Good Thursday morning! Have you parked your butt on that rickety chair again? You might not know which chair I'm writing about this morning, but last night I felt prompted to ponder that chair once more. The chair I write about this morning is called Pride. We sometimes find our place on that chair when we should be walking with Jesus. The world would have us believe in our selves and have therefore no need for a god, much less God. When sitting on that rickety chair of Pride, we try to take God's place. A sure sign of this is when you or I start using "I am" when we shouldn't. Now this is not the English "I am", but the Hebrew "I Am" that is the name of God. While sitting on that chair we may not realize that we are using the name reserved for God alone, but when we try to shut out God, that is what is happening.
Why do I call it a rickety chair? We know through the Holy Spirit that we are weak, stubborn, sinful, given to lust, covetous, and yes, proud in our human nature. All of that is from the stain of sin. In pride we say that "I Am" basically good. We might even try to include others in that to help support the rickety chair of Pride. "All humans are basically good at heart." You have heard that said before. If that were true we wouldn't need the boatload of laws and law enforcement personnel that we have today. That old chair looks a little shaky there. Pride also tells us to say that "I Am" good at something without giving the glory to God. Taking credit unto my self for talent or attributes that God has given to me is pride. In that case, I use my own gifts as supports for that chair of Pride and try to ignore God or at least place him at a distance.
Did you ever realize that the reason for that old Deist philosophy is to get God out of the way? Deism is the belief that God created the universe, wound it up like a watch, and then stood back to just, um, watch. Believing this allows a person to mount that rickety high chair of Pride because God is placed at a distance. Since He only watches, then all accomplishments are "mine". God doesn't interfere in our lives, or help out in any way, and so a person can then claim ownership of gifts, inventions, time, money, physical attributes, and anything else that might help support that Pride. Ah, but we know that God is right here, right now, and cares very much about each of us.
So what brings that prideful, creaking, shaking, chair down? A stiff breeze? Well, in a sense, yes. The chair we build when trying to sit on what we think is God's throne is often knocked down by just a little puff of the Holy Spirit. When I think back to the times when I have fallen off that chair I built, I find that a small event for God can be a very large event for me. When we give our lives to Christ, He cares enough to knock down our little Pride chairs. Looking up from a spiritually prostrate position, we see that God is very firmly on His throne, thank you very much, and that the Holy Spirit is busy sweeping away the little sticks of our Pride chair. We enjoy God's correction in our lives.
What about those who suffer the same or very similar events as we have and yet, they don't believe in God? Pride may be a rickety chair, but denial of that pride can be very strong. God will not force belief in Jesus and this allows pride to continue in some folks. You have probably heard them in person and on the telly, "I" recovered from this, "I" picked myself up from that, or "I" accomplished through "my" own skill, talent, training, etc...a lot of "I" and no glory for God. In their pride, people can and do ignore God, taking all the credit, glorifying themselves, and polishing their chair of Pride. The chair is just as rickety and shaky as any we have built, but they cannot realize it while ignoring God. Sometimes it borders on the ridiculous. Something happens in their life, everyone can see their Pride chair has fallen, but the person will continue proclaiming their "I Am" from the pile of sticks that was their "throne". Praise God that once in a while a person does look up from that pile of pride sticks and takes hold of God's hand. I did, you did, and anyone can look up from a shattered pride and give that old prideful self to Jesus.
One major benefit of giving up your self to Christ is in the Holy Spirit reminding you that all good things come from God. "I" didn't pick myself up from this event; God picked me up, dusted me off, and said, "walk with Me." Forgiveness for building that little, shaky, mockery of a throne is so wonderful! I pray that everyone will see God and know that He is God and "I" ain't.
Have a great day in Christ Jesus!
Bucky
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Blessed Assurance - March 30, 2009
Blessed Assurance
New York City in the year 1873: a blind song writer listens to a tune composed by her friend, Phoebe Knapp and immediately writes the words to that famous hymn, Blessed Assurance. Fanny Crosby wrote many great hymns, but this one may be the most famous. How could she write these words?
