Great time of fellowship and connection with the Lord at the April Lampstand! Here are the highlights of the meeting: We had a special treat because Sharon Anderson came and led worship! This was her first time leading and it was truly a blessing! Julie shared briefly about the battle that we are always in as believers and learning to wield the sword that we’ve been given, which is the word of God! (Ephesians 6) The weapon of the word of God is truly powerful for pulling down strongholds and taking captive every thought that is not helping us know God better. Matthew then shared about the place of the word and worship in spiritual warfare. We took time to respond in worship and prayed for people with needs for healing. I love these times together and how the Lord is faithful to stir among us and encourage us in His presence!
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Yay for an encouraging gathering in March! We are always encouraged by the folks who come willing to minister to the Lord and seek Him together. Here are some highlights from our gathering:
We are looking forward to another gathering and the opportunity to learn and grow in the Lord and to minister to Him. He IS worthy! We have completed the spring 40 Days for Life campaign. Julie and I were involved in regularly scheduled prayer vigils across from the Bristol Women’s Center in Bristol, TN that offers abortion at their facilities. We are thankful to God for his sustaining power and encouragement throughout the 40 days. After the 40 days for Life, we gathered together for a time of thanksgiving and celebration, thanking the Lord for answers to prayer and for His help. There is a lot to be thankful for:
715 Cities represented 44 Nations represented 4,876 Local Campaigns 13,153 Known Lives saved 144 Abortion workers quit 84 abortion centers closed.
Although we have not seen this clinic close, we are committed to pray toward that end, and the end of all abortion in the Tri-Cities region. In our January newsletter we mentioned Matthew contacting churches in the city of Bristol specifically about 40 Days for Life and other prayer initiatives in Bristol. He was able to contact some before this campaign started and will continue making those contacts before the fall campaign. We press on in these excellent times of gathering together! We are so grateful for the way the Lord meets us. Here are a few highlights from our February meeting!
Bethany Oakes led worship and did an awesome job going with the flow of the Holy Spirit! We took some extra time in worship before and after the message and it was truly a refreshing time to be in the presence of the Lord and to lift up worship to Him! Kim felt that the Lord was speaking about someone feeling like they were on a roller coaster. We took time to pray for anyone who was feeling that way and Linda had an excellent understanding from the Lord: “Get off! That’s not your ride!” (If you are reading this and feeling like you’re on a roller coaster for any reason, we are praying that God would speak that same word to your heart, get off! You don’t have to ride that crazy ride! Let the Lord bring stability to your mind, your heart, your life!) We prayed into Isaiah 55:1-3. The Lord really is the fountain of living water and He wants us to come TO Him and drink deeply. He wants to refresh and refuel His people. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. We had a “guest speaker”! We listened to a Dana Candler message from One Thing 2016 and it was a powerful word about being fueled from Matthew 25. -What is my reality in YOU? This was a question she asked of the Lord early in her journey with HIm and His answer to her heart was “Not much.” This seemed like it should be discouraging, but it was said with such hope that it drew her to press on in the Lord. -His path is HUMBLE. He is the Lamb who was slain. He is conforming us into HIS image! We aren’t going to spend years pursuing Him and end up feeling proud of ourselves…the goal is HUMILITY! -The path of following Jesus is COSTLY, but we ALWAYS gain HIM! He is the great reward! -She referenced Matthew 25, the parable of the 10 virgins, in the context of Matthew 24. Jesus is coming back for a Bride. We want to be a Bride consumed with the affection of loving Jesus. -We want to have an inner life of consuming love for Christ (oil and reserves of oil), not just an outer life of good works (the lamps). We NEED BOTH! We spent time in worship responding to this message, which was a rich time. We also prayed for anyone with physical needs. Recently, I got so excited about some yard work. Yes, I was overjoyed actually; and not by just the results, but by the process. Let me give you a little background before I share the source of my joy. In 6th grade, I had Ms. Mann as a science teacher. She was one of my favorite teachers that year. If my memory serves me correctly, she had a spring homework project/assignment for us in which we located a bud on a tree or bush that was just beginning to bud. We were to tie a piece of yarn near one bud and then draw that bud weekly and see the transformation as the bud opened. I chose to chart the growth of a lilac bud. That small assignment impacted me in a great way. It was amazing to see the beauty of that bud unfold. It is also when I was encouraged about my drawing skills and it was an assignment that I really enjoyed doing. Fast-forward to Spring 2016. When I was walking around our 2.5 acres in Piney