At first, we weren’t worried. Our black Labrador loved nothing better than to race through the forest alongside us on the dusty path, sniffing rabbit trails, and experiencing life to the full. But where was she?
Still no answer. Not even a faraway scurrying through bushes and thick undergrowth. Besides the lonely call of a cuckoo and the softly swaying trees, I heard nothing. Something was wrong. Our furry friend never behaved like this. I left the path and fought my way through man-sized ferns, prickly thorn bushes, and over nasty, gnarled tree roots, shouting her name at the top of my voice. “Charley!” An unfamiliar yelp in the distance caught my attention. Was that our dog? My heart racing, I kept on going until I stumbled upon a curious pool. Not a lake, not a place where you sit at the shore and watch geese flying over and you are reminded of the everlasting waters of God’s Word. No, this reservoir was man-made. Dark, deep, with a peculiar, unnatural elevation. And there, desperately trying to climb over the rubber bank of this pool, was our exhausted animal. It seemed she was about ready to give up. But then, when she saw me coming, her miserable howls changed into gurgles of doggy joy. I was able to pull her to safety and how happy we both were on our way back to the path from which she had strayed. “Charley, where are you?” It reminded me of when God was calling for His friend in the Garden of Eden. “Adam! Where are you?” Adam didn’t fall into a man-made pool. He ate from the forbidden tree and brought the curse of sin upon the world. And along came God, walking in the cool of the day, desiring fellowship but not finding any, because His friends weren’t there. Unlike me with my dog, God knew where Adam and Eve were hiding. Still, the pain He experienced must have been much greater than mine. His beloved friends were hiding from Him. God is still calling today. He’s still uttering the same words. He’s calling each one of us daily. When I read these words, I now put my own name in there. That makes it personal. I’m not trying to hide from God, but I occasionally fall short, and the good news is that God forgives me and He still longs to talk to me in the cool of the day, just as He did with Adam. – By Koos Stenger
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I always love stories where God brings people together in miraculous ways to be a blessing to each other. It’s always an example of how He is involved in every little detail of our lives and is willing to do some quite “far-out” or even quite “outlandish” things to make us stand once more in awe at His individual love and care for each person. This testimony is one such example, told by a Family couple.
The area of France where we lived was ensnared in a major train strike. The usually efficient and abundant supply of frequent trains as a means of public transportation had dwindled down to only a few trains, and a few buses per day. Millions of people, both locals and tourists, were struggling to get to their destinations, their jobs, doctor appointments, to visit families, complete travel arrangements, etc. As a result, many found themselves stranded, especially if their travel involved being in and around Paris. 18-year-old Joe, from Canada, was on his way home from Austria via France and was scheduled to pass through Paris when he found himself caught up in this. It was his first trip abroad and he was traveling alone, knowing only a few words of French. Instead of getting to Paris, he ended up in a small city where a close friend of ours happened to be teaching English. The trip between there and our small city was normally easy on the trains, but there were no trains, and just one bus. Our friend managed to catch that lone evening bus to get home. On the bus was Joe, who was desperate to get to Paris. He was so relieved to find out that our friend was fluent in English. It was too late that day to get to Paris due to the strike, and Joe needed a place to stay. She wanted to help him, but, with teens at home, she felt uncomfortable taking in a stranger, so she phoned us. We aren’t in the habit of inviting strangers into our home either. Our initial reaction was, “No way! Not knowing him and in the dark of night?!” But when we prayed, we got a very strong green light, so we called her back and gave her permission to bring this man to our place, which “just happened to be” very close to her home. Later in the evening, in walks Joe with our friend. He was a nice-looking but scared kid. We right away hugged him, fed him, and gave him what he needed for a shower and to sleep. He was very hesitant to accept anything, but since he hadn't eaten all day, he was very grateful and ate a big meal with us. Then he told us his story. He had gone to a three-month Bible college course that's held in Austria every winter. He had routed his ticket home through Paris in order to get a chance to see the city, but the strike happened, and he was sent to an out-of-the-way small town in France and had to find his own way to Paris. Feeling lost and having no idea what he could do, he had prayed for help. Then the door opened for him to at least get closer to Paris via the bus to our small town as the Lord guided him to us. His Bible course had been focused on how to be a witness in today’s world. We realized very quickly that we were the Lord’s next step for him in his spiritual growth. For some reason, the Lord had known that all of this was important for him, and for us! We spent time talking with him about the work we do for the Lord, about how we've lived in many countries, about the Lord's care, etc. The next day we gave him a big breakfast and helped him catch one of the very few trains to Paris. He spent one night in Paris and then made it home to Canada with his own testimony of how the things he’d learned in the Bible course had come to life for him. Both Joe and his mom have continued to communicate with us ever since. My husband and I definitely felt that Joe’s visit had been a very special gift from the Lord to us, as well as to him. -- Author Unknown The Lord has been speaking to me in the past months about tuning in more to things that “might have happened” that could have been dangerous. The purpose isn’t to get fearful of these potential troubles but rather to consider how wonderfully He keeps me from them.
