2020-11-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today, I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to begin with God’s love for us and our prayers to Him. MT 6: 8, “But when you pray, go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father, Who is listening unseen. And, your Father, Who sees what you do in private will reward you.” Does this mean He will answer every prayerful request in the positive? No, because His wisdom and perspective is so much greater than ours. He has three possible answers governed by His perception-“yes,” “no,” or “maybe later.” Oh my, it is so difficult for us when His answer is one of the latter two! That’s because He knows the future, and we don’t. He is capable of seeing all the variables impacting our prayers, ones we can’t see. Moreover, one of the most difficult times is when we ask for healing for a loved one that is ill, and we can’t know that the Father has decided it’s in that person’s best eternal interests that He goes home to Him. We love our family members or dear friends and don’t ever want them to leave us, but it is their time.
With God’s “no” answer, we may be caught in a moment of having a tough time separating wants from needs. Another possibility is that God sees it’s not the best time for a prayer to be answered in the affirmative, but a time in the future might be. Our Father considers the time and way to answer prayers which will best show us His reasons for why something should be granted or rejected. He wants us to understand as much of the reasons for His will and timing as possible, the maximum lesson learned. He also wants us to appreciate just how much He loves us. Since we are in the Covenant of Grace with Him, it means that things that upset us also make Him sad. His enemies are our enemies. That’s part of the nature of a covenant relationship. Similarly, RO 8: 31-32, “If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, Who didn’t hold back His Son, but offered Him for us all. If He gave His Son for us, will He not freely give us all things?” Even if the answer to our prayers is “no,” shouldn’t we be ever thankful for the empathy God shows us, the merciful Father from Whom all help comes? [2 COR 1: 3].
More than anything we need our Father to be approachable, and He is! EPH 2: 18 and EPH 3: 12, “It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in one Spirit into the presence of the Father…In union with Christ and through our faith in Him, we have the boldness to go into God’s presence with freedom and confidence.” I’m ashamed to admit that I was in my fifties before I realized that God was with me and watching over me at all times. Over the twenty-five + years since then, I’ve come to not only feel His constant presence and approachability in my life, but it became a huge comfort. Others might accuse me of living in a fairy tale existence, but I assure you that I’ve seen God at work in my life and that of others around me. PS 145: 17-19, “The Lord is righteous in all He does, merciful in all His acts. He is near to all those who call to Him, who call to Him with sincerity. He supplies the needs of all who honor Him; He hears their cries and saves them.” An example of this comes in 2 COR 12: 7-9 when Paul prayerfully complains to God about having an illness which gives him sharp pain. [I can relate to this because I have one myself]. God’s marvelous answer to Paul is, “My grace is sufficient, for My power is greatest when you are weak.” This is the protection of Christ’s power in us.
“God is light, and there is no darkness in Him”, 1 JN 1: 5. We learn this through the great mystery revealed, which is Christ in us [COL 1: 26-27; COL 2: 2-3]. It is He Who unlocks the door to God’s wisdom for us to access. It is the Holy Spirit, Who helps us to understand God’s messages and lessons for us. We would be sunk without Him! It is He Who enables us to be “transformed inwardly by the renewal of our minds” [RO 12: 2]. It is He Who lifts the sword of Damocles away from us and gives us God’s perspective on our circumstances. It is He Who never abandons us in our times of trouble [PS 9: 9-10]. It is He Who encourages us to share everything in our lives that is prayer worthy with Him [1 THESS 5: 16-18]. And finally, it is He Who urges us to lives righteously, so that we can gain eternal life with Him [2 THESS 2: 14-17].
PRAYER: O Lord, a prayer is included with every devotion I write, so that You might know how important it is to us. We know You have beseeched us to seek You out FIRST in every crossroads to which we arrive. You deserve for us to praise and thank You for every blessing and good deed for us that You do. When we are lost amidst the difficulties of our lives, You invite us to approach Your mighty throne and ask for Your wisdom and power in what thoughts to have and actions to take. As the community of believers, You desire that we have a oneness in our lives that can only come from the Holy Spirit. This oneness is in thought, belief, concern for self and community. We also know that our behavior toward potential believes not yet a part of Christ’s community should be respectful, caring, and kind. Taking the time to see where potential believers are in their faith walk and what their attitudes are is essential. Because we can answer their questions, we must be prepared with a good working knowledge of the Scriptures. Dearest Father, You will let us know when You are pleased with our preparation by giving us inner peace. We urge You to be in a close personal relationship with us, teach us to be aware of the blessings You bestow, and help us to be ready for whatever happens to us. We offer You our love, devotion, loyalty, praise, and thanks forever, in Christ’s mighty/holy name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit commands me to write about the attitude toward us that God has. He is a most powerful force in our lives when we open our hearts and minds to Him. His work can lead to miracles, the Father’s work accomplished, widespread blessing, and remarkable changes for the better in human behavior. And that’s only part of the powers He has. My husband and I went to England, spending most of our time driving in the English countryside. I fell deeply in love with that country and its culture. This doesn’t mean that I have disrespected American or Canadian culture, just that my life was made a bit better by this trip. I mention this change because I believe that God gave it to me as a gift. It’s the reason why God’s words in JER 29: 11-13 mean so much to me. “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to give you the future for which you hope. You will seek Me and I will answer you. Then you will call to Me and come and pray to Me. You will seek Me and you will find Me, because you will seek Me with all your heart.” This passage is the blessing of a God, Who has the power to always speak the truth. You and I should never lose faith in Him! Praise and thanks be to our God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
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