Monday, August 31, 2020

 

Monday, August 31, 2020

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis.  This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:  “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.  Wake up!  Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead.  I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.  Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again.  If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.  “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil.  They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.  All who are victorious will be clothed in white.  I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Revelation 3:1-6

I do love competitive sports.  The days of my involvement in team athletics is a rearview mirror issue…long gone, reduced to an occasional tussle with a golf course.  As much as I have loved most sports, I’ve never cared a whole lot for the concept of boxing.  The whole idea of throwing punches to mangle your opponent’s face, or a side blow to rupture his spleen, is repugnant to me.  And the fact that my opponent would do the same to me (if he’s fast enough to catch up with me)…well, that speaks for itself. 

That being understood, the pathos of a 15-round slugfest, where both fighters are battered, exhausted, and nearly senseless from a half-hour of savage assault on their bodies, blows with the average force of 2,500 pounds per square inch,[1] is profound. One of the warriors is on his back, having been knocked there by his opponent.  Just on the fading side of consciousness, he is being counted-out by the referee.  As the count reaches 7, the battered man’s trainer/second is screaming from just outside the ring, get up…wake up…do something!  It is in this moment it will become evident whether training and instinct have created the heart to go on.

Like a boxer on his back is the church of the 21st century.  It’s an easy thing to look at the state of the church and announce the count as just about over.  And that may be true for some forms of church to which we may have become too attached…formal processions and pomp…bishops, diocese turf rules…books of rules…financial power, and many more. 

But, what of the church, the Bride of Christ?  What of the cosmic gathering of all the saints of all time?  What of God’s plans for eternity?  Are these also down for the count?  I would say, YES…definitely…as down as a carpenter, nailed to a cross on Friday morning.  Frankly, it didn’t look too good for the movement when Joseph of Arimthea begged for permission to bury Jesus in a donated tomb.  However it may have looked at sundown on Friday evening, the church was just getting started.  Fifty days later Peter would preach at the Temple steps, a place where the crusty old guard in charge of the system soiled God’s holy place, and three thousand souls signed up to follow the crucified Lord.

The church may have been reeling, battered, and torn on Friday, but Sunday was on its way!  

Through the centuries the church has had its share of Dark Ages, where it seemed like Satan was going to win the day.  And, unless I miss my theological guess, we are in the same boat today.  You may have sensed it, or just wondered, but the church is down right now, back to the canvas, reeling and just barely conscious. 

What to do?  Let’s let God’s Word speak a word of hope and revival:

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!


VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com  ∞ Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Revelation 3 see: Epitaph of the Church and Ears to Hear; Heart to Obey


 

Friday, August 28, 2020

God's Plans

 

Friday, August 28, 2020

All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions.  Psalm 105:45

Doctrine (what you believe about what you value) can be tricky, and it runs a wide path through culture; as wide as the different opinions in a church meeting on what color the new carpet in the foyer ought to be.

From this one text in Psalms it is easy to see why some people imagine the doctrine of predestination to mean God moves people around in despotic manner – they have little or no choice about the outcome of their lives; God’s plan is final, and that’s it!  While that is a supra-fatalistic view of God’s intervention in human existence, the polar-opposite doctrine has God in a hands-off mode.  That was a doctrine quite popular a few generations ago.  The picture is of God, the Creator, once having made the universe and all it holds, somewhat like a master clock-maker assembles a grandfather clock, the final move being to gently push the pendulum to get things started, now takes His hands off the masterpiece and lets it run as it will, for good, bad, or indifferent.

This is essentially the debate which has been carried on since Job sat in ashes and grief over the misery in his life, while his three friends tried to force their theology on the sufferer.  The question hasn’t been settled throughout the formation of Jewish understanding, nor the last two thousand years of Christian discipleship.  It’s a wide space between the fringes of God totally ignoring us as opposed to God holding us so tight that we have no say in the matter.  Is it free will, or frozen-stiff in God’s will?  Here is the Apostle Paul’s signature verse on the topic:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.  And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.  And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.  Romans 8:28-30

My theological understanding, after puzzling the jumble of thoughts on this issue the last 50+ years, is somewhere near the middle of the fringes.  It would be hard to keep a straight face and say there’s no such thing as free will; there are too many if’s, but’s, and perhaps passages in Holy Scripture to deny human will is autonomous, a free-agent, so-to-speak.  It would be equally naïve (or a downright assault on truth) to declare that our human autonomous will is not influenced, and ultimately accountable-to God’s will.  He is, after all, the Sovereign God, Who created us! 

