CLOSE TO GOD

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?” –Ps 42:1-2 kjv

What do you yearn for?  What is your greatest desire?  What grips your heart so strongly that without it you feel as if you could die?  Do you feel this passionately about something right now?  I believe we should ask ourselves these questions because our easy American lifestyle tends to lend our pursuit of God a feeling of “second nature”.

Our activities become “second nature” when we no longer have to give them our full conscious attention but can accomplish them out of habit.  An example of this is driving.  My Mother and Father required that I study the driving manual for California (where I lived when I was sixteen years old) and learn how to change a tire before I was allowed to take the test for a learner’s permit.  When I accomplished this then I had to have one of them in the car with me while I drove with them giving advice and directions.  I was concerned to drive safely and listened to their advice.  I was very focused on what I was doing, giving special attention to be aware of cars ahead of me and behind me, watching my speed and keeping enough distance to be able to respond in time.  I made mistakes at first, but fortunately they were minor and I did not have any accidents.  As I kept following the same procedures I grew into a more experienced driver.  When I review my driving habits now, I find that I still follow much of what I learned yet I do not always give it conscious thought.  Driving is now “second nature”.

The irony of something becoming “second nature” is that it can stifle growth as well.  When I first learned to use the Internet over ten years ago a fast modem was only 14K whereas now speeds exceed 3G.  I could have become frustrated with the new computer applications for internet use and stubbornly used my old Windows 3.11 computer, but year by year access to web pages would decrease until my old modem would not even be able to load the simplest page.  Instead I learned to use new browsers and upgrades and now enjoy easy research and communication at my fingertips in a fraction of the time I used to spend.

The Christian walk can become “second nature” and in a way, it should.  “Christian” means “Christ-like” and one thing we observed about Christ is that He regularly went off by Himself to spend time with His Father.  Our Heavenly Father is so great, so marvelous, and so wondrous that He is beyond our ability to fathom.  There is no end to the things we can glean from our time with Him.  We should be “Christ-like” and seek His heart regularly to find newness in our walk but sometimes, more often than not, we stifle or even cease to grow because our daily “devotion” is done out of habit or by “second nature”.

I believe we should examine ourselves regularly to see what our focus is and if our walk has become too “second nature”.

“A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.” –Ps 42:2 MSG

Have you ever been out working in the yard on a hot summer day?  After a while you get hot and thirsty so you go in and pour a big glass of cool water.  Do you just take a few sips?  No!  You gulp it down until the last drop is drained.  Psalm 42 tells of someone who wants God so desperately that it is as strong as the desire for water on a hot day.  Water is needed daily for life.  When you go without water for about two to four hours your body starts to retain fluids in preparation of the chance of not receiving more.  After six to eight hours your body is becoming mildly dehydrated, your lips and mouth become dry.  After 24 hours your mouth becomes sticky and your lips crack.  Within 48 hours your kidneys can start to shut down and toxins usually filtered by them and excreted through the urine build up in your internal organs.  Without water you can die within three to four days.  Water is ESSENTIAL to life.  In Psalm 42 the Psalmist is expressing how important God IS to him.  It is essential – the essence of life itself.

“As a deer gets thirsty for streams of water, I truly am thirsty for you, my God. In my heart, I am thirsty for you, the living God. When will I see your face?”  –Ps 42:1-2 CEV

Let us examine ourselves.  Is there a longing in our hearts for God?  Does it grow daily?  Do we yearn to see His face?  He is calling us to draw closer.  He is urging us to look into His eyes.  He is offering us a deep thirst-quenching drink. 

How will we respond?

(KJV = King James Version

MSG =The Message Bible

CEV =Contemporary English Version)

BOOK REVIEW: Not a Fan. – by Kyle Idleman

Do you wish you had something more in life?  Are you finding your Christian walk has settled into a comfortable rut?  If these things are not how you feel then ask yourself (and be honest with yourself) “Is my life with God perfect?”  Whether you are doing great or struggling as a Christian I recommend Not a Fan.

I was cruising the internet last summer and came across a strikingly simple black website with clear lower case white letters that said, not a fan with the sub-caption:  completely. committed. follower.  This intrigued me so I read the short notes on the website and decided I wanted to give this book a try.  I sent away for the book and was excited to start reading when it came.

Let me preface the next statement by stating that I love to read, have a very high comprehension rate, and can usually finish a 200 page book in a couple hours.  It took me almost a month to finish the book.  It is not a hard book to read and is filled with humor, amusing antidotes and clear object lesions, but when you read it with the intent to let it change your life then you sometimes have to give the Holy Spirit time to make the changes in you.

I discovered that I was an avid fan of Jesus, but not a committed follower.  Let me show you the difference by using this brief quotation by Pastor Idleman from the book:

“I was born into a Christian home and rarely missed a weekend of church.  From before I can remember I could quote the Lord’s Prayer, John 3:16, and the 23^rd Psalm.  When I was around five years old I threw a fit because my mom was making me wear a tie to church.  She was trying to understand why I was so upset, and through my tears I explained, “If I wear a tie they might make me preach!”  By the age of thirteen I felt pressure to have the “Baptist blow-dry” hairstyle that my father was somewhat of a legend for perfecting.  I would regularly model the latest “witness wear.”  My collection was impressive.  God’s Gym; Jesus, The Real Thing; This blood’s for you…I had them all.  When I was in junior high I even had a picture of Jesus hanging on my wall right next to the poster of Michael Jordan.  In some ways that is a visual example of how I would define my relationship with Jesus at the time.  I was a fan of Jesus, like I was a fan of Mike.  I had memorized and knew his stats, but I did not know him.”

