Study from God’s Word… The entire letter from Paul to Timothy – 1st Timothy, Chapters 1 – 6 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Timothy 4: 7 - 8 [note highlight text in bold/underlined] … NIV 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
My Journal for Today: “No pain, no gain!” You’ve heard that trite, but true, old saying when it comes to physical exercise. And no one, who is intelligent, denies that all of us should be committed to maintain the physical temple that God has given each one of us. And Paul even recognized this when he was writing to the young evangelist/pastor of the church in Ephesus, Timothy, whom he regarded as his spiritual protégé. But Paul also exhorted Timothy to recognize, even more than the discipline of physical exercise, that all Christians, especially called leaders, anointed by God to lead His church, should put any even higher, eternal priority on maintaining the disciplines of the faith. Hence, we read Paul’s instruction to Timothy in today’s highlight passage to do all that it takes to maintain a regimen of spiritual discipline which models Christlikeness and exhibits the preparation with which all of us should be preparing for the heavenly life to come.
Dr. Smith is right-on today, when he writes, ”Considering that even the best toned bodies will eventually die and decompose, exercising the soul must surely take top priority.” And he says that when it comes to decisions we make on what we must do to maintain good bodily, emotional, and spiritual good health, we should prioritize those disciplines which give us eternal rewards above all other disciplines.
I often ask people whom I teach if they brush their teeth every day; and then I ask how many floss. Fewer people do the latter everyday; but almost everyone reports brushing their teeth daily. And everyone who does either discipline knows why they are doing it … to prevent tooth and gum decay. But when I ask how many – in a given class or audience – have a rigorous workout in God’s word and in prayer EVERY DAY, even though Christians know that this is a good and Godly thing to do, few report being committed to maintain this eternally important discipline of the faith. Dr. Smith asks, as his motivating application question, today: ”How can I hope to be fit for eternity if I shrink from the painful routine of stretching myself spiritually?” … Ugh! No pain, no gain!
Right now, at this very moment, as we close out 2010, I’m convicted that I need to be doing more to keep fit with regard to my bodily health by getting in the swimming pool and swimming laps more often than I’m currently doing. It’s an aerobic exercise I can do even though I have pretty bad hip arthritis. I need to remember and exercise more regularly and rigorously to maintain the physical temple God has given me (take note of 1st Cor. 6: 19 – 20 - linked).
But though I need to more finely tuned as to my prayer regimen daily, I can report here – for accountability purposes – and being regarded as a “Pastor,” Elder, Minister, and teacher in my church, that I do keep a rather rigorous daily discipline of maintaining my devotional studies in God’s word … EVERYDAY, … because I know just how vulnerable I am to spiritual lethargy and inertia when/if I were to break my discipline and “take a vacation” from my daily devotional routines.
Anyone who has followed me, by reading here, knows that I do prioritize my time to insure that I report my devotional journal daily by blogging what God has given me in my spiritual “exercise” for that day. And I’m bragging only here on my God, Who ALWAYS enables me to do what HE calls me to do.
So, as we close out 2010 and enter 2011, I will make a covenant commitment to God and anyone reading here that I’ll be rolling out every morning – usually early – to pray and to dive into God’s word, seeking the spiritual success God promised to Joshua (and to me) if he (and I) would meditate on God’s word day and night, i.e., everyday [see God’s promise for any/all of us in Joshua 1: 8 - linked].
I guess it’s a matter of whether we believe God will do what HE says, if we do what we should be doing in exercising our spirit. So, if we desire to be successful and prosperous in doing what God would have us do, the charge – by Paul to Timothy as well as God to Joshua and all of us – is out there for us to carry out. >>> BUT, … how many of us will do so?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I believe Your promise and have experienced its outcomes as I’ve read through Your word, cover-to-cover, this year; … help me to KOKO in the exercise of my Spirit-led disciplines this next year and beyond in the time You give me to prepare for eternity. Amen
Showing posts with label devotional life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label devotional life. Show all posts
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
2010 – July 9 – Basking in Illusions
Study from God’s Word… Isaiah, Chapters 18 – 19; 20: 1 – 6; as well as Chapters 30 and 31: 1 – 9 … Passage for Reflection: Isaiah 30 : 10 – 11 … NIV 10 They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"
My Journal for Today: Judah was a bad child of God, rejecting Isaiah’s word from the living God, wanting to look everywhere but at THE TRUTH. And today’s readings in my “Daily Bible” studies document Judah’s desire to blissfully ignore God’s warnings and His mirror of truth. And that is so much like what we see going on in the world today, … and yes, even the way those who think of themselves as “christians” isolate themselves by self-denial and the lack of willingness to confront the truth of the Gospel and God’s word.