So, do we have free will?  Or are our lives predestined?  Well, in a word, YES!

Now, before you start planning my execution for taking the 5th, and bailing on this little question, I really do mean “yes” – both are real.  We do have free will, and God, in His sovereign will, has some wonderful plans for our lives He will bring about. 


And that works the way I heard Dr. Herschel Hobbs describe it as he led us in a small group Bible study in 1979.  He said[1]:

Predestination works like an election.  God and the devil are having a dispute over your soul.  The devil casts his vote to destroy every part of who you are.  The Lord casts His vote to redeem you and give you eternal life with Him in glory.  It’s one-fer, one-ag’n; the election’s a tie.  And the only way to settle it is YOU get to cast the tie-breaking vote!

Not bad theology for a country boy with a PhD!

The Psalmist said God arranges and does stuff so we will follow God’s commands and will.  It’s a smart thing to listen to God’s plans (read and study Scripture); in the long run it will head off a long list of mistakes and heartaches.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!


VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com  ∞ Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another posts on Psalm 145 see: Telling the Story



[1] Dr. Hobbs (1907-1995) was a Baptist scholar, and speaker on the Baptist Hour radio program.  The quote is as close to verbatim as my memory allows, but the gist and understanding are still clear as a fire bell ringing


 

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Partnering With the Devil

 

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.  I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world.  They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body.  Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.  Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve.  Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.  Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God.  But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement.  Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.    2 John 6-11

Some choices promise better than others, but there is a new choice every second of every lifetime:

          ·       To remain…or go; continue breathing…or not

          ·       To smile…or growl

          ·       To resist life’s tragedies…or embrace the challenges

          ·       To love…or partner with the devil.

I recall reading the account of a young man’s life, who, due to a skiing accident that crushed most of his body’s bones, left him facing the reality of climbing uphill for what was left of his days on this planet.  Those days were filled with pain, chronic, agonizing, and, at times, overwhelming pain.  Among the choices he entertained during that dark time was the possibility of ending it all…the pain, any hope of recovery, a miracle, or just the satisfaction of holding-on.  I cannot recall the man’s name, or where I read the story, but his words still ring deep in my soul: 

I do not have choice about the pain and the circumstances of my life, but, when it comes to joy, I can choose misery, or I can choose joy.

His testimony was that choosing joy over misery gave him a purpose; part of that purpose was to help others embrace whatever challenge life throws their way.

Apostle John, the same one whose Gospel account says that Jesus loved him, warned the church that there were merely two choices available in life – love God, or partner with the devil; the latter being a life built on deception, the chief of which was that Jesus hadn’t really come in a flesh-and-blood body, to die a horrible death for our sins.  That was beneath God’s dignity, and no self-respecting God would do such a thing.  In short, those living in deception denied Christ. 

The opposite side of that deception is truth, and to live in truth is to accept what is real. Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection means everything else He told us is true.  And, past that point of accepting Christ, we live as He told us to live, acting with love toward every other human being, and doing that, no matter if it is reciprocated. 

That is the way God loves, and our mission is to live like our God demonstrated.

When facing particularly challenging circumstances remember the choice between misery and joy.  Partnering with the devil’s deception looks like a much easier way out, and it is – it’s your gateway to a life of misery without parole. 

The other choice will always seem more difficult, requiring faith, yielding control to Christ’s plan for your life.  But in doing so you will discover the pathway to genuine joy.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com  ∞ Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on 2 John see: Imposters and Old Words That are New


 

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Love and Evil Come to the Party

 

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.  While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.  The disciples were indignant when they saw this.  “What a waste!” they said.  “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”  But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.  She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”  Matthew 26:6-13

There are two distinct attendees to the party that stand out as the showcase of the Gospel’s message, love and evil.  Let’s get a look at both.

