June 9, 2013

Enduring Faith 

Luke 18: 1 - 8

Luke

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up.  "There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "Who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone.  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her.  The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out.  'I fear neither God nor man,' he said to himself, 'but this woman is driving me crazy.  I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'"

Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this evil judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!  But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?"  

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Thoughts.....

I hope this finds you well and happy! If not, todays lesson is tailored made for you.

This is a brief lesson on the need for constant prayer, that you must never give up, you must continue to believe, that your faith must endure until the end of time.

The story about the judge is an illustration to show us how the widow's faith endured, that she persevered....pressed....and that if even a man who doesn't believe in God will ultimately help, how much more our Heavenly Father will help us.

Let's review this briefly starting with the first sentence:  'One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up.'  So that's a fair summation in few words.  But let's break down the words a bit....need....constant prayer....show....must.....never give up.  Now let's focus on them a different way:  Need....God needs us and we need God.  Constant prayer....when we pray constantly, we....show....God the depth of our belief in him....we...show....him our faith, give him our trust, expect the best of him, knowing he will take care of us.  Must....we must show him we need him, constantly pray, continue to believe, have faith, trust, and turn our lives over to him expecting the best knowing he will take care of us.  Never give up....EVER.  Our faith must never waiver.  Our belief must never waiver....we must not ever....never give up. 

Why?  He will meet our needs.  He may not meet our wants, but he will meet our needs.  But we have to help him.  We have to show him we are truly his by continuing to believe in him....he knows this by our constant prayers to him.  When he hears our voice, he knows our heart....that we love him enough to trust him with our lives.

We may drive him crazy at times with our continual requests, like the widow did to the judge in todays lesson.  How can we drive our God, our Lord Jesus, our Holy Spirit less crazy with our requests?  Help them.  Many times we hit a bump in the road and we immediately panic.  We don't take a breath to see if it is something we can do for ourselves.  Or figure out.  We immediately call upon the Lord....OMG.  I rather find the acronym offensive when used as everyday language, and I'm guessing he does, too.  How often do you find yourself saying, "Oh my God!"?  When you do this, you call upon the creator of the universe.  He created you.  In you, he wants to live and have his being.  However, I'm guessing that hearing OMG all the time can 'get old' for him.  After all, IF....big IF....he is in you, why are you calling out to him....on what seems to be a regular basis?  Seek the answers you need within....where he is supposed to be living....IF you've asked him into your life, your heart, your mind.....your soul....with all your strength.  

Perhaps you are not seeking within.  Perhaps you are respectful of who God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are, but have believed you have a part to play in this thing called life.  Perhaps now you realize that you must get to know them, accept them into your life, believe in them, and trust them to be there when the going gets rough.  AND, perhaps, you do not use their name in vain....saying OMG all the time.  By the way, why not try gosh, golly, goodness without the 'my'.  What about 'Good Glory!' to praise him, or 'Praise God!'?

Consider who you call upon when you call out and what you are calling out for.  Consider whether you NEED to call out, or if this is something God wants you to figure out.  It's not like he doesn't have REALLY important, critical things, he needs to take care of throughout the world.  Could you be a little more respectful of his time?  It's okay to ask him what to do and how to do, but then GO and DO as he directs.  Confused?  Ask again until it all becomes clear, but don't be afraid to listen and hear the answers!   

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit  DO want to hear from you, just not with frivolous language that, without thought, rolls off your tongue.  Or for only a moment, so you will be satisfied, and so you can then go off and do your own thing once you are satisfied.  Don't use God.  Don't manipulate him.  

In the case of the widow in todays lesson, she had to be relentless, if you will, about addressing her need to the judge.  She did so to create action on his part, to insure he not forget her need.  Often times we pray to God and we don't 'get an answer'.  Does that mean he has forgotten us?  COULD it mean he is working on it?  Maybe he wants to see more action from us?  Either way, by continuing to bring our request before God, he knows our heart is in earnest, that we believe in him, and it shows him that we are trusting in him to insure a good outcome.  But will we?

There are times when God does not answer prayer the way we expect.  It may seem like he is not answering prayer at all.  And yet, his way is the right way, where as ours may be the selfish way, or wrong way of wanting to take steps on a journey with him.  Take, as an example, prayer for someone who is ill, or may be dying.  We pray that they not suffer.  We pray for their healing.  And God takes the person we pray for in his loving arms, healing them, so they not suffer.  And he doesn't let them come back to us.  And then we are angry because they died.  Yet, it is what was prayed.  This is a stark example.

