Praying God's Will

Colossions 1

As I read through this chapter I kept thinking about what a true friend Paul must have been.  Not just a true friend, but a Godly friend.  Just listen to the words in verses 9 & 10… “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  What a prayer for another person, basically Paul is praying that these people find the God that he has found and that they are filled with as much of God as possible.  He is not just praying for their safety, for their health, or for blessings upon them.  His prayer, his words to God go much deeper than what the human eye can see.  He is praying for God’s will and if that means suffering so that they can become closer to God, then so be it.  I pray for people all the time, sometimes it’s because someone has asked me to and sometimes it is random people that God has laid on my heart, but most of the time it is specific to a need, usually a physical need.  I see that there is no greater need than to draw closer to God---to be filled with the knowledge of his will, to be given spiritual wisdom and understanding.  I can’t help but think of the time when God spoke to me while I was praying so intently for my brother when he was so sick---He spoke so clearly to my heart and let me know that my family and friends that did not know him were in worse condition than Eddie and that I should be praying for them even harder.  I know I tend to pray for the needs that I see, but praying for people the way Paul did can impact everyone more than I could ever imagine.  So tonight as I pray I desire to be a Godly friend and pray for my family and friends the way Paul prayed for the people at Colossae.  Praying God’s will can be the hardest thing we do, but it is also the greatest prayer we can pray.

Sing Your Song!

I wrote this on June 18^th, after attending the funeral of a friend, I didn’t write it to post, I wrote it because I just needed to write down my thoughts, but I just feel compelled to post it.

 

Today I was honored to be a part of a beautiful home-going celebration of an even more beautiful person.  I have known Charity her whole life, we lived on the same road for many years, went to the same church when we were children, had parents who were friends, had connections to lots and lots of the same people (this happens often in small towns) and went to the same school.  I was a couple of years older than her, but at a small school we all did everything together and everyone new everyone.  After high school we went our separate ways and would see each other occasionally, then she moved away and we hadn’t seen each other or talked to one another in a long time.  I kept up with her through some friends and family, and I prayed often for her when I heard she was diagnosed with cancer.  I tell you all this because I realized today that there is a great connection between children of God.  Although, we had not seen each other in a while, I loved her no less, I hurt for her parents, husband, and three children as if she were my best friend. Only God can give us this ability to love each other like this, and that is what I have been thinking about all evening---God’s love.  It is the most powerful thing we can have in us and the most powerful thing we can give away.  It is the one thing that you can give away and it will return, multiplied.  I have so many questions that I know I will never find the answers to while on this earth, but I can rest assured that no matter how many things I don’t understand, I do serve a God that understands it all and is working things out for our best interest.  I have thought of the words of Charity’s father, when he said to me, ‘we will understand it better by and by’ and thought how true and real those words are---in fact tonight I visualized meeting Jesus in Heaven and him explaining everything to me and then me thanking him for all the moments that I didn’t understand.  We do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds that future.  Charity loved to sing, anyone that knew her at any point in her life knew that, and it was very fitting for the pastor to speak of Charity ‘singing her song’ with the way she lived her life.  Her song was Jesus and she showed him with everything she did.  We do all have a song to sing, but are we singing it?  My song is to write down the words that Jesus gives me and I want to sing it loud.  We will never know this side of Heaven how many lives Charity touched while here on this earth, but I do know my life was impacted greatly by knowing her.  While my heart continues to hurt for her precious family, I cannot think of her without smiling---mainly because she was so great at making everyone else smile!  

 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

Psalm 28:7

Do You Know Your Master?