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine,
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
How did she know that we have this blessed assurance? If Jesus can give us this assurance, then the answer will be in His holy Word, the Bible. The answer should not be difficult, requiring years of scholarly study; else we would have to take the word of Bible professors. The answer cannot be visual, for Fanny Crosby did not see the world of sunlight as we do. The answer must also not be hidden, for you and I would have no idea where to look for it.
For this answer, I will use only the words Jesus spoke in John 3:1-21. This book is my favorite book in the Bible; I read it over and over, continually finding new wisdom and meaning. For this response, the key knowledge is found in one conversation between Jesus and one seeker of salvation. What did Jesus have to say about our assurance of eternal life, the result of salvation?
Late one night a man came to Jesus seeking answers, just as we seek those same answers. You might say that this man, Nicodemus, represents each of us as we come to Jesus. Most believers in Jesus came to Him in the same manner. Seldom does a person stand up in a crowded hall and bellow out: “Does anyone here believe in Jesus? I have some questions!” No, in most cases we slide into a back pew in a church, or we find a Christian and ask individually in a quiet, out of the way spot. Some folks find a large church to get lost in the crowd, others a small church to minimize the chance of being recognized. Whatever method we use, the seeking begins.
Our friend Nicodemus starts off with what he thinks is important: Teacher, here is what I know… Does Jesus give him a pat on the back, a “good job” for his effort? No, Jesus tells him what he needs to know.
“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Nicodemus reacted from his human learning, just like many of us did when first hearing about being born again. “Eh? How can you come out of your mother’s womb again?” As a Pharisee, Nicodemus probably enjoyed an education that would equate to a college degree today. However, the new birth is not based on human understanding.
This may not seem very assuring, but read on:
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and of the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” (John 3:5-6)
Our entry into this life is of water; our entry into the next is of the Spirit. The expression, “her water broke” is still used today as a baby is born. As Jesus said; humans reproduce human life, the Holy Spirit takes care of eternal life. The answer is not in something we must accomplish, as in birthing a baby, but is something given to us by the Holy Spirit. A couple of places in John 3 note the giving of eternal life; in the verses above and later we will see another very famous example. Before we get to that verse Jesus gives assurances to those who will believe.
Note the start of each important statement from Jesus – “I tell you the truth…” in verse 3, “I assure you…” in verse 5, and one more time to start verse 11:
“I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen…”
Why the change in persons there? Jesus starts with “I” and then changes to “we”. In Jewish custom, the word of two witnesses was required. Jesus is one; the Holy Spirit is the other. Jesus gives us his assurance of what both he and the Holy Spirit know and have seen. Jesus then goes on to tell us and Nicodemus how salvation will be assured.
“And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)
In other words, Jesus foretold his own death on the cross by crucifixion in the Roman fashion. Jesus paid the price to save all who will believe in Him. Of course if we know the ‘how’ we will want to know the ‘why’, and Jesus provides that in what is probably the most famous verse in all Christianity; John 3:16
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
How do we have assurance of our salvation? God loved us enough to pay the ransom through the death of his own Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the price, the Holy Spirit gives us new birth, and God grants us mercy because of this. We base our assurance of salvation on Jesus’ own words:
“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world though him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” (John 3:17-21)
A person cannot assure himself of eternal life; Jesus gives us the assurance we seek when we believe in Him. If a person believes in Jesus, he or she believes what Jesus said. There is no middle ground; without belief - no assurance is given; with belief – eternal life is assured on the Word of Jesus.
New York City in the year 1873: a blind song writer listens to a tune composed by her friend, Phoebe Knapp and immediately writes the words to that famous hymn, Blessed Assurance. Fanny Crosby wrote many great hymns, but this one may be the most famous. How could she write these words?
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine,
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
How did she know that we have this blessed assurance? If Jesus can give us this assurance, then the answer will be in His holy Word, the Bible. The answer should not be difficult, requiring years of scholarly study; else we would have to take the word of Bible professors. The answer cannot be visual, for Fanny Crosby did not see the world of sunlight as we do. The answer must also not be hidden, for you and I would have no idea where to look for it.
For this answer, I will use only the words Jesus spoke in John 3:1-21. This book is my favorite book in the Bible; I read it over and over, continually finding new wisdom and meaning. For this response, the key knowledge is found in one conversation between Jesus and one seeker of salvation. What did Jesus have to say about our assurance of eternal life, the result of salvation?
Late one night a man came to Jesus seeking answers, just as we seek those same answers. You might say that this man, Nicodemus, represents each of us as we come to Jesus. Most believers in Jesus came to Him in the same manner. Seldom does a person stand up in a crowded hall and bellow out: “Does anyone here believe in Jesus? I have some questions!” No, in most cases we slide into a back pew in a church, or we find a Christian and ask individually in a quiet, out of the way spot. Some folks find a large church to get lost in the crowd, others a small church to minimize the chance of being recognized. Whatever method we use, the seeking begins.
Our friend Nicodemus starts off with what he thinks is important: Teacher, here is what I know… Does Jesus give him a pat on the back, a “good job” for his effort? No, Jesus tells him what he needs to know.
“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Nicodemus reacted from his human learning, just like many of us did when first hearing about being born again. “Eh? How can you come out of your mother’s womb again?” As a Pharisee, Nicodemus probably enjoyed an education that would equate to a college degree today. However, the new birth is not based on human understanding.
This may not seem very assuring, but read on:
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and of the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” (John 3:5-6)
Our entry into this life is of water; our entry into the next is of the Spirit. The expression, “her water broke” is still used today as a baby is born. As Jesus said; humans reproduce human life, the Holy Spirit takes care of eternal life. The answer is not in something we must accomplish, as in birthing a baby, but is something given to us by the Holy Spirit. A couple of places in John 3 note the giving of eternal life; in the verses above and later we will see another very famous example. Before we get to that verse Jesus gives assurances to those who will believe.
Note the start of each important statement from Jesus – “I tell you the truth…” in verse 3, “I assure you…” in verse 5, and one more time to start verse 11:
“I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen…”
Why the change in persons there? Jesus starts with “I” and then changes to “we”. In Jewish custom, the word of two witnesses was required. Jesus is one; the Holy Spirit is the other. Jesus gives us his assurance of what both he and the Holy Spirit know and have seen. Jesus then goes on to tell us and Nicodemus how salvation will be assured.
“And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)
In other words, Jesus foretold his own death on the cross by crucifixion in the Roman fashion. Jesus paid the price to save all who will believe in Him. Of course if we know the ‘how’ we will want to know the ‘why’, and Jesus provides that in what is probably the most famous verse in all Christianity; John 3:16
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
How do we have assurance of our salvation? God loved us enough to pay the ransom through the death of his own Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the price, the Holy Spirit gives us new birth, and God grants us mercy because of this. We base our assurance of salvation on Jesus’ own words:
“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world though him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” (John 3:17-21)
A person cannot assure himself of eternal life; Jesus gives us the assurance we seek when we believe in Him. If a person believes in Jesus, he or she believes what Jesus said. There is no middle ground; without belief - no assurance is given; with belief – eternal life is assured on the Word of Jesus.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Why do we Pray? - March 7, 2009
Why do we Pray?
We tend to think of prayer as a formula for contacting God; a ritual that will put us in contact with our heavenly Father. Some might point to the Lord’s Prayer or the many other written prayers as proof of what we should say to contact God. However, we should define prayer as simply talking to God. In this Jesus gave us a format to use in the Lord’s Prayer, and not a form to follow religiously each time we pray. Prayer is much more than a list of needs. If all we do is present a list of our needs to God each time we pray then I can see why someone might ask why we need to do this at all since God knows our every need before we ask it. There is nothing wrong with bringing your needs to God, but there is so much more to prayer!
The words that come to mind when I think of our prayer life are: praise, empathy, exercise, power, predicament, peace, enchanted, and enemy.
Praise: We sing songs of praise, but those songs began with psalms written back in the days of David and Solomon. Psalms and prayers share much in common and one of those traits is praise. We might want to begin every prayer by praising God for His providence. To start in praise is to get into the attitude of acknowledging all that God has done for us. Praising God makes us feel better; starting off with a long list of needs can make us feel kind of helpless and hopeless in this big world. Praising God is a choice to thank Him for the good things in life.
