Satisfied in the Morning

Psalm 90:14  Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

The morning is always a good time to be satisfied.  Have you ever been one of those people who woke up “on the wrong side of the bed”?  Well, the right side is always to wake up with a heart that is satisfied.  It’s like having a hot cup of coffee, a great breakfast, and nothing hindering or disturbing your “good morning”.  Everything just falls into place.

The satisfaction that Moses, the writer of Psalm 90, was after was more than just good coffee or a great breakfast.  It was a satisfaction that his heart longed for, hungered for, each morning.  Moses prayed “satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love”.

The word “satisfy” in Hebrew means “to fill to satisfaction”, “to have enough of”.  Moses wanted to be satisfied with God’s unfailing love.

Does God do that automatically every morning?  No.  Though His unfailing love is there for the giving, and for our taking, yet it is not felt to satisfaction until we long for it, seek it, meditate upon it and be thankful for it.  I am a strong believer of morning prayer because I believe that this is the best time for us to meditate on His unfailing love for us, to worship Him for who He is, and to have Him fill our hearts with HIs love.  When God satisfies us in the morning with His unfailing love we are able to sing, with joy and gladness, in our hearts.  We are assured that the whole day He is there to guide and guard us in His love.  It’s like what David said in Psalm 23 – surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life!

What a feeling to be satisfied with His unfailing love.  I believe the reason many of us are tired, frustrated, stressed, worried, anxious during the day is because we seek satisfaction in other things, rather than in God and in His unfailing love.  We seek satisfaction in a “good day” with no problems…but problems do come.  We seek satisfaction in things happening according to how we desire…but that does not always happen.  But if our hearts are filled with God’s unfailing love, and we know that He is with us, no matter what circumstance we may be in – it just makes our day.

Let us spend our days in song, with joy, and with gladness in our hearts as we long to be satisfied with God’s unfailing love.

Life with a Shepherd

‎Psalm 23:1  A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

David was not asking the Lord to be his shepherd.  He was not even claiming, or hoping, that God would be his shepherd at that moment only, or for a specific situation.  David was proclaiming, affirming, or confirming that the Lord was His shepherd, has always been His shepherd, and will continue to be his shepherd.

This is why he was not “in want”.  He wasn’t after anything, because he was not his own shepherd.  The Lord was His shepherd.  He trusted that the Lord would provide, always.

This is why in David’s life he let the Lord MAKE HIM lie down in green pastures, LEAD HIM beside quiet waters, and RESTORE him, and GUIDE him to paths of righteousness.  The Lord was his shepherd.  He did not seek green pastures and quiet waters by himself.  He did not choose his own path.  The Lord was his shepherd.

Even through “valley of the shadow of death” experiences David did not fear, because the Lord was his shepherd.  He knew that the Lord’s would protect him (with the rod), and guide him (with the staff).  It wasn’t where he was that mattered, it was all about being with his shepherd.

He would be protected, even in the presence of enemies.  He would always be refreshed and filled.  He was sure that goodness and love would follow him.  The Lord was his shepherd.  He made sure that His sheep were cared for always.

Are you still hoping that the Lord will be your shepherd?  Is it only in certain circumstances that you seek His guidance?  Or is He already our shepherd?  Have you made the decision to make the Lord your shepherd?  The only way we will enjoy the same assurance, security and faith of David is if the Lord IS our shepherd.

Like An Olive Tree in the House of God

Psalm 52:7  "Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"
Psalm 52:8  But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.

How is someone like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God?  To best understand this let us take it in the context of the preceding verse.

"Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"

This man did not make God his stronghold.  A stronghold is “A strongly fortified defensive structure”.  A place of refuge, or protection.  Man, in general, depends on other things except God.  He trusts in his great wealth.  His acquiring wealth, His hoarding wealth, is what makes him feel protected, safe.  This is why man, in general, lives to make money, to have money.  His security, his identity, is all connected to money.

