we hate that person and how we hope something was to happen to that person. We are all guilty of it. We all have sinned in our minds and hearts. Now remember this, there is one that does hear our thoughts, hears our words, and sees all of our actions. God knows us better than we know ourselves. I would venture to even say that He already knew what we are going to think, say, or do before we did. So if we are so flawed and so full of sin then why pray? I’ve heard to many times, “God already knows what I am thinking and what I want. So why pray?” This is why we need to pray. Inside of our infinite complex mind is the basic need to be forgiven and taken care of. This is something that God designed and put inside of us all.  I found an interesting fact from a doctor I used to see. His specialty was stress and what it does to the mind and body. Did you know that we as humans hold allot of stress in our posteriors? That's right lady’s and gentleman, our problems can literally be a pain in the --- well you get the idea. Why do we hold on to this in our lives? God has told us that He loves us. He knew what we were going to do before He even invented the stars in the sky. Have you ever just vented to a friend or loved one and felt almost instant relief when you got finished getting it off your chest? I have. So why not tell it to the absolute best friend we have? Tell it to God! It is a proven fact shown in a 2000 study at Duke University that constant prayer literally relieves stress and can give our bodies a health boost. Let us face the facts: we all have stress. It is the way we deal with stress that differs. The good news is that prayer for stress relief works! Prayer is that unique form of communication with God available to us all that, when used often and in accordance with God's will, brings us into alignment with God's viewpoint. Being in good alignment means that our whole being is put into its proper perspective and that means life is less stressful and we are better able to deal with the stress we do have. I have personally found on more than one occasion that if I ask God for internal peace and I talk to Him like I talk to my dad or my best friends, that He not only listens, but He lifts me up and sets me back on my feet. So I propose this, the next time your feeling stressed, stop and say a little prayer asking for internal peace and serenity. And tell Him what is on your mind.  So when we find ourselves stressed, and we actually talk to God and tell Him all the things on our hearts and in our minds. That guilt and those sins are lifted up to Him where He can deal with them for us. Just like any good father would want to do for there kids. Friends I pray that you find your way to pray through out the day when you drive, take a shower, as you lay in bed, or even just sit there and stare at the walls. I pray that God blesses each and everyone of you and that He grants all of us that internal peace that is so beautiful. With all my love….Go with God….Amen!!

Remember…….

 

On this day remember where you were 8 years ago. Remember who picked a fight with us. Remember those who have stood up to fight. Remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice in that fight that keeps the enemy off of our shores. ......May God bless the friends and families of the fire fighters, police officers, and service men and women that serve and have served during this period in time.

Isaiah 40:29-31 reads: ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Remember that the price of freedom is not free. Remember that the ultimate sacrifice given for your fellow man is the greatest thing one can do for another. Remember that all will come to Jesus and every knee will bend and every tongue proclaim that Jesus is lord. Remember and pray for thanksgiving and for forgiveness. Remember…….

How to Spend Quiet Time With God….

 

When was the last time you actually heard God talk to you? Today we have cell phones, cable TV, cars, girl/boy problems, sexual tension, peer pressure, drugs, work issues, and many others that I am sure we can come up with that distract us. So how do we cope with these things? One of the ways that I have seen from friends and have learned is finding time to spend with God quietly. Jesus gave us examples in the Gospels where He stepped away from the followers, the work, and even all the troubles that came with the ones trying to discredit and even kill Him; retreating to a quiet place to commune with His Father. These quiet times spent with God gave Him, and can give us, a chance to let go of all the problems in our lives. The way He did this had some very important elements in common.
Jesus understood the importance of truly knowing the Father. The elements of how to spend quiet time with God have three parts to it: The place is free of distractions, use of prayer and thanksgiving, and use of God’s Word.

• An Area Free of Distraction – Each time Jesus wanted to spend time with His Father, He always retreated to a secluded area free from distractions. He could talk with God, and listen to Him as well. The same is true of us. Our quiet times with God should be in a place where we are alone with no TV or phone. It can be outside under a tree or even indoors in a room with nothing in it -- only God and us.
• Prayer and Thanksgiving - Jesus’ prayers were not always for Himself, but for others. In our quiet time spent with God, we use Jesus’ example by offering prayers for others such as friends and those that hurt us; and thanksgiving to God for all that He has done for us. These prayers should also include a time of reflection, thinking of what we have received, how we can do good with it, and on how God has seen us through the good and bad times.
• God’s Word - Just as our bodies need food to keep it going, we need to spend quality time with God to feed our souls. Jesus often quoted from God’s Word in His quiet times. Quiet time with God is also a time to read God’s Word and meditate on it. If we don’t understand a certain passage of Scripture, we can ask God to help us understand it. This is how God can speak to us and tells us what He wants us to do. It is through daily prayer and reading God’s Word that we will grow in our walk with God.

These are elements of spending quiet time alone with God. The importance is setting time aside each day to talk with God, because this is the best way to draw close to Him. We are flawed and just like little children we need our Father to take care of us and give us direction. When things are rough go and be quiet and alone with God. When things are good also go and spend time and thank God for what he is doing in our lives. This is how to spend some quiet time with God.

When Things Go Wrong….

When it seems that things are piling up and you can’t seem to get a hold of the issues affecting your life. Ask yourself this. Have I made Satan mad? The reason I say this is because it seems to me that when our walk with Christ gets stronger, that pulls us away from the grip of the evil one. The more that God wins over the angrier he gets. So let’s look at it from the stand point of a victory. We are very much so in the realm of the devil. He has no direct power over us, but he can influence things in such a manner to entice, or otherwise trap us into his snare. We allow these things to dig in and set us off. It’s not the words that come out of our mouths, but our actions and the way we react to things that show our faith in God. So if life is starting to pile up and get in the way that is probably because in some way you have decided to give in more to God or even feel a stronger connection with Him. So what happens? Satan attacks and tries to over throw the way we react and the way we interact with day to day problems. Because if the devil can get others to see us lose our religion, why would they want to come and join the walk with God? And if they decide that the path with Him isn’t the right one, then Satan has won a battle and another soul pulled away from God. One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 40:29-31 were it says “²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

There is a story about an eagle which was chained to a perch for many years. One day a man came by and saw the eagle chained; his heart broke because he knew the eagle was created to fly and soar across the mountaintops. So the man purchased the eagle at a great price and took it home releasing it from the chains that had it bound. To his surprise the eagle remained on its perch, it did not realize or understand that it had been set free. There are times when hope seems to get lost in the midst of chaos. We feel inadequate and unable to change. Scripture says we will soar like an eagle, and we will not tire. While our hearts long to fly it would seem sometimes it is all we can do to walk. It is at those very times that we need to empty ourselves and allow God to fill our hearts and minds with His truth. The truth of who we are in Christ. Too often, we are just like the eagle. We have grown accustomed to our chains. We need to understand that in our own strength, we will fail, but if we will begin to view ourselves through the eyes and the ability of Christ, we will see that we are free to fly off the perch and soar as we were created to. I would like to offer up this prayer that I got off of someone else. But I believe it to be a good one and a powerful one if we pray it from our hearts. Please join me in breaking these chains and telling Satan to go back to where he came from.

Prayer

God you are faithful and I trust in you. I do not want to be content to sit on the perch, I long to fly above the mountaintops. Help me to see myself through Your eyes and Your ability. Remind me that I have been purchased for a great price, my chains are gone and I am free to fly. Amen.