Nothing Special

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

--Ephesians 1:17 & 18  [NIV]

“He said to them, "When you pray, say: . .”

-- Luke 11:2 [NIV; emphasis added]

A recent Sunday morning sermon . . .

Me: “I’m here because I love God and I love you.  But, God’s calling –

       God’s grace upon me – compels me.  Woe unto me if I don’t preach

       the Gospel, but you come here for something greater.”

Congregation: Strange looks

Me: “For you to be here on a Sunday, when you could be doing

        something else, shows the depth of your love for Jesus.  And, your

        presence here is a greater honor to the Lord than mine.”

Congregation: Strange looks and mouths agape

What I described in my previous post isn’t something special.  What I mean is that I don’t get any brownie points with God because I’m a minister.  My fellowship with the Spirit of Jesus during my quiet time has nothing to do with the gift of being a minister.  I have a relationship with Jesus as a believer first and then as a minister.  If I don’t believe, then the ministry doesn’t work.

Look at the prayer at the top of the page. 

God wants us to have:

1. Wisdom
2. Revelation
3. Know him better
4. Spiritual insight
5. Know hope
6. Know his glory in the saints

Wow, that’s a lot.

Paul “keeps asking”, but have you kept on asking?  My strongest suggestion would be to start asking by praying that prayer for yourself out loud.  You should pray out loud, because it reinforces it in your memory and because Jesus said to do it.  It may feel a little strange at first, but that’s because you’re asking your flesh to participate in a spiritual act and your flesh isn’t used to it.

You may be asking yourself, “What’s this got to do with quiet time?” Well, part of the point is that we need to put the pieces of what we believe together so that we can see the big picture of who God is and how spiritual things work. 

If you have a revelation of the glory of God living in you, you’ll give quiet time with God greater significance in your schedule.  If you have a revelation of the glory of God living in other believers, you’ll have the wisdom to treat them differently.  Suddenly serving others won’t be such a chore.  If you know him better, fasting won’t be scary.  To have a revelation of him that is from him will make your Bible study something you don’t want to miss.  In fact, to know him better is to want to know him even better still and will allow you to see that knowing God already spills out into every moment of your life.

Let me close in prayer:

Daddy, I come to you in Jesus’ name, and I ask that you would give the reader of this post the will to do your good pleasure in praying Ephesians 1:17-18 for themselves.  Give them a hunger for time alone with you.  Get ‘em, God!  And, I thank you for fruit that remains always.  I believe that I receive all this from your hand of grace, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Jesus: Lover Of My Soul

“He has taken me to the banquet hall,

and his banner over me is love.”

-- Song of Songs 2:4

    “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”

-- Ephesians 5:25

A recent conversation . . .

Me: “I am the bride of Christ.  You are the bride of Christ, and he wants 

          to romance us.”

Brother: “Chaps, that’s hard for guys to accept.”

I have practiced silence in the presence of God for years, but I consider myself a beginner.  I love it.  God is infinite.  God is always exciting.  He’s always the same and, at the same time, he’s always new.  And, HE loves ME.

I am his bride.                                                                                             

Like a bride, I just want to spent time alone with him.  I spend time alone with the Spirit of Jesus not to ask anything of him, but just to love him.

In the beginning God. . .

Was God worthy of love before you got born again?  Yes. 

Was God worthy of love before you were born into this world?  Yes.

Now peel back the events of time and ask was God worthy of love, worship, and adoration before:

         

Jesus died on the cross?

          Jesus was born of the virgin Mary?

          Before the Old Testament prophets wrote?

          Before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

          Before Noah?

          Before Adam?

          Before Creation?

          Before the Angels?

         

Yes.

I thank God that I’ve received the amazing grace that the blood of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit have given me now and will give me in eternity, but if Jesus had never done any of those things he would still be worthy of ALL my love, because he is GOD!

My morning quiet time with the Spirit is fellowship with him just because I love him and he loves me.  I understand that the only reason I have fellowship with him at all is because of what he’s done for me, but I don’t worship Jesus just for what he has done or what he will do.  I worship Jesus for who he is.  He is “I am” and this boy is after him just because he is.

I come to him asking him for nothing.  I just want to be with the one I love.  I want to hear his voice.  I want to be in his presence.  I want to know him better.

His love for me is unconditional, and I attempt in my feeble human way to return that love in spending time with Jesus, the lover of my soul.

Let me close in prayer:

Daddy, I come to you in Jesus’ name, and I ask that everyone who reads this post would spend quiet time with you.  That they’d spend time just loving you, because you are the great “I am” – I receive it in Jesus’ name – amen.

Sounds of Silence

“For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

--2 Corinthians 4: 6-7(NIV; emphasis added)

“The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"”

-- 1Kings19:11(NIV; emphasis added)

A recent conversation . . .

          Sister: “I don’t know what to do.”

Me: “What does the Spirit say you should do?”

          Sister: “I don’t know.”

          Me: “Did you pray and ask for wisdom?

          Sister: “Yes.”

          Me: “Did you listen for an answer?”

          Sister: awkward silence . . .

The ancient Athenians built the Parthenon a long, long, long time ago [go ahead and Google it – it was a L O N G time ago J], and they did a beautiful job.  In fact, the Parthenon is the single most imitated building ever constructed.  Today, we marvel at the beauty of the ruins of what it once was, but at it’s height of beauty and perfection the Athenians themselves didn’t show up to enjoy the architecture.

This building that architects, engineers, and artists around the world have studied and the beauty they seek to imitate was not the goal of the people of Athens.  The people of ancient Athens came to the Parthenon so they could worship the idol of Athena. 

They were after what was inside. 

They were trying to get to God. 

Of course, they were doing a lousy job of getting to God, but the builders of this ancient wonder held what was inside the building in higher esteem that the building itself.

Take your index finger and point to where the Spirit of Jesus lives. 

No, really, go ahead and point.

You are more valuable than the Parthenon.  The Parthenon was built to hold the lifeless work of a sculptor.  The riches that temple held are gone, and the original façade can never be restored, but you were built in God’s image to hold the creator of the universe. 

You are a jar full of all glorious God himself, and unlike Elijah you don’t have to climb any mountains to hear him.  You just have to be quiet and still.

Why not turn off the TV, (finish reading this post and then) get off the computer, stop texting, and ask the Lord to speak to you.  Yes, it really is that simple. 

You see, dear sibling in Jesus, I’m not trying to change you.

I want you to know and experience the Love that is alive and living inside of you right now. 

You ARE glorious, but you’ve got to open the jar. 

Let me close in prayer:

Daddy, I come to you in Jesus’ name, and I ask that everyone who reads this blog would take the time to be still and quiet with you today.  I thank you that your sheep hear your voice.  I receive it in Jesus’ name – Amen.