Fish or Snake

On May 15, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Matthew 7: 7 – 11, 12

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This passage has been on my mind a lot lately, but I wasn’t inclined to write on it. Not every verse that comes to me is for the Word of the Day. Some are just for me. It kept circling around and around though, different parts of it at different times because, as you see, there are several parts to this. It wasn’t until I sat down with my Bible and read through it that I realized that verses 7 through 11 were part of the same message. I was thinking about our Father being a good father who would not give us a snake if we asked for a fish. Then another day ask, seek, and knock came to my mind. I wasn’t putting it all together in my head. Then when I actually took the time to see the words, I found another interesting tidbit, i.e. verse 12. What is going on here? There appear to be at least three thoughts here, yet it seems Jesus delivered all this, practically, in one breath. Could it be these are all related?

That is the message I received out of this passage. God is not denying me anything, or you. We should ask expecting to receive, seek expecting to find and knock expecting God to open the door to us. However, the grease on the hinges of the door just might be the way I treat people. Worse, what if the way I think about people or talk about them, even in private, affects my receiving, finding and opening?

I am trying to learn to be much less judgmental and much more compassionate. One person’s acts, thoughts or words can look very wrong from our perspective and not even wrong in a sinful way but just “not right.” That is a hard lesson. Sometimes the world is very different from their spot on the earth and that difference yields different thoughts and choices. So, from my perspective their decisions may look completely ridiculous but be completely rational from theirs.

Even when you know someone to be wrong, there are times you just have to let them be. I am a teacher, so I want to teach. I need, though, to learn not to judge them or their ideas bur rather just accept them where they are. What a challenge! However, I think this is part of what Jesus wants from us. It is not a blessing to others when I judge them.

The judgement and condemnation we pass on others just might be causing our door to remain stuck closed. That is frightening. What do you think your Father has to say about this? Do you journal with Yahweh? This might be a good question to take to Him. What, if anything, does verse 12 have to do with 7 through 11?

Our Father wants to give us good gifts and bless us. He said to ask, and we would receive. Perhaps if we think about and speak about people in a gracious manner it will be easier for us to receive of His goodness.

Back to Top

Gladness

On September 30, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 70: 4

Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, “God is great!”

This is a good meditation. Can those who seek Yahweh really be glad? Is there really something in seeking Him which can bring us joy? Our theology says so but does our life, our attitude, our words? Do we go about proclaiming, “God is great!”

I think we believe it but in our busy days we are not always in touch with the deep thoughts of our own minds and hearts. David’s world was more focused and though tumultuous, at some level I think it was simpler. The variety of distractions in our lives pulls us away from our own deep thoughts and there is little time for quiet contemplation. Dr. Caroline Leaf says we rarely pause to think any more and if that is true, how do we know what we think?

How much time do any of us spend engaged with our heart and our emotions? Do we seek our inner self to find what beats in our hearts? How is it that we can seek God if we haven’t taken the time to know ourselves? And then, who are we in Him?

I think we will rejoice when we seek God and find that He is closer to us than we previously perceived. I believe we will be glad as our seeking draws us into a deeper relationship with Him. As He becomes more of our every day, we do find peace and joy. The greatest part of this is that there is no limit to the extent of closeness we can achieve with the Father. Our walk with Him today may be far superior to that of yesteryear and yet, a mere shadow of tomorrow’s intimacy.

If there is one thing our faith walk requires, it is seeking the Father’s face. When we seek Him, we find all because He is all. When we find Him in greater measure today than yesterday, we find more of His goodness and the joy is a mere by-product of being with the Father. Seek with all your heart and that heart will rejoice and be glad.

Back to Top

Project Planning

On July 18, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 31: 21             NLT

Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful.

I have written on this verse before and no wonder, it is a very poignant verse. Notably there is instruction to seek God “wholeheartedly” and that is the point I have spoken to before. As I read this passage recently, God spoke it to me differently, as He is want to do.

We may seek God generally, but we may also seek Him in a specific fashion. By this I mean, we may seek Him just to know Him or just to spend time with Him, but we may also seek Him on a particular subject or issue. The way the Lord spoke this to me was that I, as well as all Christians, should seek Him on every new project. When we consider taking on a new project, the first thing we should do is to seek the Lord. Obviously, the first question is, “Father, should I take on this project?” If He responds affirmatively, then we can begin to project plan with Him. Frankly, we are a bit idiotic if we do not do this, but it may not be our habit as I doubt many of us were trained in this practice.

