Tag: God's Mindset Philippians 2:5-11

“Come Holy Spirit, and Gift Unto Us a Prayer to Live With Eternity in Mind” Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton

When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”

All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”

Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 English Standard Version

The God-Given Task

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton

When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”

All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”

Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”

Because God did this to me and for me, before I was even aware, of God, I can never shake the irrepressible feeling deep within my soul that there absolutely has to be something infinitely more waiting for me in eternity than in this life.

Collectively, in our response to this inner sense of eternity, we can and often do spend our lives either unaware of it, denying it, sidestepping it, fleeing from it, or attempting to resolve it without the assistance of the One who placed it there.

And this only leaves only leaves us in that empty space we call “wanting more.”

What we are called to do instead is turn to the One of whom it is said, “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36)(ESV).

Romans 11:33-36 English Standard Version

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

We turn to the only One in whom we find our origin, our purpose, our destiny.

We can know the only One who holds for each of His Children, in His righteous right hand, the indescribable feeling for eternity that He placed in our hearts.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)(ESV).

Jesus said, unto his disciples a day before he died;

John 14:25-27 The Message

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

This is the only path that will satisfy that nagging sense of greater things and the only path that leads us all to both reconciliation and an eternity with God.

The Gift of A Prayer to Live with Eternity in Mind

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 The Message

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Eternity is a simple word but a complex concept.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of eternity.”

  • We waited in line for something relatively inconsequential for an eternity.
  • We are waiting for the blessed announcement of a baby being born.
  • We are waiting for the announcement that someone has passed away.
  • We are waiting for the arrival of family on Christmas or Easter Day.
  • We are waiting for laboratory and radiology test results to be read.
  • We are waiting for the bank to approve our very first Mortgage.
  • We think spring will never come; winter has lasted for an eternity.
  • We have a vacation planned for only a few weeks away, but it feels like an eternity on the calendar.
  • We are waiting for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Return – “as promised.”

The undeniable reality is that, as humans, we cannot truly fathom eternity.

We know that God has provided eternal life to those who trust in His Son Jesus, but our understanding of the weight of eternity is beyond our comprehension.

Recently, I have come across numerous sermon series, devotional articles, and books, social media posts encouraging believers to live with eternity in mind.

But what exactly does that mean? 

Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever (NLT).”

Life in a fallen world is tough; there’s no escaping the effects of sin in our lives.

But, we can shift our priorities, our mindsets our perspective, focusing on the things that matter to God (the eternal) and sacrificing ourselves, surrendering ourselves, letting go of those things that don’t matter (the things of this world).

Romans 12:1-2 The Message
Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

As one of my favorite preachers sermonized, “preaches easy, lives hard.”  

We are ever so easily, quickly distracted, discouraged, and disillusioned daily.

It is impossibly challenging to “keep on persevering, keep on pushing forward in our faith, and remain steadfast and immovable always abounding in God’s work.”

The world’s message is “live your best life now,” but God’s word preaches us so utterly and radically different, stating “your forever life is yet to come.”

If we back up a verse to 2 Corinthians 4:17, Apostle Paul again reminds us,

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  

What we are experiencing today will one day come to an end.

Even if the season of steadfast and immovable sorrow drags on forever or your difficult circumstances continue to stay the same day after day, God will still make everyone and everything new one day – and in this new world, His eternal kingdom, there will be no more tears and pain – Just LIFE (Revelation 21:1-4).

I am not sure what anyone of you readers are going through today but PLEASE be ENCOURAGED, be EMPOWERED and take heart; God sees and cares for you.

Psalm 121 The Message

121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

5-6 God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

7-8 God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.

On this side of Heaven, you may continue to experience the consequences of sin, but please be INSPIRED, be an INSPIRATION, God’s great mercy provided a way for all His Children to have eternal peace through salvation in Christ Jesus.

Be the ENCOURAGER, Pray, Cling, to the eternal hope we have in our salvation, and let the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you as you live with eternity in mind.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being a God who cares about our burdens. We know that you are God who sees and hears the cries and prayers of your children. Help us to live with eternity in mind. Blessed Intercessor Holy Spirit of God, We pray fervently you will Be with us as we strive to focus more on the eternal, shifting our perspective from temporary things that distract us from living a life for Your glory alone. Forgive us when we sin against you, and be with us as we pursue holiness.

We love you, Lord; we are undeserving of your grace and mercy but thankful that you freely grant us both. We ask that you strengthen and help us as we share the Gospel in a broken world. Guide our conversations, and direct our paths to those who need to experience the eternal hope of salvation through Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ Name.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Simply Learning How to Live! Simply Learning How to Serve Others with Love. Romans 12:10-13

“Be Devoted to One Another in Brotherly Love …”

These commanding words of Paul are so simple and yet so very profound.

As Children of God, as Christians, we are all to covenanted by God to love one another and be devoted to each other as cherished members of the same family.

We should consider each other over our own self interests and give precedence, shared support, uplifting and honor to our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

There should be no quarreling or factions between us, and we should consider how to build up in the faith and encourage each other continually in the Lord.

This image of God’s family is what we are expected to outwardly portray to the world; united by grace, loving, caring, and abundantly devoted to one another.

Romans 12:10-13 New American Standard Bible

10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; [a]give preference to one another in honor, 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12  rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the [b]saints, [c]practicing hospitality.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

“Be Devoted to One Another in Brotherly Love …”

These commanding words of Paul are so simple and yet so very profound.

As Children of God, as Christians, we are all to covenanted by God to love one another and be devoted to each other as cherished members of the same family.

We should consider each other over our own self interests and give precedence, shared support, uplifting and honor to our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

There should be no quarreling or factions between us, and we should consider how to build up in the faith and encourage each other continually in the Lord.

