Few of us living in America know what it is like to be truly hungry. Even the poorest of Americans would be considered generally wealthy in comparison to those in some of our third world countries. Therefore, when I speak of hunger, I am only referring to a perceived state of hunger. While none of us are starving, we all have experienced what we call "hunger pains." These usually hit us when we are approaching the time that our body is used to eating. For instance, if we normally eat lunch at noon, we will beging to feel some hunger pains as the clock approaches that time. Our body is signalling us to inform us that it is now time to provide some nourishment. We have disciplined (I know, its hard to think of disciplining ourselves to eat) our bodies to expect to be fed at the same time each day. When we veer from that schedule, these hunger pains begin.
While these hunger pains are real and can be quite uncomfortable, they will dissipate if they are ignored. If you do not eat at noon and continue about the business of your day, these pains will stop and they will not resurface until the next scheduled time for food draws near. In fact, if you miss that meal, once again these hunger pains will diminish and gradually your body will get used to not eating at those times and your hunger pains will go away. When you engage in a prolonged fast, these hunger pains gradually go away once your body realizes that you are not going to feed it.
These mysterious signals called, "hunger pains," also relate to our great need for personal revival. When you first came to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you couldn't get enough of Him. In fact, you read the Bible, spent ample time in prayer, loved to fellowship with believers, and couldn't wait to tell others what Jesus had done in your life. As you continued to grow in the faith, you would experience an uncomfortable conviction when you missed church, another one when you failed to read your Bible, and when you found little time for prayer, those convictions would plague you once again. These spiritual "hunger pains" were reminders that it was time to nourish the soul. Unfortunately, as with physical "hunger pains," if we ignore these pains they eventually go away. Over time it became easier to skip church, our Bible reading became sporadic at best, and we found little time for prayer. We no longer felt the urge to share our faith; and, those feelings of conviction ceased to be felt the more we ignored them.
Now we find ourselves going day to day without reading the Word of God, finding little time for prayer, diminishing our time in worship and the study of God's Word, and almost never sharing our faith. What is the problem? We are no longer hungry. We have convinced our souls that we can go on without God. We have quenched the Spirit and we can no longer hear His voice of conviction. We need to once again become hungry for God and echoes the words of the Psalmist, "As the deer panteth for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" (Psalm 42:1).
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
A Place Called Grace
There is a place unlike any other, a place where one can go and get a respite from this ridiculously cruel world. Few would argue that life is difficult. It can be a chore to simply make it through the week when one considers the injustices, the evil, the wickedness, and the ruthless gossip that takes place day after day. Its hard to grasp what God had in mind when He created this world. We have fallen so far from Eden that life as we now know it is only a very dim replica. Day after day, the image of Eden grows fainter and fainter. The problem this poses for the Christian is that there is no Eden for us to live in. Therefore, while we pine away for a "Land that is fairer than day," we live in a land that is"darker than night." Invariably the darkness of our world corrupts us. The injustices, evil, wickedness, and slander that plague our society also plague our churches. In fact, the existence of these in the hearts of God's people is what hinders revival from taking place. Our hearts, once set free from the atrocities of sin, have become colored by the darkness of sin once again. Scripture tells us that man loves darkness more than the light. Like the Israelites set free from Egypt, we find ourselves yearning for that which we have been set free from. That which so discolors the paradise that God created also discolors us.
Thankfully, there is a place we can go to find freedom from this malady. There is One who will accept us, even with our bitter spirits and our wicked thoughts, with our tongues that inflame the reputations of others and our hearts that have been filled with the corruption of the world. Though we have sold out to the world, betrayed our identity and crawled back into the miry pit, God still loves us with an unconquerable love. There is a place we can go and be restored. There is a place we can go and be made brand new. There is a place where we will discover that all of our sins have been "paid in full." There is a place called grace. The writer of Hebrews tells us about that place in Hebrews 4:14-16 "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
We have direct access to the throne of grace because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Its time for the church to acknowledge the depth of our need: we need set free from bitter spirits, set free from unforgiveness, set free from gossip and innuendo, and set free from pride. When we acknowledge our sins and approach the throne of grace we will find One who will forgive our sins, renew our hearts, and restore us to our former identity as the express image of the Son (John 1:12). Come to the place called grace today.
