The Discipline of Prayer

If you've ever set an important goal with the determination to achieve it, you know, right up front, that there will be a certain amount of discipline required to attain your dream. Whether running a marathon, making an A on your algebra test or climbing Mount Everest, you will need to devote time, energy and be disciplined to each task along the way toward achieving your goal.

The same holds true in our Christian walk. Whether it's becoming more like Jesus, memorizing scripture or praying to our Heavenly Father; they each require discipline.

And Jesus himself was the model of this kind of discipline as scripture reports in Luke 6, verse 12 that says, "In these days he went out to the mountains to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God."  Or Luke 9:16a that reads, "And taking the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them." And let us not forget one of my favorites from Luke 11:1, "Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of the disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray."

Jesus was the model of discipline when it came to prayer. He had a time; he always had a place and he always prayed as long as it took to connect with His Father. He prayed in the morning when he would leave his disciples and go into the mountains; he prayed over his meals and when he was serving as the host of five thousand; and He always prayed before He released the healing powers of heaven.

He was disciplined in his prayer time and devoted to the process of leaving the cares of this world behind so that He could commune with the Father. Even in His darkest hour, we find Christ praying with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36,39,44 that reads, "Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to them, Sit here, while I go over there and pray."(verse36) "And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as your will."(verse 39).....and when his disciples failed him as they slept, scripture tells us, "So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again."(verse 44)

Throughout the life of our Lord and Savior, he alone is our ultimate model when we look to someone that understood the discipline of prayer. He marked out a specific time each day to talk with God and He used every other moment to be ready to call on the Father to meet the needs of that moment. But more than the discipline required to begin a prayer life is the discipline to remain constant in our praise, petition and the promise that God answers our prayers. (Romans 12:12)

But then, that's a totally different topic that we'll tackle tomorrow.....

Praying for the discipline to be the man of prayer God has called me to be,

WPQ

WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

Our world is rocking and reeling and coming at us from all sides. No matter where one might turn these days, something or someone is vying for your eyes, your ears and your pocketbook. So as believers we have one of two choices....succumb to the pressures of this world or trust in the one who saves us and call him...MASTER.

Scripture tells us from the lips of Jesus that NO ONE...ABSOLUTELY, NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS; but I am continually amazed that even in my own life, I try to pull off the impossible.

What do I mean?  Well, as I read in scripture this morning in 2 Peter 2:19a-21, Peter cautions us about becoming enslaved to the wrong master...." for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

What has enslaved you? Is it your job....your family...your kids and all their activities...too much time in front of a TV or computer screen....the list can be and often is endless. It all comes back to a few simple rules....

What you talk about, you think about;

What you think about, you do;

What you do becomes your heart throb;

What your heart beats for becomes your Master.....

Peter warns us to stay focused on Jesus ...for through the knowledge of Him we have

been set free from the corruption of this world; but if we still 'dip our toe in the water of worldly things," we will once again find ourselves enslaved to our former Master and in worse shape than if we had never come to know Jesus at all.

So, what has enslaved you today...and how are you going to deal with it? You can try to overcome it on your own or you can give it over to Jesus who is the OVERCOME and the PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH. He is waiting to be reinstated as the Lord and Master of your Life but He will never force himself upon the throne....

If you must be a slave to something or someone(and I believe we all must), why not make it Jesus....for He cares for you with an EVERLASTING LOVE.

ENSLAVED TO THE ONE TRUE MASTER....FOREVER,

WPQ

Bad Apple or a Pinch of Leaven...You Make the Call?

We left off in our last publication with 10 of the spies stirring up the Israelites with the tales of the giants that inhabited the land of Canaan…let’s continue in Numbers 14.

“That night all the people in the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly said, “If only we had died in Egypt or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14: 11-12, 14

Why did the Israelites consider returning to Egypt? Well, for one reason, it was not that far removed from them. