Learning to Receive What He Offers

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27 NASB

On the very night that Jesus was to be betrayed and eventually crucified He left His disciples with the assurance of His Spirit and His peace. Troubled and fearful hearts were apparent, but it is not condemnation I sense in His words to them. He has the presence of a mother holding a frightened child close and speaking words of comfort. He knew His words that night would shake up their world and He was telling them of the gifts He had for them to receive.

The Christian life is meant to be lived out in daily relationship with God. He has much to give us if we will but open our hearts to receive it. In addition to peace, He offers us countless things such as love, joy, satisfaction, confidence, definition of who we are, purpose, nurturing, comfort, strength, and direction. Who in this world isn’t looking for those very things? But He wants us to know they are different from the duplications the world attempts to give us and we attempt to receive from them.

I remember being somewhat confused when I realized my needs were legitimate and God-given but where I sought to get the needs met was actually hurting me. There is not a thing I look for from people that God is not offering to give me. So I must do some comparisons. What I receive from people is usually temporary, incomplete, and shallow. While their words and actions can certainly make me feel good for a while they cannot make a lasting change in me. What I crave and what they are able to give are proportionately worlds apart. But God’s gifts are different. He wants to meet my needs on a deeper level and the work He does is lasting. He wants to be my ever-available Source.

So as my needs surface, may I take them to Him and experience His ability to meet every one of them. Will He still use people in my life? Absolutely! But I must see them as the faucet while He is the main source of Living Water.

Father, drinking from the broken cisterns has left me thirsty. Only You truly know my needs and are able to satisfy the longings of my heart. Amen.

Ending the Similarities

The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:3 NASB

I am always amazed at how quickly the children of Israel draw the conclusion that their present circumstance is going to actually end their life! In Exodus 14, they are sure they are going to die at the hands of the approaching Egyptian army. In Exodus 16, they are sure they are going to be killed by hunger and then by thirst. No matter what threat they face, their response is to think of the worst possible outcome and own it as truth. They saw the drama of their life unfold in front of them and thought they knew what the final act would look like. I marvel at God’s graciousness to deliver them from the very things they feared would be their annihilation. Each incident was actually a test to see whether or not they would finally trust the heart, wisdom, and power of almighty God! How He longed for them to not only know the truth but to live by it!

Are we really very different from those who lived in the wilderness? What does it take for us to shake in fear, give up hope, live in despair and defeat, lash out in anger, and be filled with frustration? How long do we last before we feel God has forsaken us, forgotten us, or just stopped thinking about us? What news could be delivered to us that would send us reeling emotionally, mentally, and spiritually?

It might be the loss of a job, failed health, unrealized dreams, or weather related disasters, or changes in profound relationships. But rather than live with a defeated attitude there are things you can do. Be in daily relationship with God and know Him intimately. Review His past provision for you as well as others. Personally apply Scripture to your life. Finally realize that the very thing you think is going to do you in is simply the backdrop for God‘s intervention. He is just as involved, just as attentive, and just as present now as He was in Bible times. He never changes!

Father, I am learning to trust you in the dark like I do in the light. The truth of You that I take in today will be what I hold on to in the midst of the next storm. May nothing in this life shake my confidence in You. Amen.

Invitation to be Involved

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward! Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, and the Israelites shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” Exodus 14:15,16 Amplified Bible

Sometimes, God’s instructions to His people are to stand still and watch Him work! Their own involvement seems to be observing God at work. But many times in Scripture, God invites people to become involved in His activity. Such was the case with Moses and the children of Israel. Numerous times Moses was instructed to use his rod in a display of faith before God moved in a mighty way. There wasn’t anything miraculous about the rod that Moses held. The miracle was in God’s power. The rod was simply a demonstration of faith and an act of obedience.

In the New Testament there were many times people were instructed to do something before the miracle took place. A blind man was told to go wash his face in the Pool of Salome. A paralyzed man was told to get up and walk. A man with a withered hand was told to stretch out his hand. A leper was told to go show himself to the priest. These were small acts compared to the miracle that followed. How precious of God that He invited people to take an active part in the very work He would do!

