Worry Wart

Luke 12: 25

“And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

What are you worrying about? Jesus told us not to worry about anything. What good is worry going to do us? It distracts us from keeping our thoughts on the God of our breakthrough and therefore prolongs the misery. We need to keep our thoughts on the promises of God and his ability to meet all of our needs. When we think on the problem, we elevate it in our minds. It becomes our God in that we are looking at it instead of Jesus and our gracious Father. We meditate on the problem, turning it over and over in our minds. In the end, there is usually very little we can do towards the solution anyway. Even what we are able to do may be completely out of the will of God. We need to really work on turning our problems over to Him and getting our minds focused on His goodness. Meditate on God the Father and his lovingkindness rather than the problems this world presents you. What are you worried about today?

Pathways Disclosed

Jeremiah 29: 11 – 14a

“For I know the plans that I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 29: 11 is a pretty familiar passage and certainly good news. We want to know that God has good plans for us. He knows the plans He has for us, He hasn’t forgotten. Those plans are not of calamity but of good things.

That is all great encouragement from the master encourager. That was not enough for me today though. It is great that God has good plans for us but, speaking for myself, we need to know those plans. We need to hear His ideas for our lives. That is why God didn’t hang up the phone after verse 11. He kept speaking. He knows the rest of the story too, that we need to hear of these plans. So He says, “Call Me, come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (v. 12). That is a good answer to our questioning Him about these good plans He has for us but for many of us even as we hear His words our hearts descend into doubt.

Maybe, I will call upon Him and maybe I will pray to Him, but will He really listen to me and more importantly, will I hear Him? He assures us that when we seek Him with our entire heart, He will be found by us. “‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord” (v. 14).

These words are meant to give us assurance. First of all understand that praying to Him is not meant to be a religious activity. It is meant to be a conversation. It isn’t all about laying a petition at His feet. The best prayer is pouring out your heart into His lap. Just get real. Tell Dad exactly what you are feeling; exactly what you are going through. Tell Him where your doubt lies and ask Him to shine light on those areas for you. 

When I read verse 11 I always picture a path. I understand that His plans for me, His goodness and provision, lie on the path which He has ordained for me. You need to know where your path lies. Therefore, you must also seek Him and not only in a global fashion but also as to specifics in your life. Which road are you to take? What is your vehicle? He has a path all laid out for you that will take you to the land of your dreams and ambitions. We’ve just got to get on the right road. Seek Him, inquire of Him. He has big and great plans for you.

Godly Wisdom

James 1: 5

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

We all need wisdom. And we know where we can get it. What great news that he gives to us all generously. You can trust that if you need wisdom for a problem, he will give it to you. He has promised and he is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23: 19).

We do not have to live our lives like the unsaved, wondering what to do all of the time. We can simply ask the Father. That is how we are able to live a life without worry. We role the cares of the problems over to our Father God and we ask him to give us insight and wisdom into the things we should do. We pray, “Show me what I should do in this situation,” and then we enter into his rest. It could be that he does not want you to do anything. His wisdom will guide you. In every situation, ask God for his wisdom on the matter. Don’t worry yourself to death trying to come up with the answers. That is really not your job. God does not want you burdened down with all of those issues. Just ask for his wisdom and his guidance and then let it go. Do all that he instructs you to do and nothing that he doesn’t. He is the one person we want advice from and He is always available to give us sagely advice from the reservoir of His infinite wisdom.

Paid Return Ticket

Joel 2: 13

Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil.

Are you as close to the Lord as you want to be? Are you as close to him as you once were? Do not worry. He is a God of great compassion and graciousness. This is a great time to draw nearer to him. He does not hold grudges or count passed time. He just wants to be your closest friend. He forgives all even when we don’t deserve it. He sent Jesus to this earth to be the sacrifice for us so that nothing would ever stand in the way of our close, personal relationship with him. Do not let anything in your past prevent you from drawing nearer to him today. There is no hardship and suffering in him, only love and compassion.

Divine Revelation

Galatians 1: 12

For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul did not have the advantage of walking with Christ the way Peter and John did. That is one of the reasons he is so important to modern theology and thought. Like us, everything Paul learned, he had to learn by revelation from Christ. 

Don’t get me wrong though. I am not saying that we can’t and don’t learn from the teachings of other people. We can receive revelation through other people and we receive revelation through the scriptures. Paul was well steeped in scripture himself having been trained at the most preeminent school available. However, he also knew how to get alone with Jesus in the spirit and receive divine revelation from him. 