Today’s highlight passage, drawn by Dr. Smith from the readings from Isaiah’s prophesies, could be speaking to those in today’s post-modern church who are in serious denial as they stick their heads (and minds) in the sand, unwilling to read or hear what God’s word really says about what’s happening in the world. Certainly non-believers don’t want to even hear the truth from God’s word. No, they’d rather have their minds tickled with new-age fantasies and the tasty non-truths coming from the “church of Oprah” or the psychobabble of Dr. Phil.
But that’s not surprising at all. I used to be one of them, calling myself an “agnostic,” and thinking of myself as an “intellectual,” I tried to fill the hole in my soul with all kinds of far-eastern religious thought process. At this time in my life, if it had “ism” after it, I was probably pursuing it, trying to find the answers for life from those who were very simply and literally “devil’s advocates.” So, again, I’m not surprised at any pagan pursuing pagans who bear untruths which tickle the fancy of our sin-bound nature.
It’s those who call themselves “christian,” and are unwilling – or unable – to see themselves trying to be entertained in “churches” rather than enlightened. So, those who fancy themselves as “believers” flock to hear the pseudo-teachings of teachers/preachers like Joel Osteen, hearing the warm fuzzies and sugar coated half-truths which concern me so greatly and lead them down a garden-path of destruction. And as the lives of these so-called “christians” become imprisoned by habitual sin, such as addiction to pornography or eating disorders or the chemical chains of drugs or alcohol, the first symptom for those who think of themselves as disciples of Christ is to fall prey to the seers of the world, not wanting to hear teachers/preachers who really are proclaiming God’s truth. Today “Christians” are turning away from God’s truth, unwilling to get into and surrender to God’s word, and moving away from churches where they have to look into the mirror of truth from God’s word every Sunday.
The words of today’s highlight passage, though directed by God, through Isaiah, to the tribes of Judah, could be words describing today’s Christian climate of isolation from the truth of Scripture. When Joel Osteen will tell Christians how great they can be by declaring their own self greatness, many would rather hear that than the messages of truth from God’s word; and so the witness of Christians becomes diluted and dampened by believers turning away from the discipline of pouring God’s truth into their minds through deep and abiding study into God’s word daily?
So, my friend, we all need to be asking ourselves: Do I really seek God’s truth? Am I willing to look deeply into the mirror of God’s word daily, digging for God’s wisdom, … mining for the mind of God; … or … am I in isolation from God’s truth, avoiding the die-hard disciplines of the faith such as a deep/abiding daily devotional time with God and His word – EVERY DAY? Does my Pastor tickle my mind with comfort every Sunday; or am I shaken by my Pastor in church weekly to pursue Christ and share Him with others?
My dear one, you have to answer those questions for yourself; but I hope that you’re not trying to avoid God’s message and His mirror of truth. I will pray – even today – that we all are digging deeply into the mind of God through His word and we’re willing to look at ourselves in the mirror of truth (i.e., study of the Bible) rather than to isolate ourselves from its clarity.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, I pray that all who read here are coming to Your mirror of truth daily, looking at ourselves in the light of Your truth, willing to see where we need to surrender to Your Spirit and be transformed into Your image. Amen
My Journal for Today: Judah was a bad child of God, rejecting Isaiah’s word from the living God, wanting to look everywhere but at THE TRUTH. And today’s readings in my “Daily Bible” studies document Judah’s desire to blissfully ignore God’s warnings and His mirror of truth. And that is so much like what we see going on in the world today, … and yes, even the way those who think of themselves as “christians” isolate themselves by self-denial and the lack of willingness to confront the truth of the Gospel and God’s word.