Flats, TN (so thankful for our home and property), I saw something that caught my eye. Whether it was a small purple bloom peeking out of the brush, or me actually recognizing the leaves, I found a lilac bush almost completely overgrown with honeysuckle. Right then, I had a desire to free that lilac bush but as the way things often happen, my spring and summer were taken up with other projects and responsibilities. Fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago, the end of February 2017. We have had unusual whether here at the end of winter/early spring in East Tennessee. Much is budding and coming up out of the ground. We have had some crazy warm days as well as crazy cold days. On one of the warm days, I decided to tackle the honeysuckle and free the lilac bush. My kids got the job of clean up, so they were not as excited as dad was. But as I hacked away at that bush I began to see more and more buds of that scraggly lilac bush; buds, like I had drawn so long ago in 6th grade. My heart got more and more exuberant. Not only did I see the buds, I knew what was to come from those buds. I anticipated the beauty. I got the bulk of the honeysuckle off of the bush and then I notice that honeysuckle wrapped itself around long branches of lilac. The lilac was doing everything it could in years past to reach for sun as it was being strangled by the vine. I unwrapped each branch trying not to break the lilac branches. As I was clearing around the lilac, my kids kept commenting on me hacking away at the honeysuckle. They are fond of the honeysuckle smell and opening the blooms for a drop of the nectar. I seemed to get more adamantly opposed to honeysuckle and got more determined to expel it from that area. When the bush was finally free, it didn’t look full and it did look odd because much of the bush was naked branches without buds but it was beautiful to me. I kept asking the kids, “Isn’t it beautiful?” Later, I asked the same of my wife. They didn’t seem to share the same enthusiasm. It was beautiful to me and there was delight in my heart about it. You see, something in addition to the anticipation of beauty was stirring in my heart. There was a lesson in it for me! The Lord was trying to teach me tenderly and I was encouraged. In Matthew 13, it records Jesus sharing the parable of the sower. He teaches about the word of God. Specifically in that parable, He shares about the seed falling among thorns, “the thorns sprang up and choked them.” (Matthew 13:7). He explains the meaning in verse 22. “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” Luke describe it this way, “ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” (Luke 8:14) And Mark records it this way: “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-18-19). So from these 3 passages, what chokes out the word are as follows: Cares of the world Cares of life Deceitfulness of riches Pleasures of life Desires for other things Well, the Lord was helping me see though the freeing of the lilac bush, that there are things choking out the word in my own life. Just as the honeysuckle was wrapping itself around the lilac, hindering its growth, this list is doing the same in my life with the word of God. I want that lilac bush to come to full bloom and beauty. The Lord wants the word to grow in good soil and bear much fruit and become mature. With each hacking of honeysuckle I was seeing the lilac’s potential but also “what could be” in my life if I let God deal with the spiritual honeysuckle (the list above). The hard part is that I, and really all of us all are fond of the things that compile this list, whether we want to admit it or not. There are things that concern us that choke out the word. What are we anxious about? Does it really matter in the long run? Do the things we are anxious over or our anxiety help us in our spiritual journey? Do we care for our own comforts, wants, pursuits more than we value His word flourishing in our hearts? Do we spend too much time thinking about money? Where we will spend it? How much we have or do not have? How we think it may bring us satisfaction? Do we pursue our own pleasures to the detriment of our life in God? Is the pursuit of pleasure an idol in our lives? Do we desire things others have too much? Are we living covetously and describing it as pursuit of noble “achievement”? Just as my kids look so fondly on the honeysuckle and its pleasures, do we love the things of this life, even though they choke our life flow just as the honeysuckle was choking out what could be, choking out the buried splendor of a mature full-blossomed, lilac bush. Are our affections in the right place? Do we think fondly of the “chokers,” which are hindering our growth? I got so excited to see that free lilac bush, not only for purple blooms but I saw that God wants the same for me, to be free from that which weighs me down and chokes out the word. I may look scraggly for a while but thanks to my 6th grade science teacher and my own experience, and faith in Christ, I know that as I let Him deal with the list of “chokers” I will produce lots of blossoms or fruit as the parable of the sower describes. So Lord, deal with the “chokers.” Free us so the word can have full potential in our lives. Plant your seeds in the good soil of our hearts and let them grow, bearing fruit and producing “some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:23). Here are some highlights from our January Lampstand Meeting!