Isaiah 1

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken:  “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Isaiah 1:2-3

After reading Isaiah 1 I went back to my thoughts from the last post about God being disappointed in his children.  In this chapter it sounds like God is more than disappointed in his children---he is tremendously upset with them.  It is like he is saying, what are you doing, I have raised you better than this.  I have taught you how to live and now you are doing whatever you want.  God goes on to say that he does not even want their sacrifices.  Why? Because they are not truly sacrificing, they are just following procedure.  They are sacrificing physically, but not spiritually.  Am I a child that he is disappointed with?  I think I am a good person, but am I doing everything that I should be doing.  I was watching this story tonight about a former NFL player and how he went back to his high school to coach and teach.  He based everything he did on the fundamental principal that Jesus teaches us, serve Him by serving others.  At the end of the segment, he said you have to do something for others if you want God’s blessings, if you want God to move in your life then you need to be moving in others.  How true is that?  As we were shopping the other day I wondered how many hours are spent by God’s children shopping.  Now I know that there are things we have to buy, but I am talking about just going shopping because of our wants not our needs.  We say we don’t have time for studying the Bible, praying, or serving others, but really we do---it is our choice as to how we spend our time.  If it is something we really want to do, than we will do it.  So serving God has to be something we really want to do.  Do you?  I think I do and I have some really great ideas about things I could do, but then I get caught up in ‘busyness’ and don’t go forward with those ideas.  Like this blog, I know I am supposed to be writing this regularly, but I haven’t been lately.  That is nobody’s fault but mine---who is missing a word from God because I didn’t take time to write down the thoughts that He has given me.  How many moments am I missing for God because of my own selfishness?  This all may sound like I am down on myself, but really I am just self-evaluating and wanting to truly make some changes.  I am not down on myself at all, I am just wanting more from this life and I know that to make the most out of this life here on earth I have to follow the will of God.  Like I have said so many times before…God’s will is so much greater than what we could ever imagine for ourselves, it is there just waiting on us to act upon it.  Do you know your master?  We have to know God before we can know His will and like His will, He too is right there waiting on us to call on Him. 

God is Sovereign!

God is Sovereign!  He is the supreme authority; he is independent, superior, and absolute. 

Why? Why do the children of God have to suffer?  Why do we have to go through such difficult times?  There are so many people sick and hurting, but why?  I have been asking myself these questions over the last few days, but this morning after a prayer meeting with God I received my answer.  God did not create me or you in order for us to know everything.  We were never meant to understand everything.  Why?  Because we serve a God, we believe in a God who is the authority, who is absolute, who is sovereign!  He created us to serve him, to love him, and to trust him in all things; and if we do these three things then everything else will come together and we will learn that when we let go of everything that we know and truly trust Him, then we don’t have to understand everything. 

The other day when it was raining so hard I found myself just staring at all the drops hitting the ground and wondering if that would amount to how many tears Jesus has shed over us.  This may sound a bit crazy, but hear me out…don’t you think God is a little disappointed in his children?  Look at this world and how we operate day to day.  Do we spend as much time in prayer as we should? Do we serve Him in all that we do?  Do we put Him first in everything?  Do we take moments just to love Him and praise Him?  Or do we stay so busy that it takes something traumatic to turn us back to God?  Not a new concept here---hasn’t this been the same story since the beginning of time?  God’s children need God, they worship and serve God with all their heart for a while and then things get a little too easy and God’s children think they know how to take care of themselves.  God’s children become self-sufficient and selfish.  Catastrophe happens and now God’s children realize they can’t do this on their own and they cry out to God.  God saves them and once again they begin to serve God with all their heart.  So maybe that is my answer, not that God puts sickness, problems, or catastrophes on us, but allowing those things to happen makes us realize how much we do need God.  As terrible as it was for my brother to be so sick, I would not change it for anything.  It still hurts to see him struggling, but we are all different because of it, we are all closer to God because of it, and if that is what it took for us to know God more than it will be worth it in the long run.  Who are we to question suffering when our Savior suffered so much for each one of us? His suffering is what saves us from this world---it is what made to way for us to get to Heaven. Bad things will continue to happen, people will continue to struggle, people will still hurt, but in all those things we can count on this….Jesus will continue to love us, Jesus will continue to save us, Jesus will continue to heal us, and Jesus will never, ever let go of us because He is the authority, He is absolute, and He is sovereign!