Thankfully, there is a place we can go to find freedom from this malady. There is One who will accept us, even with our bitter spirits and our wicked thoughts, with our tongues that inflame the reputations of others and our hearts that have been filled with the corruption of the world. Though we have sold out to the world, betrayed our identity and crawled back into the miry pit, God still loves us with an unconquerable love. There is a place we can go and be restored. There is a place we can go and be made brand new. There is a place where we will discover that all of our sins have been "paid in full." There is a place called grace. The writer of Hebrews tells us about that place in Hebrews 4:14-16 "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
We have direct access to the throne of grace because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Its time for the church to acknowledge the depth of our need: we need set free from bitter spirits, set free from unforgiveness, set free from gossip and innuendo, and set free from pride. When we acknowledge our sins and approach the throne of grace we will find One who will forgive our sins, renew our hearts, and restore us to our former identity as the express image of the Son (John 1:12). Come to the place called grace today.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Loving God Loving Each Other
The cry for revival must begin with a deep appreciation and understanding of God's unlimited love for us. Do we truly grasp the depth of God's love? How deep is a love that manifests itself in the sacrificial giving of one's son for sinful humanity? Until we realize that God does not love us because we are good or because we are worthy, or because we please Him; but because He is God and He chooses to love us in spite of oursleves; we will never be able to take the initial steps to experience revival. We are depraved. We are sin-sick. We are hopeless failures outside of the grace of God. There is nothing in any of us that screams out to God that we are worthy of His love. Like the lepers of the New Testament, we should be crying out UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! when Jesus looks our way, such is our depravity apart from Christ.
Yet, to a people so hopelessly lost in their sin, Jesus give 2 Foundational Commandments: "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:36-40). Because you and I have experienced the great love of our Awesome God we know what an ubounded love feels like. We know what its like to fail miserably and still have God love us. We have experienced the mercy of God and the grace of God and its because of this that we seek Him passionately today. We seek Him with our whole hearts because no one or nothing else is worth the pursuit. In order to experience the outpouring of revival in our lives we must make God our one magnificent obsession. He must be first place in our hearts and lives. As long as He is being crowded out by others, we will not experience revival.
Not only must we seek God with our whole heart and love Him surpemely, but we must also love our neighbor as ourself. This means that before revival can come to us personally, we must be reconciled to one another. God calls us to love one another. We must put to death our pride and unforgiveness. We must crucify the bitterness and apathy that rests in our heart. We cannot seek God supremely until we first seek to love one another. When God gave the Ten Commandments He gave us four that dealt with our relationship with Him and 6 that dealt with our relationship with our fellowman. My friends your relationships with one another are of vital importance to God. In fact John tells us in his epistles that if we say that we love God and yet hate our brother the truth is not in us! (1 John 4:20). If we truly want to pursue revival then we must heed our Lord's command and focus on Loving God and Loving Each Other.
Yet, to a people so hopelessly lost in their sin, Jesus give 2 Foundational Commandments: "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:36-40). Because you and I have experienced the great love of our Awesome God we know what an ubounded love feels like. We know what its like to fail miserably and still have God love us. We have experienced the mercy of God and the grace of God and its because of this that we seek Him passionately today. We seek Him with our whole hearts because no one or nothing else is worth the pursuit. In order to experience the outpouring of revival in our lives we must make God our one magnificent obsession. He must be first place in our hearts and lives. As long as He is being crowded out by others, we will not experience revival.