Or what about the person who is still unemployed after months and months of searching and much prayer.  Is God answering their prayer or are they 'wasting breath'?  This is what I've learned in life....one of many things.  There are a lot of people in the world who do not listen to God.  As fast as we are populating the earth, we are falling short of the potential of populating heaven with saved individuals who will one day meet us with God in heaven....and who choose to listen for his voice.  Therefore, we are a bit out of balance.  The Christians vs the non-Christians.  When we apply for a job, we may think 'they' are Christians.  But, my friend, there are MANY levels of 'Christian'.  There are those who say, "Ya, I know the guy, Jesus.  I was saved once."  "Of course I go to church on Sundays, when I can get the family up."  "I don't go to church often, or at all, but I read my Bible regularly and pray a lot."  "I do abide in God, and I listen always, and I try to do everything I believe I am supposed to do."   "I try earnestly to read the Bible, pray, and listen, but I don't always hear him."  Do you see how hard it might be for God to be able to work in the world for us?  I haven't included the non-Christians.

God gave us free will.  Therefore, although he may want to answer our prayer request, he will not force his will on folks that don't really want him in their lives....or even those of us who do.  So the person that is job seeking, well, it may take a little longer to find the right fit, so God and that person won't have to jump through any more hoops than those they may have jumped through already to go toward THE BEST job.  Does that make sense?  He wants to answer our prayers quickly, but sometimes he is hampered by us, or others....those involved with the answer...or the world at large.

Does God hear ALL our prayers?  Yes, even the ones we flip off our lips without need....or our fingers, like OMG on every text message from a cell phone, as well.  Do be more considerate of God from now on. 

Beyond all this, I want to say that I do not think God is rolling his eyes at us ALL the time.  I do believe he is excited to hear from us, his loved ones.  It shows him we are still here....believing in him.  And that is what Jesus alludes to in his last sentence.  Once our prayer has been answered, will we still earnestly seek him, be attentive to his needs, call upon him, praise him?  Will we thank him for answering our prayer?  Will our faith still be as strong as when we were pleading with him?  Will our love for him be as strong as when we wanted him to believe how much we loved him in the moments we needed answer to our prayers?  How often have you told the (your?) Lord Jesus, your God, your (?) Holy Spirit you love them in the midst of prayer, and then, once the prayer was answered, went on your merry way as if it was just another day, except you were happy go lucky that your prayer was answered?  Forgetting about God....forgetting that he, Jesus, Holy Spirit are still in your life?  Do you still love them with the same intensity after your prayer requests, as when you were loving them in the midst of them?  Hmmmmmmm.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, "But when, I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?"  Will you still believe in them after your prayer was answered?   Will you believe in them, if they don't answer the way you 'want' or 'expect' of them?  Where then is your faith?

These 'guys' are not 'easy marks'.  God is GOD!  The Creator of the universe....creator of YOU!  Jesus is not just some guy who walked around proclaiming and doing weird stuff.  He is THE LORD who came to earth to show you the way to God through forgiveness of sins, who chose to die that you may receive eternal life.  Holy Spirit is not some unknown floating ghost to laugh about, sneer over, or ignore.  He IS THE teacher, comforter, guide that God and Jesus sent to continue to show you the way, the truth, and the light.  To help you carry on in this new life.  Just because you do not SEE any of them, does not mean they are not here, standing at the ready to be received by you, be heard, be in your life fully.

Today, you can make some new choices!  You can choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength!  Or you can choose to try and manipulate them every time you need something.  Isn't that what you are doing when you only profess the depth of your love when you need something, and then ignore them the rest of the times?  Do you think you are fooling God?  Do you think you are NOT hurting him?  Because, my friend, I'm thinking if someone told you they loved you, professed it with depth of emotion, and then went on their merry way ignoring you from that point on, you would not believe them, and you would see that 'that' tiger had not changed their stripes, and you would be hurt.  And you might walk away.  Will God walk away from you?  Should he?  As a Counselor, I can confirm, the manipulation I described is considered yet one form of abuse.  Is that who you want God, Jesus and Holy Spirit to believe you to be, see you as, to think of you as, an abuser?  ...............Ouch?

