MEETING WITH GOD

by Maggie Escoto

Many of us have been blessed with close friends. If we never spent any time with them and instead just thought and talked about how wonderful these special people are, wouldn’t this behavior be foolish? Yet some Christians do exactly that.

In the face of acquiring a wide range of  knowledge about God and the Bible, they miss out on highly favored and prosperous companionship with the Father, the best friend anyone could ever have.

It is possible to occupy our lives with spiritual information and activities, which is all good, but fails to develop a close relationship with the Lord. Here is a quick account to see if this may be true of you: Do you attend church only out of a sense of duty? Do you pray with haughty or repetitive words rather than speaking to God from the heart? Do you serve solely out of obligation?

We read in Scripture about many people whose personal encounter with the Lord was empowering and life-changing. Abraham, Gideon, Moses, and Paul were just a few who spoke with Him one-on-one (Genesis 7:4; Judges 6:12, 14; Exodus 3:2; Acts 9:3-6).  Today, we don’t expect theatrical or melodramatic“burning bush” experiences, but every believer should still have cherished, intimate times with God. Whenever we open His Word and invite the Holy Spirit to enliven its meaning, we can directly hear from the heavenly Father.

The Bible tells us, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Walking closely with the Lord takes commitment and time. Start now by dedicating a portion of your day to meeting with your best Friend and experience a life of transformation!

A CHRISTMAS TO DO LIST

Many times in the story of Christmas, the center of attraction is on the main characters: Mary, Joseph, and surely, Jesus. But through the brief account or narrative in Luke 2:8-20, we learn from the shepherds four things that should be at the top of our to-do list this Christmas.

BELIEVE

The angels announced in a breathtaking fashion that the Messiah had been born. As soon as the angels departed, the shepherds looked at each other and said: What are we waiting for? Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.

There is no debate. There is no procrastination. They don't decide to sleep on it. They don't go to the local library for research. They just believe it. That's faith. Scripture says that without faith it's impossible to please God. The angel said, "Peace on earth among people with whom He is pleased." Who is that? It's those who respond to God's gift through faith. Scripture says, "For by grace you are saved, through faith …."

Faith means you say yes to all that God did through Christ. Yes, He is the Savior of the world. Yes, He came to die for my sins. Yes, through Him I find forgiveness and new life. Yes, I want to follow Christ as Lord. Faith is not a spectator sport; it is an active embracing of everything that God has promised in Christ.

OBEY

The shepherds did exactly as they were told. Sometimes we think of Christmas as a routine or monotonous holiday. We think of sweet little baby Jesus asleep on a bed of hay. Everyone loves that because it's so innocent and safe. But Christmas isn't safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has come to usher in a kingdom that rivals the kingdom of self. That's threatening. He bids those who would follow him to take up their cross daily—to lay aside our own right to rule ourselves, to surrender to his rule.

The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey Him as the Lord of their lives. Everyone wants to keep Christ in the manger. But the manger is meaningless apart from the Cross. As one writer put it many years ago: "This little babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold; all hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold does shake." Christmas is a time for obedience.

TELL

When the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem and saw the child lying in the feeding trough, "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child." They weren't preachers; they weren't missionaries, but that didn't matter. They had heard and seen something that meant salvation for the whole world.

Christmas trees, eggnog, and exchanging of gifts are fine, but if we do all that stuff but don't talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of it all; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the Cross to purchase with royal blood our own deliverance from sin, death, and the devil; if we neglect to publish that elsewhere, we've failed to do Christmas right. The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. Share the joy.

EXPERIENCE

The shepherds were overwhelmed at the angel's announcement. They experienced holy wonder.

How can you partake in holy wonder? Maybe that means you stop in the middle of your shopping, sit down, and read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a nativity scene each night and unwrap a different piece and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up early one morning and find a place you can watch the sun rise as you meditate on Luke 1:79.

The work of holy wonder is treasuring and pondering the fact that God invaded planet Earth on a perilous rescue mission. Amidst all the activity, stop and treasure all these things. Meditate and reflect on them in your heart. Engage in some holy wonder.

PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

by Mike Bickle

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. —Ephesians 2:6-7

Do you ever imagine standing in heaven's throne room as you worship and intercede? Picture a mighty throne, immersed in flames, standing in heaven. Imagine an indescribably glorious person with hair and garments as white as snow, seated upon that throne. Picture twenty-four lesser thrones surrounding the great thrones on the right and the left and twenty-four elders clothed in white and wearing golden crowns sitting upon those thrones. Listen to the mighty roar of praise ascending from the myriads and myriads of angels on every side of the throne. Jesus is there at the right hand of His Father. His loveliness and His splendor are beyond description. He is welcoming you to the throne of grace, smiling and bidding you to come. As we come there, day after day, year after year, our spiritual lives will surely be enriched. Our spirits will be invigorated, and our minds will be renewed.

PRAISE YOUR WAY TO A BREAKTHOUGH!

Dr. Creflo A. Dollar

Do you need God to make a way out of no way? The swiftness and surety of your deliverance starts with how you respond to hard times and difficult situations. Hear me when I say that it is not just enough to thank God and honor Him only when you've received a blessing. God wants you to show the extent of your faithfulness and trust in Him even in the midst of going through a challenge. The power of your praise will determine the magnitude of your breakthrough.

Praise is not just clapping your hands or applauding God. It is showing respect, honor, and gratefulness using your whole heart, mind, spirit and body despite your circumstances. Paul and Silas didn't wait until they experienced a breakthrough to praise and thank God. In the midst of difficult circumstances, they praised God and received the breakthrough they desired.

Acts 16:25, 26 (New Living Translation) reveals, "Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!"

Paul and Silas praised God even when their backs were bleeding and their feet and hands were in chains. Despite the pain and suffering they were going through, they praised God anyway; and as a result, God shook the very foundations of the prison, setting them free. God will shake the foundation of your prison; your bondage, your problem...if you make a decision to praise and give Him thanks, no matter what.

Praising God should become second-nature for all Believers. "This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord" (Psalm 102:18). We were created to praise God, and it becomes a natural expression of your love for the Father when you spend time in the Word and meditate on His goodness.

When you have a heart for God and you know He loves you, your confidence in His ability to deliver you soars. You know help is on the way and you eagerly anticipate it. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 encourages, "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (NLT). God doesn't tell you to thank Him for negative circumstances; He says to thank Him while you're in the midst of them. Doing this shows that you trust Him to bring you out.

The storms of life are going to come; but don't let them disturb your peace and affect your thoughts and emotions. This will only move you into self-pity and frustration. Instead, maintain an attitude of praise.

Your first line of defense is the Word of God. Meditate on it and give it life by speaking it over your circumstances. If you need healing meditate on scriptures that reveal God's ability to heal. Receive that Word in your spirit and begin praising God for your healing.

The Word of God declares, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:4-7, NIV).

When you are in a situation and there seems to be no way out, open your mouth and praise the Lord-and don't stop. Instead of crying and complaining, give God praise because you know He has a plan for you that includes deliverance, restoration and peace. Thank Him for His goodness because your praise will stop the enemy and move the hand of God

When your deliverance comes, continue to praise Him because He has more in store for you. Thank Him for breakthrough in your home, on your job and with your children. Through your authority in Jesus, place a demand on your breakthrough and watch God show up in your life in ways you would have never imagined.

MAKE ROOM FOR GOD-ENCOUNTERS

Many of you who are avid watchers of Christian television have no doubt seen my friend, Alvin Slaughter. He's a singer of tremendous anointing and incredible good humor.

Alvin tells a story about a time when he was in one of those first class lounges in the airport, waiting to board his next flight. Wearing his ever-present Walkman, he settled back with a favorite music tape and became overwhelmed with the presence of the Lord.

He was so powerfully overtaken with a realization of God's faithfulness to him and his family that he began to weep—right there in public!

Not wanting to miss the moment but conscious that he was creating a scene, he got the bright notion that he could continue to worship the Lord privately if he just held up a magazine so no one would notice.

It was a great idea, but after several minutes of tearfully whispering his thanks and praises to the Lord, he noticed that no one in the room had been the least bit fooled. They knew he couldn't possibly be reading the magazine. It was upside down!

Maybe your spontaneous encounters with the Lord haven't been as humorous as Alvin's, but I hope you never lose the memories of those moments when, as Joy Strang puts it, "light came into the room."