Not only must we seek God with our whole heart and love Him surpemely, but we must also love our neighbor as ourself. This means that before revival can come to us personally, we must be reconciled to one another. God calls us to love one another. We must put to death our pride and unforgiveness. We must crucify the bitterness and apathy that rests in our heart. We cannot seek God supremely until we first seek to love one another. When God gave the Ten Commandments He gave us four that dealt with our relationship with Him and 6 that dealt with our relationship with our fellowman. My friends your relationships with one another are of vital importance to God. In fact John tells us in his epistles that if we say that we love God and yet hate our brother the truth is not in us! (1 John 4:20). If we truly want to pursue revival then we must heed our Lord's command and focus on Loving God and Loving Each Other.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Gardener's Gaze
I am not much of a gardener. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy fresh vegetables and fruit I just don't have much experience in working in the garden. However, I have had the honor of pastoring some very fine gardeners. I have always been amazed at their knoweldge of their crops. I could look out over their fields of corn or examine their tomatoes and determine that they looked great. This reply would be met with a laugh as they proceeded to tell me all that was wrong with their crops and what had to be done in order to have a successful crop. I quickly learned that the gaze of the gardener was much keener than mine when it came to expecting the crops.
Life is pretty much the same way. When I look at my life I may come to the conclusion that everything is going pretty well. You see, we tend to look at the surface. If we are going to church, serving the Lord, raising a family, doing our job as husbands and wives then we tend to think all is well. However, I have come to realize that the Gardener's Gaze is quite a bit more keen as He inspects the fruit of our life. In John 15:1-4 we read these words concerning the Gardener's Gaze: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
God is the Gardener who observes our life. When we are producing no fruit he removes us, if we are producing a little fruit, he prunes us so we will produce more, and when we remain in Him we will produce much fruit. God longs for us to produce fruit in our spiritual lives so that He will receive glory. Too often, our lives are like a stagnant tree that remains dormant year after year. Every season you look to see if it will produce something and every season you are disappointed. You and I go through the same motions day after day. We wake up, eat our breakfast, go to work, come home, rush around to deliver our kids to practices and games, come home, go to bed, and then start all over again the next day...and we call this life! We look at our lives and we surmise that we are doing okay. However, I have to believe that the Gardener looks at us and sees so much potential and so little production. He gets out the pruning shears of adversity because He knows that when He frees us from the weeds of mediocrity and exposes us to the warmth of His presence we will once again start bearing fruit. You see, God saved us from our sins so that we might live lives that would attest to His glory. Once, this pruning has taken place, our eyes start focusing on God and we begin spending time in His presence and what was once a fruitless life moves from producing some fruit, to more fruit, to much fruit. When our lives start proclaiming that Jesus Christ is a treasure that no one can live without, then we truly begin to glorfiy Him. The Gardener then gazes at us and smiles...because finally we are starting to become what He had in mind from the beginning.
Life is pretty much the same way. When I look at my life I may come to the conclusion that everything is going pretty well. You see, we tend to look at the surface. If we are going to church, serving the Lord, raising a family, doing our job as husbands and wives then we tend to think all is well. However, I have come to realize that the Gardener's Gaze is quite a bit more keen as He inspects the fruit of our life. In John 15:1-4 we read these words concerning the Gardener's Gaze: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
God is the Gardener who observes our life. When we are producing no fruit he removes us, if we are producing a little fruit, he prunes us so we will produce more, and when we remain in Him we will produce much fruit. God longs for us to produce fruit in our spiritual lives so that He will receive glory. Too often, our lives are like a stagnant tree that remains dormant year after year. Every season you look to see if it will produce something and every season you are disappointed. You and I go through the same motions day after day. We wake up, eat our breakfast, go to work, come home, rush around to deliver our kids to practices and games, come home, go to bed, and then start all over again the next day...and we call this life! We look at our lives and we surmise that we are doing okay. However, I have to believe that the Gardener looks at us and sees so much potential and so little production. He gets out the pruning shears of adversity because He knows that when He frees us from the weeds of mediocrity and exposes us to the warmth of His presence we will once again start bearing fruit. You see, God saved us from our sins so that we might live lives that would attest to His glory. Once, this pruning has taken place, our eyes start focusing on God and we begin spending time in His presence and what was once a fruitless life moves from producing some fruit, to more fruit, to much fruit. When our lives start proclaiming that Jesus Christ is a treasure that no one can live without, then we truly begin to glorfiy Him. The Gardener then gazes at us and smiles...because finally we are starting to become what He had in mind from the beginning.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Stand Firm
So many of us go through our Christian lives nonchallantly moving from one place to the next. We take the blessings of God for granted. We assume our church family will always be there to support us, our finances will always be stable, our friends will always have our back, and God is simply waiting to carry out our will. However, Scripture teaches us that the Christian life is not a live of ease to be taken for granted, rather it is a battleground. In fact, Paul warns us in Ephesians 6 that we need to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. This life is not one we can live on our own. Rather than going through the motions and living life off the cuff we must lean completely and totally on the Lord, drawing our strength from Him. Notice Paul's words in Ephesians 6:11-13 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand."