Today’s highlight passage, drawn by Dr. Smith from the readings from Isaiah’s prophesies, could be speaking to those in today’s post-modern church who are in serious denial as they stick their heads (and minds) in the sand, unwilling to read or hear what God’s word really says about what’s happening in the world. Certainly non-believers don’t want to even hear the truth from God’s word. No, they’d rather have their minds tickled with new-age fantasies and the tasty non-truths coming from the “church of Oprah” or the psychobabble of Dr. Phil.
But that’s not surprising at all. I used to be one of them, calling myself an “agnostic,” and thinking of myself as an “intellectual,” I tried to fill the hole in my soul with all kinds of far-eastern religious thought process. At this time in my life, if it had “ism” after it, I was probably pursuing it, trying to find the answers for life from those who were very simply and literally “devil’s advocates.” So, again, I’m not surprised at any pagan pursuing pagans who bear untruths which tickle the fancy of our sin-bound nature.
It’s those who call themselves “christian,” and are unwilling – or unable – to see themselves trying to be entertained in “churches” rather than enlightened. So, those who fancy themselves as “believers” flock to hear the pseudo-teachings of teachers/preachers like Joel Osteen, hearing the warm fuzzies and sugar coated half-truths which concern me so greatly and lead them down a garden-path of destruction. And as the lives of these so-called “christians” become imprisoned by habitual sin, such as addiction to pornography or eating disorders or the chemical chains of drugs or alcohol, the first symptom for those who think of themselves as disciples of Christ is to fall prey to the seers of the world, not wanting to hear teachers/preachers who really are proclaiming God’s truth. Today “Christians” are turning away from God’s truth, unwilling to get into and surrender to God’s word, and moving away from churches where they have to look into the mirror of truth from God’s word every Sunday.
The words of today’s highlight passage, though directed by God, through Isaiah, to the tribes of Judah, could be words describing today’s Christian climate of isolation from the truth of Scripture. When Joel Osteen will tell Christians how great they can be by declaring their own self greatness, many would rather hear that than the messages of truth from God’s word; and so the witness of Christians becomes diluted and dampened by believers turning away from the discipline of pouring God’s truth into their minds through deep and abiding study into God’s word daily?
So, my friend, we all need to be asking ourselves: Do I really seek God’s truth? Am I willing to look deeply into the mirror of God’s word daily, digging for God’s wisdom, … mining for the mind of God; … or … am I in isolation from God’s truth, avoiding the die-hard disciplines of the faith such as a deep/abiding daily devotional time with God and His word – EVERY DAY? Does my Pastor tickle my mind with comfort every Sunday; or am I shaken by my Pastor in church weekly to pursue Christ and share Him with others?
My dear one, you have to answer those questions for yourself; but I hope that you’re not trying to avoid God’s message and His mirror of truth. I will pray – even today – that we all are digging deeply into the mind of God through His word and we’re willing to look at ourselves in the mirror of truth (i.e., study of the Bible) rather than to isolate ourselves from its clarity.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, I pray that all who read here are coming to Your mirror of truth daily, looking at ourselves in the light of Your truth, willing to see where we need to surrender to Your Spirit and be transformed into Your image. Amen
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
2010 – July 7 – Running a Tight Ship
Study from God’s Word… Isaiah 29: 22 – 24; Is 27: 2-13; Is 32: 12-20; Is 33: 2-16; Is 33: 17-24 … Passage for Reflection: Isaiah 33: 23 … NIV Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread.
My Journal for Today: Dr. LaGard Smith today in The Daily Bible In Chronological Order has brought me through the reading of Isaiah’s prophesies concerning the return of God’s people to Zion (when the Messiah comes again), about God’s forgiveness for those who have had their faith securely placed in the true Messiah, and how God’s people will be restored for eternity into a deep and abiding relationship with their Lord. What a hopeful sequence of passages this is for any believer.
But in the midst of all of this prophesy is today’s highlight verse, we read a warning to these same believers and a picture of what their lives were like at the time of Isaiah’s prophetic warnings. It’s like the Prophet couldn’t help make a snapshot observation in today’s verse about how Jacob and Judah were living in those days; and it is an ample picture of how those who’ve succumbed to the world’s way are living today, non-believers for sure, but unfortunately believers in Christ as well.
