Saturday, March 7, 2009

Satisfied with knowledge ...

Angela sends this prayer to us today:

And shall it please Thee
to continue here in this world
Where much is to be done
And little to be known,
Teach me by Thy Holy Spirit
To withdraw my mind
From unprofitable and dangerous inquiries,
From difficulties vainly curious,
And doubts impossible to be solved.
Let me rejoice in the right
Which Thou has implanted.
Let me serve Thee with active zeal
And humble confidence,
And wait with patient expectation
For the time in which the soul which Thou receivest
Shall be satisfied with knowledge.
Grant this, O Lord, for Jesus Christ's sake.
Amen.
--Samuel Jackson

Blessings,

Jason

Friday, March 6, 2009

What are you listening to?

Yesterday, Joshlynn went around the house singing a song. If you are a parent you have heard this song. “We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins…” It is the theme song to Little Einsteins, a children’s cartoon on the Disney channel. It was so cute. She was singing the words as well as a 2 year old can, and what great tone and pitch. The problem was, she sang it over and over and over and over and over! She was playing on her scooter and singing it, she was pushing her baby dolls and singing it, she was “reading” a book and singing it. She had repeated this song so much, she knew it by heart. Could you imagine what might happen if she watched some of the other cartoons that are a little more teenage appropriate, or even older? What if she was sitting in there and liked the beat of a song on the radio? Do you think that she could remember the songs? The more we as humans repeat things and watch the same things over and over again, the better we remember them.

This is why it is so important to fill their minds with Godly things and less junk. This is why it is important for parents to keep track of what goes in their children’s heads and hearts.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Why is it so important for the Israelites to impress the commands on their children, talk about them all the time, and tie them on doors and foreheads? The more something is repeated and taught to a child and an adult, the better they remember. I mentioned some about this in yesterday’s devotional. We were created to know and worship our God with an all-consuming passion. Are we living that way? Are his commandments repeated in our hearts to the point where we can’t help but live for him daily?

What are you repeating in your life? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What are you doing so much that you could repeat that event or song or line from a movie? It is a sad day when we know more lines from movies than we know scripture. I know I do not want that to be said about my family.

Again, what is overflowing from our lives?

Jason

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Your mind quiet before him ...

“It is not that you will think about what you have read, but you will feed upon what you have read. Out of a love for the Lord you exert your will to hold your mind quiet before him. In this peaceful state, swallow what you have tasted…take in what is there as nourishment.”
Jeanne Guyon

Today we begin the next step on this journey into the disciplines. Study is a time where we can dive into the Word of God and allow it to change us. So many times we look at the Bible and our time with the Bible as a time where we feel like we have to read, but shouldn’t it be a time where we want to read? How often do we sit down and rush through our time just so we can mark off the page that states our daily bible reading.

I had a discussion just the other day about reading our Bible and memorizing scripture. A couple of our boys sat there and just kept telling me that there was no way they could ever memorize scripture. I argued that I knew without a doubt that they could and that they could do it very easily. In the end I helped them understand this by doing my own rap version of a passage of scripture from the Psalms. They laughed at me, but just in that one minute they remembered half of the passage of scripture. Isn’t this doable for all of us as well? We and our boys all know the words to so many songs and commercials. We devote our precious time to memorizing all of these things, but won’t devote the time to sit, stand, walk, and study God’s Word.

“Out of a love for the Lord you exert your will to hold your mind quiet before him.” I chose this quote purposefully. Out of our love for our God, we should feel an urge to spend time with our God in this way. As we sit and go through some of these devotionals, let’s make sure that we are putting our whole heart into this. If you are not giving your whole heart, what are you giving on a daily basis? What are you giving to your family? What are you giving to the boys to whom we minister? What are we giving to our God?

“Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.”
Psalm 119:1-8


Jason

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Without ceasing ...

Pray continually!
1 Thessalonians 5:17

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

1 Thessalonians 1:2

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-10

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Colossians 1:9

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:18

In the time that I have been studying prayer and working on these devotionals centered around prayer, I have come across so many passages of scripture that focus on praying continually. It brought to mind the fact that on a daily basis I do not pray continually. Yet what would happen if we all decided to have that kind of attitude? What would happen if we woke up praying? What would happen if we prayed continually? What would happen if every time we opened our mouths and hearts to pray we always thanked God for our boys, for our families, and mentioned them all by name? What would happen if night and day we spent time praying for the things that are heavy on our hearts instead of whining and complaining to someone? If we spent night and day praying about a situation in our family, or at work, or in our own lives? How often have we prayed for those we love and care for to be filled with the knowledge of His will, and to gain spiritual wisdom and understanding? How often have we spent all day praying about that for ourselves? Can we say we are always praying for our brothers and sisters around the world?

I bring up all of these questions and thoughts, because I feel like I have been so cold in my prayers over the years. I teach my children to pray, I pray and encourage others to lead prayers at the dinner table. I pray in worship. What is my prayer life like when I am alone though? How hardcore are we praying for others, our own walk, our ministry we are all a part of, the heavy weight we are carrying around right now, or you can just fill in the blank yourself? These are all questions that this prayer journey has brought up in my heart.

