Grabbing Some Solitude

 

...He would withdraw to a desolate places and pray - Luke 5:16



Why are we (men especially) so bad at solitude? Our King did it well. Jesus knew His limitations. He understood His need to connect to His Father - to His guidance and power. He knew how good that that connection was. He wants us to know it too.

If it's so good, why do we struggle? Well, it's a little because we're busy. Solitude is hard when you're working / married / have kids. And, it's a little because we're not well practice. And it's because, deep down, we know solitude means confrontation. Solitude removes distractions and leaves us, for a few minutes, along with God the Holy Spirit. Solitude sometimes defined as being alone, but we're not. The the spirit dwells within us 1st Corinthians 3:16. God's right there. And we know what might happens when we're alone with God. He might ask us to stop something we don't want to stop or start something we don't want to start. He might.

But if we avoid His confrontation, we'll miss His companionship, council, comfort, restoration, and rescue. So, we must take courage. We must not worry that we don't do it well. And we must make solitude a priority, just as Jesus did.

The above blog was taken from WIRE - Justin Camp

What Are You Thinking?

Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. What we think shapes who we are. Our lives do follow the direction of our thoughts. The better we grasp that truth, the better equipped we'll change the trajectory of our minds.

There are only two thought patterns in our world. The first is a worldly view of life. This is the thoughts of those who do not personally know Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "...the god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.." The other and proper view is a Biblical world view. This view means you live according to the Word of God. The two are dramatically opposed. Romans 12:2 , Matthew 4:4

To live according to the Word of God; you will need to use theses four tools:

Replacement Principle. Remove the lie and replace it with truth. Satan's weapon is the lie. Our weakness is believing lies and if we believe a lie, it will affect our lives as if it were true.

Rewire Principle. Create new trenches of truth. Our brains contain mental "ruts" through repeatedly thinking the same thoughts. We need to dig truth trenches.

Reframe Principle. We cannot control what happens to us but we can control how we perceive it. We have the power to "reframe' how we view of circumstances.

Rejoice Principle. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything that is happening but when we've had enough, God is enough. We praise Him for the WHO He is, even if the what is not what we want. As we praise God, He shows up and gives us peace of mind.

 Decide today that you will not think like the rest of the world. You will let God renew your mind.

Easy For You To Say

 Rejoice in the Lord always. Philippians 4:4

This is a great verse for a coffee mug with a pretty cursive font. It would be a perfect

refrigerator magnet or on a greeting card. It makes you sound spiritual if you tell your friends, "Rejoice in the Lord always!"

But I hate it when someone quotes that verse to me. If I have a flat tire and it's 100 degrees out or my kid is sick or I am going through a difficult situation.

Who wrote that verse anyway? Do you rejoice in the Lord always? The apostle Paul wrote that verse from all places - prison. But did he rejoice when he was in prison? He did! Paul was with his buddy Silas.

Can you picture them? Thrown into prison on the cold, hard ground with open wounds, maybe a broken nose, a couple of ribs. No doctor, nurse, Band-Aids or ibuprofen. What did they do? Rejoice always.

They were praising God for the Who, not the what. If you asked them, "What are you praising God for?" I don't think there was any "what" they could point to. Nothing good was happening but their God was still good. They weren't praising God for the what. They were praising God for the Who and you can do that too.

They were praising God BEFORE He showed up. Acts 16:26 They did not praise God because He showed up; God showed up because they praised Him. (God inhabits the praise of His people, Psalm 22:3) When we praise Him, He will show up.

Feel The Tug?

 

A young boy had chosen the ideal day to fly a kite. It was sunny and just the right amount of wind. As he continue to allow his kite to rise higher on the wind currents, an older man approached him. As the man looked into the sky, he could not see the boy's kite, which now was just a speck in the sky. Partly in jest he said, "How do you know your kite is still there?" The boy replied, "Because I can feel the tug!"

As I thought about that story, I thought "Isn't that like God? We often may not see Him but we can feel His tug!" When God created mankind, He placed within him the desire ( a 'tug') to commune with God. Genesis 2:4-17 In the Garden of Eden, God meet with Man daily and they fellowshipped but because of man's disobedience (sin), God could no longer openly commune with God. The natural state of the human heart is to reject God’s rule of our lives and a close relationship with him.

And though mankind turned their backs on God, God did not turn His back on us. God sent Jesus to show the world that even though we don’t want a relationship with God, he still wants a relationship with us. God is drawing (the 'tug') all people to himself through the cross of Jesus. John 12:32 Jesus was lifted up on the cross so that ALL people would be drawn back to God. Once again we see God’s desire that all people have a relationship with Him.

You Are Not The Boss Of Me

 We all have one or more emotions that compete for control in driving our behavior. As adults, we've learned to monitor our behavior. Jesus asks us to go beyond simply monitoring how we behave and to monitor what's going on inside of us.

Human beings are such complex beings. Psalm 139:14 We have such a vast range of

emotions: Anger, love, greed, envy, compassion, joy, fear, pity, happiness, etc. Often our behavior is a direct result of an emotions that we have allowed to control us. James 4:1-3

We often read stories of someone who, in a moment of anger, kill someone. It wasn't premeditated it was just that anger got control of them for the moment. In a moment of envy or jealousy, we may do something that we regret afterwards.