This image of God’s family is what we are expected to outwardly portray to the world; united by grace, loving, caring, and abundantly devoted to one another.

Called Away, and Separated by God, to Serve Others with Love

Mark 1:16-20 English Standard Version

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”[a] 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Many new cars today are equipped with a global posi­tioning system (GPS).

These little gadgets-with soothing voices and readable maps-once these things are programmed with an address, it can tell you how to get from here to there.

Except that Jesus did not provide Simon and Andrew with anything like a GPS or even a map.

Instead, without social media he simply walked by the lake where they were conducting their day to day business of providing for their families and their community, invited them to follow him on an adventure with a risky Teacher.

Our passage from Mark’s Gospel today pulls us into our immediate response to the call to “come away,” following Jesus, without knowing the way ourselves.

In Galilee, Jesus began telling others that God’s kingdom had arrived in him.

The good news of Jesus came after a four-hundred-year silence since the last Hebrew Testament prophets had brought the words of the Lord.

Immediately Jesus wanted to announce, to introduce people to God’s plan: in him, God is among us; in him, God’s kingdom has come; and the call to believe in him is the best invitation people will ever receive, be honored to respond to.

This Itinerant Master Rabbi Jesus was intervening into their lives, calling men and women into places where there would be little, if any, comfort and security.

An intervention, an adventure with Jesus led his disciples to places they would never have imagined, witnessing to all of God’s miraculous redemptive work .

Could they have known what miracle signs and wonders were ahead of them?

Despite their not knowing the magnitude of what they would witness, they all would testify that following Jesus would mean plenty of risk and inconvenience.

They would testify “inconvenience with Jesus” makes living life worth living.

Learning to Serve Others with Love

Romans 12:9-13 The Message

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

“Ministry” is derived from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning “to serve.”

Every believer is called into ministry to serve Jesus and His body.

Jesus came to earth to serve others and calls us to follow His lead in selflessness and compassion for others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is human to seek after the cravings of our flesh, but in Christ Jesus, we can turn away from old ways (Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:24).

The Holy Spirit empowers us to set our selfishness aside to follow Savior Jesus’ example of being in service of others.

That Kind of Lifestyle Begins by Giving Our Mindset Unto God.

Psalm 119:1-8 The Message

119 1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course,
    walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
    doing your best to find him.
That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;
    you walk straight along the road he set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
    now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady,
    keeping to the course you set;
Then I’d never have any regrets
    in comparing my life with your counsel.
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
    I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I’m going to do what you tell me to do;
    don’t ever walk off and leave me.

Bible study and prioritizing spiritual discipline of prayer allow the Holy Spirit to go to work, renew our minds, shifting our focus to eternal and spiritual matters.

The longer we walk with the Lord, the more we discipline ourselves to walk with the Lord, the more we train and retrain our eyes and ears, hearts, minds, souls, hands and feet and the rest of our bodies the more able we are to hold up under the impossible array of temptations of our worldly thinking and fleshly desires.

Our behavior and attitude change as God gives us the desire to love, obey, and serve Him fervently!

Selfish living isn’t an option for Christ followers!

The Apostle Paul encouraged believers to become committed to the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ:

Romans 12:9-13 English Standard Version

Marks of the True Christian

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[a] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us” ( I Thessalonians 2:8 ).

The Gospel is what brought them together and gave them a common bond.

What grew from that foundation was a great friendship with Savior Christ as the center.

The Apostle Paul rejoiced that he was able to share in their lives also because these people were so dear to him.

This bond transcends time and distance because it is based on the groundwork of God’s redemption, salvation work, through His Son Jesus Christ at Calvary.

This is why it is so important to surround yourselves with other brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, who are readily willing and able to share of their lives.

Proverbs says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

“As for reputation, though it be a glorious instrument of advancing our Master’s service, yet there is a better than that: a clean heart, a single eye, and a soul full of God. A fair exchange if, by the loss of reputation, we can purchase the lowest degree of purity of heart.” Reverend John Wesley (founder of Methodism)

Being in the company of other believers will encourage you and everyone who is around you in your personal connection, fellowship, relationship with the Lord.

It is impossible to be around another person who is excited about God and not have a measure of that excitement rub off on you.

“I have seen (as far as it can be seen) many persons changed in a moment from the spirit of horror, fear, and despair to the spirit of hope, joy, peace; and from sinful desires, till then reigning over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of God.” John Wesley (Founder of Methodism)

We are called to speak to each other, see each other, hear each other, listen to and love each other and to be devoted to one another, as a close knit family.

We now belong to one another.

We have been adopted into the family of God and our lives now reflect His life.

No longer do we ‘go it alone’, instead we are called into fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

The writer of Hebrews said, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

We are to share our lives, encourage and serve each other in the Word and spur each other random acts of radical hospitality, and towards love and good deeds.

This is a most wonderful thing about being part of God’s family, having other brothers and sister to encourage us and help us grow, that we may reciprocate.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

In dying to our selfish ways, our lives bring glory to God.

We may feel pain and joy as the light of God shows up in other people’s lives.

He does not leave us to our strength to follow the command to love and serve one another.

God empowers us to surrender to Him and His ways entirely. Our love for Him and others will steadily grow stronger and disciplined with each obedient step.

Every passing day, by God’s grace, we mature and cultivate a heart to serve others for His glory!

Who is God asking you to serve?

What selfish desires do you need to put aside to put someone else’s life before yours?

Are you too busy or distracted to serve or pray for others?

Let’s take some time and write down those who might come to mind.

Being “devoted to another in brotherly love” requires our church talk — we are family, brothers and sisters, children of God — must be more than mere words.

We must enter each others lives, getting to know one another so that we can serve, love and bless each other.

What have any of us done lately to get more involved in the lives of your fellow Christians?

