Monday, January 26, 2009

Dwell in the house of the Lord!

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." (Psalm 27:4 NIV)

Our relationship with God should be based on one thing - fellowship with Christ. The first priority of our day should be spending time in the presence of Jesus Christ. You can read, pray, listen and praise Him on a daily basis. This should be the one thing in our lives that we will not sacrifice for anything or anyone. Our time with Jesus should be very special to us.

It is very special to Him as well. In Luke 10, Jesus chastised Martha when she let daily activities come between her and spending time with Him. Paul told the Philippians in chapter 3 that he was continually "straining toward what is ahead..., to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward..." It was a daily effort for Paul to reach the goal of fellowship with Jesus.

I don't pretend that this has been as easy task to pursue. My daily time with the Lord has been many years developing to what it is, and I still have a long way to go, but it has become the most valuable part of my day. Let me challenge you to "dwell in the house of the Lord...", daily, and He will become the one thing you cannot live without.

Worship Him right now! Stop and just give him the names that He deserves.....Creator, Redeemer, Emmanuel, Alpha & Omega......and keep it going until you have exhausted all of the Biblical names you can think of.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Take the Time!

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights." Psalm 18:32,33

I want you to close your eyes and imagine a lighthouse. Well I guess you can't really close your eyes because then you couldn't read what to do next. Anyway, imagine a lighthouse. There is usually a path that takes you up a hill on a rock. You take that windy, rocky path and you finally get to the top. And the view! It is His view. It is breathtaking. Looking out into an ocean. All is calm, all is still! You feel close to God.

The above is one of my favorite verses, found also in Habakkuk 3:19. In the midst of difficult climbs, on days when nothing goes right, God gives me the strength to continue on the path, even though it is steep and rocky. Sometimes, God even gives us the strength to run up the hill. He'll get you to the heights.

Take the time to experience the strength of God. Take the time to go to the heights (as the verse ends). Let God equip you to run when you can barely walk.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Give it up! Give it over!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phillippians 4:6

If you are like me, when you read this verse, you probably say "That's easier said than done. If you only knew what I'm going through." True, I don't know your individual needs or worried thoughts.

What I have learned during my own personal growing experiences is that God's Word has never failed me in my greatest time of need. He doesn't say He will answer my every need. As a child I learned that God may answer "yes", "no", or "wait." As an adult, I have received all of the above answers, not understanding them, but knowing He loves me. Many times the "yes" I so desparately wanted was the "no" God knew I needed. Hind-sight is a good teacher. I was so thankful God said "no".

I don't know your circumstances, your anxious thoughts, or your pain; but our heavenly Father knows the yesterday, today and tomorrows of your life. If you let him know your burdens, then you don't have a load to carry any longer...besides, He'll be up all the time anyway! Let Him carry your anxieties for you so you can focus on the responsibilities of today and sleep peacefully through the night.

Give it up! Give it over!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Look Up

I was hesitant to write this today, but something in my spirit told me to write this. It is not as upbeat as I had desired, but spoke to me personally anyway.

Are you waiting on God to answer your prayers? Maybe you are waiting on him to help that loved one you have been praying for and their need for salvation? Maybe you are worried about one of your children. Maybe, you yourself, are going thru some issues that you are trying to get out of. Never give up. Even though it may seem that God is far away, He is still there. He is hearing your cry. He will bring deliverance in due time. When reading Psalm 69:3, we are reminded:

"I am weary of crying; my throat is dried: my eyes fail while I wait for my God"

We all know David had to wait and wait on God as he earnestly prayed to him. I always love to read the Message Bible's translation for Scripture and for this particular verse, here is how it reads:

"I am hoarse from calling for help. Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God"

The most important thing we can do when going thru life's difficulties or trauma's is to LOOK UP. Don't look at the problem, but look at the One who will get you thru the problem. When you look at your problems, you will sink, but when you look up, you will receive strength. I heard a sermon yesterday about problems and provisions. It was explained that, yes, we will have problems, but if we dwell on the problem we will wander like the Israelites did for 40 years in the wilderness. All they did was look at the problem and compared it to the past, so God had them wander a little longer. It wasn't until they quit looking at the past that he led them to the promised land (the provision). God will provide no matter what we go thru, we just need to LOOK UP and not thru the rear view mirror.