The latest definition for holiness that has quickened my heart is: A Love-Hate Relationship -- A Love God and Hate Sin Relationship.
Psalm 97:10a (NLT) -- You who love the LORD, hate evil!
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
From Nothing to Something to Everything!
There's a powerful, faith-filled prayer story in 1 Kings 18:42b-45:
(42b) And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, (43) and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." (44) Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he (the servant) said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!" So he (Elijah) said, "Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’" (45) Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. (NKJV)
We can outline the Elijah prayer story in three parts;
(1) There was nothing -- initially, there was a cloudless sky.
(2) There was something -- eventually, a small cloud appeared.
(3) There was everything -- finally, there was a heavy rain.
As Elijah prayed for rain, the servant kept coming back with the same weather report over and over: THERE IS NOTHING! Yet, Elijah continued to plead face-down before the Lord for rain. Finally after seven times, the weather report changed from THERE IS NOTHING to THERE IS SOMETHING! It was only one small cloud the size of a man's hand rising up over the Mediterranean Sea, but it was something big to Elijah's faith. Elijah jumped up and began to run off the mountain, knowing that a mighty rain storm was approaching Mount Carmel and the Jezreel Valley. So, the man of faith-filled prayer ran for his life. We realize that the whole time he was praying face-down between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jezreel Valley, Elijah believed His God would change a nothing forecast into a something forecast and that something forecast meant everything to Elijah! AND YES INDEED, FINALLY A MIGHTY RAIN NEARLY WASHED MOUNT CARMEL OFF THE MAP!!! Be careful what you're prayerful about.
James 5:16b-18a (NLT) -- The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. (17) Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! (18) Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured.
Let's keep praying and hoping in the Lord. Eventually, our seemingly nothing forecast will turn into a something forecast and that something forecast will turn into an everything forecast for His glory in our lives!
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
(42b) And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, (43) and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." (44) Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he (the servant) said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!" So he (Elijah) said, "Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’" (45) Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. (NKJV)
We can outline the Elijah prayer story in three parts;
(1) There was nothing -- initially, there was a cloudless sky.
(2) There was something -- eventually, a small cloud appeared.
(3) There was everything -- finally, there was a heavy rain.
As Elijah prayed for rain, the servant kept coming back with the same weather report over and over: THERE IS NOTHING! Yet, Elijah continued to plead face-down before the Lord for rain. Finally after seven times, the weather report changed from THERE IS NOTHING to THERE IS SOMETHING! It was only one small cloud the size of a man's hand rising up over the Mediterranean Sea, but it was something big to Elijah's faith. Elijah jumped up and began to run off the mountain, knowing that a mighty rain storm was approaching Mount Carmel and the Jezreel Valley. So, the man of faith-filled prayer ran for his life. We realize that the whole time he was praying face-down between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jezreel Valley, Elijah believed His God would change a nothing forecast into a something forecast and that something forecast meant everything to Elijah! AND YES INDEED, FINALLY A MIGHTY RAIN NEARLY WASHED MOUNT CARMEL OFF THE MAP!!! Be careful what you're prayerful about.
James 5:16b-18a (NLT) -- The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. (17) Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! (18) Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured.
Let's keep praying and hoping in the Lord. Eventually, our seemingly nothing forecast will turn into a something forecast and that something forecast will turn into an everything forecast for His glory in our lives!
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Friday, January 29, 2010
Good-bye?
Why does it take just a moment to say "Hello," but seemingly forever to say "Good-bye?"
2 Timothy 1:3 (The Message) -- I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
IF MY PEOPLE...WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
2 Timothy 1:3 (The Message) -- I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
IF MY PEOPLE...WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Take Time to Be Holy
Today is my precious Mom's 68th birthday. I just talked with her on the phone. After I had spoken well wishes and given thanks for her life, she, as always, tenderly turned the conversation away from herself and to our Lord. She said. "Son, I haven't been able to get the words of that old hymn, Take Time to Be Holy, off of my mind."
