Month: October 2009

Day Six in the School of Prayer

WithChristInPrayer

 

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

How much more indeed! Often we are willing to settle for simple material gifts when the Father wants to give us so much more. The cursory handling of the verses from the Sermon on the Mount leads to the idea that our material needs—food, clothing, shelter—are to be the core of our prayers as we see the human father gives sustenance rather than danger and damage. The Saints are further led astray by reading into this passage a ‘blank check’ from Heaven in the implicit promise of good gifts. The best gift, Murray points out, is nothing material. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His control over our life and living in this world. This is the gift we should earnestly be seeking, trusting in God to take care of all of the things He already knows we need.

Jesus teaches in our lesson today to lift our eyes and hearts above our immediate circumstances to see how much more life the Father has for us when we open our connection to the Vine. The Spirit is our connection and the gift we receive upon belief that enables the life-giving nectar of the Vine to flow into our empty souls.

Extraordinary is Within Your Reach

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Cor 2:9)

The latest by John Bevere, Extraordinary, takes off in a flash from that fundamental truth and winds through 200+ pages of confrontation and encouragement demanding that the Christian see the gift of grace as more than just fire insurance. Believers empowered by the Holy Spirit were not meant just to be saved in order to hang on by their fingertips until the end. Bevere exhorts the reader on every page to realize that they were redeemed for extraordinary purposes and that all of the power needed for this new life has been vested in them by their Redeemer. The question that is unspoken but living on every page is, why? Why are we willing to settle for the ordinary when the remarkable is within our grasp?

John Bevere Extraordinary

Extraordinary is a collection of short chapters, each touching on a specific area of Christian living. Bevere has an urgency to his writing as though he can’t wait to get the next thought down on the page and you sense this as you read. You can’t wait to see how a thought plays out and then you stop, confronted by the truth of the Scriptures that you have either passed over or conveniently set aside. More than once in each chapter I found myself opening my Bible to the verse or passage referenced and finding a new truth revealed.

Island Man and Christ’s continued question “Where is your faith?” are just two of the illustrations that will cause you to stop reading and consider your own life. So many of us have taken the promises of Jesus into our heads but they have not made their way into our hearts. He promised life-altering, world-changing, universe-shaking power through the Spirit and yet, we more often than not live as thought these promises were only for the Disciples or for a class of super-Christians alone in their monastic retreats. Bevere’s voice jumps from the page to grab you and shake your complacency away, cajoling and coaching you to take this power seriously and to live a life worthy of the sacrifice made on your behalf. Unlike the Island Man, we need to grasp the potential of what we’ve been given.

Don’t miss Extraordinary. You will be able to read it quickly but you will soon find yourself going back with your pencil to mark certain pages and sentences. Your bible will get a workout as well as you find new truths and see familiar ones in a new light. All of this will be wasted though if you just read the book. As St. James said of the truths in the Scriptures, “it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself.” Read and then act.

 

For more information about this book, Extraordinary.

Psalm 53 There is No God

image The refrain that entitles this post rings out on a daily basis in print, song, and behavior. “There is no God!” “You are the god of your life…” Surrounded by the same cultural meme, the Psalmist wrote

God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (vv 2-3)

The Christian who is enmeshed in the modern Evangelical lifestyle can quickly lose sight of this truth. Going to church, youth group, and maybe small group meetings can lead us to the false impression that everyone is just like us. Well, maybe not the really bad people, but surely most everybody else. What seems so obvious to us must be equally plain to everyone else.

The reality is that most people do not admit to the truth of God.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. (v1)

How much responsibility do you and I bear for this condition? We are certainly not responsible for the events in the Garden but we are culpable for its continuation. Where salvation and grace were meant to empower us in our Christ emulating lives, we have treated them as fire insurance and a covering for our personal failings. Ask yourself with me, does my life mirror Christ’s in such a way that my neighbors can’t help but notice? Is the Holy Ghost such an influence in my life that only a fool would question His existence and work? Don’t raise your hands…hit your knees.

 

Image fotdmike