Good morning room.
Let's fix you up a bit.
Let's see.
Open the blinds just a little,
the light of the morning beams through.
The clouds and blue sky greet me with a smile.
Hello chair, may I have a seat?
Plop down and gaze out the window,
wonderful.
Pause.
Inhale, exhale,
What a peaceful morning.
What treasures does the Word of God have today?
Open Her up.
Ahhh. David, what do you have to say?
That verse, I can't move past that verse.
It sticks in my mind,
It grabs at my heart,
It stirs my soul.
How wonderful is your Word!
God, you speak of things so true,
Its as if you are calling to something deep inside me.
In this moment, I would like to sit
and hold onto you forever.
That your Word would not leave my attention,
that your voice would linger a little while longer.
But it is time to go now,
the day awaits.
Thank you for speaking with me,
and may I honor You with what you showed me
this morning.
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
How did Jesus do it?
There are many examples of Jesus asking the diciples to follow Him. In Matthew 8:22, Jesus says to follow Him, and let the dead bury the dead. In order to follow, it may be a good idea to look at what Jesus was doing on a day to day basis as recorded in the Scriptures.
Taking this perspective, I find it intriguing to see Jesus sneaking away "early" in the morning before light to be alone and pray. Just after the hustle and bustle of healing and having swarms of people all over Him, He finds it necessary to hide away alone in prayer with God.
Before the crucifixion, Jesus took a few friends and went to pray alone in the garden.
Jesus had a habit of solitude. He had a habit of being alone with God. One on one.
What does this mean for us? Television, radio, demands of work, family, and all the rest can so overwhem us that we never have a quite dedicated moment to feel the presence of God, to seek His Will, or just say thanks. Maybe it would be good to just sit and enjoy God and show some appreciation for the life you did nothing to earn. For all those talents you were born with, maybe a little appreciation might be appropriate?
Something else on my mind is this: how much Christian radio can a person fill their space with and never enter into the presence of God. Two-way communication requires silence on our part to listen for that small voice. Many people have so many messages for us to hear, but what is God saying? Yes He can speak through others, but isn't He so much clearer on His own?
Solitude. Prayer. Hmmm. Like Jesus. Follow Him into a spritual life.
Taking this perspective, I find it intriguing to see Jesus sneaking away "early" in the morning before light to be alone and pray. Just after the hustle and bustle of healing and having swarms of people all over Him, He finds it necessary to hide away alone in prayer with God.
Before the crucifixion, Jesus took a few friends and went to pray alone in the garden.
Jesus had a habit of solitude. He had a habit of being alone with God. One on one.
What does this mean for us? Television, radio, demands of work, family, and all the rest can so overwhem us that we never have a quite dedicated moment to feel the presence of God, to seek His Will, or just say thanks. Maybe it would be good to just sit and enjoy God and show some appreciation for the life you did nothing to earn. For all those talents you were born with, maybe a little appreciation might be appropriate?
Something else on my mind is this: how much Christian radio can a person fill their space with and never enter into the presence of God. Two-way communication requires silence on our part to listen for that small voice. Many people have so many messages for us to hear, but what is God saying? Yes He can speak through others, but isn't He so much clearer on His own?
Solitude. Prayer. Hmmm. Like Jesus. Follow Him into a spritual life.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Set your Gaze upon God!
O Loving-Kindness so old and still so new, I have been too late of loving Thee. You are young, my brethren; profit therefore I beseech you from my confession, that I cared too little to employ my early years for God. Consecrate all yours to His love. If I had only known Him sooner, if I had only had someone tell me then what I am telling you, I should not have so long delayed in loving Him. Believe me, count as lost each day you have not used in loving God.
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
How many days have I wasted? How much time, how many moments? God stands with open arms every day, every moment hoping for all to seek Him, trust Him, to do His will. I think it is too easy to have too much radio, tv, internet, music, worship services, sermons, work to do, and phone calls to make, AND we can do it all without ever having fixed our souls gaze onto God Almighty. We can do so many things but never be in love with God. We can have so many things coming into our ears and eyes but never take the time in silence to enter into the presence of Almighty God. I declare all things a waste of time if the person involved never enters into the presence of God. After all, that is what this personal relationship with God is. The opportunity through grace that God has wanted us to spend time with Him. That we can find our peace and direction and strength from time with Him.
The words that live on past a life. The words that echo through time announcing the truths of God. Words of life, the Living Word Jesus Christ Himself. So precious are these Words that point us back to God.
One of the things Brother Lawrence based his life on was a continual practice of focusing his thoughts on God, of communing with God continually throughout the day while working. He saw it rather strange to separate out a prayer time from any other time, as God is more than capable of being with us always. I quite agree. But I find myself struggling to attain such a communion with God.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Fishers of Men
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19
I just have to sing the praise of God for you all tonight!