Know this dear friends, as you turn your heart to God and seek personal revival, Satan is turning his attention to you in order to upend your efforts to seek God. The reality is that Satan knows there is a battle going on for the souls of men and he is taking it very seriously. Nothing pleases Satan more than for the Christian to ignore the battle. When we think that we can handle life on our own and see no need to turn to God in total dependence Satan rejoices, because he knows that we are primed to fall. Paul says that there is a spiritual war going on all around us. We cannot merely go through the motions and hope to come out victorious. We must put our full confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, lean on Him with all our understanding and above all stand firm in our faith. There is a battle going on for our souls...but it is one that we cannot lose if we stand firm in our reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ and put on the full armor that He provides (Ephesians 6:14-18). So friends, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power...and stand firm.
Know this dear friends, as you turn your heart to God and seek personal revival, Satan is turning his attention to you in order to upend your efforts to seek God. The reality is that Satan knows there is a battle going on for the souls of men and he is taking it very seriously. Nothing pleases Satan more than for the Christian to ignore the battle. When we think that we can handle life on our own and see no need to turn to God in total dependence Satan rejoices, because he knows that we are primed to fall. Paul says that there is a spiritual war going on all around us. We cannot merely go through the motions and hope to come out victorious. We must put our full confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, lean on Him with all our understanding and above all stand firm in our faith. There is a battle going on for our souls...but it is one that we cannot lose if we stand firm in our reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ and put on the full armor that He provides (Ephesians 6:14-18). So friends, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power...and stand firm.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Inactivity Blocks The Heart
Health specialists tell us that heart disease is fast becoming one of the leading causes of death in America. I am amazed at the number of people that have fallen prey to this killer. It used to be that you only rarely heard of someone having a heart attack or struggling with heart disease. Now, it seems that nearly everyone you know either has heart disease, symptoms of heart disease, or has a family member who is suffering from heart disease.
The subject of heart disease came home to me when my father was diagnosed with heart disease caused by the build up of placque in his arteries. In order to open up his arteries and allow the blood to once again flow freely to and from his heart he had to have four bypasses done. His cardiologist said that placque forms in the arteries as a result of poor diet and the lack of exercise, along with possible hereditary issues. When we consume foods that are high in cholestrol and fat, placque forms in the lining of the arteries. If we live an inactive lifestyle it is more difficult for our bodies to break down this placque. Five months ago, I had to have 2 stents put in my arteries due to blockages that had formed due to lack of exercise, poor diet, and family history.
As we continue to think about revival, I can't help but notice the correlation between the heart disease that affects the health of America and the heart disease the affects the Church of America. God longs to reign in the hearts of His people. Yet, there are various elements that are blocking the flow of God's Spirit into our hearts. As with the blockages that hinder the blood from flowing to our heart, family history plays a part in the blockage of the Holy Spirit from our hearts. Scripture tells us that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden man has had a sin problem that has separated him from God. For the Christian, unconfessed sin blocks the heart and hinders the flow of God's Spirit into our lives. Our spiritual diet, like our physical diet also leads to blockages. When we fail to feed on a healthy diet of God's Word, Prayer, Meditation, Christian fellowship, and ministry, we add to the blockages that hinder revival from taking place in our heart. However, perhaps the greatest hindrance to revival in our hearts is the inactivity that blocks our heart.
