Saturday, January 19, 2013

Do I follow?

For Such a Time

	"For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

—Esther 4:14

When Esther won a beauty contest and ascended the throne in ancient Persia, she was a Jew. But she kept that information quiet. And one day, because of the wicked efforts on the part of a man named Haman, there was a plot conceived to have all of the Jews in the empire destroyed.

But Esther's uncle, Mordecai, came to her and essentially said, "You are there in the palace. You are in a place of influence. You can go to the king and speak on behalf of your people." But then he added this telling statement: "If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther4:14).

The idea behind Mordecai's statement was this: "God put you where you are for a reason. Now, are you going to leverage that opportunity for God's kingdom, or are you going to keep it all to yourself? Guess what? If you don't do it, the Lord will find someone else."

God has put you where you are today. You have a sphere of influence. You have a circle of friends. You have neighbors around you. You have coworkers and others with whom you come in contact on a regular basis. Will you go to them? Or will you run from them?

You might ask, "Well, if I don't go, will the job still get done?"

As a matter of fact, it will get done. The reality is that God doesn't need you. Certainly God doesn't need me. But God does want us to participate in the process.

When God says go, what will you say?

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Wait on him

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

Big Dreams? Be Faithful.

Do you have big dreams to accomplish something great for God?

I have some advice for you: Be faithful in the little things and God will give you more to do.

When David was called by God to be king, he was out watching sheep, just being faithful. The day David killed Goliath, he didn't wake up that morning and hear God say, "David, today you are going to the valley of Elah. There will be a giant Philistine named Goliath, and you will kill him with a stone." No, at his dad's request, David was taking some cheese sandwiches to his brothers out on the front line. . .just being faithful on an errand for his dad.

What was Gideon doing when God called him? He was hiding from his enemies. He was terrified. But God saw his potential, and the next thing Gideon knew, he was leading troops into battle.

And what was Elisha doing when Elijah called him to carry on the work? He was out plowing in the field. Moses was watching a bunch of sheep in the desert when God called him to deliver the Israelites. Then there was Daniel, who was so faithful to the Lord that his enemies couldn't find one thing wrong with him. They had to make up lies about him so that he would be sentenced to death. And how about that teenage girl named Mary living in Nazareth who had a visit from one of God's most powerful angels, with a message about a Child, who would be called the Son of the Most High?

My point is this: They were faithfully doing what God had set before them. They weren't running around, looking for big, important things to accomplish. They didn't have public relations consultants or agents. They were simply doing the little things, waiting on God.

Sometimes, we have great ideas of what God will do. But we have to wait on Him. What are your dreams right now? Maybe you want to do something for God, but you think it will never happen. Then again. . .maybe it will. Maybe it even will surpass your wildest dreams. Just be faithful to do what God has set before you right now.

Your future is safe in His hands.

Lest we forget

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2013

Remember God

	"Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."

—Deuteronomy 8:18

Why does God allow suffering in our lives? Why does He allow us to experience adversity?

One purpose, I believe, is to keep us humble. Prosperity and success can sometimes make us proud and self-sufficient. We think we don't need God because we have our salary...we have our investments...we have our health...we have our family...we have a successful ministry.

But when the economy goes south or the stock market crashes or our home burns down, we turn to God, and we are reminded of what really matters.

Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God warned them,

"Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God..." (Deuteronomy 8:11-14)

I think we should pray for success in what we do, but I also think it is right to say, "Lord, Your will be done." Sometimes God will not allow us to be successful in our efforts.

It is better to fail and turn to God than to succeed and forget Him. That doesn't mean we always have to fail. But the doorway to success is often through the hallway of failure. And failure has its place, because it is part of a learning process.

Sometimes God may allow us to fail or experience hardship so we will trust in Him.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Worship

Worship and Wisdom

1 Kings 3:4–15
Dark clouds slip between the guardian mountain peaks and scurry across the empty skies above Death Valley in California. Heat waves tremble over the parched earth as cloud shadows nibble at the eroded badlands and salt pans. Thunder rumbles in the distance. By late afternoon, the rain-gorged sky swings low. Suddenly the heavens burst! Fat raindrops jump like marbles on the hard-packed earth. Gradually the thirsty brown clods drink in water, softening to soak in more. A curtain of silver rain hangs between the churning sky and muddy valley floor. In a few weeks, Death Valley will explode to life in an astonishing feast of wildflowers.
Upon ascending to the throne, young Solomon traveled ten miles northwest to the hills of Gibeon to offer an extravagant sacrifice—a thousand burnt offerings. This was the same place where the sun stood still for Joshua and where twelve of David’s strong men defeated twelve of Saul’s men (seeJoshua 10:1–14; 2 Samuel 2:12–17). In the middle of the night, God burst through to Solomon in a dream. Solomon could have requested anything in all the earth. Through time spent in worship, Solomon realized that wisdom was the greatest of all God’s gifts.
Worship is like the rains that prepare the earth for God’s blessings. The story of the youthful Solomon preparing to take the throne is a beautiful reminder to us of the importance of worship. The story of God granting him the gift of wisdom opens with a swell of costly and reverent worship. For us, too, worship creates a context for us to encounter God; it sets our souls in motion in an upward spiral by which we pursue God, and he gladly responds.
Worship book-ended the exchange between the Sovereign God and the new sovereign of Israel. Solomon returned from his heavenly encounter and again made an offering to the God of Israel in Jerusalem before the ark of the covenant.
Like a gathering cloud, worship encircles and protects God’s people. It softens the soil of our hearts like nourishing rain. When we’ve been in a dark place and long for colorful beauty to replace the hardness that has settled into our scorched souls, simple acts of worship can prepare the way for God’s words of wisdom to permeate our hearts. If your life seems parched, won’t you allow God to paint a palette of colorful joy by spending time worshiping your Lord?

Reflection

Why is worship so important to God?
What kinds of extravagant (or at least consistent) worship characterize your life?
If God offered you anything you wish, what would you ask for? Has it changed having read this passage?

1 Kings 3:5, 15
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” . . . He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

Nail it to the Cross