I can remember an encounter of my own that occurred many years ago when I lived in New York City. I was taking the subway to work one morning, and like nearly everyone else who rides the trains there, I was reading.I was poring over "Hinds Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard when I stumbled upon a precious heart-penetrating truth. It was as though Jesus whispered it in my ear.

There in the midst of that noisy subway car, filled with a mass of weary commuters, God opened the heavens to me. It was during rush hours, so the train was packed, but I was aware of no one's presence but His.Suddenly, that grimy, crowded train became totally quiet as God filled it with the light of His glory and ministered His love to my soul. How wonderfully surprising it was that He would do that for me!

Yes, I know He's always there, but if you've ever had an experience similar to Alvin's and mine—what Pat Chen refers to in her book "Intimacy With the Beloved" as a "holy visitation"—you know these special moments are charged with a greater awareness that the God of the universe has interrupted everything to communicate with YOU, He may have broken through to give you needed directions, to prompt you to intercede or simply to say, "I love you."

How much we miss when we bypass those whisperings of the Spirit of God that often come when we're too busy or too tired! Whatever we need to do, let's make room in our lives for more "God-encounters."

By Brenda J. Davis

A MOMENT OF THANKS

By Dr. David Jeremiah

Life is hard, and every day is challenging. You may be wondering just now if you can go on. Perhaps another person is vexing you. Perhaps you've been maligned or criticized. You're discouraged with unanswered prayer. Maybe you're feeling like Elijah under the broom tree, wanting to die.

Try praying with thanksgiving. A thankful attitude is the cure for many emotional ailments. Take depression, for example. What is depression or discouragement except the total collapse of thanksgiving in our lives?

Thanksgiving is also the opposite of discontent. It's easy for us to become disgruntled with various factors in our lives; but let's be like one man who was thankful...

*For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

* For all the complaining I hear about the government because it means that I have freedom of speech.

* For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive.

* For the teenager who is not doing dishes but is watching TV because that means he is at home and not on the streets.

* For the taxes that I pay because it means that I'm employed.

* For the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

* For weariness at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.

* For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.

Thanksgiving is the opposite of anxiety. Philippians 4:6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Worship and worry cannot live in the same heart. They are mutually exclusive, according to Ruth Graham.

Thanksgiving is also the corrective for sadness and even grief. While working on a message from Psalm 100, my phone rang. It was from a family dear to me. Our children were about the same age and had played together growing up.

The caller told me there had been an accident in the woods, and a portion of a tree had fallen on one of the boys. He'd been pinned for over an hour before the ambulance arrived, and it appeared the young man would be paralyzed from the waist down. His spinal cord had been crushed.

Well, that just destroyed my afternoon. I couldn't get it out of my mind. This was a blond-headed kid, very athletic, full of life; and in one moment, his life was shattered and changed. I wrestled with my own thoughts and emotions until evening, then I placed a call to the intensive care unit of the hospital. Frankly, I didn't know what to say; but I didn't have to say much at all. The boy's father ended up comforting me.

He said, "Pastor, I want you to know that my wife and I are, first of all, thankful that our son is alive. Second, we're thanking God that it wasn't the upper part of his body that was paralyzed. And thirdly, though we don't understand why, we know God is good and that somehow in the midst of this, He has a plan for our son's life that must go beyond anything we can imagine. Though it's hard and we wish it hadn't happened, we have committed it to our God, for He is good."

Is the race of life wearing you down? Try a moment of thanks.

PRAISE GOD ANYWAY!

By: Mary Southerland

Today's Truth Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (NIV).

Friend To Friend
Someone recently gave me a refrigerator magnet that said, "I know God promises to never give me more than I can handle. But sometimes, I just wish he didn't trust me so much." When trials come and life seems hard, we plead with God to deliver us from the problem when many times his plan is to deliver us in the problem. Praise does not depend upon an understanding of the circumstance or trial. Praise depends upon faith in the God of that circumstance or trial.