For all us Type A personalities, sometimes we get so caught up in the new idea that we don’t pause even to take a breath. We just throw our full strength into the new project. We are well advised, though, to pause for that deep breath and consider the ways of the Lord.

When you read today’s verse in other translations, you pick up on this idea. In all things Hezekiah sought the Lord with his whole heart and because he did, he succeeded. That also means that we shouldn’t make our seeking half-hearted. It isn’t just step one and so we rush through it to get to steps two, three and four. No, instead, if we will take the time to truly seek the Lord, He may well obliterate five or six steps, or even more so that we arrive at our goal more rapidly than if we just throw the force of our energy at it.

Stop today and consider all of the pies of your life. Are there any of those areas in which you have not sought the Lord’s counsel? It is not too late. Stop the merry-go-round and spend some quiet time with your Father. He will lead you in the way you should go. He will give you favor with the people who are instrumental in your project’s success and He will move the needed resources into place for you. Seek the Lord and succeed.

Back to Top

No Lack

On March 8, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 10

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

You know, I really didn’t mean to get waylaid on this “seeking” thing. However, I just can’t seem to get away from it. Today’s verse gives us a really good reason to seek God, i.e. to avoid lack.

Young lions have the power to meet their needs. No beast can stand against them. Lions have even been known to take down elephants. So, if there is any animal with the power and ability to avoid hunger and lack, it is the lion. By contrasting us with a lion the author, David, wishes to show us that in God, we are better sustained and even more powerful than the king of the beasts. We should have no lack, no unfulfilled desire because our Father is the most powerful of all. He is the best provider available because there is no lack in Him.

We pretty much get all that. I don’t think there is much revelation in that for you. What seized me, though, is David’s near insistence that we should not be in want of any good thing. So, I ask you even as I ask myself, “Am I in want of anything?” I would wager that many of you responded affirmatively. We don’t have all we want, for sure, and we may even be lacking something we need.

We need to get out of our heads and into God’s because He is thinking about this far differently than we are. Many people would choke on the idea that God is set on fulfilling our wants. That goes against many people’s theology but not mine and I hope not yours. However, that is a first hurdle we must get over. Psalm 37: 4 reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” That doesn’t say needs, it says desires and that is just another way of saying he will give you your wants. One of the reasons we are not receiving from God is because we have yet to reconcile this point.

Living in God’s provision and His will requires us to make a monumental but sincere decision. Do we choose to believe God’s Word? Is the doctrine of our culture or even our church louder than what God says? When will I decide that I am going to take Him at His Word and live? Maybe you can answer that with today’s date. The first step is believing the Word on its face without reasoning it away.

Second, we must seek. It just seems we cannot get away from this. God wants to bless us but it is clear that He will not overstep what He considers healthy boundaries. It is up to each of us to establish this provision link with Him. Think of it this way, let’s say you are a business owner and you initiate a new relationship with another business. Perhaps you wish to begin purchasing supplies from them. First, you must contact them. They may have marketed themselves to you, but you still have to initiate the relationship. This is just like God and the Bible. He has sent out His pamphlets telling you what He has to offer. Now it is up to you. The next thing that usually happens is that you set up an account with that business. They get some information from you and you ascertain exactly what their procedures are. After that, you order what you want, and they ship it to you. They don’t initiate the relationship, they don’t just send you product and expect you to pay heed to them. That would breach protocol. There are ways things are handled and we all must play within the scope of accepted business practices.

In like manner, Father has sent His advertising. He has told you what is available, but it is up to you to seek Him out and place your order. People get weird thinking of placing an order with God but if He has already told you what the availability is doesn’t it essentially boil down to putting in your request? And isn’t that comparable to placing an order? We’ve got to come to Him on the terms He set out even if that means we are a bit uncomfortable.

I really like this idea that we need to get out of our heads and into His. Our preconceptions are not helping us, in fact, they are crippling us. What helps is knowing what Yahweh thinks and even what He feels. He has told us today, if we will seek Him, we will have no lack nor even any wants. That is pretty straightforward language, but can you accept it? Can you believe God at face value?

Lastly, if the mandate is to seek Him, and it is, then the question becomes, how shall you do that? This is where your pensive time may be spent. I offer one piece of advice as you begin what I hope will be for you a journey into deeper fellowship with the Lord. Begin by taking your own inventory. How do you spend your time? It is not true that you don’t have enough time to apportion some to the Father. That is a lie and Father doesn’t believe it. So, inventory your time. You need time for many things. Look at how you spend the time you have. How many minutes of TV time do you have a day? How much time do you spend on the internet, Face Book, computer games, and other apps? Be honest with yourself. Remember, we are trying to get your needs and wants met. What is interfering with that? If you cannot find ten minutes in your day to spend with your Father, then you need to overhaul your calendar and start over. Make it a priority today to seek Him.

Back to Top

The Big, Bad Wolf

On March 7, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 4

I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Fear is a pernicious emotion. It draws us into ever deeper dread, and it draws to us all sorts of negative experiences. Once fear gets a foothold in our spirits, it invites all its little buddies to come torment us as well. We may begin with a fear of spiders or of heights only to realize one day that fear lurks around almost every corner. That is its nature. It wants to invade every part of our lives and it will if we don’t resist it. Thank God that He is our provider in every sense.

In the context of yesterday’s verse, we looked at 1 Chronicles 28: 9, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” In Father’s never-ending quest to encourage and edify us, He sends us this good news today from Psalms. We discover that not only does He let us find Him but that He answers us and our needs in that moment. Going one step further, when we seek Him, He delivers us from those insipid fears that plague our heart. There is healing in His wings, so every encounter with Him brings healing. He touches our hearts, our minds and our bodies with His soothing touch. His love roots out fear even that which has been lodged in our souls for many years. There are two keys, though which will help dissolve those fears.

When we search for God with our hearts, then it is our heart which finds Him. This may seem like semantics but there is a very real principle involved. Searching with your heart opens your heart to Him. The alternative is to search for Him with our minds. I am not suggesting that is a “bad” approach, just not the most potent. If you search with your mind you will still find Him but you will learn about Him more than engage with Him. This is the case because you are presenting your mind to Him. It is best if we present our hearts to Him. Allow your mind, will, emotions and personality to aid you but go to the Lord, seek Him with your innermost being. That is your heart or more precisely, your spirit.

Second, relinquish your fears to the Lord. Begin in a space where you accept and acknowledge that fear has no place in your heart. Expect Yahweh to vanquish those fears. This scripture reveals that if we are afraid, we have need of deliverance. I think we live in a time when we have come to accept fear as part of life. That is the exact opposite of the message the Father is communicating to you. His intention is to deliver you from fear. This means that you must let go of it. That can be harder than it sounds because you are surrounded by people who, almost proudly, confess to being fearful of at least something. Secondly, you may have lived with fear a long time. The familiarity may make it difficult to release the hold it has on you and that you have on it.

Fear is, functionally, a distrust of God. We don’t think of it that way, but it is true. To live with fear is to say to God that you don’t trust Him. The fear of heights or whatever is stronger, bigger and louder than your faith in God. Does that sound harsh? It is not my intention that it scald you. There is, however, an even more accurate way to articulate fear, if you can bear it. Fear is faith in Satan. It is the acknowledgement that he has power in your life and over your life. Deny that obscenity. Faith in God vanquishes fear because there can be no fear where the love of God prevails. Fear is like the big, bad wolf in the story of the three little pigs. He was big and frightening but, in the end, he was overcome, defeated.

Therefore, whatever that area is where fear has taken hold, infuse it with the love of God which has the power to deliver. Speak faith words over it. Do not continue to confess fear but rather replace those fear expressions with ones of faith.

Father is on site to deliver you from all your fears. He has promised you that if you will seek Him, not only will He answer you, but He will give you His deliverance. Don’t live below the God level, the level of life Jesus died to give you. Do not tolerate fear in your life. It is not of God nor meant to be a part of you. Call on the Almighty to be a keeper of His promises and present your heart to Him for healing and restoration.

Back to Top

Seek and Receive

On March 6, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 1: 17

. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

A friend of mine was suffering from writer’s block. It is a most uncomfortable feeling. I thought, “I cannot afford writer’s block. The Word of the Day has to be delivered tomorrow morning at 5:00.” I have learned that our Father and His Spirit are supporting me every day in producing these “words” from Him and that I must relax and let Him lead me. Still, there are those days which present a bit of a challenge. Yesterday was one of those days. Most days I can pick up my Bible and read anywhere in it and He will show me a message. That was one of the premises of my book, Journey Through the Bible. Every book of the Bible has something to minister to us today. But yesterday, I read from Numbers, Proverbs and did a little jaunt through some of the New Testament books. Nothing. Then at 5:00 PM I opened my Bible and this verse jumped out at me. He did for me in that moment exactly what Paul prayed for us. He gave me a spirit of wisdom and understanding which revealed the Father.