Love is the first guest, and it expresses in worship the gratitude which is natural for saved people.  Note the players, Simon (a leper who was healed by Jesus), and Mary, perhaps a former prostitute whom Jesus publicly rescued from those who would stone her. 

The woman anoints Jesus, having believed His prediction about the cross.  It is as much an act of faith as honor.  She gave an extravagant offering of her most prized possession.  In today's currency she dumped $40,000 worth of perfume on Jesus' head!  What kind of Savior can prompt that kind of expression of love?  When you consider where Mary and Simon had been, and the life they'd been given from Jesus, it's not hard to understand.

Love prostrates in worship while...

Evil Presumes

We notice that Caiaphas was concerned about "the people" (26.5).  He was really condescending.  He knew that he knew better than anyone.  He had an elitist attitude.  Elitist attitudes are ugly; they’re obscene when they show-up in the church. 

You hear some pretty strange and arrogant words coming out of elitist mouths:

          ·       I can teach that class better! 

          ·       The church doesn't have to know about this, THEY wouldn't understand

          ·       So what if the Bible doesn't exactly say so, we want it this way. 

The presumption of evil is that it knows better than God.

John’s Gospel[1] says that it was Judas who made the objection over Mary’s wasteful extravagance.  It's easy to bash old Judas; his name was like Hitler.  You could say anything about him, and it wouldn't be bad enough.  But Matthew, the streetwise tax collector, includes all the disciples.  Why the discrepancy?  Matthew KNEW!  It may have been Judas to SAY the words...but Matthew knew they were all thinking the same thing. 

Remember the depravity of human nature.  We all have evil and are capable of being Judas.  And the darker the evil gets around us, the more saved people can look with amazement, and think, MY GOD - THAT COULD BE ME

Let evil presume, you prostrate in worship!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image By James Tissot, Public Domain, via WikimediaCommons

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Mary anointing Jesus, see: When the Fragrance Remains

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

When a Child Speaks

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.  Psalm 8:1-2

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!  How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!  For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to give him advice?  And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?  For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.  All glory to him forever!  Amen.  Romans 11:33-36

When a child speaks, it pays to listen.  It was a lot of years ago on a Sunday.  I had just preached to a full church on a perfectly beautiful Sunday.  Everything had gone right, and I felt rather after-glowish, basking in (and embarrassed by) all the wonderful compliments as the congregation departed.  A family of six, who were new members in our church filed out, with Jamie, a precious six-year old with pigtails, bringing up the rear.  This little one had not mastered pronouncing some of her words and sounds; Her “r’s” always came out as “w’s” – road was woad, and phrases like really red became weally wed.  Sometimes the “p’s” came out as “c’s”.  She was adorable and always had a big smile that was engaging.  As Jamie passed me, she grinned, clutching her stuffed tiger.  I bent down, took her chin in my hand, and said, I’m really glad you were here today, Jamie.  My little friend looked up at her pastor, took my chin in her chubby little hands, and replied, And I’m weally glad YOU were heah, creature! 

Creature?  I was speechless.  And then it dawned on me; Jamie was the picture the Psalmist had in mind.  With one mispronounced word she had connected my ground wire.  All those high-flying compliments of the congregation had to have a way out of my head so I could think clearly about how I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did. 

Score one for a humility lesson in one word or less, by a six-year-old!

The Apostle Paul snapped that into perspective in today’s reading from Romans.  God’s thoughts and ways; who is in that league?  Who can compete with Heaven’s wisdom?  Nobody reading (or writing) these pages.

The next time you’re in the presence of one of God’s little messengers, stop thinking about the shopping list, or the chores you’ve left undone.  Listen closely; you could be on the verge of hearing some weally good stuff.  Wight?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com ∞  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 8, see: Wondering About the Big Stuff  Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3

 

Monday, August 24, 2020

The Road that Leads Home

 

Monday, August 24, 2020

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?  Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?  But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.  For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will judge everyone according to what they have done.  He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.  But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.  Romans 2:4-8

For some people, the word “home” is not a warm and fuzzy safe kind of word; it’s more like a red flag that brings painful images, memories of abuse.  It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but the truth is all too stark to ignore, and the scars won’t let you totally forget. 

