6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Introduction:
The story of Mary and Joseph seeking a place to give birth to Jesus is one of those stories that a good preacher can talk about for a long time. There’s a couple of different sermons that can come from this story. The one I feel the Holy Spirit zeroing in on is the part about there being no room for Jesus in the inn.
You see, Jesus said to His disciples as He sent them out that the people who rejected them…rejected the One who sent them. So, when they went to someone’s house, knocked on the door, and the owner of the house slammed the door in Peter’s face…it wasn’t Peter’s face they slammed the door on…it was Jesus’ face.
I wonder if that innkeeper ever found out that the parents that he turned away were the parents of the King of kings and Lord of lords. I wonder if that innkeeper ever figured out that he wasn’t rejecting Mary and Joseph…he was rejecting Jesus.
I sense the Holy Ghost, once again ready to let loose…so without any further delay…let’s get into the message.
How many of you know that when you reject the gospel you’re not rejecting the preacher? I wonder if people would grasp the understanding that when they say no to people going door to door with the gospel they’re not rejecting the person who is standing their being obedient to Jesus…they’re rejecting Jesus.
Do you know that’s what gives me the boldness to write what I write? You can accept or reject what I write, but that doesn’t change the fact that what I write I’m writing by inspiration and unction and utterance of the Holy Ghost. So…accept what I write or not…it’s not me that’s being rejected…it’s the Holy Ghost.
Whenever I share the gospel with someone, and ask them if they would like to receive Jesus as their Savior…while I might be sad because they said no…I don’t take it personal because I know that as an ambassador for Christ…they’re not rejecting me…they’re rejecting the one that I’m sent by.
Can I tell you that when you say that you don’t have time to read the Bible, go to church, or pray…you’re saying that you don’t have time for God? Listen. If you refuse to take time to read your Bible…it’s not going to harm me at all…because I’m going to read and study my Bible. I’m not going to refuse God…if you choose to not take time for God…then that’s on you…but let me add that if you choose to reject God…don’t point your finger at Him and blame Him for all the chaos in your life. Perhaps the reason all the chaos is in your life is because you’re rejecting God, and the whole reason He’s allowing the chaos is for you to realize you can’t handle the chaos on your own…and it’s time to accept that you need a Savior…you need God…and the longer you refuse to allow Jesus room in YOUR inn…the longer your life is going to remain in turmoil.
I don’t know who I am writing this to, but I know there are many of you who are running around with chaotic lives…pointing your fingers at God…when you should be pointing the finger at yourself. You can’t reject God…and expect it to not impact your life. You can’t tell God you don’t have any time or room for Him, and expect Him to shelter and shield you from the chaos in your life. You also can’t reject God, and then blame Him for life being so hard…it’s your fault.
I think that some of you need to understand that just because you’re a Christian that doesn’t mean you stop there. Confessing Christ as Savior isn’t enough. Yes, it does settle the Heaven or hell issue…but it’s not going to change your life. If you want God to come in and change your life…then that’s where the works on your part comes in. You need to learn to spend time reading God’s Word, you need to spend time in prayer, you need to spend time praising and worshiping Him, and you need to spend time assembling yourselves together with other believers. We need to spend time being taught the Word of God, and being fed.
I really don’t know who this is all for…maybe it’s for me…I just know that if you’re rejecting the Gospel…you’re rejecting God…and when you reject God you have no right to blame Him for the things that are happening in your life. If that’s not you…then I would just like to encourage you to remember to make sure there’s always time and room for Jesus in your life…Amen!?!
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is born in a manger with not so much as a bed to lie on. The humble beginnings of our Lord’s life remind us that we are to be humble and thankful for what we have been blessed with. The true meaning of Christmas is reflected so poetically in the story of Jesus’ birth that we cannot help but find ourselves grateful for all that was given to us on that day.
How many of you, like me, have heard the descriptions of what Heaven is like? Think of the most beautiful of mansions in the world. Think of the Taj Mahal, Wells Cathedral, Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims, The White House in Washington D.C, and the like. The most beautiful places in the world are nothing compared to where God is. He left that for a manger…in a barn because there wasn’t any place more fitting for the birth of the King of kings.
He left that for a human body (as a baby), and He had to walk through this world. He didn’t even have a bed. During His ministry He spoke of how He didn’t even have a place to lay His head. In all reality, Jesus was born in a place of poverty…when He should’ve been born in a place of royalty…but God humbled Himself to leave all that He had because He wanted to reconcile us to Himself.
Do you still feel like you don’t have time or room for God in your life?
The song describes how even when Jesus wakes, he does not cry out or make a sound. This day was a day of rejoicing, and the baby lying awake on the hay was no ordinary child, He was the Savior of men! The last verse of the song asks the Lord to stay beside us, to lead us, and to eventually take us to Heaven to live with Him. How often is that our prayer? Stay beside me Lord as I make my way through this earthly life.
Oh, how many times I can think of where I find myself simply saying: “I need You, Lord.” I have said those words hundreds if not thousands of times, and in many different situations and circumstances. How many of you know that you need to tell the Lord you need Him in the good times, the bad times, the indifferent times, and the ugly times? So many of us, myself included, wind up saying that only in the ugly times. We need to be reminded constantly that we need the Lord…at all times…not just the good ones…Amen?
How glorious and beautiful is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate His birth and the life that was given to us by Him through His life, death, and resurrection.
The greatest Gift ever given was wrapped in swaddling clothes in this manger. It’s this Gift that was given so that you and I could be saved and reconciled to God. The Gift of Jesus was given out of a love that we can’t comprehend.
What an amazing God…I can’t think of a better place to draw this message to a close than right here. In fact, I like what was written so much…I’m going to use it to close.
How glorious and beautiful is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate His birth and the life that was given to us by Him through His life, death, and resurrection.
Do you have time and room for Jesus now?
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
In your opinion, how does this carol reflect the love of Christ? What does this carol show you about our Lord at the beginning of His life here on earth? Why do you think God chose for his son to be born in a manger instead of a birth fitting of royalty?
Today’s Video:
Away In A Manger–Casting Crowns
In Closing:
I am really enjoying this series. We have gotten some awesome teaching from Christmas Carols, and that’s exactly what I was so excited about doing this series for. I had a sense that God was going to take this series, and not just teach us about these Carols…but that He would speak to us through them…and He hasn’t disappointed.
As always, whenever I write things that seem to be harsh, I feel the need to remind you that I would love to write nothing but sweet stuff. However, when God feels the need to bring rebuke or correction to us…I need to be willing and submitted enough to be willing to write what He wants me to write. I know there was some serious stuff said in this message, and that’s because we really need to be mindful that when we say we don’t have time for church, the Bible, prayer, worship, or anything else…we are saying we don’t have time for God.
I always want to be sure I have time for God…because I don’t know about you…but I need Him. I need Him in all the times in my life, and I don’t want to get to a place where I ever say that I don’t have time for God. If I ever find myself saying I don’t have time for God…then it’s up to me to look within…and see what’s more important to me…and cut it out of my life…Amen!?!
Is there anything more important to you than time with God? Do you have room for God or do you maybe need to weed some things out of your life…and make time for the God who left so much behind…so that He could reconcile you to Himself.
Let’s pray:
Oh, Lord, forgive us for being so selfish with our time, and our lives. Help us to make sure that if there are things in our lives that are more important to us than You…that we get those things out of our lives…so that more of You can fill them. We love You, Lord, and give You all glory, honor, and praise. You’re so worthy of any time You want in our lives, and there’s room in our hearts for You. In Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen
“Be strong & take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” Psalm. 31:24
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Introduction:
What do you think of when you hear the name Emmanuel? Well…before I even had the verse written…the Lord spoke to my heart something to talk about. This series has been pretty good for the Holy Spirit putting things upon my heart before I even start writing. So, I think I have to get writing…and limit the length of this introduction…Amen!?!
Today’s Video:
Today’s version of the Christmas Carol is by one of my favorite up and coming Christian artists…the Rhett Walker Band. If you like to turn on Third Day, and rock out some times like I do to Jesus music…I would highly recommend you spend the $10.00 for their CD…you’ll be glad you did. The lead singer reminds me some times of Bruce Springstein, some times Chris Cornell, and even Lynard Skynard. So…here’s today’s video.
I barely had today’s scripture copied and pasted into this message before I heard the Lord speak to my heart that when He came into the world…He was announced as Emmanuel which we all means…God with us. When He left this world…what were His last words in Matthew? I’ll tell you. Matthew 28:20 (NKJV)
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
So…when He was announced by the angels He was announced as Emmanuel “God with us”, and when He left the world so that the Holy Spirit could come…His parting words were; “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In it, God also says that He will never leave us nor forsake us. In fact, the whole reason for the Holy Ghost was for us to know that not only is God with us, but He is IN us. He’s always with us every where we go, every thing we do, and there’s never a time where we’re out of His sight.
I don’t know about you, but that thought is too wonderful to fully comprehend. Yes, I know the religious folk will use this to say stuff like if you wouldn’t do what you’re about to do in front of God you shouldn’t do it at all. That’s true…we should be thoughtful about what we’re doing because the truth is…where ever we are…He is there. He is watching, but I also know that there’s not a thing that I’m going to do in my life that He’s surprised about.
Listen, I’ve never done anything that God’s looked at me, thrown His hands up in disgust, and said: “I am done with that Bryan. He is never going to get it, and I’ve had it with him.” I know that there are things that I do in life that aren’t His best for me, and I’m sure there are things that I do that He doesn’t want me to do…but I know without a shadow of a doubt I am His…and there’s nothing I can do that will separate me from His love and His watching over me…because He is always with me.
“God with us.”
What a wondrous thought to me. How about you?
Time after time, the Israelites found themselves separated from God – always by their own doing. And God would eventually deliver them, only to be betrayed by His chosen people again. So we find two constant themes in the Old Testament:
. The Israelites, no matter how hard they tried, were unfaithful God
.God remained faithful and fulfilled the promises He made to them
Aren’t we all like the Israelites? Don’t we all find ourselves like little prodigal son’s and daughters who find ourselves in the pig pens of life? Don’t we all find ourselves like sheep that have gone astray? Sheep that find ourselves being stared down by hungry wolves…sheep that get stuck in awful places, sheep that lose their way, and get too far away to hear the Shepherd’s voice?
Okay…fine…I am the only one who finds myself in these places, and I’m in ministry. I am a pastor, and I still find myself in places where I separate myself from God. Let me talk about this for a moment because there’s a lot of talk about how when people feel distant from God they blame God. However, as we just found out. Jesus said that He is with us ALWAYS. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus said in Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV). My point being that whenever I feel distant from God…it’s not God that moved…it’s me.
Yes, that’s right, Christlike Ministries NWA Family I just said that as a pastor I can still find myself separated from God. How? Because I still find myself wanting to do my own thing, and it really is that easy. We get started doing our own thing, you don’t realize that God’s not in what you’re doing, and before long you notice that you feel distant from God. I have a shorter leash these days, but that doesn’t stop me from walking my own path…even if I am in ministry.
That’s why I keep saying that just because I’m in ministry…that doesn’t mean I am immune to getting myself into trouble or distant from God. I still find myself in places where I have to repent and ask for forgiveness just like anyone else. I’m not Jesus…I’m saved by Jesus. I’m not perfect…I’m being perfected. So if you’re expecting perfection…don’t look to me…because I will let you down. I may feel like I disappoint God some times, but the truth is I know that’s not right.
God loves us all the time, all day, and He never stops. He doesn’t stop loving me because I make mistakes, He doesn’t stop loving me because I find myself enslaved to a sin, and He doesn’t stop loving me if I even willingly find myself in sin. Listen, I’m not saying that I’m out there practicing sin…I’m just trying to make the point…actually the Holy Spirit is trying to make the point that there’s NOTHING that can separate me from the love of God…but me.
The Israelites, no matter how hard they tried, were unfaithful God.
.God remained faithful and fulfilled the promises He made to them.
Friends, God is ALWAYS faithful even when we are not. Look at these two points from the Old Testament. Remember all the murmuring and complaining the Israelite’s did? They were horrible weren’t they? Made images to worship. The complained all the time. Isn’t if funny how we’re not much different from them today? Listen…we just read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…right? He also is no respecter of person. If God was faithful to the Israelite’s…He’s going to be faithful to us…even when we’re not like the Israelite’s weren’t.
Time after time, the Israelites found themselves separated from God – always by their own doing. And God would eventually deliver them, only to be betrayed by His chosen people again.
I repeated this point because the Lord told me to in order to point out this. Time after time, just like the Israelites we find ourselves separated from God – always by our own doing, and time after time we (just like the Israelites) betray Him time and again, and doesn’t it feel like no matter how hard we try some times…we betray God and are unfaithful…but He is still faithful to us…because WE ARE HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE.
Can I tell you that there are only two groups of people? We’re either believers or un-believers. All believers are part of the Body of Christ. All believers are son’s and daughter’s of God. That’s why we often refer to one another in the Body of Christ as brother or sister…and I started to say that we don’t have any blood relation at all…but that’s wrong…we’re all related because of the Blood of Jesus.
God is a faithful Father…and just like He was faithful to the Israelites…He’s faithful to us who are His children. We are the son’s and daughter’s of God…and He’s always faithful to us, He’s always with us, and there’s never a time once we come to know Him that we’re orphans because He turns His back upon us. We are the ones who turn away from Him, and the truth is…what I said a moment ago. If we feel distant from God…He’s not the One Who moved.
Through His prophets, God made many promises. Isaiah 7:14 says, “”Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” The name Emmanuel translates as “”God with us.” It’s a remarkable promise – the Ultimate Being and Creator of the Universe promising to make Himself physically present with the people who have proven themselves unworthy.
He’s still fulfilling that promise today in each and every one of our lives. How? Through the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Ghost is the proof that God’s promise to be with us always even until the ends of the age will never go unfulfilled. Not only is He watching over us every day, not only does He walk with us every moment of the day, but He is with us every where…because He goes with us every where…because He lives within us. Don’t let that weird you out…it’s just proof that God is not slack concerning His promises…even the one to be with us always.
In one of the most somber Christmas song, “”O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, there is an embraced tension within Israel. They are in exile, separated from God yet again. With a sober perspective, they choose to rejoice in the promise God has made to them. With nothing else to cling to, in the midst of desperation and loneliness, they recall and proclaim the promise that God would be with them – knowing that, in spite of their unfaithfulness, God is faithful to His promises.
Some times, friends, the only thing we have to cling to is God’s promises. I know what that feels like. I know what it’s like to be in a place where the only words I could utter is: “I trust You, Lord.” All we as believers have to go on some times is the Word of God. I think of when I was out of work. The Bible says that God would supply all of my needs, and I knew that included a job. The same thing with wanting a wife. The Bible says that it’s not good for man to be alone, and that if a man finds a wife he finds favor with the Lord.
God’s so faithful, friends. It’s a comfort to me to know that when I get into a place where there’s nothing else…I can cling to Him and His Word.
No one could have expected a baby in a manger to be the start of God’s perfect plan to be “”with us.” And yet, that is exactly how God fulfilled His promise.
That’s exactly how the Holy Spirit came to be. Jesus said that it would be beneficial for Him to go away because He would send us One that would be just like Him. Remember Jesus’ prayer in John 17?
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:20-23
This is Jesus praying for believers. That they may be one. Just like Jesus and the Father are one…so are we one with Jesus and the Father. How?
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
This is how God is always with us. The Helper, Comforter…the Third Person of the Trinity…the Holy Ghost.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. John 16:7
God is faithful…even until the end of the age. The Holy Ghost is His fulfilled promise to never leave us. So, that still small voice inside of you…that’s God. Isn’t that awesome!?!
Are you waiting for God to come through on a promise He has made? Do you feel a sense of loneliness or exile? Rejoice! Rejoice! Through Christ, God has made Himself present to us. His faithfulness is greater than our failure. And His presence is all the reason we need to, once more, rejoice!
One of the surest ways that we can prove to Him that we take Him at His Word is to rejoice, always and again I say rejoice. That’s what worship is all about, friends. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in one of those places where I felt distant from God or I needed the assurance of His hand upon things…and when I got to worshipping Him…I found not only the assurance, not only the promise, but I also found Him to be right here with me…where He promised He would be.
I like this. “God’s faithfulness is greater than our failure.” The religious world would have us to think that we can sin our way to being rejected from God. The religious would have us to believe that there’s a point where God will throw up His hands in disgust, and be finished with us. However, that’s not biblical.
Listen, the first thing God pointed out to me before I even started writing is that Jesus was announced as “God with us”. Jesus’ last words were that He would be with us always, even until the end of the age. The Holy Spirit is the promised Helper that would dwell with us and in us…the Holy Spirit is God. I don’t know if you know this or not, but you can’t get more always with someone than to be in them…at least not to my knowledge.
The Holy Spirit is proof of God’s faithfulness to us. Just like the rainbow was to Noah, and Isaac was to Abraham. The Holy Spirit is confirmation of God’s promise to be with us always…and I don’t know about anyone else…but that doesn’t make me feel shame or scared or concerned…it makes me feel full of love and comfort for my Father.
Through Christ…God has made Himself present to us. Through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in and with us. I just can’t close this message without repeating what may be the one thing that we all need to remember…every day…until the end of the age.
God’s faithfulness is greater than our failure, and His presence is all the reason we need, to once more, rejoice.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
How’s this for something to think about?
Since God is “”Emmanuel,” how is God with you this holiday season?
In Closing:
I think it would be a good idea to close this message with a prayer…Amen!?!
Heavenly Father. Thank You for speaking to us tonight. What an awesome thing to know that You’re always with us, that You’re never disgusted with us, and You’re always faithful to us…even when we’re not to You. Lord, help us to become more aware of Your faithfulness in our lives, and thank You for the revelation of Your Word this day…through this message. I ask that You would speak all that You would like to speak to the hearts of the readers of this message, and for those who need You…that You would touch their lives in a special way. Lord, remind them that You are Emmanuel…and that You are with them always…in all situations and circumstances…and You will see them through. I ask these things in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Introduction:
This carol is quickly becoming one of my favorites just because every time I hear it…there’s some pretty stunning revelations within it. I feel the Holy Spirit read to let loose…and therefore I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time on this introduction…I’m going to get right into the message…I’m even going to wait till the end to post the video for today…so get ready cause I think this message is about to be awesome!
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am
Perhaps the greatest thing that irks me about Christmas is that it’s all about “baby Jesus”, but Jesus is anything but a baby. He is…the Creator, He is the Lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world, and He is THE Great I AM.
Do you know why everyone wants to think of Jesus as “baby Jesus”? Because He’s less imposing, and less threatening to our way of life. See, if we pictured Jesus with eyes like fire coming back upon a pure white horse, with a tongue as of a sword…slaying people by merely speaking…that’s a much different picture than the cute, harmless baby Jesus isn’t it?
It’s much easier to picture baby Jesus than Jesus as the Lion of Judah. It’s easier to picture Jesus as a baby, and forget about the fact that this baby made you and me as babies.
You see, when you make “baby Jesus” your focus…then you’re only seeing one part of Him. Yes, the immaculate conception was a miracle. Yes, the fact that God came to earth in human form, and started life like we all do is a miracle.
But…let us not forget that this “harmless baby” is…the same God that the four beasts sing about all day, every day…the One who is “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty Who Was and Is and Is to Come.” He’s the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever. He’s the God of Jacob, Issac, and Abraham. He’s the God who whipped out cities like Sodom and Gomorrah so completely that there’s no record of their existence still today.
So…while it’s wonderful to think of Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger…let us not forget that this baby isn’t just a baby…He is the King of kings and Lord of lords…and the whole reason He’s here…is to reconcile us to Himself. Not bad for a “harmless baby”…Amen!?!
I told you…I felt like the Holy Ghost has some strong things to say through this message…Amen!?!
Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Can we think about these two lines in the song for a moment!?! This “baby Jesus” came to make us new creations…in Him. When you think about the next words…”this Child you delivered would soon deliver you.” How can you not like this song? How can you not think about some of the lines in this song. In fact, I would encourage you to Google this songs lyrics…and meditate upon them for a bit. Because the words in this song tell a story that’s not about some helpless baby Boy…but the story of the Great I Am.
So, I don’t know about you, but I’m not really picturing a cute little baby…I am picturing a powerful and almighty God. A God who loved me so much that He endured time on earth as a man, endured the Cross, and He did that because He desired to one day deliver me from myself…so that I could have the same kind of relationship with Him as Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and Adam enjoyed.
Enoch and Elijah were the only two men in the Bible who have yet to taste death. They were raptured out of the world…like we will be one day. They had such a relationship with God that rather than allow them to taste death…God just simply took them to be with Him. We all know about how God shielded Moses’ eye and passed him by. How Moses came down from that mountain shining with the glory of God upon Him. Finally, Adam enjoyed the greatest relationship with Him because Adam got to walk and talk with God face to face in the cool of the day.
Friends…this little cute baby Boy…came to the world so that you and I could have Adam and Eve’s experience for ourselves. Every one of us…having the same personal face to face relationship they enjoyed with the Great I am…which Mary one day would give birth to in human form.
This touching song has been played for well over three decades during the Christmas season. The lyrics are beautifully written and contain powerful phrases like Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand and that This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you. It’s a stirring line of questions by the songwriter that cause listeners to stand in amazement at the power of our God.
This “little baby” walked on water, calmed stormy seas, turned water into wine, fed thousands with a couple of fish and loaves of bread, and of course went to the Cross to deliver us all from ourselves and the power of hell, sin, and the grave. This song is powerful, and I would really like to encourage you to take the time to read and reflect upon the lyrics of this song…and I challenge you to not come away with a different perspective on Jesus. I know that when I actually really listened to the words of this song…I was blown away by it…and in a small way envious. I was envious because Mary actually got to kiss the face of Jesus…what a moment that must’ve been when she realized Who she was actually kissing.
We really don’t know much about Mary except that she was a virgin and probably in her early teens. According to Luke 1:28, we know that she was “”highly favored” and that “”the Lord was with her”. Even without a stunning resume, God used her. Sweet, little Mary who kept to herself and wasn’t a big “”play maker” was invited by the Creator of the universe to change the world.
This brings me to a point with you and I. You know what is so neat about the way God chose people? They’re all simple people. Jesus’ disciples weren’t the smartest and brightest from the Pharisee academy…they were regular people like you and I. They weren’t the Scribes or religious zealots of that day. They were tax collectors, fishermen, and the like.
God has always used regular people to accomplish the most through. King David wasn’t a mammoth of a man, but a shepherd boy. Abraham was Abram at first. Noah wasn’t some pretty boy…neither was Moses. In fact, it wasn’t until the Damascus Road experience with Paul that God had someone who was well versed in the scriptures and the law…but by the time God was done with Paul…Paul said that all that stuff he knew was rubbish, dung, worthless compared to the knowledge of Jesus…and that he still wanted to know more.
So, this brings me back to us. You know, I’m certainly not a theologian, and I’ve never been to Bible School even. I’ve never been to journalism school or taken creative writing classes to learn how to be a blogger for Jesus. I just started writing because I believed that was what God wanted me to do…and well over 250 messages later…I’m writing messages that are transforming people’s lives.
What’s my point? God doesn’t need flashy people to accomplish His mission…He needs yielded people. Listen, you may look at yourself in the mirror like I did, and wonder how in the world God could use someone like you…but He can. In fact, if you’re asking yourself that question…that more than likely means you already know what God’s calling you to do…because no one really looks at themselves in the mirror to ask what God would want with us…unless we know God’s letting us know He wants to use us to accomplish His Great Commission.
Friends, I don’t care if you don’t know the entire Bible from cover to cover. I don’t. In fact, there are some books of the Bible I have never even read before…but yet…God’s using me…and the only difference between us is that I stopped asking “why me?” and started believing “why not me?”.
Remember, the Bible says that God will use the foolish things of the world to confound the wisdom of the wise. God’s had the mega church pastors, and they’re messing things up pretty badly aren’t they? We have a whole lot of preachers that have become prosperity pimps, others are preaching a counterfeit gospel where everyone is going to heaven, and there are others who are preaching things that are way more damaging that others.
I believe the days of the superstar preachers are over. It’s the small time, small town preachers like Pastor Cass Hill of New Life Christian Center who still believe and follow Paul’s admonition to “Preach the Word”. We still believe that the Bible is the ultimate authority for a believer’s life…and that it’s just as valid today as ever before…and that it still speaks to the needs of men today. It’s the evangelists like my friend and mentor Evangelist Josh Radford who know of the hour in which we live, and has a heart on fire for reaching the lost. It’s people like me who recognize that God’s calling us to use special gifts and talents like writing these messages to reach, feed, and disciple God’s sheep.
In case you’re wondering…if you’ll surrender your life…He most definitely can and will use you too. All God’s looking for is people who are totally sold out for Him, and are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the call of ministry. Ministry is nothing more than using the gifts, talents, and abilities you have to serve others. Maybe you’re a dance instructor…don’t you know that you can teach people to dance for Jesus. Maybe you’re a poet…don’t you know that you can write poems about the love, grace, and mercy of God.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. Everyone has gifting, abilities, and talents that God has given them…and when put to use for the advancement of the Kingdom of God…that’s your ministry. So…what I’m saying is that if you’re willing…God can and will use you to change and effect other people’s lives…for Him.
Many think the reason He chose her is because of her willingness. Upon hearing how this would play out in her life, Mary’s response was, “”I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1:38)
Mary simply said yes to her Lord with no conditions whatsoever.
I promise you that I didn’t read this next part of the devotional until just now. I just got done saying that God can use anyone who just simply says “yes, Lord.”…without condition.
Listen, when I began to understand what I was called to do…I didn’t say: “Yes, Lord, I’ll start writing messages, but I must have 1,000 Facebook followers before I do.” Do you want to know what I said? My answer was very simple. “Yes, Lord, I don’t care if the only person I write these messages for is myself…I will do it…because I know You’re calling me to use what I have for Your glory.”
That’s all God is looking for, friends. A ready and willing vessel. I didn’t say able because God will make sure you’re able to carry out whatever it is He’s calling you to do. Listen, I didn’t start out writing messages like this. In fact, if you read my earlier messages…they’re kind of a mess…but now I’m writing a whole lot better messages. There’s still spelling, grammar, and other errors…but little by little…God’s helping to develop me as a writer and help me to get better…He’s making me able…all He needed from me was a willingness to do what He was asking me to do…He’s taken care of the rest, friends.
Remember I said that I’d write these messages no matter how many I’m writing for. Today there are well over 200 people who these messages are being shared with, and the best part is that some of them are all over the world. Places like Iraq, India, Africa, England, Europe, Asia, and more. I’m reaching people all over the world. I never expected all of that when I started. I figured most of my family and friends would be ministered to, but He took what I thought would happen…and showed me that my vision was too small.
I don’t want to go there because there’s a lot of specific stuff that can be hard to understand, and I really don’t have the time or the utterance of the Holy Ghost to get into all of that. All I am saying is that if you’re willing He is able to take you and make whatever talents and abilities you have…become something so extraordinary that you’re stunned and in awe of what God can do.
Every once in a while I will go back and re-read messages I’ve written and I’m stunned at what I’m writing. I’m amazed that these messages are coming from me, but then I realize that I have the greatest person training me…and I realize that the Holy Ghost knows what He’s doing…and perhaps my greatest talent is that I’m learning to get out of the Holy Ghost’s way…like I did with this message.
I told my wife that I was just going to get this message started. In the last four days, I have worked almost 50 hours…and I have tomorrow off…and then it’s back to work for another night. So…I’m in desperate need of some rest, but when I saw that this was the song for today’s message…I knew I would get started…and the Holy Ghost would take over.
Where are you in your life right now? How much of “”you” have you truly surrendered? Are you living the truth that “”your life is not your own” and that you’ve been “”brought with a price”? Is there something that you are missing out on because you won’t let Him lead?
I have surrendered a lot of myself, and I have a whole lot more yet that I need to. I definitely know that my life is not my own today, and that I’m bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am an Ambassador for Christ…the Pastor and Founder of Christlike Ministries NWA. I am called and chosen by God to use this particular method to walk in the vocation in which I’m called and chosen to walk in.
I am in the place of my life where I am some times stunned at what God’s doing in me, with me, and through me. I’m amazed that when I look at the global reach I have with these messages, and in the beginning I thought I was barely going to reach people outside of my home. But I see places like Ghana and I’m just amazed at how small my vision was…and how much bigger a plan God had.
We have a Messiah. His name is Jesus. He is the Savior of the world. He walked on water without a single bit of effort. He came and died to make us new. He gave sight to a blind man with some dirt and saliva. He woke up from a deep sleep and calmed a raging storm with his human hand. He fed over 5,000 people with a bit of bread and fish. He does the miraculous. And He has amazing plans for your life.
Friends, let’s stop thinking of Jesus as this helpless baby Boy, and start remembering that this baby is the Great I Am. He’s the God of all Creation, and He’s the God that created you. He has created you for this time, and there is a purpose for your being here. God doesn’t just place people into the world randomly…He has a purpose, plan, and destiny for every person in the world at this exact time.