Each day we have the opportunity to be God’s hands and mouthpiece to a world who does not know Him. While God certainly reveals Himself through His Word, He also reveals Himself through His people. He invites each one of us to become involved in His kingdom work. The actions vary but each one houses significance.

What is it God will invite us to join Him in today? Will it be words He nudges us to speak? Will it be an act of kindness He urges us to do? Will it be extending a helping hand or a listening ear? Will it be lifting up prayers on behalf of another person? Will it be giving in order to meet the need of a person? Will it be taking something we possess and allowing it to be the demonstration of our faith that God will do mighty things?

Moses used a rod. David used a sling. Queen Esther used influence. Paul used words. What is it we will use? Whatever it is, may we see God do amazing things with it and us!

Father, You could certainly work alone but instead You graciously ask us to join You. I marvel at such an invitation! Amen.

Today's Pillars

The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. Exodus 13:21 Amplified Bible

When the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt, God had a precious way of leading them into and through the wilderness. At any time, they could look up into the sky and see a pillar of cloud (by day) or a pillar of fire (by night). The reason for that was three-fold. It assured them of God’s presence, it lead them along the way, and it allowed them to travel at any time. When it moved they moved and when it stood still they set up camp. There was no question as to when they were to move and which way they were to go. The view of this “sky compass” was always in site. I would have loved the experience of lying on the ground on a starry night and taking in the sight of the pillar of fire! Oh, to be one who lived with a view of God’s presence and God’s guidance.

We may not have a visible sign in the sky, like the children of Israel had, but we have God’s presence and guidance in every sense of the word. Allow Jesus’ words of “I am with you always” to sink in today. Review the “pillars” of guidance available to us today. The Bible, the Spirit, and fellow believers. God went with the children of Israel and He goes with us today. He does not just point the way, He accompanies us! For that reason, a Christian can never be totally alone.

God is reminding me this morning that the Christian life is truly a journey in every sense of the word. It is an excursion that is under His constant watch care. May I live so connected to God that I continually sense His presence and confidently experience His guidance. Every stop and every move forward is most assuredly at His design. He called me out of the world, wooed me to Himself, set my feet on a path, and has had His eye and hand on me every step of the way. As my Shepherd He leads, as my Potter He molds, as my Counselor He advises, as my Physician He heals, and as my Father He protects. As personally involved as God was with the nation of Israel, He is the same with me. May that truth make a profound impact on the way I head into today.

Father, Your presence and guidance are not just nice thoughts, they are real and meant to be experienced by me. May I continually be aware of and thrive under both! Amen.

What Will It Take?

Pharaoh sent to find out, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened (his mind was set); and he did not let the people go. Exodus 9:7 Amplified Bible

Have you ever come across an account in the Bible and the actions and thoughts of a person leave you baffled? Pharaoh’s refusal to let the children of Israel go is one such bafflement to me. As plague upon plague is sent his way, the scenario is always the same. Pharaoh is told, he sees it happen, and yet he remains unmoved. How can that be? For him, there is a refusal to change even when powerful evidence is placed right before his eyes. He is not just hearing some distant story. He is experiencing all of it! And yet it never reaches his heart. His mind is not swayed, his thinking is not affected, and his resolve is not weakened.

We often think if God would just do certain things in a person’s life they would surely turn to Him. Each of us who have trusted Christ as Savior wonder that everyone who hears about salvation does not respond as we did. We often think if only we can present it clearly enough and say just the right thing they will get it! While it is certainly appropriate to learn to share our faith affectively, the bottom line is that God must open the eyes of their heart to hear, understand, and accept salvation and all other biblical truth. It is God who must remove the things that hinder them from coming to Him. It is God who must give them the insight to what He is saying.

