Stay Connected

After Thursday storms left our area, on Friday Comcast was down at our store. We had electrical power, just no Comcast. To some this may not sound like a big deal, but to Billy Wray Music Shop, this is our ‘bread-n-butter’. No internet access meant no Ebay sales (which is about 90% of our business), no phone access (we use an internet phone) or the ability to process credit cards (also done through the internet). The internet has become such an integral part of our lives, we literally felt lost. The world has become a smaller place thanks to the world of computers, internet and all those other gadgets I have no clue about!! We can now reach and sell around the world through our Ebay store and never have to leave the comfort of our office.
I started thinking about this today and realized there is a faith lesson in this. For years we have heard, “God is our source of power.” And although I believe that will all my heart, if we stifle that power and not allow Him to use us BEYOND our homes, church or other comfort zones, we will never fulfill the great commission Jesus gave us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations (communities…)……….And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
In our faith walk, our ‘internet connection’ is the connection we make with people every day whether at the grocery store, office, Starbucks, Panera….well, you get the idea. Let’s get out and stay connected!!

Obedience or sacrifice

This month I am studying verses about obedience and righteousness and came across very familiar verses in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “…Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.”

What are the “sin of divination” and the “evil of idolatry”? Are these just terms of the past? Are they relevant for us today, and if so how?

My trusty dictionary defines divination as “the act or practice of trying to foretell the future or the unknown by occult means; a successful or clever guess.” Idolatry is “the worship of any object or person with excessive devotion or admiration.”

There is an obsession with knowing the future. We want to know NOW so we can manipulate the future to conform to what we want and how we get it and when. This is not a new obsession but has taken on different forms throughout the ages. It is worldwide and has been practiced in both civilized and uncivilized societies. Séances, Ouija boards, fortune tellers, crystal balls, card readings, tea leaf readings, horoscopes, animal organs, and the list goes on. Thousands and millions of dollars are spent each year to…know….to control.

So what does this have to do with obedience? EVERYTHING! The burnt offerings/sacrifices are all events that can be seen by others. They are an outward; upright (self/ego) appearance that results in just giving lip service. Obedience is an inward, laying prostrate (surrender) appearance which is only seen by God. Unless our hearts are in a prostrate position where we allow God to work his plan (Jeremiah 29:11-14) in us, in his timing, we will not escape the manipulation trap that leads to rebellion. This trap starts not with major events or occurrences but rather the small subtle questions, doubts, disappointments and complacency. When we rebel and want to be the owner of our own destiny, arrogance and “self” will become the object of worship, the idol that must be feed to keep the deceit alive.

“You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away (Is 47:10-11)

God’s warning is the same for us today as it was to the Israelites when they didn’t want to listen to the Lord. “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. (Isaiah 30:12-14). Likewise, his promise is for us today, “…..in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and TRUST is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

Oh that our ears would be bent to his voice and our hearts molded by his word, then obedience would be the path that leads to life, hope and a future.

Witnessing the character of Christ

I spent January looking at scriptures about witnessing and these themes are consistently present in the scriptures:
• God works in and through difficulties to perform the miraculous so we may be a testimony to those today and those in the future of the power and goodness of God. Why? THAT THEY MAY KNOW GOD IS GOD. (Ex 10:1-2; Numb 10:29)
• When we praise God (be a witness of His goodness) to those around us God will bless us (Ps 67)
• To be a witness for God we must be a servant (Is 43:10; Is 49:5; Acts 26:16)
• To be a witness we must personally (intimately) know God; believe (trust) God; and understand that God is who He says He is. (Is 53:10)
• God does the revealing and saving (Is 43:12)….we are only an instrument He uses.
• To be a witness is to be obedient to God’s prompting whether those we witness to believe or not (Ez 3:11)• God takes no pleasure/delight when an unbeliever dies without Him…and our response should never be “they got what they deserved”. Truth be told, none of us get what we deserve but even when we were dead in our sin Christ died for us. This thought should hound us and catapult us to obedience when God wants us to speak to ANYONE. (Ez 33:11)
• When those we witness to advance beyond us in their love and witness of God (Jonah 3-4) let us rejoice with them, not sulk
• God’s Holy Spirit living within us will give us the words to speak…we must be tuned into His voice. (Matt 10:17)
• We cannot go in our strength (Acts 1:8)
• Expect God to move (Mk 16:15-20)
Bottom line: being a witness for God is about humility, desiring others before ourselves, being a servant to the lost. It is not about adding numbers to our churches but rather multiplying the character of Christ. His character within us will then be the motivating factor to share His Good News. HUMILITY…SUBMISSION…SERVANT…could the absence of these be the turn off to the term Christian today?