The difference. There’s a lot of un-surrendered people walking around not knowing that God’s called them to do great and mighty things for Him. There are many of you who were like me at first…wondering how in the heck God could use you for any good in this world, but it’s not up to us to decide whether or not we’re worthy. If you’re wondering what in the world God could use a loser like you for…that means that first of all…you’re not a loser…and secondly…you already know God’s got a plan and purpose for you.
God decides and choses where we fit into the body of Christ as it pleases Him. He knows what gifts, talents, and abilities He’s placed inside of you. He also knows exactly how to develop them, and what He gave them to you for…and how they can be used to reach the people He’s called you to reach.
Let’s stop being so in love with this cute baby Boy known as Jesus…and start getting a revelation of just who God really is…and the fact that this little baby Boy is waiting to not only deliver you…but use you for the purpose of reaching and delivering others…through you.
Did you receive all of this? I sure hope you did. I’m going to close with a prayer, and then add today’s video and stuff at the end. I just feel like we need to pray…and then we’ll go with what the Lord wants to do…Amen!?!
Let’s Pray:
Oh, Lord God, I just come before You to give You praise, glory, and honor. Father, I sense that there are people reading this message that are in the midst of a struggle to understand why or how You could use them…just as I did…and some times still do. Father, none of us know the impact that we’re going to have on the world. I certainly never envisioned reaching people in other nations, but You have drawn so many people to this ministry in so many nations…including these United States of American.
Lord, I pray for those who are struggling to believe they can be used by You. I pray this message would be an encouragement to them to ask You to show them what it is that You would have them to do. I ask that You would give them the wisdom, courage, and ability to seek Your face…and that You would begin to shine Your light upon what You’ve placed within them to do for You and the advancement of Your Kingdom and the Gospel.
Lord, I pray for myself…that You would continue to open my eye to see the work that You’ve done and have yet to do in my life…and through my life. I pray that I would be an encouragement to those who are straddling the fence as to whether to get into ministry or not.
Most of all, I thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place so that I could have fellowship with You. Lord, I ask You to be with each and every one of us this night…and that You’d speak things to our hearts that You’ve never spoken. I ask that You’d give us ears to hear Your voice today, tonight, and this entire weekend.
I ask that You would remind us that this little baby Jesus is the Great I Am…and that You are desiring to do great and mighty things through us. Thank You for the Cross, Lord. Thank You for the nail pierced hands. Thank You for Your love Lord, thank You for the Blood of Jesus that washes and cleanses me of all unrighteousness…and I thank You for all that You’re doing, all that You’ve done, and all that You have yet to do in…with…and through my life.
I give You all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. I pray and ask these things in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen.
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
These are some really good questions to meditate, think, and pray upon. I hope you’ll take the time to seek God’s face…and ask Him to reveal to you how you should answer these questions:
What have you not surrendered to God?
What is keeping you from doing so?
Today’s Video:
I have always liked this version of this song…enjoy:
Mary Did You Know By Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd
In Closing:
Well, I thought I was just going to start this message, but I got it all the way finished. I guess some times even I have to learn to rely upon and trust that the Holy Ghost is going to help me do what I think is impossible. I would like to add yet again that I thank all of you for your patience, and that I really need your prayers.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
(3) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Introduction:
So, we’re five days into this Christmas Devotional Series…and it’s kind of fun counting down till Christmas by doing this. It’s been a fantastic couple of messages already, and I’m thrilled that this series has turned out as good as it has. I’m excited to see what’s yet to come, but in the mean time…let’s see what we can learn from today’s song: “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.
Today’s Video:
Mercy Me–“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
Today’s Message: “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!”
Perhaps the best known line from this song is these two right here. At least when I think of this song, these are the words that come to mind. You know, it’s interesting that when Jesus detected fear within His disciples…His first words to them were: “Peace be with you.” The first thing He wanted to do was comfort them. We talked yesterday about the peace of God, and how it’s found in His presence. However, it’s also found in God’s spoke word to us. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in turmoil over something in my life, and I heard that still small voice say: “Be still”. In fact, one of the songs that always ministers to me is Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Be Still”. It’s based upon Psalms 46:10 (KJV): “Be still, and know that I am God.”.
I spoke yesterday about how when God spoke to me about certain things that I’d be asked to do for Him from time to time that I found myself a bit intimidated by what He was asking me to do…and what He did was quickly give me the peace and comfort of knowing that He wasn’t going to ask me to do anything that He wasn’t going to walk with me in. He was saying to me: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
How many of you know…when God says: “Be still, and know that I am God.” that gives you an immediate cause to be at peace, and even forget whatever it was that had you in such an uproar…Amen!?!
When the angels first sang about peace on Earth and goodwill to all men, the shepherds must have wondered what was going on. They certainly didn’t hear angelic choirs everyday , and First Century Palestine was hardly a peaceful place. The streets buzzed with rumors of revolution and the tension often boiled over into violence. Society was split along lines of gender, race, wealth and religion, and the shepherds themselves were only a few rungs above beggars on the social ladder. For some of us, Christmas itself is a time to be with friends and family, but for others it reminds us that we are alone or separated from loved ones. Two thousand years later, we seem to be as far as ever from Heaven on Earth.
You know. The interesting thing to me is that when Jesus confronted the world…He confronted it with that sword that He spoke of, and while I know that He had to rebuke His disciples every now and again…He confronted them with peace. I would think that might give us all cause to be at peace. He deals with us differently than He does the world. He loves the world so much that He gave His Son for it, but those of us who are His…He wants us to know His love, His peace, His mercy, His grace, and that’s something that while I understand He’s no respecter of person…gives me a bit of peace as well.
When He says through Paul that He will cause all things to work together for good, but He said He would do that for who? Those who are HIS and called according to HIS purpose, and that tells me that there are things that we can experience as believers that the rest of the world cannot…until they become believers.
Listen, Jesus told us that people would be separated into two groups: sheep and goats, and today we know that there are two groups of people: believers and non-believers, saved and unsaved, saint or sinner, children of disobedience or children of God…so…while God’s no respecter of person…there’s clearly things we have access to that the rest of the world doesn’t…until they too become whosoever’s who call upon the name of the Lord.
For some of us, Christmas itself is a time to be with friends and family, but for others it reminds us that we are alone or separated from loved ones. Two thousand years later, we seem to be as far as ever from Heaven on Earth.
You know, I know what it’s like to spend the holiday’s alone. The first time was during Marine Corps Basic Training. Yes, that’s right. Twenty years ago today, I was still at MCRD San Diego making my way towards earning the coveted title of United States Marine. I have spent two Thanksgivings and Christmases in jail. I know how it feels to be alone and separated by loved ones during the holiday’s.
Can I tell you something, though. The worst feeling in the world as bad as being alone on the holiday’s feels it’s nothing compared to the feeling that I have when I feel like I’m separated from God. I’m certainly not always as close to God as I’d like to be, but when I feel separated from Him…there’s nothing worse then that feeling. There’s a gnawing deep down within me that is just unsatisfied no matter what I do or try. There’s an indescribable emptiness that accompanies it. The only thing that satisfies the gnawing and emptiness is being in God’s presense…and that’s because we were all created with a God-sized hole…that can only be filled by Him.
I also know what it’s like to try to fill that hole with things other than God. That’s why I’ve been through so many relationships. I thought that each woman would be that person that would fulfill the void, but they didn’t. Can I tell you that as much as I love my wife, and as much as she completes me…even she isn’t able to fill that void that’s left when I stray away from God? Listen, you can’t get more personal and intimate than husband and wife, and even my marriage isn’t enough to fulfill that void or emptiness when I sense I’m distant from God.
I know that’s not a very romantic thing to say, but it’s honest. It’s sincere, and I’d rather be honest and sincere with you than try to be rosy and romantic. God is the only One that can fill that space that’s vacated when He’s not in it. I can’t be anymore sincere than that. I suppose some of you will be offended by that, but be that as it may…it doesn’t change what I’ve learned by experience.
Many people in the First Century were expecting a quick fix for the world’s problems, and of course that didn’t happen. It still hasn’t happened. But Christmas reminds us of God’s promise to bring in a kingdom where wars, injustice and even death will be a thing of the past, and where we will live together with God. That’s our hope. God does have a plan. The best really is to come.
The words “microwave generation” comes to mind, but the problem is there’s a age-old principle that is at work called seed…time…harvest. You know, not everything is going to happen for us over night? Do you know that things aren’t always going to happen right way…we talked before in our series on prayer about how some times God’s answer is simply “wait”.
Everyone wants the quick fix, but no one really wants to wait for God to do any thing. I have learned that God is not moved one iota by my sense of urgency. He’s not moved by the needs of my circumstances, and He’s not concerned one bit about what my perceived time-table is…because He’s not bound by time.
I prayed for years for a good woman to by my help mate, and become my wife. I met several along the way that I though might be the one, but it took all the way till November of 2010 for me to meet the woman who God would say: “She’s the one”. Don’t you know that I found myself kinda like Abraham did when Ishmael came to be. I meet a bunch of women who produced Ishmael’s in my life, but when I met my wife…she’s the one that produced Jacob.
What does that mean? My efforts lead to a temporary fix, but God’s means lead to a woman who I’m gonna spend the rest of my life married to. She’s the exact right person for me. God knew exactly who He had in mind for me. Abraham’s promise what Jacob, but he wanted that quick fix and wound up with something produced by flesh. Today, Ishmael (the Muslim’s) and Jacob (Israel) are still fighting one another.
In other words…our quick fixes are no match for God’s perfect plan. He knows exactly what we need in every situation. My job is a perfect example of that. I prayed that God would bless me with a job that would enable me to work and be able to write messages for this ministry. The job I have now, I work early in the morning, normally I write my messages in the afternoon, and then I’m able to have free time till it’s time to go to bed. It’s the perfect job for what I need. The hours are hard on me, but the job is exactly what I asked for…and it took me about 6 months to find it.
Here’s a key, however. When it comes to my job I do what I do as unto the Lord. In other words, I do my job as though Jesus is my Employer. I show up to work on time every day, and I do my best to take care of my job, my customers, my displays…and I have finally been rewarded for my faithfulness. However, the reward has also come with a price. I have to learn yet again to balance work, life, ministry, marriage, and private time with the Lord. I am blessed beyond measure, but the key is to not grow weary in the waiting…otherwise you produce another Ishmael that will constantly be in conflict with the Jacob’s in your life…how’s that for an illustration…Amen!?!
In the meantime, God continues to show his love to us in so many ways. He provides for our needs. He answers our prayers. He invites us to start living today like citizens of the kingdom that has not yet been fully revealed. We can love one another as Christ loved us here and now. We can show his compassion and his unconditional acceptance to others today. We can experience a foretaste of the new Heaven and Earth right now. We can share that experience with others. And we can do all this in the knowledge that God’s Kingdom will prevail and that the whole of creation will one day see the truth that those shepherds heard on a remote, Palestinian hillside.
God is faithful, Christlike Ministries NWA Family. He truly is. He is our provider, and He does hear and answer our prayers. However, He answers them based upon what His perfect will for our lives are. Some times, He has allowed things to come in to my life that weren’t quite right, and I see that now because when He brings me things that are exactly what He wanted…don’t you know His perfect will…His perfect provision…His blessings are…well…perfect. Exactly right, exactly what we need, and let me also add that while you might get tired of hearing that God is never early or late, but right on time…the truth is…God is never early, God is never late…He is ALWAYS right on time.
He loves us, and wants all of His perfect plans for our lives to come to pass. He doesn’t want us to rely upon ourselves to receive them, however. Some things He may bless us with right away, some things He may not grant us because He knows that they will not only not be a blessing but hinder our dependence upon Him, and most things in order to get perfect…you’re going to have to wait.
Think of how long it takes real…genuine diamonds to become flawless gems. How many of you know that while there is technology out there that speeds up the process…those genetically altered diamonds aren’t as perfectly flawless as the ones that take time to be made? What’s my point? If you can find a really good jeweler they know the difference between the genetically altered diamonds, and the ones that take time to form. In our lives we may not be able to notice the flaws in our ways, but when we look at the things that God does in our lives versus what we’ve done in our own strength…nothing compares to God’s work.
Listen, I’m 38 years old. God called me to ministry almost 12 years ago, and my ministry is almost 1-year-old. How can that be? Until January of 2011…I was still undergoing the process of becoming ready to be a qualified ambassador for Christ. I’m certainly not flawless, but I’m still going through the process. God’s taking more and more of my flaws away…and replacing them with the perfection of the image of His Son.
Don’t you know…God wants to do the same in everyone’s lives? The problem is in this microwave generation…if what’s asked for isn’t done over night…then you get the people who say that this “God stuff doesn’t work”. Well…you’re right. It doesn’t work on YOUR time table…it works on His. The sooner you understand that…the sooner you’ll find like I have…God’s way not only works but it works better than mine…and it’ll work better than yours too. Amen!?!
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
Here’s a good one for you to ponder on…
What one thing could you change to give those around you a foretaste of God’s Kingdom of peace?
In Closing:
I am sorry for getting behind, but like I said in the message I’m trying to learn how to balance everything again on the fly. I’m learning a new route, I’m learning a new routine, I’m trying to work at staying on time with these messages, and it’s been a challenge. I’m grateful for it though…because I am getting this route because I’m trusted and being counted on to bring us more business…and if it goes well…then there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll be taken care of some more too.
So…I’m enjoying this series…and I know we’re a day behind…but I’ll get us caught up…and we will finish this series on time on Christmas Eve…and I’m trusting the Lord to help me get there. I appreciate your patience, and I ask for your prayers…they’re much needed these days.
I hope you’ll come back tomorrow…and I thank all of you who are following along.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Introduction:
I figured when I was looking through the possible Christmas Devotional series that when my heart settled upon this one that I’d run across a few that I’ve never actually heard. This would be one of those Christmas Carols I’ve never heard, but I’m trusting that God will help me to write a message anyways. I did, however, manage to find it on YouTube, and I found a version done by Casting Crowns. So, knowing that their music is Biblically sound…it gives me some added peace to know that I’ve got a Carol that isn’t overdone, but also has a message that Mark Hall is willing to sing.
Today’s Message: “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”
In a series like this when you’re not ever really sure what you’re going to write about because you’re certain that there are many Christmas carols I don’t know about…like this one…that’s one of the things that makes this series challenging…but a little bit exciting at the same time. So…you can imagine when I saw these words which are lyrics from the song…I found additional faith to trust that God’s going to have some good stuff to say through this message. What words gave me that kind of boost of faith?
“God is not dead, nor does He sleep.”. You know, that gives me such a feeling of safety when I put those song lyrics together with Romans 8:38-39. It’s in those verses that we read that there’s absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God, and earlier in Romans 8:31 Paul writes that if God is for us…there’s none that can be against us. As I think of the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that if God is for us there’s none that can be against us…and then you add-on the lyrics of this song…it gives me a feeling of peace and security because that means that there’s never a time when I’m out of my Father’s sight. He always has His eye upon me, and He’s always watching over me.
I think back to the nights of Marine Corps Basic Training where we learned to do fire-watch…which is basically four men guarding the squad bay in the night while the other Marines sleep. There’s a peaceful feeling when you know that while you’re sleeping…there’s someone watching over you to make sure you’re safe. That’s what fire-watch was all about…protecting our fellow Marines. I remember that there were certain people, however, that weren’t able to stay awake themselves during that time. It may have been a sub-conscious kind of thing…but whenever we knew those guys were on fire-watch…we didn’t sleep quite as peacefully.
So, now…when I expand that experience to the knowledge that God is not only not dead, but that He never sleeps (or slumbers as some translations say). That means that there’s never a time when God isn’t watching over us. I don’t know about you…but that gives me a cause to have that peace that surpasses all understanding. The God…unlike any other God…is watching over me…at all times. Now, that’s a secure feeling…Amen!?!
Who is God to you? Is he your protector? Your provider? This Christmas Season, have you allowed him to be your peace?
When I began doing certain things in my personal ministry I had a lot of persecution come my way, and to be honest I was a little bit intimidated by where He was asking me to be a light in. In fact, there are some things that He’s spoken to my heart that would liken me to a sheep in wolves clothing. As I said, I was quite intimidated by what I knew in my heart God was asking me to do, but just because I knew He was asking me to do it…didn’t mean I felt secure about it.
When you say sheep in wolves clothing there’s a lot of “religious” people who don’t understand what that means. The devil has plenty of people who the religious world would classify as wolves in sheep’s clothing…in fact…that term is in the Bible. Matthew 7:15 (KJV) to be exact. Those are words written in red. That means Jesus spoke these words about the devil’s people: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”.
So, what is a sheep in wolves clothing? It’s people called by God to go into the places that the church is afraid to. Places like bars, strip clubs, drug houses, and homeless shelters. Places where the church talks about reaching, but are too afraid to actually go because they’re worried that more of the world will rub off on them…then they will rub off on the world. I believe they’re worried about their image, and what they’re going to look like to other believers.
So…as I mentioned, I was concerned about my own image, and I was intimidated by the idea of what God was calling me to do. There wasn’t much peace about it, but I still knew in my heart what the Lord said. So, after a couple of weeks, a friend of mine from a church my family attended came back from a worship conference they were attending where God spoke to her something that He wanted her to relay to me.
To make a long story short…God’s word to me was that what He wanted me to worry about was what He was calling me to do. He didn’t want me worrying about where He was sending me or what people were going to think. In fact, I’m paraphrasing, but His words to me went something like this: “I will be your protection. I am holding you in the palm of My hand, and if anyone comes against you they’re coming against Me. I will raise up people who will pray for you and be your protectors. I will be watching over you personally.”
Can I tell you that once I got that word from God…I felt empowered, I felt a confidence and boldness that I’d never felt before, and I also felt a sense of comfort. How many of you know that when God speaks something like that to you…it takes away any fear you might have…Amen!?!
Who is God to you? Is he your protector? Your provider? This Christmas Season, have you allowed him to be your peace?
God is everything to me. He’s my Provider, my Protector, my Strength, my Shield, my Song, and my Beloved. He’s also my Peace…and when God speaks something like what He spoke to me…instant peace comes from knowing…that when you’re in the hands of God…there’s NO one or NO thing that can harm you.
It can be easy to view God simply as a friend to go to in times of trouble or a magic genie that grants all of your prayers. But God is so much more than that, and the blessings he wants to give to you are endless! He offers so many wonderful things–completely free of charge-including hope, joy, and peace for your heart. God wants nothing but the best for you.
You know, one of the things that offends me the most is when people talk about how we as Christians use God as a “crutch”. I get as offended with the “magic genie” thought, and the last one that bugs me is when we’re accused of being “simpleton’s” because we need God to “show us how to live”.
God’s so much more than all of those terms. He’s much more than a friend to go to in a time of need. He’s more than a “magic genie” or “crutch” to lean on when you need Him to do or bless you with something. And relying upon God for the direction of my life is a much better idea than relying upon myself. I’ve come to the place where I’m alright with being accused of needing a crutch or being a simpleton…because being a simpleton has gotten me a lot further along in life than trying to be in control.
Anyone else okay with being a simpleton?
Although your circumstances may be difficult, or hard to understand at times, that doesn’t mean that God isn’t there.
I can’t tell you how many times I found myself like the man in the Footprints in the Sand story. I looked back at the sand, I saw the one set of footprints, and just like the man in the poem I found myself upset and angry with God. I found myself angrily asking Him how it was that during the times I needed Him the most…there was only one set of footprints, and I was also equally unaware of the fact that those footprints I thought were mine…I was equally humbled when God spoke the same thing to my heart He spoke to that man…and when I realized that all those times in my life I thought I was walking alone…He was carrying me…that broke me, and made me fall deeper in love with Him.
Don’t you know that now-a-days, I continue to look back I see more and more of those areas that God carried me through, and it just causes me to fall deeper in love with Him all over again.
So..let me assure you that God is always there…even in the darkest of times…He’s there. I am reminded of the words of King David in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…thou art with me.” David understood that there wasn’t anywhere he could go where God wasn’t with him. Take some time to read the words of Psalm 139, and allow them to help you see that there isn’t anywhere you can go to get away from God.
He cares about you and loves with a giant-sized love, and he’s waiting for you to let Him be your peace. So this Christmas, as you think about all the gifts you need to buy, and your never-ending to-do list, don’t forget to stop and remember that only God can provide you with the unwavering quiet strength that comes from his peace.
Family, God does care about and love you. There’s more love available to us than we’re aware of, and there’s peace that surpasses all understanding. Where is it found? At the feet of Jesus…in the presence of God…and I just want to encourage you to know that no matter where you are or what you’re facing…God’s there…and He’s got you in the palm of His hand…and there’s nothing that can harm you…because He’s protecting you.
It’s a peaceful and comforting feeling to know that God is not only watching over me, but holding me in His hand. It’s a comforting thing to know that God’s with me where ever I go, and that He’ll never leave or forsake me…and I just want you to know…He will do the same for you.
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
I guess these are more questions to meditate upon, but either way…I would like to encourage you to be more than just a reader…take the time to really consider these questions.
In what ways do you find peace and comfort in God? What difficult circumstances are you dealing with that you need God’s peace in helping you endure?
In Closing:
I find peace and comfort in God’s presence, and that’s why it’s so important for us to spend time at His feet. Family, there’s so much happening in our lives I know how busy and stressed we are because I have the same busyness and stress. However, there’s absolutely nothing that eases my mind like spending time at the feet of Jesus…and it’s there that He can minister everything I need…and then some.
There isn’t a circumstance in my life that I can’t think of that I don’t need God’s peace to come in…and because I know He loves me and is watching over me…there isn’t much that shakes my peace. When there is…I know where to go today because I know He’s always there…and without fail He gives me that peace I need.
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalms 29:11
(41) And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: (42) But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Introduction:
Are you as surprised as I am to see this as one of the “Christian” Christmas Carols? I guess that we really shouldn’t be surprised, however. I am looking forward to seeing what this carol can teach us, and how we can apply the message in the song to our walk with God.
Today’s Message: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Let your heart be light.
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.
How is it that our troubles can be out of sight? How can our hearts be light? It’s not easy to see how the story of Mary and Martha can be added to the Christmas story, but when you think of the hustle and bustle of the holiday’s (starting with Thanksgiving)…it’s easy to see how we can become distracted and so busy like Martha was.
We all have jobs that we have to go to work for. We still have the daily things and chores to do. We have Christmas shopping to do, and once we have the gifts we have to wrap them (and hide them from snooping kids or spouses). We have dinners to make, Christmas parties to plan or attend, and maybe for the first time in months…a desire to return to church…after all…Christmas is about Jesus.
We can become so busy and overwhelmed by life that we forget the most important thing of all…the thing that Mary understood as the single most important thing. Sitting at the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In the last message, I talked about the importance of spending time in God’s presence, and how that we need to find that place where we don’t lose the awe that we have of our relationship with Him. Mary understood that. Even in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of having Jesus as a house guest…Mary understood that there was a time to serve…and a time to be served…and we all need to understand the same thing. We cannot minister to anyone if we aren’t first ministered to ourselves.
If we’re starving spiritually…we cannot feed anyone. Mary understood that, and it’s one of the things we need to understand as well. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is something that we all must do…if Jesus said that Mary found the one thing that is needful…then that means it’s needful for all of us. I don’t know about you, but when Jesus talks about something being the most important thing…I think we ought to listen…and do what He says is important…Amen!?!
Christmas can seem like a rat race at times. There is all of the hectic last-minute shopping at crowded malls while struggling to find the perfect gift for someone, the decorating the house (including checking every single bulb on the strand of lights to find the one at the very end that shorted out the rest), wrapping present after present after present, or preparing for the family to come and take over the house for the day. It is easy to get lost in the busyness of Christmas, and to miss the things that are really important.
Before you ask…no I didn’t read the devotion before I started writing, but a good way to know if we’re on the right page with God is everyone basically seems to say the same things. I think if we’re honest, we can expand the rat race to the pre-Thanksgiving plans can’t we? Like I said a moment ago, there’s planning where the meals are going to be, whose all going to be able to make it, and thus the rat race of the Holiday’s begins…and it doesn’t end until New Year’s.
In addition to our normal lives, we add Christmas shopping, getting a Christmas tree, putting up the decorations, making out Christmas cards, Christmas parties, wrapping Christmas gifts, and then some. There’s so much that goes into Christmas. Not only do we have our families to shop for, but many of us have company Christmas parties to attend and shop for.
You know, when I think of Martha running around so busy when Jesus came to visit…it actually is a great illustration of what happens to us during the holiday’s…and why instead of being a time of relaxation and fellowship…many of us wind up tired and exhausted. The busyness of the season is such that it can sap the joy, and very rest from our lives.
You see, it’s the commercialization of Christmas that’s made it such an easy thing for the devil to get us distracted, and that’s why we need reminders that “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I’m in that boat too. I’m not immune to being distracted by the busyness of the world…you know being in ministry is a lot like preparing for the holiday’s.
Do you know that I believe the reason most in ministry get burned out is because they’re all a bunch of Martha’s? They are involved in so much, and many of them (myself included)can get so busy that we forget that what’s even more important than the work we do is the time we spend with the Lord. We become so busy, and we mistake doing the work of the ministry as being in the presence of the Lord. We all need to remember to be more like Mary…and take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus.
It’s hard to say that we shouldn’t be too busy to spend time with the Lord, but the truth is…there’s nothing more important than spending time with the Lord. How do I know that? I know it because Jesus said there’s one thing that is needful that will never be taken away from us. We need to take time to be “continually filled”, and to sit at the feet of the Master for ourselves…and that includes the busyness of life and preparations for the holiday’s.
We see this happen in the book of Luke, when Jesus goes to eat in the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha spends her time running around cooking, serving dinner, and cleaning, which are very good things, but are busy things. Meanwhile, Mary sits in the company of Jesus. When Martha asks Jesus to tell her to work too, He tells her that, “”Mary has chosen what is better.”
Jesus spoke of the third kind of soil being that as soil that has the Word of God choked out of them by the cares of the world. We see this in Martha as she’s frantically trying to put together something to offer Jesus, but Mary offers Him something more. Which brings me to this point: Our time with the Lord is more important than what we do for the Lord.
Listen, I don’t know about anyone else in ministry, but I NEED to spend time at the feet of Jesus. I can’t even write good messages if I don’t spend time with Jesus. I can’t be any thing close to what and who God wants me to be…apart from spending time with Jesus. I need the hem of His robe. I need that better thing…because at the feet of Jesus is where I am ministered to by Him. That’s where I get what I need from Him, and if I neglect spending time with Him there…that’s when my life starts getting out of whack…and I wind up being out of balance.
I don’t have perfect balance in my life, but when I neglect time at the feel of Jesus…I find myself more like Martha than I do Mary. I don’t know about anyone else, but I want to be more like Mary. I want to find more time to be like Mary…and sit at Jesus’ feet. I NEED to find more time to sit at the feet of Jesus…How about you!?!
Jesus is trying to tell us to live in the moment. It is great that you are willing to be like Martha, and make sure that all of the popcorn is strung up, but it is not worth missing the opportunity to have a real conversation with a family member you don’t see often, or when your child’s face lights up because Santa indeed got that letter and delivered exactly what they asked for. It is not about all that we have to do, the list of things we have check off, but it is all about the moment.
“Live in the moment.”. That’s so easy to say isn’t it? It’s so easy to lose track of time, isn’t it? I mean there are times where it’s Friday, and it feels like Monday was just yesterday. I have to admit that I’m not very good at living in the moment because there’s many more times that I realize time just gets away from me. I find that happens more often the less time I spend with Jesus like Mary. When I run around like Martha it’s easy to allow life to get out of whack and unbalanced, but when I am able to slow down like Mary for the opportunity to sit with the Lord…I’m always amazed that time seems to get away from me less.
This year, don’t miss out on what is better. Take the opportunity to enjoy the time you have with friends and family. Take time not to worry about the things you have to do, but to enjoy the people you get to be with. Be present where you are, because that is what is better, and have yourself a merry little Christmas.
That’s something I was able to do with Thanksgiving, and something I’m trying to continue to do whether it’s a holiday or not. Slow down, and enjoy life. It’s hard to do, but it’s important. I’ve heard it said that there’s not one person on their death-bed who wishes they would’ve spent more time working. Most of them, I would imagine all wish that they would’ve spent more time with their families.
I don’t want to be on my death-bed before I realize I spent too much time working, and being busy. Do you? I’ve also heard it said that life isn’t about the years of your life, but the life in your years. Maybe this is a message being written by someone who is almost 40, and for the better part of my first 40 years, but the older I get the more I realize that life isn’t about stuff.
I think one of the things that I may be most thankful for is the ability to understand that the abundant life isn’t about stuff, but about the stuff that you can’t buy with money. The exceeding riches of God’s glory is about having a wealth not of material possessions, but of the fruits of the spirit…because there’s a limit to what you can have in the natural…material realm, but there’s unlimited wealth when it comes to matters of the spirit and heart. The older I get, and the longer I live…the more I realize that the most important things in life to me…are the things that add to the ability to receive and recognize more of the fruits of the spirit in my life…Things like love, peace, joy, forgiveness, long-suffering.
Do you know where understanding like that comes from? It comes from learning by sitting at the feet of the Master. God taught me that the abundant life isn’t about material gain, but about growth as a mature believer. The exceeding riches of God’s glory has more to do with recognizing that you’re growing the fruits of the spirit in your life, and that the things of the world are less important to you.
