Luke 11:9-10 ”So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 

The Poem: “I asked God”

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for — but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.
                                                                                                   – Anonymous

We always seem to know what we want. However, God doesn’t deal in wants; he deals in “needs.” 

You may ask God today for something you want, but thank Him when you receive ALL that you need.

Deuteronomy 28… 

¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: ³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

 ⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

 ⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

 ⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

 ⁷ The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

 ⁸ The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

 ⁹ The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

 ¹² The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ¹³ The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. ¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

This is a great question that I think a good many Christians ask when attempting to grow in their Christian faith.

Other relevant questions include:
Why don’t I feel closer to God?
What am I doing that is holding me back?
Why isn’t my church growing?

The answer, I believe, can be found in Acts 2:1  “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” This simply and purely shows us the example that we need to follow as a church and as individuals. The Apostles, in this case, were together, in fellowship, but also in unity.

How many times today are we in conflict with each other, within our church, and within our own body? We struggle. With sin in our lives, we are in a fierce spiritual battle where evil is attempting to overcome the good in our life. Yet, if we simply allowed God to work in our lives, listening to His guidance, then maybe we wouldn’t have it so hard. Then, and only then, can unity help us to grow together, accept each other (despite past experiences and emotions), and we can start allowing the Holy Spirit to work a good work in us. Revival may break out and the growth of the church may go far beyond what we could ever imagine.

So, how do we start? With you. And me. We have to start within ourselves. We can’t expect others to change if we aren’t willing to change. There has to be a start to our change and the best place is inside ourselves. One by one we can affect change and help others through us. So let’s not wait any longer. Let’s begin the process now. It’ll be a great journey – living with the Holy Spirit hovering over and around us the whole time.

What is the result of such a change? Acts 2:43-47 finishes the story of this miraculous moment in time: 

⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

. . . the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28

A Poem (author unknown)

I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease…..

All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They’d laugh at me I’d fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die

I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God Held a book;
It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said
“Your name I cannot find
I once was going to write it down…
But never found the time.”

Kind of gives you a perspective doesn’t it?  Take time today for God . . .

Sometimes we get in trouble because we don’t fully read instructions when assembling a toy or attempting do-it-yourself repairs around the house. I know my wife has told me many times that “If you had only read the instructions….yah-di-dah-di-dah.” Well, unfortunately, I have to admit that she was right (most of the time…ok, all the time). Anyway, there are so many things in life that we could do so much better if only we read the instructions.

Wait, you say….

There’s not an instruction booklet on every little thing. Well, there is! It’s called the Bible. Here’s the thing: we fail to read ALL the instructions.

Point in case: Jesus said 

“If you ask anything…I will do it” – John 14:14

Well, here we go with a case of failing to completely read the instructions. The entire verse reads:

 ”If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” – John 14:14.

Ok, so simply, we need only to ask in prayer: “Jesus, I want…” and wam-o-bam-o, it’s done!

Well, again, NO. We have failed to “understand” the instructions . . . and again, we have failed to fully read all the instructions. First of all, we need to ask for God’s Will – that is what’s meant by “in my name.” If we read all the Scriptures, Jesus tells us in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy Will be done” – not ours. That prayer is an example for us to follow.

The remaining instructions remind us that our life is no longer ours, but God’s. Therefore whatever we ask should be something that God can benefit from, not us.

Therefore next time you need some help, pull out the instruction manual (the Bible) and read about how life is supposed to be done.  It was written for a reason.  Use it!

Now for the women that read this anyway – I hope that you at least got something out of it – cause I’ve now proven that it’s not just men that don’t read instructions – but women also. 

 ⁷Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. – Galatians 6:7-10

When we remember to look to God for advice and encouragement, it’s easy to be reminded that we MUST do good.

The Lord blesses us in so many ways. Yet, we are blind to many of those little blessings that only He can provide. And according to Scripture, we must continue to do good in order to reap continued blessings. Do not grow weary, do not get tired, but instead, allow the Lord to refresh your spirit and assist you in doing good.

Yesterday I was listening to the Chris Tomlin song, “I will rise.”  If you haven’t heard it, it’s a great song!  Listen here:

Let God lift you up. Allow Him to help YOU say that “I WILL RISE!” Only through His blessings and perfect gift of Salvation do we have such a wonderful future ahead of us. Therefore, let all of us do “good.”

Face it, the Lord is crazy about you.
 

What is most valuable . . .
Is not what we have in our lives, but . . .
WHO we have in our lives!

‘ Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet’

Ecclesiastes 3

 ¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven: 

² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace . . .

Today’s time was to finally figure out why my blog went out at 5 pm in the evening and not earlier in the day . . . ? Well, it’s solved, I found the correct setting, and IF I changed everything correctly, you should be receiving this around 11 AM today.

So, why this Scripture, why today (other than the timeliness of it? . . . ha ha?) Well, it really struck me that often times we all (including me) question God:  Why God? Why now? Why not ____ ? (you fill in the blank). Well, the problem with these questions is that we are asking why not “our will.” God wants us to desire His Will. He has a perfect time for everything.

Sometimes we think we just can’t take another day. We wonder WHY has this ever happened to me, especially now? Well, don’t stress over it, it’s all in God’s plan in HIS time. So allow God to work out His plan, and PRAISE God that He has a “time for everything.”

As verse 4 states:

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Soon enough – our time to laugh and dance will be here and we can all celebrate (and if you dance anything like me, you’ll like like a moron doing it – but at least you’ll be joyful).

Have a great day! (now that you have that goofy picture of me dancing in your head

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones’ chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own heart. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David’s comment.
Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart.  ‘Listen’, she said…’What do you suppose that is?’
He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap – tap -tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, 
‘Is that Jesus knocking?’ 

I don’t know what you believe, but the Bible tells us:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in – Revelation 3:20

Maybe, just maybe, that is Jesus knocking, every beat of the day, inside our bodies, reminding us that He is only a heart’s distance away. Are you willing to open the door to your heart and let Jesus come in?