*Corporate prayer: overcoming offenses that come as we gather TOGETHER with other people in the place of prayer.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to gather together with others and seek the Lord. The hunger of the worship leaders and all who gather really is what makes this a dynamic time together. Let’s keep pressing in and pressing out oil! What an incredible time we experienced together at our December Lampstand meeting! Even as we prepared for the gathering that day, Matthew and I both felt so much peace from the Lord (this is not always the case, as there is usually a lot to be done in order to welcome people into our home that is fully lived in by 7 people!).
As we began the meeting, I shared a brief “Christmas reflection” about the word “entrusted.” Reading the verses from 2 Timothy 2 about guarding what has been entrusted to us as well as reading the Christmas story caused me to stop and ponder the beauty of God’s plan in “entrusting” Jesus to earthly parents and the message of His birth to lowly shepherds. He has then entrusted His story to us to share! Following this reflection of Jesus’s great worth and beauty, we entered into a time of worship led by Ian Wilson. We are so grateful for Ian coming and sharing the songs of his heart with us! During worship, God highlighted in a unique way Acts 2 and the outpouring of His power and strength. It was such a powerful experience of uniting as a group to determine what the Lord was speaking, and it was as if He was instructing us in how to corporately discern His word. We had a unique experience during worship. Matthew felt he had a word in tongues. He gave a brief explanation of how this works and shared from 1 Corinthians 12 how this is a valid and biblical way that God communicates to us. He then shared the word and it was somewhat lengthy. At the end of it, I shared what I felt was a direction from the Lord to encourage each person to just be faithful to share any impression the Lord may have given. They didn’t need to feel like they had to have the whole interpretation. If you have ever experienced someone giving a word in tongues, sometimes it can just feel awkward and no one wants to speak out and share an interpretation because they aren’t sure if they have it exactly…they don’t want to get it wrong. But, when we realize that we can just share whatever part the Lord may have stirred in us, it becomes a corporate effort to hear whatever message the Lord would want to highlight. Why would God give a word in tongues when He could speak through a person in plain language? One reason could be that He wants this corporate effort of hearing. It could also be rooted in His nature, that it is His glory to conceal and our glory to search Him out (Proverbs 25:2)! He isn’t trying to be hard to reach, but He is always trying to awaken us and cause us to stretch and reach higher and deeper than we have before. I believe that another reason for tongues and interpretations is that it highlights a message from the Lord in a unique way. Usually this means of communication is not common, so when it happens, it causes us to stop and listen. God communicating with us in our meeting through the word in tongues highlighted that He really wanted us to rise up in HIS strength and receive the outpouring of His Spirit that He alone can accomplish. We are simply obedient to receive and speak with boldness. This unique experience actually seemed to be a highlighting of the message the Lord had stirred in Matthew to speak about that night. He shared about the Miracle of Oil. Our meeting fell during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which is based on a historical event when the Jews had re-taken the temple from an occupying nation, but they only had enough kosher oil to last for one day. Miraculously the oil lasted for a full 8 days! This holiday prompted Matthew to consider this miracle of the oil we receive and the Lord led him to two passages about miraculous oil in the Scripture. 1 Kings 17 tells the story of Elijah and the widow. She was faced with great need and she had to simply obey Elijah’s instruction to bake bread for him and the Lord would provide. She obeyed, and the Lord caused her flour and oil to not run out! The next passage was about Elisha and another widow. In this story found in 2 Kings 4, we see an amazing miracle of oil not running out. Again, this widow had a great need, and the prophet instructed her to take what she had, and again, she had to simply obey to see the promise of provision fulfilled. The Lord completely paid her huge debt with only a little bit of oil. In both stories there was this pattern of need, crying out, simple obedience and seeing provision and answer! God will also provide for us as we do what we know to do and