The idea of that post was to think of something every day for the month of November that I’m thankful for. By sitting at the feet of Jesus…it’s those times I can take a reflective look back at life and realize where I was…and where I am today. It’s how I came to understand another important thing that I wrote in this piece.
Day 26: I am thankful that I am able to recognize the man that God’s growing me up to be. I can actually look at myself in the mirror, and like what I see now-a-days. There was a time when I couldn’t say that, but God’s done such a remarkable work in my life…and maybe the think I’m most thankful for is that He’s not even close to being finished with me yet. I’m grateful that God is patient and long-suffering with me…and that He’s not shocked when I miss it…and He doesn’t ever throw His hands up in disgust and cast me away…He loves me…and He knows my heart…and I’m so thankful to know that I am His…I know that’s a lot of thankful’s…but most it’s easy to be thankful when you take the time to reflect on who you once were…and who you are today as a result of the grace and mercy and workmanship of God.
I am thankful for being able to sit at the feet of Jesus…because it’s here that He teaches me and molds me and helps me to become who He was designed me to be. It’s here that He tells me He’s proud of me, and some times He even has to scold me. It’s here that I’m able to allow the workmanship of His hands to do what He wants…and it’s here that I can take the time to live in the moment.
I know that I need to slow down. I need to spend more time enjoying life. I need to spend more time at the feet of Jesus. I need to spend more time focusing on the better, important, and needful things that Jesus said were important…and that’s something that I am going to focus on.
We only get one opportunity at life…and I don’t know about you…but I’ve wasted enough of mine chasing things that were of lesser value and importance. It’s time that I spend more time focused on the better things…Amen!?!
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
Today’s assignment is a good one. I want you to take some time to think about these two questions…maybe take them into that secret place with the Lord…and maybe for the first time ever…or the first time in a long time. Sit at the feet of the Master…and have Him help you answer these two questions:
What are some things you need to take off the list to make yourself become more like Mary?
What are the better things that you have chosen to be a part of this Christmas?
In Closing:
I think this would be a good message to close with a prayer…Amen!?! So…let’s pray:
Father, we come before You to sit at Your feet. Lord, so many of us (myself included) are so busy and flustered with the hustle and bustle of life. We’re caught up in the rat race, and many of us have had the cares of the world choke out our time with You. We’ve become Martha’s…so consumed with working, serving, and doing…that we forget that we need to spend time being filled, ministered to, and touched by You.
Lord, I ask You to help us make that list of things that will help us to become more like Mary. Help us to find the better thing. Help us, Lord, to find that time to sit at Your feet so that You can love upon us, minister to us, and mold us into the people You desire us to be.
Help us, Oh God, to live in the moments…and instead of being so busy trying to add years to our life…help us to slow down…and learn to add life to our years. I ask for those who are stretched and stressed that You extend Your hand of love, and remind them that You’ve invited them to give all their cares, concerns and worries to You…in exchange for a lighter load.
Oh, Lord, I pray for us all to learn to enjoy life more, and be less consumed by the things of the world. Help us to live more, laugh more, love more, and sit at Your feet more. In Jesus’ name I pray…and ask these things…Amen & Amen
Thank you for joining me today…please come back tomorrow for another message on another song as we count down to Christmas by taking a look at these Christmas Carols…Amen!?!
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Introduction:
We are taking our first visit to perhaps the greatest narrated of the Christmas stories…in the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. I believe we’ll probably spend a lot of time in Luke Chapter 2, and I also have a suspicion that we’re going to be using a lot of videos put to Chris Tomlin songs. I’m excited to get to talking about: “Angels We Have Heard On High”.
So, without any further delay, let’s see what we can learn from this beloved Christmas Carol: “Angels We Have Heard On High”
I believe that perhaps the best version of this song I’ve ever heard is played and sung by Chris Tomlin. I mean if you can’t find away to get excited about listening to this song…and his version of “Joy To The World: Joy Unspeakable Joy”…then I think maybe you might need to have someone check your pulse to make sure you’re actually alive. In fact, I’d even go so far as to hold a mirror in front of your nose to make sure you’re not just alive, but breathing too.
Can I touch on something for a moment!?! I find it amazing that we can get so excited over so many other things, but when it comes to God…it’s like pulling teeth to get us to even say an animated “Amen”. We get all excited over our favorite sports team winning a tough game, a job promotion, a new car, a new house, maybe a new marriage or baby, but we can’t seem to find the ability to get excited about the Lord…can we?
Is it just me…or have you noticed it to that when it comes to God it’s often difficult to muster the ability to shout an Amen, Praise the Lord, or Hallelujah. Which brings me back to my point…if you need help getting in the Christmas spirit, and getting excited about celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior…try listening to the first two songs of our “Carols: A Christmas Devotional” Series back to back…and if you’re not even mildly excited…please have someone check your pulse.
What gives you awe? What things cause you to become speechless when you see them? Is it the sight of a family member you haven’t seen in years? Is it visiting a majestic place like a mountain or a historical place like the ancient pyramids of Egypt? The night Christ was born was the most monumental and awe-inspiring event that as ever occurred in human history as God sent His one and only Son to earth so that we could ultimately have eternal life.
This is a packed little paragraph isn’t it? Let’s see if we can’t break it down some. What gives you awe? What things cause you to become speechless? Not to sound too overly spiritual here, but I think the things that leave me feeling the most awe is those personal, intimate moments in the presence of God. There are times when I am worshipping God that His presence is so tangible that I can’t even speak. I just sit there in silence, awe, and quietly enjoying the presence of the King of kings.
Just the simple fact that all I have to do in order to spend time in the presence of God is start worshipping…and He likes it enough to come and visit with me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that there’s no feeling like it in the world. There’s nothing that compares to being in the presence of the Lord…and I mean nothing. It’s the only time that I know of that I can find myself in awe and speechless at the same time.
Anyone else ever been there? Anyone else know what that’s like? The awe-inspiring thing is that it’s not always the same presence that shows up. Some times, it’s that sweet, silent and still presence of God. Some times, it’s the thick heavy presence where it’s like He’s sitting right next to me. Some times, it’s the loving presence of God where I can almost feel Him holding me. The point is…this is what is awe-inspiring to me…and when you spend time in God’s presence…there’s nothing at all that compares.
The night Christ was born was the most monumental and awe-inspiring event that as ever occurred in human history as God sent His one and only Son to earth so that we could ultimately have eternal life.
I can’t disagree with this at all. Folks make a big deal about the first time Barak Obama was elected, and that was an amazing moment in US History. Some people remember the moon landing as one of the greatest events. There are others that are talked about as great events in world history…but the single most important event of the world was when that little baby known as Emmanuel who found Himself in a tiny manger. The Savior of the world chose to enter time the way that all of us have to…and He did this so that WE could all have a relationship with Him.
If that’s not awe-inspiring…then I don’t know what is.
There has not been an event in history before or after Christ’s birth that resulted in such celebration that the angels themselves made their physical presence known and their voices heard in song. Can you imagine how the shepherds’ jaws must have dropped at the site and sounds of the angels? That moment was so majestic that we probably cannot fully comprehend what it was like because honestly, none of us have encountered such a sight.
There are only a couple of time periods that I think I would’ve liked to have been alive to witness. The first is the old western days, but the second is that I would’ve liked to have witnessed was any part of Jesus’ time on earth. What an amazing thing it must have been to have Jesus walking with you in the flesh. What an amazing thing it must have been to see the things He did…to see the star in the sky that night…to hear the angels singing. I can suppose that I would be quite frightened myself…I mean no one has ever seen anything like the shepherds and wise men did…and while there are amazing sights…I can’t imagine anything else was greater…except maybe witnessing the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus at the conclusion of His baptism.
Either way, I try to imagine what they saw, but even on the clearest nights I am certain that what I see today falls far short of what they saw that day. I try to imagine what it felt like, but I don’t believe I could ever accurately know what that night felt like neither. Majestic is a great word for what they must have seen, thought, and felt. I think that maybe that’s the feeling I get when I’m in the presence of the Lord today, but I’m guessing that anything I think that I can imagine probably falls far short of what those who witnessed the day of Jesus’ birth had.
It seems like people tend to have fewer experiences these days of complete awe. Technology has brought so much of the world to our living rooms and fingertips that we can see anything we want and feel like we are at anyplace we want to be. Unfortunately, most of us probably have fewer awe-inspiring moments with God like we should. Our relationship with Him often becomes too comfortable and even ordinary.
I have to admit. I don’t know why everyone is so down on the iPhone. I finally got my first iPhone this year, and it’s light-years better than the BlackBerry I owned. I have to admit there’s a joy in discovering all the features, and what the phone can do. Maybe it is a tad awe-inspiring, but even all the excitement over the newness of my phone doesn’t compare to being in the presence of the Lord.
I agree with the writer of this devotional. Technology has certainly dulled our senses to the awe-inspiring, but only to a certain degree. Those of us who know the tangible presence of God know that there’s nothing in the world…even all of the advances of modern technology that compares…Amen!?!
Where I agree with the writer is that I think we need to have more awe-inspiring moments, but the only way to do that is to turn off all those pieces of technology. It requires doing like Jesus did…we must get some where away from people…and seek the presence of the Father. Family…we need to do that too, and we need to do that on a regular basis. We can’t expect to encounter God once a month, once a week, or maybe a couple of times a year…we have to make regular time and visits to spend with God…and only God.
Family…every time I make the conscious effort to turn everything off, and just spend time with my Father…He shows up…and that awe-inspiring encounter happens. Like I said, the beauty of it is that it’s not always the same kind of encounter…but I promise you that if you’ll make that kind of effort…God will honor it, God will show up, and God will leave you with that feeling of awe you’re missing.
This Christmas, make an attempt to regain those awe-inspiring moments with God. Strive to make your relationship with Him something so inspiring that it causes you to rejoice like the angels did. Don’t let your relationship with Him be ordinary, but rather make it extraordinary.
I’m going to issue a challenge to not make an attempt just for Christmas, but once a week…every week…for the entire year. Make in a personal commitment to take one day a week to get alone with God, shut off the world and all those electronic devices, and seek the presence of your Father. Don’t let anything get in the way of it, and don’t let it become a routine. Don’t do it on the same day of the week, don’t do it at the same time of the day, but make sure that you take the time to do it…a minimum of one day a week…every week for the entire year…and see if this time next year…you don’t have more of them awe-inspiring moments and encounters with God.
I’m going to add something to that challenge. Get yourself a journal of some sort, and write down what happens in those moments. Be an active participant in your relationship with God. Remember the old cliche that you get out of things what you put into them. Family, you’re going to get out of your relationship with God what you put into it. In other words, with God you reap what you sow. If you sow very little…you’re going to reap very little, but if you sow much…you will reap much. God will show up…but how much He shows up and to what degree He shows up…is up to us.
I don’t know about you, but I can always use more encounters with God. I’m going to make it a personal commitment of mine to do this challenge, and I hope you do too.
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
What? Homework in a Christmas Devotional? Yes. There’s homework. As always, the home work is between you and the Lord. It’s your decision as to whether you want to try it…or not. Just like I told you a minute ago, however, one thing I do know is that every attempt and step we make towards God…is honored…and He will draw nigh to us every time we make the effort to draw nigh to Him.
Describe some of the awe-inspiring moments you’ve had with God. How have these moments impacted you?
What changes do you need to make in your life so that you can start having more awe-inspiring moments with God?
In Closing:
So far, I know it’s only the second message, but this series has lived up to what I thought it would. It’s early in the series, but so far it has been great! I hope you’re enjoying reading these messages as much as I’m enjoying writing them…and I also hope that you’ll incorporate some of the challenges in these messages to your personal lives and time with God.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Introduction:
Good afternoon, and welcome to the very first Christlike Ministries NWAChristmas Devotional Series: “Carol: A Christmas Devotional”. I am so excited about this series, and believe that as we learn more about these carols…I believe God’s going to speak some things to us that we wouldn’t have expected to know from doing a series on Christmas Carols. How many of you know that God can speak through anything…we just need to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Ghost…Amen!?!
Today, we take a look at “Joy To The World”. What a fantastic way to start a Christmas series…as a child I remember the anticipation of Christmas…but today…it’s become more about the anticipation of celebrating the birth of my Savior…and yet another opportunity to gather and fellowship with family.
I pray this series speaks to our hearts, and that we come away from it with a better understanding of the stories behind these carols…and more importantly…encounter God as we discover the joy and real reason behind the celebration of Christmas…Amen!?!
Well…what would be the point of having a Christmas carol devotional if we didn’t include a video of the Christmas Carol. I love the addition of “Joy, Unspeakable Joy”…to this song because it’s about the arrival of our King of kings and Lord of lords. The Savior of the world arrives in a tiny little manger…the earth received her King that joyful day…and out of that was birthed a song to tell the story.
Isaac Watts wrote “”Joy to the World” in 1719. Since then, every Christmas season, carolers cast those words into the air like a lifeline out into the ocean of humanity. And every “”fish” surely finds something inviting and worth nibbling at. The thrill of hope within the message spools out to touch a weary world with anticipation of tasting something really good!
I find it amazing that even most television shows…when they have carolers…this is one of the songs you almost always here. Throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas many television shows will try to incorporate Christmas into their shows, and I’m always amazed at how many of those television shows include “Joy To The World” as one of the carols that’s sang on their shows.
“The thrill of hope within the message spools out to touch a weary world with anticipation of something really good.” I can’t argue with that…Amen!?! How many of you know that our world is weary today…and could use the message of hope that this song has within it!?! I mean, from sea to shining sea…there’s weary people all over the world…and I believe that much of it is because it’s trying to do so much without the help of the God that created it…and came to give it the joy that they seek.
After all, joy is one of the fruits of the spirit…is it not!!?! There’s no secret that if you look around the world…there’s not much true…authentic joy is there!?!
Joy came to the world because God our great Creator loved His creation so much that He sent His Son to reveal His story, and so that over time, His character and ultimate good will toward mankind would be recognized.
The goodness of God is something that is often masked by personal achievement, and I believe the reason there’s so many weary people like we just talked about is because they’re seeking joy from a place they cannot find it. Joy cannot be found within ourselves…it cannot be found in our achievements…and it cannot be found anywhere other than a personal, intimate relationship with God.
How do I know that? I’ve experienced the weariness that the world has in my life, and while certainly not to the extend that of what we see going on in the world today…but none-the-less…I know what it’s like to be so weary because you feel like your chasing an impossible thing to have…joy.
I used to get jealous of people who walked around looking like they were just full of joy and happiness. I wanted that so much, but it always seemed to allude me. Any joy I tasted was fleeting and short-lived because the moment I began to taste a little of it…the moment I looked at myself…and thought that I was doing something right. I thought joy had come into my life because I was achieving it…and don’t you know eventually that joy vanished…and I was left weary and full of despair again.
Why? Joy is actually an acronym. Joy stands for “J”- Jesus, “O” – Others, and “Y” Yourself. In other words, joy is accomplished by putting Jesus first. Why? Because when you have Jesus first…then your priorities are correct. Do you know that the most joy I experience is when I put someone else ahead of myself!?! Jesus…Others…Yourself. I promise you that if you will keep those three people in the proper order…you’ll discover a joy inside of you that’s…well…unspeakable.
Listen…we’re not meant to find joy within ourselves. I know that’s a foreign idea to so many of you, but the truth is…we’re meant to find joy by following that simple formula provided by the acronym there. When you put Jesus and others first…there’s an unspeakable joy that comes from it.
For example. How many of you buy a very special gift for that certain someone, and you can’t wait to see the look on their face when they open that little box…right!?! That’s joy right there. The joy you get from seeing that person’s face light up with a smile, and if it’s a good enough gift you might even get a tear or two, right!?! That’s what I’m talking about here, family. Joy isn’t attained by doing for ourselves…it’s attained by doing for others…it’s attained by giving to others.
Look…the Bible talks about how God loves what kind of giver? Cheerful, right!?! Blessed be the name of the Lord when there’s pain in the offering…right? Why? There’s a certain joy that comes from giving to the Lord…isn’t there? Maybe there’s a visitor from out of the area, or maybe what we’re giving towards is gonna help buy shoes for children in a third world country or something…there’s a joy that comes from giving into something like that…isn’t there.
I think I’ve managed to prove the point…joy comes from being a blessing to others. I began to realize that once I sought joy outside of myself…it was much easier to come by…and it lasts a whole lot longer.
The impact on earth of Christ’s birth will never diminish despite enemies’ attempts to stop it. John 21:25 says that the world would not be able to contain the books that could be written about what the Lord did while on earth. Since then many more testimonies of His transforming love have been and will be written.
How many of us have a story of the transforming love of God…Amen!?! For those of you who have followed me for any length of time…you know that I refuse to take credit for any of the transformation that’s taken place in my life…because I’m well aware of the fact that none…and I do mean none…of the credit belongs to me. I am who I am today because of the love, grace, mercy, and workmanship of God…and my prayer is that I won’t ever forget that…and so far I haven’t.
This also speaks to my declaration a while back through many of our series…there’s no other book like our Bible. It’s the only book that’s still writing it’s own story…and it’s all non-fiction. Every single story and testimony written is another story that John 21:25 is talking about. My story is one of those testimonies…your story is too…Amen!?!
Nehemiah 8 records that Nehemiah, the leaders and the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with great joy, after sharing God’s Word. Rejoice in God’s Word and thoughts of the Savior’s birth, His purpose and His inheritance.
I can be honest with you. If it weren’t for this series…I wouldn’t even know about Nehemiah, but that’s one of the bi-products of a series like this. I imagine we’re going to get into many of the lesser known prophets, and that we’re going to discover people that we didn’t even know about…and they’re going to be able to speak into our lives…and add to the transforming power of the Word of God…Amen!?!
This reminds me of what we just did over Thanksgiving. In fact, in many ways Thanksgiving is the official beginning of the Christmas Season that’s usually ended by the celebration of bringing in another New Year. There will be Christmas parties where many of us work, there may be more family dinners, and other traditions that take place during this time of year that don’t happen at any other time of the year.
This is my favorite time of the year because of the first time all year…people figure out that joy of gift giving, the importance of spending time with family, and people are a little friendlier…a little less selfish…and for a short time…there’s an atmosphere of joy that comes from the Christmas season.
I love gathering with family. I love that I’m married, and working to establish new traditions in my family. I love that there’s going to be family feasts and gatherings, and there’s a lot of joy that comes from this time of the year…but sadly once 2013 hits…after a week or so…the atmosphere changes back to the way it usually is all year. We go back to being consumed with ourselves, work, and being selfish returns…and before long we forgot what brought us joy…if even for a few short weeks…and we’re back to the rat race of life.
Can I challenge us this year? Can I challenge us to not be so quick to forget what brought us the joy we’ll have over the next couple of weeks? The joy of trying to find that special gift, the joy of seeing that person’s face when they receive the gift, the joy of spending much-needed time amongst family, and finally…the joy of being in a place where maybe for the first time all year…we’re reminded of what’s really important in life. The challenge is to maintain that cheerful atmosphere of joy…of thinking of the needs of others, and knowing that as you take care of others…God will take care of you. That’s the kind of challenge I’m talking about…making the pursuit of joy more important than the pursuit of personal gain or anything else.
Anyone going to accept this challenge with me?
In Closing:
As we close, I just want to say again what an honor it is to be used of God to write these messages, and that there’s an unspeakable joy that comes from knowing that in some way…God is using these messages to impact lives. I hope that you’ll follow along on this Christmas Devotional countdown to Christmas…and that we have special encounters with God along the way.
Thank you so much to those of you who are joining me through this series…and I’m going to work really hard to make sure I don’t get behind…and if I do to make them up as quickly as possible because this series will take us right up to Christmas Eve…and I am really going to work hard to make sure we finish this series on time.
Now that I’ve put that out there…I’m going to ask you all to pray for me. As I put that out there…I just know that the enemy is going to work to try to keep me from finishing this series on time…so please pray for me that God will give me the strength, ability, endurance, and that supernatural ability that only comes from Him to be able to stay caught up on this series…so that we can finish it on Christmas Eve…can y’all do that for me!?!
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessings & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
This message was originally written in my Facebook “notes” section. I thought I would take a look back at some of my first writings, and start working at getting them moved over here to the WordPress site. I really like this message. It was written on Thursday, September 1, 2011…which is a few months before the official launching of Christlike Ministries NWA.
I hope you’ll enjoy the look back at some of my earlier messages as I work to get them all posted here, and maybe we’ll even see if the Lord has anything else to say to us through them.
So…here’s “Are You Humble or Prideful” from Thursday, September 1, 2011’
There are two characteristics that can either make or break a Believer…those characteristics are humility and pride. Being humble by your own efforts can produce pride and cause us to look down upon others that may not have been able to reach your “standard” of Christianity (Look at the Pharisee and the Publican- Luke 18:9-14) Look to the Cross of Christ where humility was demonstrated and afforded for us all and allow the Holy Spirit to clothe you with humility (1 Peter 5:5) Surrender all at the foot of the Cross.
We are all God‘s workmanship, and have no right to boast in pride over anything.
All we do and have is solely based upon the grace and mercy of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Remember that Jesus said in His own words: “apart from Me you can do nothing”?. Paul writes that we are to do all that we do for God’s glory, and not our own. He also tells us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. The bottom line is as stated in Proverbs the number one sin God hates is pride, and that’s because when we’re full of pride we’re full of ourselves. We’re praising our own efforts, abilities, and accomplishments…we have made ourselves an idol…we’ve made ourselves into a god.
However, when we ever stay connected to the Vine, when we ever keep the Cross before us, and when we remember that all we are and all have is received by grace through faith…humility comes. When we shrink in our lives in surrender to the will of the Father it is then God who brings the increase to us. Not so we can talk about how great we are, but so that He can put on display for the world how great HE is.
Do you take the credit?
Do you believe you got where you are on your own?
Or
Do you know that everything you are, have, do, and are becoming is because of the grace, mercy, and workmanship of God?
The more I learn from life and the Lord…the more I understand that we’re promised nothing when we’re outside of the will of God for our lives. We’re promised blessings, good things, and more…but those promises are conditional upon us remaining in the will of God for our lives. When a branch is hanging off of the vine…it is still connected, but in order for it to grow it has to be redrafted to the vine. Christ is already abiding in us through the person of the Holy Ghost. Jesus told us the Holy Ghost would be in us, with us, and work through us to accomplish the will of God on the earth.
Friends, John writes in Chapter 15 that Jesus Christ spoke of being the Vine, and that we are the branches connected to that vine. He was the One who said that It’s impossible to for us to grow and bare fruit if we’re not fully connected to the Vine. The simple reason that so many Christians aren’t experiencing growth because they’re partially separated from the Vine. There are a couple of reasons that there are so many Christians separated from the Vine. One…they don’t know that they are disconnected from the Vine. Two…because they are trying to stay connected by works instead of faith. Therefore, instead of being fully connected to the Vine they are barely hanging on by a thread.
Pride severs us from the Vine because we think we can do things & grow on our own…We cannot.
Humility is what reconnects us to the Vine. When life proves that in our own abilities don’t work, and life will prove that out…it will either cause us to be bitter or realize we need to try a different way. Now before you beat your chest to talk about the success you’ve had without God…let me assure you that success won’t last long. It’s limited, it’s short-lived, and it’s empty. I’ve found in my life that the more success I thought I had in my own abilities…not only were my abilities limited, but success was not only limited…it lead me to being discontented with other parts of my life. Until I learned to start abiding in the Vine…all the success that I thought I achieved was short-lived, and when the failure came…the heart-break from that failure was great. Remember the Proverb that says with pride comes a great fall. I know what it’s like to achieve so-called self-made success, and I know what it’s like to achieve Holy Ghost assisted and lead success. There’s no comparison to the amount of success, and the joy and fulfillment that comes from realizing success comes because of abiding in the Vine.
Listen, here’s a pretty good illustration. Severed vines may produce fruit. However, we all know that when you pick from a severed vine even though it’s fruit…it is not good…quality fruit. In order for a vine to produce good, quality fruit it has to remain attached to the vine…because the vine contains all of the nutrients and life blood that fruit needs to become fully mature…and quality fruit.
Listen, when you go to a grocery store, and you look at a bundle of grapes for example…you can tell the grapes that stayed grafted to the vine because they look better than the ones that didn’t…don’t they. What do we do with the grapes? We eat the good-looking grapes, and throw away the bad ones. How’s that for a picture of the difference between believers who abide in Christ…and those who do not? Just as there are grapes in the bottom of the bag that we know were once attached to the vine, they’re usually brown, and rotting away on the inside.
Thus…when you have a believer that was once attached to the Vine of Christ…you have believers who are carnal, and beginning to decay on the inside…why because they’re allowing all the stuff from the world to influence them…and eventually because they’re no longer connected to the Vine…they don’t have the life blood of the Holy Spirit flowing through them…to help them fight off things that will cause them to decay and begin to rot on the inside. Have you ever bitten into a grape that looked good on the inside, but began to decay on the inside? The don’t taste very good do they? If you find believers that are not abiding in the Vine…they are the ones who are always struggling, always dealing with sickness, and they’re the ones that Jesus talks about being lukewarm. Just like we will spit out grapes that taste bad…Jesus says He will spit out lukewarm believers.
On the other hand, when we have believers that remain attached to the Vine of Christ…you have believers who are able to fight off more of the things that will cause them to decay, and get into a carnal mindset. The life blood of the believer is that still small voice on the inside that tells us not to do things, gives us an urgency to pray for a certain person, pay for someone’s groceries, or simply remind you that you’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We eat the good-looking, plumb, juice grapes because they’ve remained attached to the vine…and they’ve received all the nutrients they need to produce quality tasting grapes.
Friends, let me ask you a couple of questions for you to think about. Do you know why most Christians have no joy? They are severed from the Vine. Do you know why Christians are some of the meanest people? They are severed from the Vine. Do you know why is the divorce rate in the church just as high as it is in the world? They are severed from the Vine. Why are there Christians who are striving, working, and stressed out? They’re severed from the Vine.
Jesus wasn’t joking when He said “Apart from ME you can do nothing”, but “with God ALL things are possible”.
There’s a quote that’s been given by many a preacher: “If you want to change the fruit you have to change the root.” If you want to change what you’re reaping in your life…then you might want to look at whether your rooted and grafted to the Vine of Christ or the vine of the world. Keeping in mind that while the vine of the world produces fruit…often times it’s not good for us because there’s been nutrients added, and some times artificially added to help produce things that are full of empty calories…and really have no nutritional value.
Can I tell you that’s what religion does? Religion force feeds you stuff that sounds like it would be good for you, but in reality there’s no nutritional value in your life for what religion teaches. Yes, they may have some good points, but every lie has a bit of truth in it. If there wasn’t a bit of truth in every lie…we wouldn’t be so willing to believe the lie. Someone who is good at manipulation can get people to believe just about anything…sound like someone we know!?!
The devil will always dress up his lies to make them look appealing. He’s always going to give you things that look and sound good…but when you partake of what he’s giving you…the end result is sin that needs to be repented from. Let me also say that we’re already forgiven of what ever sin that we get into, but we do have to remember that we need to confess our sins…and when we do God is faithful to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
Are you rooted in pride or humility? If you want to change what you’re reaping you have to change what your sowing! Are you sowing pride or are you sowing humility? If you want to kick the devil out of your life you have to resist him. What does that mean? It means submitting ourselves to God, and resisting the devil. We must resist the temptation to get into pride over anything in our lives because God hates a prideful and haughty spirit. If you’re depending upon yourself…you wind up embracing the same thing that caused Lucifer’s fall…God will share His glory with no one…including us. So, the best way to keep from getting prideful is to practice 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV): “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Peter says God resists the proud, but draws near to the humble. Want more of the tangible presence of God in your life? Humble yourself enough to be able to realize that in everything our dependence is upon Him. The thing of it is. When we’re dependent upon Him…than He directs our path (Proverbs 3:5-6). And in return we find independence. Not from God, but from the world.
4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
5 For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. Zechariah 2:4-5
Introduction:
I love doing these short, but sweet devotional series messages. They’re short, but there’s really a lot of good stuff that comes from these messages. I think this has been a really good series, and I’m glad we took the time to do it.
With that…let’s get into this last message…and close out this series.
Not too long ago, we did a message on this very topic during our “15 Days in the Word with John Piper” Series. So…I may have to just take a look at what we said during that message, and see if the Lord leads us in a similar direction today…or if He has something else in mind with today’s message.
There are mornings when I wake up feeling fragile. Vulnerable. It’s often vague. No single threat. No one weakness. Just an amorphous sense that something is going to go wrong and I will be responsible.
It’s usually after a lot of criticism. Lots of expectations that have deadlines and that seem too big and too many.
You know, ministry is one of those jobs where there’s not a whole lot of appreciation for, and most of the time if you tell someone you’re a pastor…they immediately change the way they act…even if it’s someone you’ve known for many years. I can’t tell you how many people who will be talking to me, and let a curse word slip and they grab their mouths and apologize like I’m surprised and appalled that they just said that word. I’m going to be honest with you here. I am a former United States Marine, and there are times when I can still cuss like one. I know, there’s many who are going to scold me saying that what’s in a person’s heart is going to come from their mouth, and they’re probably also going to quote James to me about how we shouldn’t bless God and curse with the same mouth. I am working on that, and I know that God’s working to clean up my tongue. However, since I’m one of those who can sometimes forget I’m a Christian, and let my tongue loose.