James tells us in James 4:17 " So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." So often our greatest sin is that we know the right thing to do, we just choose not to do it. The church by and large has become dormant in the 21st century. We know we should spend time in the Word, yet we don't -- that's sin! We know we should love our brother and show forrgiveness, yet we don't -- that's sin! We know that we should share our testimony -- the Gospel -- with others, yet we choose not to -- that's sin! Friends, when we know the right thing to do and choose not to do it, it is sin! This inactivity creates major blockages in our heart called sin that separate us from the transforming power of Jesus Christ. God longs for His people to cry out to Him in repentance and begin adjusting their spiritual diet and increasing their spiritual exercise so that that the pathway to our hearts will be open and accessible to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. We know the right thing to do; it's time to do it!
The subject of heart disease came home to me when my father was diagnosed with heart disease caused by the build up of placque in his arteries. In order to open up his arteries and allow the blood to once again flow freely to and from his heart he had to have four bypasses done. His cardiologist said that placque forms in the arteries as a result of poor diet and the lack of exercise, along with possible hereditary issues. When we consume foods that are high in cholestrol and fat, placque forms in the lining of the arteries. If we live an inactive lifestyle it is more difficult for our bodies to break down this placque. Five months ago, I had to have 2 stents put in my arteries due to blockages that had formed due to lack of exercise, poor diet, and family history.
As we continue to think about revival, I can't help but notice the correlation between the heart disease that affects the health of America and the heart disease the affects the Church of America. God longs to reign in the hearts of His people. Yet, there are various elements that are blocking the flow of God's Spirit into our hearts. As with the blockages that hinder the blood from flowing to our heart, family history plays a part in the blockage of the Holy Spirit from our hearts. Scripture tells us that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden man has had a sin problem that has separated him from God. For the Christian, unconfessed sin blocks the heart and hinders the flow of God's Spirit into our lives. Our spiritual diet, like our physical diet also leads to blockages. When we fail to feed on a healthy diet of God's Word, Prayer, Meditation, Christian fellowship, and ministry, we add to the blockages that hinder revival from taking place in our heart. However, perhaps the greatest hindrance to revival in our hearts is the inactivity that blocks our heart.
James tells us in James 4:17 " So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." So often our greatest sin is that we know the right thing to do, we just choose not to do it. The church by and large has become dormant in the 21st century. We know we should spend time in the Word, yet we don't -- that's sin! We know we should love our brother and show forrgiveness, yet we don't -- that's sin! We know that we should share our testimony -- the Gospel -- with others, yet we choose not to -- that's sin! Friends, when we know the right thing to do and choose not to do it, it is sin! This inactivity creates major blockages in our heart called sin that separate us from the transforming power of Jesus Christ. God longs for His people to cry out to Him in repentance and begin adjusting their spiritual diet and increasing their spiritual exercise so that that the pathway to our hearts will be open and accessible to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. We know the right thing to do; it's time to do it!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Rend Your Heart
The prophet Joel tells us in Joel 2:12-14 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing-- grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God." While most Christians agree that America has reached an amoral crisis, they offer differing views on how to aleviate the dilemma. Some believe that we need to be "seeker- sensitive" so that we can entice those who would not normally come to church to enter our doors. One wonders how we can be "seeker-sensitive" and still keep our worship centered on Christ. The danger of the seeker-sensitive service is that those seekers become the focus of all that we do in preparation for worshp instead of staying centered on Jesus Christ. In an effort to be "seeker-sensitive" some churches have refused to address sin, mention the cross, or call for repentance. How can we truly hope to transform America by catering to the very mindset that has led to the demise we find ourselves in? Should we seek to transfrom the worldly-minded by catering to the fleshly attitudes and desires? Others believe that we will see a change in America when those who are lost finally see the error of their ways and turn to God. However, most of these same people give no plan as to how these lost people are going to see an error in their ways.
I believe the cure to our amoral crisis in America is found in this passage in Joel. When the church returns to God with all their heart with brokenness and weeping then God will bring a sweeping revival that will first change our hearts and then fan the flame of our reignited passion for Christ so that it touches our communities, our cities, our states, and our nation. If we want to see a sweeping revival in our churches today then we as Christians must heed the words of Joel and rend our hearts. We must recognize the lethargic state of our relationship with Jesus Christ and pursue him with our whole heart. We must come before him broken about the sin in our hearts that blocks the access of the Holy Spirit into our lives. The church must stand before God in honesty and agree with Him that there are things in our lives that we must drop for Him to truly be God in our lives. When the church returns to God with broken hearts then God will respond with mercy and compassion and He will visit us with power and glory and leave in His wake a powerful blessing that will transform the lives of all he touches. Come now to God and rend your heart.