I remember once when I tried very hard to get my eyedrops out of the bottle but they just wouldn’t come (it was one of those squeeze-type bottles that release a drop at a time). After I’d tried and tried, I finally woke up to the fact that something wasn’t right and it was more than just that the bottle wouldn’t dispense the drops. When I looked closer, I realized that what was in that bottle wasn’t eyedrops after all. It was some substance that was not supposed to go into my eyes and would have been very dangerous. I immediately realized that my guardian angel had prevented this very miraculously. I also knew it was a warning for me to not allow that bottle to be anywhere near where I would be putting eyedrops in my eyes thereafter. The one time this happened had been ignorance on my part, but I knew that I was expected to learn from this so it wouldn’t ever happen again. Other times when I have gotten up from my office chair, my foot has momentarily gotten caught inside the leg of the chair. Even though it could easily have thrown me off balance and caused me to fall, somehow He has always prevented it. There are a lot of things like this, and the Lord has told me to look for these things and tune in to them. Many of them can be avoided by not getting in a hurry and by concentrating on what I’m doing. So at the same time as the Lord is telling me to praise Him for His protection, He’s also wanting me to make good habits to keep some of these things from happening or even almost happening. Sometimes things may happen anyway, if the Lord knows we need the lesson or that it will be good for us in some way. The way God tunes in to me in order to help me in so many ways makes me give Him great honor and praise! Not only is He my great protector, but He doesn’t stop there! He does it time after time; He teaches me valuable lessons as I go. He helps me make the good habits that are needed. He reminds me to walk in a spirit of prayer because the spiritual warfare is very real. He’s trying to teach me not to give the enemy any place through neglecting to do everything I can to keep things from happening. All glory and praise to our wonderful protector and mentor! – Author Unknown By David L. Weatherford. A praise to God for all that He teaches us through the years.
I used to live in perpetual fear of losing things I had, or never having the things I hoped to acquire.
But life teaches those who listen, and now I know:
When it is time for me to go to the Lord, what then should I fear? Text for today is from Matthew 6:16-18
Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. In Jesus’ third scenario depicting the right motives in our religious practices, He used fasting as an example. Of course, in some instances, others will know when you are doing activities which are part of your spiritual life and fellowship with God. If you are fasting, chances are your spouse and family will know. If you regularly set aside time for communion with the Lord in reading and prayer, or tithe or give to the poor, then undoubtedly some people will be aware of it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and Jesus wasn’t saying that you have to make sure no one knows about it. He was speaking about our motivation. The question isn’t “Who does or doesn’t know?” It should be “Who am I trying to please?” Our motivation needs to be pleasing God, desiring to do these things from a pure heart, one which seeks secret intimacy with the Lord. That is the attitude He blesses. As Christians, we are in relationship with God, and that relationship is first and foremost heart to heart. Our desire is to do the things God has told us to do in Scripture, those things which He delights in—worshipping, praying, being generous, loving others, nurturing our relationship with Him. Such actions, when done from the heart for the love and glory of the Lord, bring about inner transformation, spiritual growth, and maturity. Such fruit in our lives will inevitably be noticed by others. We don’t do these things with the purpose and motivation of having others see our actions so they will give us glory and acclamation, and if we do, then we are hypocrites, putting on a religious show. But if we practice our faith based on the desire to love and please God, to become more like Him, then we will reflect His light and people will see the fruit of a life lived for Him, a life which glorifies Him. May we each live out our faith with the right motive, and thus be rewarded by our Father who sees in secret. (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18.) Fasting is not widely practiced in the Protestant wing of Christianity. That’s not to say that Protestants never fast, but it generally isn’t a major focus, as it is in some other Christian traditions. Whether you practice the spiritual discipline of fasting or not, the point Jesus makes about fasting holds true with any spiritual discipline. Here again, Jesus begins by exposing the wrong motivation for practicing a spiritual discipline. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus assumes that disciples will sometimes fast, as He begins with when you fast. He instructs that when we fast, we aren’t to put on a gloomy face with a sad countenance, in order to draw attention to our fasting. It’s possible that the Pharisees would neglect personal hygiene, or cover their heads with sackcloth, or perhaps smeared their faces with ashes in order to look pale, wan, melancholy, and so outstandingly holy. All so that their fasting might be seen and known by everybody. Jesus teaches the opposite: when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others. In other words, we are to appear as we would at any normal time—with our faces washed, hair brushed, etc., so that no one looking at us would see anything out of the ordinary. We are to avoid drawing attention to the fact that we are fasting. Text for today is from Matthew 6:14-15
Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Following the Lord’s Prayer, there is further emphasis placed on forgiveness within the Sermon on the Mount. This brings up the question: If we are members of the kingdom of God through Jesus’ sacrificial death, does our not forgiving others mean that God rescinds our salvation and that our past sins are no longer forgiven? The short answer is no, but there is more to take into consideration. It’s helpful to understand that when God instructed Moses to come up the mountain to receive the commandments, He gave some important information about Himself. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” (Exodus 34:5–7.) God revealed that He is inherently merciful, has persistent and unwavering love, and is forgiving. These attributes are part of God’s nature, intrinsic to who He is. Forgiveness is part of God’s God-ness. He forgives iniquity (perversity, depravity, heinousness, evil), transgression (committing acts which violate His commandments and moral teaching, rebellion), and sin (acts, thoughts, and behavior which go against what God has taught). God, by nature, forgives. When Jesus told His disciples to pray forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, He was speaking of our being forgiven of our sin. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, mentioned earlier, God had forgiven the debt of the servant. God’s forgiveness came first in the parable, but was withdrawn when the person who had been forgiven didn’t forgive another, showing that there is a connection between the two. Clearly the expectation was that the one who had been forgiven so great a debt would in turn become forgiving of others. God has graciously and mercifully forgiven us for our sins through salvation. Therefore, we are to forgive others as an extension of God’s grace. Those who are forgiven forgive others. If we are unwilling to forgive others, then it should be questioned whether we have actually received His forgiveness ourselves. All sins—whether sins of commission or omission, action, or thought—are trespasses, debts, sins that we commit against God. And we sin in some way every day. Yet, in His steadfast love and mercy, He forgives us. When we don’t confess and ask forgiveness for our sins, and/or are unwilling to forgive those who have sinned against us, we damage our relationship with God. We’re still His children, but we have moved ourselves away from Him relationally. In refusing to forgive others for their offenses against us, our sins aren’t forgiven and thus our relationship with the Father suffers damage. (Ephesians 4:32.) In suffering and dying on the cross, Jesus took the punishment for our sins. It cost Him dearly to bring about reconciliation between each of us and the Father. It’s not as if His sacrifice made our sins okay; rather, it meant He suffered in our place and took our punishment upon Himself. It was an act of pure love. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), in mercy and love, suffered so that forgiveness could be given, which made reconciliation between humanity and God possible. We are called to follow God’s example, to forgive—even when we’ve been hurt and offended, even when it is costly to forgive Text for today is from Matthew 6:13b
Mat. 6:13b For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen This last phrase is not included in many translations and is considered to have been added in the late second century, though they may include it in a footnote or italics or brackets, while the KJV and NKJV versions include it as normal text. It reflects King David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11–12: “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” Though it may not have been part of Jesus’ original teaching, it is nevertheless a beautiful and fitting end to the prayer. The prayer started by focusing on our Father, then moved to addressing our needs, and it’s appropriate to return the focus to Him by professing the beauty of His power and majesty as we end the prayer. In Matthew’s Gospel we find the Lord’s Prayer within the Sermon on the Mount, right after we’re told not to “heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7–8). Jesus gave His disciples a short prayer which addresses both our needs and the needs of all other Christians. It’s a prayer that is concerned with both the glory of God Almighty and the relationship we, as His children, have with Abba, our loving and caring Father. Dear Father, You have saved us through Your Son’s sacrificial death and have adopted us into Your family, so that now we have You—the one above all others, the Creator of all things—as our Abba, our Father. As we come to know You, Your love, power, and holiness, we want to give You the reverence You so heartily deserve. You are God, holy, present, and righteous, and You deserve our praise and worship. May we add our voices to those in heaven who never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). And may we be as the twenty-four elders who cast their crowns before Your throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:10–11). May You reign in our lives and throughout all the world. Use all of us who believe in You to share the joyous news of salvation. Teach us to live according to the principles of Your kingdom; help us to be conscious of them in our choices and decisions, so that we may reflect You and Your ways. Work in the lives of all those who believe in You, so that as many as possible will come to know You and live in a manner that reflects life in Your kingdom. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever and ever. Amen. Text for today is from Matthew 6:13a
