God Works for You

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber. (Psalm 121:1–3)

Do you need help? I do. Where do you look for help?

When the Psalmist lifted up his eyes to the hills and asked, “From where does my help come?” he answered, “My help comes from the Lord” — not from the hills, but from the God who made the hills.

So he reminded himself of two great truths: one is that God is a mighty Creator over all the problems of life; the other is that God never sleeps.

God is a tireless worker. Think of God as a worker in your life. Yes, it is amazing. We are prone to think of ourselves as workers in God’s life. But the Bible wants us first to be amazed that God is a worker in our lives: “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

God is working for us around the clock. He does not take days off and he does not sleep. In fact he is so eager to work for us that he goes around looking for more work to do for people who will trust him: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

God loves to show his tireless power and wisdom and goodness by working for people who trust him. Jesus was the main way the Father showed this: “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). Jesus works for his followers. He serves them.

This is what we must believe — really believe — in order to “rejoice always” (Philippians 4:4) and “give thanks in everything” (Ephesians 5:20) and have the “peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:7), and “be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6) and “hate our lives in this world” (John 12:25) and “love our neighbor as we love ourselves” (Matthew 22:39).

What a truth! What a reality! God is up all night and all day to work for those who wait for him.

Daily Devotions John Piper

Let Me See Your Face Lest I Die

Who will bring me to rest in You?

Who will send You into my heart
so to overwhelm it that my sins will
be blotted out and I may embrace You, my only good?

What are You to me?
Have mercy that I may speak.

What am I to You
that You should command me to love You,
and if I do not,
are angry and threaten vast misery?

Is it, then, a trifling sorrow not to love You?
It is not so to me.

Tell me, by Your mercy,
O Lord, my God,
what You are to me.
“Say to my soul, I am your salvation.”
So speak that I may hear.
Behold, the ears of my heart are before You, O Lord;
open them and “say to my soul, I am your salvation.”

I will hasten after that voice,
and I will lay hold upon You.
Hide not Your face from me.
Even if I die, let me see Your face lest I die.

- Augustine of Hippo

Turned on by PRAYER

Read the Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

...that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened... (Ephesians 1:18a).

The eyes of the heart is a strange expression, isn't it? Eyes are the instrument by which we perceive things. The mind also has eyes. If you listen to truth in any area, the eyes of your mind are grasping ideas. But the apostle tells us here that not only does the mind have eyes, but the heart as well. The heart needs to see things, needs to grasp truth and understand it. And the heart is always used in Scripture as the seat of our emotions.

Remember the episode in Luke 24—that walk to Emmaus when the risen Lord appears to the two disciples? The Lord joins them, but they don't know who He is. He walks along with them and unfolds to them all the Scriptures concerning the promised Messiah. Afterward, they said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? (v. 32).

That burning of the heart represents the heart's eyes being opened. It is the inflaming of the heart, so that it comes alive and is deeply moved. It is this burning of the heart that the apostle desires for these Christians. When the heart begins to burn with truth, when it takes root in you and you simply must respond to it, that is when you know with certainty that God is real, that the hope of your calling is genuine, that the power of His presence is available, and that the riches of His ministry through you is manifest to others as well.

I remember when a young man became a Christian, came into the church, and married a girl who had grown up in the church. At first his Christian life was glorious to behold. He eagerly read the Scriptures. But after a while it all began to ebb away. He lost his interest in the Scriptures, and quit coming to church. He was no longer interested in fellowship with other believers.

Naturally his wife became concerned. So she and a friend decided that they would pray together for her husband every day. She decided in her heart that she would not nag him, because she didn't want him to come unless his heart genuinely directed him to. She resolved simply to pray daily. For a month or more nothing happened. But she kept on praying.

Gradually her husband's attitude began to change a bit. One day she found him reading the Bible. She didn't say anything to him, but it was a note of encouragement. Then, one Sunday, he announced that he was going to church with her. Again she rejoiced inwardly. After a while, he said to her, You know, dear, I've really been way out of it! Somehow or other I lost all my interest in the Lord. But God has moved in and met me and brought me back. What a wonderful testimony to the power of prayer to open eyes!

It isn't enough simply to teach truth. You never affect the whole person until the eyes of the heart are enlightened. When truth is moved from the head down to the heart, it has gripped the emotions. Then the will is properly motivated. Then the person begins to grow tremendously.

Father, open the eyes of my heart. I see that for that to happen there must be the bending of the knee, the imploring of the Spirit in prayer, so that truth becomes vital and compelling.

Life Application: Faithful prayer shortens one of the longest distances known by humanity which is the distance between our head and our heart. Have we felt the Power of His Presence?

From your friends at

www.RayStedman.org

Joni Eareckson Tada has given us many books on the subject of God’s tender care for His children in times of suffering. Joni strikes the chord of authenticity with us so well because suffering is the world she lives in 24/7, literally. My personal favorite is When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, co-authored with Steve Estes, a pastor in Pennsylvania. The following list of God’s purposes in our suffering is from one of the appendices in that book.