After reading the book Rev. Jon Kulaga Ph.D., Provost, Asbury University described the difference between a fan and a committed follower as follows:

“Football has been described as 22 men on the field in desperate need of rest, and 60,000 fans in the stands in desperate need of exercise.  In the spirit of Trueblood and Bonhoeffer, Not A Fan challenges believers to get out of their seats, strap on the gear and get in the game.   Not A Fan is not for the faint of heart… it’s for those who want to join a company of the committed, and to obey what they claim to believe."

Are you tired of being a fan?  Are you ready to get off of the sidelines and into the game?  I heardily recommend you get Not a Fan and read it.  It will change your life!

Not a Fan website:  http://www.notafan.com/

MERCY

He was like a pestering mosquito, always buzzing around.  At least that was the way King Zedekiah felt at times.  He came again and again, saying the same old thing.  All the other prophets said that the city would not be taken.  They said that there would be peace, yet this guy kept saying that everyone would be killed by sword, famine or pestilence.  Well the Chaldeans broke off their siege and left so that proves all the other prophets true.  The princes threw him into the dungeon so maybe he has changed his tune.  Maybe now he will give a good word from the Lord.

“When Jeremiah had come into the cells in the dungeon and had remained there many days,

Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and the king asked him secretly in his hours.  Is there any word from the Lord?  And Jeremiah said, There is!  And he said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

Where not are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, the King of Babylon shall not come against you or against this land?

Therefore hear now, I pray you, O my lord and king, let my supplication, I pray you, come before you and be acceptable, that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe (literally “the house of the cistern.” or dungeon) lest I die there.

Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard…so Jeremiah remained (imprisoned) in the court of the guard.”  Jeremiah 37:16-21 AMP

Maybe it was on King Zedekiah’s mind that he better not harm the prophet, after all he was supposed to be a spokesman for God.  It could be that since the siege of Jerusalem was over and the Chaldeans fled for fear of Pharaoh’s approaching army Zedekiah was feeling generous.  In any case, Zedekiah had mercy on Jeremiah when he made his plea to not have to return to the dungeon.  Yet he did not set Jeremiah free.  He put him in the guard house (prison) and basically gave him bread and water rations.  Zedekiah’s mercy was conditional.  It extended as far as his current resources, circumstances and opinions of the princes under him.

Man’s mercy is situational, therefore it is incomplete.

God’s mercy is not situational; it is not dependant on the circumstances around us or upon any effort we make but rather is given freely because of His great love for us.  Therefore it is complete, enacted by the death and resurrection of Christ.

“But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).”  Ephesians 2:4-5 AMP

There are no “half measures” with God.  His mercy is complete and nothing man does can affect it.  Our sin does not negate His mercy.  In fact because of His mercy sin no longer has a hold on us:

“For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy].”  Romans 6:14 AMP

How complete IS God’s mercy?  We received it after we sinned (hurt and offended God by our sinful attitudes and actions) so what should we do when we are hurt and offended by others?  Jesus was very clear on this and shared a parable to illustrate what we are to do (Matthew 18:23-35).

“And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you?”  Matthew 18:33 AMP

When we forgive those who hurt and offend us then we are showing God how much we love Him, by extending the power of His mercy to others.  This puts me in mind of the old saying, “You can collect more flies with honey than vinegar.”  What kind of witness would we be for the Lord if we returned hurt for hurt?  If you are like me, you struggle with forgiving when someone hurts you.  I found that I cannot forgive unless I tap into that love God showed me when He forgave me.  I pray something like this: 

“Heavenly Father, fill me with Your love for (put the name of the person who hurt you here) and help me to show that love to (_____) by forgiving him/her with the same mercy You forgave me with.  In Jesus’ Name I ask this, Amen.”

In this age of increasing lawlessness why not do what the world would not do, forgive.

It is time for mercy!

THE END OF THE WORLD

        I was leaving a store the other day and the manager (an acquaintance friend) teasingly said, “Since 2013 is here I can say Happy New Year Linda, the end of the world didn’t come.”

        Looking at him quizzically I asked, “What do you mean that the end of the world didn’t come?”

        “Well, you know how everything was supposed to come to an end on December 21^st?”

        “Oh yeah, I forgot about the Aztec prophecy.  Happy New Year!”

        As I got in my car I sat there for a few minutes and contemplated that conversation and then thanked God that man and his predictions are not in control of this world and my life.

The world will come to an end some day.  Isaiah 24 tells about how it will be utterly broken, rent asunder, shaken violently, stagger like a drunken man, sway to and fro, fall and not rise again.  2 Peter 3 states that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth shall be burned up.  Such scary thoughts!  The thing to remember is that all this upheaval will still be under God’s control, and He always remembers His own.

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”  -2 Peter 3:13

So, should believers fear the end of the world?  How could we?  We are the righteousness of God in Christ (Phil. 3:9 & 1 Cor. 1:30) and He will prepare a new heavens and a new earth for us to live in.  Not only will the end of the world herald new heavens and a new earth but it will be when death is abolished forever (Isaiah 25:8).

Oh how I look forward to that day.  How about you?

“It shall be said in that day, Behold our God upon Whom we have waited and hoped, that He might save us! This is the Lord, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:8-9 AMP

Does the end of the world still scare you?  If so then I challenge you to examine yourself today to see if you are indeed one of the “righteous” who will make it to the new earth.  If you are not absolutely sure that you are the righteousness of God in Christ or wonder what that phrase really means please email me.  I would be glad to help you gain the sure footing of being saved from the coming turmoil.