Mat. 6:13 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: The last petition is to not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The previous phrase, forgive us our debts, covered our past sins. The prayer now addresses future sins. A question sometimes arises regarding the first part of the petition: Does God lead us into temptation? In the book of James we read: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). The Greek word used here, peirasmos, means test, trial, or temptation. The word has a basic meaning of “a test”; however, when it’s used of Satan’s testing people with a view to their failing the test, it comes to mean “temptation.” We know that life is full of moral testing; we have to make moral decisions often, and it’s not as though we can avoid such tests. The petition isn’t asking that we never be tested, but is prayed with the understanding that we know we are weak, and we ask our Father to keep us out of some situations because our faith may not be sufficient to endure them. In the second part of the petition, we pray deliver us from evil. We’re asking the Lord to rescue us, free us, deliver us from evil. Some translations render the Greek ponēros as “evil” and others as “the evil one.” Both translations are technically correct, and commentators seem to be equally split between the two choices. Either way, we are praying for God to rescue us. The apostle Paul wrote: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18). The Lord’s Prayer ends with a request based on our understanding that we need God’s help to keep our relationship with Him healthy. We are sinners by nature. We understand this weakness within ourselves, and we know we need His help to avoid sinning. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil is the petition of one who wishes to keep a healthy and right relationship with God. We are requesting that our Father keep us from sinning, from situations in which we will fail the test, and from evil in every form—in our hearts, our attitudes, and our actions. We make these petitions because we love God and desire to keep our relationship with Him healthy and unbroken. We beseech our Father to keep us from anything that would come between us and disrupt our communion with Him. Text for today is from Matthew 6:11-12
MAT.6:11 -- Give us this day our daily bread. MAT.6:12 -- And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. After the first three petitions in the Lord’s prayer in which we pray for God to be reverenced, His kingdom to come, and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, the prayer turns from focusing on petitions related to the Father to focusing on human needs. The prayer changes from the second person singular (your name, your kingdom, your will) to the first person plural (our bread, our debts). The person praying is praying to God, but the prayer doesn’t focus only on their individual needs, but also on the needs of other believers; the petition is for “our” bread, the forgiveness of “our” sins, and delivering “us” from evil. Give us this day our daily bread conveys the request for our Father to provide our physical needs—whatever is needed for the preservation of our lives. In petitioning Him for our needs, we are expressing our dependence on Him. In first-century Mediterranean life, workers were paid daily and only had enough to live on day by day. Today’s pay bought today’s food. Living in such insecure circumstances made the prayer very meaningful. God providing daily bread would have also reminded the Jewish people of God supplying manna when they were in the wilderness. He supplied enough each day for that day, and on the sixth day He supplied enough for two days, so that they didn’t need to gather on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:13–26). God literally supplied their daily bread. We acknowledge our dependence on our heavenly Father when we pray this prayer. We are expressing that we look to Him to supply our physical needs, and we ask Him to do so. The Lord wants us to trust Him and depend on Him to supply our needs. The fifth petition reads: Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew uses the words debts and debtors to portray sin, while Luke uses sins and indebtedness: “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). In Aramaic, Jesus’ mother tongue, the word khoba was used to express both debts and sins. Matthew’s debts and Luke’s sins both convey transgressions against God. When Jesus told His disciples to pray forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, He was speaking of our being forgiven of our sin. God has graciously and mercifully forgiven us for our sins through salvation. Therefore, we are to forgive others as an extension of God’s grace. Those who are forgiven are to forgive others. Reconciliation—the ending of conflict and renewing of relationship—is the hallmark of Christianity, of the kingdom of God. God has reconciled the relationship between sinful humanity and Himself through Jesus. He has offered renewed relationship through His forgiveness. As members of His kingdom, we must also renew relationships with those who have sinned against us through forgiveness. We are to reflect God’s nature, which is inherently merciful and forgiving. This is part of being a Christian. Text for today is from Matthew 6:9b-10