The word picture from this passage has to do with how a sailor, or especially a ship’s captain, must attend to the elements of their ship so that the vessel will be worthy to sail. And Dr. Smith today asks his readers – inspired by this little passage from Isaiah 33: 23 – to think of a large sailing ship, perhaps a racing vessel, cutting through the waves, bent over under the pressures of the prevailing winds, to rapidly move through the waters, perhaps even through a storm. And Smith reminds us that it takes great preparation for such a vessel to be able to sail out of a harbor into the seas of life, where there are always storms to deal with, and to be able to find and cut through those winds, successfully negotiating through the waters without crashing or falling apart as the ship traverses to its destiny.
Think about it, my fellow sailor. If your ship (i.e., your life values, your direction, your purpose) is not securely rigged and your course is not successfully planned against the charts of the seas (i.e., in this case from God’s word), your ship is going to be vulnerable to sinking when that ship encounters storms or high winds. If you haven’t carefully rigged the mast and sails, that ship will not be able to withstand the winds of life. AND, if you don’t follow a carefully planned course, navigating carefully along the way, making course corrections as you’re ship is tossed by the winds of life, you will not arrive where you had desired.
I hope I don’t need to bring this out by writing at length here how this word picture applies to our travels through life. We need to have a ship’s captain Who can – and will – take us to THE destiny of our life; and only surrendering the helm of our ship to Christ will do that. We need to have the sails stitched up and the mast securely fastened to the deck for our ship to sail through life; and only our daily devotional life, tying our minds/hearts securely to God’s truth (i.e., His word), can do this. And finally, we cannot sail strongly into the winds of life unless we have our sails unfurled to catch the winds; and that only happens for the believer when he/she has surrendered his/her mind/heart to the blowing force of God’s Spirit, propelling us with God’s power through the storms of life.
I hope you can see it, my friend; and I pray that your ship of life is storm worthy. I pray that we all have turned over our ship over to the Captain of our souls for Him to guide us to our eternal destiny. And I pray that we catch the winds of His Spirit in our sails to guide us through the headwinds of life, taking us ultimately into that eternal cove where God’s love and peace abound forever. That, my dear one, is what Isaiah was pointing God’s people toward with this little word picture today; and only we can be the ones to make our vessel for life ship-shape and storm worthy.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray to travel through the winds of life, trusting You as my Captain, and catching the waves of Your Spirit to power my sails. My ship is word ready, Lord; and we travel through life with Your Name on our bough, … His Majesty’s Ship … “Christian.” Amen
My Journal for Today: Dr. LaGard Smith today in The Daily Bible In Chronological Order has brought me through the reading of Isaiah’s prophesies concerning the return of God’s people to Zion (when the Messiah comes again), about God’s forgiveness for those who have had their faith securely placed in the true Messiah, and how God’s people will be restored for eternity into a deep and abiding relationship with their Lord. What a hopeful sequence of passages this is for any believer.
But in the midst of all of this prophesy is today’s highlight verse, we read a warning to these same believers and a picture of what their lives were like at the time of Isaiah’s prophetic warnings. It’s like the Prophet couldn’t help make a snapshot observation in today’s verse about how Jacob and Judah were living in those days; and it is an ample picture of how those who’ve succumbed to the world’s way are living today, non-believers for sure, but unfortunately believers in Christ as well.
The word picture from this passage has to do with how a sailor, or especially a ship’s captain, must attend to the elements of their ship so that the vessel will be worthy to sail. And Dr. Smith today asks his readers – inspired by this little passage from Isaiah 33: 23 – to think of a large sailing ship, perhaps a racing vessel, cutting through the waves, bent over under the pressures of the prevailing winds, to rapidly move through the waters, perhaps even through a storm. And Smith reminds us that it takes great preparation for such a vessel to be able to sail out of a harbor into the seas of life, where there are always storms to deal with, and to be able to find and cut through those winds, successfully negotiating through the waters without crashing or falling apart as the ship traverses to its destiny.
Think about it, my fellow sailor. If your ship (i.e., your life values, your direction, your purpose) is not securely rigged and your course is not successfully planned against the charts of the seas (i.e., in this case from God’s word), your ship is going to be vulnerable to sinking when that ship encounters storms or high winds. If you haven’t carefully rigged the mast and sails, that ship will not be able to withstand the winds of life. AND, if you don’t follow a carefully planned course, navigating carefully along the way, making course corrections as you’re ship is tossed by the winds of life, you will not arrive where you had desired.