Whether we are talking to a non-believer or a Christian, spiritual truth will not be seen, digested, or accepted apart from a work of God in their heart, mind, and soul. May the truth of that, alter our prayers in mighty ways. May we not only take the opportunities for sharing as they come, but may we diligently ask God to do the preparatory work in their life so they can truly receive what we are saying. While God certainly uses us as vessels and mouth pieces, He alone works in the heart and mind of individuals. Any spiritual truth I ever took in and fully realized was only possible because of His work in me. Even as a believer, my ability to digest truth and see change will only come as God removes the hindrances of my heart and mind, and helps me to grab on to what He is teaching me. I do not take that lightly…..I take it in awe!

Father, without Your intervention and interaction, hearts and minds will remain unmoved. Open the closed hearts and blind eyes today. Amen.

For My Ears as Well

I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm ~with special and vigorous action~ and by mighty acts of judgment. And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. Exodus 6:6,7 Amplified Bible

We miss the poignancy, power, and practicality of Scripture when we limit what is being said to just the ones being spoken to at that time. Years ago, I would have read the account of the children of Israel and Moses’ message to them and seen it as just a part of Biblical history. God’s words would have been for their ears only and my part would have been to simply observe. I would have noted their situation, heard what God said to them, seen His deliverance for them, and walked away impressed but unmoved. I did not have the ability within myself to see that the message was meant for me as well. I could not imagine God’s words were powerful enough to span the centuries and hover over my own life all these years later.

This morning, God is allowing me the wonderful experience of seeing His words to Israel as words for me as well. The very things that weigh me down and hold me in bondage are being met with His phrases of “I will bring you out, I will free you, I will rescue you, I will take you to Me, I will be your God.” While it may not be a nation I am enslaved to, God wants me to know He is aware of the oppressions of my own soul. He knows what dreams have been dashed, what longings have gone on fulfilled, what things tear at my emotions. He does not see me as a lost cause. He is not looking the other way waiting for me to get my act together. His arms are not crossed, His face does not house condemnation, and His voice does not have tones of harshness.

How do I know? Because His words in Exodus 6:6,7 came as an answer to prayer for me this morning. I read them within minutes of crying out to God for freedom from those things that continue to eat away at me. Am I free yet? No. But I take His words to heart and hold on to them as a promise that WILL be fulfilled as surely as it was to the children of Israel. I do not know all that God will do and I do not know how He will do it, but that does not stop me from resting in His pledge.

Father, You are getting a lot of mileage out of Your message to Israel. I drink in the truth that You are now speaking it to me. Amen.

Wineskins and Boxes

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. Luke 5:37,38

I often wondered why Jesus used this particular illustration with the Pharisees and Scribes when they wanted to debate with Him about the necessity for prayer and fasting. They could not grasp the fact that He fellowshipped with sinners and had disciples that did not fit into their picture of the “spiritual” life. After all, they had become quite adapt at putting God, the law, the Scriptures, and God’s people into a neat little box that left little room for variety, change, or uniqueness. Their self imposed, rigid life styles could not grasp the concept of freedom in the secular or religious areas of life. To them, Jesus and His teachings were too radical. So why Jesus’ talk of wineskins?

In Bible times the wineskins were made from goatskins. As grape juice would ferment it would expand. An old goatskin no longer possessed the ability to stretch so it would eventually break due to the expansion of the formation of wine. But a new wineskin would be able to stretch and hold its substance well.

The Pharisees were living their life out of the tradition of the law but completely missing a connection with the Law Giver. They had the requirements down pat….they were set in their ways. They could not see that Jesus offered a better way for them to live their life. It was a life lived under grace and mercy rather than law keeping. But this was too much of a stretch for them. Jesus wanted them to see that new life could not be poured into the old religious, legalistic life. In Him we are made new creatures.

There was a time when holding on to my way of thinking hindered me from stretching and growing in my Christian life. Without realizing it, I had placed God and my Christian life in a neat little box. At His urging, I dared to open the box and climb out. I dared to let go of what I thought was the only way to live the Christian life. Was there fear? You bet! Were there tears? Plenty! Did others see the change as a good thing? Not always. But I will say with passion, the changes have been necessary and life saving!

Father, may I never again live my life out of an old wineskin. Amen.