Because of this, he thinks only of himself.  “…and grew strong by destroying others!” True, isn’t it.  When someone is in the way of our making money, we destroy them, we get them out of the way.  This is the root of what we call “crab mentality”, pulling down others while we’re on the way up.

David, on the other hand, said that he was like an olive tree.  “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever”.

1. First, look where the olive tree is – in the house of God.  The olive tree was not planted outside the house of God, but inside.  The presence of God was David’s stronghold.  It was in God that he felt protected, secure, from all his enemies.

Is this also where we feel secure, safe – in the presence of God?  We live in a world of evil, chaos, selfishness…a place where we cannot find safety and security.  We, like David, like an olive tree in the house of God, are to feel secure and safe in our stronghold – the presence of God.

2.  The olive tree is flourishing in the house of God.  It is not flourishing in the world.  The man of the world flourishes in his wealth, and flaunts it to all.  The olive tree flourishes not in the world, but in the house of God.

Our Lord taught a similar lesson when He said “do not lay up treasures on earth…but lay up treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20).  What do we consider our treasure?  Where are we flourishing – in the world, or in the kingdom of God?  What is it that our lives flaunt before others?

3.  The olive tree was in the house of God to give.  So unlike the man who trusts in wealth and thinks only of amassing and destroying, the olive tree in the house of God exists only to give to the Lord.  It’s fruit was for the Lord.

Olive oil was essential in the house of God.  It was used for the light of the lamps, for anointing and for incense.  The fruit of the olive tree in the house of God was all for God, all for His use, all for His glory.

Are we like that olive tree, using the fruit that we flourish with for His glory, for His work, for His pleasure?  Or are we like the men of the world who think only of amassing wealth and using it for our own pleasure and enjoyment?

4.  The olive tree trusted in the Lord.  An olive tree outside the house of God was dependent on man to tend it, care for it, and take it’s oil.  An olive tree in the house of God is dependent only in the Lord. It gives knowing that the Lord will tend it, care for it and use it’s oil for His glory.

There are many who are afraid to devote their time and strength to the Lord, anxious of how they may provide for themselves or their family.  But, like David, who gave himself to God and trusted in the Lord, we, too, are to give our all to the Lord believing that He will take care of us.

Can we declare, like David, that we are like an olive tree in the house of God?  Do we bask in the Lord’s presence, living in His kingdom, daily?  Do we flourish with the things of God, or with the things of this world?  Do we exist to give, give to the Lord, allowing Him to use the fruit of our lives for His glory?  Do we trust that, as we live for Him, He will take care of us?

Backsliders

Revelation 2:4-5  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Backslider.  It’s a term we use for the lowest of the lowest of states that a Christian can find himself to be in.  When we use this term we use it for those who used to be active, used to be “on fire” for the Lord, used to walk in righteousness;  but they turned their back on the Lord, stopped attending Sunday services, no prayer, no bible reading – just enjoying the life of the world once again.  This is the common understanding we have of a “backslider”.

And it’s a right description of what a backslider is.  I was a “backslider” once, and what I described is actually who I was at one point.  But the Lord graciously brought me back to Him.  So I agree that this is a valid definition.  But it’s not the only definition.

We are so quick to judge Christians to be backsliders, when we don’t realize that we could be in a backslidden state ourselves!  A web dictionary defines a backslider as “Someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior”.  The key to understanding backsliding is in understanding “undesirable patterns of behavior”.  When we go through a day without prayer, or meditating on God’s Word, isn’t that backsliding?  When we allow our fleshly, or worldly ways, to rule our behavior, and we don’t immediately deal with it, isn’t that backsliding?  When we go to a Worship service with our hearts and minds focused on other things aside from the very reason we are in the service – to worship and listen to the Lord – isn’t that backsliding?