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8)

PROMISE KEEPER

Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all
integrity a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
Isaiah 45:22-23

A promise is only as good as the one giving or representing that promise. Can they deliver what they promise? What has their track record been in the past? What happens if they change their minds?

God has sworn BY himself, there is no one higher. He is, as the saying goes, “where the buck stops”. He is God there is none above Him none equal to Him none that will save Him or make good His promises if He can’t. HE IS!!! His integrity is on the line with each word He has spoken. Likewise, each word He has spoken cannot be revoked or overruled by another—no one has that power. Not Satan, you, me…NO ONE. What God has said WILL remain, never to be erased, never to be improved upon, never to be changed…NEVER!

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times,
what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please…..
What I have said that will I bring about
what I have planned, that will I do.
Isaiah 46:10-11

No matter what circumstances have been brought into our lives, nothing can negate what God has spoken and put in to place before time as we know it even existed. Whatever we face today there is Someone who is above it all, perhaps even right in the midst of it waiting for us to open our closed fists and allow Him to work it all out for His purpose within us.

CONDUITS

You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
"I, even I, am the LORD,
And there is no savior besides Me.
"It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And I am God.
"Even from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?"
Isaiah 43:10-13


Our part:
KNOW…to perceive, distinguish, discriminate, acknowledge, confess, know by experience, be revealed, be instructed
BELIEVE….to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to believe in, pillars, supporters of the door
UNDERSTAND…acted wisely, consider, diligently consider, discern, intelligent ,interpret, investigating, look carefully, observe, perceive,
God’s part:
DECLARE…to be conspicuous, tell, make known
SAVE… liberate, save, delivere, victorious
PROCLAIM… to hear, listen to, obey, to grant request


Reality is, God does it ALL but chooses to reveal Himself through you and me. We just need to be available and obedient, an open conduit. Sounds so simple…why do we make it so hard??

SERVING AS EVIDENCE

Last year I used the Bible In Chronological order as my devotional source. This year I’m focusing on a Biblical theme each month: witnessing, salvation, healing, Holy Spirit, etc.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these life-paths we live every day, even though at times we may not realize or understand the path we are on.

Witnessing
My trusty old dictionary describes two words critical to this theme:
(1) witness as “evidence; testimony; a person who saw, or can give a first and account of something; to be present; see personally; to serve as evidence of”;
(2) evident/evidence as “easy to see or perceive, clear, obvious or plain; something that makes another thing evident, indication, sign; something that tends to prove.”

To “serve as evidence of” and “something that tends to prove” is more than just SPEAKING of evidence but living (SERVE) as proof of that evidence.

To be a good witness we must be credible or our testimony will not hold any weight. We must have firsthand knowledge of what we witness or else it is hearsay.  In a courtroom others can rebut what is said. Likewise in the world others will try to refute our verbal testimony of a living God.

Because we not only experience His power but are evidence of His power (He lives in us), will we by our actions prove He does or doesn’t exist?
“For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.” Psalm 96:4-6

As believers, confessors and followers of Christ, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19; Rom 8:11). It is His strength and glory that should be witnessed by the world around us…through difficult or peaceful times. Today let us serve to those around us as evidence of the resurrection and power of the one and only true Living God.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God transcends and invades every kingdom, continent, country, state, village and town of this planet yet is not held by boundaries or contained within buildings.
It is not advanced by man’s deeds or manipulations but by humility.
It is not held by the “wheelers and dealers” of any earthly kingdom but by those that are the lowest or least important in the eyes of earthly powers.
It cannot be overthrown in a coup or held hostage by any man.
Its power is beyond anything we have ever experienced in earthly kingdoms and yet its power is not motivated and fueled by greed or self preservation.
There are no political parties vying for power in this Kingdom- just One rule, One power, One authority.
Truth, not deception, is its foundation.
Entrance into this Kingdom is not by way of a broad boulevard; a valid passport purchased by the individual; or obtained by any governments nod of approval.
Entrance has been obtained by the Owners Sons life…it is by his life we have life...his life we have citizenship.  It is this same Son who will be the light of this Kingdom.
The authority and power of the Owner is automatically transferred to all its citizens.
All are welcome but not everyone will choose to enter.
It is displayed through simplistic yet explosive power.
As citizens of this Kingdom, it is displayed through you and me…AMAZING!!