Merriam-Webster dictionary characterizes wandering by aimless, slow, or pointless movement. You can call it surfing the web. Hour after hour spent browsing web pages or sites at random. Or lying in bed letting your mind travel from past to present in some endless loop.
Most of us wander in our minds when we are bored or restless. Others will drift from thought to thought to avoid pain and uncomfortable circumstances.
You may say we are a nation of rootless people - constantly in motion or on the move - but sadly much of it is wasted effort since there lacks a clear, defined purpose. No wonder so many believers lack peace because they are in pieces from a kaleidoscope of jumbled and random thoughts.
Here's a precious promise. God not only brings home the prodigal but He restores the mental and emotional prodigal, too. His desire is what Jeremiah describes in 17:8 that "They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (NIV). Similarly, we are to be ground and rooted in love (Ephesians 3:17).
Our roots in His word must go deeper still so that we are not easily moved and shaken by every distractive or attractive thought that leads us away from Him.
Beloved, we must spend time with Him though it can be a battle to order our thoughts and focus on the Word. Even prayer can be challenging when we seemingly leap frog from one random request to another - and we wonder what's the point?
But this is where we so desperately need the Holy Spirit to help calm our inner storm of raging thoughts and order our minds to be at rest. God will help us stay rooted and anchored to His word.
After all He is called the Root of Jesse (Revelation 22:16).
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Divine Attraction
While in a supermarket, I watched a young girl pout and cry when a bright colored lollipop was given to her from a stranger but the father decided to place it in his pocket for another time. Minutes later she was distracted when her father announced ice cream while passing by the freezers.
Even as adults we are very easily distracted by the important and trivial things of life.
What distracts will attract us. Eventually, it will shape our perception and understanding which can strengthen or weaken our faith. That it's why we must have supernatural vision to see Christ as attractive. Isaiah 53:2b says, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (NIV)
Still, He is more beautiful beyond human comparison or any other earthly object, if only the Holy Spirit takes away the veil from our eyes.
The challenge for many us who have so often failed Him is that we feel ugly and shameful. We believe such a holy and wonderful God appears to us as something other than His own loveliness. We hold up an image of an angry or vindictive even hateful God. Sadly, our sin blinds us to see Him as truly attractive and inviting. The Devil wants to distort and mar the image of God into something that reflects our own condition. But remember we are made in His perfect and beautiful image not our own!
So when we draw near to Christ we are attracted to the Otherness of our nature. God is holy, just and true. He never fails nor does His word lie. In that moment, whatever distracts loses its pull and lure. James 1:25 says, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (KJV).
Beloved, the longer we gaze at Him we are transformed into His likeness, into the very nature of Christ (Hebrews 12:2, Colossians 3:2).
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
(Helen H. Lemmel, 1922)
Even as adults we are very easily distracted by the important and trivial things of life.
What distracts will attract us. Eventually, it will shape our perception and understanding which can strengthen or weaken our faith. That it's why we must have supernatural vision to see Christ as attractive. Isaiah 53:2b says, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (NIV)
Still, He is more beautiful beyond human comparison or any other earthly object, if only the Holy Spirit takes away the veil from our eyes.
The challenge for many us who have so often failed Him is that we feel ugly and shameful. We believe such a holy and wonderful God appears to us as something other than His own loveliness. We hold up an image of an angry or vindictive even hateful God. Sadly, our sin blinds us to see Him as truly attractive and inviting. The Devil wants to distort and mar the image of God into something that reflects our own condition. But remember we are made in His perfect and beautiful image not our own!
So when we draw near to Christ we are attracted to the Otherness of our nature. God is holy, just and true. He never fails nor does His word lie. In that moment, whatever distracts loses its pull and lure. James 1:25 says, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (KJV).
Beloved, the longer we gaze at Him we are transformed into His likeness, into the very nature of Christ (Hebrews 12:2, Colossians 3:2).
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
(Helen H. Lemmel, 1922)
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Whole Faith
In reading the life of Christ, the most powerful and dynamic act He did was to touch the sick and He allowed them to touch Him.
I think of the woman who was internally bleeding for years. She came from behind Him and touch His garment. Jesus turned and said to her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." (Mark 5:34 KJV).
In the book of Acts we read of man who was full of faith. Stephen is described as "full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." (Acts 6:8, KJV). Such faith Stephen possessed flowed to others who in turn were healed and restored.
I believe God must touch our lives with a revelation of Himself that provokes in us an unshakeable trust in His nature.
To the hemorrhaging woman crawling through the crowd to reach out her trembling hands... to a man full of faith who saw the Son of God standing to receive him upon His death; required confidence in God's power to do and act.
Beloved, how many of us sit in church mouthing the words of songs and agreeing to messages that inspire faith but we simply don't believe Him in our every day lives. We are frustrated and bewildered why nothing changes in our circumstances no matter how many tears we've cried or prayers shouted or whispered.
God has to make us whole in our minds and hearts. He has to remove the things that try to fill our lives with some faulty and empty substitute for wholeness. Sadly, most of us are like Gideon hidden in a well wondering where is all the miracles and power of God that we heard in times past.