I hope I don’t need to bring this out by writing at length here how this word picture applies to our travels through life. We need to have a ship’s captain Who can – and will – take us to THE destiny of our life; and only surrendering the helm of our ship to Christ will do that. We need to have the sails stitched up and the mast securely fastened to the deck for our ship to sail through life; and only our daily devotional life, tying our minds/hearts securely to God’s truth (i.e., His word), can do this. And finally, we cannot sail strongly into the winds of life unless we have our sails unfurled to catch the winds; and that only happens for the believer when he/she has surrendered his/her mind/heart to the blowing force of God’s Spirit, propelling us with God’s power through the storms of life.
I hope you can see it, my friend; and I pray that your ship of life is storm worthy. I pray that we all have turned over our ship over to the Captain of our souls for Him to guide us to our eternal destiny. And I pray that we catch the winds of His Spirit in our sails to guide us through the headwinds of life, taking us ultimately into that eternal cove where God’s love and peace abound forever. That, my dear one, is what Isaiah was pointing God’s people toward with this little word picture today; and only we can be the ones to make our vessel for life ship-shape and storm worthy.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray to travel through the winds of life, trusting You as my Captain, and catching the waves of Your Spirit to power my sails. My ship is word ready, Lord; and we travel through life with Your Name on our bough, … His Majesty’s Ship … “Christian.” Amen
Friday, February 05, 2010
2010 – Day 36. Feb. 5 – A God-Centered Community
Study from Numbers 9: 1-12; then from Numbers 1 - 2; Passage for Reflection: Numbers 2: 1-2 … NIV 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2 "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
My Journal for Today: Sometimes when one (well, at least yours truly) reads passages like those from Numbers, as I have this morning, it’s a bit hard to extrapolate God’s intent from the historical context to the personal one in the here-and-now, going through centuries of sociological change to get from then to now. But with the help of my devotional author today, Dr. Smith has taken me from the documentation of the Israelite soldiers and even the counting of the Priesthood, centuries before Christ, to an application which would apply from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant and right into my heart as a 21st century Christian. And Dr. Smith does so by asking a very simple, but pointed question: “If I were a community of one, where would God’s special place be?”
And as God’s very special timing would have it, last night in our weekly small group, which is somewhat like a first century home church, I was teaching on the subject of putting God (i.e., Christ) at the center of our lives; i.e., giving Him the center-piece of our worship, which is our 24/7 lifestyle, … where He is the focus of our living. And in that teaching our group was to study and memorize two passages from the New Testament, Luke 9: 23 and Matthew 6: 33 (which I really hope you have already memorized – and if not I’ll leave it to you to seek them out for study. These passages help the New Testament Christian disciple to see the essence of Christian living (or “worship,” if you will); and that is to place our relationship and walk with Christ at the center of our community of the heart, where God’s temple resides Spiritually in the lives of any Christian.
If you read through the passages from the Book of Numbers [mentioned above], you’ll read that God wanted to put Himself, in the Tabernacle, no matter where it moved with these nomadic people, smack dab in the center of His people. And God dictated to Moses exactly how this would take place, … which tribes would be on the East, the West, the North, and the South; and the designation of the Levites to watch over the Tent of Meetings, i.e., the Tabernacle, which was to be placed strategically in the center of the guardians of God’s community … at the center of the lives of His people. And as we move forward in time, God’s New Covenant Tabernacle has been established in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who now resides in the hearts of each Christian, who becomes a community of one. And God expects to be established with each of us as His priesthood; and we are to place His Tabernacle – i.e., our relationship with Christ - at the center of our hearts so that everything in our lives will center on a lifestyle of worship of Him.
That is what Jesus was saying to His church and to us in the two passages referred to above (from Luke 9: 23 and Matt. 6: 33); and isn’t it wonderful how even the structure of the first community of believers in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers spoke to this truth by the structure of how the community was to be constructed … the Tabernacle at the center for worship and with God residing there for His worshipping people to be able to focus on Him as our Center of their sacrificial worship.