Take a look at what the Lord’s message to the church in Ephesus was in the book of Revelation:  “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love”.  After commending them for their standing for truth, and for persevering for His name, He found one thing that He held against them – they had lost their first love. 

Here is backsliding in it’s most subtle state.  This is a backslidden state that many Christians are in.  And it’s difficult to detect because those who have lost their first love have perfect attendance in church services, they serve the Lord in ministry, they even walk in righteousness.  But they have lost their first love.

The moment someone, or something, steals the total devotion and love that we are to be showing the Lord, He loses His “first love” position in our hearts.  When anyone, or anything, hinders us from enjoying our prayer time, our meditation on His Word, serving Him, following Him anywhere He sends us, and our enjoying Him in righteousness – they take His place as our first love.  It could be a person we love, a friendship, our work, our career, our business – even our ministry.  Have they now become our first love?God will never settle for being even our second love. There is no other relationship He desires than having Him as our first love.

5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

If we have lost God as our first love we are backsliders.  God is not pleased.  He holds it against us.  But He doesn’t want us to remain that way.  We are to remember the height from which we have fallen.  Many who lose God as their first love look at it as a trivial matter, like tripping on a stone.  But for God it is a FALL.  We didn’t just trip, we fell off a cliff!  And He wants us to remember the height from which we have fallen, to look up in pain from the fall, and see how far our God is.  But He wants us back, and He wants to be our first love again.

So, we are to repent and do the things we did at first.  The order is important.  We can’t just go back to doing what we used to do.  We need first to repent – acknowledge the sin of losing Him as our first love, and turning away from it.  Then we go back to doing what we used to do.

Have we backslid today?  Have we lost our first love?  God is waiting, and He calls – “climb back up”.

God’s Cure for Backsliding

Jeremiah 4:1-2  "If you will return, O Israel, return to me," declares the LORD. "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, 2  and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory."

Israel was in a backslidden state.  And God, through Jeremiah, was calling them back to Him.  All of us get ourselves in a backslidden state.  And it is important for us to realize it, and do something about it fast!  Our mistake is we wait for ourselves, or others, to stop attending Sunday services, or totally turn our backs and our lives on the Lord, before we use the term backsliding.  For me, just one day that we missed prayer or failed to read His Word, we are already backsliding.  The moment we allow our fleshly ways to reign, or allow a sin to become a habit, even just for a moment, we are backsliding already.  When the Holy Spirit prompts us, urges us, to come back, we need to heed His warning and do what God asks us to do.

What did God ask Israel to do?  First He said “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me”.  Now, we may think – isn’t that obvious, that when we return we return to God?  Actually, no.  Just like Israel all of us have a tendency to return to rituals, to sacrifices, to practices, instead of returning to the Lord Himself.  We make that mistake many times – to experience a “revival” we go back to being active in service, making sure our Sunday attendance is spotless, and we bury ourselves in Christian activities – study of Scripture, cells, bible studies, bible school.  But we don’t return to Him.

To return to the Lord is to go back to the devotion, the intimacy, that we had with the Lord.  It’s that one on one, personal and unbreakable relationship that we had with the Lord.  And this is not just about a “prayer time”…it’s about the 24/7 devotion of our hearts and fellowship with Him.  Yes our serving the Lord, our attendance on Sundays, our cells, bible studies and even deeper theological studies do help.  But these should be more a fruit of our devotion and fellowship, rather than the very root of our walk with God.

Let us return to Him, not return to “church”, or to Christian activities, return to our love, devotion and obedience to Him.

Then the Lord told them:  “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray”.  The Israelites allowed the idolatry of other nations to invade their hearts, their practices.  God wanted them out.

We may not have religious idols in front of us.  But we may have idols in our hearts – both physical and spiritual – that we need to get rid of.  An idol is an object of worship, something we bow down to, something that influences us the most.  Is there anyone, or anything, that is getting in the way of the intimacy that we should be having with God and God alone?  It may be an “answered prayer” – like an object, gadget, or even a person, that you prayed for and God granted…but is taking His place in your heart.  God asks us to get rid of them.

