Hammer on Anvil '

Last week I was listening to one of my favorite Gungor songs titled "Every Breath." It is a wonderful reminder that we are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Reminders can be very sobering, though. As I listened, the Holy Spirit convicted me, and I  began to weep. Then He gently asked, "What do you think it would look like if you loved Me with all that is within you?"

Oh my. What WOULD that look like? What if my heart were totally His? It would mean that I would zealously guard my  heart (Proverbs 4:23) and not allow anyone or anything else to captivate it. God tells us to guard our heart for a good reason: "Everything you do flows from it" (NIV). The New Living Translation says "It determines the course of your life." Jeremiah tells us the heart is "desperately wicked," (17:9), so it seems obvious that if we want our hearts to be entirely God's, it will take some pretty stalwart discipline. Sometimes a gesture as simple as turning off the TV (or computer or phone) can be an act of obedience that shows God you desire to hear Him rather than the noise of the world.

Next is the soul, which involves our will and our emotions. Do you have a strong will that compels you to express every emotion that you feel? Living like that can make you feel like you're being held hostage! Imagine what you could accomplish for the kingdom of God if you turned that strong will over to God for HIS purposes! Turn the clamor of your emotions over to Him as well, and discover that He truly does provide rest for those who come unto Him (Matthew 11:28).

Most of us know that our minds can be a cesspool of unsavory thought processes, which is why Romans 12:2 tells us we can literally be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The New Living Translation says, " Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." How many of us would deny that we'd love to sign up for that?! The catch, though, is that this doesn't happen overnight. God isn't going to just zap us and declare our  minds suddenly renewed. Paul tells us "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16) and the best way to know His mind is to devour His Word.

Now on to strength -- how do we love God with all our strength? Take a few minutes now and think about what your strength was spent on yesterday. Was it all expended for God and His purposes? Did you have a keen awareness throughout the day that the Holy Spirit was directing your steps? Or was it a day of hurried and frustrating activity that didn't seem to accomplish much? Some people are critical of spending what they think is TOO much time in prayer, arguing that we need to be "at work" for God. Problems arise when they confuse their ACTIVITY with being in the presence of God.

Second Peter 1:3 says God has given us everything we need to live godly lives. But as in everything else related to our Father, we can only gain access to His blessings by abiding in Him 24-7. Begin your day with Him, reminding yourself that you are not your own -- you have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus! Tell Him you want to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you! He will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13). He is the Counselor who will be with us forever (John 14:16). He intercedes for us "with groanings too deep for words" (Romans 8:26). Commit your day to the Lord, and He will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:6).

I leave you with this wonderful Gungor song -- may our every breath glorify God this week!



 

Part of my daily devotional time includes reading from an Andrew Murray devotional on prayer. It has become a favorite, along with Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, which I have read daily for probably 10 years.

Last week something Murray said moved me to tears, and I'd like to share it with you:

As the Lord Jesus pours out His love in unceasing intercession in heaven, may it be so with us on earth -- a life of overpowering love and never-ending intercession.

The words "overpowering love" hit me like a ton of bricks, and I began to weep. I am weeping now as I type this. So many people have never experienced this kind of all-consuming, unconditional, life-changing love. They are miserable to the core of their existence, and don't realize there is a way out. Families of origin can inflict lifelong angst and turmoil, and people who have never learned that life can be different simply feel stuck.

A precious friend called me last week right after I had read this devotional. Together we prayed for a friend of hers (I'll call her Emma) who professes to know Jesus, but is mired in anger and bitterness. Emma had a hellish upbringing, and never learned how to properly relate to people. She grasps for control whenever and wherever she can. She has no clue that Jesus went to the Cross so that she wouldn't have to be burdened with the baggage she carries around. She has no idea that she is free to LOVE -- even those she perceives to be her enemies.

I was stuck for decades where Emma is stuck right now, and she is the one I was weeping for when I read the words "overpowering love." I prayed that she would experience that kind of love very soon -- that God would send her someone to disciple her. She needs a godly woman who can expression compassion and care, yet show Emma that God shows us "a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 13).

When you are overpowered by the love of God, your life changes dramatically. Suddenly things are not all about you. When you hear about someone behaving badly, your first reaction is not to harshly judge them, but to see them as God sees them -- as broken people who need to be LOVED rather than judged. When someone else unintentionally does something that hurts you, you don't immediately take it as a personal affront -- you let it go, realizing it's not worth getting angry and bitter. You don't feel the need to constantly control situations because you have relinquished control of your life to God.

Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus, though He was in very nature God, made himself nothing and took the form of a servant. We are to have that very same mindset, and "in humility value others above yourselves" (verse 3). It is contrary to our human nature to "make ourselves nothing," but we can do it when the Holy Spirit dwells within us! It is very freeing to relinquish all that we consider our "rights," and let God completely consume us with His love and His passion. When that happens, our one desire should be for Him to accomplish His purposes.