Empathy: We can bring the needs of others to God, letting Him know that we care about others and love to bring them to God in prayer. Prayer is about more than just our own needs. More important is the learning to love others and placing their needs ahead of our own. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This has two meanings that I see: first we love others as we want them to love us. And second, we love others at the same time as we love ourselves. Putting others ahead of yourself does not mean that you hate your self, only that we are to love others and love our own self as both are creations of almighty God. Empathy is learning to feel sorrow when a friend is sorrowful. We pray for those who are hurting and we pray for those in need. Empathy also leads us to remember others when our needs often seem overwhelming in this life. If my problems seem huge today, praying for someone else brings the problems down to their proper size. I don’t wish tragedy upon anyone, but often my problems seem almost laughable when I think of the problems many people face around the world.
Exercise: How do you build up muscle or get better at some skill in the physical world? Right, each of us must exercise to keep our bodies healthy or practice our skills to become proficient. Prayer is the same. A Christian might start out with very simple prayers, perhaps simply repeating the Lord’s Prayer just as Jesus gave it. As we grow through practice, our prayers become conversations with God. I know you want to ask if God answers each and every statement or question of mine right on the spot. I find in my own prayer life that I do most of the talking. Why is that? For one thing, I tend to repeat requests in different ways. Not only is God much more efficient in his answers, but I don’t think that He is given to repeating himself when there is no need to do so. Many of my requests are already answered and I simply don’t want to wait. Another thing is that much of my prayer is simply pouring out my heart to God and I believe that He wants to listen more than He wants to speak. We already have His Word to read; many of the answers we seek in prayer are right there for our reading.
Example: Jesus provided an example for prayer life not only in the Lord’s Prayer, but in his devotion to getting alone with God. He told us to go into our closet and shut the door when we pray not necessarily as a literal command to get into your broom closet to pray, but to get alone, away from distractions such as the temptation to perform publicly. How many of us pray the same in private as we do when others are listening? Probably none of us do. Jesus spent a lot of time going away from the crowds and even his disciples to go one to one with God. Yes, he could pray in his mind as he walked along the roads of Judea, but he also separated himself physically to pray. When Jesus told the Pharisees “I and the Father are one.” I believe that he not only meant that he was part of the triune God, but also that he and God were in constant communication. We should emulate his example and pray to God throughout the day.
Power – Where do we get the spiritual energy to do this thing we do? Do you think that you can evangelize without help from God? One of the things in us is a fear of rejection. No one likes to be rejected by an organization and we especially don’t like to be rejected by a friend. To spread the Good News about Jesus we need encouragement to defeat the fear of rejection; we need the power to overcome our doubts and shame. Asking for help to be bold in our witness and to have courage where fear tries to choke us is a great reason to pray!
Predicament – Yes, many will find it much easier to not only believe in God, but to pray to Him when there is an emergency or a problem. A person who has spent their life ignoring God might suddenly find a need to call out to Him when faced with the imminent and immediate possibility of injury or death. One of the most common prayers involves the fervent call, “save me, Lord!” A person in dire need might find it within themselves to surrender their life and will to God with the condition of saving his or her human life first. You might have done that at some point.
A problem also causes us to look to a higher power. While those who chose not to believe might look to a government or a human leader, in Christ we look to God. Many of the problems we face these days are quite beyond our reach. You and I cannot solve our current economic problems on our own, but we can bring the problem to God in prayer!
Peace – We often find ways to escape from the cares of this world through artificial means like computer games or movies. However, a better way to escape your cares and worries is to give them to Jesus. In prayer we bring our concerns to the Lord. I find it much easier to enjoy a good movie or game when I am not using it to “get away” from my worries. When the movie or game ends, the worry is still there, lurking about like a tick on top of a weed lining the path to the outhouse. You might have ignored it for a while, but the little parasite is still waiting to sink its little teeth into you when must go where you must go. Sorry, a little old-fashioned barnyard humor there. Yes, we have indoor plumbing out here too.
Have you ever felt fear grip your body and mind? All of us have at one time or another. Concentrating on Jesus in prayer brings relief from the thoughts of fear and panic that threaten to overwhelm us. Jesus promised his peace, but sometimes we need to activate that promise in prayer.
