GOD'S SHIELD OF PROTECTION - Part 1

By Maggie A. Escoto

Psalm 91 speaks directly to everyone's fear and need of safety and security.  It is very clear in verse 1 that God's thought of protection for us was at the very forefront of His mind. "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  When we are in danger we automatically run to seek shelter by covering ourselves with the hope that harm will not come. No guarantees here.  But God, on other other hand, promises that if we dwell or abide in His secret place, that place where we meet with God whether it is in a closet, a quiet spot at the lake, or in one of our favorite rooms in the house,  He will protect us and keep us from harm as we remain in His presence (shadow).

LOVING GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS

By: Maggie A. Escoto

People seek love in many different places.  When find the person we have many feelings and emotions for them.  Sometimes we love to the point of not being able to live without them.  They become our entire world and we love them with all our heart, mind and soul. This could be said of our children, parents, relatives, and friends.  My question is, "Why do we have a difficult time loving God in the same way?"  Why can't we love God with all our heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22:37)?  He has given us everything we need as well as the ability to love Him.  He commands us to love Him with everything we have above all things and everyone else.


Give your attention to what Jesus called the greatest responsibility of them all: loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus had already distinguished Himself as a teacher and healer. He had already upset the religious establishment of His day. He had already commissioned His disciples and made His final approach to Jerusalem. Then Jesus took a question from the crowd: "What is the most important commandment of all? What has been Your guiding light and prevailing vision? What do You stand for, in 10 words or less?"

Jesus never missed a beat. He came up with a show-stopping, winning 6-second sound bite: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." "Love God with all your passion, prayer, intelligence, and energy." (The Message). "Understand this, put it into practice, and you won't be far from the reign of God itself." (Mark 12:30, 34).

No one would dare to ask Jesus another question. Everything flows from this one central doctrine. That was exactly why He came into the world - to show people how to love. When asked to break it down, after years of demonstration, He placed the spiritual first and the social second. He placed our love for God at the hub of the wheel. It looks like this:  1) God 2) Spouse 3) Children/Family 4)Work 5) Ministry 6) Everything else.


Passion, it has been said, is the very fact of God in us. To love God, we must begin by wanting to love God above everyone and everything else in the world.  If we don't want it that badly, it will never happen at all. There is too much to distract us. Too much to keep us busy. Too much to discourage us. These are all, as Deuteronomy says, tests of the Spirit. Loving God is neither an easy nor a natural thing to do. Think about the difficulties involved with loving even one other person fully and completely. Here at least we have a commonality of experience, dimension, and proportion. It is even more difficult to love God fully and completely, since our experiences, dimensions, and proportions are so totally different. We are perishable; God is imperishable. We are limited, God is unlimited. We are changeable, God is unchangeable. The beauty, truth, and justice of God is just beyond us.

Jesus said, "Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened. Ask, and it shall be given." He was not talking about the things of this world, but about the things of God.  When we seek the kingdom of God first, all things will be added (Matthew 6:33)....right relationships, prosperous business deals, restored and healed relationships, healed emotions, etc. etc.

Prayer:

Lord, please draw me near to you as you promise in Your Word (James 4:8).  I long and desire to learn how to dwell in Your presence and have a more intimate relationship with You.   Teach me what I need to learn in order to know You better.  I want to know all the truth about who You say You are (Psalm 145:18).

I am open and submit myself to whatever You want to do in me.  I want to know You as my Healer, my Deliverer, my Redeemer, and my Comforter.  I need to know You today as my (insert a name).  I believe and trust You will be that to me.

God, help me to set time aside to get to know You.  Enable me to resist anything that would keep me from it.  Teach me to pray the way you want me to.  Help me to learn more about You.  Put people in my life that will help me know You more.  Lord, you said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37).  I thirst for more of You because I am in a dry place without You.

Lord, draw me close so that I may dwell in Your presence like never before.

BECAUSE I SAID SO

By Lisa Crum

“Because I said so.”  Those four words were about the most abrupt –yet most profound– explanation I would receive as a child, when instructed by my parents or grandparents to do something.  As a matter of fact, usually by the time I heard those words, it was because I had exhausted their patience with my “why-ning” (smile) and was skating mighty close to some disciplinary action!