This may not necessarily mean literally getting rid of them (although sometimes that may be what we need to do!), but at the least, in our hearts, we are to make sure that God stays in His rightful place.  Allow the light of the Lord to reveal to our hearts the idols that have taken His place.

Lastly the Lord said:  and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives…  God was asking them to bring back to their hearts the reality of who He was.  It was easy for Israelites to include in their daily talk, or vows, the phrase “as surely as the Lord lives”.  Did they really believe that the Lord was alive?  Why were they not trusting in Him?

Has God been reduced to theological and philosophical beliefs and views in our mind?  Do we just know that our God is alive and well in our minds, but not in our hearts?  We, too, need to pray that God shows Himself alive and well in our hearts, and in our everyday lives.  What a blessed revival experience it is to see the Lord in every circumstance, every situation, every trial or blessing!  Do we truly trust Him, depend on Him, and acknowledge Him in everything in our lives?

It’s easy for us to say “praise the Lord”, or “God is faithful”.  It’s easy for us to sing songs of praise and worship, and even to talk about God.  But has the freshness and reality of God stayed real to us?  Call it “dryness”, or a lukewarm state – whatever it is, if God has remained “lifeless” – just a belief, a theology, a thought, we need to ask God to graciously reveal Himself to us alive and real, in our hearts and in our life!

Why don’t we receive everything we ask for? (Part 2)

(This is part 2 of a 2-part blog post;  please read the preceding post before going through this one to get the whole context.  Thanks!)

Mark 11:23-24 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

If I were to summarize the first segment of this message in my last post:  Why don’t we receive everything we ask for?  First, we put our faith in things, rather than in God.  God wants us to put our faith in Him, and not just for things.

Then, we believe He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  When our hearts seek God, and nothing else, we have strong assurance that what we are asking is His will, so He answers.  But when our hearts are set on things, on what we want, rather than on Him, there will be times He will withhold the blessing, knowing that it will not be good for us.  God knows whether we are asking for bread or a stone, for fish or a snake.  We need to trust Him in that area.

And, when God does not grant us what we ask for we need to trust that He knows better than us.  There will be times what we will ask will just be opposite His will.

So, how then should we pray?  Many believe that when we pray we have to be specific, and that we should not say anything that makes it look like we’re doubting God, or else God will not answer.  It makes it look like God is beholden to our words and our approach, rather than answering our prayer according to His grace, His love and His will.

So, how should we bring our prayers to God?  Let’s go back to Mark

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

“Whatever you ask for IN PRAYER…”.  It does not say whatever you ask for BY prayer.  Many separate prayer from our relationship or walk with God, to the point that prayer just becomes a “power”, or a tool to get what we want.  Yes, the Bible does say that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16), but this is not the same as saying “there is power in prayer”.  Many take that out of its rightful understanding.  Prayer is not about words, it’s not about what we bring to God.  Prayer is about relationship.

A Christian prays not just to ask.  That’s a common mistake – prayer is only about asking for what we need, pleading for it to come right away.  But for 98% of our life we’re not communing with the Lord, there is no communication at all.  That is not what prayer is.  Prayer is fellowship with God.  Prayer is about God graciously allowing us to be blessed in His presence, it’s about realizing He has allowed us to have even just a glimpse of His presence, His wisdom in God’s Word, and the opportunity to pour out our hearts to Him.  Imagine the great and wonderful God allowing us to enjoy this.  And by His grace we take that offer to be with Him, and spend time with Him.  That’s prayer.

That’s why if you’re just praying to ask, you’re missing a major-major part of your walk with God!

So, whatever we ask for “in prayer”.  In other words, our asking must be in the context of our communing with the Lord, where we open our hearts to Him, allow Him to teach us, minister to us, and also for us to pour out our emotions and needs to Him.  This where the Lord sifts through the desires of our hearts, and gives us the assurance that He is there with us.

