Monthly Archives: August 2011

Dwelling in His Presence

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“Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”   Psalms 140:1

Dwelling in the presence of the Lord is the lifestyle of a Christian and prayer is the only way to maintaining this lifestyle.  Prayer is how we connect to God and giving thanks is the key to keeping that connection.

The apostle Paul thought prayer was so important that he said to pray without ceasing. You may ask “How can I carry out the everyday tasks of my job, my kids, my home and still pray without ceasing?”

The prayer uttered out of a thankful heart is a prayer that will continue all day. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving…”(Psalm 104).

When you enter into prayer first thing every morning with a prayer of thanksgiving and maintain an attitude of thankfulness, you will find yourself in His presence all day.  It’s all about how you enter in.  If we enter into His presence with a thankful heart, we will find it easer to continue thanking Him for the rest of the day.  When you stay focused on the blessings of God and thanking Him, your spiritual eyes will only see what He wants you to see. Your spiritual eyes see through thanksgiving.

The secret to staying in the presence of the Lord all the time is determined by the condition of your heart. A heart that is thankful is a heart that can see God in everything. That person can truly pray without ceasing because they are continually giving thanks. Ask God to refocus your eyes so you can see His blessings in everything and give thanks.

Refocus: “…What ever things are pure and whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)  

 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

A Thankful Tribute

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“Peace, Peace to him who is far off and to him who is near! Says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise]”   Isaiah 57:19

As I traveled up a winding road I have traveled many times before, I had one thing on my mind, the old apple tree at the top of the hill.  When I arrived at the top, I was disappointed to find a barren and withered tree.  Then I remembered that back in the spring, I had not seen the blooms of a fruit tree. Blossoms on an apple tree are a picture of the fruit to come.  The blossoms in the spring give us a glimpse of the fruit that the tree will produce in the fall.

We can learn so much about our lives when we look at the apple tree.  God say’s we are the apples of His eye. Once we are a tree, He prunes, waters, and watches us as we blossom and bring forth fruit in due season.

On another day, I traveled up the same winding road and I saw two “trees” standing on the hill.  As I got closer to these two “trees”, I saw beautiful blossoms.   These two “trees” were a husband and wife around eighty years old, whose life reflected the fullness of the Lord. From their lips came words of thankful praise, their heart was full of joy as they rejoiced in God’s goodness that day.  The words that came from their lips revealed a thankful heart.  Even in the midst of troubling times, they were truly grateful for God’s blessings in their life.  Their spirit was strong, even though they had weathered many storms.  Their braches were low with fruitful words you could take home. As I left that day, my basket was full with more fresh fruit than ever before. I had been with two people whose lives truly produced the fruit of the Lord.

A Continuous Flow

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… If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me out of his inner most being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. John 7:37-38

I began to ponder this morning about the continuous flow of Living Water.  As I read John 7:37-38 I thought; living water is a continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  That is it; that is what I experience daily as I spend time with the Lord.

His love and forgiveness is a “continuous flow” that never stops.  But, is that what others experience when they spend time with me?  I heard the Lord as He spoke in that quiet gentile voice to my heart,  “Can you carry my love and forgiveness to others?  Will you let it flow continuously from you as a river so that people are refreshed by My presence within you.”  My response was: “Yes, Lord!”

I set back and began to fondly think of those people I love; the ones I wanted to share this continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  But, then I thought about people who I no longer have fellowship with.  I began to wonder did the continuous flow apply to these relationships as well.  I heard the Lord gentle say, “Aren’t you glad that even when you were not fellowshipping with Me that My flow of love and forgiveness was still continuous towards you?  Then He said, “What you have freely received freely give them as well.”  I realized very quickly that I needed more of the love of the Lord, because at this point I only have a small creek that runs as far as my close friends and family.

Lord, I want a river, a big river of Living Water; a continuous flow of love and forgiveness that will flow everywhere You send me.

Forgiveness: Clean Out Your Filing Cabinet

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“Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

No matter who you are or how long you have been a Christian, you will still have times when you get hurt and offended.  As a Christian, the goal is to learn how to deal with hurts properly.

Learning to respond instead of reacting is the key.  If you have been hurt in the same way before, then it will be easier to take on the offense and react.  The reaction will be based on a combination of the present hurt and the past hurts as well.  If you have learned to forgive when hurtful things happen instead of being offended, you will be able to respond correctly.  Forgiveness therefore, must become a way of life in order to be able to respond in a Christ-like manner no matter what the situation is.

The problem is that your soul has a filing cabinet where past hurts and offenses are stored that have not been dealt with properly. This is why when someone does something that hurts you; you will suddenly remember how many times they have done the same thing before.

The only way to be free from past hurts is to forgive. Ask the Lord to help you forgive. Forgiveness is releasing the person who hurt you, and releasing your right to hold the offense against them any longer. Forgiveness is not saying that what they did was not wrong; forgiveness is releasing them to God. You will not be free from the pain caused by the offense until you release the offender. Once you forgive them, your filing cabinet will be cleaned out and you can begin to deal with hurts on a daily basis instead of letting things pile up.

Forgiveness is releasing our right to demand payment for sins against us by surrendering to God and letting Him be the judge and jury.

God is the Destiny Developer

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“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it”. Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

God has given the wonderful privilege to parents to train up their children in the way they should go. “Train up the child in the way they should go” requires the parent to be observant of the child. They should look at how God has gifted each child, see what their unique characteristics are, and then train them up accordingly.

A child is given identity through their parent’s encouragement and affirmation.  An adult who struggles with identity has most likely not had positive input from their parents.  It is the father who draws a child’s spirit to life.  His affirmation will give the child the confidence that they can accomplish great things.  It is the parent’s responsibility to help their children discover their identity.  Parents who do not help their children discover who they are will send them out into the world seeking the answer to this question.  The world’s answer to who you are is always based on performance.  The world says you are what you achieve.  Destiny is determined by God.

Many times the destiny of a person is written before birth.  There are many examples in the Word where God revealed to the parents the destiny of their children.  Mary was told that her son Jesus would be the Savior of the world. Hannah knew that her son Samuel was called to be a prophet, and she took him to live in the temple with Eli.

David also saw his son Solomon’s destiny.  God told him that his son, Solomon, would be the one who would build the temple.  Many parents today have the same awesome responsibility to call their children into their destiny.  David affirmed his son publicly.  Jesus was also affirmed by God publicly.  At his baptism God said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”

Destiny developer:
God is the destiny developer.  What He has called you to do; He will equip you to do.  Over time, as you experience His hand of mercy and grace, He will deposit into you the strength of character to carry out what He has called you to do.  What He has begun in you, He will complete.

Destiny “Distracters”:
There are many destiny distracters.  We know the distracters are the things in life that get us off track.  These are the things that we do that lead us in another direction.

Some Christians get easily turned away from their calling by pursuing their own grievances and enemies.  This will ultimately turn the direction of their life completely around from pursuing God’s high calling to their own cause. This distraction can keep one pulled into a whirlwind for many years.
Another distraction is believing the lies of the enemy.  Satan is the father of lies, and he plants lies in you so you doubt that you even have a destiny.
Fear is another distracter.  You will fear that you cannot do what God has called you to do, and then give up.

Be a Destiny Searcher

Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.

Ask God to reveal your destiny. He is the destiny establisher. Submit yourself to the Lord; He is the destiny developer. Resist the enemy; he is the destiny distracter.