I believe the cure to our amoral crisis in America is found in this passage in Joel. When the church returns to God with all their heart with brokenness and weeping then God will bring a sweeping revival that will first change our hearts and then fan the flame of our reignited passion for Christ so that it touches our communities, our cities, our states, and our nation. If we want to see a sweeping revival in our churches today then we as Christians must heed the words of Joel and rend our hearts. We must recognize the lethargic state of our relationship with Jesus Christ and pursue him with our whole heart. We must come before him broken about the sin in our hearts that blocks the access of the Holy Spirit into our lives. The church must stand before God in honesty and agree with Him that there are things in our lives that we must drop for Him to truly be God in our lives. When the church returns to God with broken hearts then God will respond with mercy and compassion and He will visit us with power and glory and leave in His wake a powerful blessing that will transform the lives of all he touches. Come now to God and rend your heart.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Reasoning With God
The word, reason, means to discuss or think seriously about. If we are serious about having a relationship with God that is life-changing then we must be up to the task of reasoning with God. What does it mean to reason with God? It means to reflect upon our lives by seeing ourselves (our attitudes, our emotions, our passions, our dreams) from God's perspective. The prophet Isaiah speaks to this issue in Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
God is calling us to come alongside Him and consider our hearts. Take a deep breath and dare to look honestly in the mirror. What do you see? Not what do you want to see, but what is really there? Look at your heart the way God looks at your heart. He searches the depths of our hearts and He is aware of every flaw. He doesn't rationalize our sin, doesn't discount our attitude. Our heart is open to His inspection and He doesn't miss a thing. If we desire to have a heart like His...if we truly long to seek Him and find Him...if we are hungering for revival, then we must come face to face with our sin...all of it. Today, come before God and reason with Him concerning the sin that comes to light as you look in the mirror of God's Word. Agree with God about your failures and turn away from them. As you meet with God become as disgusted with your sin as He is and begin seeking Him with all your heart. Come now, let us reason together says the LORD.
God is calling us to come alongside Him and consider our hearts. Take a deep breath and dare to look honestly in the mirror. What do you see? Not what do you want to see, but what is really there? Look at your heart the way God looks at your heart. He searches the depths of our hearts and He is aware of every flaw. He doesn't rationalize our sin, doesn't discount our attitude. Our heart is open to His inspection and He doesn't miss a thing. If we desire to have a heart like His...if we truly long to seek Him and find Him...if we are hungering for revival, then we must come face to face with our sin...all of it. Today, come before God and reason with Him concerning the sin that comes to light as you look in the mirror of God's Word. Agree with God about your failures and turn away from them. As you meet with God become as disgusted with your sin as He is and begin seeking Him with all your heart. Come now, let us reason together says the LORD.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
In Search of God
Perhaps more than ever before, Christians struggle in their attempt to draw near to God. It seems that God is elusive and mysterious. However, God is not hiding from us...we are the ones who are in hiding. In fact, Jeremiah reminds us in Jeremiah 29:13 that God tells us just how we can find Him: "And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." The reason that God appears absent from our lives so often is that it is not truly our heart's desire to find Him. We have cluttered our lives with a myriad of gods and idols that are more precious to our heart than God. Instead of seeking Him, we chase after the allurements of the world and find ourselves running in circles attempting to grasp the wind. Our lives are empty and discontentment rules the day. In our frustration with the life that we have created we maintain that God does not care, when in realtiy we are the ones who have created the vacuum that exists between us and God. We bury ourselves in the "toys" of life and make ourselves out to be god, living merely to satisfy our every whim. We must recall the words of James in James 4:8 "Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands you sinners; and purify your hearts you double-minded." When God becomes our supreme object of desire...when He becomes the object of our obsessive search....then we will find Him.
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