Mat 6:9b Hallowed be thy name. Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. As far as a pattern for prayer, we learn from the opening of the Lord’s Prayer to begin our prayers by putting our focus on our Father in heaven, who is a personal Being with whom we are in relationship. We enter into His presence, we praise and worship Him. We come before Him with the understanding that our relationship with Him is as that of a child with a loving parent. He loves us, knows our needs, wants to take care of us, and wants the best for us. Because of our relationship with our Father in heaven, we trust Him, count on Him, and know that He has our best interests at heart. This is a foundational understanding of Christian prayer. After the introductory sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus followed with three phrases that have to do with God’s honor, kingdom, and purpose. The first three phrases which refer to God are “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Here we have three petitions: may your name be sanctified, may your kingdom come, and may your will be done. These express our prayer for God’s glory in relation to His name, rule, and will. The word hallow means to honor, sanctify, set apart, treat with the highest respect. When we pray hallowed be your name, we are honoring God and asking Him to help us give Him the reverence that is His due, and also asking Him to act within our world in ways that will cause those who don’t reverence Him to change and give glory to His name as well. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking the Lord to cause His name to be glorified everywhere and fully. In asking Him to make His name holy, we are asking Him to act in the physical world, and particularly through us, His followers, so that all humanity may honor Him as God. In reading the Gospels, we see that Jesus was always concerned about glorifying His Father. His actions caused others to glorify God. In His prayer in John 17, He stated: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ... I have manifested your name to the people” (John 17:4, 6). We too can manifest His name to others; we can cause God to be glorified through our words, our lives, by being a reflection of the greatness and glory of God. We are also reminded that while He is Abba, our loving Father, He is also God Almighty, and we should respect and revere Him. The second petition, your kingdom come, is similar to the first in that it is a request for God to bring forth His kingdom in our world. We are praying for God to bring about His reign, power, and authority throughout the earth. The kingdom was inaugurated with Jesus’ entrance into the world. Though the kingdom wasn’t physical, it was nevertheless present through Him while He was on earth, and continues to be present today. He also spoke of it in future tense. The dynamic reign of God is both a present reality introduced through Jesus’ life and ministry as well as a future manifestation which will be made complete after He returns. When we pray your kingdom come, we are asking God to move in ways that will cause the gospel to be preached throughout the world, so that people will receive the message and will enter the kingdom through belief in Jesus. We’re praying that those who come to believe in the Lord will increasingly let Him reign in their lives. At the same time, we’re praying that Jesus will return and fully consummate the kingdom of God. We’re looking forward to the time when all sin and everything opposed to God is done away with. The third petition, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, builds on the second. When God reigns, His will is done. Here we pray for the full realization of all that the kingdom means. In heaven, God’s kingship and will are already acknowledged and fulfilled, but on earth they are yet to be fully recognized. To some extent, the kingdom is present in the hearts and lives of believers, but not “as it is in heaven.” God’s will is already done in heaven; His name is already holy, He is already King, and there is nothing in heaven that keeps His will from being done. In praying the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking our Father to work in our world to change the hearts of humanity; and as part of that, to help us participate in bringing about change in the hearts of others. In the present time, our world does not do God’s will as it is done in heaven, but at some future point, God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we petition our Father in heaven to make His name holy and ask for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are setting things in proper priority—putting God first. By praying for God’s name to be made holy, we are committing to honor, love, worship, and praise Him, for He alone is holy. When we pray for His kingdom to come, we recognize that besides asking that He bring about His reign in this world, we are asking Him to reign in our lives as well. Asking that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven is requesting that His kingdom, power, and reign be given greater priority than our own, and that His will be given precedence over our own. |
AuthorThe goal of the blog is to provide interesting, motivational, soul feeding material. All to help remind us that God loves us all and wants a personal relationship with each of us and will take care of us in times of trouble. I aspire to be a force for good by providing you with positive input. I encourage you to share the blog with others. Archives
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