Psa 54:6-7 Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies. (NAS)
Sacrifice: Webster’s Dictionary (2) The act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to or foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim.
‘Foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim’ really grabbed me this morning. What is my sacrifice-time, worship, a song, money? I know deep in my heart that He wants more, in fact, all of me! I am to be a living sacrifice, not lost and empty but fully alive in the Spirit. Taking time to notice the things He notices thru me, and reaching out as He directs. I added the ‘as He directs’ because othewise I become self-directed. If done because I see it, and I can meet the need, I have a tendency toward running off on my own and then getting overwhelmed and needing to call for help.
The phrase ‘more pressing claim’ reminds me I have been purchased at great cost, not to me but to the One sinned against. The Father took his valuable Son and put Him in the position to die a despicable death for my sin. I am a servant who chooses my Master, because He chose me. I am not a slave with no choice and therefore resentful. Which brings us to the word ‘willing’, I don’t want to live as if I have something more important to do than to obey the One who loves me the most. I want to lay down my lists, my desires and my dreams, even the ones I am sure are from Him.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Plan
Psalm 43:3-4 Give me your lantern and compass, give me a map, So I can find my way to the sacred mountain, to the place of Your presence, To enter the place of worship, meet my exuberant God, Sing my thanks with a harp, magnificent God, my God. (Msg Bible)
There are some days we would give anything to have clear, concise, drawn out instructions from the Lord to get from where we are to a sense of being in the very place at the very time God wants us there. That is the long way to say ‘in Gods perfect will’. Sometimes our pain is great and like Esau we would trade our birthright for this object. Unfortunately he traded his position and future for a bowl of soup. His mind was only on the moment, he was hungry and what good would the future do for him if he died now. We make a lot of trades in life; hopefully our trades are more equally balanced that Esau’s.
So as I ponder this idea I wonder what am I trading or willing to trade for this goal. The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Trust’. I have lived long enough to know God is looking for a daily walk with me and He knows if I have ‘the plan’ I will more than likely run off and do what I can and then call out when I am overwhelmed or face an obstacle I can’t see around. So getting to the point that we recognize the walk is as important as the destination is vital. A good example is Abraham, when asked to sacrifice his son, the very thing he was promised by God. There has been a lot of conjecture about what his thought process was and God did not have the writers of the story share with us Abrahams why, just that he was willing to do as asked and it was God’s responsibility for the outcome. Abraham could trust God’s promise even though he could not explain it or map it out, he just believed.
So perhaps the important part of these verses above are the gifts we can give to God. We come to a place that we set our hearts aside for worship-it isn’t the place, we meet with God and sing praise because no matter how our life appears to us or to someone else –our magnificent God is in control. His promise to us: to finish the work He has begun in us.
There are some days we would give anything to have clear, concise, drawn out instructions from the Lord to get from where we are to a sense of being in the very place at the very time God wants us there. That is the long way to say ‘in Gods perfect will’. Sometimes our pain is great and like Esau we would trade our birthright for this object. Unfortunately he traded his position and future for a bowl of soup. His mind was only on the moment, he was hungry and what good would the future do for him if he died now. We make a lot of trades in life; hopefully our trades are more equally balanced that Esau’s.
So as I ponder this idea I wonder what am I trading or willing to trade for this goal. The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Trust’. I have lived long enough to know God is looking for a daily walk with me and He knows if I have ‘the plan’ I will more than likely run off and do what I can and then call out when I am overwhelmed or face an obstacle I can’t see around. So getting to the point that we recognize the walk is as important as the destination is vital. A good example is Abraham, when asked to sacrifice his son, the very thing he was promised by God. There has been a lot of conjecture about what his thought process was and God did not have the writers of the story share with us Abrahams why, just that he was willing to do as asked and it was God’s responsibility for the outcome. Abraham could trust God’s promise even though he could not explain it or map it out, he just believed.
So perhaps the important part of these verses above are the gifts we can give to God. We come to a place that we set our hearts aside for worship-it isn’t the place, we meet with God and sing praise because no matter how our life appears to us or to someone else –our magnificent God is in control. His promise to us: to finish the work He has begun in us.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Power of positive thinking
Psalms 12:4 ….”We can talk anyone into anything! Our lips manage the world” (Msg Bible)
Psalms 12:6 God’s words are pure words….. (Msg Bible)
This reminds me of the ‘positive thinking’ message, or the spiritual version, ‘name it and claim it’. There is a truth that our thought life is important. Scripture says. ‘as a man thinketh in his heart he is’. Simple example: go in to work and find you have made a hugh mistake that has serious fall out. If you are me you beat yourself up the rest of the day and worry about keeping your job and how you can make amends and prevent it from happening again. So by the end of the day worn out from the fight within. Then the other side is those people whose every word thought and deed is a focus on the success and grand life they desire and is visualized into reality.
I am a realist-also known as a pessimist-I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the shoes are falling off a millipede or I would be done with shoe drops by now. So I have learned that God is my source and the decider of what I need or if it is a want, and the best part is He doesn’t only care about necessities because has unlimited supplies.
So the challenge is not to think my way to joy, success and things-but to put the kingdom of God first and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:30-33 If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (Msg Bible)
Psalms 12:6 God’s words are pure words….. (Msg Bible)
This reminds me of the ‘positive thinking’ message, or the spiritual version, ‘name it and claim it’. There is a truth that our thought life is important. Scripture says. ‘as a man thinketh in his heart he is’. Simple example: go in to work and find you have made a hugh mistake that has serious fall out. If you are me you beat yourself up the rest of the day and worry about keeping your job and how you can make amends and prevent it from happening again. So by the end of the day worn out from the fight within. Then the other side is those people whose every word thought and deed is a focus on the success and grand life they desire and is visualized into reality.
I am a realist-also known as a pessimist-I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the shoes are falling off a millipede or I would be done with shoe drops by now. So I have learned that God is my source and the decider of what I need or if it is a want, and the best part is He doesn’t only care about necessities because has unlimited supplies.
So the challenge is not to think my way to joy, success and things-but to put the kingdom of God first and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:30-33 If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (Msg Bible)
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