Devotion to others follows a commitment to know and be known by them!

Who can you minister to, even if it is just a simple phone call to encourage someone or simply invite a new couple from your church over for dinner?

May God empower us His Children to choose others above ourselves and show their love of Christ over their love for the world, with ever greater compassion.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Almighty Father, thank you for giving me a world wide family. Thank you for loving me so completely. Father I ask that you help me be more open with myself and my time to those in your family. Lord, help me to assess my value in terms of living for you. I need your courage to lead me and guide me into places where I can make a difference today. Give me a contrite and disciplined heart which burns to bless others and be blessed by those you have made your children. Through Savior Jesus I pray.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Abundantly Prayerfully Exceeding Your Expectations: Expecting Infinitely More From God. Ephesians 3:20-21

Ephesians 3:20-21 The Message

20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

A lack of, or troubled faith may make us expect far less than God is willing to do.

An unexpectant faith may make us feel far less able to be bold and courageous in these days when too many people do not hold God in high regard or at all.

Too many people, believers and non believers alike have the idea that with so much turmoil going on, so much division and rancor, strife of every imaginable description behind every single blade of grass every weed, both alive and dead, it is simply not possible for everyone to believe God cannot raise to the moment.

Yet the Word of God from Paul’s letter to the new followers at Ephesus is clear when it tells us to exceedingly expect our God to answer when we pray in faith.

But, nowadays, who is it with any exceeding boldness and abundant courage does anything to go above and beyond to raise OUR expectations beyond ZERO?

What are your expectations?

Specifically, what are your expectations of God and what are your expectations of yourself this day?

Consider these words from Ephesians chapter 3:

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT)

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV)

Apostle Paul is writing to both believers and skeptics God is able to accomplish infinitely more or do exceeding abundantly more than we can ever ask or think.

Matthew Henry commenting on this truth wrote:

“There is an inexhaustible fullness of grace and mercy in God, which the prayers of all the saints can never draw dry. Whatever we may ask, or think to ask, still God is still able to do more, abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more. Open your mouth ever so wide, still he has the wherewithal to fill it.”

What are your expectations?

What are your all too human expectations of God?

What are your eternal expectations from God

Do your all too human expectations of God include the steadfast belief God is able to do more in your life and mine than we can hope or think or imagine?

There may be many things we believe we can not ever do in our own strength or our own ability as we acknowledge what Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

When we pray according to God’s will all things are possible.

Perhaps our problem when we pray is we often put limits on what God can do.

Often we can think our problem or circumstance or situation is beyond the scope of God’s ability.

If we think that our problems are bigger than God is able or willing to handle,

then we show a lack of faith in the God who loves us and cares for us.

A lack of faith may make us expect far less than God is willing to do.

Yet the Word of God is clear when it tells us to expect God to answer when we pray in faith.

Luke 18:1-8 English Standard Version

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Listen to these verses to encourage your expectation:

Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Isaiah 43:1-3 – But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Jeremiah 33:1-3 –

The Lord Promises Peace

33 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth,[a] the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Matthew 18:19– “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.

Matthew 21:22 – You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

Mark 11:24 – I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

John 14:13 – You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

John 15:7 – But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

John 15:16 – You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

John 16:23-24 – At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and He will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

James 1:5-6 – If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:17 – Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

1 John 3:22 – And we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.

1 John 5:14-15 – And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.

Fellow Children of God, the eternal truth of the matter is this: when we pray, we need to pray in faith, we all need to pray expectantly, expect God to do infinitely more, exceedingly and abundantly above all that we all ask or think or imagine.

Be exceedingly and abundantly honest with God who 100% already knows what is going on, when you pray, what are all those things you think about, that you do not, wont, pray about because you are too worried that God will not answer?

Are there things that you do not pray about because in your heart you do not want or do not expect our exceedingly abundant God to answer your prayer?

What?

Let me give a couple of examples:

What if the thought of sharing your faith with other people scares you, you may choose not to pray for God to provide those exceedingly abundant opportunities to share the truth of Jesus with others.

If you are exceedingly, abundantly comfortable being in a small church where everybody knows your name, you will never pray for God to grow your church.

The truth is we may expect many things of God, but He also highly expects us to be abundantly willing to follow His purpose for us, our church, our community.

We need to pray in an abundantly expectant faith, trusting God, obedient to His plans, His Word, His Truth, His life, His covenanted precepts, His perfect will.

We can expect God to answer prayer in the right way at the perfect time.

One thing God keeps teaching me through prayer is patience.

His timing is perfect in every situation.

God will act at the right time and He is willing to do far more than we ever ask, or think, or imagine.

What is going on in your life right now that needs a touch from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

Your health… your relationships… your family…

your work… your prayer life… your faith…

your daily walk… your witness for our Lord.

Don’t try and carry it on your own, don’t let it draw your attention away from God.

Joseph Scriven wrote some very appropriate words in his hymn ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer!

Whatever the situation, whatever the circumstances, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Pray and ask God to speak, to act, to move, to bless.

Pray in faith and expect God to move.

Here is another question:

How Big are Your Expectations of God?

How big is your expectation of God?

When you pray do you limit your expectation of what God can do?

Are you praying for someone in your family who as yet does not know God?

Are you praying in faith that God will change their heart?

Or have you given up praying for that person because your expectation is they will never turn to Jesus and be saved?

The Bible from our passage from Ephesians 3 is clear when it says God can and will do infinitely more, exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Don’t let your expectations limit your prayers.

Don’t limit what God can and will do!

Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:20,

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Throughout the Bible, we can read of many people who dared to ask God to do make the impossible possible.

God answered their prayers.

Maybe in your own life you have experienced God doing the impossible.

When you thought there was no hope,

when you thought the odds were against you,

when you thought it was impossible for circumstances to change,

when you expected the worst,

God stepped in and everything changed.