My experience is just the opposite.  My parents were not wealthy; I guess you could say we were middle class, somewhere just above the poverty line.  At times we ate a LOT of potatoes because it was easier to feed a family of four that way.  One area of the Brownworth home where wealth flowed generously was in kindness.  For me, the road leading back home was always a welcome road, a place of good memories with a strong pull towards the open door.

When I think back on that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my mind around why I rebelled against the faith that so graciously helped form that good home and childhood.  I did exactly what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church…lived for myself, refusing to obey the truth.   

In my case this wasn’t illegal stuff, like being a bank robber or a serial killer.  Rather it was just leaving God out of my life, trying to build a little kingdom of my own.  It was my choices, my happiness, my way that mattered, not God.  I had no drive to be the next king, or president.  I just wanted to be left alone to do what I wanted to do.

What eventually turned me back to the road that leads home is also what Paul wrote, about how patiently God waits for us; it is a loving patience that doesn’t approve of willfulness, but graciously waits like the father of the prodigal son.

My goal, as a pastor, has always been to help the churches with which I’ve served create an atmosphere of gracious waiting.  What I’ve found out about that is you cannot be that unless you’re intentional about it.  It’s not easy to wait.  But, oh, how it’s worth it.  The Apostle Paul overflowed with joy and thanksgiving for the faithfulness of the people to which he’d ministered; their responding to his letters with responsible service to Christ filled Paul’s heart with grateful thanksgiving.

I think there are but two components to waiting as a loving parent:

·       Speaking Truth in Love

Paul never hesitated to tell the truth.  My parents were a study in this.  They were gracious, but never patronizing.  In the end, the road that leads back to a home worthy of wanting to go home, is never false; only truth is a worthy foundation.

·       Readiness to Welcome

Once the Apostle spoke truth, a hard truth, particularly, he was then willing to be a silent waiter – with open arms.  That waiting, hard as it is, is necessary, because, especially in my case, truth takes a while to weed-out what needs to go. 

Sometime back I bought some inferior grass and weed killer.  It made claims of being the best.  You could see some results in a few hours, but two weeks later the weeds were back.  Lesson learned!  When I paid the price of using the good stuff, it took a few days to see the results, but those weeds were evicted; they must’ve gone into witness protection, because nobody’s heard from them in a while.

Readiness to welcome back the one who travels the road home (to God) is like using the good stuff of truth and waiting.  You want results right away, but time is required, and God is faithful. 

So, don’t be in a hurry; instead, as you wait, be in prayer.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com ∞  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on activating your faith, see The God of Equal Opportunity and

                                      While You’re Waiting for God to Answer Series:  Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5

 

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Kingdom Living Series - Part 2 PRAY

Pray like this….  Matthew 6:9a

--- The Word of God for us, the People of God ---

The basic principle of God’s Kingdom on earth is: 

Everybody at peace with everybody else; already now – but not yet.

By this statement we mean that Jesus brought God’s Kingdom to earth when he was born in Bethlehem, so the kingdom is already now in effect (or should be at least in our hearts).  But it is not yet.  You can see this easily because the world is a dangerous and unhappy place.  The world is quite NOT at peace.

Last week we started with believe, which, by definition, is being humble towards God.  Jesus used the term poor in spirit; this is the essence of faith, believing.   Today we move further along in what will be a 7-week progression of learning how to live in the Kingdom of God (now, even if it isn’t complete yet). 

The Sermon on the Mount takes us to prayer, which deepens our faith and makes us seasoned, or mature followers of Christ.  The Bible word for that is telios, functioning appropriately for the way God created us.  It doesn’t mean sinless, because we still have a fallen nature; it does mean holy, in the sense that we are growing in love more like our Master.