Enchanted – This is not the magic trick kind of enchantment we read in Harry Potter, but the definition that reads: to delight or to charm. God is enchanted with us! Yes, the creator of all things wants to hear how your day went, all of it. If there is any reason I believe that God does not speak more in your prayers it is probably because He very much wants to hear what you have to say! A friend in Christ passed on a way of envisioning God in our prayers that I liked a lot. He said to imagine God as sitting right in front of you and eagerly awaiting everything you have to tell him. Did you have a bad day? Tell God all about it. Did you have a great day? Tell God everything that made the day wonderful. Yes, God does know all that happened, even before it occurred, but get this point… He wants to hear your thoughts and feelings! Think of God as the perfect friend; always there for you, wanting to hear everything you have to say, sorrowing when you feel sorrow, glad when you feel joy, and ready to bring a peace beyond understanding to your thoughts.
Enemy – as in we have one and a very active one at that. We pray to defeat the power of Satan. None of us alone, and all of us together could not defeat one who was one of God’s great angels back in the day. However, the power of Jesus has defeated the powers of this world and those of death and the grave. We recall that famous verse: greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. We bring the lies of the devil to the altar of God in prayer. Otherwise we will fall for the lies we read and hear.
I once had the pleasure to hear one of my coworkers claim that he could always get a good deal out of car dealers through his talents at wheeling and dealing. Perhaps he was right, but I couldn’t help but think: we set out to buy a new or used car once every three or four years, some of us may do it more often, but for most that will be the norm. The dealers on the other hand, especially used car dealers; negotiate deals on cars every day of their working lives. Is it more likely that one of us will be the better negotiator or someone who practices the craft every working day?
Lucifer has been working lies ever since he rebelled against God, and we do not know in years how long that might have been, but we do know that he was there with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Therefore: is it very likely that we who have lived only a few short years on this earth will be able to detect all of the lies we have heard since birth? Without the Holy Spirit and the power of constant communication with God in prayer, we stand little chance of surviving the gauntlet of lies we see in the world each day. Peter reminds us that the Devil, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour whomever he may. We pray because we are under constant attack.
Why do we pray? We pray because we enjoy God and we believe in His Son. We pray for peace to conquer fear; for power to overcome the enemy, and for faith in times of darkness. We also pray to just talk to God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the friend of friends.
We tend to think of prayer as a formula for contacting God; a ritual that will put us in contact with our heavenly Father. Some might point to the Lord’s Prayer or the many other written prayers as proof of what we should say to contact God. However, we should define prayer as simply talking to God. In this Jesus gave us a format to use in the Lord’s Prayer, and not a form to follow religiously each time we pray. Prayer is much more than a list of needs. If all we do is present a list of our needs to God each time we pray then I can see why someone might ask why we need to do this at all since God knows our every need before we ask it. There is nothing wrong with bringing your needs to God, but there is so much more to prayer!
The words that come to mind when I think of our prayer life are: praise, empathy, exercise, power, predicament, peace, enchanted, and enemy.
Praise: We sing songs of praise, but those songs began with psalms written back in the days of David and Solomon. Psalms and prayers share much in common and one of those traits is praise. We might want to begin every prayer by praising God for His providence. To start in praise is to get into the attitude of acknowledging all that God has done for us. Praising God makes us feel better; starting off with a long list of needs can make us feel kind of helpless and hopeless in this big world. Praising God is a choice to thank Him for the good things in life.
Empathy: We can bring the needs of others to God, letting Him know that we care about others and love to bring them to God in prayer. Prayer is about more than just our own needs. More important is the learning to love others and placing their needs ahead of our own. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This has two meanings that I see: first we love others as we want them to love us. And second, we love others at the same time as we love ourselves. Putting others ahead of yourself does not mean that you hate your self, only that we are to love others and love our own self as both are creations of almighty God. Empathy is learning to feel sorrow when a friend is sorrowful. We pray for those who are hurting and we pray for those in need. Empathy also leads us to remember others when our needs often seem overwhelming in this life. If my problems seem huge today, praying for someone else brings the problems down to their proper size. I don’t wish tragedy upon anyone, but often my problems seem almost laughable when I think of the problems many people face around the world.