Paul tells us in today’s passage that what he taught he received directly from Jesus as a divine revelation. Paul’s training taught him how to meditate in the scriptures and how to connect with the divine source. If you look at Paul’s teachings you will see that he often quoted Old Testament Scripture. My take on this is that He would pray and meditate on the scriptures. He would quiet his soul as we can observe David doing through the Psalms. In this quiet, meditative state, Paul connected with Jesus in the spiritual realm. Jesus taught him about the Kingdom of God; where it is, how it operates, and how we function in it. Then Paul must have lined these teachings up with scripture to make sure that what he received by divine revelation was consistent with what God spoke throughout the generations. This is the reason that Paul tied his teachings back to the Old Testament. Those old teachings were anchors for the revelation he received through his direct connection with Christ.

Paul’s experience is an exact model for us today. We do not get to walk in the flesh with Jesus either. However, Jesus is just as alive and just as real today and to us as he was to Paul in his time. We also need to receive divine revelation because we cannot sit at the campfire and ask him questions. We have two hindrances though; time and knowledge of the scriptures.

After Paul had his Damascus road experience he went away to the desert of Arabia to be alone. His whole theology, all of his education and training had been turned upside down by his spiritual encounter. He needed answers so he went to the desert to meditate and to be alone with Christ. Jesus met him in the quiet of his solitude and Jesus revealed himself to Paul. 

I am suggesting that we all need Jesus speaking into our lives. It is through the quiet, contemplative time spent with Jesus that we discover the bread of life. While not ignoring scriptures, we all need to connect with Jesus in the way that Paul did. In that connection is revelation for our lives.

Desperate Thirst

Psalm 42: 1

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.

Have you heard the story about the young man who wanted to learn the secret to success? He sought the great guru and inquired of him. When the wizened old man led the seeker into the river and held him under water until the young man was desperate for air the secret was revealed. “When you want success,” the old man told him, “as much as you wanted air, then you will find it.”

So it is with God. When we seek Him with that same kind of desperation and desire, then we shall find Him. Our souls should pant for God. We should be so desperately thirsty that nothing can stand in the way of our finding all that we want.

1 Chronicles 28: 9 reads, “If you seek him, he will be found by you (NIV). God wants to be found by you. I like to say He hides in plain sight. You just have to open your eyes and look. We must direct our eyes to see. He is there waving a flag at you hoping that you will look to Him.  “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55: 6). He is waiting.

Wait Lifting

Hebrews 4: 11

Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

No, I didn’t misspell the word “wait” in the title. There is a concept imbedded in those two words. It is the precept that in our quiet contemplation with the Lord there is power to lift great weight and succeed in every calling of the Lord.

I was speaking with some friends last week when this idea, this principle came to the foreground of my thoughts and I have been unable to shake it. The awareness that we are meant to glean from this passage is that our labor, our effort is in entering into the rest of the Father whereby we cease from our striving. In Him, we are able to do all things (Philippians 4: 13). Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15: 5). Therefore, the purpose of our effort is to become integrated with Him and thus be “in Him.” The King James Bible says it this way, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

We have become such externalists that our faith and the expression of our faith has become largely external rather than internal. Contrast this ideology with some of the great historical icons of our faith. People like Thomas á Kempis, Martin Luther or Julian of Norwich. These and others, noticeably the Apostles John and Paul, believed and argued that the labor of our faith was to come to know God in the quietness of our spirits. Our faith is not in the things we do but in our connection internally with the Father, Son and Spirit. This is our works, extending our faith, believing with our hearts. Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6: 29).

We should not “do” works at the cost of sacrificing the quiet contemplation of our souls. Instead, external work should be at the direction of our Father and as an extension of the quiet, meditative connection with the Father. As in all things, balance is key. I know people who are so spiritual that they are no earthly good. What do I mean? They spend all of their time feeding themselves but it never has any expression beyond their own gorging. The true unity with God ought to show. It ought to spill over on to others but not by mere works but rather from the overflowing grace of the Lord.

When we rest in the presence of the Lord we gain substantively. This is not all subjective. It has real world consequences that can be objectively observed. We are empowered in the presence of the Lord and through communion with His Spirit we are guided; directed. He imbues us with power and then directs that power to His good intentions. “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40: 31). He fills us up to overflowing, speaks to us in our spirits and directs our paths. He gives us the power to do all things. All of this comes from spending time and investing our effort in “knowing Him” and the power which flows from just such a knowing (Philippians 3: 10). 

When Moses died and Joshua was appointed by God to take over the leadership of the nation of Israel God’s advice to Joshua was, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success (Joshua 1: 8). I think that same advice will serve us well today. We should wait upon the Lord in the meditation of the Word, prayer and in the contemplation of the Lord. In that waiting, that quiet communion spent with the Lord, is great power; great strength. As we rest in Him, as we wait in His presence and in prayer He performs the works; His power goes into action rather than our limited power. He assigns angels and directs ministering spirits. His is the power which does all of the heavy lifting while we meditate in Him and the authority of His grace. In Him, in our rest, we become powerful ministers of the gospel of grace. In Him we become mighty “wait lifters”.

Please share your thoughts with me. How did this Word of the Day impact you? We always appreciate your comments. Thank you.