Like the widow went to the earthly judge, we can go to the one and only heavenly judge....God.  Today might be a good time to plead your case.  Ask him to forgive you.  Ask him to help you do better and be better.  Tell him you realize you haven't been seeing things clearly, but now that your eyes have been opened, you will open your heart to him....and devote it to him.  Did I hear you say, "When am I going to find time to do all that with everything else I have to do?"  I'm quite sure I could not have possibly heard you say that.  Because God would have heard you say that, too.  He knows our hearts.  They wax cold.  Isn't it time to put him first like he put you....when he breathed life into you?   You've been first in his heart ever since.  He's always there when you need him....and even when you don't.  Will Jesus find you faithless, when he returns, yet again?  Or will your faith endure....to the end.....starting now? 

'Do not test the Lord your God.'  Matthew 4:7

Choose this day whom you will serve....'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.'  Matthew 4:10

'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.'  Matthew 4:4

'Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.'  Philippians 3:14     

If you've a chance....you might want to make it a point to take the time to read Matthew 5:1-16.

May God bless you richly on this, the first day, of the rest of your new life!

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Let Us Pray

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, please forgive me for not loving you with my whole heart and putting you first in my life.  Please forgive me for me being manipulative in my prayers, in my life.  I had not realized how it must look to you when I pray for your help, and then go off and 'do my own thing' without thought of you again.  Shame on me.  I guess I've figured that you don't need me, so much as I need you, and that you need the reminder of my love when I am praying, because I am not as attentive and loving as I should be the rest of the time.  Oh, I guess that means I intentionally manipulate in a way.  I am so sorry.  I get it now.  That doesn't mean I'll be perfect from now on, but it sure means that I have something very deep to look at within me to figure out how to best love you....and when....and how.  Thank you for bringing this to my attention....this lack of love and devotion to you.  I thought I was loving you, but I wasn't loving you with my whole heart.  Because I've asked your forgiveness, I know you have forgiven me....yesterday is gone....so there is no way I can make it up to you.  But I can do better from this day forward....oh....that I WILL do better from this day forward!  I must, at the very least, tithe my love....that means you get 10% of every day.  That's way more than I've been giving you....I am really truly sorry.  But it's not enough.  I must give you, and love you with, my whole heart, and mind, and soul, and strength.  That actually means you are to have 100% of my time, and of that, you, and I (?), will appropriate how to best utilize the rest.  My life....I give you my life.  Please tell me how I can best serve you with my life.  And help me to do it.  It's a lot, but I gave myself to you when I accepted you, told you I believed in you, and would follow you all the days of my life.  I see that I've been skipping a bit along the way, rather than walking by your side.  Some days you can't keep up with me, and most days, I go astray without you.  Oh, Lord.....my life isn't a mess because of you, it's a mess because of me, and all others who don't listen to you.  May I listen better, and may I help others see you in me, so they might ask you into their lives and learn to listen better, too.  But I realize why they haven't seen you in me....I have not let your light shine.....I haven't loved you with my whole heart.  And the days that I do, we so overwhelm the non-Christians that they close doors mighty fast.  Well, Lord God, we've got some work to do together....together....I like the sound of that....from this day forward we shall be one a great deal more than we have.  I will make every attempt to give you my best....the whole of my best.  Thank you for continuing to love me and for leading me on this journey with you.  I am extremely grateful.  I now know that you will grant justice quickly on my behalf, and answer my prayers that YOU believe are in my best interest....and that of others.  Thank you.  I love you.  I praise you!  Amen.               

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

   Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.  I encourage you to pray your own prayers as well.

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  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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NOTE:  I said it long ago, but let me say it again.  If you are wanting to lead a group, start a church, or are confined in an institution, or live in a country where the Gospel is not preached, and you don't know what to say or how to say it, and yet feel led to share, teach, or preach, besides just reading straight out of the Bible, please feel free to share any or all of what I've written, as long as you include where it comes from, due to copyright laws.  Jesus gave God's love and healing freely, as well as his message.  Our responsibility is to get the Word out to those who need to hear it.  If what I've written....by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit....or what he has said through me....has helped you, it may help others that you know.  You are welcome to share it.  God calls all of us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.  Please share it with the fullness of love that God, Jesus, Holy Spirit....and I....have given it.  Amen!   

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