God stepped in and did infinitely more, exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ask or think or imagine.

God is Almighty, God is exceedingly incredible, God’s mighty power works an exceedingly abundant array of miracles in this messed up world every day.

God’s love and mercy is poured out into our lives every day; we are His children; our salvation is secure and certain in Jesus Christ; we are empowered by the Holy Spirit; God listens when we come to Him in prayer, God answers prayer.

God can abundantly exceed our expectation in every area of our everyday lives.

As I was reflecting on this devotional message, God laid an important truth on my heart to share with you:

Philippians 2:5-11 English Standard Version

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by  becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

With the Like Mind of our Savior Christ, We must always make time to pray.

It is equally important for us to pray in times of joy as well as times of trouble.

Expectant Prayer Builds Abundant Relationship With God

Romans 12:12 simply tells us we should:

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying (Romans 12:12)

This is an essential command for each of us to follow isn’t it?

Joyful hope and patience in afflic­tion go against the grain of our own natures.

Excessive Despair and exceedingly abundant self-pity come much more easily.

In times like that, it’s important to turn to God in prayer.

We pray for many reasons: to thank God for blessings, to praise God, to confess sins, to seek God’s exceedingly abundant leading, guidance and direction for us.

In good times and bad we are to speak to God,

we are to draw near to Him,

grow in our relationship with Him.

The truth of the matter is this: Sometimes God answers our requests for help exactly as we ask, but sometimes not – sometimes the answer comes back: NO!

Either way, the Bible calls us to be faithful in prayer.

Prayer—thanking, praising, confessing, asking for help—connects us with God.

Prayer builds relationship.

Prayer strengthens the bond between God and us.

When we all have a good relationship with someone, hopefulness and patience become a little easier, especially when Someone is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

We can have a confident and expectant hope in God.

The fact that you are here this devotional suggests that you have hope in God,

it suggests you want to know more of our exceedingly abundant God,

that you want to draw exceedingly and abundantly closer to Him,

that right now you want to be in a real relationship with Him,

that right now you are expecting God to be abundantly active in your life today.

How is your relationship with God?

Have you felt His presence and experienced His touch upon your life today?

When you woke up this morning was it with an expectant heart?

Were you thrilled by the thought God would work in you, through you today?

Did you come to this devotional writing today with an utterly expectant heart?

Expecting to worship an exceedingly abundant God…

Expecting to feel His exceedingly abundant presence…

Expecting to the Word of God speak into your life…

Expecting to see and believe in the exceedingly abundant miracles of God …

Expecting to feel your life changed, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit…

Expecting to be uplifted, refilled, renewed, restored, revitalized…

Expecting an exceedingly abundant revival get all revved up inside you …

Did you expect to come to “church” today expecting infinitely more, far exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ask or think or imagine?

What is God’s Abundant Expectation of You Today?

What is God’s exceedingly abundant expectations of you today?

As disciples of Jesus, God expects our daily commitment to Him.

God expects us to trust Him.

God expects us to follow Him.

God expects us to love Him.

God expects us to serve Him.

God expects us to speak to Him in prayer.

God expects us to learn more about Him.

God expects us to think about the things of God.

God expects us to tell others about Him.

God expects us to give Him first place in our lives.

God expects many things of each and every one of us.

Are you meeting God’s expectation of you?

One more thing God exceedingly and abundantly expects is for us to fill our minds, hearts with the #1 hard core Truth of God’s Word: “God is 100% #1!”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Almighty God, we serve and worship you, the One, True, Everlasting God, Who, when we are in absolute surrender to your Holy Will, show your incredible Power, your Omnipotence, Omnipresence and Omniscience, which is beyond limits of description and human comprehension. Your exceedingly abundant wonders and miracles, your exceedingly abundant love, goodness and mercy, exceeds all known perceptions and expectations goes beyond borders and boundaries into unlimited infinity.

You can create, recreate, do or undo anything, for the end of the greatest length of any of man’s abilities, is just the beginning of the endless possibilities and the wondrous working of your Mighty Hands. This amply demonstrates that for those who walk exceedingly abundantly according to your Holy Will and find favor in your eyes by their dedicated faith, your great outpourings of graces and blessings manifest your vast Glory and are exceedingly and abundantly visited upon them endlessly.

Lord, we are grateful beyond measure to worship and serve you, who dares the impossible and does the unthinkable. You work in us through the power of your Holy Spirit to increase our faith, and preserve to salvation all believers in Christ our Lord. His immense sacrifice of washing us pure of all sin, has made the gift of eternal life available and attainable by all who give Christ the glory in his Church, and in his far exceedingly abundant Name forever and forever and forever more. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Are The Disciples Asking Themselves: How Can We Know and Can We Trust God Will Keep Us in His Perfect Peace? John 20:19-23, Isaiah 26:1-4

John 20:19-23 Amplified Bible

Jesus among His Disciples

19 So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “[a]Peace to you.” 20 After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy. 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives].” 22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

In those moments of the death and resurrection, behind those barred doors of the Upper Room, can we even begin to imagine those disciples’ state of mind?

Many of Jesus’ followers had scattered for fear of their lives, and his closest disciples were hiding behind closed doors in fear of the religious authorities.

Their much beloved Rabbi (“Teacher”) had been crucified and then buried.

They had walked with Him for three long years and witnessed much, they had believed in him as the Messiah (the “Anointed One”), their promised deliverer.

Now, “cast off” doubts came rushing in – had it all been “too good to be true”?

Sure, they had just heard Mary’s highly excited message that Jesus had risen.

Peter and John had run to see the now-empty tomb, but that wasn’t even close to being the same thing as what Mary had experienced – seeing “Jesus IS alive!”