We need to guard our emotions and not allow them to control our lives. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 What we say and do (good or bad) originates from our heart. EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH A THOUGHT! Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

By entertaining wrong thoughts, you allow them to become your boss. Ephesians 4:27 By believing the lies Satan places in your mind, you give him control. Instead, take control of your thoughts and emotions and do not allow them to become your boss, "...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:5

Christ-followers already have a boss - Jesus Christ. He is a far better boss than anger, envy, greed or lust. Jesus gives you something those inferior bosses can never give - rest. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Not Guilty

 "Man is innocent until proven guilty." We have all heard that statement. It is based on the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution, which assures citizens that 'no one shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.' No one is guilty just because someone accuses them.

You may remember the court dramas like Perry Mason or Matlock when the accused stays before the judge and declares they are not guilty. They are declaring their innocence. There is an old saying that prison is full of innocent people.

Unfortunately, though people are innocent before the law of man, none of us can claim to be innocent before God. "None is righteous, no, not one;...Psalm 3:10,... They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. vs 12 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

There is only one way to deal with our "guilty sentence." Sin, which is breaking the law of God I John 3:4 , had to dealt with. The person who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:20 There was no way to escape our punishment, that is until God provided a way. He sent His Only Begotten Son to take our death sentence. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin and declares us innocent.

Now we can stand before God and truthfully declare our innocence. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,... Romans 8:1

How's Your Heart

 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139.23

During a regular physical checkup, my doctor said she wanted me to have an EKG. After reading the results, she made an appointment with a cardiologist and they did discover a heart condition. To better understand my heart's condition, I had to wear a Holter monitor for 14 days. Every time I had an "episode", I would push a button and the device would record what was going to in my heart.

Without my doctor and medical technology, I would not have been aware that I had a problem with my heart! When King David prayed "Search me, 'O God, and know my heart!',

he was not asking God to discover something that God was totally unaware of because God knows all our hearts.

David was asking God to reveal to him the true condition of his own heart. No one can truly understand their own heart. "The heart is more deceitful than anything. It is incurable— who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 The Bible uses the word "heart" over 1,000 times, so apparently, God thinks it is important.

This is a dangerous prayer and should not be prayed unless you are prepared to receive what God has found!

Above all else, guard [monitor] your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

Disappointment With God

As a 74 year old minister and grandfather of six, I believe I have made some significant observations. If I had the opportunity to pass on one the most significant observations that we have failed as parents, grandparents, and pastors is to teach people how to handle disappointment. Disappointment is a fact of life, yet some parents try to shield their children from them rather than teaching them to accept and learn from them. Schools no longer honor students for exceptional achievement by rewarding trophies or 1st place ribbons because they do not wish to disappoint the other students. I believe this is wrong as it does not encourage children from doing their best.

Disappointment is not new. 

* In Genesis 4  Cain brought an offering to the Lord and "expected" the Lord to accept it but the Lord did not accept it. Cain, in his disappointment with God killed his brother Abel.

* In Exodus 2 Moses knew God had called him to deliver the Nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage but when he presented himself to the leaders of Israel, they rejected his leadership. Disappointment #1

* The 12 Disciples "expected" Jesus to overthrow the Romans and establish His Kingdom on earth. Acts 1:6 But He disappointed them by refusing to meet their expectation. 

Many of us have been taught from childhood that there are certain things we can expect from God. We are taught God is our protector and many of us can personally testify of His protection yet hundreds of believers are being martyred for their faith as we speak. We are taught that God will provide our needs, yet thousands will die today from starvation. We are taught divine healing and again many of us have experienced it but not all are healed.

Time and space would not allow us to thoroughly explore the challenges of disappointment but allow me to share my thoughts.

* Job found that God didn’t always act according to his expectations, nor according to those of his contemporaries. Still he was able to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” Job 13:15  Note that he did not say, “I trust this or that will be the outcome,” but “I trust in Him.” 

* God is God and I am not. When we demand that God meet our expectations, we are totally out-of-line. We have to acknowledge, God is omniscient we are not. Deut. 29:29 

We expect life to be fair but Philip Yancey said in his book, Disappointment with God - "“We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.”

Nevertheless, God does take care of His own. If in His divine wisdom, He sees fit to make an exception to some general rule, we should say, “Let God be God.”

Yes, we can trust God to keep His promises. More than that, we can trust God. He is the King of the universe, the all-knowing Sovereign, the Almighty. He has said He loves us… and He sent His only Son to prove it. And that is a God to be trusted! --- Stanley C. Baldwin, Discipleship Journal

The key is to surrender totally to God and allow your expectations to be from Him. My soul, wait silently for God for my hope [expectation] is from Him. Psalm 62:5

Are You Out of Balance?

 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

I have found that many of our problems originate from being out of balance. We often have a tendency to “swing” too far right or too far left. For instance, take our appetite. I enjoy having a good meal. Whether at a restaurant or at home but an appetite that is out of balance may lead to gluttony. Proverbs 23:1-3 Swing too far the other way and you fall anorexia. God has given us the desire for physical relationships but it also must be balanced. God’s plan was for that desire to be fulfilled in the bounds of marriage not to engaged to fulfill lust. 1 Cor. 2:7-5

Which brings me to Proverbs 15:3. As a child, and even a young Christ-follower, I viewed this text to mean God was spying on me. I thought He was a celestial cop watching for me to get out of line before punishing me. It is true God doesn’t miss it when we do wrong. Knowing God is watching should keep us from sin. It’s like driving on the interstate and seeing radar. We instinctively reduce our speed. But we do not have to fear if we are doing the speed limit.

But a balanced view of God reminds us that He also sees the good we do. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:5-6

God is our loving Father who only wants what is best for us. Just as our earthly fathers watch over us to keep us from danger, so God keeps His loving eyes on us.