Aren’t we a lot like that with our Heavenly Father sometimes too?  The evidence is everywhere as we see common breakdowns in our Christian faith: church splits, confusion, moral plummeting, folks going rogue, and perhaps the saddest of all, believers in general living less than victorious, effective, forward-moving lives.  Why?  Because instead of heeding God’s instructions the first time around, we often instead go on a geocaching expedition in hopes of unearthing some exemption clause from having to be obedient.  Whew…that was a mouthful.  But it’s true.  Why can’t we just do what He says?  After all, He IS God…

Our whole lives, we wrestle with that all-important inquiry, “Why am I here?  Why do I exist?”  And the answer is just as matter-of-fact as the “Because I said so” we heard from our parents.  We are here to achieve God’s purposes, pure and simple.  No one is born without a reason.  No one is without a Divine purpose.  When we sidestep God’s plan, however, and go after our own agenda, is when we see every defining trait we’ve been given turn into something angry, corrupt, vile, perverse.  Example?  A man of ingenuity and powerful leadership skills becomes a Jim Jones or an Adolf Hitler.  I realize that these are the absolute worst-case scenarios, but imagine what could have been if these men would have surrendered their hearts and gifts to God instead of to the enemy.  The Apostle Peter was a loudmouthed hothead whose aggressive nature got him into more than one pickle. Yet when his outspoken passion got sanctified by the Holy Ghost, he became the emboldened herald of Pentecost, who preached like he was on fire…because he was!  This is what happens when we allow God to harness the best and worst of our nature and guide us in HIS direction.

Oh, that we would just save ourselves years of setbacks and heartache, and just surrender to His will for our lives.  We waste so much time trying to become important, trying to gain respect by earning our pea-sized merit badges for the world to admire.  Hay and stubble on that Great Day when our works are tried in the fire.  Poof!  Burned up in a split second.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t get college degrees, promotions on the job, work hard and save up for retirement—BUT!  What if, in order to get those things, we have systematically tuned out God’s voice when He tried to lead us another way?  I believe with all my heart that anything we gain by disobedience to God will only result in failure and bitter disappointment in the end. 

We’re so afraid that if we say “yes” to Him, He’ll make us do something we hate for the rest of our lives.  Not so!  Whatever was birthed in you to do, when you do it under the covering of His authority, will just “click” into place.  It will be the most natural thing, the most satisfying thing you’ve ever done.  He may indeed be leading you to go after that 8th consecutive college degree, and He may have even led you to tenaciously pursue the CEO’s chair or a career in professional sports, but if He’s really instructed you to pour all of your heart and soul into an endeavor, it’s still for His glory and a Divine purpose…not to have other people ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all YOU’VE done.  Just check your motives, and begin to listen for His instruction.

How do we know whether we’re in His will or not?  Sometimes we’ve ignored His voice so long that it’s hard to remember the sound of it.  But I challenge you to ask yourself three things:

1. Did God specifically tell me to do this with my life; or, have I heard His call to another purpose and decided to do it later, after I do my own thing first?

2. Is what I’m doing in violation of any part of His Word?

3. If He asked me to sacrifice it on the altar of obedience, would I or could I do it?

Our prayer:  “Heavenly Father, thank You first of all for creating me in Your image.  I can’t begin to understand why and how You deliberately planned for me a hope and a future, but I want to fulfill that purpose and ultimately to please You and make You glad You willed for me to be born.  Take my life and use it fully for your good pleasure.  Weed out all the ugly, unproductive things growing in my character, and straighten whatever I may have warped by my disobedience.  Every talent, every gift, every ability You’ve instilled within me, I surrender to Your Divine will.  Don’t allow me to be satisfied with anything less —and don’t allow me to aspire to be anything more— than exactly what You want for me.  I say yes to Your will now, just BECAUSE YOU SAID SO, and I do it in Jesus’ name.”

Scripture of the Day: Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” - Luke 11:28 

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!

Lessons in Hovering: The Nearness of the Spirit

By John C. Richards, Jr.
        

Having five siblings can teach you a lot of life lessons. Among those lessons is the practice of hovering. At this point in my life I consider myself a professional “hoverer". I can hover with the best of them. Let me explain the nature of a hoverer. A hoverer is one who waits in anticipation to take advantage of a great opportunity. All they need to proceed? They just need to hear a word. Friday nights in my household I became that person. Reluctant to cook after a long week, my mother would bring home take-out. As soon as she walked in the house, my hands were washed and I was ready. I was so close to the food I could breathe in its fresh aroma. I stood near her, just hovering, until I heard the word: "Go ahead. Dig in."

The Bible makes mention of another Hoverer. He might be considered the greatest Hoverer ever. One whose proverbial sandal I am not able to strap. He didn't hover over food. He wasn't trying to satisfy His appetite, just the unfolding plan of the Creator. And His situation wasn't as highly aromatic as mine. In fact, here are a few phrases that describe His environment. Disorderly. Chaotic. Hopeless. Three excellent descriptions of the early appearance of the land mass we have come to know as Earth. There were no awe-inspiring mountains yet. There were no rushing rivers. More importantly, there was no ability to sustain human life. The Earth didn't have a chance. Yet the Spirit of God was present. Hovering. He was merely waiting for the go-ahead from the Father. There's a sense of anticipation as He waits to hear those words: "Let there be light" (see Genesis 1:3). It's like God says, "Go ahead. Dig in." That was His cue. It was time to turn this chaos into order. It was time to replace darkness with light. It was time to turn an abyss into a place of bliss. Six days later the results are awe-inspiring. So beautiful that the Father sits back and declares it all "very good"  (see Genesis 1:31).

