The Prophets are Speaking

I was reading from the book of Amos in the Bible this morning. A verse that really popped out to me was Amos 3:7. It says 'surely the Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets'.

I started thinking about that verse and how it relates to us today. Does God have prophets today that are 'revealing His plan' or were they all in Biblical times?

I do believe that He has as many prophets today as He had during Biblical times. There are men of God that have true insight of the spiritual realm of God and the spiritual warfare that is ensuing around us. Take some time to read the works of Chuck Smith, Mark Balmer, Skip Heitzing, Franklin Graham and Joel Rosenberg.

God is speaking to us today not only through His Word, the Bible. He is also speaking through modern day prophets.

Am I listening? God will guide my actions of the do so that I am most productive for Him if I am #1) listening, and #2) obedient.

The Blessings of Living in the United States

I sat this morning in awe of what is around me. I have a roof over my head. I live in a warm and muggy climate but I am comfortable. My wife was out in the yard with a friend. My daughter and a wonderful young lady were tossing some hoops with a basketball. I sit here knowing in my soul that my other daughter and her husband are safe in Botswana on a trip.

This all is incredible but what additionally is incredible is the peace that I have in my heart knowing that we are all safe, fed and clothed. I didn't have to go and look for a good source of water this morning. I didn't have to think about where my next meal is coming from. I didn't have to worry about others close by that are wanting to kill me.

I am at peace.

I can't help but think of the incredible large list of things that we take for granted living in the United States. Sure, there are some that are dealing with disasters due to the floods in the Midwest or the fires in California, but that is a small part of this nation's population.

Other countries around the world aren't so blessed... hunger, starvation, sickness, strife, nakedness, thirst, war, hate, and just a lack of hope for tomorrow. How can the people of this country just ignore their fellow man. How can we place our own desires, the environment or our own greed ahead of someone in another country that will not live through today without our help?

God placed me here for a purpose and I know for a fact that it is not to satisfy my own selfish desires. All I have is Gods... ALL of it. If He were to take it all today to help others to live or to give them hope, I pray that my attitude of giving will allow me to place it ALL in God's hands.

How can I do any less for my fellow man.

I pray that anyone who reads this will stop and think about how God wants to use YOU today.

Happy Independence Day...

Devotions - Spiritual Hunger or Just Routine

OK... I'm all torqued out because I didn't do my devotions yesterday. I really meant too but I let the early morning get away from me and I just never got back to it.

You see, I'm a routine kind of guy (just ask my wife). I get up at 5:30 in the blessed AM and drag myself down to a cup of coffee that has already been brewed. I look at the weather (I'm also a weather nut) and then I do my devotions.

My devotions take place in three parts. I first look back at yesterday and write my down my thoughts of how I feel the day was spiritually. It takes discipline as don't want to just write what I did like a diary but instead look inward at the condition of my soul.

I then turn to the Bible. I'm reading through the Bible chronologically (you can get the schedule at http://eword.gospelcom.net/year/31/cjan01.htm). I add to that a chapter from Psalms and a chapter from Proverbs. I write notes as I read on what I'm seeing and application to my walk.

I then write down some prayers for today. Again looking at application and certain struggles that I'm facing.

So that's it. It is a good 'routine' but since I am a routine kind of guy, am I going through this process for the right reason? When I miss a day like yesterday, am I upset because I didn't spend time with God to start my day or am I upset because my routine was changed? I need to always strive for that hunger that is deep within my soul to be closer to God. Then just as our physical hunger drives us to eat, my spiritual hunger will drive me to communing with God.

What do you think?

Answers in Prayer... Coincidence? I Don't Think So!

Last Sunday an old friend came to mind. He was my very best friend through most of High School and my first year in college. We were like Mutt and Jeff, we were just always doing things together. Our college years separated us and for the last 20+ years, I have not heard from him. I made several attempts to find him but failed each time.

This past Sunday something different happened though. You see I have been putting a lot of study in to prayer (the TWO-way conversation between myself and God Almighty). I've known about talking TO God for a long time... all of my life really; but it only recently that I have come to know about seeing how God 'talks' to me.

Back to my friend. I lifted up a prayer for him last Sunday. I didn't know where he was, or even if he was living. I just felt the need to pray for him so I did. On Tuesday evening I got an email on my Blackberry from my friend! He simply said that he found my email address with a Google search on the Internet and he was wanting to say 'hi'!

He is completely on the other side of the country and now married with a young daughter. Since that first email on Tuesday, I have now seen pictures of his daughter and have spoken to him for close to an hour. What a wonderful conversation it was! I look forward to others and hopefully to once again rekindling a friendship that had long gone cold.

There are so many that would say that this was just coincidence... I thought of him and he emailed me. I am truly coming to understand the incredible power of God though. He wants and desires to have a two-way relationship with us. Yet so many times we treat Him as if He were a genie in a bottle. When we want something, we go and ask and plead with Him for it.

No, this wasn't coincidence. Yes, it was answered prayer but answered prayer sometimes is 'no' also. If we are in a right relationship with God, He indeed answers all our prayers. What I'm trying to relay to you today is that you focus first on your relationship with God and following Him wholeheartedly throughout each day. Secondly... look for the multitude of ways that God speaks to you. It may actually be audible. It may be a thought in your mind. It may come as advice from another. It may even come through a donkey speaking to you (see Numbers 22:27-31. This is a riot. I can only imagine what Balaam was thinking)!

Don't limit God in your mind and in your heart. He is without bounds or limits. His ways are not our ways and its 'OK' to not understand or find reason to the ways that He speaks to us. Just enjoy the conversation with your Creator.

Carpe Diem!