However, the point I was getting at is when you embrace the call upon your life…things change, and so do people’s perceptions of you. Immediately, people assume just because you’re in ministry you never take a sip of alcohol, never swear, and are always walking in the spirit. I wish I could tell you that was true. I wish I could tell you that I never drink a beer, but I do…and if that offends you I’m sorry…but I know what God has spoken to me about it…and I’ll take what He says to me over what anyone else’s opinion of me…because in the end the only opinion that really matters is His. I wish I could tell you I never utter a cuss word, but like I said a moment ago…I am more Marine than Christian. I wish that I could tell you that I always walk in the spirit, and never miss God by getting into my flesh…but that’s just not the case either.
“Lots of expectations” is something that stands out to me here. There are a lot of expectations when you tell someone you’re in ministry. They expect that you never drink a drop of alcohol, that you only listen to Christian music, you never watch anything on television or go to a movie, you never miss God, you’re always in the spirit, and there’s nothing but peace, joy, and contentment in your home.
I bet if you asked most pastors the ones who are real will all tell you that those expectations are unrealistic. I mean all of us that are in ministry are real people, and we all fall short of the glory of God. We aren’t immune to sin, heartache, heartbreak, or anything that anyone else who isn’t in ministry experiences. The difference is that we know who to turn to when we make mistakes, and we know who holds us in the palm of His hand.
So…I can only speak for myself, but please…don’t put me on some kind of holier than thou pedestal. The only reason I’m any different from anyone else is because I love the Lord, and am a whosoever that has called Him Lord…but I still have to confess my sins and shortcomings and repent of things all the time. So…I know I’ve said this a few times, and I feel like I need to say it again. If you’re looking for a perfect replica of Jesus…I’m not that guy. I’m a fallible human being who needs to live and walk by the grace of God just like everyone else…and some times…I don’t always choose to walk in that grace. I suppose I’ll lose some followers for being honest…but I’d rather be honest and transparent than give you some false image. I’m not perfect…but I am a son of the Most High God…and my perfection only comes because of my position in Christ.
As I look back over about 50 years of such periodic mornings, I am amazed how the Lord Jesus has preserved my life. And my ministry. The temptation to run away from the stress has never won out, not yet anyway. This is amazing. I worship him for it.
You know, Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that some times can cause us to reflect upon our lives, and it’s because of that time we often realize just how thankful we should be for the things that God has done in, thru, and with our lives…Amen!?! I know that as I look back over my 38 years of life…I’m amazed to see the fingerprints of God where I never thought I would. I can see where God had His hand on my life…even though I didn’t think He did. I can see the times where He carried me through life…you know where there was only one set of footprints in the sand.
You know, they talk about how hind-sight is 20/20, but in a way…hind-sight helps us to see where we’ve been, and how far we’ve come from where we’ve been as well. I’m so amazed that every time I take that reflective look back I see something else that I once did that God has removed from my life, or something that I had a hard time letting go of…and suddenly I realize I’ve forgiven myself. However, I also recognize that I couldn’t leave those things behind or forgive my past mistakes without God dealing and working in my, on me, and thru me.
I spent many years running away from the call of God on my life because I never really understood that He was going to so such a marvelous work in my life. I recognize that I have come a long way, and I also recognize that I have a long way to go. The old cliché about how I may not be where I want to be, but I thank God I’m not where I used to be really does come to mind more often than it doesn’t lately. The more I recognize about what God’s done in, with and through my life…the more I realize I have to be thankful for…and it doesn’t make it so hard to find something to say when it’s my turn at the Thanksgiving table.
It’s amazing to look back and see God at work in your life when you were oblivious to what He was doing, but when you take that time to reflect…it’s amazing just how much of God at work you can see. Anyone else know this to be true!?!
How has he done this? By desperate prayer and particular promises. I agree with Spurgeon: I love the “I wills” and the “I shalls” of God.
God is so willing and able to take care of us, but the key is we have to be willing to let Him do the work He wants to do in our lives. You see, the truth is we can come to Him as we are, but it’s God who does the workmanship in us, on us, and through us so that we’re molded closer and closer to the image of His Son. That’s the goal…to be conformed more and more into the image of His Son…right!?!
The thing is, if it was up to us to do the conforming…that’s not good news is it? You see part of the good news is that not only does God save us, but He also does the work in us, on us and thru us. How do I know this? Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) says that we are “created in His workmanship, and further the Bible goes on to say in Philippians 1:6 (KJV)“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Listen, God does the work to bring us into His family, and then He does the work on us to conform us more into the image of His Son. Our job is to submit to Him, and allow Him to do the work. Doesn’t that make life a whole lot easier than what religion teaches? If we listened to most teaching today they would make it sound like we have to save ourselves, maintain our salvation, work our whole lives to become holier, and clean up our lives. If you listen to much of today’s teaching…they would have you to believe that we’re the ones who need to do all the work, but that’s not what the Bible says…the Bibles says that we’re God’s workmanship, that He begins and completes the work, and that He’s the potter while we are the clay…He does the molding, working, changing, delivering, healing, saving, and more. What do we do? RECEIVE what He’s done.
Well, I believe this is a good place to end this message, and this series…so I believe I’m going to.
Conclusion:
So, we’ve talked about taking that reflective look back, and that God’s already done the work while we need to get to a place where we believe and receive that. I think that these two points work together because when we take that look back to where and who we were…and who we are now…we can see God’s handy work and workmanship in our lives…I know I can.
Not only does that give us opportunity to be thankful, but it should also give us joy and happiness to know that while we thought nothing much was happening in our lives…God was still working…and that means we’re in a better place today than we were this time last year…and I don’t know about you…but as Thanksgiving has come and gone…that’s just another reason to be thankful…Amen!
Closing:
In closing, I would just like to say that I really enjoyed this short series, and that it’s been a good little one. It’s been a good time, and I think we’ve gotten some pretty good stuff out of this short…but sweet series. I hope you’ll join me again on Monday for the start of our next series: “God’s Pleasure in Creation”.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessing & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Amplified)
Introduction:
I didn’t think I was going to have a Thanksgiving message, but that’s before I was left here at home because I won’t be needed until later. So, naturally, I have the worship music on, and I was being selfish getting ready to go meet with my wife and her family for dinner…and the presence of God fell…and low and behold…a message is in my heart.
So…I don’t have a long time to write…so without further delay…let’s see what the Lord would have to say to us this day…this Thanksgiving Day…November 22, 2012…
Today’s Message: “Give Thanks in All Situations”
Happiness depends upon favorable outer conditions. You receive a bonus or promotion, you can afford a special vacation, or it’s a perfectly sunny day. But seasons can change can’t they? Instead of sunny skies…we see clouds and then it rains. Your company is bought out, and they ship the jobs overseas…and suddenly that job you received the bonus from is no longer gone…but you’re without a job. A devistating loss, a cherished family member or friend passes away, and you’re left with the reality that life really is sometimes as cruel as it is full of joy…isn’t it!?!
You know, those of you who follow me know that Romans 8:28 is one of my favorite scriptures, but there was a time when I had a wrong understanding of that verse…as did many and maybe as do many of you. I used to think that meant that everything in my life would be much better, and easier to deal with once I became a Christian. However, that’s not the case is it?
Romans 8:28 says that God will cause all things to work together for good…not that all things in our lives would be good. Because I found out relatively quickly that there are still trials, temptations I would give into, persecution, and that not everyone would be as excited as I am that I’m a child of God. I found out that I’m not immune to falling from grace or heartache and heartbreak. In fact, I’ve found that there’s actually MORE of those things, and they result from me not really relying upon God…there’s a reason Proverbs 3:5-6 is in the Bible…and that reason is that if you rely upon your own strength, wisdom, abilities, and understanding…eventually you’re going to realize that compared to God’s…we are no match…and that’s how we some times find ourselves in the pitfalls of life.
Not all of the heartaches are from that. Some times…the ruler of this world still has the ability to bring things into our lives. Listen…not everything that happens in our lives is God’s fault. Remember Job? The devil asked God for permission to do some things in Job’s life…and God allowed it. He allowed it to prove that no matter what the devil threw at him…He would still rejoice and give thanks to God.
How many of you know that in the midst of heartache and trial is when we need to go to the Source, and find that joy that seems to elude us during these times? We have to some times force ourselves to praise God in the midst of the storms don’t we? I can admit that I don’t always feel like raising my hands and worshiping God…but that’s my flesh. I have to force myself to press pass my flesh, feelings, and circumstances of life…to raise my hands in worship to my Lord and King…how about you?
You know, we talk about approaching the throne of grace boldly with confidence to receive grace and mercy to help us in our time of need. That verse keeps coming into our messages doesn’t it. I believe that’s because some of us are going to experience more times of need, and we need to know that in order to get through them…WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO TO GOD…our abilities aren’t going to get us through…WE’RE GOING TO NEED GOD’S GRACE TO HELP US IN OUR WEAKENESS…that’s HOLY GHOST right there, family…write that down…we’re going to be driven to run to the throne…and I’m being serious.
God will be our comfort and provider. Even in the darkest night, He can and will bring joy in the morning because He is FAITHFUL. Take your fears, your heartaches, your heartbreaks, your struggles, your problems, your strongholds…take it all and come BOLDLY AND CONFIDENTLY to the throne of grace…because God is there…and HE WILL HELP YOU.
Look, we can waste a lot of time and energy fighting these things with our own abilities and strength…but that’s what it’s going to be. Our abilities are not going to work. We’re not going to be strong enough to face what’s coming in our lives on our own…I said it and I mean it…WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO RUN TO THE THRONE!!!
When times are tough, however, we need to kick the devil in his teeth by finding joy in those times as James exhorts us to do. Paul writes here in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to give thanks in ALL things. Good, bad, ugly, and indifferent. If you want to make the devil mad…when he brings things to your life…respond first by running to the throne…and then by lifting your hands and praising God that trials are coming your way…and that God causes ALL things to work together for God in your life because you love God and are called according to His purposes. Nothing can separate us from His love…nothing formed against you will prosper because if God is for us (and He is for us) nothing can come against us.
This attitude of gratitude for the unseen grace that is always with us…because God is in us…and we are in Him…because we’re in Christ. He will help us to relax and have that peace that surpasses all understanding. It will help us to relax our resisitance and accept the current of grace that flows within your life.
Giving thanks will help us to find serenity in troubled times, and become more aware of life’s precious gifts in all seasons of life. It will also help us to become more aware of the working of God in our lives because we’re not going to wallow in our circumstances any more…we’re all going to run to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help us in time of need…right!?!
I don’t know about you…but there’s no greater feeling than knowing that when things come in my life that I can’t handle…I’ve a God that’s ready, willing, and waiting for me to give it all to Him…and He will take it…and make good out of it…and that will give us more to be thankful for…Amen!?!
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
When fear makes you start feeling crazy, step back and say to yourself, “I am fine at this moment and God is guiding me. He causes all things to work together for good in my life because I love God and am called according to His purposes. Greater is He that’s in me than anything that’s coming against me.”
Conclusion:
Well, praise the Lord for this short message. Instead of talking about what we don’t have, express gratitude for the blessings you do have. That’s taking joy in trials and circumstances…because as children of God…He is saying to all of us that He’s got our backs…all we have to do is bring our needs to Him…and He will do the rest…Amen!?!
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. John 17:24
Introduction:
It’s that time of the week when I get a little more lazy that usual. Tomorrow is my last day of work…unless they decide at the last minute to run a route Thanksgiving Day, and I’ve worked the for the last week without much rest. I’ve had some various aches keeping me awake, but I believe that for the most part they are starting to go away…and I’m thankful for that because I haven’t been in the spirit very much…but that’s just me being honest. I get in the flesh…and some times…I even stay there for a while. I’ve said time and again that I’m not perfect, and if you’re expecting someone who is flawless…then you’re following the wrong ministry. I’m not perfect…I’ve a sin nature just like anyone else, but it’s what I do with it that makes a difference. Some times…I give in, and I have to repent and ask forgiveness. Other times…I’m able to resist the devil. It’s not by my power or might, but His…and some times I still rely upon Bryan power instead of God’s.
Anyways…today we look at one of the verses in what we really ought to call the Lord’s Prayer. This is basically Jesus making His last requests because we know not too long after this prayer…Jesus is captured, and we all know what happened next…He was crucified.
So…while we label the prayer Jesus taught the disciples as “The Lord’s Prayer”…the prayer that we read here in John 17…this is the real Lord’s Prayer…and there’s a lot of good stuff that He prays for us…and it’s one of those chapters that’s highly recommended reading. How many of you know…that if Jesus prayed it for us…we might want to take some time to read what He prayed…Amen!?! I mean, Paul’s prayers are great, David’s worship is awesome, but I don’t know about you…but since I know that Jesus is God…I love reading what God prayed over me…Amen.
So…let’s see what we’re gonna talk about today…in today’s message on Finding Real Happiness.
So, yesterday…we basically took up the entire message talking about how if we can’t think of anything else…when it comes to be our turn to give something we’re thankful at the dinner table…those of us that are whosoever’s who have called upon the name of Jesus for salvation…all of us have at least one thing that we can be thankful…and for more than just Thanksgiving…Amen!?! I mean we should be thankful for the Cross 365 days a year…and 366 days when we have leap year…right!?!
So…another thing that we can be thankful for is God’s love. We can call in the love of Jesus or the love of God. It doesn’t matter because they’re both the same person…Amen. Jesus is the Son, and God is the Father. So…either way…when we talk about the love of God…we can call it God’s love or Jesus’…because the proof of that love…is the Cross.
Friends…think about something for a moment. If you want to know how passionate Jesus loves us…think about what He endured to prove it. How many of you would take the punishment Jesus took for millions and billions of people? Keep in mind that out of these billions of people…He is well aware that possibly millions are going to die rejecting Him.
It kind of puts into perspective those high school heartaches doesn’t it? I mean, when I think of what Jesus went through, and He went through it knowing people would still reject Him…and He did it out of love…knowing He’d be rejected. That’s pretty heavy and deep, friends. Seriously! We think that girl or guy that dumped us before the senior prom broke our hearts…try having millions of people reject the greatest sacrifice one could make to prove their love for someone.
Do I really need to pull out John 15:13 (KJV)? “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Can I tell you that’s why as a veteran it breaks my heart to see people protest the very people who willingly lay down their lives for the sake of defending America’s freedoms? I can’t tell you how many times I burst in tears at the end of Rambo II as he replies to a question by Colonel Trautman. It’s one of my favorite movie lines ever…because if you talked to any member of the military…we would probably all give this answer.
For those of you who may not know the story, but basically it’s a movie about a man who is sent to find out if there are still concentration camps for American POW’s following the Vietnam war. That was a sad time in our history…I’m glad I didn’t serve back then because it breaks my heart to watch the protests on the movie’s…I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to see them in person.
So…the exchange goes something like this. Trautman says something to Rambo about not hating his country for what happened in Vietnam…and Rambo says: “I don’t hate it, I’d die for it.” Then Trautman asks Rambo what it is he wants, and Rambo says this: “I want what they want, and each and every person who went over there and spilled their guts and gave all they had wants. It’s for our country to love us…as much as we love it.”
Friends…can I tell you that the Holy Ghost is saying that to us every day of our lives? He constantly points to the Cross to remind us that Jesus loved us so much that He died to prove it. All Jesus wants from us is for us to love Him as much as He loves us. He laid down His life for us, and we think of it as an inconvenience to lay down Burger King Whopper’s for 21 days for Him when He asks us to fast.
I’m sorry for the Rambo reference, but hopefully you’ll understand the illustration. I know I’m way off topic, but some times…it’s necessary to go off topic…Amen!?!
Okay…let’s get back to the message at hand…
Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we’re his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.
Isn’t that a definition of pride? When we allow our preciousness to become our god? When we feel like we don’t need God? When we allow ourselves to become our god? It’s hard to have things thrown in our faces like that isn’t it? Can I ask you who the god of your life is? Have you allowed your preciousness to God to lead you to a place of pride or does it leave you in a place of being humble knowing that we don’t deserve His love, mercy or grace? Can I tell you that there’s a fine line between boldness and pride? Boldness comes from being confident in God…Pride comes from being confident in us. So…I ask again…are you confident in your ability or are you confident in God? Okay…I’m done poking at you…I love y’all, and if I didn’t…I wouldn’t write what’s on my heart…I’d just give you sweet and rosy stuff like one Joel Osteen…in fact…Joel Osteen’s a good example of someone who has allowed their preciousness to God to turn them into a god. Now…he’s changed the gospel to suit his preaching style…and to sell books…such a powerful and popular minister…and he cares more about his reputation than the true gospel…that’s pride…and we all know that God hates that.
God does indeed make much of us (adoption!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.
Oh boy. Apparently this is one of those messages where I meddle with you for a while. This next point leads me to what I usually talk about when it comes to worshipping God. Now, I’m not trying to be judgmental or anything, and I’m not one that jumps and shouts and stuff…but I’m also one that cannot stand or sit in church and not be moved by the praise and worship of my King. For the life of me, I cannot understand how someone can stand or sit in church with their arms crossed, checking their watches, and hoping that the worship team would sit down so the pastor can preach his message so that we won’t miss too much of the football game.
Now, I live in SEC country, and there’s a lot of Arkansas Razorback fans here. They get all excited and have this “Woo Pig Suey” whenever the Razorback football team scores. To me it sounds a whole lot more like “Whoopty Doo”, but what do I know I’m a Badger fan from Big 10 country. However, these same people who will whoop and shout for the Razorbacks are some of the same people who can barely speak out an “Amen” or “Praise the Lord” or “Hallelujah” during praise and worship of the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Excuse me, but did the Arkansas Razorbacks (or whatever team you root for) lay down their lives so that you could receive eternal life? Did any of the football players shed their blood so that your sins would be forgiven, and you could have access to God? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cheering for favorite sports teams…that’s not what I’m driving at. However, what I am getting at is why is it that you can get that excited about a football team that’s there merely for your entertainment…and you can’t muster up a “Hallelujah” for the One who gave you eternal life?
When is the last time that you allowed God to draw you out of yourself to enjoy His greatness, His presence, or His love? Can I tell you that if you’re not encountering God when your going to church…it’s a waste of your time? You would be better off staying home and watching that football game your so worried your going to miss…than missing out on an encounter with God because football is more important to you than God.
I love football, but no where near as much as I love God. If church goes a little long on Sunday because we encounter God during worship…then who am I to complain. In fact, I don’t complain…I enjoy it…and for those of you who have followed along with me for any length of time…you know that in addition to loving football…I’ve been up all night delivering doughnuts. So, not only would I like to watch football, but I’d like to lay down and go back to bed.
Yes…there are times where I give into the flesh because I’ve had a horrible time resting, and I just need to get to bed. However, when I am in church the last thing I want to do is rush through it because I’m tired and want to watch football…I want to encounter God. I need His touch, I need His love, I need His presence, and that’s when God gets me out of myself to enjoy His greatness, presence, and love.
So…what’s your excuse? How can you stand with your hands in your pockets or arms crossed with that scowl on your face wishing the worship team would just stop singing so we can get on with the church service? I told you…there are times that I’m going to be straight forward, and this is one of those times…if you feel that being in God’s presence is an inconvenience…wait till you’re standing before His throne for real…and He sends you away because He never knew who you were.
If you don’t believe that’s going to happen…read the story of the sheep and the goats. Then read some of the stories…like one of the blind men that Jesus healed. People were trying to silence him, and eventually he’s like: “You don’t know like I know what Jesus has done for me…I can’t help but shout and praise Him.”
When’s the last time you had that feeling that no one knows like you know what Jesus did for you…and you just can’t help but worship Him…even if it does make you look like an idiot. I don’t care…I’m Jesus’ idiot…and I’d rather look like an idiot for Him…then have Him tell me He never knew me…Amen!?!
Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together?
Man, I don’t know about anyone else, but if Jesus came to sit down with me I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else but Him. I can only hope that I wouldn’t be too awestruck to hear Him say that He really loves me. What would I focus on the rest of the day that I got to spend with Him? Come on, I’m about 99.99% sure that the only thing I’d want to do is sit at His feet…if I could even sit…I think I’d probably find myself on my face before Him ashamed to look upon His beautiful face. In fact, I have a picture of what I’d look like with Jesus. It would probably look something like this:
It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” This is joy indeed. But not the heights and not the focus.
I would have to say that I agree with John’s assessment of songs and sermons here. It is very, very important for us to have a clear understanding that yes…God does love us. He loves us very much, and we are extremely valuable to Him. So valuable that He paid for us with the most precious commodity ever…the Blood of Jesus. Each and everyone of us has been purchase with the Blood of Jesus.
But…this goes back to what I was talking a moment ago with the Rambo reference, and the illustration of us standing in church with our hands in our pockets wishing the service would get on with it. What about OUR adoration for HIM? What about getting out of ourselves, and realizing that this is a TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIP…and that it requires a response from us? I know that there are many of you who chuckled because you know people like that in your church, and some of you got offended because you’re one of those people in church…but I can’t stop asking you when is the last time you realized that your relationship with God isn’t all about you…it’s about Him too!?!
My goodness. I know that God is good all the time and all the time He is God. But, how bout some good old fashioned “Lord, I lift Your Name on High”? How about “Shout to the Lord” because there’s none that compares to Him? How about a song by Brian Johnson that I really like…
I Really Love You–Bethel Live–Brian & Jenn Johnson
How about a song that blesses Him, and worships Him…and speaks of our love for HIM? I’m just saying that maybe it’s a good idea once in a while for us to remind Him that we love Him. It’s not really possible for us to love Him as much as He loves us, but it’s alright to try…Amen!?!
By the way, don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of great worship music, and it’s important to hear sermons that teach us about the love of God. I’m not saying we shouldn’t sing those songs, and perhaps the area I disagree with John is that I don’t believe that sends a wrong message…I just think that it some times puts the focus on Him and His love for us…and there should be room made for us to worship and declare our love for Him…Amen!?!
What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?
Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”
Again, I don’t know what an encounter with God would go like, and what it would look like. I would have to be thankful for a full day because if I only had a few minutes…I know it would look like the picture I already posted. However, if I had some time to spend with Him…I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have much to utter other than I love You, You’re awesome, and I can’t believe You’re here with me. I think I’d be a lot like Thomas to be honest. Not that I doubt He’s God, but I guess I’d be stunned that He took time to visit with me. How about you?
He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.
He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.
He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.
He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.
He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.
He says, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and his words are amazing.
Jesus…He’s just amazing. Everything He does, everything He says, and everything He is. There’s not one thing about Jesus that isn’t amazing or awesome. One of my favorite old time songs is Rich Mullin’s “Awesome God”…because He is awesome. Chris Tomlin has a couple of good songs in this area…like “Indescribable”, and “How Great Is Our God”.
See…that’s true worship. True worship is when the focus is off of us and what He does for us…and it’s on Him. Friends…right now at this very moment there are beings gathered around His throne, and the only thing they sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who Was, and Is and Is to come.” This is about God…it’s about how holy HE is…how awesome HE is…how amazing HE is…Amen!?!
Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die for us) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation – all these have to happen. They are the act of love.
Here we are back to yesterday’s point. Everyone of us who calls Jesus Lord has something to be thankful for. The Cross is the very symbol of His love for us, and His awesomeness. His glory is matchless, and there’s none that compares to Him…NONE.
We always have something to be thankful for. We always should have that as our answer. What am I thankful for? I don’t know about you guys. I am grateful for my job, I’m blessed to have a family I love and that loves me, but I just cannot escape the awesomeness of God. His love is so amazing. He is so holy. He is so amazing. He went to the Cross so that I could have a relationship with Him. He washed all of my sins away with His blood so that I could be in right standing with Him. That’s what I’m thankful for…not just today…but every day of my life…I’m thankful that God loves me.
Now…that’s an answer that I hope I can remember this coming Thursday…Amen!?!
But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him and see his jaw-dropping glory and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves and see and feel him.
Yes…forgetting ourselves and focusing upon HIM. What a concept. Imagine what would happen if we would decide to be like those angels that are around His throne 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year…for all of eternity. What? You don’t believe me? “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:8 (KJV). There’s the proof of what I was talking about.
I’m inserting this right now so that I don’t forget it. Okay…I have a challenge that I want all of us to do starting Monday. Here’s the layout of the challenge.
Take just 10 minutes (and don’t tell me your too busy to take 10 minutes to spend with God) to turn off all noise, phones, computers, televisions, radios…turn it ALL off.
Go to your quiet place.
Raise your hands and just spend the next 10 minutes doing nothing but getting all of your focus on you, putting it on God, and doing for just 10 minutes what these four beasts have been doing for all of eternity…”Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is To Come.”
I want us all to do it for a minimum of Monday thru Friday…so that’s 10 minutes a day for 5 days where you and God get alone…and you just do nothing but sing or pray: ”Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is To Come.”
Does this sound like something we can do? If you are really interested in being interactive with this challenge…I would like you to try and take note of what happens. If you have an encounter with God, what happens, and if you’d take it a step further and share your experience…that would be awesome.
I know there are many of you who won’t do this, and that’s your choice. If you really cannot find 10 minutes to spend with God for a week…then I seriously question your commitment to God, and if you really love Him as much as you pretend to. I don’t mean to get too meddlesome here, but if you can’t spend 10 minutes a day with God for a week…then I’m not the only one that’s questioning your commitment to Him…I’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit is dealing with your heart too.
So…I’m going to put this challenge out, and leave it to you to accept or reject it.
So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.
Listen, John wrote this to pastors, and I realize that we’re not all pastors…but we are all son’s and daughter’s of the King of kings. I think God really wants us to seclude ourselves, set ourselves apart, and make Him the focus. When you do the challenge…make it about Him for the entire 10 minutes and 5 days. When you’re doing the challenge don’t make that the time to make your requests…make it all about giving Him the praise, glory, and honor He deserves.
I believe that if we can commit to doing this…that not only will it help us to be more in love with God than we already are, but I believe that we won’t want to stop doing it once we start. Friends, I don’t know about you…but there’s nothing I won’t do to have a more intimate relationship with God. Ten minutes a day really isn’t that much time…and I can’t wait to try it. How about you?
Conclusion;
Another fantastic message…Amen!?! I am really enjoying this series. I’m so thankful that God lead us to this series, and I hope that you’re being ministered to, encouraged, challenged, and that this series will lead to a deeper and more intimate relationship between you and God.
Thanks for following along, and please come back again…as we close out this series.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessing & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Corinthians 4:4
Introduction:
With Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday…I thought that this might give us something to talk about so that when it comes our turn at the dinner table to give something we’re thankful for…we might be able to avoid that awkward silence as we think of something profound. Then again, as Christians we always have one thing to be thankful for…and that’s the fact that we serve a God that’s like no other in the world.
God makes much of us. But the point is to draw us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness. In this 3-day devotional, John Piper pushes readers beyond the acts of Jesus’ love to see the goal of his love.
I just thought it would be a good idea to take these next couple of days to focus on the goodness of God, and hopefully help those of us (I’m ashamed to admit I’m one of them) who aren’t quite in the holiday spirit yet…to finally get into the spirit of the season…
So…I pray that this series will help us to discover some joy and happiness, and help get us ready for all the holiday festivities, Christmas parties, and dinners with family…and the dreaded Christmas shopping. So…without any further delay…let’s get into the first message in this three-part series.
Well, here we go. If you’re sitting at a family dinner this Thanksgiving where one of the traditions is to give something you’re thankful for…here’s a great place to start. I know many people will give the vague and classic answer of being able to fellowship with family…many of which we may have not seen in quite some time. I understand that’s an important part of this holiday, and I’m really not making fun of anyone that says they’re thankful for family…it’s good to be thankful for family…because for the most part unless you’re working on multiple marriages…the family you have is the only one you’re going to get…so it’s good to be thankful for family.
However, I don’t know about you…but I can’t think of anything I could be more thankful than Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. I am thankful for the Cross because without it…there really isn’t anything to be thankful for…is there.
Seriously. Have you ever thought about this question: What if there wasn’t ever a Cross? What if Jesus never came, lived a sinless life, and became the spotless Lamb to be slain and sacrificed for our redemption? What if Jesus never was made to be sin so that we could inherit His righteousness? What if there was no sin atoning Blood of Jesus?
I believe that above all…this is the single most important thing that everyone (believer or not) should be thankful for because with out the Cross…there’s no good news, there’s no hope, and there really isn’t anything to be thankful for…because of the second point there…with out the Cross…we have no hope.
You know, I always pose this question to the atheists and agnostics: “What if us “Jesus Freaks” are right?” What if there is a Heaven and Hell, and those who reject Jesus really will die and go to Hell? But…just for the sake of the opening thought of this message…what if the Atheist’s are right? What if there isn’t any such thing as life after death…and when we die there’s just an empty nothing?
So…if everyone is giving the patented answer about being thankful to be able to fellowship with family…maybe you can be the one to stick out at the dinner table and shout out: “I’m thankful for the Cross!”…Amen!?!
Test yourself. What is your mindset? Do you begin with God and his rights and goals? Or do you begin with yourself and your rights and wishes?