then He multiplies the oil. He is able to take our feeble efforts and do something huge! We are weak and we need His strength—the miracle of oil! Impartation: We always want to allow a response time because so often we hear a message and it truly goes in one ear and out the other because we don’t take time to stop and process what we have heard. So, this is an important part of our meetings, even if it is only a brief time. During this meeting, Matthew felt that we needed to pray impartation prayers for each other. So, we gathered around each one individually and prayed that the Lord would ignite a spark to cause us to pursue Him even more. This was a precious time. I love seeing the Lord minister, and it is so valuable to take time to lay hands on one another and pray for encouragement together. If you have not read my recent post on the Wildfires in Gatlinburg, I urge you to read that first. It will give some needed background for the following thoughts. Since the wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains, I have had an increased burden to pray for Gatlinburg and the surrounding cities. I have had a deep burden to go into the city and walk the streets and pray. It just so happens on the day that the city was re-opened for tourists, I was visiting a friend in Morristown and decided to go down and drive through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. I had a mixture of emotions as I drove in. Part of me longed to know and feel the Lord’s heart for the people affected by the tragedy. I can’t imagine the loss of my home, business, even my family members or friends. I wanted the increased burden to pray for them. I was also feeling a desire to just see and be in the area I have come to have affection for after this great tragedy. I drove thought the region with a desire to be watchful of anything the Lord may show me or highlight to me and to listen carefully for His voice. Three things I would like to share. 1. Probably the most significant thing I have come away with is a burden for the people of Gatlinburg to really recognize what the Lord is saying in this crisis. As I drove into the beginning of Gatlinburg, I passed a big marquee saying “Welcome Back” then “Mountain Tough” As I pulled over and got out my phone to take a picture, I realized it was the Welcome to Gatlinburg Visitors Center sign that was mostly burned up. This sign along with other signs that said things like “Gatlinburg Strong” were standing out to me. Is this the way God wants us to respond when there is a crisis? Are we to respond with human resilience or humble ourselves and pray? All I kept thinking was Isaiah 9:10, “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.” This is a passage that was actually quoted by several of our governmental leaders after the twin towers had fallen. Yet they were ignorant of the context of the passage. It is actually a message of judgment. Read the punishment for Samaria in the expanded verses from Isaiah 9:8-12 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. 9 All the people will know-- Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria-- Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: 10 “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.” 11 Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, 12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. (Emphasis Mine) Even President Obama echoed this passage when he signed a beam of the new One World Trade Center, “We Remember. We Rebuild. We come back Stronger.” In any crisis, it is not the Lord’s prescription to respond in pride, arrogance, or our own strength. I believe He is beckoning us to humble ourselves in crisis and seek His face about the next step. (Joel 1 & 2, 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, Zephaniah 2:1-3) My prayer is the church of Gatlinburg would get it and even more so, our whole region. What will we do in a time of crisis? 2. The only sign I saw on my drive about prayer was on the IHOP (the pancake place) sign in Pigeon Forge. “Praying for our County.” I was encouraged by this. I do not think it was a coincidence that it was on the IHOP sign, when IHOP is also the acronym for the International House of Prayer as well as the International House of Pancakes. 