Was Mary mistaken?

Was it all “wishful thinking?”

Standing at the tomb in the dark, in her indescribable, immeasurable grief, had she only imagined seeing Jesus, through tear stained eyes, in an empty garden?

Did she see only what her impossibly desperate state of mind needed, wanted, to see, that she might find the only means of coping with the unbelievability?

Had others taken the body?

And Mary could not “handle the gravity” nor implications of, that possibility?

Where was her Rabbi that believed in her when no one else had dared to believe?

Bad news can be so easily believable!

Good news can seem so easily unbelievable!

Crucified and buried men don’t roll away unmovable stones, walk out of graves!

Were they being asked to believe: “impossible” witness and testimony of Mary?

Jesus didn’t keep his disciples waiting long.

That evening, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’”

He stood before them, and then He spoke these words to them.

He showed them his wounds.

He greeted them with a familiar blessing, “Peace Be With You.”

Jesus gave them the peace and presence they had been missing.

And they were overjoyed.

Things had not been the way they were supposed to be, but now they were!

Today we too celebrate that God is with us!

God’s Peace is With Us!

Christ has risen!

He is alive, and he lives in us! Hallelujah!

Peace is possible!

But, how can we know such a magnitude of God’s Peace through Christ is real?

I cannot claim any similar experience as those disciples in the Upper Room.

I do not know if anyone outside of those disciples in the Upper Room can claim the Resurrected Jesus just appeared to them in their homes or anywhere else?

So we read the post resurrection texts from the Gospels of Luke and John and because I believe in the Word of God for His Children, I “accept” their efforts.

But still, there are the questions being asked by everyone of this moment such a sequence of events are wholly, miraculously unique to the Christian experience.

How about our giving God, through Christ Jesus the benefits, prayers of doubts?

How about our confidence in the Word of God regarding “God’s Perfect Peace?”

How about our confidence in ourselves such a magnitude of Peace is achievable?

You know, actually believing more in the promises of God than the promises of our enemies rust laden promises which we grow fat on, we obsessively feed on?

How Can We Know God Will Keep Us in Perfect Peace?

Isaiah 26:1-4 Amplified Bible

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
2 
“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that [a]remains faithful and trustworthy.
3 
“You will keep in [b]perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both [c]inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
4 
“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

Peace is possible even in our stressful, troubled world.

In Isaiah 26:3, the Bible promises that God and God alone “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Here’s what it means to do that, so you can experience peace in any situation.

What Does ‘He Will Keep in Perfect Peace’ Mean?

Everyone who chooses to keep their minds steadfast because they trust in God can count on experiencing perfect peace while they do so, according to this verse.

That means you can enjoy a state of perfect peace as long as you focus your mind from beyond your circumstances to God, and trust him to help you no matter what.

As a result of choosing to trust God, you welcome God’s peace into your mind.

Some people chase after peace of mind from worldly achievements, such as through the wanton pursuit health and wealth and wellness.

Good circumstances may help you enjoy a temporary feeling of peace.

However, only God can actually provide complete and lasting peace.

God, who alone is perfect, is the only reliable source of peace.

Thankfully, God is willing to give that perfect peace to everyone who decides to trust him to provide it.

Trusting God involves being at peace with God through Jesus Christ since Jesus made it possible for all humanity to have relationships with God. 

Ephesians 2:14 says about Jesus: “For he himself is our peace” and Ephesians 2:17-18 points out that, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

When we have that close connection to God, we can experience peace even during the most challenging circumstances, because “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

John Gills Commentary puts it this way:

“this peace is true, real, and solid; in which sense the word “perfect” is used, in opposition to a false and imaginary one; and it will end in perfect peace in heaven: moreover, the word “perfect” is not in the Hebrew text, it is there “peace, peace”; which is doubled to denote the certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and the constancy and continuance of it; and as expressive of all sorts of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace with men, peace outward and peace inward, peace here and peace hereafter; and particularly it denotes the abundance of peace that believers will have in the kingdom of Christ in the latter day.”

What Is the Context and Background of Isaiah 26:3?

Isaiah 26:3 is part of a song of praise in which the biblical prophet Isaiah celebrates God’s trustworthiness to provide all that people need, including their ultimate need: salvation.

Isaiah sings about how Israel will be judged for their sins yet also restored by God, in his mercy. Isaiah predicts that God will save people from their sins.

Although people may sometimes be faithless toward God, God will always be faithful to his people, Isaiah emphasizes.

God is willing to redeem and restore, and his perfect peace enters the souls of all who decide they have worn out their trust in the world to just trust in Him.

So, Isaiah urges readers to trust in God.

He writes that it is “because they trust” in God that God “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast”.

The very next verse after Isaiah 26:3 emphasizes trust: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:4).

How Can We Be Sure That We Will Be Kept in Perfect Peace?

We can be sure that God will keep us in perfect peace.

The Holy Spirit will renew our minds whenever we ask for help doing what’s necessary to be at peace: focusing on God and trusting him. 

Romans 12:2 urges us all:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his pleasing and perfect will.”

The Spirit will help us access the perfect peace that God offers us.

Jesus promises in John 14:26-27:

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Peace is one of the nine “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23.

As you invite the Holy Spirit to renew your mind, you can count on the Spirit’s help to do what Isaiah 26:3 calls you to do: trust in God with a steadfast mind.

A powerful way to pursue peace is to pursue wonder because experiencing wonder expands your awareness of God’s work in your life, and that gives you the assurance you need to trust God and be at peace.

And it can be a wonderful way for anyone to seek the perfect peace that only comes from God.

Here’s how it works:

Visualize Jesus on the cross, visualize the specific things that are troubling you.

Then see yourself walking toward Jesus and laying those things down at the foot of the cross for him to take care of for you.