I have been praying these past days for my mission field...my largest mission field is my work. In the last 2 weeks God is blowing me away on a continual basis with opportunities to serve Him! So much pain it causes me to talk to some of my customers. For example, I was talking about the heat with a customer and he starts joking and laughing about how when we are in hell that we will be much hotter than that! Him and his coworkers just laughed their little heads off about that. As you may guess, I did not find it funny. Rather it cuts my heart to hear someone not care about their eternity. At any moment we could be cut off from this life and only by grace are we offered another 24 hours. There are many people I meet that seem to laugh at eternity...Keep in mind I am in and out of mechanics garages, but I fear the rest of the world is probably no different than this. Add in a few degrading comments about women and that makes a day for me.
But, as I said, I have been in pain so naturally, I have also been in prayer for them. Halleluah, God has answered that He cares too and He has orchestrated so many opportunities to talk about Jesus and eternity with many people I had never dreamed of talking to.
From a practical prespective, I have really noticed the fishing aspect of sharing Christ with others. Very similar you throw out your lines and test the water a few times with different Jesus code words to see if you can get a reaction, so that one is not too pushy OR you listen for Jesus code words...But sometimes I am finding it necessary to grab a harpoon and throw that sucker!!!! Best of all, one day I would like to have such faith that Jesus asks me to lower my net where I thought I had fished all that was there, but low and behold a whole net full comes over flowing in!
I encourage you all in your workplaces to pay attention to the people around you. Are you imitating them and their attitudes, language, humor, morality or lack there of, and the like? Or are you trying to be different, to be a light in dark places, to be like Jesus? Do you feel pain when you see someone struggling with addiction, broken homes, violence, or impurity? If you do, believe me, God cares too and He is hurting. His heart is broken giving grace to all of us waiting for us to turn to Him. If you feel the pain, then pray for them...but be forewarned a prayer in God's will like that will come to pass, so be ready to reap a harvest.
The funny thing about all this is I can confidently sit back and give God all the credit. None of this has happened except by prayer. It's not that I am so good at witnessing, because I am really bad at it...I am too exciteable and get going off on tangents...mostly I'm impatient to slow down and listen...(You should know that by reading this blog!) But oh!, when God starts working, my job is hands off and it's just allowing Him to conduct the day and pray that He can penetrate my dense brain well enough for me to know where to fish.
What are your thoughts on witnessing for Christ?
I just have to sing the praise of God for you all tonight!
I have been praying these past days for my mission field...my largest mission field is my work. In the last 2 weeks God is blowing me away on a continual basis with opportunities to serve Him! So much pain it causes me to talk to some of my customers. For example, I was talking about the heat with a customer and he starts joking and laughing about how when we are in hell that we will be much hotter than that! Him and his coworkers just laughed their little heads off about that. As you may guess, I did not find it funny. Rather it cuts my heart to hear someone not care about their eternity. At any moment we could be cut off from this life and only by grace are we offered another 24 hours. There are many people I meet that seem to laugh at eternity...Keep in mind I am in and out of mechanics garages, but I fear the rest of the world is probably no different than this. Add in a few degrading comments about women and that makes a day for me.
But, as I said, I have been in pain so naturally, I have also been in prayer for them. Halleluah, God has answered that He cares too and He has orchestrated so many opportunities to talk about Jesus and eternity with many people I had never dreamed of talking to.
From a practical prespective, I have really noticed the fishing aspect of sharing Christ with others. Very similar you throw out your lines and test the water a few times with different Jesus code words to see if you can get a reaction, so that one is not too pushy OR you listen for Jesus code words...But sometimes I am finding it necessary to grab a harpoon and throw that sucker!!!! Best of all, one day I would like to have such faith that Jesus asks me to lower my net where I thought I had fished all that was there, but low and behold a whole net full comes over flowing in!
I encourage you all in your workplaces to pay attention to the people around you. Are you imitating them and their attitudes, language, humor, morality or lack there of, and the like? Or are you trying to be different, to be a light in dark places, to be like Jesus? Do you feel pain when you see someone struggling with addiction, broken homes, violence, or impurity? If you do, believe me, God cares too and He is hurting. His heart is broken giving grace to all of us waiting for us to turn to Him. If you feel the pain, then pray for them...but be forewarned a prayer in God's will like that will come to pass, so be ready to reap a harvest.
The funny thing about all this is I can confidently sit back and give God all the credit. None of this has happened except by prayer. It's not that I am so good at witnessing, because I am really bad at it...I am too exciteable and get going off on tangents...mostly I'm impatient to slow down and listen...(You should know that by reading this blog!) But oh!, when God starts working, my job is hands off and it's just allowing Him to conduct the day and pray that He can penetrate my dense brain well enough for me to know where to fish.
What are your thoughts on witnessing for Christ?
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