All in God
God is our creator, and has worked out the means of our redemption, our salvation; Jesus was nailed to the cross, but it was God’s will that placed Him there. Have you picked up your cross to follow Jesus, or are you still waiting on God to say come? Waiting on our Father becomes much easier once we realize that He formed us, saved us, and it will be in His house that we will live forever. But do we know who He is, or do we believe in a mystery?
Are you a witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; if so do you witness at home or abroad, and do you ever feel overwhelmed by the task? If you are overworked, and see way too many souls than you can possibly reach, or teach, then listen to the words of Jesus as He tells how to call for help. If you are not witnessing, or going on a mission field, then listen for that call. In all cases pray!
We recite a prayer before meals, and at bedtime, and we pray in church service as we recite the Lord’s Prayer, but for most Christians that is the extent of our regular conversation with God. Oh, we might say a prayer when in the midst of trouble, but that is a one-sided prayer and seldom a conversation, and all we really want to hear Him say is “Got it!” Am I describing your prayer life? If so then you are missing out on the greatest blessing of prayer.
Princes and principalities, customs and countries, circumcised and uncircumcised... these, and many others, are all things we have used to separate ourselves from one another, and to secure God and Jesus Christ for ourselves alone, but that is not God’s will, nor what Jesus meant to happen; it was meant for the Holy Spirit to bring us together through the Cross... one Church.
When we think of the ransom that was paid for us by Jesus, it is easy to think about that ransom being paid to some entity, or to someone, for us, but this is not the case. Who would be powerful enough to hold us ransom from God? No, we are ransomed from the sin and death that is within us... the very punishment that was created and placed there by God Himself. God is ransoming us from His own steadfast law against sin... against the imbalance of wrong that became inherent in us.
The most uncertain of victories will be won by the Lord because He is great beyond measure. How patient is our faith in this; His victory? Are we waiting in total confidence for Him to act? When those around us challenge our patience in God we can be moved to take matters into our own hands, and to abandon our assurance in His promise. In such times I look to scripture and hold tight to it.
Do you pray, and when you pray, does God meet you there? When He does, people have a great deal to ask of Him and begin doing so immediately, but the most important moment in our prayers is not what we say to Him, but when God speaks to us. The most powerful moments in most biblical accounts begins with the Lord speaking, but do we hear Him when He speaks to us? Are we listening? How do we answer Him? Do we acknowledge Him at all, or just sit dumb in silence? Then, if we do hear, how do we respond? Do we say “Here am I Lord.”?
Are you satisfied with the state of your spiritual life? Does living water pour from you as Jesus said it would, or do you pray for it, and feel like your words are drawing nothing out of you? If this is true of where you are in faith, then do not be disappointed, and have patience as you divine the water that is within you.
There are times in our lives when we are self-assured and as we study the scripture we say to ourselves “Ah Ha! This is the truth, and I will base my faith on it!” but who are we to be so arrogant? Who are we to interpret scripture without the direction of He whose hand guided the pen? Yet, this is what we are inclined to do, and we build the castles of our faith out of sand on shores strewn with stone... we silence those into whose hand God has placed stone, and cover our ears.
How do you behave at home? I am not talking simply about your physical home on earth, but your spiritual home in heaven. We concentrate a great deal on what a good Father God is, but what kind of daughter or son are you? Do you love Him with all your heart? Do you serve Him and do His will? Do you honor Him, or do you expect Him to honor your prayers and requests without reciprocation? Do you feel that He is obligated to provide all your desires while you do nothing? Are you a spoiled child?
There are many who study the Bible, and upon reading of the healings and other miracles come to the conclusion that those days must have been the “times of miracles”, and convince themselves that we are not living in such times today. Friends, there is no biblical foundation for such thought, as a matter of fact Jesus taught by using miracles, just as we see in the Old Testament, and He teaches us that we too will perform and receive miracles today.
Do you really live your life for God? Do you order your day to please Him, and follow Jesus with everything that is within you? Or, do you live your life from one repentance to the next asking for forgiveness of sins that you deem to be acceptable and unavoidable wounds that you receive each day as you live life in the world? A price was paid for you, and it wasn’t done so that you could almost accept the transaction; so that you would remain the property of the world.
Do you suffer, or cry in this life? Do you hunger or thirst in your days here in this world? Do you long spiritually for fulfillment, and yearn to see the face of God? Well, take heart; for those who are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ have a heavenly existence waiting for them in which there will be no suffering, hunger, thirst, tears, nor longing to see the face of God. The blood of Jesus prepares us for the glorious eternity of heaven, and to be encamped with God.
How do you refer to God? Do you call Him Holy God, Heavenly God, The Great I Am, or maybe Lord? I’ll bet you also call Him Father. As I was reading my devotional message by Andrew Murray this morning, he revealed something about the Lord’s Prayer that had previously escaped me... This is the first time that the disciples had referred to God as Father. The wonder of this moment had never dawned on me, and it brought tears to my eyes.
Are you in the midst of some trauma in your life? Are you looking to God and asking “Why Lord? Aren’t I your child?” Of course the answer to this question is that He loves you too much not to discipline, or teach, you. The storms in the life of a Christian are meant to teach and perfect us, but they sure feel like pure punishment don’t they? Yet, amidst the hardships and discipline, never lose sight of the fact that you are indeed a child of God.