God’s plan for our praying

God’s plan and purpose for prayer is to help us develop an honest and deep relationship with God, so we’ll hear God’s voice, draw up close to Him, and be blessed by walking daily with God.  We learn that in the second chapter of Genesis, where God said about his newly created Adam, it isn’t good for him to be alone.[1]   We see that deep desire for relationship in the Apostle Paul’s letter to Philippi:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death  Philippians 3:10

This is my desire as well.  I am a person of prayer…already now; but not yet.  By this I mean I share this burning desire in my innermost parts to know Christ.  That part of the Kingdom reigns in me, but it is far from complete.  I am not nearly as functional (telios/mature) as I want to be.

In all, prayer has been the one connecting thread in every aspect of my life which has kept me (at various times) from leaving the faith, destroying the most important relationships in my life, or just plain going insane!  Prayer, which keeps me close to God…also keeps me; it changes me.

So what I want to share with you this morning is the model of the kind of prayer that has changed me profoundly over the course of my life.  This “way” of praying is easily remembered by the short acronym “ACTS”.  The four letters stand for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. 

I found this was a model seen in many of the Old Testament prophets and leaders’ way of praying.  Nehemiah was one like that, and I’d like us to turn to his prayers to explore the way we can pray like Kingdom people.  Nehemiah was part of the captive Israelite nation.  He was cup bearer to the king, and God picked him to lead the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple.  In preparing to enter the greatest task of his life, with great risk of life and limb, Nehemiah hit his knees and opened his heart to God…an ACTS kind of prayer.

A

 doration

O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,  Nehemiah 1:5

We begin our prayers with adoration.  By adoring we mean recognizing who God is and responding accordingly.  Nehemiah addresses God as great and awesome, the God who keeps covenant.  To “adore” God is to respond to the covenant, the agreement God offers.  In Nehemiah’s day that meant obedience to the Law, the first 5 books of the Bible. 

Our covenant as Christians has its’ foundation in that law, but it’s fulfillment in the New Covenant, purchased and sealed with the blood of Jesus on Calvary’s hill. 

Nehemiah started his prayer with adoration.  One of the reasons you don’t hear much of that anymore is because 21st century culture teaches us to adore ourselves.  It is a good practice, if you’re going to pray honestly, respectfully, and meaningfully to Almighty God, to stop often and check to see who is sitting in the throne of your heart.  Is it you…or God?  If it’s you, it won’t be God you’re adoring; it’s impossible to recognize the sovereignty of God when you’re having someone else on the throne.

And this leads naturally into the second movement in this symphony of prayer…

C

onfession

…listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.  Nehemiah 1:6-7

Nehemiah’s confession isn’t popular today.  Today, if anything’s gone wrong, it’s always somebody else’s fault.  Most often we hear excuses, not confession!

·       If a CEO sells his company down the tubes, he leaves with 38 million in golden parachute separation funds.

·       If a high-profile preacher lives a scandalous life of sexual sins, he thumbs his nose at his denomination and is back on the air in no time at all.

·       If a president lies, he has merely “mis-spoken” himself and doesn’t skip a beat.

By contrast, Nehemiah, born into the captivity, a thousand miles from Jerusalem, never having set foot in the holy city, includes himself and his family in the guilt of national sins of Israel.  Wow….really?  Yes, really; Nehemiah is wise enough to know that, had he been there, he also would have sinned.  Nehemiah knew his own heart just like you and I know our hearts.  We need prayers of confession….regularly!

In the text Nehemiah prays that we have sinned terribly.  Literally, the word means “offended”.  He is admitting the actions of God’s children are offensive to Heaven.  Beloved, that is what confession is about.  It’s recognizing our sins do, indeed, offend holy God.

Once you’ve adored God in prayer, confessed your sins to Him, then comes…

T

hanksgiving

“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations.  But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’  “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants.  Nehemiah 1:8-10

It’s one thing to say “thank you” for a gift you really like; it’s quite another to say “bless you” for hauling us out to the woodshed.  Yet, that is exactly what Nehemiah has in mind here.  Basically, he is rehearsing the fact that God said, you sin, and I’ll whip your butt.  I’ll hunt you down, and I’ll bring you back, and we can do it all over again.  Nehemiah’s response is that was our rescue; Thank you, Lord.