Remember this truth. God is our refuge and strength, a great help in times of distress. (Psalms 46:1 ISV). Our problems and difficulties will change (better or worse) but God remains our help at all times! When we grasp this revelation of God's power to help - we are touch by truth - truth that transforms us and makes our faith whole.
No rips or gaps that cause us to bleed out our trust. Whole faith.
God is for me. He is my Helper.
And He will come through for me.
I think of the woman who was internally bleeding for years. She came from behind Him and touch His garment. Jesus turned and said to her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." (Mark 5:34 KJV).
In the book of Acts we read of man who was full of faith. Stephen is described as "full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." (Acts 6:8, KJV). Such faith Stephen possessed flowed to others who in turn were healed and restored.
I believe God must touch our lives with a revelation of Himself that provokes in us an unshakeable trust in His nature.
To the hemorrhaging woman crawling through the crowd to reach out her trembling hands... to a man full of faith who saw the Son of God standing to receive him upon His death; required confidence in God's power to do and act.
Beloved, how many of us sit in church mouthing the words of songs and agreeing to messages that inspire faith but we simply don't believe Him in our every day lives. We are frustrated and bewildered why nothing changes in our circumstances no matter how many tears we've cried or prayers shouted or whispered.
God has to make us whole in our minds and hearts. He has to remove the things that try to fill our lives with some faulty and empty substitute for wholeness. Sadly, most of us are like Gideon hidden in a well wondering where is all the miracles and power of God that we heard in times past.
Remember this truth. God is our refuge and strength, a great help in times of distress. (Psalms 46:1 ISV). Our problems and difficulties will change (better or worse) but God remains our help at all times! When we grasp this revelation of God's power to help - we are touch by truth - truth that transforms us and makes our faith whole.
No rips or gaps that cause us to bleed out our trust. Whole faith.
God is for me. He is my Helper.
And He will come through for me.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Moving Forward
Moving forward isn't always easy. Some mornings when your feet touch the floor after a sleepless night, it can be difficult to face a busy day. You numbly read a few Scripture verses and let out a pray that sounds more like a sigh. Then you are carried away on a rushing current of the day's activities.
Such an existence can leave one feeling helpless and hopeless to advance toward a brighter future.
While Joshua was conquering the Promise Land he commanded the sun and the moon to stand still. On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." (Joshua 10:12 KJV).
Time was not on Joshua's side while advancing with the army because evening was fast approaching. So with authority and trust in the Lord, he commanded the moon and sun to stop!
The Lord tells us to be still and know Him so that God is exalted in the earth (Psalms 46:10). We can let the activities and events of the day shape our lives or we can "command" the things that revolve and evolve our lives to stop. Jesus commanded the seas to be still and likewise we may need to do the same when life begins to take away our focus and strength on things that matter to God.
For most of us the highest amount of traffic is in our heads. Our emotions can swing from high to low. We have trouble focusing with so many distractions and interruptions. At night we become troubled about what we may or may not face. We have dreams that seem to get buried below the layers of anxious and troubling thoughts that keep us from moving forward.
I'm learning to pray the truth that I'm a child of light (I Thessalonians 5:5) and to dress myself in the armour of light (Romans 13:12). By doing so, I'm commanding the darkness (e.g. despair or depression) to stop as God's light directs me and leads along the path He has determined for my life.
Beloved, He is our light unto our path. Ask the Lord for strength to move forward - step by step - and trust in His authority to stop the encroaching darkness of just merely existing to get through just one more day. He promises us a full and abundant life not a mean, narrow and restrictive life.
May we hear him as Lazarus who was dead but left the tomb at Christ's command. You may say Lazarus saw a light at the end of tunnel to move forward into a fuller life once again.
Such an existence can leave one feeling helpless and hopeless to advance toward a brighter future.
While Joshua was conquering the Promise Land he commanded the sun and the moon to stand still. On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." (Joshua 10:12 KJV).
Time was not on Joshua's side while advancing with the army because evening was fast approaching. So with authority and trust in the Lord, he commanded the moon and sun to stop!
The Lord tells us to be still and know Him so that God is exalted in the earth (Psalms 46:10). We can let the activities and events of the day shape our lives or we can "command" the things that revolve and evolve our lives to stop. Jesus commanded the seas to be still and likewise we may need to do the same when life begins to take away our focus and strength on things that matter to God.
For most of us the highest amount of traffic is in our heads. Our emotions can swing from high to low. We have trouble focusing with so many distractions and interruptions. At night we become troubled about what we may or may not face. We have dreams that seem to get buried below the layers of anxious and troubling thoughts that keep us from moving forward.
I'm learning to pray the truth that I'm a child of light (I Thessalonians 5:5) and to dress myself in the armour of light (Romans 13:12). By doing so, I'm commanding the darkness (e.g. despair or depression) to stop as God's light directs me and leads along the path He has determined for my life.
Beloved, He is our light unto our path. Ask the Lord for strength to move forward - step by step - and trust in His authority to stop the encroaching darkness of just merely existing to get through just one more day. He promises us a full and abundant life not a mean, narrow and restrictive life.
May we hear him as Lazarus who was dead but left the tomb at Christ's command. You may say Lazarus saw a light at the end of tunnel to move forward into a fuller life once again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)