Lord, I am so grateful for the gift of a Christlike Mom. Help her eldest son to saturate day-by-day in the words of the holy hymn that's on her mind today. In Jesus' Holy name, I pray. Amen.
Take Time to Be Holy -- William D. Longstaff, 1822-1894
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy guide,
and run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus, still trust in His word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Lord, I am so grateful for the gift of a Christlike Mom. Help her eldest son to saturate day-by-day in the words of the holy hymn that's on her mind today. In Jesus' Holy name, I pray. Amen.
Take Time to Be Holy -- William D. Longstaff, 1822-1894
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy guide,
and run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus, still trust in His word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Cry Out to Jesus!
Today at 2 p.m. I will conduct the funeral service for a 20-year-old, Joshua, who passed the line of worlds in a car crash over the weekend. The pain of the family is in my heart. These words from the Christian vocal band, Third Day, are echoing from the chambers of my soul:
To everyone who's lost someone they love,
Long before it was their time.
You feel like the days You had were not enough,
When you said goodbye
Cry out to Jesus... Cry out to Jesus...
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful (But Tearful Today because of Joshua's passing and because of his friend, Brandon's passing, too... Lord Have Mercy...)
To everyone who's lost someone they love,
Long before it was their time.
You feel like the days You had were not enough,
When you said goodbye
Cry out to Jesus... Cry out to Jesus...
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful (But Tearful Today because of Joshua's passing and because of his friend, Brandon's passing, too... Lord Have Mercy...)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Refused to Rest?
I recently read a line in a book written by a Messianic Jewish author. It wasn't my book, so I cannot retrace the author's name but I have not forgotten the line:
In the beginning God created Paradise, but the man and the woman refused to rest.
Refused to rest? How sad is that!
Lord, you say in Luke's Gospel that "the Kingdom of God is now within us." Sounds an awful lot like Paradise to me. Lord, help me to live in the atmosphere of Your Holiness. I want one of the undeniable proofs of Paradise within me to be that I don't refuse to rest in You. After all, if Your Kingdom is really within me, and I believe it really is, then surely You are my King meaning You are both resident and president within me. You have recreated Your Paradise within me. Let it never be said of me, ever again, that I refused to rest in Your Paradise. Lord forgive. Lord forbid. Your Name is Faithful. My name is Grateful. I'm exhaling NOW! Amen.
Luke 17:20-21 (NIV) -- (20) Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, (21) nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you."
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
In the beginning God created Paradise, but the man and the woman refused to rest.
Refused to rest? How sad is that!
Lord, you say in Luke's Gospel that "the Kingdom of God is now within us." Sounds an awful lot like Paradise to me. Lord, help me to live in the atmosphere of Your Holiness. I want one of the undeniable proofs of Paradise within me to be that I don't refuse to rest in You. After all, if Your Kingdom is really within me, and I believe it really is, then surely You are my King meaning You are both resident and president within me. You have recreated Your Paradise within me. Let it never be said of me, ever again, that I refused to rest in Your Paradise. Lord forgive. Lord forbid. Your Name is Faithful. My name is Grateful. I'm exhaling NOW! Amen.
Luke 17:20-21 (NIV) -- (20) Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, (21) nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you."
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Monday, January 25, 2010
Presence
Presence is much more essential than words.
Lord, when I don't know what to say, let me continue to be present in the lives of the hurting so that I might inhale and exhale Your essential Presence in their presence, knowing that these seven words from Colossians 1:27 are wonder-working indeed: "Christ in you (me), the Hope of Glory!" Amen.
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
Lord, when I don't know what to say, let me continue to be present in the lives of the hurting so that I might inhale and exhale Your essential Presence in their presence, knowing that these seven words from Colossians 1:27 are wonder-working indeed: "Christ in you (me), the Hope of Glory!" Amen.
IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful
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