Through a brief prayer, ask Jesus for help with every specific thing you’ve left there for him.

Entrust it all to his care.

See yourself walk away afterward, with your mind and heart open to receiving peace from Jesus.

Prayer ushers peace into your heart and mind,

according to Philippians 4:6-7, which says:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Characteristics of God’s Perfect Peace

We can be confident that the perfect peace God gives us will last.

The temporary peace of mind we may find from good circumstances in our lives can relieve some stress and anxiety for a while.

However, the peace that God gives isn’t limited to certain times or tied to specific circumstances.

The perfect peace of God is much more than simply the absence of stress and anxiety; it’s a deep and abiding knowledge of being loved and cared for by God no matter what.

Although that peace is beyond our understanding, it will guard our hearts and minds, promises Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 139 describes how near God’s Spirit is to us at all times and in all places.

Verses 7-10 point out:

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

We can be sure that we’re never out of the Holy Spirit’s reach.

So, we’re always able to access the perfect peace that God offers us through his Spirit.

After celebrating God’s sovereignty over all circumstances in life, the psalmist ends with a plea for God to renews his mind:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

That can be our prayer in any situation.

When we pray to experience God’s peace through a steadfast mind that is focused on him, we can count on that happening.

The Holy Spirit will strengthen our faith by renewing our minds, and peace will come to us as a result.

“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1 explains.

When you follow the advice of Isaiah 26:3, you can be confident that you’ll experience perfect peace from God.

Simply pray and ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind whenever you need help centering your focus on God.

The Spirit may direct your attention to a wondrous sign of God’s work in your life, or simply quiet your mind.

In the process, perfect peace will flow into your soul!

Perhaps that is why John added the words of John 20:22 to this narrative:

John 20:22 Amplified Bible

22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Words of Purpose!

The first words Jesus spoke to his frightened disciples after his resurrection were words of reassurance: “Peace be with you!”

Then he quickly gave them a renewed sense of purpose: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

With those words, Jesus was passing his mission on to his followers.

Perhaps you’ve seen a relay race in which one runner comes up behind the next and passes off the baton.

That’s what Jesus was doing here.

He was passing off the baton to his followers and saying, “Go! Finish the race!

Carry on the mission I began!

I ran the first leg; now you run the next.

Just as God the Father sent me into the world, now I am sending you into the world! Go!” (See John 17:18.)

18 Just as You commissioned and sent Me into the world, I also have commissioned  and sent them (believers) into the world.

Later, Jesus would remind his disciples again of that mission:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

With whom can you and I share this good news of God’s Ultimate Peace today?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Lord, Help me daily to remember you are indeed Lord of my life. You have the right to rule all that I think, believe and do. When I allow my mind to run to places that destroy my peace, remind me these are unauthorized thoughts. You do not want me to dwell on thoughts and emotions that contribute to unreasonable fears. I know my mind will remain in perfect peace as I fix my thoughts on you; so Lord Jesus, let your peace rule in my heart. Remind me of the peace I have in the shadow of Your Cross and in your family, and I pray the Holy Spirit to teach me how to be thankful for those circumstances that cause me to run to you, focus on you, and abide in you. I never need to live with fearful, anxious thoughts. Truth is, you alone are in control!

Adeste Fidelis! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Ash Wednesday: Deciding, Will We Ever Consent to Give Any Living Hope to Our Ailing and Hurting Hearts? Joel 2:12-14

Joel 2:12-14Amplified Bible

12 
“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
13 
Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].
14 
Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Lent Begins … Does Hope Also Begin For Hurting Hearts?

In a large number of churches today, the ancient words of today’s Scripture reading will be read every year in the traditional Ash Wednesday liturgy.

Ash Wednesday, which falls this year on February 22, is the first day of Lent, a season in the church calendar that invites believers in God and non-believers as well, to maybe start paying special attention to the suffering and death of Jesus.

Why are these instructions about rending hearts and not garments significant?

In the Bible the rending and tearing of clothes is a sign of mourning and is often accompanied by the placing of ashes on one’s head.

Biblically, Jacob tore his clothes when he heard a report that his son, Joseph, had been killed (Genesis 37:34).

And when young King Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law after it was rediscovered in the temple, he tore his robes as a sign of grief over the nation’s sin (2 Kings 22:11).

The Patriarch Job, when he had suddenly lost everything – including his health, he sat down on the ground and covered himself from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes, the harsh and harshest realities of life will cause us to sit ourselves own on the ground and desire to “cover ourselves from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes the reality of sin is enough to break our hearts.

The season of Lent reminds us that no one felt the pain of sin more than Jesus.

Jesus had already given up everything he was at home with His Heavenly Father to come to us and to offer up to His maxed out example of genuine Godly living. [John 3:16-18, Philippians 2:1-11]

John 3:16-18 The Message

16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Philippians 2:5-11 The Message

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

When he was arrested, beaten, humiliated, crowned then crucified, Jesus was fully and completely, utterly, publicly stripped of his dignity and his garments.

More than that, his heart broke under the weight of our sin.

Joel’s reading for today is God’s invitation to return to him is answered by our looking to the cross of Christ, asking forgiveness through his sacrifice for us.

God promises to come unto us, wash away our sin and give us new life through the One whose torn garments, broken heart bring 100% healing for the world.

We Must Answer the Question: Will I Give My Heart Any Hope?

Joel 2:12-14 The Message

Change Your Life

12 But there’s also this, it’s not too late—
    God’s personal Message!—
“Come back to me and really mean it!
    Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”

13-14 Change your life, not just your clothes.
    Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
    He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
    always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
    maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
    there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!

Joel is the prophet who compares the coming Day of the Lord with a succession of locust invasions, which sequentially devour every crop and all vegetation in an unrelenting, visibly shocking, path of progressive destruction.