As humans, we will never fully understand God - this side of heaven. God is holy and without blemish. God is all powerful and omniscient. He is Creator of the universe and yet lives in you and me. He is the only true, living God! We may understand some of his ways and comprehend the reasoning behind some of his plans. We may even come to the place of knowing him on what we call an intimate level, but a full understanding of God is reserved for heaven. Until then, we walk by faith, not by sight. We praise him in the darkness, knowing that the light is just ahead. We trust him for things we cannot see and praise him in the valleys. Honestly, the thought of serving and relying on a God I can understand is not a reassuring thought.

Most people who know me well would describe me as a strong person, someone who can usually handle what life holds. I thought the same thing until, in 1995, I found myself a powerless, prisoner of the darkness as I battled clinical depression. It took me two long years to climb out of that pit and not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of that wonderful, horrible time. One of the many lessons I learned from my "pit experience" was that I cannot depend upon my own strength or my fickle emotions. God often asked me to praise him when, as far as I could tell, there wasn't a whole lot to praise him for! I didn't feel like praising him. I began to understand that praise is not a feeling but a choice, a step of obedience taken without the assurance of a changed circumstance or the elimination of a trial. Praise focuses on God, not the circumstance, and fixes its gaze upon God's truth and God's character instead of the trial at hand or the one just ahead. That's why we can celebrate the battle before it begins. The outcome is neither our responsibility nor our goal. Praise begins and ends with faith in the very nature, personality and integrity of God ... and that reality never changes. No matter what lies ahead, God is faithful. No matter how hot the fiery trial may be, God will deliver us.

No matter what man says or does, God loves and accepts us. So praise God! Thank him today for every victory tomorrow holds! Celebrate - knowing the battle belongs to God and because of that single truth, victory is certain.

Now It's Your Turn
Begin your "Joy Journal" by recording the daily blessings he gives you each day. Remember to add the "small" miracles as well as the "large" ones. At the end of the week, have a private praise service - just you and God. Thank him for his presence and power at work in your life.

Memorize Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (NIV).

Think about it...

· When I hear the word "praise", what comes to my mind?
· Do I really believe my life can bring God pleasure?
· After reading Psalm 139, how do I think God sees me?
· What are the sources of discouragement in my life?
· What steps do I need to take to eliminate those sources?

Let's Pray
Father, I praise You today for all that You have done in my life. You are faithful even when I am faithless. Your love pursues me even when I am unlovable. Your forgiveness covers my sin and frees me from its penalty. Lord, teach me to praise You. Help me to see and understand the power of praising You in my life. I want to bring You pleasure, Father. I praise You for your love and faithfulness to me. Your presence in my life changes everything, empowering me to live each moment of every day, content in knowing You are in control. As I face today, Lord, remind me that no matters what happens, I can praise You! In Jesus' name, Amen.

More From The Girlfriends
An attitude of praise flourishes when we set our mind on God's joy in us. Joy is a deliberate choice of our mind and will - not an emotion or feeling. Joy is a deeply rooted confidence that God is in control. With that truth tucked into our heart, we can approach every circumstance with praise.

BOW BEFORE THE THRONE

May 22, 2008

Today's message is from Marcos Witt.

Revelation 4:10 says, “The twenty-four elders fall down before him” (NIV). Revelation 19:4 says, “The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God” (NIV). This is the key to the worshiper the Father is seeking. Everyone in heaven bows before the throne.

Besides the spiritual implication of prostration, I think it is important to learn to be physically prostrate as an outward sign of an inward decision. Many congregations don’t practice prostration, even though it is one of the most biblical forms of expressing worship. I believe it would be good to reinstate it into our worship services.

There is something that happens in our heart when we kneel and bow before His Majesty. It is a good exercise for our flesh, just to remind it who is in control of our body.

Occasionally, in a conference or other meeting, the Lord has led us to prostrate ourselves before Him. I cannot describe the feeling that comes over me when thousands of people bend their knees and bow before the great King as they pour out their hearts to Him. It is indescribable!

Looking upon that kind of scene, I can almost imagine how it is going to be in heaven when we are all around the great throne, from which emanates the wonderful light of His presence. There we will bow, receiving the warmth of His love, prostrate with our crowns thrown at His feet. Let us begin to learn, right now, to bend our knee in humility before Him, acknowledging His great power and glory.

TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, today I choose to bow before You in worship. As I kneel before Your throne, I acknowledge with all my heart that You are the only true God.