I hope that you all have felt an urge to deepen your spiritual life and your journey into prayer this past week. I know that I have been changed and challenged. We will be using silence and prayer as tools to help us in our next study. I am glad I am on this journey with you all.

Do you feel like you are overflowing yet?

Jason

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Dwell in that holiness ...

When exhaustion sets in after a long day of work.
When you have had a friend hurt you.
When nothing seems to go right for you.
When you are so tired you don’t know how to think straight.
When you feel the weight of the world crashing in on you.

What do you pray?
What do you say when you have no words for what has happened to you today?

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:9-13

That is how I feel right now. I have that feeling like I have zero energy left to give anyone. Do you feel that way right now? Do you know what that feels like? I am sure you do. Each day is different. Some are harder than others. Life can very easily get out of control. We just spent close to 14 hours at a show barn. Calves were showing, pigs were showing, the boys were doing their best not to get too stressed out and frustrated. It was noisy, and at times it seemed like it would become so noisy that you couldn’t even hear yourself think. You would have to yell at times to make sure the other person could hear you. As I sat there waiting for the next boy to be called to go out and show, I felt this overwhelming need to be in silence and in a different environment for just a little while. I told the other houseparent that I was just going to step outside for a breath of fresh air, and as I slid open the barn door, there it was. God was saying slow down, calm down, breathe.

There before me was the most beautiful sunset. The clouds were just perfect across the horizon, the beams were going in just the right direction, the breeze was just perfect. I sat on the grassy hillside and just breathed. I couldn’t think of anything. I couldn’t think of what to say to my God. I couldn’t think of how to word my feelings. All I could get out was: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name!” I knew that my God, the holy one, the creator of the universe, the one who breathed life into myself, my loving and wonderful wife, my three beautiful children, and you who read this, was also right there with me and maybe he had planned this sunset just for me. Maybe he had brought it all to be just to help me feel at peace. I felt wholeheartedly that I could say, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I knew at that moment that even if the world crashes in around me, my God is there and he is at work. He may be calming a storm on the other side of the world, healing someone in New York, listening to a prayer from a five year-old little boy, but he is also right there calming me and bringing peace to me. Our God is holy! He is mighty to save us all and he is right there where you are right now.

Dwell in that holiness.
Sit in that peace.
Walk in the knowledge of his love.

If you are having problems praying today, remember the prayer that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us to pray!

Jason

Monday, March 2, 2009

They were amazed ...

Hear the word of God:

About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John's brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, "Quick! Get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." And he did. "Now put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered.

So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn't realize it was actually happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

Peter finally came to his senses. "It's really true!" he said. "The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!"

When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, "Peter is standing at the door!" "You're out of your mind!" they said. When she insisted, they decided, "It must be his angel.”

Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. "Tell James and the other brothers what happened," he said. And then he went to another place."
Acts 12:6-17

There are so many things about this passage that excite me and make me just stand in awe at the glory of the Lord. Peter getting woke up by an angel. The angel walking him out right past the guards. Their long journey out of the compound. So many amazing things that happened to Peter in this exciting experience.

While he was in jail though, there was another story going on in that same city. The church was very earnestly praying for him. What happens? The angel comes, the adventurous journey happens, and then Peter shows up at the door of a prayer meeting. Peter knocks at the door. He is in such anticipation. He is just longing to be able to tell his brothers and sisters what just happened. He hears footsteps coming. He yells out in excitement. Rhoda recognized his voice and what does she do? She turns and runs to tell everyone who is at the door. The praying church thought she was out of her mind and thought that it must be his angel. Did they think that Peter was dead? Did they think that he had become an angel all of a sudden? Why didn't they think that their prayer had been answered?

We all sit here and think the same thing. We all sit here and think, why didn't they believe that it could happen? God has done so many other amazing things in full view of these people. I write all of this and remind us of this story, because I want us to remember that same lesson when we begin our prayers. When our co-worker, friend, family member, neighbor, person we don't even know, asks us to pray for them we should be on the lookout for this prayer to come true. We should wait in eager anticipation to see what amazing things God is going to do.

What's going on in your life right now? What do you need to lay at the feet of Jesus and wait eagerly for? Who should you be praying in anticipation for? I wonder what would happen to our faith if we prayed like this? An overflowing of faith will start pouring out of our lives, because we believe wholeheartedly in the amazing power of our glorious God. Let's give it a try!

Jason

Sunday, March 1, 2009

I'm sorry ...

God, be merciful to me because you are loving. Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs. Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again. I know about my wrongs, and I can't forget my sin. You are the only one I have sinned against; I have done what you say is wrong. You are right when you speak and fair when you judge. I was brought into this world in sin. In sin my mother gave birth to me.You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom.

Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you crushed be happy again. Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt. Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach your ways to those who do wrong, and sinners will turn back to you. God, save me from the guilt of murder, God of my salvation, and I will sing about your goodness. Lord, let me speak so I may praise you. You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don't want burnt offerings. The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.

Psalm 51:1-17
New Century Version

Jason