Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Asking and Receiving
5Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;
Jesus is calling us to persistence. (As a side note, the words ask, seek, and knock could also be translated keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking). He is calling us to ask of Him, seek in Him, and knock on His door to the extant that we are consumed with Him. How could we ask of or seek after any other? Who answers but God alone?
This is such an amazing passage for the believing Christian. It is amazing to know that if we ask of Him, He will give. Let's look at a few more examples of asking/receiving in the Word:
But if any of you (A)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and (B)it will be given to him.
6for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';
7and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'
8"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet (D)because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9"So I say to you, (E)ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10"For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
11"Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
12"Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?
13"(F)If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
-Luke 11:5-13
-Luke 11:5-13
Jesus is calling us to persistence. (As a side note, the words ask, seek, and knock could also be translated keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking). He is calling us to ask of Him, seek in Him, and knock on His door to the extant that we are consumed with Him. How could we ask of or seek after any other? Who answers but God alone?
This is such an amazing passage for the believing Christian. It is amazing to know that if we ask of Him, He will give. Let's look at a few more examples of asking/receiving in the Word:
But if any of you (A)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and (B)it will be given to him.
6But he must (C)ask in faith (D)without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, (E)driven and tossed by the wind.
7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
James 1:5-8
So, if we lack wisdom, we are to ask of God, who gives to all generously. But if we doubt, instead of asking in faith, we should not expect to receive anything from God, for we would be double-minded and unstable.
Here is a question that has been on my heart concerning the privelage of asking and receiving:
How do we know if what we are asking for is good and perfect--according to God's will?
Let's go back to the Scriptures:
"You ask and (D)do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." -James 4:3
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, (G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
-John 15:7
While we have this wonderful promise from Jesus in the book of John, we also know from the book of James that there are some who ask and do not receive. Why?
First, there are those who ask and do not receive because they are asking for something that would fulfill their own pleasures. They ask with no concern for their brother or the church or the lost or the sake of the Lord's Name. They want their worldly pleasures satisfied. So how do we ask in faith for our heart's desire and trust that it will be given? How can we be sure that our heart's desire is not self-seeking and pleasure-oriented? The answer is in John 15:7, as quoted above. If we are abiding in Christ, reading His word and hiding it in our hearts, THEN we can ask whatever we wish because our heart's desire will be in accordance with the Lord's will and Word. Whatever we have put into our hearts (whether it be love of the world or love for His Word) will come out when we ask of Him. (See Luke 6:45)
If we are faithful to store up the Word within our hearts, whatever we ask will be of the Lord.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
God's Own Fool
I think my husband would agree that this song has pretty much become my life's "theme song". Every time we listen to it (which is nearly every time we get into the car) it just humbles me to the point of tears. Not only do I sing it to the Lord, but in my heart I sing it to the lost, telling them, "Come, be a fool for Christ with me!" It has comforted, strengthened, humbled, and uplifted me so much that I wanted to post it for anyone who might stop by. The verse in green is my absolute favorite and brings me to tears every time. Enjoy...
"God's Own Fool" by Michael Card
For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
Chorus
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God's own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
Chorus
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." ~ I Corinthians 1:18
Praising Him,
Nicole M.
"God's Own Fool" by Michael Card
Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
Chorus
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God's own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
Chorus
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." ~ I Corinthians 1:18
Praising Him,
Nicole M.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
His Kindness In Spite of Me
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)..."
Ephesians 2:4, 5
These two verses, along with many others, succeed in humbling the saints by showing that our salvation is from God alone, and He saves us in spite of us. As I was meditating on the colored portion of the text, I began to see the importance of the way Paul structured these two verses. He could have left out the colored phrase because it was made clear in the previous verses in chapter 2 that we were all dead in our sins. So why does he mention this point again while talking about God's mercy toward us? I'm sure there could be more, but I found 2 major reasons:
1) The placement of this phrase in verse 4 magnifies our total depravity before a merciful God and our complete dependence upon Him for our salvation. It reminds us that, ultimately, we had nothing to do with our salvation. It is completely an act of God's kindness toward us, for how can a man dead in his sins do anything to earn the kindness of God in salvation? Or how can a dead man even know that he is dead and in need of life apart from God's kindness opening his eyes to see and his ears to hear? It is important to go back and read verses 1-3 of chapter 2 to get the full magnitude of God's mercy toward dead men.
2) It magnifies the fact that God saves in spite of us, even when we are dead. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, good or redeemable in man that would cause or draw the holy and righteous God to save him. That is why Paul stresses that we were completely dead and separated from the living Christ, and it was GOD and GOD alone who made us alive together with Christ. A dead man cannot make himself alive, can he? Nor can he cause another to make him alive. Paul surely wants to give credit where credit is due and silence the pride of man. BUT the good news is that God found a reason to save us: "So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:7 God so desires to glorify Himself and His name to all men that He chose to display His attributes to men by loving and saving a greatly undeserving and helpless people.
Surely, this is cause to praise Him! Surely, this is cause to be humble before Him! Surely, this is cause to love Him above all else!
"not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:9
Ephesians 2:4, 5
These two verses, along with many others, succeed in humbling the saints by showing that our salvation is from God alone, and He saves us in spite of us. As I was meditating on the colored portion of the text, I began to see the importance of the way Paul structured these two verses. He could have left out the colored phrase because it was made clear in the previous verses in chapter 2 that we were all dead in our sins. So why does he mention this point again while talking about God's mercy toward us? I'm sure there could be more, but I found 2 major reasons:
1) The placement of this phrase in verse 4 magnifies our total depravity before a merciful God and our complete dependence upon Him for our salvation. It reminds us that, ultimately, we had nothing to do with our salvation. It is completely an act of God's kindness toward us, for how can a man dead in his sins do anything to earn the kindness of God in salvation? Or how can a dead man even know that he is dead and in need of life apart from God's kindness opening his eyes to see and his ears to hear? It is important to go back and read verses 1-3 of chapter 2 to get the full magnitude of God's mercy toward dead men.
2) It magnifies the fact that God saves in spite of us, even when we are dead. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, good or redeemable in man that would cause or draw the holy and righteous God to save him. That is why Paul stresses that we were completely dead and separated from the living Christ, and it was GOD and GOD alone who made us alive together with Christ. A dead man cannot make himself alive, can he? Nor can he cause another to make him alive. Paul surely wants to give credit where credit is due and silence the pride of man. BUT the good news is that God found a reason to save us: "So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:7 God so desires to glorify Himself and His name to all men that He chose to display His attributes to men by loving and saving a greatly undeserving and helpless people.
Surely, this is cause to praise Him! Surely, this is cause to be humble before Him! Surely, this is cause to love Him above all else!
"not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:9
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