Think on that for a while; and see that even the listings of people and the construction of the earliest of God’s communities became a picture of how our hearts should be put together for worship today. Can I hear a witness of “Hallelujah!” from anyone reading here?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, …Oh Lord, Hallelujah that You were preparing Your Tabernacle of Worship in ancient Israel to be a picture of where You now reside in my heart. And may my life be a reflection of You being the center of my worship this very day. Amen
My Journal for Today: Sometimes when one (well, at least yours truly) reads passages like those from Numbers, as I have this morning, it’s a bit hard to extrapolate God’s intent from the historical context to the personal one in the here-and-now, going through centuries of sociological change to get from then to now. But with the help of my devotional author today, Dr. Smith has taken me from the documentation of the Israelite soldiers and even the counting of the Priesthood, centuries before Christ, to an application which would apply from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant and right into my heart as a 21st century Christian. And Dr. Smith does so by asking a very simple, but pointed question: “If I were a community of one, where would God’s special place be?”
And as God’s very special timing would have it, last night in our weekly small group, which is somewhat like a first century home church, I was teaching on the subject of putting God (i.e., Christ) at the center of our lives; i.e., giving Him the center-piece of our worship, which is our 24/7 lifestyle, … where He is the focus of our living. And in that teaching our group was to study and memorize two passages from the New Testament, Luke 9: 23 and Matthew 6: 33 (which I really hope you have already memorized – and if not I’ll leave it to you to seek them out for study. These passages help the New Testament Christian disciple to see the essence of Christian living (or “worship,” if you will); and that is to place our relationship and walk with Christ at the center of our community of the heart, where God’s temple resides Spiritually in the lives of any Christian.
If you read through the passages from the Book of Numbers [mentioned above], you’ll read that God wanted to put Himself, in the Tabernacle, no matter where it moved with these nomadic people, smack dab in the center of His people. And God dictated to Moses exactly how this would take place, … which tribes would be on the East, the West, the North, and the South; and the designation of the Levites to watch over the Tent of Meetings, i.e., the Tabernacle, which was to be placed strategically in the center of the guardians of God’s community … at the center of the lives of His people. And as we move forward in time, God’s New Covenant Tabernacle has been established in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who now resides in the hearts of each Christian, who becomes a community of one. And God expects to be established with each of us as His priesthood; and we are to place His Tabernacle – i.e., our relationship with Christ - at the center of our hearts so that everything in our lives will center on a lifestyle of worship of Him.
That is what Jesus was saying to His church and to us in the two passages referred to above (from Luke 9: 23 and Matt. 6: 33); and isn’t it wonderful how even the structure of the first community of believers in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers spoke to this truth by the structure of how the community was to be constructed … the Tabernacle at the center for worship and with God residing there for His worshipping people to be able to focus on Him as our Center of their sacrificial worship.
Think on that for a while; and see that even the listings of people and the construction of the earliest of God’s communities became a picture of how our hearts should be put together for worship today. Can I hear a witness of “Hallelujah!” from anyone reading here?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, …Oh Lord, Hallelujah that You were preparing Your Tabernacle of Worship in ancient Israel to be a picture of where You now reside in my heart. And may my life be a reflection of You being the center of my worship this very day. Amen
Saturday, October 17, 2009
2009 – Day 289.Oct 17 – Slow Down!
2nd Passage for Study: Devotional focus on Galatians 1: 1 – 11 … Galatians 1 linked for study …
My Journal for Today: It’s a little obscure to see why the text to which Swindoll refers us today fits his devotional message, which is to “Slow down!” But the message of Paul to the church of Galatia actually is more the result of Paul’s post-conversion time alone in Arabia than it was a description of those times in solitude where the former Saul of Tarsus really became the Apostle Paul, …the man we would read about in the New Testament and the man who could preach a message like that we read of in the first chapter of Galatians.
Actually I think that the message of Ephesians 5: 15 – 16, to which I’m linking you here fits the message of Chuck Swindoll this morning a little better. Because what Swindoll is pitching is how the rabid anti-Christian, Saul, became the Christian zealot, Paul; and that was by separating himself from his former world and using the discipline of solitude and priority focus on Christ to let God, the Holy Spirit, do business with his soul. And that’s Swindoll’s message today … for us to slow down and take our focus off of the world and get it onto Jesus.
