20 Days With God / Day 3

Day 3 with God

1 timothy 1:16, “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

<April 6, 2011 / 10:23pm>

 1 Timothy 1:16, “Yet for this reason I found mercy… ” It’s interesting how the Lord is speaking and revealing things to me in His light through His words.  I’m really loving my time in the word with God, those are such precious times I cherish.  Here’s some hard facts…I know I am sinner and there is no getting around that, I have no ground to defend myself that I am not a sinner.  And if I did that would make Christ a fraud; that would make everything He did for all mankind a fluke and just a bed time story, a fairy tale at the least.  But He is no fraud, and so that makes His life His words true and sound.  So what does that make me?  A sinner.  Paul says, “Yet for this reason I found mercy”, I couldn’t help but think of the greatest quality that qualifies me for the kingdom of heaven.  Am I qualified because I have believed in Jesus Christ or maybe because of my baptism?  Is it because I have been in church my whole life, or maybe served in ministry?  Or is it because I have led hundreds or maybe thousands of people to Christ?  Answer, none of the above.  Take notice of the bold letterings ‘I have’, now in Psalm 16:2 which says, “I said to the LORD, You are my LORD; I have no good besides You.”  The Hebrew word ‘good’ is towb (tove) which means ‘valuable in estimation, excellent of its kind, or rich’.  I have nothing valuable, I have nothing excellent, I am not rich, why?  Because (Jeremiah 17:9) my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  What God values and finds precious is not what we value, the things that we put value on can skew our perspective of who we really are.   God loves the sinner, not what the sinner can do.  When we find the reason for finding mercy we find what qualifies us for heaven.  Reading the previous verse 15 in 1 Timothy 1 it says, “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”  I’m a sinner…that is what qualifies me for heaven!  Now isn’t that something, now doesn’t that put a whole different perspective on the world if you keep in mind Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”?  All are qualified but not all have received their citizenship in Christ.  “Yet for this reason I found mercy” because I am a sinner. 

O Lord how great is your mercy on my life, that I am justified in You.  Your word says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  Thank you Lord for dying on the cross for a sinner like me.  Thank you for working your perfect patience on me.  Again Lord I pray for my wife, have mercy and pour grace over her head, overflow her cup Father.  Give wisdom to me Lord, bless me with the understanding of your scripture.  Excel, grow, strengthen my brother in Okinawa.

20 Days With God / Day 2

Day 2 with God

Isaiah 55:1-2, “Ho!  Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come; buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.”

<April 5, 2011 / 3:00pm>

Second day with God in one word, “trying”.  I’ve fasted before and I kind of was prepared for what was going to happen on the second day.  I knew my stomach would be growling and tossing and turning to and fro.  But I know within the next day or two, it will go away.  Just got to hang in until then.  And I’ve been really tired as of late, maybe because my body is not running on a lot of energy, so I’ve been going to bed a lot earlier as well.  Can’t wait though to see what God will do through me and reveal in me.  Come Lord Jesus come!

Just reading this verse kind of makes me think of those guys selling their products at swap meet or product shows calling out into the busy crowd, selling their product, giving all the pros and hiding the cons.  They almost demand you to listen to them by whistling, singing, and yelling at you.  Whether it annoys you or captivates you, your attention is diverted to the one speaking.  And so it is when God speaks, He catches our attention!  His calling out to you is either annoying or it is captivating.  I find it funny how God says, ‘Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters”, why?  Because everyone has a thirst to fill.  Jesus said in John 4:13a, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.”  I thirst for a filling right now, to be filled with the word of God and have it sustain me for the next 19 days.  But I look at the invitation given, that those who have no money come and buy and eat.  Many times over have I spent the value of money for something that I thought would satisfy me, and at the end I find myself still empty even broke.  His invitation screams compassion, “Hey are you broke?  Hey have you tried everything else but this?  Come and try this out, nothing is needed just bring yourself and see.”  Famous words of the Apostle Philip, “Come and see.”  No strings attached just come.  When we come and see, what do we find?  A feast!!!  And at this feast we find the Lord at the head of the table speaking to us.  I’ve been calling out to you for so long, why do you spend on emptiness?  Why do you search for light in darkness?  I am the one that satisfies you completely, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)  Only in God will I ever find satisfaction.  In Him I have an abundant supply of everything I will ever need, because He is my abundance.  I bless the name above all names, Jesus Christ!

Lord be my abundance, strengthen my feeble and weak knees.  Satisfy me with the fatness of Your word and may it cling to my bones.  Fill my stomach and with the goodness that flows from your mouth, may it be as sweet as honey to my lips.  Keep my wife pure Lord, whoever she may be.  Bless my brother today, speak words of life in him.

20 Days With God / Day 1

     Day 1 with God

Isaiah 52:2-3, “Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive of Jerusalem; Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.  For thus says the LORD, You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”

<April 4, 2011 / 8:55pm>

Well I’m on my first day of fasting, I’m shooting for 20 days, which I know will be really rough and challenging, but I know that the Lord is my strength.  It’s already been 16 hours without food and so far no tummy growls.  Sometimes I wonder if I am doing this out of my flesh, to be more spiritual, to be more ahhh look at me I’m fasting kind of thing.  All I know is that there should be a time when a Christian should take time to fast, to totally and completely lean on the Lord for strength.  Anyways, Its been a rather interesting day so far.   

I find this verse interesting in the way God is speaking to Isaiah here, and I couldn’t help but notice the way God chose to word Himself.  “Loose yourself from the chains around your neck”, and I found this so thought provoking.  Does God put me in chains?  Does God put my face to the dust?  If God were to put chains on my neck then He would be the one that would have to take them off because I am unable to on my own strength.  If God were to put my face to the dust, then He would be the one that would have to lift His hand off of my head.  But what I see, is that if that were true that would portray God as a tyrant.  “You didn’t listen to Me!  You idiot!  Now you will pay!”  And I know God is not like that.  So I got to thinking and it was amazing what the Holy Spirit revealed to me.  If a sheep were to wander from the side of His Shepherd and go outside the gates that protect him; What is that sheep susceptible to?  He can be ripped apart by wild animals, fall in holes, get lost, or die of starvation.  And so it is with those who wander from the safety of Gods hand, susceptible to anything but safety.  So does God put me in chains?  Does God put my face to the dust?  No, it is I who does it.  I am the one held responsible, I put myself in chains, chains that have no lock; chains that I can so easily walk away from.  Without a Shepherd I have no guidance, without Jesus I have no guidance, I am too far in to hear his voice, until He comes looking for me. 

God said, “You were sold for nothing”, why?  Because you walked into this willingly, you brought this upon yourself and sold yourself into slavery.  But I have never forgotten you.   I have you inscribed on the palms of My hands.  But I see what is going on, and I find you so valuable that just as you were sold for nothing, so shall “you be redeemed without money”.  For you will be redeemed by blood; the blood of My One and only Son.

Thank you Lord for today, I bless You Father for the promises that you have given to me.  Keep watch my family, friends, loved ones, and my wife whoever she is.  Be my stronghold and my tower my guard and my defense.  I love You Rabonni