Exercise: How do you build up muscle or get better at some skill in the physical world? Right, each of us must exercise to keep our bodies healthy or practice our skills to become proficient. Prayer is the same. A Christian might start out with very simple prayers, perhaps simply repeating the Lord’s Prayer just as Jesus gave it. As we grow through practice, our prayers become conversations with God. I know you want to ask if God answers each and every statement or question of mine right on the spot. I find in my own prayer life that I do most of the talking. Why is that? For one thing, I tend to repeat requests in different ways. Not only is God much more efficient in his answers, but I don’t think that He is given to repeating himself when there is no need to do so. Many of my requests are already answered and I simply don’t want to wait. Another thing is that much of my prayer is simply pouring out my heart to God and I believe that He wants to listen more than He wants to speak. We already have His Word to read; many of the answers we seek in prayer are right there for our reading.
Example: Jesus provided an example for prayer life not only in the Lord’s Prayer, but in his devotion to getting alone with God. He told us to go into our closet and shut the door when we pray not necessarily as a literal command to get into your broom closet to pray, but to get alone, away from distractions such as the temptation to perform publicly. How many of us pray the same in private as we do when others are listening? Probably none of us do. Jesus spent a lot of time going away from the crowds and even his disciples to go one to one with God. Yes, he could pray in his mind as he walked along the roads of Judea, but he also separated himself physically to pray. When Jesus told the Pharisees “I and the Father are one.” I believe that he not only meant that he was part of the triune God, but also that he and God were in constant communication. We should emulate his example and pray to God throughout the day.
Power – Where do we get the spiritual energy to do this thing we do? Do you think that you can evangelize without help from God? One of the things in us is a fear of rejection. No one likes to be rejected by an organization and we especially don’t like to be rejected by a friend. To spread the Good News about Jesus we need encouragement to defeat the fear of rejection; we need the power to overcome our doubts and shame. Asking for help to be bold in our witness and to have courage where fear tries to choke us is a great reason to pray!
Predicament – Yes, many will find it much easier to not only believe in God, but to pray to Him when there is an emergency or a problem. A person who has spent their life ignoring God might suddenly find a need to call out to Him when faced with the imminent and immediate possibility of injury or death. One of the most common prayers involves the fervent call, “save me, Lord!” A person in dire need might find it within themselves to surrender their life and will to God with the condition of saving his or her human life first. You might have done that at some point.
A problem also causes us to look to a higher power. While those who chose not to believe might look to a government or a human leader, in Christ we look to God. Many of the problems we face these days are quite beyond our reach. You and I cannot solve our current economic problems on our own, but we can bring the problem to God in prayer!
Peace – We often find ways to escape from the cares of this world through artificial means like computer games or movies. However, a better way to escape your cares and worries is to give them to Jesus. In prayer we bring our concerns to the Lord. I find it much easier to enjoy a good movie or game when I am not using it to “get away” from my worries. When the movie or game ends, the worry is still there, lurking about like a tick on top of a weed lining the path to the outhouse. You might have ignored it for a while, but the little parasite is still waiting to sink its little teeth into you when must go where you must go. Sorry, a little old-fashioned barnyard humor there. Yes, we have indoor plumbing out here too.
Have you ever felt fear grip your body and mind? All of us have at one time or another. Concentrating on Jesus in prayer brings relief from the thoughts of fear and panic that threaten to overwhelm us. Jesus promised his peace, but sometimes we need to activate that promise in prayer.
Enchanted – This is not the magic trick kind of enchantment we read in Harry Potter, but the definition that reads: to delight or to charm. God is enchanted with us! Yes, the creator of all things wants to hear how your day went, all of it. If there is any reason I believe that God does not speak more in your prayers it is probably because He very much wants to hear what you have to say! A friend in Christ passed on a way of envisioning God in our prayers that I liked a lot. He said to imagine God as sitting right in front of you and eagerly awaiting everything you have to tell him. Did you have a bad day? Tell God all about it. Did you have a great day? Tell God everything that made the day wonderful. Yes, God does know all that happened, even before it occurred, but get this point… He wants to hear your thoughts and feelings! Think of God as the perfect friend; always there for you, wanting to hear everything you have to say, sorrowing when you feel sorrow, glad when you feel joy, and ready to bring a peace beyond understanding to your thoughts.