For many years…I could take this test, and to be honest…my first thought was indeed myself. I mean think about the up coming “New Year’s Resolutions”…most of them are centered around personal goals…like losing weight or quitting smoking or working towards that promotion or finding a better career path. Believe me, I’m not scolding anyone here…I’m guilty of the same thing. I’m guilty of thinking of myself when it comes to goals or dreams, but last year that changed.
Last year was the first year that God spoke to my heart a theme that He had in mind for me for the year, and as many of you have read…it was simple: Getting Serious About Being Serious With God, and from that Christlike Ministries NWA was born. Almost a year later I’ve written just shy of 260 messages, and we’re going to be pretty close to 300 by the year’s end.
I find that I’m starting to have goals like spending more time in prayer, spending more time reading the Bible, spending less time watching television, and I can already tell you that one of my goals for next year is to do a better job of maintaining consistency with these messages. I want to do a better job of starting and finishing these devotional series we do on time…without taking too many days off, but being diligent to start and finish them on time. How many of you know if we take more time to take care of the little details of life…the bigger things tend to work themselves out.
I know another goal I’m going to have after the Holiday’s is getting off my butt, and spending time in the fitness center that I have a free pass to. I know that come March or so that softball is going to be starting again, and I want to be in better shape physically for a couple of reasons. One, because the Bible is clear that we ought to do a good job of trying to keep our “temples of the Holy Ghost” as healthy as possible. Two, I realized during the short fall season that I was out of shape and lost a couple of steps…but that could be corrected with a little bit of commitment and work. Third, I don’t like my expanding waist line.
The most important things to me however…is trying to become the best ambassador for Christ that I can be. I recently wrote a friend of mine who is a powerful evangelist that I’m extremely young and inexperienced in ministry, and want to learn. I want to learn to be a better minister and make sure that what I’m saying is sound doctrine. That I think of him and my own pastors as mentors, and that I’m trying to learn from them so that I can be a more effective minister and example for Christ. I am sick and tired of playing around, having one foot in and one foot out…I want to be totally sold out for Jesus, and that’s what John’s talking about here.
Are your goals and dreams just about you…or are they about God?
And when you look at the death of Christ, what happens? Does your joy really come from translating this awesome divine work into a boost for self-esteem? Or are you drawn up out of yourself and filled with wonder and reverence and worship that here in the death of Jesus is the deepest, clearest declaration of the infinite esteem of God for his glory and for his Son?
I promise you that I started writing before I even read any of what Mr. Piper wrote, but here we are getting back to my opening thought of this message. The greatest thing of all that we as Christians ought to be thankful for is the Cross. That should give us all the joy and happiness we could possibly need…especially if we’re whosoever’s who have called upon the name of the Lord and are sozo’ed. I don’t know about you…but if God never did another thing for me…having Jesus die in my place so that I could have a relationship with Him, and not have to worry about where I was going to spend eternity when I die or when Jesus comes back to get me…that’s all I need Him to do.
I’m being sincere here. If all God did for me was send Jesus to die in my place…that would be enough for me to be thankful for the rest of my life. I was once an alien to God, but now I have citizenship in Heaven. I was once I child of disobedience…now I’m the child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. I was once lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see. I mean what can be more important than knowing your eternal destination is secure…because you’re in Christ Jesus!?!
If you can think of anything more important then that…I’m all ears, but I’m pretty sure that anything you might be able to come up with…all I have to respond with is…what about Jesus? What about the Cross? What about salvation? What about grace? I think Jesus has anything you could think of beat…Amen!?!
Here is a great objective foundation for the full assurance of hope: the forgiveness of sins is grounded, finally, not in my finite worth or work, but in the infinite worth of the righteousness of God, God’s unswerving allegiance to uphold and vindicate the glory of his name.
I can’t get away from the point that what God did through the Cross what the greatest thing of all because the atoning Blood of Jesus flows from it. It’s the Blood of Jesus that washes us white as snow, and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. It’s the Blood of Jesus that God used to purchase every single one of us who calls upon the name of the Lord to be saved. It’s the Blood of Jesus that God sees every time He looks at me, and why He no longer sees my sin…but the Blood of His only Begotten Son.
The Cross is the foundation of everything because without it…there’s no hope. There’s no forgiveness of sin, there’s no Holy Ghost, there’s no redemption or hope of His glory. If there was no Cross then we’d still be under the law, and there would be a whole lot of people (including myself) whom God would’ve had to strike dead because He couldn’t look upon or tolerate sin.
There’s nothing more valuable than the Cross. There’s nothing more precious than the Blood of Jesus…I sure hope I can get an Amen or two from that…Amen!?!
I appeal to you with all my heart, take your stand on this. Base your life on this. Ground your hope in this. You will be free from the futile mindset of the world. And you will never fall.
Take our stand on what? Base our life on what? Ground our hope in what?
When God’s exaltation of God in Christ is your joy, it can never fail.
Jesus! When you’re unashamed to stand for Jesus because even though you may not be able to fully comprehend just how valuable His Blood is, and what it did for you and still does for you…it gives you a reason to rejoice, and be thankful…and humble because you realize that it wasn’t just for the world to receive…but it was for you.
The Cross! I can’t not think of the Cross without having some kind of reaction. Some times it’s awe. Some times it’s tears. Some times it’s joy. Because of everything I’ve already spoken of in this message and more.
So…when it comes your turn at the dinner table, and everyone’s given their answers about being able to spend time with loved ones, maybe a promotion they received at work, that new car they got, the new house that they moved into, and you know all the other stuff that’s said…be the one that is unashamed to say: You know what…I’m thankful for all those things everyone has just said, and it’s clear that we all have a lot to be grateful for. And I don’t know about anyone else…but I am so thankful that Jesus went to the Cross for me. It’s so amazing that if there wasn’t anyone else in the world He would’ve still gone to the Cross just for me. Because of Jesus I have right standing with God, and I know my eternal destination is secure. That’s what I’m thankful for…
Anyone else feel that way?
Conclusion:
Well…I think maybe that could be a bit of a challenge for us this Thanksgiving. Instead of making it about material possessions or worldly stuff…why not stand out…and be what for many of us could be the first to say something about being thankful for Jesus. You never know what kind of impact that can have. There may be one of your family members at the table who might need to hear that…and they may want to know Jesus as a result of your being unashamed to speak out. Then again, everyone at the table might roll their eye’s and think “oh…no…there goes another one of them Jesus Freaks”, but I always remember that the less ashamed of Jesus I am before man…the less ashamed of me He is going to be when we’re standing before His Father on that day…and I don’t know about you…but I would much rather Him not have any reason at all to be ashamed of me…Amen!?!
Let’s Pray:
Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son. Lord, as we sit around our Thanksgiving tables this week, I ask that You would remind us of the sacrifice of Your Son, and how valuable to all of us that should be. Thank You for the Blood, Thank You for the Cross, Thank You for securing our eternal future, and Thank You for providing a way for all of us to be Your son’s and daughter’s. In Jesus’ name we pray…Amen & Amen
2 Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name; 3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Introduction:
Well…today we wrap up our series on Authentic Prayer with Pastor James MacDonald. He’s the senior pastor for Harvest Bible Chapel, and he also has one of my favorite radio programs called “Walk In The Word”. I enjoy listening to his teaching on the radio, and I’ve enjoyed doing this series. There are others that he has on YouVersion, but I don’t believe we’ll have enough time between now and the end of the year to get into another one.
So, this will be the final message of this series. I believe that it’s been a pretty good series, and that we’ve gotten quite a bit of good stuff from it. This series has reaffirmed to me what the Bible says about itself in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in that it is “profitable”, and that when taught properly it helps perfect us as believers. In other words…when the Word of God is taught correctly…it helps us to grow and mature.
Well…I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to get into this last message, and therefore I believe it’s time to get out of the way. Let’s see what we can learn from this final message, and what the Lord would have to say to us through it…Amen!?!
Today’s Message:“Hidden Things”
So far we have looked at three promise words found in God’s word to Jeremiah: invitation, insurance, and inspiration. Here’s the fourth: illumination.
Remember back in the beginning of this series…we learned that in Jeremiah 33:1-3 within these verses are four distinct promises from God to Jeremiah related to prayer. I know that I gave you that as an assignment, but through the last few messages of this series…we’ve been secretly looking at them. So, let’s take a look at the first three, and then finish it up by looking at the last one.
So…what are the four distinct promises God made Jeremiah in Jeremiah 33:1-3?
Illumination. (which we’re going to talk about right today.)
God’s Invitation:
God’s “Call to Me” was His invitation to us. The invitation to come to Him no matter who we are, where we are, and what we have done. It’s one of those things we see in the story of the thief on the cross that was next to Jesus. The thief represents us in that he had two choices. Either he could’ve remained silent rejecting Jesus until his last breath finding himself spending eternity separated from God, or he could’ve done what he did…and accept the Jesus’ invitation to call upon Him as Lord to receive salvation.
What can we learn from the thief? First of all, the thief as I mentioned represents us, and where we are before we come to Jesus. He was on the cross next to Jesus, and that represents the fact that we were all at one point dead in our sins and trespasses…and that we deserved death as a result. Second, He recognized his need for a Savior. Unlike the other thief who mocked Jesus…this one realized that it was himself and not Jesus who deserved to die. He recognized that he deserved death for the way he lived his lie, and he also recognized that the only option he had was to call upon Jesus. Third, he reached that point that we all reach…regardless of who is watching or what anyone thinks…he recognized that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain by accepting Jesus’ invitation. So…by faith he called upon the name of the Lord, and true to the Word of God…he was saved. The important thing for all of us to understand and recognize is not only do we need to recognize we need God’s help, but that we can come to Him regardless of what our lives look like.
You see, the real problem I have with religion is that they make you work for the things that Jesus came to freely give us access to. We have free access to the throne of grace because we’re in Christ, and for no other reason then that. Both God and Jesus gave us the same invitation. In Jeremiah 33:1-3 the invitation was to “Call to Me”, but in Matthew 11:28-30 we see Jesus give what’s commonly referred to as “The Great Invitation.
No where are we told that we have to clean up our lives before accepting the invitation. God says “Call to Me”, and Jesus says “Come unto Me”. In either case, the invitation is given, and it’s up to us to accept or reject that invitation. I don’t know about you…but I’m thankful that I have a God that gives us such an unconditional invitation to call and come to Him…as we are. I’ve said throughout this series that being authentic is just simply being real…being genuine…being yourself…and the main component to God’s invitation is just that…Come as you are…and I will take care of the rest.
God’s Insurance:
Equally as wonderful is the fact that God gives us the insurance that He will hear us when we call. Look back at the thief on the cross. Religion would have us to believe that God cannot hear us over our sin, but again using the story of the thief on the cross…we see why religion really doesn’t talk all that much about this person. I think the thief on the cross is one of the most important people in the Bible…because he provides us such a clear picture of the difference between religion and relationship.
If it’s true that God is deaf to our sin…then Jesus wouldn’t have even heard the thief call to Him. That is what religion teaches. We have no right to approach God because we have sin in our lives, and the reason He cannot hear us when we pray is because of that sin in our lives. We just talked about how there were two thieves one was content to die in his sin…and the other thought that he might as well.
So, with nothing to lose the thief says “Lord, remember me this day.” We obviously know Jesus heard him because Jesus responds. Now, if what religion teaches is true…the story ends with both thieves dying in their sin. However, one of them died in his sin, and is going to spend eternity in hell…the other this very day is in paradise with Jesus…and will be in Heaven just like Paul, Peter, David, Abraham, and everyone else who died having accepted God’s invitation to have a relationship with Him.
So…we can call to Him as we are…and know that He’s going to hear us. There’s no other offer from any other god because they’re all dead. None of the other gods can hear us, they can’t even invite us to call to them because they’re all dead. We serve the ONLY living and true God that not only invites us to call to Him…but insures that He will hear us. I don’t know about you…but that excites me…and gives me a sense of awe for Him.
God’s Assurance:
We now know that God wants us to call to Him just as we are. We know that He will hear us. Now, we find out that not only will He hear us…but He will answer us. No other god can make these claims because no other god is alive. Again…the thief on the cross accepted the invitation to call to Jesus, Jesus heard Him, and we know Jesus heard Him because Jesus answers the thief.
So…when those religious folks come to tell you that you need to clean up your lives, that God cannot hear you over your sin, and that He won’t answer you because you’re so unholy and unrighteous…then point them to the story of the thief on the cross…and ask them if that’s true how is it that a thief could call to Jesus, that Jesus would hear that thief, and not only would He hear the thief…but He also answered the thief.
See…that story shoots so many holes into the religious point of view. Here’s the truth. If what religion teaches was true…then that story wouldn’t have even been in the Bible. This story either contradicts everything the Bible teaches or it contradicts what religion teaches. I don’t know about you…but since I know that the Bible is a more sure word than even any audible voice I may hear from God…and that God swears His Word by Himself…I think I’ll take the Bible over religion…Amen!?!
Illumination:
Illumination comes from “I will . . . tell you . . . hidden things.” Illuminations are insights that no one can see but me and God. The Hebrew term is used to describe fortified cities that were inaccessible and unassailable. God knows things about our circumstances: great things, mighty things, hidden things. This is one of the greatest blessings of prayer: God tells us things. But sometimes even His Word doesn’t become clear to us until we are quiet and prayerfully listening. Unceasing prayer is a conversation that expects God to speak to us directly. That can’t happen without moments of attentive silence during which we anticipate hearing from God.
“I will tell you hidden things.” This means that there are things that God is going to reveal to me that He’s not going to reveal to anyone else. God is going to illuminate things in our lives that are between Him and me. God revealed things to Daniel that He never revealed to anyone else. God revealed things to Moses that He never revealed to anyone else. God revealed things to Paul that He never revealed to anyone else. John…Jesus’ beloved disciple had things revealed to him that God has yet to reveal to anyone else. See, that tells me that there are things He’s going to reveal to me and about me that He’s not going to reveal to anyone else.
See. Illumination implies that there’s things that we’re going to be in the dark to until God reveals them to us. There are certain things that God’s dealing with me about today that He didn’t deal with me on when I first called upon Him as Lord. Why? There were things that I hadn’t even realized had been hidden in my heart. Attitudes that need to be changed, pride that needs to be broken, unforgiveness that needs to be given, things that I haven’t been able to let go of or forgive, and then there’s a whole other side to things that are being revealed to me through my writing these messages…and the discipleship track I’m doing, and even through messages I hear in church or online or on the radio.
Can I tell you that we are never going to reach a place where we have nothing left to learn. Think about Paul’s declaration that he counted all that he knew as rubbish, and that the only thing he desired to was to know God on a deeper and more intimate level. Paul was the Pharisee of the Pharisees’. He knew the law…all of it. He knew the ancient scriptures…all of them. This side of Solomon…I believe Paul was a man of great knowledge, wisdom, and understanding…and he admitted that even with all he knew that he hadn’t attained anything. Paul even prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be opened, and that God would reveal the full array of His love to us. It was Paul to whom God revealed the mystery to, and revealed the true gospel to also. God revealed to Paul justification by faith, the ministry of reconciliation, and yet…Paul felt that he could’ve known more.
Paul had a lot of things illuminated to him, but he also spent a lot of time in prayer. I believe Paul was constantly praying and seeking God. We know that He often prayed in tongues because he told the Corinthians that he prayed in tongues more than they did. He sought out God and the presence of God…and as a result…he received so much revelation that God allow him to be constantly buffered because all of the revelation Paul had it could’ve been easy for him to get full of pride and arrogance.
We know that buffer worked because Paul spoke of how he constantly sought God to deliver him from that buffer, and God’s only response to him was that His strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness…Paul saw his weakness…and that allowed him to remain humble in spite of the enormous amount of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding he had.
So…there are many, many things that God is going to want to illuminate and reveal to us in our lives, and let me say this…the majority of the time God is going to speak to you about you. Yes, God may give someone a word of knowledge for us, or we might be given a word of knowledge for someone else…but the majority of the time…God is going to speak to you about you…God’s not into gossip while He may give you a word of knowledge for someone…He’s not going to talk to you about what’s going on in someone’s life…unless He wants you to have an impact in that person’s life. Let me say that again…because I sense the Lord wants me to repeat it. The majority of the time…when God speaks to you it’s going to be about you and about your life. So…stop it with the “God told me you…blah…blah…blah.”…no He didn’t. In fact, if God did tell you “blah…blah…blah” it most likely wasn’t for that person…it was most likely for YOU.
This is one of the greatest blessings of prayer: God tells us things. But sometimes even His Word doesn’t become clear to us until we are quiet and prayerfully listening. Unceasing prayer is a conversation that expects God to speak to us directly. That can’t happen without moments of attentive silence during which we anticipate hearing from God.
Here’s a concept. We talked about this point a few times, and it just jumped out at me. So, it’s time to talk about it again. Prayer isn’t just us talking and talking and talking. Prayer also requires us to shut up and listen. He can’t speak to us if we’re the one that’s always doing all the talking. I am convinced that one of the reasons that people never get their prayers “answered” is because they don’t ever just shut up and listen. I know you might think I’m being rude, but can I tell you that God’s said those very words to me? Yes…God has actually told me to shut up and listen.
“Some times His Word doesn’t become clear to us until we are quiet and prayerfully listening.” That means that some times it is necessary to turn off the television, the radio, the phones, and everything else…and just get into that quiet place (our prayer closet). Some times we just need to grab our Bibles, go some where quiet and secluded, and seek the Father.
How many times in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do we read about Jesus going off some where to seek the Father? We always find Jesus returning from some where or going some where away from the crowd to seek His Father’s face.
Friends…this is pretty obvious…but if Jesus needed to do that…how much MORE do we. How much more important is it for us to shut off everything…and I mean everything (including our iPhones)…find a secluded and quiet place for us to get away from all the noise…and seek God’s face. In that seeking it also requires us to realize that we shouldn’t do all the talking.
I can tell you that there are times that I do that. I turn everything off (including my BlackBerry), shut the blinds, turn off the television and even the worship music…and just sit. There are times where I don’t even say anything…I just quiet my thoughts and everything and focus all my attention on seeking the face of the Father. Can I tell you that some times…nothing is said at all. Some times, it’s just good to be quiet and sit at the feet of the Master. Other times, God might put someone’s name on my heart to pray for, a scripture in my heart to look up, or He may even just simply remind me that He loves me and that I belong to Him.
Those are good times…Amen!?!
God tells us why people are the way they are or why certain things had to happen as they did. God reminds us what good is being accomplished that we can’t see. God tells us how the future will be better, even though it seems impossible now. God sees everything that is hidden to us, and He chooses to tell us about them.
This brings me back to the point I was making a moment ago about the fact that most of the time God is going to talk to you about you, and included in that some times He’s going to point someone out. Not for the purpose of telling you about them, but to help you understand why that person does what they do. One of the greatest pieces of advice I received from Pastor Stephen Robbins was when he taught us through a series he was teaching on about advice to those who desire to be in ministry is that we have to learn to look beyond the person we see in front of us.
There are times God will show me someone, and the whole purpose of Him pointing that person out to me was to point out an attitude I have that He’s wanting to deal with me on. He’s not pointing that person out to me so that I can go up to them, and talk to them about their attitude…He’s pointing that person out to me because He wants to talk to me about MY attitude. God may show me something about someone’s motives…again to point out MY motives…not for me to deal with them about their reasons or motives…but MINE.
You see…God’s about dealing with me about the conditions of my heart, and some times He points out people to me because He knows I might see something in them I don’t like…and then He’ll immediately point out to me that the reason I don’t like what I see in them…is something He doesn’t like seeing in me. HUMBLING to look at someone else…and have God point out that the very thing that I am looking at in them…He is looking at in me…that is illumination.
“Can’t you be more specific, James?”
Don’t you guys know that I can sense that some of you may have the same question? Well, I guess James and I both have the same answer.
No, I cannot, because though I know what God has shown me, I don’t know what the hidden things are for you. Isn’t it awesome to think that God has some hidden things for you? How awesome to know something that only you and God know? God told Jeremiah that prayer is the condition in which He tells us hidden things. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Friends, there are things that God’s shown me that I don’t even have specific answers to yet, and that means that in order for me to get those answers I have to take what I have had reveal…and continue to seek more understanding. But…it’s true. God has things that He wants to reveal to each and everyone of us who are His. He has things to reveal to you about your life that only are for you and Him to know about.
Yes…God has hidden things for you. He has things that He’s going to reveal to you, about you, and for you that aren’t for anyone else. He’s going to point out people to you…like He does me…and then He’s going to show you things that they do that you do that He wants to deal with your heart on.
Prayer…this is what’s necessary to receive these things. Being authentic means that we’re not false, that we’re not a copy of someone else, that we’re real, that we’re genuine…that we are ourselves. We are just like the thief…taking the chance to realize we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by accepting the invitation to Call upon Him.
Authentic prayer…is just you and I being who we are…and seeking the face of the Master…Amen!?!
Conclusion:
What a great series. I really enjoyed this series, and I hope you did too. We took seven days to explain that authentic prayer has nothing to do with the beautifully eloquently spoken prayers we hear some times, but it’s about us being who we are…and just seeking God’s face. There are hundreds of times in a day where I may just simply stop and say nothing more than “Lord, I love Ya.”
After all. Isn’t that how we relate to our earthly dad’s some times? Don’t we just some times just say to our dad’s something similar. That’s really how God wants us to approach Him…don’t ya know!?! He wants us to just talk to Him…that’s all prayer is.
Prayer is a conversation between you and God. Authentic prayer…is just you being yourself having a conversation with God. That’s how we get to a place of having a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with God.
All the marriage experts talk about how important communication is within a marriage. Well…since we’re considered the “bride of Christ”…that illustration applies to our relationship with God. The better the communication between my wife and I becomes…the more intimate our relationship becomes. It’s the same way with God…the more we communicate with Him…the deeper and more intimate our relationship with Him becomes.
See…here’s the point. I don’t start out my conversations with my wife calling her Mrs. Kizer. I start off conversations with her some times with “honey” or “babe”. Don’t you know that’s where we need to get with God? Paul tells us we can call Him “Abba, Father”…and most of us know that’s just the Bible’s way of God telling us to call Him “Daddy”.
So…don’t be so formal with God all the time. Lose the stiffness of approaching Him in a religious and formal way…and start approaching Him like He’s your Dad…and I promise as you do that…it’ll be easier and easier to just start talking to Him. There are many times throughout the day where I’ll just say something like “Ya know Lord,”…and then I’m off to talking to Him about what I wanted to talk to Him about.
There’s something personal and intimate about being able to say to the God of the universe: “Ya know Lord…”, and because of His Word…I know that whether I approach Him saying “Ya know Lord” or “Dear Jesus” or “Heavenly Father”…He’s going to hear me and answer me…and He’s saying to us the same thing He spoke to Jeremiah.
“Call to Me…I will hear you and answer You, and show you things that are beyond your imagination.”
I don’t know about you…but I want to know what He has to show me…Amen!?!
Let’s Pray:
Thank You, Father, that I can pray with David, “O LORD, You have searched me and know me!” (Psalm 139:1). Thank You for the Invitation to call upon You…the insurance that You will hear us, and that assurance that You will answer us. I thank You for demonstrating Your personal awareness of everything about me by showing me “hidden things” that are just for me. I am hungry and long to know all that You have to reveal to me. Lord, help me to be faithful to those convictions, comforts, and guidance. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
The Invitation:
I am going to work at making sure that I never close a series or a message without asking you the most important question you’ll ever answer: Have you ever accepted Jesus’ invitation to know Him as Lord and Savior?
If not…it’s really easy to do. In fact, it’s as easy as A-B-C…and then doing what Romans 10:9-10 and 13 say to do.
A- Admit: Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin.
”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.”
B- Believe: Believe that Jesus is God’s Son and accept God’s gift of forgiveness from sin.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”John 3:16
C- Confess: Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-10, 13
If you’re ready to do that…then you’re ready to say this simple prayer. Make sure you say it OUT LOUD…I know you may not understand why…but by saying it out loud all of Heaven and hell will hear you…and you might not understand why that’s important…but that’s one of those things that will be revealed to you in time.
Pray this out loud:
Dear Lord Jesus…come into my heart. Forgive me of my sin. Wash me, cleanse me, and set me free. Jesus, thank You that You died for me. I believe that You are risen from the dead and that You’re coming back for me. Place me IN Your Ark right now, today. Fill me with the Holy Ghost. Give me a passion for the lost, a hunger for the things of God, and a holy boldness to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I boldly confess that I am a whosoever that has called upon the name of the Lord…that I am IN the Ark…and that I am saved…I am born again…I am forgiven…I am the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus…and I am In the Ark and on my way to Heaven because I have Jesus in my heart. In Jesus name I pray…Amen!
If you prayed that prayer…you’re part of God’s family. Your saved. If you need help knowing what to do next…feel free to write us at: christlikeministriesarkansas@yahoo.com we’ll do the best we can to help get you started with your walk with God.
Thanks for following along with this series…and for your support of Christlike Ministries NWA. You all are an encouragement to me, and I’m thankful for all of you.
“Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)
Blessing & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
I am so excited to be writing this update to you today. We’re inching closer to that 100 fan mark, and that’s awesome. It’s humbling to have God draw people to this ministry, and I know that as long as He does…that means I’m doing something right…Amen.
Thanksgiving is on Thursday. I’m excited to be able to fellowship with family, and all month-long on my personal Facebook page I’ve been keeping track of things I’m thankful for…and will be sharing that on November 30th on both my personal page and on here as well.
I thought now would be a good idea to let you know about how I feel we’ll be winding down this year series wise…unless the Holy Ghost changes things…I believe I’ve a pretty good handle on the schedule of our upcoming series…and like I just said tomorrow…we’ll wrap up the Authentic Prayer series.
Mon. Nov. 19 thru Wed. Nov 21:“Finding Real Happiness”. We’ll do a short 3 Day Series by John Piper…I thought with Thanksgiving coming up, that may give us some time to reflect and find some things to be thankful about…so that when it’s our turn at the dinner table to give something we’re thankful for…so that we can avoid that awkward silence while we think of something. Hopefully this series will help us with that…Amen!?! I mean we have plenty that God’s given us to be thankful for anyways, but just to be sure…this series might provide us with some good stuff to get our hearts full of gratitude…Amen!?!
Thurs. Nov. 22 through Sun. Nov. 25:Thanksgiving Break…Since many of us may be traveling and possibly off work…I thought it be more important to spend time with family…then online reading or writing messages…Amen!?! So, enjoy Thanksgiving weekend…eating lots of turkey and leftovers, and all the football you can watch…Hallelujah!
Mon. Nov. thru Wed. Nov. 28th:“God’s Pleasure in Creation”: This is another one of those short, 3 Day devotionals by John Piper that we can do between Thanksgiving and the start of our Christmas Series…Amen!?!
Friday, November 30th thru Monday, December 24th (Christmas Eve):“Carol: A Christmas Devotional”: I don’t know about you, but this is the series I’m the most excited about. It’s a chance for us to look at some of the most beloved Christian Christmas Carol, and I am just believing that not only remind us that Jesus really is the reason for the season, but I believe that what we’re going to learn through these Christmas Carols may have a powerful impact upon our lives.
Between Christmas and New Years, there isn’t much of a sense of what we might do. I believe that will be left up to the Holy Ghost. I know, you’re probably thinking how is having a schedule leaving things up to the Holy Ghost, but I truly believe that this is the way we’ll finish out 2012. I don’t think we’ll get into any series between Christmas and New Years because I know that’s when a lot of us have family things to do, and so I would rather not be a nuisance…posting all kinds of message during Christmas Break…so we may have various messages here and there…or the Christmas Series might just be the last series of 2012…it’s all up to the Lord.
Starting on January 2nd…out loud I want you to say January 2nd…there’s a definite sense in my spirit that I’ll be doing a 21 Day Fast. Exactly from what…has yet to be determined, but I’m already about 85% certain that things like television, sports talk radio, computer games, soda, junk food, and energy drinks are all going to be part of that fast. However, I want this to be about what the Lord wants me to discipline my flesh from, and completely rely upon Him and His strength to help me get through it. That means that this fast might actually…gulp…include coffee. YIKES!!! The challenge will not only be to make it 21 Days without caffeine of any kind…but to do it without wanting to beat someone senseless because I haven’t have my morning coffee…that could be dangerous…LOL.
Also, starting January 1st we will be starting a full 365 day devotional “Embracing Faith”. I’ve not really read it, but it looks to have some pretty good stuff in it. There’s no introduction for it or anything. Just a verse: “I will praise You, Lord, with all my heart…and will praise Your name for Your love and Your faithfulness.” Psalm 138:1-2 (NIV). In addition to that devotional, I’ll also be keeping a journal along with the 21 Day Fast, and we’ll see what else the Lord might have us get into to start 2013 strong…Amen.
It’s an honor and a privilege to write these messages, and it’s humbling to know that God can take a life like mine, and use it for the advancement of His Kingdom. My hope is always to help us all to develop and maintain our walk with God in a deeper and more intimate and personal way…and I look forward to finishing 2012 on a strong note, and starting off 2013 in a powerful way…and I hope that all of you will continue this journey with me…as we get to know God more and more…and allow more of His love to penetrate the depths of our hearts. Thank you all so much for the encouragement you give me to continue doing this. I remember when I barely had 10 people following my ministry…and now at least 10 people a day are reading these messages that the Lord places upon my heart.