3. There is a controversy in the region. That area of the Great Smoky Mountains has deep religious roots but it also has in it many things that are an affront to God. (Compromise, idolatry of pleasure and self-gratification, sexual immorality, witchcraft, etc). God wants the church of the region to turn back to Him. 4. There is a divine destiny for the region of the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville. It is to bring glory to God. Colossians 1:15 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Emphasis mine) I believe God wants the church of the region to fully return to Him and the kingdom of God to increase in the Smokies. That the people of the Smokies would love and glorify the Lord with wholehearted devotion. That it would be an area of real refuge. Even as the people return, the worship would come forth from East Tennessee with anointing and power. Can you imagine?? God anointed musicians and singers, prophesying and proclaiming the glory of God in strength and might on banjos, mandolins, basses, and fiddles?! I believe God has unique designs for the Smokies and all of East Tennessee. As I have pondered the recent crisis in the beloved Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, I am greatly heartbroken and upset. Businesses damaged, homes destroyed, the mountains scorched and the smoke filling the air. Photos of the tragedy are disturbing and sobering. The night of the fires, the wind blew strong over our little house in the hills and now I can only imagine what some people witnessed: the fire being carried from ridge to ridge and engulfing buildings as people were evacuated and displaced. I don’t have family around there. I don’t have friends who live there. I have visited many times and it is an area I am familiar with and very much enjoy. I think of the Alamo, a restaurant that Julie and I spent a joyful evening of our honeymoon, totally gone. Many family trips to Dollywood, where the fire threatened but is safe and unharmed. Trips to the Aquarium, where it is good to hear the animals are safe. I feel a particular burden about all of this. I think it is because I live in East Tennessee and consider it my home. And since I have lived here I have grown to love the history, the people, and culture. So, thinking about this fire and the devastation, I sit here crying as I type. Because, as in the words of Dolly Parton, “these are my people.” I certainly think that this is a time to pray for those affected by the wildfires and to help practically in any way that we can. The practical love of Jesus being shared is vitally necessary for the church. It is a critical time when many are open to the gospel who would not otherwise be open, not to mention just the value in loving our fellow man. With all this in mind, I am gripped to the heart that there is a specific message that God wants to send us with the fires. I came across a Facebook post shared by a friend of a friend who was helping with the House and Grounds Team at Dollywood Theme Park. It included a picture of two pages of the Bible, he had found under a bench soaked from the rain. It was a passage from Joel 1 and 2. CLICK HERE for the more info about it. For those who may not know what the book of Joel is about, it is a message to Israel in a great time of crisis. They were facing economic crisis in their day (new wine, oil, and grain were dried up) and they were facing the threat of an invasion by a foreign army. The passages that were included on that paper found in Dollywood were. In the King James… Joel 1:14-2:1 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19 O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. 21 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: In verse 14 it sums up a prescription for what to do in a time of crisis. I believe it is a message that the Lord is speaking and continuing to speak to us. Joel 2:12-17 is very similar. “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. 14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him-- A grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ How could these wildfires happen in our region? How could this be? Is it possible that God has lifted His protection because of our idolatry and sin? Because we have walked in disobedience and turned away from Him? Our region is soaked with innocent blood. Thousands of abortions have taken place in our region. We worship idols of self-pleasure, self-gratification, self-will. Immorality is rampant. And the truth is, it is not just the “heathen” or the unchurched. It is in the church of East Tennessee. If we want to see a change, His protection again, even a great move of the Holy Spirit in our region, we must return to the Lord, with our whole heart. Will we heed the truth in the Scripture? What do we do in a time of crisis? Will we hear the trumpet of warning being blasted yet again to warn us to turn back to Him? Will we see His prophetic message in the edges of a burned Bible page in the middle of great destruction that contain words of warning and hope? So thinking about the wildfires of the Great Smoky Mountains, I am burdened to pray and intercede for the victims and those working to help. I am burdened to help in practical ways, too. But I believe there is a greater, overarching message that we must hear and