So should we be very, very sure that we are asking things that are according to God’s will?  Let’s look at what I believe to be the best example and answer to this question – our Lord Himself:

Mark 14:36  "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

First, Jesus expresses His belief, as I shared in the last blog:  "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you.  They say the term “Abba” is rightly translated “Daddy”.  Do we have the same understanding?  And He proclaimed “everything is possible for you”.  Do we believe this when we pray to the Lord?

Then Jesus asked – “Take this cup from me”.  Do we realize what Jesus was asking?  He was asking God the Father to change His mind, and not allow Him to suffer what He knew He was going to go through on the cross!  Jesus wanted out!  What was happening?  As human as He was then, Jesus was simply expressing what was in His heart.

When we are in prayer, it is only natural for us to express to the Lord what is in our hearts.  And we are to do that freely, sincerely and with faith even!  This is what communion does, what fellowship brings – an openness of heart.  Of course, God will do the same thing.

Look what Luke shows us concerning this prayer of the Lord:

Luke 22:42  "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
Why are we so afraid of that phrase – “if you are willing”?  Many believe that when we say that we are expressing disbelief, doubt, and because of that God will not answer our prayer!  Again, God is not beholden to our words, or even our hearts, when we pray.  He answers according to His will, His pleasure, His sovereignty.

When we say “If you are willing” we are expressing our belief in Someone greater and higher than us, one that we do not fully know or comprehend, and Someone who knows so much better and who is so much wiser than us!  We would be spiritually arrogant to claim that we know all of God’s will all the time.  Yes, there are times it will be clear, but there will be times when we will want to be sure that what we are praying for is His will.  Remember, as Jeremiah tells us, our heart is deceitful above all else!

Our Lord was opening His heart – as human as He was then He did not want to die, He did not want to go through the pain, the humiliation.  For a while He wanted the plan of the Father to change.  What a blessed relief to know that we have a God who knows how we feel!  And we can have the boldness to open our hearts to Him in prayer.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

But notice how Jesus ended His prayer:  Yet not what I will, but what you will.  What was in His heart now became obvious in His prayer – that it was not what He wanted that mattered, but what God mattered.  And probably by this time the Father had made clear in Jesus’ heart that it was time for Him to suffer and die for all of us.  And Jesus gladly accepted.

That’s what the Christian life is all about.  It’s not about getting what we want, receiving what we ask for.  It’s not about God giving…it’s about God. 

If this is the state of your heart, then you have really prayed.  For true fellowship with God, true prayer with the Lord, brings a submission to a most holy and righteous God, a submission to a wise and loving God, who is our Lord and King.

Prayer is not just about asking.  It’s about enjoying God.  And if God will answer a prayer to allow us to enjoy His grace and presence, then He will grant it.  But if answering a prayer will simply please our flesh, our pride and our materialism, I will not question why the Lord does not give us everything we ask for.  We just need to trust and believe that our God is truly Sovereign over life, and over our life.

Why don’t we receive everything we ask for?

I’m sure there are many Christians who are asking this question.  We pray, we ask, we come in faith, we claim…but there are times that God does not grant what we ask from Him.  Sadly this has lead to a lack of faith, a wrong understanding of faith, or even backsliding.

Why don’t we receive everything that we ask for, when there are verses in the Bible that tell us that we will, as long as we believe?

Mark 11:23-24 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

1 John 3:21-22  Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

There are many who have prayed and have not received from the Lord.  Their usual question is “did I not pray hard enough?”.  “Did I not show or have enough faith for God to answer my prayer?”.

Now, lest we turn our God into a “genie” in a magic lamp, it is important for us to understand Scripture, like those above, and also other Scripture that compliment what God is telling us.  Sadly, many have diluted God into a “genie” without realizing it – that if we just say the right prayer, use the right words, the Lord will come and grant us what we wish.  There is more to prayer, more to faith, than just claiming a verse of Scripture.