Take some time to meditate on the wisdom of God as He works out His perfect will through our suffering. No wonder James, the brother of our Lord, commanded us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)!

1. Suffering is used to increase our awareness of the sustaining power of God to whom we owe our sustenance (Ps 68:19).
2. God uses suffering to refine, perfect, strengthen, and keep us from falling (Ps 66:8-9; Heb 2:10).
3. Suffering allows the life of Christ to be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:7-11).
4. Suffering bankrupts us, making us dependent upon God (2 Cor 12:9).
5. Suffering teaches us humility (2 Cor 12:7).
6. Suffering imparts the mind of Christ (Phil 2:1-11).
7. Suffering teaches us that God is more concerned about character than comfort (Rom 5:3-4; Heb 12:10-11).
8. Suffering teaches us that the greatest good of the Christian life is not absence of pain, but Christlikeness (2 Cor 4:8-10; Rom 8:28-29).
9. Suffering can be a chastisement from God for sin and rebellion (Ps 107:17).
10. Obedience and self-control are from suffering (Heb 5:8; Ps 119:67; Rom 5:1-5;James 1:2-8; Phil 3:10).
11. Voluntary suffering is one way to demonstrate the love of God (2 Cor 8:1-2, 9).
12. Suffering is part of the struggle against sin (Heb 12:4-13).
13. Suffering is part of the struggle against evil men (Ps 27:12; 37:14-15).
14. Suffering is part of the struggle for the kingdom of God (2 Thess 1:5).
15. Suffering is part of the struggle for the gospel (2 Tim 2:8-9).
16. Suffering is part of the struggle against injustice (1 Pet 2:19).
17. Suffering is part of the struggle for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41; 1 Pet 4:14).
18. Suffering indicates how the righteous become sharers in Christ’s suffering (2 Cor 1:5; 1 Pet 4:12-13).
19. Endurance of suffering is given as a cause for reward (2 Cor 4:17; 2 Tim 2:12).
20. Suffering forces community and the administration of the gifts for the common good (Phil 4:12-15).
21. Suffering binds Christians together into a common or joint purpose (Rev 1:9).
22. Suffering produces discernment, knowledge, and teaches us God’s statutes (Ps 119:66-67, 71).
23. Through suffering God is able to obtain our broken and contrite spirit which He desires (Ps 51:16-17).
24. Suffering causes us to discipline our minds by making us focus our hope on the grace to be revealed at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:6, 13).
25. God uses suffering to humble us so He can exalt us at the proper time (1 Pet 5:6-7).
26. Suffering teaches us to number our days so we can present to God a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:7-12).
27. Suffering is sometimes necessary to win the lost (2 Tim 2:8-10; 4:5-6).
28. Suffering strengthens and allows us to comfort others who are weak (2 Cor 1:3-11).
29. Suffering is small compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8).
30. God desires truth in our innermost being and one way He does it is through suffering (Ps 51:6; 119:17).
31. The equity for suffering will be found in the next life (Ps 58:10-11).
32. Suffering is always coupled with a greater source of grace (2 Tim 1:7-8; 4:16-18).
33. Suffering teaches us to give thanks in times of sorrow (1 Thess 5:17; 2 Cor 1:11).
34. Suffering increases faith (Jer 29:11).
35. Suffering allows God to manifest His care (Ps 56:8).
36. Suffering stretches our hope (Job 13:14-15).

Out of His deep love for us God is more interested in making His children like Christ than He is in making us comfortable. The glory He receives from redeeming depraved sinners like us and remaking us into His image will be the song that fills the halls of heaven for all eternity (Rev 5:9-10). Since that will be the case in the future, let us pursue joy in the Lord here in the present.

36 Purposes of God in Our Suffering

March 20, 2012 by Paul Tautges

Marriage Story

"Marriage is not mainly about prospering economically; it is mainly about displaying the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. Knowing Christ is more important than making a living. Treasuring Christ is more important than bearing children. Being united to Christ by faith is a greater source of marital success than perfect sex and double-income prosperity".  John Piper The Momentary Marriage

Here is My Heart Lord

Using Knowledge Correctly

PROVERBS 24:4 And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches

The word knowledge is the key to this continuation of the proverb.  Knowledge is  the Hebrew word daath which means information, perception, discernment, skill.

This is the controlling idea for filling one's house with precious and pleasant  riches.  If one is going to fill one's life with true riches, then one is going  to need information and skill.  Too often we want to gain relational, material,  emotional, and/or mental wealth without any effort or practice.  LIfe does not work this way.  We know from other parts of Scripture that relational wealth is the greatest treasure that one can have in life.  Mark 12:30-31

Solomon is telling us that we come into the world without the information and abilities that we need to build a truly wealthy life.  We must go after it.  We need to understand what we are going after, and then we must admit that we need to learn.  We need to see connections.  We need to listen to people who have actually built a rich,  relation-ally, wealthy life.

One of the first steps toward a wonderful life is to admit that you really don't  know how to build one or you would already have built it.  Jesus calls this being poor in spirit.  The New Testament calls this humility.

