Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Thoughts, Plans & Relationship

Jeremiah 29:10-14
(RSV)

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

I have been reading in Jeremiah lately and came across this passage.  As I read verse 11, I recognized it as a "popular" verse that people like to quote and put on cups and pictures, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I love the verse myself.  I may even have a travel cup that has it written on it and I don't mind the reminder of the goodness of God at all!

What struck me is that so many times we become familiar with a particular verse and forget that there is a context, and by doing so lose some of its meaning.  In this case, the children of Israel were in captivity because of their unfaithfulness and disobedience to God.  But, God already had thoughts or plans for them.  He didn't just randomly have a good thought or plan - He just keeps His word.  Period.  And in spite of their shortcomings, He was going to fulfill His promise and word. 

And if you read past verse 11, you will see that the good thoughts and plans of God are not just a one sided deal.  God wanted a relationship with Israel, He wanted them to seek Him, and turn to Him.  I believe this is the same context we should be reading verse 11 today.  God does have good thoughts and plans for us - but how will we know what those are or see them fulfilled in our lives until we call upon Him and seek Him with all our hearts?  

Whether one is turning to God for the first time, or has been one of those who has read verse 11 with a little bit of spiritual smugness - we still need to call on, turn to, and seek God - so He can fulfill the promise of His word in our lives!  It is a relationship.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Forward March

Isaiah 59:19
KJV

19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

Just a short and hopefully sweet post here about letting the Lord fight the battle.  Sometimes after experiencing a mountaintop, the valley seems to come right up and smack you in the face.

And "enemy" seems like such a strong word.  We all know there is an enemy of our soul - but can we truly blame everything on him?  I would like to think I have no earthly enemies - although there has been a time or two that I've wondered.  A lot of times it is just life!  It happens!  In that case the enemy is discouragement and disappointment.

So, regardless of whatever "enemy" we face, if we get up, shake ourselves off, praise the name of the Lord, He will fight that enemy.  When we feel weak from our introduction to the valley, He will lift up a standard for us.  Forward march!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Psalm 51:10

Psalm 51:10
(KJV)

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

This is one of my favorite verses to pray.  I have learned over the years that you also have to be careful, truly, of what you ask for - I have, a time or two, prayed this somewhat nonchalantly.  There is nothing nonchalant about God's plan or will for us.  If you think about it - how would one have a clean heart created in them?  How would one's spirit be renewed to be right? 

Well, I can tell you.  It is not an overnight process.  Yes, God can speak things into existence, however; some things would not be what they are without a process.  In this case, I think it is safe to assume that the opposite of a clean heart is an unclean heart, and a right spirit - one with issues.  So, by my own experience (still continuing, I might add) the process of having a clean heart created in one's self is the painful digging out of the old stuff.  The stuff that keeps one held back from complete openness and communion with God.  Through the "process" of God creating a clean heart - our spirits can be renewed.  This frees us from the things that keep us down and tears down the walls that we build up for protection from hurts, etc.

While the process can be painful, the result is a closeness with God that replaces the walls that we build.  The things that the unclean heart and wounded spirit once struggled with become blurry through the haze of the presence of God in our clean heart and right spirit. 

If you have been here and done this - you are a witness of these things.  If you have never been here, pray this scripture and then let God begin the process...you will not regret it. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

God and Great Things

Job 37:5
(New Century Version)

God’s voice thunders in wonderful ways;
    he does great things we cannot understand.

I have always believed that God is God and being so, He is worthy of my praise and worship regardless of my circumstances.  When I've gone through rough spots and didn't feel like worshipping - I would praise anyway because He is God and worthy and that is a good enough reason to worship!  I would remind myself that He didn't need to actually do anything for me to deserve it - He just is God.  Period, end of story. 

Only, I realized recently that while this is certainly true, I cannot separate out who God is and what He does.  He does great things because He is God.  He is God and so He does great things!  It is who He is! 

I also found it interesting that the passage I chose is from the book of Job.  Job, of all people, knew what it was like to worship God in spite of his circumstances.  We may not always understand the way God does things.  Sometimes, we probably miss the great things because of our limited perspective.  But, this we do know - He is God, and He does great things.  The two are not mutually exclusive - in fact, they are one and the same.  He is worthy to be praised and worshipped for it!  

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Nothin' but a Thing

Jeremiah 17:7-8
(Living Bible)

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence. He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with its roots reaching deep into the water—a tree not bothered by the heat nor worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it goes right on producing all its luscious fruit.

As I was reading in Jeremiah this morning, I read over this passage and the meaning jumped out at me in such a way that I had to share. 

We all know, and I have written about it ad nauseam in this blog, life is full of trouble and trials, etc, etc.  While, of course, I do not  minimize anyone's problems, even my own, I can see that God has been gently speaking to me about my trust in Him.

Over the past week or so, I have been thinking about how doubt is really a form of believing - just a choice of what one is believing.  I have been contemplating my own doubts, which have been many...some of which included doubts about God. 

So, this morning when I read this, my soul jumped at the opportunity to trust with confidence.  To have the kind of trust that stands up to the heat and drought of life and just goes right along like those things are nothing at all.