Why would Nehemiah respond to God that way?  Because, in acknowledging God’s faithfulness to punish sin, it gives substance to our belief in God’s other promises…all those promises to care for us, love us, provide for us, and protect us.  And, to do all that, we must be under his wing.

Consider what God said about that through Moses’ successor, Joshua:

Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you.  If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.  You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.  For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.  There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.  But from there you will search again for the Lord your God.  And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.                Deuteronomy 4:26-29

How about that?  God was prepared to offer Israel forgiveness based upon his loving covenant.  Do you know what that tells you and me about God?  It says, loudly and clearly, that you CAN begin again.  You can come with adoration in your heart, and confession on your lips, and, with Thanksgiving flowing from your mind to God’s heart, you can KNOW God is willing to forgive and restore your life.

Our model is nearly complete:  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and then…

S

 upplication

O Lord, please hear my prayer!  Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you.  Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me.  Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”  Nehemiah 1:11

There is always a decisive moment in life when talking or thinking becomes insufficient.  There is a moment in time when we must have the rubber of our faith meet the road of action.  In terms of praying and acting on those prayers the saying could be praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

There is a time when praying ends and doing begins.  That was the nature of the man Nehemiah, and all servant/prayer warriors.  Nehemiah committed himself to God and God’s Kingdom in his prayer, then he got up off his knees and forged ahead.

When is the last time you stepped-out in faith?  When’s the last time God put it in your heart to involve yourself in such a way that you knew if He didn’t come through, you were toast? 

My dear, beloved friends, brothers, and sisters, THAT is what supplication is all about.  THAT is what dependency on God in prayer is about. 

THAT is Kingdom-living prayer!

Now, perhaps the whole idea of this kind of prayer is somewhat scary.  After all, God is all-consuming, all-powerful, and all we have protecting us from that awesome being is our excuses…and we know they won’t fly any better than a block of granite.

Let’s let an old friend, C.S. Lewis, shed a little light on what the next step is for those of us who are timid about how to approach the throne.

In his book The Silver Chair C.S. Lewis draws an analogy with the story of a young girl named Jill.  She’s in the land of Narnia, and she’s thirsty.  At once she sees a magnificent stream…and a fearsome lion (Aslan, who represents the Lord Jesus):

If I run away, it’ll be after me in a moment, thought Jill.  And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth.  Anyway, she couldn’t have moved if she had tried, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it.  How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours.  And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first….

Are you not thirsty? said the Lion.  I’m dying of thirst, said Jill.

Then drink, said the Lion.  May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do? said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.  And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.  The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

Will you promise to do anything to me, if I do come? said Jill.

I make no promise, said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. 

Do you eat girls? she said. 

I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms, said the Lion.  It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry.  It just said it.

I daren’t come and drink, said Jill.

Then you will die of thirst, said the Lion.

Oh dear! said Jill, coming another step nearer.  I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.

There is no other stream, said the Lion.  It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion – no one who had seen his stern face could do that – and her mind suddenly made itself up.

It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went straight to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand.  It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.  You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.  Before she tasted it she had been intending to make a dash away from the Lion the moment she had finished.  Now, she realized this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of all.[2]

This stand-off is what we face when we come to the decision to put away the safe prayers to which we may have become accustomed, and choose to really pray.  This is the bottom line in real Kingdom prayer – we’re always making a choice to either run from God or towards God, but, ultimately, despite our fear, deep within our hearts and souls, we know that the prayer of running TO God will carry us one step closer for a drink of living water; and isn’t that what you REALLY want to do?

Our Prayer

Father God, here we are – again – with our eyes closed and our heads bowed.  And our souls conflicted.  We really do want to pray, be open, honest, and just let it all hang out for You to examine.  We know it will be worth it – the very best for our souls, if we just let go and trust that You will still be true to Your covenant, that you will honor Your Son’s blood, spilled for our saving.

Grant us courage to put the fear, and the need to control, and the flirtation with hiding our embarrassment aside.  Wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow; cleanse us and we shall be holy; purge us, and we will shine as your people.

For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father. 

Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation  Matthew 10:24-39©



[1] Genesis 2:18

[2] C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, (Collier Books), pp.16-18