Join Me

Join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Romans 15:30

To me, prayer is the most important occupation, hobby, past time, experience and relationship that exists. It is a never-ceasing whisper and a crying out to our Creator, the One who knows us better than we know ourselves, sometimes occurring with every breath of our day and night.

We pray different kinds of prayers at different times, like praises and glory to God or exalting His name above all the earth. Such prayers place all our focus on the Lord. We pray prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of need. On occasion, we simply spend time with Him relaying our concerns of the day and asking for wisdom, healing and blessings. We sit still in the silence and listen for His voice.

We also intercede for others in their times of desperation. Today, I am narrowing in on the prayers we pray for our fellowman and they in turn, for us.

We join their struggles. We cry out to God in their behalf. We may even fast, sacrificing our beloved food for a period of time to get to the heart of the matter for our people.

It is a privilege and a joy to fight for our loved ones in prayer.

It is a joy to receive these prayers as well.

In today’s verse, Paul is “urging” the Christians to pray for his safety in specific circumstances and for a favorable reception of the collected offerings he brings. One day he hopes to be “refreshed” by these Christians and their company.

Like Paul, we tell each other about our moments of weeping or rejoicing, and we ask for prayers. In doing so, we are asking others to join us in our deepest struggles and our greatest joys.

God meant for His people to care for each other in this way so that we would not feel so alone.

Whatever God’s answer to our prayers, the community participates together in trusting Him and in faithful responses. He is God. He is good.

I have learned so many valuable lessons from those closest to me who are going through their trials. One of these lessons is advice for when I’m in trouble that it is healthy and wise to speak how I feel to those in my life and to ask for what I want from them. Be clear, concise. People want to help and they sometimes don’t know how.

The community of God all over the world is one in which we join each other in our struggles, even those we don’t know by name, and they know nothing about us as well. Yet, we still plead in their behalf for matters we find crucial to the welfare of their lives.

Father, we come to you, God over all the earth, and cry out our hearts to you in behalf of each other. Heal the sick, bless those in trouble. Yet, help us to deeply trust your will for our lives and the lives of those around us. Be ever present through our hands, feet and mouths. May we fulfill the answer to your prayers for those in need. Thank you for giving us prayer warriors who join us in our struggles and take up our causes before you. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Dance That Never Stops

Remain in me as I also remain in you. John 15:4

The greek word meήo means to stay in a given place, state, relation or expectancy; to abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, or remain.

Remaining in Christ is not a part time, half-hearted endeavor.

It is an unceasing dance, as long as I elect to stay in the dance.

It is a mutual giving and receiving.

Yet, the giving, on my part, is simply the act or effort of remaining. The giving is passive.

“I choose to stay with you, Lord.”
“I will follow, YOU.”
“I will do as you say.”
“When you speak, I will obey.”
“Come take your rightful place in my heart as I give my will over to you.”

To remain in Christ is not simply seeking Him during times of distress and then forgetting when things get better. Christ is not at home in the heart of one who has not found his own home in Christ.

The dance depends on our will. Jesus greatly desires to abide in us and promises to do so when we open the door to follow His command to dwell in Him.

Jesus is our sustainer and forever helper if only we would remain…in Him.

Remaining in Christ is not without its cost. He joyfully prunes away the evil that dwells in our hearts to make room for Himself. Thank you, Lord! He causes us to grow, though growing can be painful; painful, but oh, so necessary and wonderful in the end to be made into His likeness.

We become more and more like our Lord every day we remain in Him.

Our lives become more pure, more interested in the things that occupy His heart. He takes us higher when we have given ourselves over to Him. When we undergo tough seasons, we run to the Lord and depend on Him for our nourishment, gaining creative purpose and careful guidance for our future as well as comfort and strength. We let nothing stand in the way of our relationship with Him. Without Him, we cannot truly live. When we undergo prosperous, happy seasons, we run to the Lord and depend on Him to sustain us, not on the fleeting good things we receive.

Often, the human heart wanders away from remaining entirely in Jesus. We suffer from it but His grace covers us, oh, so sufficiently. And coming back to that place of stillness in remaining with Jesus is deeply peaceful and always good.

Lord, I come to you to give you my life. Help me to stay and abide in you. Oh, how I love you abiding in me. The dance gives me joy beyond what I can receive from anything else. Teach me what remaining with you truly means. In Jesus name. Amen.

Restful, Still, Humble

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14).

I found today’s verse to be the most remarkable words. I’ve come to define humble to mean accepting my unchangeable situations, my ‘reality,’ with a gracious heart. But mostly it means: NOT building up myself as better than others.

 Phil. 2:3-4 agrees: “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

These words are nourishing to my soul because they direct me in times my heart would rather stand in pride, and then I forget to really see people (or their side) for who they are.

My husband and I were talking the other day about marriage and the need for curiosity to be of prime importance. I loved that thought. I loved the idea that I must always be getting to know my ever-changing husband and vice versa. Yet, I can extend this favor to others in my life as well.