Swindoll posits that it’s hard these days, in these “evil days” to which Eph. 5: 16 refers, to keep God’s priorities straight. Oh how our enemy, Satan, and his informationally loaded world, works on us is to get us to react to the demands of these “evil times” and to get us caught up in the world of multi-tasking, taking our eyes off of Jesus and the priorities He desires for us, … the desires He commands for us, … which are documented in Luke 9: 23, which is a verse I truly hope you have internalized by now.
How can we deny our selves and follow Christ when we’re overloaded with worldly demands and even with church-related stuff. That’s what apparently had happened to the Galatians as Paul wrote to them about getting side-tracked by false messages and false doctrines (see Gal. 1: 6-7). And Paul was trying to get these dear Christians to stop, refocus, and get their priorities straight.
Swindoll proposes that we seriously prioritize some time on a periodic basis to get alone and refocus our lives on Christ and His will and direction for our lives. And that is a message of the chorus of that great Christian hymn which I so often use to refocus my life. Here it is; and if you’ve been following me in this past year, you’ve read me quote this one … many times: …
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
And my friend we cannot do that if were on overload from the world, … if Satan has us bound up in so many good things that we can’t see what is God’s best for us, … if we have succumbed to the “tyranny of the urgent.” I’m actually tougher than is Swindoll about this point. I think you can’t just take what he is proposing as periodic, chosen times of solitude and focus to accomplish what God proposed in the BIG 10”] [yes, I mean the 10 Commandments] … and that is to have times of Sabbath on a regular basis. I maintain that in order to be able to fulfill Paul’s command in Eph. 5 to prioritize the things of God in our lives, we need a time of solitude or Sabbath in our lives EVERY DAY. And I propose that this should be a time in the morning, one like I’m investing right now, to get alone, … quietly, with God …and to seek His mind through His word and in prayer to fulfill the purpose of the hymn I quoted above.
Do you have such a time each day, my friend? I pray that you do. And don’t be deluded to think that the enemy will not do all he can to divert and to discourage you from have a daily Sabbath where you get alone with God for some chosen quiet time and to seek His will and His way for your life. But I’m telling you, … from experience, … nothing will help protect your Christian priority focus, as is commanded in Eph. 5: 15-16, any better than the discipline of daily devotional focus on Christ. Let me pray that for us, my friend.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, God, … You are the focus of our lives; but we need to decide to seek that with our daily quiet times with you. Help to protect us as we choose to seek Your mind and Your priorities for our lives by spending time with You ever day in Your word. Amen
My Journal for Today: It’s a little obscure to see why the text to which Swindoll refers us today fits his devotional message, which is to “Slow down!” But the message of Paul to the church of Galatia actually is more the result of Paul’s post-conversion time alone in Arabia than it was a description of those times in solitude where the former Saul of Tarsus really became the Apostle Paul, …the man we would read about in the New Testament and the man who could preach a message like that we read of in the first chapter of Galatians.
Actually I think that the message of Ephesians 5: 15 – 16, to which I’m linking you here fits the message of Chuck Swindoll this morning a little better. Because what Swindoll is pitching is how the rabid anti-Christian, Saul, became the Christian zealot, Paul; and that was by separating himself from his former world and using the discipline of solitude and priority focus on Christ to let God, the Holy Spirit, do business with his soul. And that’s Swindoll’s message today … for us to slow down and take our focus off of the world and get it onto Jesus.
Swindoll posits that it’s hard these days, in these “evil days” to which Eph. 5: 16 refers, to keep God’s priorities straight. Oh how our enemy, Satan, and his informationally loaded world, works on us is to get us to react to the demands of these “evil times” and to get us caught up in the world of multi-tasking, taking our eyes off of Jesus and the priorities He desires for us, … the desires He commands for us, … which are documented in Luke 9: 23, which is a verse I truly hope you have internalized by now.
How can we deny our selves and follow Christ when we’re overloaded with worldly demands and even with church-related stuff. That’s what apparently had happened to the Galatians as Paul wrote to them about getting side-tracked by false messages and false doctrines (see Gal. 1: 6-7). And Paul was trying to get these dear Christians to stop, refocus, and get their priorities straight.