FAITH IN GOD, NOT FAITH FOR THINGS

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him”.  Many have misapplied this verse and have recklessly gone out and tried to do something impossible without seeking God’s wisdom.  Our Lord here is talking about our approach to God.  We must come to God with faith.  Yes, faith is important.  But it is not faith FOR something, but faith IN Someone that is important.  We must believe that God can move mountains, and not just God will let us move a mountain.  Those are two different things.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

BELIEVING HE EXISTS…BELIEVING HE REWARDS

Here faith is defined, explained, so that we may know how to approach God.  First, we must believe THAT HE EXISTS.  We cannot come to God with a “I’m not sure if you’re really there…” attitude, or “My parents said, or my pastor said…” belief.  God answers prayer because we, personally, from our heart, truly believe that He is alive, real, and that He does answer prayer.  So faith is important.  We should have faith, but it is faith in Him that is our foundation, and not just faith for something to be given or done in our life.

Many Christians exercise their faith simply to get things, or to get things done.  Faith is more than that.  Faith is a lifestyle.  It is like our heart that is connected to every part of our body through the veins.  Faith is connected to everything we are, everything we do, everything we desire.  Because we believe He exists, it is He who give us life.  In Him we live, we move and have our being.  That’s the faith God looks for.

And look at the second part:  “…and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”.  Notice, God rewards those who EARNESTLY SEEK HIM, not those who earnestly seek THINGS.

Now why is this essential?  Because a Christian who earnestly seeks Him, and not what He gives, is someone who has the right foundation, the right inspiration for life and for prayer.  A Christian should not be consumed with how he lives, with what he has or doesn’t have, in his riches on earth, in material things, or in relationships.  What should consume a Christian is his relationship with God in Jesus Christ.  He earnestly seeks Him.

Now, someone who seeks only God can be assured that he will receive what he asks.  Why?  Because his heart is right.  It is set on the right foundation, it is focused on the right goal, it seeks the right treasure.  No wonder Jesus Himself will assure us that whatever we ask we will receive, as long as we come with the right heart.

When a Christian is only concerned about what he will get, what he will receive, there is a strong tendency to ask for the wrong things.  Why?  Because he is not seeking God, he is seeking what he wants from God.  And when that happens our hearts may deceive us.  This is why there are some things that we may be asking for that God may not be granting.  It could be His way of telling us that it will not be right for us.

But when our hearts are right with the Lord, earnestly seeking Him, we ask for what is His will.  This is when the Lord grants anything that we ask!

We put our faith in God, not only that He answers prayer, but we also put our faith in His wisdom, that He knows better than us, that He knows what is good for us.

Matthew 7:9-11 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Our Father in heaven gives GOOD gifts to those who ask Him.  If we seek Him and walk with Him earnestly we have a guard, a check in our hearts, whether we are asking for bread or stone, a fish or a snake.  Sometimes we don’t realize that we’re asking for something wrong, bad for us.  A right walk and relationship with God is essential to discern those things that are either useless or dangerous for us.

And sometimes we just ask for something that is opposite His will.  When we pray for the healing of a loved one who is sick, and God doesn’t answer, and he/she passes away, does this mean that God did not answer our prayer?  No.  It was just God’s way of telling us that His desire for us to live with Him eternally is greater than our desire to live longer in this earth.  It’s His way of reminding us of Eternity, and that this life is not THE life we are to live for.  Many times God’s will, His plans, will overrule ours.  And we have to trust Him for that.

When we pray for riches, for prosperity, and God doesn’t answer, and just provides what we need day by day, God is just confirming what He taught us in His Word – that we are to seek for our DAILY bread, not “yearly” bread that we can invest so we can have more.  He reminds us of the life of contentment, of living not beyond our means, but according to our means, according to what He provides for us day by day.