Well, I believe that’s all that is on my heart to share with you. I am so thankful for all of our 93 fans on our Facebook Fan Page: www.Facebook.com/ChristlikeMinistriesNWA, Our 106 followers on Twitter @ChristMinistNWA, and our 29 followers right here on our WordPress page: www.christlikeministriesnwa.wordpress.com. Besides the United States…we’re reaching 12 other nations right now, and I’m believing that God will expand our reaches into more.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Introduction:
Well…Praise the Lord. I realize that I’m a couple days behind, but some times it’s necessary to take a step or two back, and get recharged, refueled, and renewed…Amen.
So, I feel somewhat refreshed. I worked an extra day this week, and some times it tires me out more than others. However, I feel pretty good today, and believe that we’ll be wrapping up this series tomorrow.
So…we’ve been talking about “Authentic Prayer”, and really…what we’re attempting to do here is answer the question: what is authentic prayer? I believe the answer is simple. It’s us being real, being who we are, and just simply seeking God from a place that’s real, genuine, and us. I truly believe like Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV) says: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”, and that includes times when we need to just be real and seek God as we are…and leave all the formalities out of what we’re needing from God.
So…let’s get into today’s message…and see what the Lord has for us today…Amen!?!
Today’s Message: “Until You Pray”
After the invitation to prayer and the assurance that He will answer, God added an addendum to the policy He gave Jeremiah: “Call to Me, and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3a). What’s the answer going to be like, God?
Isn’t it interesting that along with the invitation to prayer comes the assurance that He would not just hear Jeremiah, but answer him? So. In reality what God’s saying to us is that He already knows we need something from Him, that He wants us to seek what we need from Him, and assures us that not only can we come to Him…but that He will answer us when we do.
Friends…do you know of any other god that not only offers that kind of invitation…but the assurance that they will hear their servants? No. There isn’t. The most obvious reason they can’t offer that assurance is because the only living God there is…is ours. Muhammad is dead, Buddha is dead, Gandhi is dead, and therefore the can’t offer us anything. Our God is the ONLY God who can invite us to talk to Him, assure us that He will hear us, and as a result of hearing us…provide what we’re seeking from Him.
“Call to Me” is the invitation. “I will answer” is the assurance that we’re not speaking to air, but to a living God who is very much interested in everything in our lives. There isn’t one area of our lives that God isn’t interested in, and the fact that He provides both the invitation and the assurance is something that we ought not ignore.
Everything in our walk with God is initiated by Him. He draws us to Him by His spirit, and the response is then up to us. It’s up to us to respond to His voice, but most of us have a difficult time hearing His voice because we crowd it out with so much of the world. That’s why the third soil wasn’t able to produce fruit…the cares of the world choked out the Word. How many of you know that in the parable of the sower…the seed that’s being sown is the Word of God…well…we know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God…but when we talk about it we think that by hearing the Word of God over and over that’s what produces faith.
The thing that produces faith is that Rhema Word from God…the living word. There’s a big difference between receiving revelation from the Bible…and receiving something spoken to your heart personally from God. I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating that I’ve read and heard many times that God loves me, but the day God Himself spoke to my heart that He loved me and that I was His…that changed my life. When HE speaks to you…that’s different because it’s no longer something you’ve read or heard from some preacher…it’s something that you heard directly from God Himself.
See…that’s one of those things that happens in prayer. So many of us think that prayer is us talking away, giving a laundry list of things we want, thanking Him for His many blessings, asking forgiveness for our sins, and asking Him to bless and watch over our loved ones. Yes…that is part of prayer, but there’s a whole side of prayer that many of us miss…because we talk too much. There’s another part to prayer that’s rarely talked about…even in pulpits…the part where we shut up…and listen.
I know that I’m probably off topic here, but if we’re really going to talk about authentic prayer…then we need to get real, get honest, and get to the roots of what’s going to impact our prayer lives. I don’t want to just write something just to write it…I want it to impact us…all of us. Not just you…but me as well. So, if that means I need to stray off topic to follow the Holy Ghost…that’s what I will do…because what the Holy Ghost has for us is far better than anything I can think of…Amen!?!
First all, “ . . . I will tell you great things you have not known” (v.33b). I will inspire you with greater understanding and knowledge than you could achieve on your own.
God’s desire is for all of us to grow and mature. He wants us to gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Don’t believe me? Read through the Book of Proverbs. Count how many times it talks about getting wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! Proverbs 16:16 (KJV)
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Proverbs 4:5 (KJV)
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)
The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. Proverbs 18:15 (KJV)
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 (KJV)
I could go on for a while, but I think that the point has been made that wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are necessary for growth in our lives. Those are things that we should be constantly seeking for more of when we pray. Just as we need to grow in faith, hope, and love…so too do we need to add more knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. It’s vital that when we come into situations and circumstances where we need wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that we learn not to lean upon our own…but constantly seek His. That’s what Proverbs 3:5-6 is all about.
Friends…that’s really what prayer is all about. It’s acknowledging Him in all of our ways. In all of our circumstances and situations. It’s always about getting God to lead and us to follow. It’s getting ourselves out of His way, and allowing Him to lead and direct our paths. That’s vital to understanding what prayer is and how it works. It’s much more than just talking to God…it’s us talking to Him…and Him talking to us…and receiving His guidance and direction for our lives…because our lives aren’t ours…they belong to Him. He bought and paid for us with the most precious commodity ever…the Blood of Jesus…Amen!?!
Let’s think about Jeremiah here for a minute. God instructed His prophet to remain unmarried as a sign of the harsh judgment that God was bringing to correct Israel in their rebellion. Jeremiah’s audience was heavily involved in idol worship. They were into deception and debauchery. God’s people were fully engaged in this blatant rejection of God. This is as clear as it gets: If something is going on in your life today and you’re wondering about God’s character, “If God really is X, then why is Y happening?” The answer to that dilemma is prayer. God says, “Call to Me, (in that moment) and I will tell you great things you don’t know.”
See. There it is from someone other than me. When we’re in a moment were something is going on in our lives we have two choices. We can either try to deal with it on our own, or we can bring it to God. I can either use my own limited wisdom…or I can seek God’s unlimited wisdom. The answer to the situations and circumstances in our lives is prayer…why? Because we’re relying upon God…and not ourselves. That’s the whole point of humbling ourselves and submitting our entire lives to God…Amen!?!
It doesn’t matter if you’re going through heartbreak in ministry or family or in your career or whatever. These crises are prime times to go to God and say, “I’m not seeing it, Lord. I’m not feeling it. Why would You allow us to go through this?” Now the answer God provides is not necessarily coming directly from Scripture. But insight to help you understand what’s happening and why it’s happening will come through prayer! And you won’t know this until you pray!
Listen. I’m not going to know God’s will for things in my life if I never ask Him. Just today, I was writing a short message on perseverance, and how one of the things I’m struggling with is my job…and how I was doing my best to remain patient because I know that God has a better place for me elsewhere or He’s got better things planned for me where I’m at.
I’ve been praying a bit lately about my work situation, and just kind of believing that something greater is on the horizon. So, I get a call this afternoon from my Wholesale Supervisor that we’re going to be starting up a new route pretty soon that’s going to allow him to give me a pay raise…and the reason I’m going to be the one getting the route is because I’m the only person he trusts to run that route because it could bring us some pretty significant business if they are done right.
See…I’ve been seeking God about my situation at work…I received the dreaded “wait” answer, and to be completely honest with you there was and still is some frustration and temptation to be impatient, and start looking for other jobs. I’ve gotten a few bites from places here and there, but nothing that’s really better than what I already have.
Then, I have God remind me many a time that the job I’m working right now is the job that I asked Him for because it allows me the time to be able to work and make money, but it also gives me the time during the day to write these messages.
But the thing is…I have to be willing to humble myself and completely abandon myself to God’s direction. There’s even many times over the last few months that I’ve said exactly what Dr. MacDonald writes; “I’m not seeing it, Lord. I’m not feeling it at all. I don’t want to be here, there’s a lot going on that I don’t agree with, and I just can’t seem to be excited about being here anymore.”
I sat down with my friend that I’m doing the Discipleship Track with, and one of the things he shared with me is about a similar struggle he had, and how God was dealing with him in his heart about things that God needed to get out of him. So…here I am in the same place…where God’s got some things that He needs to work out of me…mainly my attitude about my job.
Can I be transparent? Just from the time I got that call about moving to that route in a couple of weeks, my attitude has changed. With God it’s always about making sure our hearts and attitudes are right…because we’re representative for Him every where we go. If my attitude isn’t such that it reflects Christ…then people aren’t going to look at me and desire to know God. I don’t want to have an attitude like that. I want everything I do to reflect that I’m an ambassador for Christ.
It doesn’t matter if you’re going through heartbreak in ministry or family or in your career or whatever.
And we’re back to talking about Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) aren’t we? Coming boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, and grace in our time of need. How many of you know that there are just moments when we need God’s grace and mercy? It doesn’t say that we need to clean up our lives or have no issues before we come boldly to His throne does it?
I’m back to saying this. How many of you know that there are just moments where we need to just come to the throne as we are…and isn’t it good to know that we can!?! God’s invitation to call upon Him isn’t conditional upon our condition…it’s an open invitation to come to Him no matter what our situations, circumstances, issues, or moments are. It’s an open invitation to me that whenever I have a time of need…I can come to Him boldly for the mercy and grace that I need.
Listen, when there’s something going on in my life, and I need God’s help to handle…how many of you know that’s not the time to be shy and feel like I’m unworthy to approach God? How many of you know that when I need God’s help…that’s the time that I need to come boldly and confidently and expecting that when I approach His throne I’m going to receive the grace and mercy and help that I’m seeking for?
So…that’s also the time when we need to be the most real…or authentic with God. Authenticity is really just being honest with ourselves and God. That’s all Authentic Prayer really is. It’s us being honest with ourselves, being honest with God, coming before Him as we are…and seeking from Him what we cannot do for ourselves.
I don’t know what it is you’re facing, but I’d just like to take a moment to encourage and challenge you to just get real and honest with yourself about whatever it is you’re going through. Then, go and get in that secret place with God…and seek His will, guidance, and direction. You might get the dreaded “wait” answer too, but the point of this series is really isn’t about getting us to pray or teaching us “how” to pray…it’s to help us understand that we should always be praying, and that no matter what’s happening…good times, bad times or indifferent times…we can come to Him as we are…and He’ll not only hear us…but He will inspire you with greater understanding and knowledge than you could achieve on your own…Amen!?!
Conclusion:
I think that we just kind of figured out what Authentic prayer is…Amen!?! It’s not about formal prayers, but about us being real with ourselves and God…and going to His throne no matter what the situation is. Good, bad, indifferent or ugly times…we still need to be real and honest with ourselves…and God…and just accept His invitation to “Call on Me”.
With the invitation to call upon Him is the assurance that not only will He answer, but He’ll show us things that we’d never imagined we’d be able to know…but the only way we get to see those things is by responding to His invitation.
I don’t know about you, but I think now is as good a time as any to do just that…Amen!?!
Let’s Pray:
Almighty God, You know the things I’m afraid to bring up to You because they seem to cast doubt on Your goodness or sovereignty. They may even remind me of where I came from, and who I was before You came into my heart and life. Oh Lord, I pray that You would remind me that I don’t have to “cover” for You…that I can come boldly to Your throne just as I am…with all my spots, wrinkles, and blemishes…Lord…I need You to show me that I can trust You with things that look impossible to understand or to endure. And I also need You to teach me that You will always be with me, even when I don’t understand. I need You to help me to have patience and persevere in the times when You ask me to wait, and trust that You always have my best interests in mind. Lord, show me Your glory, and help me to see You at work in my life…change my heart, change my attitude, and make them such that whenever the world sees me…they see someone who is being molded more and more into the image of Your Son…because in the end…that’s really the goal…to be more like Jesus…so that we can be Jesus to a lost and dying world that needs to know Him as Lord and Savior. Help me to be the best example I can for You in all the arenas of my life whether I’m at home, at church, at work, or in Walmart…help me to display more of You and less of me. These things I pray and ask In Jesus’ name, Amen.
8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Introduction:
Yesterday’s message was a marathon wasn’t it? I know it was long, but man I think we got some good stuff said to us. I’m well aware of the fact that I’ve had a lot of stuff to say that’s not all sweet and rosy, but how many of you know…some times what God has to say to us isn’t always sweet and rosy. We always have to remember what the Word of God says about itself: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Friends, the Word of God is profitable, but we have to be willing to take it all in. The stuff we like to hear, and the stuff that’s not quite so easy to hear. It’s easier to hear to that we’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, but it’s not so easy to hear that we’re treating God like we’re ashamed of Him…is it? But that’s the truth, friends…that’s exactly how we treat God.
So…the weekend is over and it’s time to get back into the business of writing these messages. So…without any further delay…here we go with the fifth message in this series.
Today’s Message: “God’s Insurance”
You know, can we stay on the point I was making in the introduction for a moment. I can’t seem to get away from this point that we’re treating God like we’re ashamed of Him. Listen, we all know what Jesus said about us being ashamed of Him before men…He’ll be ashamed of us before His Father. How many of you know that when He says ashamed of us before His Father…He’s talking about the day we stand before God at the Great White Throne. I don’t know about you…but I don’t want Jesus to have any reason at all to be ashamed of me on that day…Amen!?!
Well…let’s move on and get into today’s message.
I believe that God answers every prayer. But it’s crucial for us to remember who we’re talking to in prayer. We’re not giving God orders and He’s not at all hesitant about the way He answers.
I like the point James makes here in making sure that when we pray…we need to remember Who it is we’re talking to. We’re not talking to our boss, our parents, or even our spouse. We’re talking to the very person responsible for giving and taking away the very breath we have in our bodies. We don’t even have life without Him waking us every morning, and I think that we as Christian’s as a whole have forgotten Who it is we’re seeking the face of.
As a former United States Marine…I promise you that at no time do you find a private giving the Commandant of the Marine Corps an order. Yet, you find baby Christians basically trying to “order” God to do things in their lives the way they want it…and have no desire to do anything God’s way. I can tell you that if you don’t want to do things in the Marine Corps the way they expect it to be done…you won’t have a very long career in the Marines…and when it’s over you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.
It’s the same thing with God. We give Him this laundry list of things we expect Him to do for us on our terms, and when He doesn’t do them we blame Him for not honoring our shopping list. However, the point of what’s being said here is that God’s not obligated to do anything beyond what He’s already provided for us through the Cross. We are told to come to Him in faith. How many of us actually do that? Even I don’t always come to God in faith, and I have seen Him do things in my life. I’ve learned to stop asking if God can and will…because in all reality He has already done it.
The first answer is “Yes.” That’s the most frequent answer you get to prayer. I have never asked for strength and not received it. I have never, ever prayed for wisdom and not received it. But I have often not prayed for wisdom and regretted the decisions that I made. When I’ve applied James 1:5 and recognized my lack of wisdom and asked God to supply, He has delivered! Most biblical praying receives an immediate “Yes.”
The reason we don’t receive the immediate “yes” is because of what I was getting to just a moment ago with the context of my own prayer life. We need to get to a place where we’re no longer asking if God can or will, but thanking Him that He’s already done what we’re asking Him for. It applies to strength, wisdom, healing, deliverance, and certainly more…but that point is…I believe when James talks about asking “amiss” it’s not because God is deaf to our sin, but it’s because He is deaf to our unbelief. When we approach God without faith…James says that we shouldn’t expect to receive anything. So…while the religious will tell you the reason God doesn’t answer our prayers is because God’s deaf and cannot hear us over the sin in our lives…it’s the Bible that says that God will not bless unbelief. Let Him ask in FAITH…nothing wavering because those who waver are double-minded.
Friends, I’m convinced if we approached God more by thanking Him for what He’s already done, and that He’s already provided whatever it is we’re seeking from Him…we’d get more results from our prayers…because Faith is the substance of things hoped for…the evidence of things unseen. We’re asking for what we don’t see, but our faith gives us the substance to be able to take God at His Word…that whatsoever we should ask in the name of Jesus…He has already done.
God’s second answer to prayer is “No.” That’s why James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” But the only time you get a “no” is if you pray for stupid stuff or if you pray for good stuff with a timeline. I have found God very unresponsive to my ultimatums. God doesn’t respond to blustering, bluffing, or threats. If we’re praying foolishly, we’ll get a “no.”
James says that we have not…because we ask not. The other reason we don’t receive what we’re asking for is because we don’t ASK. We tell God that He needs to bless us with this, and give us that…on OUR terms. I am in full agreement here.
Listen…as a former Marine. I wouldn’t dare walk into the Commandant of the Marine Corps office, and demand anything from him…ever. Not that I’d ever be able to walk into his office anyways, but that’s not the point. The point is…who do we think we are to demand anything from God? Yes, we can approach His throne with boldness and confidence, and it’s also true that we have a right when it comes to certain things like healing (things that God’s provided through the Cross) and to pray in Jesus’ name…but God’s under no obligation to do anything because we throw tantrums, issue Him ultimatums, meet our timelines, or ask for foolish things like a winning lottery ticket.
And…I just finished saying it, but I feel it necessary to repeat that when the Bible talks about “asking amiss” it’s not because God’s deaf to us because of our sin. Listen, I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to repeat this point, but if God’s no longer counting our sins against us…then this talk in pulpits about God being deaf to us because of sin in our lives is just religious talk for we don’t really have faith to believe that God will provide what we ask for…so we hide our unbelief by sounding spiritual and holy…when in fact…the only thing we really sound like is a bunch of people who don’t really believe that God is willing and capable to answer our prayers. We have not because we ask not because we believe our sins are what’s keeping God from hearing it when the truth is the only thing that keeps God from hearing our cries is the fact that we don’t believe He will hear and answer us when we call.
It’s NOT sin that keeps God from being able to do things in our lives…it’s our unbelief…and until we get to a place where we have more faith that doubt…then we can dress it up in all the religious sounding stuff we can…the truth is…God cannot hear us because we don’t believe He’s listening…when the Bible tells us that God’s ears are attentive to our cries…but as long as you continue to hide your unbelief in religious mumbo jumbo about how unholy you are…and how much sin God’s holding against you…perhaps you ought to take some time to read 2 Corinthians 5:18-19…and then ask God to forgive you for harboring unbelief.
But if I’m praying according to God’s will, entrusting my future in God’s hands, He has a third option: “Wait.” The only thing between you and the delayed “yes” is time. How often do we forfeit our “delayed yes” through doubt? God has made promises about a lot of stuff, but He retains the sovereign choice of timing. So we pray unceasingly, and we wait patiently.
This is the place where many of us struggle. When God doesn’t meet our demands immediately. It may be that we have to believe God for something for some time, but that doesn’t mean He’s said no…it’s quite possible He’s said “wait”. It may be that what we’re asking for we’re not mature enough to handle yet or that He’s got something even better in mind. What ever God’s reason for wanting us to wait…it’s His reason…and there’s no praying until something happens (PUSH). Listen…I think it’s absolutely foolish and a waste of time for us to get God to change His mind or agree with us because we believe we’re right.
Let me say this as clearly as possible. There’s never…ever a time when we are or have more wisdom than God does. There’s never…ever a time when we’re going to know what’s best for us or our lives…because there’s never…ever a time where we’re going to be able to see a full picture of our lives. All we see is what’s in front of us at the moment. We have no idea how what we might be seeking God for is going to affect us 6 months later…or even 6 years later…or 6 minutes later. That is why when God says to “wait” the Bible has some very interesting things to say.
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
The point here is that waiting for God’s answer is some times inevitable. I know that in this microwave culture we want what we want when we want it…and we want it now. However, God’s not obligated to operate on our time-table at all. He’s got all of eternity to make decisions, but He’s always going to make the decision that’s best for us…when it’s best for us…and never before.
I used to hate it when I’d hear people say the old cliché: “God’s never late, and He’s never early, but He’s always on time.”. I said I used to hate it…until I realized it’s the truth. God’s timing is always the right time…it’s always the perfect time…and therefore when it comes to waiting upon an answer from Him…I’ve learned that I need to just ask…and let it be. I don’t need to constantly remind Him that I asked Him for a better job…I just believe that there’s going to be a better door open some where when God’s ready for me to move on from this one. I also have to be able to understand that God has me exactly where He wants me at this point in my life…and if He wanted me some where else…I would be.
You see…when I take my restrictions off of God, and allow Him to be God…then I’m never really disappointed when things don’t happen when I think they should. I’ve learned to put complete trust and faith in Him that whatsoever I shall ask in Jesus’ name…it will be done for me. However, there are times when He’s not going to give me what I’m asking for because I either don’t really believe He will or He doesn’t believe what I’m asking Him for is going to benefit me…or help me to bring Him glory…which is always His ultimate goal for all of us. I also have to understand that sometimes whatsoever I ask in Jesus’ name it will be done right away. However, I’ve also come to understand that whatsoever I may ask in Jesus’ name will be done, but when God says it’s the right time for it to be done.
Either way…I’ve learned to believe and trust that whatsoever I ask in Jesus name not only can and will be done, but it already is. It’s not up to me to know God’s methods and timing…it’s up to me to have faith, trust, and believe that His decisions are always going to be in line with what He knows is best…even when it comes to waiting or not getting what I’ve asked for at all.
The important thing is to never stop asking…because in all reality James is right. The reason we don’t have is because we don’t ask…and I don’t know about you…but I have missed out on enough. So…I’m gonna ask from now on…and leave the results to Him…Amen!?!
Conclusion:
I hope that this message has been a blessing to you, and maybe helped to encourage you. I know it’s hard to wait upon God. I believe the hardest answer God gives me is the “wait”. I can accept when God says “no” that’s it’s because what He’s saying “no” to is for my own good. Obviously, it’s good to get a “yes”. However, some of the greatest things I’ve received from God are those things that He’s given me the “wait” answer…and it’s also the answer I struggle with the most.
I’m no different from anyone else. I still want what I want from God right now, but that’s not how God operates. I told you that I still can come to God with the maybe’s, could you and would you…instead of thank You in advance for answered prayer. I’m not perfect, but I’m learning more and more to give more and more to God…and trust Him with the results…because in all reality…He’s always going to provide better results than I am…even if His answer is no.
What do you need from God? Ask Him. Maybe it’s something that will come right away. Maybe it’s something that He’ll say isn’t right for you. Maybe it’s something that He’ll say isn’t right for you right now…but whatever it is…just ask…and leave the results to Him…Amen!?!
Let’s Pray:
Father, I don’t want to derail Your promises by my doubts and impatience. Thank You for reminding me that Your timing is perfect, that Your ways are right, and that Your plans are always best! Help me to keep returning to Your promises and resting in You as I wait to see Your answers to my prayers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
Introduction:
So far, there’s been quite a bit of good stuff spoken to us through this series, and I’m glad that you guys voted for it. Not only because it’s turned out to be a pretty good series, but as I’ve said I believe that I’m going to be moving in that direction more often. The direction of having you…the readers vote on more of the topics that we talk about. Because the truth is…even though I get ministered to by my own messages…you’re the reason I’m doing this. I want you to be challenged, encouraged, exhorted, and helped to have the kind of relationship with God that you desire to have.
Sometimes, that’s going to require me to write a lot of harsh things, and I realize that this series I’ve been much more harsh than usual…but that’s the Holy Spirit’s work, friends. You must understand that everything that is written in these messages is under the unction, guidance, and direction of the Holy Ghost…and if there’s rebuke and correction in these messages…it’s because He feels it necessary for me to take the message in that direction. I would prefer to write all the time about how we’re justified by faith, and the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. However, some times…as we know the Word of God is profitable for reproof, correction, and the whole purpose of this is to help us all grow up and be more mature Christians…and learn how to have and maintain that deep, personal, intimate relationship with God we all need, want, and hopefully desire to have.
So…let’s continue on in this series on Authentic Prayer. Today, we’re in 2 Timothy 2, and I’m already excited about what we’re going to talk about just by reading our scripture for today. Today’s one of those days…that I want you to know that I truly do rely upon the Holy Ghost to help me to write…and therefore before we get into the message…I want you to know that this Authentic Prayer is almost always the prayer I have before starting any message.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for being with me this day, and for the beautiful day that You have made. I praise You for the gift and ability to write that You’ve given me, and I come before You seeking the help, guidance, and unction of the Holy Ghost for this message. Holy Spirit, I recognize that I cannot write one sentence without Your help, and I ask You to help me. I pray that You would give me that supernatural ability that only comes from You that I may write with boldness, clarity, and purpose. I pray that everything I write would be from You, and that You would give me the unction, utterance, and direction You wish this message to go. I ask that You would be with each and every reader. I ask that You would give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that will be receptive and respond to what You would speak to them. I ask that all who read this message would learn what it is that You would have them to learn, and that You would help them apply it to their lives. Lord, I give You glory and honor, and I pray that this message would glorify and honor You. Let me not write anything that would be contrary or compromise Your Word…for Your Word is truth…and I ask this in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen
We talked a the other day about “Call to Me”, and in that message we said quite a few things that I think were outstanding. However, I believe perhaps the most important illustration I gave was the one about how we relate to God, and how if we’d think about if our significant others treated us the way we treat God…then perhaps that would give us a better perspective on how we’re to treat our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
For instance, I said this:
How would you feel if every time you wanted to hold their…they looked around to see who was watching? How would you feel if every time you wanted to hug them or kiss them in public they looked around to see who was watching? How would you feel if you were extremely excited about something, and you went to tell them about it…and they were like “calm down, don’t make a fool of yourself…you’re embarrassing me.”? Authentic Prayer Day 2 by Pastor Bryan
Listen, I’m one of those who is somewhat conservative when it comes to public displays of affection, but I believe holding hands or kissing or hugging in public is an expression of not just love towards my wife…but proof that I’m not embarrassed to be seen with her. When I don’t do that often enough my wife begins to question whether I find her attractive, and ultimately if I’m embarrassed to be seen with her.
So, let’s equate that to our relationship with God. Obviously, we can’t walk around holding God’s hand, but when the altar call is given, and you look around to see who is watching. You know God’s tugging on you’re heart because He wants to do something in your life, but you decide not to go out of concern over what the people around you are going to think. Do you not understand that when you do that…what you’re saying to God is that you’re embarrassed of Him, and that your reputation is more important to you than what He wants to do in and through your life?
God’s invitation for us to “Call to Me” isn’t just an invitation to casually seek Him…it’s an invitation to go deeper and be more desperate and intimate with Him. I don’t know anyone who can’t and shouldn’t go deeper, and become more personal and intimate with God.
Each of the promises from God can usually be summarized in a word. Here’s the first one: Invitation. Look at Jeremiah 33:2, God Himself is giving the invitation: “Thus says the LORD,” which is God’s way of saying, “Jeremiah, take a memo.” This title, ”LORD,” is God’s personal, covenant name. That’s God making a covenant commitment to you. If you have turned from your sin and embraced Jesus Christ by faith for your forgiveness, God has made a covenant with you. He has said, “I have sworn by My own name” (see Hebrews 6:13-20). God has promised to do some things for you. Now it doesn’t matter what you’ve done because God has made some commitments regardless of your past.
There’s a lot of good stuff in here…so let’s slow down a little bit, and take a closer look at what we just read…because it’s really time that we go deeper with God…and really get serious with Him. The time for playing and pretending that we really want to know and serve and love God is over…it’s time to get real…to be genuine…to be authentic…and the more we can understand about what we’re reading…the more we’ll be able to get to a place where we desire this authenticity with God…Amen!?!
Each of the promises from God can usually be summarized in a word. Here’s the first one: Invitation. Look at Jeremiah 33:2, God Himself is giving the invitation: “Thus says the LORD,” which is God’s way of saying, “Jeremiah, take a memo.” This title, ”LORD,” is God’s personal, covenant name.
You know why we confess Jesus not only as Savior, but Lord? It’s right that Jesus holds the key to our salvation, and when we call upon His name we’re saved or sozo’ed. For those of you who don’t know what sozo’ed means…it means: “make whole”. Everything that we need to be made whole and right with God was provided on the Cross. Salvation, healing, deliverance, provision…everything. There wasn’t anything left out when it comes to the Cross. So when I use the word sozo’ed that means we’re made complete and whole in Christ Jesus.
However, the other part to salvation is confessing Jesus as Lord. The other word here for Lord is Adonai…which means “ownership”. This is the disconnect where many Christians fall by the wayside, and it’s because they want to be saved and made whole, but they don’t want to surrender their lives to the Lordship or ownership of God. You see, many people want God to be their Jehovah-Jirah which is a long way of saying we want God’s provision for our lives, but few want Him to be our Adonai or Owner.
I like what James writes here: “This title, “LORD”, is God’s personal, covenant name. It’s this title that we give Him that confirms that we have surrendered to Him as our Owner. It’s a covenant or agreement or contract between us and God that we are His…and that all that He has promised and provided for us is available to us…as long as He remains our Lord.