My reliance is on the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean that I can always hear perfectly. Paul knew how we all struggle as we grow and stretch. He also knew what we need, namely the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of the Father. So here is the wisdom that I received. Even when I cannot feel the Father, even on those days when I am not receiving as well as others, He is right here with me and He is present to reveal Himself to me. He desires to show Himself to me so that I may reveal Him to you. He wants us to know Him.

Of course, I was seeking Him and His Word. So, even though I was tired and just a little less alert, He was able to speak to my mind and my heart. I hear in my heart, “seek me so that I may be found by you.” There are plenty of scriptures about seeking Him, but the point is that He wants to be found. Therefore, He encourages us to seek Him. I can’t help but thinking that His favorite game is Hide and Seek. Perhaps, though, someone should tell Him the rules because He is horrible at hiding. In fact, He hides in plain sight. One of my favorite “seeking” scriptures is 1 Chronicles 28: 9, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.”

Paul started the church at Ephesus and he had a desire that his young church would grow in the things of God. Well, that is what every pastor wants. Therefore, Paul prayed this wonderful prayer, that God might give you this gift. I will tack on my prayer today to Paul’s and I pray that you might “receive” the “spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Giving is one thing but receiving is an entirely different one so I pray that you receive. I pray for you today that God will fill you with knowledge of Himself. One thing I advise, seek Him.

Back to Top

Wonderful Counselor

On December 20, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 32: 8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

This is personal. It’s from God to you. He is telling you that He will give you personal counsel. That is why He says He will counsel you with His eye upon you. There is advice that is good for everyone and which applies to everyone. That is not what this verse is about. This is about giving you daily instruction in the way you should go. Our Father is offering to give you step by step instructions for your plans and your goals. The Passion Translation reads, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide.” We can see from this version that Yahweh wants to be your partner. He wants to walk with you daily.

Here is the rub, though. How are you at hearing His voice? Okay, here is another question, if God is going to instruct and guide us along our specific life path, then why do we spend so much time worrying and thinking about the choices before us. Yahweh will tell us which choice leads to our goal. He knows what we want and how best to get there. Truly, I find myself thinking that we waste a lot of time thinking about things that are a waste. We could use that time to seek God and get the answers freely. We’re wasting too much time trying to do what God will do for us. This is one of the reasons we find ourselves so busy. We aren’t doing our job and we do not allow God to do His.

If we would dedicate ourselves to seeking God daily, I think we would all find that some of the complexity of life would be alleviated. Much of the drama would disappear and we would live in much greater peace and joy. We wouldn’t be so busy because our Father would show us the ways we should spend our time and He would show us how to proceed in the most timely way. Also, if we spent more time seeking Him and listening for His voice instead of running out the door we would learn to hear His voice better. Sometimes we don’t hear Him because we aren’t listening. Sometimes it is a result of having not spent time learning to hear Him. Either way, He speaks quietly and we must learn to listen in the quiet times of our life.

I have learned that we always have the time to do the things we want to do. For example, we don’t skip a lot of meals, we find the time for them. Our YMCA is packed in the wee hours of the morning. These folks have found time to get their workout in before work. Their dedication impresses me. Perhaps we need to have the same level of dedication towards our Lord.

However, if we truly do not have time to spend with our Father, then it may be that we have too many things on our plate. Sometimes wisdom says we have to eliminate something from our schedule. For myself, I find that I must be more efficient with the time I have. I need ponder time, time just to sit quietly with the Father and ruminate over the things He has been showing me. I cannot do that if I am busy running around all day. So, I try to coordinate my to do’s and errands so that I can get a couple of birds at a time. You may have developed strategies like that too. The bottom line is, our God is daily attempting to lead us in very specific ways that will benefit us. We must be able to hear Him, and we just have to spend time with Him. What good is a mentor or a coach if you never spend any time with them? Carve out some time, every day, to listen to the Father. Get out your pen and journal what He says to you. He is going to save you time and effort if you listen to Him.

Back to Top