Enemy – as in we have one and a very active one at that. We pray to defeat the power of Satan. None of us alone, and all of us together could not defeat one who was one of God’s great angels back in the day. However, the power of Jesus has defeated the powers of this world and those of death and the grave. We recall that famous verse: greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. We bring the lies of the devil to the altar of God in prayer. Otherwise we will fall for the lies we read and hear.
I once had the pleasure to hear one of my coworkers claim that he could always get a good deal out of car dealers through his talents at wheeling and dealing. Perhaps he was right, but I couldn’t help but think: we set out to buy a new or used car once every three or four years, some of us may do it more often, but for most that will be the norm. The dealers on the other hand, especially used car dealers; negotiate deals on cars every day of their working lives. Is it more likely that one of us will be the better negotiator or someone who practices the craft every working day?
Lucifer has been working lies ever since he rebelled against God, and we do not know in years how long that might have been, but we do know that he was there with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Therefore: is it very likely that we who have lived only a few short years on this earth will be able to detect all of the lies we have heard since birth? Without the Holy Spirit and the power of constant communication with God in prayer, we stand little chance of surviving the gauntlet of lies we see in the world each day. Peter reminds us that the Devil, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour whomever he may. We pray because we are under constant attack.
Why do we pray? We pray because we enjoy God and we believe in His Son. We pray for peace to conquer fear; for power to overcome the enemy, and for faith in times of darkness. We also pray to just talk to God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the friend of friends.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Good morning! The new blog is active. Post your questions as comments and I will work on the answers as quickly as I am able. The comments are moderated and inappropriate language will not be printed. There is a selfish reason for this. After serving four years in the Marines, I found that one of my struggles in this life is to get profane language out of my head. Substitute words help, but the less exposure to such foulness, the better for me.
By way of introduction, my name is Denzil Buckle and I go by Bucky. At the encouragement of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I have started this blog to answer questions about Jesus, the Bible, and Christian life in general.
Why me? One possibility is that God has granted me first hand experience in trauma, military service, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), jobs from dishwasher to management including IT (geek) work, long term employment (19 years with one company) and finally, something that many of you face at this time, job termination. One advantage I have at this time is... well, lots of time.
As a result of having my position eliminated, to use their term, I decided with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to change career fields from information technology to writing. This is not an easy decision. With a bachelor's degree in IT and several certifications, I should have no trouble finding another IT job, even in this economy. However, when we feel called to something else, that call cannot be ignored.
One thing I have noticed already is that working from home as a self-employed (God-employed might be more accurate) writer is that one tends to get distracted and production turns easily to goofing off. I don't believe that God brought me out of the corporate world to spend my time in perpetual vacation; not that it doesn't sound like a lot of fun! Hit me with your questions and I will research the Bible, and the many works by Christian authors that I have in my library, in search of answers.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Bucky
By way of introduction, my name is Denzil Buckle and I go by Bucky. At the encouragement of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I have started this blog to answer questions about Jesus, the Bible, and Christian life in general.
Why me? One possibility is that God has granted me first hand experience in trauma, military service, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), jobs from dishwasher to management including IT (geek) work, long term employment (19 years with one company) and finally, something that many of you face at this time, job termination. One advantage I have at this time is... well, lots of time.
As a result of having my position eliminated, to use their term, I decided with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to change career fields from information technology to writing. This is not an easy decision. With a bachelor's degree in IT and several certifications, I should have no trouble finding another IT job, even in this economy. However, when we feel called to something else, that call cannot be ignored.
One thing I have noticed already is that working from home as a self-employed (God-employed might be more accurate) writer is that one tends to get distracted and production turns easily to goofing off. I don't believe that God brought me out of the corporate world to spend my time in perpetual vacation; not that it doesn't sound like a lot of fun! Hit me with your questions and I will research the Bible, and the many works by Christian authors that I have in my library, in search of answers.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Bucky
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