Ultimately this story finds its way into our own hearts. Although formed and not created, humankind can be described in the same way. Disorderly. Chaotic. Hopeless. At one point in my life, those terms described me with succinct accuracy. But there was a Hoverer present. The Spirit of God was waiting to hear those words from the Father: "Go ahead. Dig in." And did He ever! He breathed on me. I was like the Earth. A life seemingly devoid of the presence of God, yet the Spirit was hovering. And something amazing happened. Minerals began to appear, creating salt (see Matthew 5:13). Darkness began to fade, disseminating light (see Matthew 5:16). Rivers of living water began to flow out of my life (see John 7:38). And my heart began to change.

 

Paul reminds us all of that day in a letter to the Church at Corinth: "For God, who said 'Let light shine out of darkness’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV). Not only are the opening verses of Genesis about the Earth's creation, but also your heart's re-creation…through grace. Today, be grateful for God invading your world and "digging in". Be grateful for the Great Hoverer, the Spirit of God. Continue to allow Him to breathe on you. And as you do, trust me, the Father sits back and declares those timeless words: "Very good!"

 

Scripture of the Day: "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." - Genesis 1:2 (NKJV)

NEED ANYTHING?

Pastor Troy Gamling

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Phil 4:11 (Paul)

What does it take for us to say we have enough? Many who struggle with this answer the question of “enough?” with “just one more.” But where does it stop?

According to the Barna Research Group, the average American
adult believes he needs an additional $8,000–$11,000 per year to live comfortably. Tracking studies show, however, that even when adults reach or exceed the income levels to which they aspired, they still claim they need another $8,000–$11,000 to live comfortably.

To those that struggle with contentment... there will never be enough. It will always lie one arms length beyond their ability to sleep at night. Those that live in this camp wonder when the next one will be and never cherish what is.

Their entire existence is based on what they might miss out on by not having more.

Today’s verse helps with this. Godliness with contentment, Paul says, is of great value. In fact, he goes on to tell the churches in Philipi that he has “learned how to be content with whatever I have.” [sic].

What was Paul’s secret? What helped him move from greedy to grateful? It’s simple. Perspective. Paul saw that his needs were met and that was enough. He probably had wants...things that he’d like to have in his life... but he realized that these were superfluous to his mission. Paul was sent to spread the Gospel... and help those around him find Christ as Lord. He knew that God would provide whatever he needed to fulfill his calling.

In the fifth century, a man named Arsenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the conforms of Egyptian society to follow a simple lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its shops. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn’t need.

Are you focused on the things you need instead of pining for the things you don’t? That’s our goal today... to change our point of view as to what’s important. God will provide those things for you. No need to worry... He knows your needs and will meet them every time.

I suggest taking the energy you might spend on acquiring wants and invest it in other areas. Read more, study the Bible more, take care of your body more, journal more, or serve others more... So many things we can do to BE more rather than just HAVE more.

It was once said, “Be content with what you have, never with what you are.”

Good advice...

Stop Trying to Win Arguments by Jon Walker

"I beg you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." (1 Corinthians 1:10 LB) Stop trying to win arguments.  Instead, make it your goal to love those who disagree with you. Go for the love, not the win. Jesus tells us love will always win; he guaranteed that when he walked out of the tomb. When you find yourself in an argument with other believers, use these biblical guidelines for getting along: Let mercy guide your response (Proverbs 3:3–6). In a conflict, most of us say we only want what’s fair, but God’s approach isn’t about being fair. It’s about grace and mercy (Romans 5:8). Let God determine the truth (2 Corinthians 13:8). The truth is not determined by your thoughts or feelings (1 John 4:1) or the opinions of others. Truth is what God says it is; he is the sole authority for interpreting any situation (2 Corinthians 10:5). The Bible says we shouldn’trely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), that what appears to be right to us may very well be wrong (Proverbs 14:12). Look for God’s presence (Matthew 28:20). Satan wants us to believe we’re in the battle alone. Follow the example of the young shepherd boy, David, who believed God was in the fight and that the battle belonged to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47). Look for the conflict’s true source (Ephesians 6:12). According to God’s Word, we’re really not fighting other people; our real enemy is Satan and his “unseen spiritual forces of wickedness.” Lay down human weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). When we try to meet our own needs, working independently of God, we tend to use what the Apostle Paul called weapons of the flesh. These include: manipulation, gossip, slander, ridicule, threats, blame, nagging, deception, and silence. When we use them, we end up in an “evil for evil” cycle, and that’s like trying to fight a skunk with “stink” — everybody loses! Learn to use spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4). The Bible tells us that prayer is a powerful spiritual weapon. After we put on the whole armor of God, we’re to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV).