All the Time

On July 16, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 26: 5

And as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered Him.

God is just waiting for you to seek His guidance so that He can lead you into His blessings. He wants to help you with all life’s questions and choices. He can give you His Godly wisdom rather than you having to search for answers. He can tell you in a minute what might take you years to research and learn. All He is waiting for is for you to seek Him in all of those things. You have to open the door to Him. You are going to prosper and succeed in all you do when you have the wisdom and guidance of the Lord. His all knowing can be your benefit.

We all need to learn to pray constantly. We need to be in prayer about every little thing. We’ve got to stop making prayer into some ritualistic event so that we can, with ease, enter into God’s presence at any moment. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have quiet prayer time with God in your private space. I am saying you cannot wait until you have that perfect circumstance in order to talk with the Lord. Why do you think He is omnipresent? It is so He can be with you every minute of every day. Sometimes I talk with Him while I am pumping gas or walking through the grocery store. We need to invite Him into all of those moments as well as our spiritual time. He wants to be our everyday Lord not just our Sunday Holy God.

We prosper and succeed when we seek Him and we need His help all of the time. Therefore, let us learn to seek Him often so that we can walk in His grace and in His wisdom.

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The Prophet Speaks

On July 12, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 15: 2

Listen to me . . . the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

The backstory here is that Asa, the king of Judah, called upon the Lord when Judah was confronted by a million man Ethiopian army. Judah had only 300,00 soldiers. God hearkened to the voice of Asa and routed Ethiopia. It was after this event that the prophet Azariah spoke to Asa.

Azariah knew the history of the people. When they sought God, they prevailed, but time and time again, the people turned away from God. When they did, disaster resulted. Azariah went to Asa with a word from the Lord. In effect, this was a heads-up. Asa had just experienced the victory that belongs to those who continually seek the Lord. The word of warning to him, and ultimately to us, is to maintain that which made you successful. Do not cease to seek the Lord daily.

When things are bad, most of us find it easy to call upon God. We are in deep need, that need drives us to His throne room. After the battle is over, we need to heed this word of caution because sometimes we slip away a little. We begin to enjoy the peace and forget who it is who is still at work providing that peace. After awhile we can even begin to think we had something to do with our success. That is when things really go badly for us, so we must continue to search God’s heart and mind for daily life.

Another thing that is note worthy in this verse is the idea that God will forsake you if you forsake Him. Isn’t that contrary to what you have heard before. Hebrews 13: 5 reads, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” I also love these words from Nehemiah 9: 31, “In Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.” So, what gives?

It really turns out to be quite simple. You are in command of your relationship with God. The Almighty God whom we think of as sovereign in everything has actually relinquished His power to you in this regard. Therefore, you can think of these verses as saying, He will not forsake you as long as you don’t kick Him out. Of His own volition, God will never leave you nor forsake you, but you have the power to turn Him out. Then, He has no choice.

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Seeker

On June 21, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 28: 9

If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.

This is the advice King David gave his son, Solomon, as he began to turn over the throne to Solomon. I find it interesting to see what advice a leader gives in those moments. They always give the most essential bits of insight they have gleaned through their years in leadership.

David told his son, seek God and you will find Him. I like to say hide and seek with God is so fun because He always hides in plain sight. If we cannot find Him, it is generally because of one of two things: either we are not seeking or we are avoiding Him. I personally found that when I opened my eyes and heart to seek God, He was there. A friend of mine says of my journey, I chased Him until He got me. That is the truth. He was there all along reaching out to me, but I had to open myself to Him before I found Him. I was seeking a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him and I was sick and tired of not hearing His voice. It turned out He had been speaking and I just could not hear. Thankfully, seeking results in finding.

The problem David encountered at the end of his reign, I believe, was that he no longer sought the God of his youth. His hunger abated and he got comfortable. That is a peril we all face. We need to keep our goals so far out there that we must rely on God. I often think of the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Do you think the water was two feet deep or over their heads? Of course, they were in over their heads. That is why Peter panicked. He called out to Jesus and was sustained. That is where I like us to be, in over our heads. Then we must rely on Jesus and Father. It keeps us humble but it also keeps us flowing in their power through the Holy Spirit.

Some people think of these seeking verses only in the context of salvation, but I think of them much more for the subsequent faith walk. It is not that difficult to seek Him and find Him for salvation but sometimes afterwards complacency attacks us and it becomes necessary to renew our seeking. I think this is what David intended to communicate to Solomon. Seek the Lord your God every day of your life and you will know how to proceed in this day. This is great advice for the ruler of a nation but every bit as important to you and me.

I encourage you to take some time today to seek God. Seek a new relationship with Him, seek time with Him or even a new aspect of your relationship. If you know Him mostly as your God, seek His Fathership. If you are comfortable with the Father, seek His Lordship. Maybe you want to know Him as friend. You can, you know. Seek His face, His voice, His hand. Seek and He will let you find Him. Seek and be found.

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One Thing

On April 5, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 10: 40 – 42

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

I seem to come back to this verse every year or two. There is a gold mine here if we can unearth it.

I want to show you another translation as well. This is from the Passion translation. A friend of mine shared this translation with me. If you are not looking at it, you may want to. “The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.”

The disciples were staying at Mary and Martha’s house. Martha was busy trying to serve everyone while her sister, Mary, parked herself at Jesus’ feet and listening to him. Martha was incensed that Mary was enjoying Jesus’ presence when there was so much work to be done. What did Jesus say, though? He honored Mary’s pursuit of the one thing, which is, of course, him.

The word for us today is that we need to do as Mary did, seek his presence, listen to his voice. All of the other stuff are just distractions which, like Martha, pull us away from Christ. I know I often get mentally wrapped up in all the things I think I need to do and all that is going on in my life. I have learned to write down the to’ do’s so that my mind can be free. I have also discovered that many of the things that seem important at the time don’t actually matter at all. Some of the things I fret about getting done would go unnoticed if I didn’t do them at all. The One Thing, the thing which is important, is seeking Jesus. It’s not just about spending time with him. Many of us translate that into reading our bibles which is possible to do without Christ. No, the one thing is seeking his face and actually spending time increasing in relationship with him.

Matthew 6: 33 reads, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The things, both material and non-material, which you need, are in him. He is the answer, so all answers are in him. Don’t seek the answers, seek him. When you do, you will have the answers. You will also find the material you need to build your dreams, take care of your family and give to others.

These are such simple verses, simplistic even. Yet, I think the wealth of revelation in them could radically change our lives if we could see the truth in them. There truly is only one thing which is important. When we set our hearts and minds on deepening our relationship with Jesus, when we seek his presence, then many of the other things take care of themselves. He is the power which fuels our day. Put the one thing in place and all the other things will fall into place.

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Cup of Coffee

On July 11, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 22: 19

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.

Well, the 30 days of seeking God are completed. How did you do? Did you have some major revelations? Or did God speak to an particular issue in your life? I certainly hope so. Write to me and let me know what you gained from the experience and how God blessed you. I would like to share with you one of the biggest epiphanies I gained through this 30 day adventure.

As I spent time seeking God one of the first hurdles to navigate was how to seek Him. I use two-way journaling as a way to capture what the Father says to me and one day He told me, “Journal, sing, read your Bible or start a new devotional.” Those were all things which resonated with me. Frankly, it is pretty much the list of what I do now. Then there was a change in the tone of what He was telling me. I think He gave me the list above to validate the things which I currently do. Those were the bridge to where He wanted to take me. Next, He told me not to simply wait for something to float into my head but rather to pursue Him relentlessly. What did that mean? Wasn’t I in the midst of seeking Him. Again, it was more validation but colored with encouragement to press in even more. All of this was preparing me, and my heart, for what He really wanted to say to me. “Ivey,” He said, “Come sit down in My office and let’s visit. Let’s share a cup of coffee and chat each morning. Just spend time with me. Don’t be concerned with formal devotions. Let’s sit and discuss each item on your list and I will advise you.”

What do you think of that? Someone asked me recently if I speak aloud to the Father. Yep! I talk aloud to Him as if He is bodily sitting in my office because that is my reality. He is with me as He is with you all of the time. So, Father simplified and demystified seeking Him. He told me to “inquire of Him in all things.” Well, that is simply having a conversation with Him and getting His input. One of the titles that came to my mind as He was telling me all of this was “Pray Less.” In that time together He taught me to forget religious methods and just chat with Him. That is pretty amazing really. The creator of the universe, the God and Father of us all, the big guy just wants to sit and have a cup of coffee together. You know, I can do that. I am not the most religious person on the planet and truthfully, I hope I never become that but it turns out that Dad isn’t asking of us that we pray beautiful prayers that are so poetic that they should be published. He’s got folks for that. What He desires of you and me is less prayer and more chat, more visiting over a cup of coffee. I am really just amazed by the humility of the situation and His desire for simple, unadorned time with each of us.

As a general aside, He may tell you to meet Him over the kitchen table or the front porch swing. Maybe He drinks tea with you instead of coffee. There is nothing magical about the office setting. He knew that setting would resonate with me. That’s all.

The God Creator of the universe has boiled down the whole religion paradigm to a very simple statement. “Come, let’s share a cup of coffee and visit.”

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Seeker

On June 15, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 7 – 8

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you for every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.

I have a question for you today. Does or did Jesus have the capacity to tell a lie? Did Jesus ever tell one lie in his life? We need to know because he is the one who spoke these words we read today. Here is another question, is it possible that when Jesus said these words he meant them only figuratively? In other words, are the words in the quoted verses for today meant to express their literal meaning or are they some figurative, allegorical or metaphorical representation of another meaning? We need to know! Does Jesus mean what he said or was he speaking in nuanced riddles?

I looked up simile, allegory, metaphor and figurative and from the meanings I see there, none of them apply to these two verses. Still, many people excuse the literal meanings of Jesus’ words claiming that they represent some other ideas which are not actually spoken. Because Jesus sometimes taught by using parables, some people discount all of his speech as representative rather than literal. Okay, so let me ask you another question. Why would the Son of God, he who came to set us free and to lead us into truth and fullness of life, play cloak and dagger with his beloved? He came to earth to die for each and every one of us; he came to give his life a ransom so that we might be saved. Why then would he hide the ball from us? And yes, that was figurative language I just used and it was obvious and understood.

That is the point of figurative language. It is not meant to hide the truth. It is used to illustrate and make clear difficult concepts. Finally, if we intend to have a relationship with Jesus, one that is based on truth and trust, then we must believe his words have actual meaning. He spoke so that we could hear and be free. When he said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10: 10) we must assume and understand that those words mean exactly what they say. Otherwise they do not have meaning and frankly, the whole Bible is undermined. If Jesus wanted to communicate that the purpose of his coming to earth was to give us life, how else would he say it other than to use the words which have the meaning which normally and customarily mean just that? Do you see what I mean? Once a person reduces one of Jesus’ literal statements to fantasy or figurative poetry, then all meaning for all his messages is lost. Who can say which of his statements are mere figures of speech and which ones he actually meant as spoken? Honestly, it is beyond intellectual integrity for one to adopt this posture. It is the height of arrogance. People who excuse away Jesus’ words and meanings replace them with themselves and their reasoning. It is foolishness!

The point of all of this is that Jesus said that if we seek, we shall find. There is no figure of speech in that statement so really, the choice is whether or not we choose to take him at his word. Do we believe the Father of us all sent His only begotten son to earth to lead us into truth, wisdom, and freedom? Why would Yahweh, Abba Father, sacrifice His beloved on a cross for people He intended to mislead? Does that really make any sense at all? Jesus’ brother, James, said that we should ask God for wisdom promising that God would give it to us freely and without reproach (James 1: 5). Why, then, would God offer to give us all His wisdom yet cloak every word Jesus said while in the earth. It is illogical and unreasonable to believe that so, trust that Jesus came to open eyes and doors. Believe him when he says that if we ask, we shall receive. When we seek, we will always find. Knock on the door because Jesus is on the other side waiting to open it to you.

Jesus has so much for us. The Father invested everything He had to bring us into a personal relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit is hovering today with creative power in his hands. They long for us. Let our yearning reach out and take hold of the love offered. Ask, seek, knock . . . receive, find, be welcomed in.

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Seek and Dare

On June 14, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 63: 1

O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Will you pray this simple, yet elegant prayer to the Lord? Can you slow down for a moment and say these words to Abba, your Father? Life is busy but I find it is not necessarily busy with the important things. This is the most important thing you can do right now.

As you know, I have been autographing copies of my book when people buy them. In one I wrote that the best advice I can give anyone, the one piece of advice that will carry them through life and serve them in all circumstances is this, seek God continually.

Did you notice how well today’s verse marries up with yesterday’s. Do you find that interesting? Perhaps the writer of Hebrews had this verse in mind. The writer of today’s psalm was David. God said of David that he was a man after His own heart. After reading today’s verse, is there any doubt why? David loved God and chased after Him. He yearned for Him. God gives us living water as elucidated in John 7: 37 and John 4: 10. This living water soothes and nourishes even in the darkest hours of life. David relied on the living water to quench his thirst and God provided. David sought after God though.

I trust that if we will yearn for God as did David, God will also satisfy us. He will reward our seeking. Do you believe this is true? If you really believe it in your heart, not merely believe it in your mind, then you will chase after Him as David did. The problem with us is that we don’t really believe all this stuff from the Bible. We don’t let David’s words penetrate our hearts and inspire action within us. We are afraid to believe; afraid of being disappointed so we do nothing. Inactivity at least saves us from disappointment.

I do not believe our God will disappoint us. I will stake my reputation on it. If you seek Him, you will find Him. He wants you to find Him. I am throwing down the gauntlet. Will you dare to seek Him? Will you earnestly search for Him? I dare you!

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