As you read this today, I pray that you will tangibly sense God's overpowering love for you. He knit you together in your mother's womb, He loves you with an everlasting love, and only He knows what is best for you. Be filled to overflowing today!

A lot of us are familiar with this story in chapter 9 of Mark's gospel. A frantic father asks the disciples to cast an "impure spirit" out of his son, but they fail.

Jesus, having just returned from the mount of transfiguration, hears people arguing, and walks over to find out what the fuss is about.

The boy's father responds: "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."

Jesus plainly expresses exasperation, as if He can't believe the disciples could have failed at such a simple task. Upon merely SEEING Jesus, the spirit convulses the boy.  When Jesus commands it to leave, it does. Period.

By now the disciples are flummoxed, and I would imagine a bit embarrassed. After Jesus goes indoors, they follow Him and ask Him privately why they couldn't drive out the unclean spirit. Jesus responds simply, "This kind can come out only by prayer" (later manuscripts add "and fasting").

This seems like a straightforward answer, but what does it mean for us as followers of Jesus?

I think this passage points to the critical truth that we must constantly abide in Christ if we hope to be productive children in the kingdom of God. Maybe the disciples thought that since they simply walked with Jesus, they could touch whomever they wanted, and healing or deliverance would come instantly. I imagine when they first started out, this gave them a bit of a rush. 

What Jesus seems to be stressing to His disciples here is their responsibility to maintain constant communication with the Father. Jesus himself on more than one occasion rose in the middle of the night to pray. He knew He must be prepared for whatever God might ask Him to do. He knew that the business of healing and casting out demons required gaining a certain POSITION with God. Even though He was God's Son, He zealously guarded this time of communion with His Father. 

If our Savior needed protracted times of prayer in order to live and move in His Father's will, can you imagine how much greater OUR need is to do the same? It is not enough to simply say you are a Christ follower. The question is, do you produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)? That's what John the Baptist asked the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to the place John was baptizing. He knew their hearts; he knew they were only coming to check him out to see if he was adhering to all their rules. Never known for his social skills, John began the conversation by calling them a brood of vipers.

Are we like the Pharisees and Sadducees? Are appearances more important to us than the condition of our hearts? We can pretend all day long that we're great Christians who do and say all the "right things," but we mustn't be deceived -- our Father in heaven knows the condition of our hearts. We may as well come clean with Him in genuine repentance, and "do the things that show you have really changed your hearts and lives" (that's how the New Century Version translates it).

Dear brothers and sisters, it is not enough to attend church regularly and teach kids' church or play in the worship band. Our entire lives are to be living sacrifices unto God every day. We must deny our flesh daily. We must stop entertaining ourselves to death with television and video games and Facebook and sports, and instead cry out to God on behalf of the people in this world who desperately need Him, and desperately need us to be the followers He wants us to be. 

Jesus commissioned us to not only preach the gospel, but to heal the sick and cast out demons and raise the dead. The time is now.

Two Friday nights ago my family and I were leaving the high school football game. It was passed the point in the day when I function well around people....8pm.

As we walked through the parking lot I saw I had a shadow. Then I saw I had another...and another. As I mentioned before, it was late and my brain wasn't functioning so I wondered how that happened. Then I realized there were several light sources, all helping me to cast a shadow.

I've been thinking about that for these two weeks and thinking about shadows. Our stories are full of shadows. Peter Pan loses his shadow (or in the case of the show Once Upon a Time, sends it to do his bidding). In Doctor Who, the Vashta Nerada lurk in the shadows and you know they have targeted you when you have more than one shadow. Now that Halloween is right around the corner, shadows and dark places are held in high regard. People like to hide in the shadows to jump out and scare others.

The Bible contrasts God to a shadow. In James 1:17 we read, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shadow." You see, shadows change. As the sun moves across the sky, shadows shrink and grow. They can distort. We can make shadow puppets on the wall by changing the way we cast a shadow.

God is not like that. He is the same as He has always been and He will not change. The same God who sent Jesus to take each of our places, still loves us. The same God who sent the Holy Spirit to guide us is still that same God.

He still looks after us. He still loves us. He still wants us to follow Him. Nothing has changed. That's a very reassuring thought in a world where nothing is constant. God is, and we can rely on Him.

The other thought I've been throwing around in my head is we are to be like God. So we should not be shadows. God has called us to live a life following after Him. This is true life, when we leave the darkness and come into the light.

My shadow isn't me. It can sometimes look like me, but it's not me. I need to make sure that I'm living the life God has called me to live, and that I'm not living a shadow of the life He desires. Real is always better than a shadow.

God has called us each to live an awesome life for Him. He has a plan for all of us and we can accomplish a lot. Why would we cast away the real, the awesome, or the light, for nothing but an imitation.

Live the life God has called you to live. It's awesome and you don't want to pass up the opportunity.