Today we are focusing primarily on what it takes to be a successful pastor by using the description of Caesar, early Rome, and a wicked man from Psalm 10 to make this point for us. But, whether we are pastors with much responsibility, or laypersons, and saints who are dealing with our own smaller worlds, this is a good lesson for us. Are we ready to turn all our thoughts to God?
I found great value in the devotional message I read this morning. It contained a prescription for healing the doubt and fear in my life. Of course, the solution came from scripture and was simply expounded upon further by E.M. Bounds. The scripture reference I am referring to came from Philippians where Paul wrote of the power in praying in everything... Prayer is the medicine that heals all our woes, sorrows, and illnesses. Prayer give us the peace of God and will keep our minds fixed on Him through Jesus.
Humility Gives Wings to Prayer... That is a wonderful title for a devotional message on praying as we should, and this is the second time in a week that we are visiting the subject of humility. Humility places God and others before ourselves and admits that we are lacking in some way. This is a holy virtue indeed. Perhaps the Spirit is leading us back to look at our humility once more because we are still found lacking in it, or maybe we are being taught how to portray it better in our lives so that it might be seen more clearly by others as they pursue faith and salvation in theirs.
Fall days can be wonderful, we stand in the rays of the sun and feel their warmth on our faces, yet despite the sun’s warmth the actual temperature is much cooler. It feels like one of the most perfect and comfortable times of the year. But, when we walk into the shade we suddenly feel a chill, and pull our collar up tight around our neck. Only by standing in the direct sunlight can we enjoy the sun’s warmth. Standing in our faith is much the same, and when we step out of it, we also feel the world’s chill setting in once more.
When the bible speaks of humility the general consensus is that it is speaking of someone who is self-effacing, obedient to God, respects themselves and others, and is also modest, meek, humble, and submissive. My devotional reading today reminded me that "God puts a great price on humility of heart" and that it brings us closer to God. I can honestly say that those times when I have exhibited the greatest humility, and humbled myself the most, have also been the times when I truly felt the hand of God upon me.
Faith, prayer, and the promise... Often we are busy doing so many other things around the church, or exercising our various gifts in our everyday lives, that we neglect what is central to the mission of our faith. E.M. Bounds reminded me in my morning devotional reading that "Today, as much as at any time, we need followers of God to have great faith and powerful prayer." He went on to say "These are the two most important virtues that make men great in the eyes of God."
As I read my devotional today, the words of the author, E.M. Bounds, described faith as that which "determines our relationship with God - how we deal with Him and how we see Him as the savior." I latched onto his phrase "Faith is not believing just anything. It is believing God, resting in Him and trusting His word.", but so many people have faith and hope in other things that don’t warrant their faithfulness at all. We hear this all the time. We hear people say that they have faith in this or that, a sports team, a political party, even a pastor or priest, and there doesn’t seem to be any limit as to what they will place their faith in. Do you see this too?
2/01/2024
Prayer, and an unwavering faith; what a great message for today, and applying our faith to our prayers brings amazing power to bear. I must admit that there have been times when I have prayed and even before the words have left my mouth... I have encountered doubt. Satan might whisper to me that the situation is too far gone, the task is too great, this request is too trivial to concern God, or attack me personally by asking a question like… why would God do this for someone as undeserving as you? These are just some of the reasons for doubt that Satan uses to rob us of answered prayer, but if we will remain faithful, and say “get thee behind me Satan”, then we will have won the battle, and perhaps the war.
I was lifted up this morning as I considered God’s anointing to be a portion of Himself. It is a gift of God... Not a gift to aid our physical condition, but rather a spiritual gift. In Matthew 17 Jesus spoke to His disciples of faith as being a mustard seed, something powerful despite its diminutive size, and it being a part of us, but when He spoke of God’s anointing it was of the Holy Spirit... a bit of Himself. Is our anointing something small like the mustard seed of faith, or is it a portal, a doorway into the infinite divinity of God?
Most Christians envision themselves standing on a mountaintop with their arms stretched up towards the sky, and there is nothing wrong with that because it is a Holy place, but when it comes right down to it, we live out our everyday lives in the valleys. We go to the mountain, but we return home to the valley, and yet we spiritually seem to have this idea engrained in us that valleys are bad places to be. Perhaps it is because whenever we think of a valley we recall the 23rd Psalm and its reference to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but scripture has much more to say about valleys than to tell us that death resides there too. After all, death can only reside where first there is life.
Godlike Sympathies; I was touched this morning by how incredibly merciful, loving, and sympathetic God truly is. I thought of Jesus nailed to the cross and my eyes filled with tears; not so much for the suffering He endured (which always brings me to tears) but for the love, mercy, and sympathy that He and His Father have for mankind, and the grace that they continue to pour out on us. We saw it on Calvary, and we continue to see it every day in our own lives. Does it make us want to be like them?
The divine anointing to preach is once again the subject of our devotional message this morning. I find affirmation in the words of E.M. Bounds' when he says. "Growth, fullness of thought, and simplicity of preaching are the fruits of this anointing." Jesus could debate the scripture in the synagogue... and yet his message remained simple. Jesus could be tempted by Satan and not be deceived, yet his approach to overcoming sin was a simple one. Love thy God... Love they neighbor... Believe in me... Obey my commandments... these are all such simple concepts. He most certainly contained the boundless intellect of God, but our salvation depends upon very simple guidelines. These things are the message of anointed preachers.
God loved us while we were still sinners, and He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to redeem us even though we were sinful unclean people living immersed in a dark and lost world. Knowing this, how is it that we find it so hard to look at the sinners in our personal surroundings with loving eyes rather than disdain, and why is it so difficult for us to love them as God loved us… while they are yet unrepentant? Why is it that we have become comfortable in our church environment where we are surrounded by saints, and yet, are so uncomfortable when a sinner wanders in off the streets to visit a Sunday service? Have we become exclusive rather than inclusive when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ? Perhaps we have forgotten the purpose of the Great Commission… it wasn’t meant that we should deliver the gospel to the saved, but to deliver it to the lost so that they might be saved.
We can hear a pastor preach a sermon and it thrills our hearts, but we can hear the very same message delivered by another minister and it falls flat within us; why is that so? Haven’t we all experienced such a spiritual phenomenon? When we attempt to understand why this happens, what do we blame the rise and fall of that particular message to be? Was it the condition our own faith in that particular moment, or was it the Holy Spirit moving, or not moving, over the Pastor as he spoke?
This morning as I read my daily devotion, I was struck by what E.M. Bounds wrote regarding waiting on God to answer our prayers. Bounds referred to this as a test, but I couldn't agree with his conclusion that God would use waiting for an answer to prayer to test us. No, I believe it allows us to see, and realize, the strength in our own maturing faith. When we are made to wait it shows us how much we have increased in our ability to demonstrate patience, trust, hope, and confidence in God. For some of us we see progress in our faith right away, but for others it takes a great deal of time to fully develop these traits.