We make decisions on a regular basis that either make and keep Him as Lord or make us lord over our lives. That’s why there’s verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 that tell us to acknowledge Him in ALL of our ways so that HE can direct our paths. When we seek Him as Lord…every time we seek Him as Lord…we are surrendering to His Ownership…and when we don’t then we are still the lord’s over our lives…and that has a direct impact upon our prayer life…and ultimately our entire walk with God. The more Ownership we give Him…the more His promises and provisions will be made manifest in and through our lives.
That’s God making a covenant commitment to you. If you have turned from your sin and embraced Jesus Christ by faith for your forgiveness, God has made a covenant with you. He has said, “I have sworn by My own name” (see Hebrews 6:13-20).
Something else that will have a direct impact upon your prayer life is faith. I saw an outstanding quote by Smith Wigglesworth on Twitter yesterday that fits in with what I’m about to get into right now. I’m going to give the quote, and then I believe we’ll run from there.
Faith is the audacity that rejoices in the fact that God cannot break His own Word!
Listen. Jesus said that if we ask ANYTHING of the Father in His name…it would be done. That’s a promise. That’s part of the covenant, and we know that God’s Word is the most important thing to Him. So important, in fact, that as is correctly pointed out in Hebrews 6:13-20 that He swears His Word by His own name. He swore His Word by Himself. In other words, when Jesus makes a covenant or promise like this to us…That’s God making an unbreakable covenant and promise to you that if you’ll ask anything in the name of Jesus…it will be done.
So…when we come to God in prayer…we’re to come with Faith believing that whatsoever we should ask in His name it will be done or given to us…and thanks to Smith Wigglesworth we have a new and much more powerful definition of what faith is. Faith is the audacity that rejoices in the fact that God cannot break His own Word. Friends…when we pray anything in the name of Jesus…it’s done, but we have to have the audacity to believe that when Jesus said if we pray anything in His name it’s done…because He cannot break His own Word.
Anyone ever half-heartedly quoted the old cliché “If God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”?. If we really, truly believed that…there would be no problem going to God in prayer about anything because when we say “in Jesus’ name”…it’s done. Why? God’s Word says that it’s done when we pray that way…and that means it’s an unbreakable covenant between God and us.
I don’t know about you…but that it awesome. That’s worth giving God praise and glory right there…Amen!?!
God has promised to do some things for you. Now it doesn’t matter what you’ve done because God has made some commitments regardless of your past.
Here lies the reason why we don’t believe God’s covenant is for us. In fact, before I go further into this I’m going to add Dr. MacDonald’s next statement because it ties in with where the Holy Spirit wants to go with this point.
The enemy would say to us, “Because of what you did, it’s over with you and God.”
Anyone other than me ever been in this place? You thought that you had blown it so bad, and that the way you lived your life was so horrible that there’s no possible way that God would ever want anything to do with you again? Has anyone ever thought that you’d disappointed God so greatly that He threw His hands up in disgust over you so as to say “that’s it, I’m done with you.”
If you listen to enough religious people, there’s no wonder why you’d come to that conclusion, and we’re not even getting into the fact that the devil wants you to buy into that garbage. However, he doesn’t even have to try because there’s people and preachers that will do that job for him. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard preachers and people both say that God cannot hear us over our sin when we pray. I also have heard many times more than I’d like to that in order for us to really be able to connect with God WE need to clean up our lives before He’ll listen to us.
First of all. If God isn’t counting our sins against us as 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 speaks of (and since it’s in God’s Word we know it’s true because He swears His Word by Himself)…then how is it that He’s deaf from something that He’s not even paying attention to? He said that our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. He said that when we confess our sins that He remembers them no more. So…if it’s that clearly stated that as believers our sins aren’t keeping God from hearing our prayers…then why is it being preached? Because it sounds religious…it sounds holy, but the truth is…it’s a lie straight from the pit of hell.
Secondly. We cannot clean up our own lives. Anyone ever decided to quit smoking, drinking, or doing anything that you felt like you needed to quit on your own? You can’t do it can you? Yes, I know some of you may have had success for a while, but eventually we all go back to those things that we try to stop doing on our own because we feel like we need to stop doing them in order for God to be willing to allow us to approach Him before He’ll even hear us…because He cannot hear us over our horrible past…and I’ve already told you that’s a lie.
We cannot break strongholds off our lives by willpower alone because strongholds aren’t physical…they are spiritual in nature, and therefore in order to break them we cannot do so with natural means…we need supernatural help…and that supernatural help is only available through the Holy Ghost…period. There’s no natural remedy for spiritual conditions…the only way to break and heal spiritual conditions is through the Holy Ghost.
Let me say that again. There are no natural remedies for spiritual conditions…the only way to break and heal those conditions is through the Holy Ghost.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
When we have those kinds of things in our lives that the religious would like us to think disqualify us from approaching God…how many of you know that’s precisely the reason why we need to run to God? If I become aware of a stronghold in my life…how many of you know that’s a time of need…and how many of you know that because Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) says that I can come boldly to the throne of grace, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help in my time of need…that’s a covenant?
The promise is that if I have a time of need I can obtain mercy and grace to help me in my time of need…that’s God’s Word. God swore His Word by Himself. There’s nothing there that says that in order for me to obtain mercy and grace to help me that I need to stop doing what it is I’m doing before I can approach God’s throne of grace…is there?
Listen…do you know why no one wants to preach or talk about the thief on the Cross next to Jesus? It’s because they don’t want it to really be that simple. The thief on the Cross came boldly to the throne of grace…right there. How many of you know that when you’re on your death-bed, and you realize you need Jesus…that’s a time of need? How many of you know that the thief’s only option to obtain grace and mercy in his time of need was to call upon Jesus? Did the thief have time to clean up his past? Did he have time to make amends, get baptized, and clean up his life? Obviously the answer to those questions is no.
What did the thief do? He took Jesus up on the invitation to “Call to Me”. He called Jesus “Lord”, and the moment he called Jesus “Lord”…is the moment he had the right to approach the throne of grace to obtain grace and mercy. Jesus promised that he would be with Him in paradise THAT day.
Friends…that story is told because I believe it’s to be made as clear as possible that it really is THAT easy, but the religious world wants you to believe that it’s not. Why? Honestly, I don’t know…because it’s good news to me that it’s that simple to approach God.
What’s going on in your life that you need to boldly approach the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help you? What are you trying to clean up on your own? What are you trying to do without God’s ownership? What spiritual conditions are you trying to cure with natural remedies? Then let me say this one last time before we move on, and work towards closing this message.
There are no natural remedies for spiritual conditions…the only way to break and heal those conditions is through the Holy Ghost.
Believe it or not, the Holy Ghost gave me that. I’m not clever enough to come up with something like that on my own…that’s Holy Ghost right there. Let’s move on…
The enemy would say to us, “Because of what you did, it’s over with you and God.”
But God says, “I am the LORD. I have made a covenant with you.”
Is it just me…or do we all need to let that sink in right there? The enemy wants us to believe that it’s over between us and God…that He’s thrown up His hands in disgust, and had finally had enough. Can I tell you that you are far too valuable to God, and that He loves us far too much to do that? Friends, there’s no surprises in the Kingdom. There’s no surprises in our lives to God. There’s nothing that we’ve done or haven’t done that God’s shocked by. So, at no time is there ever a moment where God throws up His hands in disgust, and says that He’s done with us. God will never reach that kind of moment with us…because of the covenant between us and Him when we confess Him as Lord.
Let’s move on…
Our relationship with God may look like simple exchange of affection between two parties, but the truth is we can’t keep up our end of things. We can’t match anything God does for us. But God does His part even when we fail to do ours.
“We can’t match anything God does for us.” I just said a moment ago that there are no natural remedies for spiritual conditions. We cannot break the strongholds over our lives by willpower because strongholds aren’t natural conditions…they are spiritual. We need God to break those things off our lives, and the only way to get Him to do that is to accept His invitation to call to Him in our time of need. He’s faithful, and will always do His part…even when we fail to do ours…that’s good news for some of you right there.
Many of you, feel like I have at one time of another. I can identify and understand how it feels to wonder if you’ve messed up so bad in life that God’s disappointed in me. There are many times over the last eleven years that I messed up bad, and missed God…and I can honestly tell you that there were many, many times over the last 20 years of my life I felt like I was on my own because I had messed up in life so badly that there was no way that not only could God ever use my life to make a difference, but I also bought the lie that I had messed up so badly that God was done with me…and all that did was cause me to live my life worse…and the worse I lived…the more I knew that God was up there shaking His fist at me, and eventually I thought that God had thrown up His hands in disgust…and was finished with me once and for all.
However, I can tell you that the greatest thing that God ever did was tell me He loved me, and that I was valuable to Him. In fact, there was a point in my life where He took me on my entire life’s journey to show me how many things He had walked with me through, delivered me from, and He also showed me there was much work yet to be done. He showed me how He brought me out of my own land of Egypt and began breaking bondage off of me one by one, but He also showed me at that point in my life that I was standing looking over into the Promised Land, but between me and my Promised Land was the land of the giants. He went on to explain to me that in order for me to reach the Promised Land…that I was going to have to continue to walk through and fight the giants in my life and that He was going to walk right beside me.
Not long ago, God let me know yet again, that He was my personal protector, and that He was my shield…and that He had a purpose for me. One of the giants I had to conquer was the thought that I had done such bad in my life that He couldn’t use me. Another of the giants was simply getting off the sidelines…and into the ministry He had called me into.
I’m 250 messages into what God’s called me to, and He uses a lot of what I’ve been through in life to help me illustrate things. He also uses what I’ve been through to encourage others that if I can go through all of that, overcome, and be used by God…so can you. I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am God’s. I belong to Him, and that there’s nothing I can do to remove myself from the palm of His hand.
Do you know that? You belong to Him, and there’s nothing you can do to remove yourself from the palm of His hand. That’s the meaning behind Romans 8:38-39…because there really isn’t anything that can separate us from Him…once we are His.
Friend, I don’t know your life’s story, but I do know that there’s nothing between you and God that is keeping you from Him other than your own belief that you’re ineligible to approach Him. You are not only eligible, but He’s always giving us that invitation…”Call to Me”…I am your Lord…and I can and will help you…but you have to call to Me.
Paul captured how this works in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, “If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.” God has made a covenant with us and He will not deny Himself. This is an awesome promise.
I’m going to close this message right here…because I feel like we need to pray…and I’m going to simply ask you to pray this with me…
Lord…You know my heart…You know everything about me. There isn’t anything that I’ve done, anywhere that I’ve been…there’s nothing that’s unknown to You about me. You know the areas of live that I struggle in, You know the strongholds that are in my life, and You know the places in my heart where I struggle to believe that I belong to You…because there are still places in my heart where I’m not sure that I’m Yours…because of the lies of the enemy. I know, Lord, that You have set me free from my past. I know, Lord that You have forgiven me of all my unrighteousness, and that I’m justified not because of anything within me, but because of the Blood of Jesus that continually washes and cleanses me. Lord, help my unbelief…help me to see that there truly isn’t anything or anyone that can separate me from You…again not because of me…but because of Your covenant with me. Help me to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’m Yours…not because of anything I’ve done…because of everything that You have done. Thank You, Lord…that the my life in You is because of You…thank You for the Cross…thank You for the Blood of Jesus…and thank You for Your unbreakable promises to me because You swore them to me by Yourself…help me to surrender more and more to Your Ownership…help me relinquish more of the control and ownership of my life to You…because it’s not my life…it’s Yours…I am Yours…and You are mine. I accept Your invitation to Call to You…and I thank You that I can come boldly to the throne of grace so that I may obtain mercy, and grace to help me in my times of need. Thank You for all that You’re doing in, with, and through my life…and I thank You for all that You’ve done, all You’re doing, and all that You have yet to do…in, with, and through my life. Thank You for making me Yours…and thank You for helping me to know that I AM YOURS…in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen
Conclusion:
There’s no assignment for today…and I don’t really have anything to add in closing. So, I hope that you’ve enjoyed this message, and will be back for the next one. I love you, and I thank you for your support…and pray that this message sinks deeply into your heart…and helps you to achieve that deeper and more intimate relationship with God…so that you can come to Him as you are…and begin to have that more authentic prayer life. I cannot say this enough that authentic prayer isn’t some beautifully eloquent speech…it’s just simply being yourself…being real before God…and coming to Him out of your heart…like the prayer we just prayed…that’s authentic prayer…friends…from my heart…and now…it’s your turn.
Prayer: (Say this with me):
Father, I quiet myself before You right now in awe and fear, knowing I desperately need Your constant help in the dying with You and living with You part of that promise. Thank You for revealing to us that You will never deny Yourself, despite our faithlessness. I’m living and believing that You’re holding on to me so much more than I am holding on to You! And for that, I am forever grateful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Respond to the Invitation…Your Savior is walking by….saying “Call To Me”,
A while ago, I posted a video of Don Potter’s “Come Come Come”, and I thought I was done, but I really have this heavy feeling upon my heart that I need to make sure that we all really get these words that were sung before Don Potter breaks into “Come, Come, Come”…and the significance of making sure we know that this was taped in 2006…it doesn’t take much if you really read and listen to what’s said…to understand we’re 6 years in to what was spoken…and that we’re most definitely living in the days the Lord spoke of.
I figured I’d add the actual video so that you can listen along…and then rock out to the song…but don’t just rock out…listen to the words also…there’s a lot of really good stuff in this song.
By the way…don’t just skim through and read this like you’d read anything else…take a moment to meditate and reflect…and really allow these words to penetrate your mind and heart…
“The times we’re living in seems like there’s no going back…the things we’re hearing about…the Lord has spoken of…THERE ARE NO SURPRISES IN THE KINGDOM…you were made for this hour…you were made to stand strong…you were made for this time…you were made to sing…made to fight…made to worship with all your might…you are made for the glory to be poured out upon you…you were made for this time…YOU were made for THIS time…you were made for this TIME…the Spirit of Elijah is upon the earth…the Spirit of Elijah means that JOHN THE BAPTIST is here again…crying out in “Prepare the Way for the KING IS COMING”.”
Now…I’m not going to attempt to be one of those weirdo’s that claim to know the day & hour that Jesus is coming back, but this was spoken out in 2006…and I’m pretty sure if we’re able to really look around…the things we’re hearing of and seeing…the Lord spoke of…the prophets spoke of…and if you can’t look around and see that we’re living in the last days before the trumpet sounds…then you need to get your head out of the sand…and seriously take a look.
Friends, there’s never been a more urgent time to get serious about being serious with God…the KING IS COMING…and He’s coming much…much sooner than we think or expect. Remember…that trumpet is going to sound…the Bible says it’s going to…and that means it will…and we need to be more like Elisha…and start listening for that sound of rain…because I believe the ONLY people who are going to hear that trumpet…are the ones who are watching and listening for it…while the rest of the world goes on living like they did in Noah’s day…laughing and sneering and mocking the very God that’s giving them one chance…and one chance only to get into the Ark…and be saved from what’s coming.
Are you in the Ark? That’s a simple way of asking are you in Christ? Have you trusted Him as Lord and Savior? If not…it’s really easy to do. How easy? You know…easy as the A-B-C’s:
A- Admit
Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life. Romans 6:23
B- Believe
Believe that Jesus is God’s Son and accept God’s gift of forgiveness from sin. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16
C- Confess
Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:9-10, 13
If you’re ready to confess Christ as Lord and Savior…then you’re ready for this:
Dear Lord Jesus…come into my heart. Forgive me of my sin. Wash me, cleanse me, and set me free. Jesus, thank You that You died for me. I believe that You are risen from the dead and that You’re coming back for me. Place me IN Your Ark right now, today. Fill me with the Holy Ghost. Give me a passion for the lost, a hunger for the things of God, and a holy boldness to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I boldly confess that I am a whosoever that has called upon the name of the Lord…that I am IN the Ark…and that I am saved…I am born again…I am forgiven…I am the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus…and I am In the Ark and on my way to Heaven because I have Jesus in my heart. In Jesus name I pray…Amen!
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Introduction:
I just finished writing the message that was to be posted yesterday, but I feel like waiting on the Lord for more was the right thing to do…which is why I didn’t finish the message until this morning. I believe it was probably the best message of this series…and it might actually be the best message in this series. So…I may even return to read it myself a few times…but we’ll see how much more comes as we continue this series.
Today, we take a look at Moses. I’m ready to get right into today’s message. So…let’s do it.
Today’s Message: “Moses’ Vertical Call”
When I hear the name Moses, I picture a giant in faith with a long grey beard and weary eyes as he stands on a mountain with arms outstretched. I revere that vision of Moses, but I resonate more deeply with the Moses of early Exodus. Rash and aggressive, younger Moses tried to accomplish his calling in the flesh, ending quickly with a corpse buried in the sand. Forty years later God gave Moses a second chance but he seemed stuck on lesson one: “I can’t.”
Do you know why it took God a decade before I was ready and able to step into the vocation in which He called me to? I was stuck on lesson one: I didn’t believe I could. I was stuck looking at myself through the mirror of the world, and my own eyes. I saw my life, and thought that because I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, I didn’t live a life of holiness, and in fact I was anything but holy…although I knew God was calling me, and I knew the Word spoke of how God used the foolish things of the world to confound the wisdom of the wise…I still found myself stuck on saying: “I can’t”.
Not long after I started writing…I found myself reading people’s blogs and thinking the same thing about my ability to write. I found myself again looking at my qualifications, and felt disqualified to do what God was calling me to do. My posts don’t look like the posts of others who have been professionally trained as journalists and writers. They were full of grammatical and spelling errors, and the more I looked at other people’s blogs I again found myself stuck thinking that I can’t do what these people do.
Then…I read something that clicked, and I haven’t looked back since. “God doesn’t call the qualified…He qualifies the called.” is the statement that God used to snap my attention back upon Him and off of my abilities. In fact, He began to explain that the authenticity of what I write, even the grammatical and spelling errors is part of what makes me different. And…of course He also said to me that if I wanted a professional I would’ve called a professional…but I called you.
It’s been almost a year, and while I still see errors in my posts that don’t get noticed in those proofreader’s don’t catch, but I hope that you guys can at least get where I’m going and understand what I’m saying. However, what I’ve noticed is that the Holy Spirit has taken my willingness to embrace and answer God’s call…and He’s been the One to teach me how to get better. My posts are getting better and so is my ability to write…because I’m not relying upon my own ability…I’m relying upon the Holy Ghost to teach me.
I tell you all this because there’s been a transformation in my thinking to “I can’t” to “as long as God shows me…I can.” I’ve come to understand that I really can do all things through Christ, and that includes writing messages that I never really thought I could write…until I began writing.
See…that’s the key. I know there are a lot of you who are reading these messages that know and sense that God’s called you to use your gifts and talents for His work, but you like Moses and I are stuck looking at them through your own eyes…and yourself saying: “I can’t.”. You’re right…you can’t…but if you’ll surrender to God…and allow Him to teach you…you’ll be able to do things that will blow your mind.
I’m not one to toot my own horn or pat myself on the back, but there are times when I’ll re-read a message I’ve written to find myself stunned that what I’m reading came from me. Then, I find myself being thankful that I didn’t wait 40 years to respond to God’s calling upon my life…I only waited 38…and now that I’m doing what God’s called me to do…I entrust the results to Him…and I also entrust my development as a writer to Him as well. After all…He gave me the gift…and I realize that the only way for it to be perfected…is to give it back to Him…and not try to do this in my flesh…because when I do…I’m no where near as good a writer as I am when I allow Him to take over.
In Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (v.2) that burned but was not consumed. In response to God’s call, Moses refused to be God’s messenger of deliverance, wallowing in his own inadequacy. I’ve done that too; have you?
As you have just read…I most certainly wallowed in my own inadequacy for years. I told you that I knew as far back as 1999 that I wasn’t supposed to be just a church pew warmer, but that God had something for me to do. I found out more in 2001, but I just started writing in 2012…after having Him speak that it was time for me to get serious about being serious about Him…and that included serving Him.
For a decade I knew I was called, but like Moses did I allowed myself to wallow in my inadequacy. I allowed the devil to tell me that I was disqualified because of my life, because I’m a felon, and because there’s so much dirt and filth in my past that there’s no way I could be of any use to the Kingdom of God…and you know what…for the better part of a decade…I believed that I was disqualified…and that’s why it took me 11 years before I began writing.
Before I began writing this message I saw this quote on Facebook from A.W Tozer, and while I was making my lunch…I felt the Lord impress it upon my heart to include it in today’s message, and therefore without any hesitation…here’s what A.W. Tozer said that applies to what I’m talking about right now.
True faith requires that we believe everything God has said about Himself, but also that we believe everything He has said about us. Until we believe that we are as bad as God says we are, we can never believe that He will do for us what He says He will do.
This is why our prayer lives suffer. I believe that we believe what God says about us is all bad, but when He says that we’re bad that doesn’t mean that we’re unqualified to serve Him or approach Him in prayer. In fact, He means just the opposite.
Listen. If I were to try to write a message like this on my own…I’ve no doubt in my mind that it would be bad. It wouldn’t flow, it wouldn’t make much sense, and in all reality even though I kind of had the ability to write all my life…my ability is at it’s best when I realize that Jesus said that apart from abiding in Him I can do nothing.
I need God’s help writing these messages because I can’t do it on my own strength and ability. I’ve tried to write stuff without God’s help, and let me just say that you should be grateful that I never posted any of the stuff I wrote during those times. I identify with this point: “Rash and aggressive, younger Moses tried to accomplish his calling in the flesh, ending quickly with a corpse buried in the sand.”
That’s exactly what happened when I tried writing messages without the anointing and unction of the Holy Ghost…they fell flat, and had no power, no flow, and like I said you should be glad that none of those messages ever made it to be published because they stunk…and I’m the first to admit that I’m extremely grateful that the Holy Spirit helps me with these messages because without Him…my messages would still stink.
I spent the first two years of college refusing to be a pastor, in fear I would lack the patience and the perseverance with people. I also resisted God about starting a church from scratch, as I feared I would end up preaching to twelve people around a card table. I understand Moses’ initial refusal to do a big job. But God pressed in as He does with all of us. In the end God’s greatest provision for Moses’ or my or your sense of inadequacy is simply and profoundly His presence with us. The answer to Moses’ persistent pattern of “I can’t” was not “Yes, you can, Moses” but “I can, I will, I AM.” – Dr. James MacDonald
Listen, reading Dr. James MacDonald’stestimony here encourages me because it helps to know that I’m not the only one who struggled to embrace the call of God. I’m not the only one who was afraid and felt disqualified for one reason or another. I’m not the only one who felt inadequate to fulfill what God wants to do in and through my life…and I hope this message is an encouragement to you to know that you’re not alone, either.
I spent the last 10 years refusing to believe that I was a pastor or that I could be of any good to the Kingdom of God at all. I refused to believe that I could be of any Heavenly good to anyone. I was certain that no one would listen to me or be helped by anything I have to say or that God would want to use me to say anything.
How wrong I was…and the message to you today…is you are wrong too. Once I got down in my heart that God doesn’t call the qualified…He qualifies the called…it changed my way of thinking. It change my mindset, and it helped me to understand that the reason I was qualified to do what God called me to do is because He gave me the ability, and if He gave me the ability than He would see to it that my ability was developed and furthermore…the only way for my ability to be developed is to begin to use it.
Now…well over 200 messages and 200 followers later…I’m doing what God’s called me to do. It’s nowhere near perfect, and I am no where near perfect either. I’ve worked extremely hard at allowing God’s view of me to overtake my own view of myself…and let me be candid…there are many times that my own views of myself still get in the way of allowing God to do all that He can and wants to do through me…but those are the times where I have to take myself to the throne of grace…and seek God’s face.
Again…authentic prayer isn’t about some greatly eloquently spoken prayer. Authentic prayer is that time that’s just between you and God. It’s that time when you can get alone from the world, and just get before God. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to God; “Lord, I have no idea how in the world you can use me. I don’t even know how to see myself the way You do. Please help me to see myself through Your eyes.”.
Authentic prayer as I said yesterday is about you being real with yourself and God, and just talking to Him from the heart. Talking to Him knowing that He hears you…because He does…and don’t try to let the religious world tell you He can’t hear you over your sin. That’s a lie. If you’re His…then He’s not counting your sins against you…you’re reconciled to Him…and there’s nothing wrong with His ears…He can hear you just fine.
So…talk to Him. Tell Him that you’re having trouble embracing what He wants you to do because you can’t see yourself the way He does, and ask Him to help you to see yourself in the light and way in which He sees you. He’ll honor and answer that prayer…and the reason I know He will…is because He does so for me.
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
Today’s assignment is the same as yesterday’s. Start having a conversation with God. Imagine that God is saying to you right now: “Hey, it’s God. How are you doing? What’s on your mind?” It’s okay to tell Him, and it’s okay to talk to Him however you need to talk to Him. He’s ready to listen. Remember His words to Jeremiah…if you seek Me…you will find Me…but only if you seek Me with your whole heart.” So…seek Him with your whole heart today…and tell Him how you’re doing today…and go on from there.
Conclusion:
What a series. I’m so glad you guys and gals voted for this series. It’s been really good so far, and we’re only half way in. I hope this is encouraging and helpful to you. I hope my personal story may help some of you stop sitting on the sidelines…and get into the fight. In this day and age…we really need all hands on deck…and we need to stop being afraid to approach God because we don’t feel we’re adequate…we are…because Jesus made us adequate, Jesus made us holy, and Jesus gave us the right to approach the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need.
So…let’s go to God in prayer right now…and close out this message.
Prayer:
Father, I confess that my first instinct is to refuse Your call and even try to run away. I realize that I’m stuck sometimes in fearful, horizontal thinking and forget that You invite me to look at everything from Your vertical point of view. Help me remember that Your call always comes with whatever else I need to do and be what You ask of me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
When I woke up this morning to the news that Barak Obama had succeeded in his bid for re-election for President of the United States…I have to admit that I was disappointed, and in a way I felt let down…but it wasn’t long before the Lord put 2 Chronicles 7:14 in my thoughts and heart as I pondered “what’s next”.
I admit I had angry thoughts…those who would rather rely upon the government for handouts will be able to continue to sit on their sofas…instead of working with their hands. Paul said that if we don’t work…we shouldn’t eat…but American’s think the world owes them something…and what’s worse is that the Church has bought into this spirit of entitlement in which they feel the world owes them something too. All I have to say to that is: Church…the world owes us nothing…we owe the world something…and that something is Jesus Christ.
“Sin dances in the streets and the “saints” hide in the corner of the church. Homosexuals put on massive parades and celebrate their “pride” in every major city in the country and the “saints” hide in the corner of the church ashamed to speak the name of Christ. Men who have no prayer life want to discuss how this election has destroyed our country.”
The silent Church is what is bringing this nation before the wrath of God, and it’s time that real preachers and men of God like Pastor Lamb who wrote those words to stand up and speak the truth in love…and maybe with a little bit of righteous anger at the way our founding principles are slipping away from this great nation of ours.
It’s the silent Church unwilling to confront sin because it’s not popular, and won’t put the people in pews is part of the problem too. Fewer people in pews means fewer dollars in the offering plate…which leads to smaller buildings and less money for those who would rather preach a rosy…everyone is going to Heaven Joel Osteen gospel…than to preach the Gospel that Paul was given by God to preach to the nations…and be reminded that any other gospel is ACCURSED.
Friends, there’s more reasons that I can write as to why we’re on the wrong path, and the truth is that the downfall of this nation isn’t because of Democrats or Republicans…the state of the United States today isn’t George Bush’s fault or Barak Obama’s fault…and while Mitt Romney’s plans were much more concrete than Obama’s the truth is even HE couldn’t fix what truly is bringing this nation to it’s knees.
What is bringing this nation to it’s knees is a Church that refuses to hit it’s knees. It’s a Church that refuses to turn over the money tables in the synogogues and allow the prosperity pimps to rob the Body of Christ. It’s a Church that’s more interested in entertaining people than evangelizing them. It’s a Church that believes the Bible is outdated and incapable of ministering to the needs of the world…and irrelevant to how we want to live our carnal lives.
The state of the Union isn’t the fault of the people in the political arena…it’s the fault of the Body of Christ…and I am one of those that needs to humble themselves and repent and seek God’s face….I am one of those who needs to take a stand regardless of what people think of my stance on issues because my stance needs to be God’s…period.
I admit that I fall short in my duties as a minister to pray for this nation and it’s leaders and it’s direction…but I am not one of those who is afraid to say the unpopular stuff…even at the displeasure of my own parents.
I believe America can be great again, and that in many ways it still is the greatest nation on the planet. However, I also believe that the only way for America to be great again isn’t going to happen from the White House, it’s not going to come from Wall Street or Main Street, it’s not going to be from the House or Senate floors…no…friends…the ONLY hope for America is the Body of Christ taking a stand and flipping over the vendors tables and saying “enough is enough”. The ONLY hope for America the Body of Christ standing up and no longer being silent while it’s rights are legislated away.
The only REAL hope for America is blood bought, born again, spirit-filled Christians who are SERIOUS ABOUT BEING SERIOUS WITH GOD…and recognizing that we as the Body of Christ are responsible for the downfall and wrath of God that is coming against the United States of America.