Instead of demanding that everyone get on the same band wagon as me (my choices, beliefs and ways), why not take the time to get to know, really know those with whom I have conflict? We all want to be heard, to be acknowledged for who we really are deep inside. Why not freely give this same gift to others and leave the rest to God, who knows me more than I know myself. Why not let go of always having to make sure everyone is clear about who ‘I’ am. I would rather uphold who God is and fight for His kingdom here on earth than fighting for what little I know about myself.

The dividends of humility are vast and varied:
It helps me to reconsider the words I say and the tone in which I say them. After all, I’m learning how to spend my energies getting to better know them.
When I DO share my heart, it is from love and kindness, not bitterness. And doing that is not to demand similar views but to live who I am in truth.
Even angry truth can be shared in a way to enhance not to destroy (because of humility).
Humility realigns me to my place before God. It reminds me that I am not Him. And His ways are higher and better.
It reminds me to be still and restful in His presence, for He has my life in His hands.
Humility and peace go hand and hand. They lock arms and help one another.
When humility is conquered there is joy in the conquering that doesn’t compare with earthly joys. The obedience to God in this area makes for a tremendous holy life!
Humility is also a place of trust and faith. I must let things go and know that He will direct my steps His way.
It is a death to self of sorts, a  breathing of the breath of God and acting the way Jesus would act.

Of all the lessons I’ve learned this week, when one is humble, it can set off pride about the very act of being humble. “Look at me, I’m doing it! That other person is so prideful, but not me. I’m doing it right!” God has a way of humbling me, Himself, in circumstances such as these. I realize that I’m actually right back where I started and didn’t learn a thing.

It is crucial, when humility is conquered, not to believe for one second that I will continue this attitude on my own or that I can view others as less than me because of my new tricks. I must still continue in the attitude of Christ: to value them above myself, to die to always having to seem like I’m in the right and they are wrong. My thoughts must be benevolent, not stingy, believing the good and not the bad, dwelling on their treasures, not their flaws.

Humility isn’t about me always giving in. It’s about experiencing life the way it was meant to be.

In truth, it is pride that takes my life from me and humility that gives it back.

Lord, I am such a baby at this. Show me your clear path to meekness and surrender. I am sorry for my self-congratulations and making this life about me and my feelings. I desire to turn away from these things and dive into the pure, clean waters of humility…no strings attached. Show me how. Show me your son, Jesus. Reveal to me when my heart is going in the opposite direction. Thank you for your loving discipline and comfort when I fail. Thank you for bringing me to a place of rest. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

Be Still

In Exodus 12, we read how Moses and the Israelites left Egypt and were finally free!

How surprised they must have been when they turned around and saw an Egyptian army in a cloud of dusty chariots and fighting men barreling down on them to annihilate the entire nation.

Moses said to his people, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14 (NIV).

The different Bible translations look like this:

keep silent (NVSB)
hold your peace (KJB)
be quiet (HCSB)
be still (NET Bible)
remain at rest (Amp Bible)
you won’t have to do a thing (CEV)
calm yourselves down (Complete Jewish Bible)
stay calm (Easy to read Version)
you won’t have to lift a finger in your defense (NLT)

NASB Lexicon defines this as: be silent, dumb, speechless or deaf

My husband shared this ‘be still‘ verse with me last week.

I, in turn, shared with him: Psalm 46:10 (NIV) “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Again the different Bible translations shed some light for us:

Cease striving (NASB)
Stop your fighting (HCSB)
Be in awe (ISV)
Return (Aramaic Bible)
Let go (God’s Word Translation)

NASB Lexicon defines the phrase: to sink, relax, slacken

For both of these verses, I picture myself letting out a huge sigh of relief. I have to believe that I do not hold everything (or anything for that matter) on MY shoulders. I give it all to the One whose shoulders can fit the weight of the world.

When I get nervous, words come out of my mouth right and left, with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, however, it’s best to clap my hand over my mouth and stop speaking. Stop worrying and close my mental ears to the onslaught of all that Satan wants to tell me about the situation. Be deaf, be dumb.

Be still.

It is a time to KNOW that HE is God. I must let Him fight for me.

I must sink into a relaxed state of mind, allow my tense shoulders to loosen and let my arms fall naturally to my side. Breathe in and out, slacken my grip on the rope I’ve been holding onto for dear life, thinking I could manage by myself.

Let go.

All these pictures in my head are truly helpful in attempting to live the ups and downs of life.

Here are some more verses on being still:

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.
Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
Job 6:24 Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.
Psalm 131:2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 62:5-6 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
I Samuel 12;16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
I Peter 5:7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Lamentations 3:25-26 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Father, being still is hard work. My flesh would rather be doing something, anything but being still. In the stillness, however, I narrow my senses to only be aware of your voice, becoming deaf to the noise and mute to my own words. I labor to calm myself and sit in your presence and rejoice in the provisions that I trust you will lovingly bring. My gaze is upwards, not on the things of this earth. You are my God and my King. Help me to KNOW you. Rescue me in my trials. I surrender all. In Jesus name, Amen.