respond to. There is a crisis. The prescription is clear. To gather. Fast. Pray. Humble ourselves. Cry out to Him. It’s not just an event but a lifestyle change. I don’t want to be guilty of reading the word without coming to the Lord while I read the Bible. By coming to Him, I mean connecting with Him, talking to Him while I read the verses. In John 5:39-40 Jesus has a message for the Jewish leaders 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. (Emphasis Mine) OHHHHH! What this verse describes is lifeless religion with no connection, no conversation with the Lord in the study of His Holy word. It’s a warning for us to not be like this; reading and studying to gain head knowledge without also experientially knowing Him! He warns them that what they are doing is missing the mark. They are missing HIM! I have recently revisited a resource by Mike Bickle at the International House of Prayer that I was impacted by about 15 years ago. It is a simple study on Journaling: How to “Pray-Read” the Scripture. It is an exhortation to talk to the Lord as you read through the Bible. You pray passages from the Scripture back to the Lord. Mike Bickle gives instruction about what do when you encounter two categories of truth. First, truths that exhort you to believe and secondly, truths that exhort you to obey. I. When you come to truths exhorting you to believe: A. Take time to actually thank Jesus for the specific truth you are reading B. Ask Him to reveal His truths to you in a greater way. II. When you come to truths exhorting you to obey: A. Commit yourself to obey what the passage describes. B. Ask the Lord to empower you to obey the Scriptures. He encourages you to journal by writing down the prayers to God. Here is an example of this if I were reading through Colossians 1:15-18: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. I see it is a Scripture exhorting me to obey. I could take a moment and thank Him for the truth found in this Scripture, specifically verse 16. “Thank you Lord that you have created all things. ‘All things’ includes me and my family, also my church family. You have created the beauty we see every day. The rolling hills and beautiful scenery. It is all created for you. I am created for you. Thank you for your creation. Thank you for creating me.” It is helpful to remember the Lord is present with us and wants to engage with us. We can slow down and be patient as we thank Him. The Holy Spirit can use this to tenderize our hearts by simple declarations of thanksgiving. I can take the same Scripture and ask Him to give me greater understanding of His truth. “Lord, help me to see and understand this passage in a greater way. Open the eyes of my heart (Ephesians 1:17-18). What does it mean that all things were created through you and for you? What does that show me about the world around me? What does that show me about myself? My purpose? What does it mean for you to be preeminent?” By doing this the Holy Spirit will cause our insight to gradually increase. Another example would be coming to a Scripture that exhorts me to obey like 1 Peter 5:8-9: 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9 I commit myself to obey the truths here. “Lord, I commit that I will walk sober. Help me to be calm and collected in my spirit. Help me to be vigilant, observant and watchful, understanding that the enemy is at work. Help me to be faithful to resist the enemy, to make choices for the Lord. Help me to hold fast to truth, to read and study the truth.” It matters that we tell Him the intent of our heart. It is helpful for our resolve and will bring strength to our obedience. I can also ask for Him to help me accomplish this commitment. Ask the Lord to empower you to do what He asks. When you ask of Him, He will answer. We find ourselves growing in grace over time. These simple applications of prayer while we read the word are huge. It helps us engage with the Lord and “come to Him” Jesus talked about sending Holy Spirit and that He is the Helper sent from the Father that will testify of Himself (John 15:26) and that He (Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth, speaking what He hears and telling us things to come (John 16:13). What a dynamic time awaits us in the word as we come connecting to the Lord, talking and conversing with Him, receiving help from Holy Spirit! It should encourage us to dive deep and talk often. In Song of Songs 2:14 the Bridegroom is saying to His bride. “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” Jesus wants to hear our voice. What fuel for our quiet times! What encouragement for our Bible reading! He wants to hear me and I want to hear Him. |
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November 2020
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