It’s time that the Body of Christ wake up to the reality that the trumpet is going to sound VERY…VERY…VERY soon…and really start GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT BEING SERIOUS WITH GOD…and realize that the only real hope for America is JESUS.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (1 Corinthians 16:23-24) Blessing & Grace to you Bryan J. Kizer Christlike Ministries NWA
1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name;
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Introduction:
Today, we’re going to look at the very set of verses that one of yesterday’s Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader assignments was on. Anyone actually take the time to do it? Don’t answer that question for me…answer it for yourself…honestly…and if you haven’t then ask yourself another question…what was more important to me than taking the time to study God’s Word? What ever your answer is…you’ve created an idol…and made whatever your answer is more important to you than getting to know the things of God. Let me say this: If you want Authentic Prayer to have any kind of power to it…then you need to take the power away from the idol’s in your life…and I’m saying that to myself as well. If we spend more time watching Desperate Housewives than in the Word of God…don’t expect to read a study on Authentic Prayer, and suddenly see your prayer life have more power and authority.
Jesus didn’t go away from the disciples and watch television…He went away to get alone with God…and get on His face and sought first the Kingdom of God. He sought His Father’s face…and if you think that watching 5 hours of television a night, and spending 5 minutes in reading these messages is going to improve your prayer life…then your totally deceived…because that’s NOT going to help you improve your prayer life.
So…with that said…and I’m sure that there are many of you angry with me for saying that, but I’m not about the popular…I’m about speaking the truth. The truth is many of us in the Body of Christ have weak prayer lives because we spend as little time with God as possible, and only consult Him when we need Him to do something, give us something, or get us out of some mess we got ourselves into because we’re so busy and carnal that we can’t hear the voice of the Holy Ghost…so we go to God in prayer to ask Him to get us out of the mess we created…and when He doesn’t help us in the time and speed in which we think He ought to…we get mad at God, throw up our hands in the air, and talk about how this prayer thing doesn’t work.
If you want a stronger prayer life. Turn off the television, and turn on some worship music. Read the newspaper some other time, and start reading that dusty old Bible of yours. Instead of seeking things of the world to entertain you…go into that prayer closet with God…shut the door…and seek the face of God.
I guess I can get into the message now…
Today’s Message: “Call to Me”
I guess I’m not ready to move on from what I was talking about in the introduction quite yet. I have a sense that there are many of you who are angry with me for what I just wrote, and let me just say that if you’re angry with me…then you should really take a look in the mirror of the Word of God…and take a look at yourself…and ask why you’re so angry about something that the Holy Ghost is speaking to my heart.
Listen, I don’t know how many times I have to say this…but when I write these messages I’m getting ministered to also. Whatever the Holy Ghost leads me to say…I’m saying to myself as well. I know that it’s much more entertaining to turn on the television, and do nothing but veg out in front of it. I like to sit and do nothing as much as anyone else, but the problem comes when doing nothing becomes more comfortable than being in the presence of God.
Before I closed the introduction…I talked about how little time we spend in God’s Word, God’s presence, praying, and worshipping God…yet we expect to be powerful men and women of God…yet when we’re not…we point the finger at God…and blame Him for the reasons why “this God thing just doesn’t work”. Have you ever…just for a moment thought that maybe…just maybe the reason this “God thing doesn’t work for you” is because you don’t do anything to help it work? Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe…just maybe the reason you have no power in your prayer life is because you aren’t plugged into the Power Source?
Listen. You cannot spend 5 minutes with God…and expect to have the kind of power and authority of someone who spends 5 hours in God. There’s an old expression “you reap what you sow” that applies here just as much as another one. “The more you put into something…the more you’ll get out of it.” I don’t think I need to explain that too much, but here’s my point. If you want more ability to quote the Bible like the preachers you see on television or in front of you on Sunday…you need to spend time reading and listening to the Word of God. The more of the Word that you get into you…the more of it will come out of you. If you want a stronger and more powerful prayer life…then you need to spend more time praying.
Which is a perfect Segway to get into our message:
The average person speaks 34,000 words a day. You talk a half a book every day! If we’re all talking a half a book a day, is there even a page of dialogue with God? When was the last time you gave half a chapter in a single day to the God who says, “Call to Me?” Notice the word call. That’s an invitation to intensity. God invites us not to whimper to Him. God is not, “Say something to Me.”
You know, I’m certainly not average because I probably don’t speak that much, but that’s how God made me. I’m not much for small talk, and I’m really not that great at communicating in general…just ask my wife, my mom, and anyone else who knows me…and they’ll tell you that. I can freely admit that I don’t spend nearly enough time talking to God…even though I talk to Him quite a bit…but still I know I could always spend more time in prayer. I think if most of us are really…truly honest with ourselves…we can all admit that we could spend more time in prayer.
I like what Dr. MacDonald says here that “Call to Me” is an invitation to intensity…I submit to you that the same intensity is necessary when it comes to seeking the face of God. “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13speaks of this intensity.
Yesterday, I briefly mentioned how casual we are with God sometimes, and what I meant by that is not only in the way we approach God, but the amount of quality time we spend with Him. You know…what let me spin what I’m about to get into this way. Imagine for a moment that your spouse or significant other treated YOU the way YOU treat God. Let’s imagine that they spend the amount of quality time with YOU that YOU spend with God. They talk to you as often as you talk to God…and the way you talk to God. Let’s go further. Let’s imagine that they desire to be intimate with you as often as you desire to be intimate with God. Let’s go deeper, and imagine that they desire to get to know you as deeply as you desire to know God.
Am I touching any nerves yet? If your significant other treated you the way you treat God…would you have any reason to believe that they loved you? So…take that thought, and then apply it to how you treat God. How much quality time do you spend with God? If you’re like me…not enough. How much time do you spend talking to God? Again, if you’re like me…not enough. How much do you desire to know God on a deeper and more intimate way? I know…this is getting repetitive, but the fact is every one of these questions we can answer the same way…and I’m including myself in the “we” just so you know.
Intensity…passion…desire. If you expect those things from your relationship with your significant other…then you should know that God expects those things from our relationship with Him. He wants it. He desires us far more than we desire Him. He desires to fellowship with us far more than we desire to with Him. How do I know that? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20.
Friends…Revelation 3:20 isn’t about unbelievers…it’s about US. It’s about the fact that God is knocking at the door of our hearts…in fact…for most of us the knocking as become pounding because that’s just how intense God’s love for us is…and His desire for us to be with Him and His desire to be with us.
“How do you want us to talk to You, God?”
“I want you to call.” That’s an expression of urgency, intensity, and fervency. It’s an invitation to shameless and loud intimacy! God says, “Call to Me.”
“Call to Me”. Have you ever had a pet get outside, and you couldn’t find them? Maybe you were some where and you lost your child for a moment. What do you do? You call their name and seek and search for them with an intensity, tenacity, and feelings that cannot be uttered with words…can they? I remember as a boy one day our dog got hit by a car, and when I went out side to find her she was nowhere to be seen. I remember the anguish I felt as I looked and searched and called for her…I sought to find her with all my heart. How many of you maybe had a similar experience with a pet or child or some other reason that you lost something and you sought to find it with a tenacity and intensity because it was near and dear to your heart. Heck…some of us get that way when we lose our car keys or misplace our wallets…but now we get to the important question:
Do we have that same anguish and intensity with God?
If I’m willing to be transparent and honest with you, and I am…then I have to answer that question with a convicting no I don’t…at least not all the time. I do have a burning passion and desire for God, but I can be honest and transparent enough to admit that some times that fire loses it’s intensity. I don’t always seek God with that tenacity and anguish…and that’s part of having a powerful prayer life…we need to. We need to seek God with that kind of anguish and passion. We need to have a raging fire in our hearts when it comes to seeking God…not just the smoldering ashes of a once hot and intense fire. That’s why Jesus talked about how He’d rather we were hot or cold, and not lukewarm. I have to admit…some times I am lukewarm…but I also admit that I don’t want to be…and I desire to have the flames of passion in my heart fanned into that raging inferno that the early church had.
“I want you to call.” That’s an expression of urgency, intensity, and fervency. It’s an invitation to shameless and loud intimacy! God says, “Call to Me.”
I can’t quite move past this point yet. Shameless is a word that we need to be more familiar with in the Body of Christ…isn’t it? Do you know why we don’t pray with the passion and intensity we should? I submit to you that it’s because we’re ashamed or concerned about what that looks like to the people around us.
Again…let’s go back to our illustration about how you’d feel if your significant other treated you the way you treat God. How would you feel if every time you wanted to hold their…they looked around to see who was watching? How would you feel if every time you wanted to hug them or kiss them in public they looked around to see who was watching? How would you feel if you were extremely excited about something, and you went to tell them about it…and they were like “calm down, don’t make a fool of yourself…you’re embarrassing me.”?
Am I hitting a nerve yet? Good…because that’s exactly what we do to God. When the pastor gives an altar call on Sunday morning…you know what happens…because I’m going to be honest and admit that I’ve done this: You look around to see who is watching, and some times you know God’s tugging at your heart to respond…but no one else goes up front…so you don’t either…and you miss out on what God wanted to do because you were ashamed to take a step towards Him because you were afraid of how it made you look. Can I get to the heart of that problem? You’re full of too much pride.
Listen. If you’re too ashamed of God to go to the altar even when no one else is going because you’re worried about what so and so is going to think…then you need to run to the altar anyways. I just told you I’ve done it…so don’t think I’m scolding just you. I’ve missed out on something God had for me because I knew He had something He wanted to do in my life, but I didn’t go to the front because no one else did…and I didn’t want to look like a fool I was worried about what everyone was going to think of me instead of what God thought of me…that’s too much pride.
Come on, people, we all know what Jesus said about those of us who are ashamed of Him before men don’t we? That’s correct…He will be ashamed of us before His Father…when we are standing in front of Him on Judgment Day.
Listen…I don’t know about you…but I do NOT want Jesus to be ashamed of me when I stand before the Great White Throne…okay. So…just like you do…I need to learn to lay down my pride and whether it’s an altar call or praying out loud or whatever it is…I need to learn to not be ashamed or embarrassed and worry about what everyone else, but God is going to think of me. After all…the most important opinion in the world isn’t what anyone else thinks of me…but God’s.
We need to stop worrying what everyone else thinks…and worry about our heart’s condition towards God…because the truth of the matter is this: If my heart isn’t right with God…then my heart isn’t going to be right towards the world. If my heart isn’t right with God…then I’m not going to cry out to Him with that passion that I need to because I know when my heart is right with God and when it isn’t…so when I’m not right with God…it’s allows for guilt and condemnation to creep in…guilt and condemnation will always come between you and God because when you feel those two things…you wind up feeling unworthy to approach God at all. So…the most important relationship in the world isn’t the one between you and anyone else…it’s your relationship with God…because if that relationship is wrong…your relationship with and to the world will be too…and that includes your relationship with your significant other.
Friends…I’m done with being popular. I am aware that there may be people who are going to be offended by some of the things I’m saying, but I’m not interested in being popular…I’m interested in being honest and speaking exactly what the Holy Ghost puts in my heart to write…so if you have any issues with what I write…take them up with my Boss.
The implication of God’s invitation is that it allows us to call any time and all the time. The situation in which Jeremiah found himself when this invitation was issued holds a significant lesson for us. “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was shut up in the court of the guard” (v.1). That’s a way of saying he was under guard—in prison. In one way or another he was restricted. Based on parallel experiences, we can say we sometimes find ourselves in some kind of a prison. We can identify with being “shut up in the court of the guard.”
More often than not…the prison I find myself captive in is the one I talked about a moment ago. Our relationship with God is extremely sensitive, and when we are full of guilt and condemnation that’s one of the biggest reasons for our struggles with our relationship with God. If satan can get us to a place where we feel like we’re unworthy to come before a holy God as we are…we won’t…and that means we won’t pray and seek His face…because we won’t believe we’re eligible based upon ourselves, our righteousness, and if we know there’s sin in our heart…we’ll be more conscious of that then we will be of the Lord’s desire to have us draw near to Him.
The reason we’re eligible to come before God is because we’re in Christ, and let me just say that the reason that 1 John 1:9 “If we confessour sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” was written is so that if we are being attacked by guilt and condemnation we can bring those things before God…and know that the moment we confess them…they’re forgiven. Then…we can get do to business with God.
Listen…we’re back to Hebrews 4:16 which says: “Let us therefore come boldlyunto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Do you know when I need to approach the throne of grace for mercy and grace in my time of need? When I feel ineligible to approach God because of sin in my heart. I need grace and mercy at that moment…and it says very clearly that I may obtain it the moment I approach the throne.
So…we truly can call upon God at any time and any moment…in any condition…and not only will He hear us, but He will answer us when we call. Why? Because nothing can separate us from His love, and we are His children…and there isn’t one of us that He’s expecting to be perfect because it’s not OUR perfection that He sees…but His Son’s. Therefore…Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need…Amen!?!
We listen in as God says, “Hey, Jeremiah, how’s it going for you today?”
How about you take a moment to let that sink in, and personalize it. Instead of Jeremiah (unless that’s your name) try inserting YOUR name there. In fact, try it this way. “Hey (insert your name), it’s God. How are you doing today?” If you’re looking for something to talk to God about…start right there.
“Hey, God. It’s Bryan. I’m doing pretty good today. I’m concerned about the direction this nation is headed, but I know that You’re in control. Thanks for leading someone to post about Psalm 46:10 today to remind me to be still before You, and know that You are God…and You are in control. Thank You for easing my fears about what’s next for this nation…and reminding me that I don’t trust in anything or anyone other than You. The government cannot do anything for me, but You can…You supply all my needs according to Your riches and glory…and I thank You that I belong to Your system…the the Kingdom of Heaven’s system…and not the system of this world. By the way, how are You today, God?”
There’s a whole prayer right there…just from internalizing and personalizing “Hey, Bryan, it’s God…How are you today?” How about trying it for yourself?
We listen in as God says, “Hey, Jeremiah, how’s it going for you today?”
“Not great. Things are not looking up. What do you want me to do now?”
“Call to Me, son; call to Me.”
Can you hear God extending that same standing invitation to you? “Call to Me, My child!”
You know…Authentic Prayer isn’t some great eloquently spoken speech. It’s not some kind of profound address. It doesn’t need to sound like something Abraham Lincoln would say. It just needs to be from you…from your heart…that’s Authentic Prayer.
Take for instance, that short prayer I just wrote a minute ago. That’s a serious and sincere prayer from my heart to God. I didn’t need to have anything other than something to say. You know, Facebook gives you a great opportunity to write “What’s on your mind?”…
Here’s an idea. Instead of thinking it’s Facebook asking you “What’s on your mind?” Try thinking of it as God saying to you: “Hey, it’s God. What’s on your mind today? Is there something you need? Is there a burden I can carry for you? I’m willing to do that…all you have to do is call on Me.”
So…what’s on your mind? Maybe you need to write it down. Maybe you can speak it out. Whatever the way…the important thing is to not worry about how you’re talking to God…but that you’re talking to God. He can’t do anything if you don’t talk to Him…so just give it a try…He’s waiting to hear from you…so what are you waiting for?
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
I hear this loud and clear in my heart right now. Some of you have things on your heart and minds that you really need God to move upon in your life, but you feel like you can’t. You feel like you can’t because of that prison of guilt and condemnation. I’m here to let you know that God wants to remove the shackles of that prison.
If that’s you…then you need to believe in your heart and confess this with your mouth right now: “Lord Jesus, I need You, but I feel like I’m ineligible because of sin in my heart. So, Your Word says that if we confess our sin…that You are faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness. So, I ask You, Lord God, to cleanse my heart and forgive me for anything that’s in my heart. I ask You to release me from the guilt, shame, remorse, and condemnation over the sin in my heart. I thank You for hearing me, for forgiving me, and setting me free…right now…in Jesus’ name…I am free of guilt…I am free of shame…I am free of condemnation…and I am free to approach the throne of grace to obtain the mercy and grace I need…and I receive the grace, mercy, and cleansing of the blood of Jesus…right now…in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen.
Now…with the shackles off…take a moment to insert your name…and begin to answer God’s invitation. “Hello, it’s God…what’s on your mind?”
Conclusion:
Can you hear God extending that same standing invitation to you? “Call to Me, My child!”
Friends, we need to remember this. We need to get this point right here in our hearts. God wants us to call upon Him. If you feel like you can’t…then I’ll refer you to the prayer above. If you feel that you can…then I’ll refer you to the prayer below as we close this message.
Remember this: “Authentic Prayer isn’t some great eloquently spoken speech. It’s not some kind of profound address. It doesn’t need to sound like something Abraham Lincoln would say. It just needs to be from you…from your heart…that’s Authentic Prayer.”…Amen!?!
Prayer:
Father, You knew where Jeremiah was and how he was feeling when this was written. You came to him. Thank You for all the times when I’ve been so consumed and distracted by my circumstances and You’ve “shown up” in some unexpected way that caught my attention. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(23) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Introduction:
This is the first of many reader voted upon series that Christlike Ministries NWA is going to be doing on a regular basis. One of the most difficult subjects to talk about is the subject of prayer, and part of the reason for that is unless you’re a really strong prayer warrior…then chances are you’re like me and find yourself like the disciples as they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. I’m sure the disciples prayed, but I believe what attracted them to the way Jesus prayed was the boldness and confidence in which He prayed with…and because of that boldness and confidence (and faith that God would hear and answer Him)…Jesus’ prayers got results.
I know for myself…I’m much better at writing (everything) instead of speaking, and I don’t know why God didn’t create me to be a great speaker…but I am not. Often my prayers are simple and not very detailed. So…the reason prayer is hard to talk and teach about is because unless your Catholic and only recite the same prayers (and that’s nothing more than chanting in my opinion)…everyone prays different.
So…we’re going to talk about “Authentic Prayer” with one of my favorite of the lesser known preachers that is usually only found on the radio. Dr. James MacDonald is actually from my neck of the woods. In fact, I know where his pilot church is, and I frequently listed to his radio program called: “Walk in the Word”. The reason I like him and his teaching so much is that it’s very much biblically correct, and really good stuff.
So…I’m excited to do this series on Authentic Prayer, and I thought that I would allow the introduction he wrote to close out the introduction I’ve just written…so we can get into this series…Amen!?!
More than any other discipline, prayer can get away from you. This seven-day plan will help you access your prayer life, check your methods and motivations, and show you how to turn up the power of personal prayer. Use these daily readings to increase your confidence that God hears, answers, and can change your life through prayer.
Today’s Message: “Stirred Up to Pray”
You know, one of the things about prayer is that no two people pray exactly alike unless you’re repeating a prayer after someone, but there are so many styles and ways that people pray that it’s hard to teach about prayer. There are also those (like me) who know that they need to pray more, and could probably use a lesson or two on how to have much more religious sounding prayers because I’ll be honest most of the time when I talk to God…I’m not bellowing out some kind of something like this: “My Most Gracious and Awe-Inspiring Heavenly Father, how great Thou art, and if Thou wouldst incline Your Most High and Holy ear to Thy servant…”.
Believe me, I think the first thing God would say to me if I started praying to Him like that is “Who in the world are you, and what have you done with My child?” I know that sounds like a beautiful way to begin a prayer (and it is), but let me be as clear as God would be with me if I started speaking to Him like that.
Yes…it’s necessary to approach God with awe and wonder and respect and reverence, but it’s also important that we understand when we approach God…we’re approaching our Father! Listen, if I approached my earthly dad the way some people approach God…I honestly believe my dad would almost be insulted, and I think that while it sounds beautiful and religious to pray that way…I believe God is insulted when we relate to Him that way instead of relating to Him as our Father…or even our friend.
So…let’s get into today’s message, and see what we can learn…and more importantly what more God would have to say to us through today’s message…Amen!?!
Paul gives us a term that really helps us describe the kind of prayer we’re going after—unceasing. Unceasing prayer brings the glory of God down. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we are to “Pray without ceasing.” That doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything else. It means that just as you are always physically breathing in and out as you go about your day, you should always be spiritually in a conversation with God. Always talking: “Yes, Lord;” and “See that, Father?” and “Help me, God,” and always, always in an attitude of prayer.
This kind of gets me to where I was headed just a moment ago. Continual prayer. I know I poked a little fun a moment ago at the huge monologue opening of a prayer…but is there anyone other than me that thinks if we walked around “praying without ceasing” that God would get tired of hearing us come to Him like that all day? I promise you that if I spoke to God that way even some of the time He would ask me who I was and why I was talking to Him that way.
The truth is I’ve prayed that way…which is what I’ll call the vain religious way, and I’ve prayed the way I think God desires us to pray…and I can tell you I’ve gotten more results from the Authentic Prayer from my heart, and not some religiously beautiful sounding prayers.
My father-n-law has one of those religious sounding prayers, and can I again insert that I’m not saying that it’s inappropriate to pray with honor and reverence to our God. There are many times when I’m getting into serious prayer I’ll start out with something like “Heavenly Father” or “Dear Jesus”, but I’ll be honest…I probably start out about 95% of my prayers with just a simple “Lord”.
Going back to the earthly dad point. About 95% of the time, when I talk to my dad, I address him the way I have since I can remember…my dad to me is “Pa”. The other 5% is probably when I actually call him dad. Can I tell you that’s exactly how God wants us to relate to Him when we’re praying without ceasing?
A little secret…when I approach God by just saying “Lord”…in my heart I’m approaching Him like I would my dad when I call my dad “Pa”. That’s my point. It’s not so much about what you pray, it’s not even how you pray…the important thing is THAT you pray.
Again, I’m not saying there’s never a time to address God as our “Gracious Heavenly Father”…because He IS our Gracious Heavenly Father. We SHOULD address God that way to prevent us from being so casual with Him, but that doesn’t mean we should address Him that ways all the time. This is the point of being “stirred to pray”.
Let’s go on.
When it comes to prayer, God Himself is in the stirring-up business. He doesn’t do it for His own good but for our good. We need to pray unceasingly because it is immeasurably good for us!
See, God’s the One who draws us into prayer to begin with, and I think what’s important here is what I said a minute ago. I hear that in my spirit, and think it needs to be repeated. “It’s not what you pray, or how you pray that is important…the important thing is THAT you pray.”
Please understand that when I say that how we pray isn’t important I’m not talking about praying with faith or doubt. I’m talking about praying with the vain repetition and pretty words that Jesus scolded the religious people for. Don’t believe me? Here…I’ll show it to you in Scripture:
And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7 (AMP)
Listen, there is only one thing that Jesus marveled about in the entire Bible, and it wasn’t the eloquently spoken prayers of the religious…it was faith. God isn’t impressed or moved by our multiple words or eloquently spoken prayers…God’s impressed by faith…and faith alone. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6 and “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” James 1:6
Faith is the key element to getting prayer answered…not eloquently spoken prayer. That’s what Jesus had when He prayed that the disciples were after. Jesus was bold and confident because He had an unwavering faith that what He was getting ready to ask the Father for was already provided. “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8. After He said that, He went on to give what we know of today as the Lord’s Prayer, but Jesus wasn’t saying that we should recite that prayer over and over again…although some times…it is a good idea to pray it…but He was giving an outline of what prayer should be like.
However, it wasn’t what Jesus prayed that got Him the results when He prayed…it was His faith. It’s the same way with us. It’s not the words we pray that God responds to…it’s whether or not what we pray…we pray with boldness and confidence like Jesus because we know that what we’re getting ready to ask God for is already provided…or whether we wonder if we’re worthy of God providing what we’re asking Him because we know He can do it…but not really sure if He will for us.
Listen, I’m convince that the main reason most of us don’t see results when we pray isn’t because of the words we use, and it’s not because God is deaf to our prayers because of our sin. It’s because we ask with wavering faith not really sure if we’re going to receive what we’re asking God for. How do I know? “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” James 1:7. Let not what man think he shall receive anything of the Lord? The man that asks with wavering faith. Why? “For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed…A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. “ (that’s the end of James 1:6, and James 1:8.)
Jesus was never double minded. He was always focused and full of faith…and that’s how He got results.
By the way…while I’m on the subject…I’m not going to stay on this very long, but I am going to make sure that I get this misconception out there, and debunk it by the supernatural unction of the Holy Ghost. This notion that God cannot hear our prayers over our sin is false. How do I know that? If God is no longer counting our sins against us…it would be Him going against His word to not answer our prayers or hear our prayers based upon something He’s no longer counting against us. It’s true that if we are regarding sin in our hearts we ought to confess that to Him, and seek forgiveness (1 John 1:9), but God’s not deaf. Our sin isn’t like ear wax in His ear…He can hear us just fine whether we’re full of sin or not…because if it were true that He can’t hear us because of our sin…then none of us are born again…because I don’t know about you…but when I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior I had a whole lot of sin in my life.
So…I don’t believe that God makes an exception to hear my prayer confessing Him as Lord and Savior, and then plugs His ears once I am born again because I have sin in my life…and therefore because of that He plugs His ears and refuses to hear my prayers. I believe the reason He cannot hear our prayers is because we come to Him more often than we don’t with that wavering mindset James spoke of.
I know I’m going to hear from some of the religious folk who believe that God’s deaf to our cries because of our sin, but like I said if that’s true than none of us are born again. I believe I am born again, and therefore I don’t believe that God’s ability to hear or not hear my prayers are based upon sin…I believe they’re based upon my faith.
Let’s wrap move on:
Let’s look closely at God’s move to stir up Jeremiah (and us) to prayer: “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still shut in the court of the guard. Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is His name: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known’” (Jeremiah 33:1-3). Within these verses are four distinct promises from God to Jeremiah related to prayer. Do you see them?
Before I get to the four distinct promises…let me get to the word Authentic. Authentic is a nice word for just being real…being yourself…the person you are when no one else is looking. Authentic prayer comes from our hearts, and that’s the first thing Jesus told us when He gave us the Lord’s Prayer. Most people look at Jesus teaching us to say: “Our Father, Who Art In Heaven” as teaching us to open our prayers with these beautiful eloquently spoken opening lines, but what Jesus was really concerned with was getting us to relate to God as “Our Father”…because when I relate to God that way…then I can’t help, but to pray without ceasing because talking to Him is like talking to my dad or my friend…I’m speaking to someone who I love…I’m not talking to the President of the United States.
You know, I can guarantee you that Barak Obama’s children don’t come up to him and say “Mr. President”…I bet you they call him “dad”. They don’t approach him as the most powerful man in the world…they approach him as their dad.
That’s exactly the same way we ought to approach God, and the first point Jesus made when giving us that model for prayer. God’s the most powerful being in the world…period. Yet, He desires of us to not approach Him that way, but approach Him as “Abba, Father” which is a formal way of saying He wants us all to call Him “Daddy”.
He wants us to see Him as a Father who is ready and willing to do great and mighty things for us, but He wants us to believe that He’ll do those things for us. He wants us to ask in faith…nothing wavering…just like Jesus did. Jesus prayed with boldness and confidence out of that faith because He knew that whatever He sought His Father for…He was going to receive…and that’s the way we ought to pray also…Amen!?!
Be A Doer…Not Just A Reader:
There are two assignments for this message. As always, whether you do them or not…is between you and God. I’m not going to follow behind you, and I’m not going to beg you to comment or post your answers or what you experience. If you should desire to do that…I would welcome it. However, the important thing is that you do these assignments…not for me…but for your relationship with God.
So…what are your assignments?
(Jeremiah 33:1-3). Within these verses are four distinct promises from God to Jeremiah related to prayer. Do you see them?
Your first assignment is to read Jeremiah 33:1-3…and find the four distinct promises from God to Jeremiah related to prayer.
What’s the second…well…the second is related to prayer:
And when you do pray, ask God to bring the people and events into your life that will stir you up to pray even more. Stirring things are around us every moment, but we need the eyes and heart to see them.
Conclusion:
Well, I’ve to say that I’m glad you guys voted for this topic to be our next series, and that if this message is any indication…this is going to be a really good series. I just hear again in my heart that it’s not what or how you pray that’s important…what is important is that we pray. God just wants us to talk to Him…about anything and everything.
Ya know, I am constantly talking to God about something. I know that people think a lot of times I’m talking to myself, but I’m not. Some times, I just start talking to God, and that’s what He wants. That is what praying without ceasing is about. God’s our Father…our Friend that’s closer than a Brother. He just wants us to talk to Him, and perhaps the first message of this series is spot on…maybe we just need to ask God to stir us to prayer by bringing people and events before our faces (like today’s presidential election) to pray about.
So…at the end of each message…there’s a sample prayer…and I think that it would be a good idea for us to do something silly, and don’t worry if someone sees you. Let’s go to God in prayer…and do this out loud…why? Because we need to make sure we’re in the habit of praying out loud. Not in our minds or thoughts…but out loud with our words…believing in our hearts and confessing these prayers with our mouths.
Prayer:
Father, continue to stir me toward a consistent attitude of prayer so that my sensitivity to immediate and momentary times for prayer is increased. Help me not only to pray without ceasing but to jump to special invitations to pray. Thank You for drawing near to me as I draw near to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Unfortunately, after the entire weekend…we still have a tie between “God At Work” and “Authentic Prayer”. I am not going to start the series until the tie is unbroken. So…please take a moment to vote between these two series. As soon as we have a clear-cut winner…I’ll start and announce the winning series. I am not allowed to vote on this topic…it’s all up to you…the readers.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (1 Corinthians 16:23-24)
Blessing & Grace to you
Bryan J. Kizer
Christlike Ministries NWA
