Fire

 We are pressed on every side by troubles, 

but we are not crushed. 

We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. 

We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

2 Cor 4:8-9 (NLT)

The devastating Waldo Canyon fire is raging in Colorado.  15,000 acres have been consumed by the fire which has destroyed 300 homes and caused 32,000 people to be evacuated.  It reminds me of the Oakland fire of 1989.  Watching the fire in the hills and wondering if was going to reach your house was a frightening experience.

At a moments notice things can change in our lives.  The apostle Paul was no stranger to difficulty.  He faced beatings, prison, shipwrecks, floods, all kinds of dangers.  He came to the conclusion that even though we may be pressed on every side by troubles, perplexed, hunted down or knocked down we will never be destroyed or given over to despair because we know God will never abandon us.

As we face difficulties in our lives of whatever kind, let us not give up, but put our hope in God who will see us through as we trust in him.

Lord, we pray for those in danger of fire today that you would take care of them.  Help the fire fighters as they work under extreme conditions, to extinguish the fires quickly.

Loved

See how very much our Father loves us,

 for he calls us his children,

 and that is what we are!

1 John 3:1 (NLT)

The very foundation of all of our service and all of our life is our knowledge of the love of God.  Everything we do springs from this place.  As we gain a deeper understanding and experience of His love, the more effective we will be in every area of our lives.

In the following illustration from Self-Esteem: By God’s Design, Dr. Larry Day asks us to imagine a parent’s love toward their sleeping infant as a fresh reminder of God’s love for us. 

Imagine with me for a moment one of those times in the evening when you tiptoe into your young child’s room to see if they are okay and asleep.  As you stand over your son’s or daughter’s crib and watch them quietly sleeping, you notice how their face looks so calm, peaceful, and angelic.  They look so sweet, innocent, and lovable.  As you gaze down upon that little bundle of humanity, no doubt you begin to experience an amazing assortment of feelings:  love, warmth, pride, awe, tenderness, caring, and concern.

In those few moments of quietness, you don’t see them as the “monster” that did all those things that drive you crazy.  The yelling, crying, fighting, and misbehaving that took place throughout the day fade into the background.  All hassles are set aside as you look at this sleeping form and see a little person.  You feel a deep warm love for them simply because they are there.

Before leaving the room, you feel the strongest urge to pick them up, hold them in your arms, and kiss them softly on the cheek.  But you don’t.  Why not?  Because you don’t want to wake them up and spoil the moment.  You know that as soon as they open their eyes and mouth you will have to deal with their behavior (Doing) and you will lose the enjoyment of their Being.  So you lean over, gently kiss them on the cheek, and quietly leave the room.

I know it is hard for some of you to feel that God really loves you when you have failed and made such a mess of things.  We all think our mistakes, failures, sins, and shortcomings stand as witnesses against us that we don’t deserve to be loved.  We believe God must be fed-up with our bad attitudes and stupid choices, and that that He wants nothing to do with us until we straighten out.

During times like these we need to look at the face of a sleeping child.  Watching them in their simplest and purest human form, can remind us that this is how God sees us.  He came into our bedroom last night, looked down upon us while we were sleeping, and saw us as His child, created in His image, and He deeply loved us. He saw us in our truest humanity – formed from dust, finite and fallen, but bearing His image in our very being – and He loved us for WHO WE ARE and not for what we have or have not done.*

As I meditate upon this illustration I have a sense of God's presence and an confirmation of the truth of his love for me. The message is clear.  I am deeply loved no matter what I do.  Even in the face of all my failings and shortcomings, I am loved and valued just as I am. I don’t have to do anything to be loved.  You and I are valuable not because of what we do, but just because we are the objects of his love.

When we truly assimilate the fact that we are deeply loved by God, that we are completely accepted and forgiven and are recipients of all of his grace and mercy we will be better able to give that same sense of love and acceptance to others.  We will be better able to love others when we have received the depth of God's love into our hearts.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

  may have power, together with all the saints,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Eph 3:17-19 (NIV)

*Day, Larry G., Ph.D, Self-Esteem: By God's Design. Pg. 35,36

Tests

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, 

even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. 

 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. 

It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—

though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. 

So when your faith remains strong through many trials,

 it will bring you much praise and glory and honor

 on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 

1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)

The most precious thing we have is our faith.  God tests us not to see how we will live or what we will do, but to prove our faith.

Those of us living today in relatively secure affluence don’t face the same kinds of severe life-threatening trials that Christians have faced in many times and places throughout history.  We face tests of a different kind.  