(to be continued in the next blog)

The Fruit of Forgiveness

Psalm 130:3-4  If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  4  But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

Is God a “forgiveness” vendo machine that we can just come back to every time we sin? Can we, or should se, be going back to Him for the same sin again and again and believe that He forgives us?

The passage above sets the record straight.  Yes, the Lord is a forgiving God.  Actually, no matter how many times you go back to ask forgiveness the Lord will forgive.  Why?  He does not keep a record of sins.  The psalmist here proclaims that if the Lord did keep a record of sins, then no one could stand before Him.  We would all be enjoying eternity apart from Him – in other words, in hell!

But He does not keep a record of sins.  That’s how much He loves us.  With Him there is forgiveness.  It’s not that He does not know how many times we have sinned, because He does.  It’s not that He cannot remind us of the many times we have forsaken Him, because He can.  This just means that every time we come to the Lord seeking forgiveness, He will forgive.  He will not tell us “that’s the nth time you’ve done that!”.  No, He will forgive.  That’s God’s part.

But what is the expected result in our heart?  Can we sin, ask for forgiveness, then sin again, and ask for forgiveness again and again?  That’s the next thing the psalmist mentions – “4 but with you there is forgiveness; therefore YOU ARE FEARED.

When someone comes to God asking forgiveness he is not face to face with a giant vendo machine, that if you just put the right coin, the right amount, the softdrink comes out.  We don’t just say the right prayer, or utter the right phrase, and forgiveness comes.  God always sees the heart.  And a heart that stands before a holy and righteous God realizes who he has sinned against, and when that person receives His forgiveness, God’s forgiveness, he leaves His presence with FEAR.  That person realizes who has forgiven him, and he leaves that presence with the desire to sin no more.

Can we come to God anytime, again and again, to ask forgiveness?  Sure.  But anyone who comes before God with a right view of who He is, and with a right experience of that holy forgiveness, will fear Him so much that He will eventually leave his life of sin.  Realize who you have sinned against…and who is forgiving you…a holy and righteous, but gracious and merciful God.  You are a forgiving God…therefore You are feared.

Psalm 85:8  I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-- but let them not return to folly.

A Christian Should Know

Christians are to live by faith, not sight.  That’s true.  But it doesn’t mean that God does not give us clear teachings, evidences and knowledge of who He is, and of who we are.  Many Christians assume that God answers prayer…but ask them where it says that in the Bible, they don’t know.  They assume He does.  Many Christians think they are living the life God wants them to live, but ask them to prove it according to God’s word, they cannot think of any verse to show as proof.  Many Christians have an idea concerning the end of the world, but they get their ideas from the movie “2012”, the Mayan calendar, or even Nostradamus.  Ask them where in the Bible it says that the world we live in today will one day be destroyed, and they don’t know where or what God teaches.  It’s sad.

Christians are meant to be a people who KNOW, not a people who assume, or who guess upon who God is and what He desires from us.  In the first epistle that John wrote he wanted his believers to understand this – that they should know.  All over the letter he reminded them of things that they should know, and it serves as a checklist for us today of how much we do know about our God and our Christian life.

1 John 2:5-6  5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 2:18  18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

1 John 3:10  10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:16  16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 John 3:24  24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1 John 5:2   This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

How do we know we are “in Him”?  How do we know it is the last hour?  How do we know who the children of the devil are?  Or what love is?  That He lives in us?  That we truly love the children of God?

Sadly there are many Christians who do not know.  This is why God calls us to pray, to read His Word, meditate upon it.  This is why a Christian is to pursue every opportunity to study, learn, fellowship with other believers…so that we may know more about our Lord, and about who we are.  Many today limit their “study” to the Sunday sermon.  We know more of quotes and sayings in facebook , rather than the words of our Lord.

Isaiah 40:21  Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?…

I pray we all keep growing in the knowledge of who our God is, and the truth He desires we keep in our hearts.