Solomon here calls this  the need for knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.

Let me get specific:

• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great marriage
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great family?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great walk with God?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great career?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great personal life?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have great friendships
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great financial portfolio?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great community?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to have a great church?
• Do you know and have you become skilled at the basic actions that are required to turn enemies into friends?

One of the tragic truths is that both Solomon and all of us have watched people fill their life with unpleasant riches and detestable riches.  When your life is  filled with bad relationships, guilt, shame, lack of generosity, hatred, stolen  items, your life is filled; but it is not pleasant.

What is also important to realize is that the riches are not necessarily material ones.  In fact, I believe that those are the specific kinds he is trying to get us to do some discerning about.  All of us, at one time or another, have desired  more stuff but those are not precious and pleasant riches.

The most precious and pleasant treasures that can fill a house are the people who love you and with whom you have a great relationship.  It takes skill, perception, information, and ability to maintain a relationship with the people in your family.

When the rooms are filled with loving family members, you have been skillful.

Now when one has material goods added to a base of great relationships, then it is called abundance.  But I am aware, as you are, of many people who have lots of material wealth but a paltry amount of relationships. They cannot fill a house with the people who love them and they are really poor.

Realize that one of the things that you should focus on learning is how to get along with people.  A solid course in people skills is one of the wisest investments you can make.

What good is it if you have a huge home but no one wants to come out of their rooms because they can't stand one another?  If you have lots of money but your family  despises you, then you are poor.

Ask yourself: What have I done this week that will increase the most valuable relationships in my life?  It does matter if I relate to my wife using skill.  It does matter if I interact with my children with knowledge and perception.  I want my children to be able to trust me and know that I will listen to them.

What are the key skills for this type of room filling:  eye contact, minimal encourages, listening, open-ended questions, time with the person, active paraphrasing and listening to them, asking them if you heard them correctly.

Devotions with Dr. Gil

http://www.ptlb.com/

Grace and Then Truth

By Daniel Delgado.

http://www.flathillfaith.com

 

Repetition is a powerful tool. We repeat things that are important to us. We repeat things we want to remember. In fact, educational experts believe we must be exposed to something at least three times before we can fully understand it. This is why I’ve started highlighting key words in Bible passages I read. For example, in the first chapter of Genesis, God speaks 15 different times. This repetition subtly communicates to something significant about God’s character: namely, that our God is a God who speaks. Another example is found in 1 Samuel 8:10-18, when God-through-Samuel is describing what Israel’s king will be like, he uses the phrase “he will take” six times. Obviously, God wanted the Israelites to know that their king would take, take, take, take, take, and take some more.

In the first chapter of John, there are a handful of words that are repeated: Word, life, light, world, etc. Towards the end of this chapter, the Bible repeats two words that define Jesus’ ministry. In John 1:14, we read that we have seen Jesus’ glory, which was full of grace and truth. A few verses later, in John 1:17, we read that Moses brought the Law, but through Jesus came grace and truth. Jesus revealed His glory to us through grace and truth. In fact, the original Greek for verse 17 literally says that Jesus brought “the grace and the truth.” In Greek, word order is important and I think it’s worth noticing that both times, grace comes before truth. I think there’s profound significance to that word order. Grace must precede truth.

I’ve met a handful of people who seem to think that the most graceful thing we can do is be truthful (i.e. brutally honest), as though the two terms were synonymous. But why then, would the Bible use these terms separately? I’ve been reminded by people in this camp that Jesus was no ballerina. While this is true, it’s also true that Jesus was not a knuckle-dragging ogre who went from village to village bashing people with a club named “Truth.”

But I’ve also met people who stand by the conviction that all that matters is grace. The only thing that matters, they would say, is the grace that God gives us. But why would this Bible passage connect truth to the reality that Jesus brought grace? Can we honor God if we’re only graceful, but not truthful? If people do not understand the truth about their situation, will they even appreciate God’s grace?

And so we find a complex balancing act between grace and truth. Sam Williams once wrote that “Grace without truth is sentimentalism. It lacks power. Truth without grace is legalism. It lacks compassion. Grace and truth is the power of God that transforms lives.” As I said before, I think there is significance to the order of grace and truth. In fact, I think we need to encounter people with grace and then truth…in that order!

Take a look at how Jesus approached the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus offers her living water and then confronts her about her promiscuous lifestyle. Grace and then truth. Go forward to Jesus’ encounter with the paralyzed man: Jesus heals him (John 5:8) and then calls him to repentance (John 5:14). Grace and then truth. Go forward to the statement Jesus makes to the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” Grace and then truth.

I think this is the example we are meant to follow: Grace and then Truth. As a friend once told me, no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. As Christians, we must resolve to enter into relationships that are characterized by grace. We must commit to love and accept others unconditionally in order to create a safe, trothing relationship. Then, when they’re ready, we can begin to share the wonderful, life-changing Truth that has set us free. Only after people feel loved and accepted by us will they be open to hearing what we believe.