Both grain and fruit harvests fail due to the devastating onslaught of this four-pronged locust infestation.

The total destruction of Israel’s wheat and barley crops, along with the failure of the entire fruit harvest, causes all the people and priests alike to mourn and lament bitterly at how hopeless everything had become before their very eyes.

Not only were the priests instructed to mourn and call for a sacred assembly, but the entire nation was commanded to fast and to cry out to the Lord their God, in sincere repentance of heart.

Israel failed to heed the past prophetic warnings of earlier prophets.

Joel’s heartfelt appeal for repentance, his warning of coming destruction, is one more demonstration of the nation’s continued rebellion against the God of their forefathers, their refusal to heed His Word and obey the covenant promises they made at Mount Sinai.

What the chewing locusts left was eaten by the swarming locusts.

And what they did not devour, was taken by the crawling locusts and then the consuming ones.

In like manner, the prophesied day of the Lord will be one of the greatest destructions to befall the rebellious nation of Israel.

It will be a time such as the world has never seen, nor would ever see again.

However, it will be a time when Israel calls out to the Lord and He will hear and rescue His people.

The entire passage compares the advance and destruction of this terrible locust invasion with speedy horses.

It likens them to a vast army of marching men of war who steadily advance with unrelenting menace, in a strict formation – but who plunder everything in their path like a well organized band of marauders and thieves.

Israel’s rebellion against the Lord, which included sloth and drunkenness, resulted in the barrage of these devouring locusts.

And the consequences of their continued rebellion, apostasy, and disobedience, would result in judgement – the coming ‘Day of the Lord’.

Joel’s entire prophecy was given to the nation of Israel.

Although it was partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when many men of Israel repented of their sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the full and final fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, which begins with a day of thick darkness and progresses into the glories of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ,

will take place at the end of Daniel’s 70th week i.e. the Great Tribulation, which is sometimes called the Time of Jacobs Trouble.

The continued grace and mercy of God can be seen in His divine appeal to the people of Judah to repent of their sins and return to the Lord – for we read:

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning.” [verse 12]

Both for the nation of Israel and for unsaved Gentiles alike, the precious truth of this passage is that it is never too late for sinners or backsliders to turn away from their sins, to return to the Lord with all their heart, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

It is a beautiful demonstration the goodness, grace, and mercy of our long-suffering God, remains fully open to ALL who will simply trust in His Word,

remember His goodness, genuinely return to Him with heart and soul – and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

It shows that fasting, with weeping and morning, is often associated with true repentance of heart.

And although, there is no written covenant, set rules, or legalistic regulations which are required of Church-age believers, it is very important and wise to take note of things that outwardly demonstrate an inward change of heart.

That is why the LORD says,
     “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
     Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
     but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the LORD your God,
     for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
     He is eager to relent and not punish.— Joel 2:13 NLT

God is far more concerned about hearts genuinely loving Him and longing to be in a relationship with Him than He is about a lot of external religious trappings.

The Hebrew Testament prophets emphasized that God’s people often lost their hearts to what was false and only gave lip service to God in their rituals. 

Jesus also emphasized that God wanted us to love Him and serve Him from our hearts and not just by going through religious motions.

For us to make the max best decision possible “hope for our hearts,” We must hear several of Joel’s key phrases passionately speaking God’s invitation to us:

  • “Give me your hearts…”
  • “Don’t tear your clothing… tear your hearts instead.”

God pleads for us to return to Him, wholeheartedly: 

“Turn to me now, while there is time.” 

Why would the Almighty God plead with His lowly creations?

Because YHWH loves us and longs for us to come home to Him, and love Him — heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Our “Abba” Father is full and maxed out of unfailing love [John 3:16-18]

even now yearns to be utterly received, “merciful and compassionate” to us!

The amazing, awe-inspiring truth is as simple and straightforward as it is glorious: The Creator of the universe, with all of its vastness, mystery, and beauty, 100% knows us and longs for us to draw near to Him and know Him.

Let’s come to this God seeking to hug Him, and embrace Him and love Him and know Him and experience Him exactly as we are now loved and known by Him!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,  

Let us Pray,

Merciful God, you called us forth from the dust of the earth; you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. Look upon us as with mercy and forgiveness as we enter these next Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and torn and rendered hearts and please bless the journey through the desert of Lent to the blessed font of rebirth. As we remember our mortality and seek penitence today, we know you to be a God who is rich in forgiveness and abounding in steadfast love, love that culminates in eternal life with you. Guide our steps this Lent, so that we might find greater fulfillment in your promises and better serve others with a heart that’s reflective of you. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Proverbs 11:25: Watering Others and Getting Watered Yourself. Meaning of the Generous Person Will Prosper.

Many times, we don’t think a lot about being generous, liberal or otherwise. We are often thinking about how we can save enough money to buy the car, shoes or the best phone we have always believed we wanted. Lots of energy goes into making sure we have the latest and greatest. And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting all the nice things, we’ve got to keep it in the proper perspective.

Zealously acquiring things can and will trap us in an endless cycle. You get something, but it doesn’t really satisfy you, so you try to obtain the next thing, and that does not really make you happy, so you reach for something new. If you are not very careful, your whole life can turn into that pursuit of “stuff.”

God wants His people to be like Him – and that requires that we take a serious look at what it means to be generous – to water and then be watered.  The Lord Himself is extremely generous toward mankind.  When one considers that we have sinned against Him, rebelled against His sovereignty and authority, you begin to grasp why any response other than judgment is marvelously generous.

Yet God has gone far above just showing us a little love and charity. There are many reasons why a truly generous person will prosper. There does seem to be a distinction between those who seem to generously share their happiness and relative prosperity with those around them, and those who seem to serve others and or themselves out of some sort of obligation and self-hatred. Therefore, we should honestly and generously consider our God’s generosity as being infinite.

Proverbs 11:24-26 New King James Version

24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.
25 The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
26 The people will curse him who withholds grain,
But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

Proverbs 11:25 King James Version

25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

God says that the generous man will be prosperous.  The literal Hebrew here says, “The soul of blessing will be made fat.”  The idea here is that a person wants to bless others.  This men or woman is generous in the very core of their being.  Their normal response is to be kind and generous to others.  God tells us that this kind of person will be prosperous. 

Some in the “name-it, claim it” movement states that this means they will have lots of money.  But I’ve seen over the years people who would not be in any way described as rich – be very generous and be very prosperous.  They are this way not just with money – but with their time, with their service, their spiritual gifts.  From their “poverty” they richly prosper because they choose a mindset of “My life can reveal God in His Neighborhood” I’ve known these people to be some of the most blessed people in my life.  They have nothing to their names, but they have God in their “neighborhoods” called their hearts and their souls.

Thus, in defining prosperity, we likewise need to define it not just as monetary prosperity, but also as prosperity of soul as well. God moves in that place also. 

When a truly generous person generously shares their prosperity, from their poverty, a cycle of “refreshing” begins to turn, until it is hard to tell which came first, the generosity, or the feeling of prosperity and refreshment. God calls us to be a source of refreshment to others, and generally, the degree to which we are able to do that will be the degree to which we ourselves receive refreshment in return. This seems to line up with the way that he has created the world with certain principles of justice and mercy. God is more generous from His “poverty” than we can imagine. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

The way to approach this proverb is simply to generously believe it and then generously seek to be a person who refreshes others and is generous from their impoverished state. It is also reasonable to examine yourself if you don’t feel refreshed. How generous have you been? Do you believe that you are deprived, your resources are scarce? Has it caused you to hold back from being generous? If so, then you are unlikely to feel refreshed, or that God is generous with you.

Breaking Down the Key Parts of Proverbs 11:25

#1 “A generous person…”
This is a person who gives freely because they understand that Jesus came that they would have a generous life and have it abundantly. They understand that God is the source of all they have and that he cannot be out given (2 Cor. 9:6).

#2 “…will prosper;”
Prosperity is an all-encompassing word that only partially refers to money. Jesus said that our Father in heaven knows what we need and will add all things as we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Generous living is a key part of seeking God’s kingdom and will cause us to prosper. (Mt. 6:19-24 and 25-34)

#3 “whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
The life of a generous lover and follower of God is refreshing in itself. You won’t find a life of following God that is disconnected from generosity to others.

The last aspect of this proverb says that the one who waters others, will himself be watered.  This is an allusion to the agricultural world. 

When someone waters a plant, he is providing much needed moisture to the plant for its health, growth and welfare.  The picture here is not of a plant being watered, but of a person being blessed.  When we are generous with our time and our ministry to others, we are helping them grow spiritually.  When we do this, God lets us know that we ourselves will be aided in our spiritual growth. 

The way this works is truly amazing – because so often our fallen nature wants everyone to “water and refresh us” rather than to refresh, pour out into others.

At the risk of being prideful, I will use an example from my own life.  There have been many days that I have woken up and did not want to do anything.  I was filled with thoughts of myself – and all I wanted was to do my own thing – or to just sit and do nothing.  Often on these days I feel pretty depressed and useless.

But on several of them God began to speak to my heart, encouraging me to get up and actively go out somewhere to bless someone else who needed it.  What is funny is that at first when I chose to obey God in this, I was not terribly excited about the whole thing.  Usually, I did it by accessing what seemed to be the last ounce of strength I could muster (really this was not the case – I just get a kind of dramatic when I am an over-zealous selfish blob of bah, blah and humbugs. 

What is truly astounding though is how I was generously watered by the Holy Spirit as I ventured forth outside of my “humbugs” to just bless someone else.

Eventually the over generous supply of my blahs would begin to lift – and my attitude would alter radically.  By the end of the day, I would notice that I had come full circle, being filled with joy over God’s goodness in it all. 

I remember a good friend talking about a friend of his who had a day like this.  He chose to get up, drive 500 miles in a day and go, bless someone else with the “fishing trip of their lifetimes.”  The story concludes with this man stating that it was because this brother obeyed God that he himself was saved.  The man he went to bless – was him.  He shared the gospel with my friend – and later that evening, at a revival service he invited him to attend, he gave his life to Christ.

Remember this proverb the next time you get into a spiritual and emotional funk.  Decide to go do something that will generously bless others. Choose to be generous – to go out and our out an abundance of water upon someone whose spiritual life is impoverished, dry, as longing and thirsty as a dear and barren. 

Go out and bless someone else who could never repay you for what you are about to do.  When you do this – you will soon learn the generously refreshing truth of this passage.  From your “impoverished state,” you will be prosperous spiritually – and – you will find yourself being watered by God Himself for your generosity – and by your willingness to adopt His character as your very own.

True happiness comes when you put pursuing things to the side and to begin living a life of generosity. And the great thing about generosity is that you don’t have to have several tons of money to do it. It can start by simply just buying a friend a Water who is having a bad day. Or helping your neighbor carry in their trash cans. It could be cooking a friend some meals after they’ve had surgery.

Being generous doesn’t have to take a lot of money, it’s just about getting out of yourself and the singular pursuit of our stuff and into being a blessing to other people around us. So today ask God for ways that you can begin to be generous.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

O Lord, my zealously generous God, thank you that your work is perfect, your ways are just, you are a God of faithfulness. You have said that in all things at all times, from my poverty, you will be the One to supply all that I need. Please help me to abundantly trust only in your generous power to bring breakthroughs in situations where I cannot find a solution. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let Your glory be above all the earth. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

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