Definition of Integrity

I am reading from Psalm 78 this morning in my devotions. It speaks of God's incredible compassion. The compassion that He had for the Israelites as He walked them out of captivity in Egypt and through the desert to the promised land that He had set aside for them. The whole while they are complaining and forgetting the incredible miracles that He was doing to keep them alive. It is even this compassion that causes Him to turn away (verse 65) and allow them to once again go into captivity.

What really spoke to me though was the very last verse of Psalm 78. "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." (emphasis my own)

'Integrity of heart'... Indeed the heart is the source of integrity. I cannot buy it, I can not learn it, I can not create it. It is something that is within that only God can create. Webster's dictionary defines integrity this way.

in·teg·ri·ty
Pronunciation:
\in-ˈte-grə-tē\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
Date:
14th century
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility 2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness 3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness
synonyms see honesty

Firm adherence..., Unpaired..., Undivided...

It is interesting how this compares to the definition that is put forth in Wikipedia

Integrity is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything one does is derived from the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person's actions that determine the person's integrity.

Now keep in mind that Wikipedia is a 'work in progress'. In other words, the information is never complete and is always evolving depending on input by millions of users. Do you see that in Wikipedia's definition above?

Back to David in Psalm 78. David shepherded the Israelites "with integrity of heart". I do not believe that this integrity ever had 'values that change'. David fell short in so many areas of his life. This is a really cool thing about the Bible. God doesn't make anyone out to be a super hero. They all fall short; hence the need for a Savior. Although David has many shortcomings throughout his life, one thing stands firm. He has 'integrity of heart'. His moral code never changes. After the times that he falls, he sees the er of his ways and comes back to the moral code that is steadfast in his heart.

Integrity is of the heart. Look deep within and pull out what God has created. Cultivate this integrity through spending time in the Holy Bible so that you will have a 'firm adherence to a code' as described by Webster. The only firm foundation is one created by God. All others are as shifting sand.

Integrity...

Listening to God

I have been focusing on 'listening to God' in the past several weeks. I have been seeking His path for my life and wanting to be in His will for me. More and more I sense that I need to hear Him in the various ways that He chooses to speak to me.

Certainly reading His Word and being in deliberate prayer daily is foundational. I say 'deliberate prayer' as that is time carved out of my day just for that purpose. I try to be in constant prayer with God throughout the day but when I'm driving down the road, I know that God does not have my entire focus.

I also picked up a book last week and have been cruising through it. Hearing God by James W. Goll is an interesting book on honing your skills to hear God more consistently. Some tools that he recommends from chapter six:

1. Don't make it complicated. Submit to His lordship, resist the enemy, ask questions and expect God to answer!
2. Allow God to speak however He chooses. This is an area that I'm really focusing on. Sometimes it is that inner voice but it can be through His written Word, through another person, through dreams, etc.
3. Confess any known sins. Psalm 66:18 states "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear."
4. Obey the last thing God said. This is interesting when the last thing God said, I may not particularly want to do! Why would God give me new marching orders when I haven't obeyed the last one that He gave me?
5. Get your own leading. God wants to talk to us personally. He may use others as noted in number two to reach us but He wants to talk to us individually also. Don't be codependent on others to hear God.
6. Don't talk about your word too soon. Pride, presumption, missed timing, and confusion will step in when we are not completely within God's will. God tells us something as a trusted friend. We need to ask His permission to 'spread the word'.
7. Know that God will confirm what He's telling you. This confirmation may be through His word or other means.
8. Beware of counterfeits. Satan is crafty and is the great deceiver. Don't think that you will be ignored by satan. The closer you get to God, the greater the threat you are to satan.
9. Practice hearing God's voice. When you think that God is speaking to you, REALLY listen. Get to know His voice.
10. Cultivate an intimate relationship. God wants us to draw close to Him. Really work on this in your daily devotion time.

I look forward to working on these ten steps from Goll's book and recommend the book to others.

Well, gotta go now... God is on the phone! :)

Prayer Warrior - My Purpose for Today

Like many Christ followers, I am asking God for direction and purpose. Are the things that are in my mind and on my schedule for today... are those the things that God wants me to be accomplishing?

Many works in the mission field are on my mind today. Kay (my bride of 27 years) is at a Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child missions conference in Georgia. Our daughter and son-in-law are in Albania serving several villages in the missions field this week. I also spoke with a dear friend yesterday in Mexico (YWAM/Mazatlan - see websites I view often). They have been under some spiritual attack and are boldly hanging on to the promises of God.

Where is all of this telling me that God wants on my schedule today? I believe to be a prayer warrior. That term is bounced around a lot in Christian circles and it is basically someone who devotes themselves to prayer. To spend solid time in study and prayer each day an then to be mindful to God throughout the day. In other words, to be in continual prayer... a continual conversation with God.

In some of my study this morning, I was reading from Proverbs 2:1-5.
'My son if you accept my words,
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.' (emphasis my own)

Then on down in verse 11 it says,
'Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.'

What do I see from these verses? Accepting 'my' (God's) word and storing up His commands is study. Turning and applying are an actual turning away from unwise thoughts and actions. Then calling out for insight and crying aloud for understanding are prayer. Doing these things will provide for me what is in verse 11 where I will have discretion and I will know the right decision every time.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I do know who will guide me towards tomorrow and when tomorrow comes, He will be there. Jesus Christ, my Savior, my King, my Lord is guiding me through His Word to be a prayer warrior today. To pray for mission work in Mexico, Albania, Georgia and even here in Indian River County, Florida.

My purpose today is to pray. It is not the first thing that I will do and it will not be the last thing that I do today. All of my day today will be a day of prayer.