Our modern struggles involve our own self-centeredness, perhaps being overtaken with resentments or fears or falling into complacency to name just a few.  My severest tests come from my own sense of weakness and failure to be the kind of person I think God would want me to be.  In the face of these tests, the temptation comes to focus on myself, to think that if I just try harder things will change.  This strategy always ends in discouragement and despair.

In the face of trials, instead of responding with self-effort or self condemnation, God is looking for our simple faith.  He is not impressed when I agonize over my failures or promise him that I will do better next time. What he is looking for is childlike trust. Can I trust him that he understands the struggles I go through and that he has the power to transform me?  Can I wait on him and trust him even when I feel so out of it? Can I trust him to make my life significant, and to fulfill the plans he has for me?  

When all the people saw the things Jesus did, they wanted to do the same thing.  Jesus said it clearly, "The only thing God wants from you is that you would believe in me." (John 6:29).  We have no idea the power released as we believe in him moment by moment.  Even when we feel our faith is weak, it is still powerful because it connects us to the Powerful One.  Let us remember, when we think we need to try harder or are ready to give up in despair, to activate our faith. 

Lord, I believe that you have all the resources necessary to change me.  Help me not to dwell on myself, but to activate my faith muscle and put all of my trust in you.  I know I will be able to accomplish so much more and with such a better attitude when my eyes are on you.

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.

 Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

 But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 (NLT)

Wisdom from Above

 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. 

It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, 

and willing to yield to others.

It is full of mercy and good deeds. 

It shows no favoritism and is always sincere

 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace

 and reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18 (NLT)

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you?

  Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? 

James 4:1 (NLT)

Our human nature always gets us into trouble.  There is an army of evil desires at war within us, ready to fight and argue, ready to start war. The response of that old nature is usually negative, critical and judgmental.  It is hard and unforgiving, causing heartache and pain.  Our old self is an expert at rationalizing and excusing all kinds of sin like pride and selfishness.  When we give it a voice, what enormous damage it can do.

The wisdom from above, on the other hand, gives rise to good deeds that spring from pure motives.  It creates peace and handles every situation with a gentle spirit that is willing to yield.  It doles out large quantities of mercy and forgiveness.  Instead of causing war and destruction, under the influence of this wisdom, we become peacemakers, planting good seeds wherever we go. What a contrast!

We all make many mistakes and we are sometimes blind to them.  When we ask for God's light to shine on us, we may discover areas where our motives are not pure, where we have been hard and unyielding, where we have justified ourselves, or used words that have hurt another.  When we come to that realization and confess it to God, he promises to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and lead us along a better path.

Lord, thank you that our old nature was crucified on the cross when you died.  Help us not to give voice to it, but to yield to your wisdom from above.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

 and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 189:23-24 (NIV)

Vine & Branch

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. 

John 15.5 (NLT)

You are the vine.

  I am only a branch.  

 I can do nothing of myself

 so, I must abide.

 Help me abide

  as a branch in the vine 

 your life giving flow

 nourishing my soul.

 

From my abiding 

may I bear fruit

  fragrant and sweet

    nourishing the world. 

Knowing God

And this is eternal life:

 it means to know

 (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand)

 You, the only true and real God,

 and to know Him, Jesus Christ, 

whom You have sent.

John 17:3 (AMP)

Everywhere I have turned recently I am encountering writings about knowing God.  I came across a little booklet stuck away inside a book on my shelf that talks about friendship with God.  It states that God's purpose for our lives is to have a close personal and intimate relationship with him.  Out of that relationship everything else is derived - our needs our met and we become channels of blessing for those around us in whatever place we find ourselves.

Then this morning on www.aholyexperience.com comes this quote:

For millions of Christians…God is no more real than He is to the non-Christian. They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle. Over against all this cloudy vagueness stands the clear scriptural doctrine that God can be known in personal experience. 

A loving Personality dominates the Bible, walking among the trees of the garden and breathing fragrance over every scene. Always a living Person is present, speaking, pleading, loving, working, and manifesting Himself whenever and wherever His people have the receptivity necessary to receive the manifestation. 

The Bible assumes as a self-evident fact that men can know God with at least the same degree of immediacy as they know any other person or thing that comes within the field of their experience. The same terms are used to express the knowledge of God as are used to express knowledge of physical things.  ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good.’…the whole import of the Scripture is toward this belief. 

What can all this mean except that we have in our hearts organs by means of which we can know God as certainly as we know material things through our five senses?~A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

There is nothing more important in life than to experience this relationship with God.  We have been made in his image.  I am a person because He is a person and He is a person that I can relate to intimately. Let us ask, seek and knock until the door is opened, putting aside all fear and reaching out to a God who is there to meet us. May I be drawn closer to him each day.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Psalms 34:8 (NLT)