Move, get, go, and do! Life can be like a drill sergeant screaming in your ear. “Alright (insert your name here), go, go, go!” A man once said, “We’re human beings, not human doings.” So often we find ourselves in a never-ending frustrating rut of doing. We forget the importance of just being whom we are, unique individuals made by God. He made us first and foremost to be, not to do.
Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 KJV).
We struggle to do things in order to get what we want in life. We push ourselves to do anything in order to please God, when what He really wants is not so much what we do for Him, but what we are to Him. One of the greatest lessons Lord Jesus ever taught me was just to be. This is more important to Him than anything I’ll ever do for Him.
I asked Him to sanctify me by His blood, to plunge the depths of my inner being, and clean the deep recesses of my spirit, soul, and body. Though I had the assurance of my salvation, He showed me that my soul, like a room swept clean, still had some cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling. The Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things, shone a light in those dark corners exposing some lingering stuff. With the broom of the Holy Spirit we dealt with them and I became a cleansed pot, a vessel fit for the Lord’s use.
I learned to focus my efforts on being a clean pot, and then He could use me and perform the “doing” through me. I’m the being and He’s the doing. I knew a man who was constantly striving to push himself on people. He went overboard trying to impress the ladies. His focus was doing his best, not being his best. Ultimately he would push them away. The lesson he needed to learn was to be the best that he could be, then they will see and not flee.
Sure, it’s good to have goals in life, but do not fail to appreciate and enjoy who you are and what you have right now. Your life here and now is incredibly important! Don’t worry so much about tomorrow. "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34 TM). Tomorrow will take care of itself.
The Apostle Paul said that we are to be content in whatever state we find ourselves. “I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (Philippians 4:11-14 TM).
Enjoy the incredible gift that is today. God wonderfully made you. In the Bible, He states that He knows the plans He has for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you. He knows the desire of your heart. He had a part in putting it there. What He began in you He will fulfill. You might not be able to see it right now, but that doesn’t change His word. Be patient and stand. You will see the salvation of the Lord.
Whether you need deliverance from a bad situation or just want your dream of a happy life to come true, remember that our God is the biggest dreamer of all. He dreamt up everything that exists in the universe, including you. He wants His dream for you to come true as much as you do. When we embrace His dreams for us, and submit our dreams to His will, we find the contentment that the Apostle Paul wrote about, and God’s peace that passes understanding. Have faith in God for you are a blessed being.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Get in the Closet
Whatever happened to the prayer closet? If you’ve never heard of one, it’s simply a private place to spend time with the Lord. It can literally be a closet, a private room, or even a chair in the corner of your bedroom. Mine is a stuffed chair in my home office. It’s a place to get alone with the Lord in prayer.
Scripture records the Lord Jesus getting away for solitary prayer, “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray” (Mark 1:35 NLT). This is so important that Jesus tells us, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6 KJV).
Then three verses later He teaches us how to pray in our prayer closet, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV).
We call this the Lord’s Prayer, which describes a daily intimate personal relationship with our Father. As you enter your prayer closet, seek the Lord and allow Him to speak to your heart. This will become a habit that you’ll love, and your relationship with God will become personal and powerful. This will quickly become the best part of your day.
Now don’t just go into your prayer closet and ask for this and that. Many of us have made our prayer closet a supply closet. We only go in there for things. We don’t go in there for a relationship with God. Instead of seeking Him, we seek things! We have built shelves in our prayer closets, making it difficult to get inside. So we simply reach in and get what we want. It’s time that we believers take the shelving out of our supply closets and make them our prayer closets again.
We should make it a place where we go in, put our body down and fellowship in the Spirit with the Lord. In the prayer closet we should give ourselves to Him and learn to enjoy the presence of the Lord. This is what He wants. This pleases our Father. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 KJV). When we seek His presence, He sees our need and gives us His presents.
Our Father knows what we need before we even ask, even if we don’t ask. But what does He need? Us! Don’t miss out on the best part of spiritual life, which is being with the Lord. So make a little time, move those shelves, and get in the closet!
Scripture records the Lord Jesus getting away for solitary prayer, “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray” (Mark 1:35 NLT). This is so important that Jesus tells us, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6 KJV).
Then three verses later He teaches us how to pray in our prayer closet, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV).
We call this the Lord’s Prayer, which describes a daily intimate personal relationship with our Father. As you enter your prayer closet, seek the Lord and allow Him to speak to your heart. This will become a habit that you’ll love, and your relationship with God will become personal and powerful. This will quickly become the best part of your day.
Now don’t just go into your prayer closet and ask for this and that. Many of us have made our prayer closet a supply closet. We only go in there for things. We don’t go in there for a relationship with God. Instead of seeking Him, we seek things! We have built shelves in our prayer closets, making it difficult to get inside. So we simply reach in and get what we want. It’s time that we believers take the shelving out of our supply closets and make them our prayer closets again.
We should make it a place where we go in, put our body down and fellowship in the Spirit with the Lord. In the prayer closet we should give ourselves to Him and learn to enjoy the presence of the Lord. This is what He wants. This pleases our Father. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 KJV). When we seek His presence, He sees our need and gives us His presents.
Our Father knows what we need before we even ask, even if we don’t ask. But what does He need? Us! Don’t miss out on the best part of spiritual life, which is being with the Lord. So make a little time, move those shelves, and get in the closet!
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