Swindoll proposes that we seriously prioritize some time on a periodic basis to get alone and refocus our lives on Christ and His will and direction for our lives. And that is a message of the chorus of that great Christian hymn which I so often use to refocus my life. Here it is; and if you’ve been following me in this past year, you’ve read me quote this one … many times: …
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
And my friend we cannot do that if were on overload from the world, … if Satan has us bound up in so many good things that we can’t see what is God’s best for us, … if we have succumbed to the “tyranny of the urgent.” I’m actually tougher than is Swindoll about this point. I think you can’t just take what he is proposing as periodic, chosen times of solitude and focus to accomplish what God proposed in the BIG 10”] [yes, I mean the 10 Commandments] … and that is to have times of Sabbath on a regular basis. I maintain that in order to be able to fulfill Paul’s command in Eph. 5 to prioritize the things of God in our lives, we need a time of solitude or Sabbath in our lives EVERY DAY. And I propose that this should be a time in the morning, one like I’m investing right now, to get alone, … quietly, with God …and to seek His mind through His word and in prayer to fulfill the purpose of the hymn I quoted above.
Do you have such a time each day, my friend? I pray that you do. And don’t be deluded to think that the enemy will not do all he can to divert and to discourage you from have a daily Sabbath where you get alone with God for some chosen quiet time and to seek His will and His way for your life. But I’m telling you, … from experience, … nothing will help protect your Christian priority focus, as is commanded in Eph. 5: 15-16, any better than the discipline of daily devotional focus on Christ. Let me pray that for us, my friend.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, God, … You are the focus of our lives; but we need to decide to seek that with our daily quiet times with you. Help to protect us as we choose to seek Your mind and Your priorities for our lives by spending time with You ever day in Your word. Amen
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
2009 – Day 202.July 22 – Full of Surprises
Passage of the Day: Esther 5: 4 - 14 … Esther 5 linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Today, Chuck Swindoll again focuses on today’s passage from Esther’s remarkable and exciting story as the plot of intrigue thickens. But Swindoll contends that many Christians don’t see life as an exciting opportunity to serve God. He writes, …”Too many Christians are lulled into languor (which is a condition of situational listlessness or dulled boredom). … When that happens, you become calloused and insensitive. … The walk of faith is designed [by God, of course] to be a walk of adventure, filled with periodic and delightful surprises.” And the question by Swindoll becomes, “What is your life like?”
And Swindoll is right. It is true that one needs to have some daily disciplines which repetitively are designed to go deep in a love relationship with our God. I’m in the midst of one of those right now, writing this journal from my daily quiet time of prayer, devotional study, and meditation on God’s word. And this might be seen like a boring and repetitive exercise of faith. BUT … that is far from the case. Every day I show up here – or wherever my life may take me as the sun comes up – and I come to this place excitedly waiting for God to show me more of Himself, … to reveal more of His truth to me. And, my dear one, God meets me in this place, extending His Spirit-led grace of enlightenment to me … yes, little old me! How could one be listless with the excitement of knowing that God wants to hear from me (see Psalm 116: 1 – 2); and He wants to give me jewels from my mining into His mind (see Job 28 – yes, the entire chapter). … My friend, we may not be involved in life threatening intrigue as was Esther; but we are in a war – EVERYDAY; and the potential for service to God in His army, gives us exciting opportunities to witness for Him.
My friend that’s excitement! And it’s certainly not languorous inertia. There is so much going on in the world these days to keep a believer on his/her toes. Just like Esther, we face our threats from our spiritual enemies, both personal and social. And we need to look at her quiet confidence as she served her God Who was in control. And we serve the same God, Who leads us through life so that we can participate in the excitement of seeing God glorified in the challenging times of life, many of which might be right around the corner – maybe even today.
Today, not much is on my calendar or schedule which looks like it will be very exciting; but I know that God will lead me – if I’m willing to follow (again see Luke 9: 23) – into areas which have the potential for stressful excitement, precarious relationships, as well as the opportunities to shine God’s light (yes, I’m sure you’re thinking of Matt. 5: 16 just like I am). So, my responsibility is to wait on God, as did Esther, and to watch for God’s exciting divine appointments.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, my first excitement for this day is just being here with You. Amen
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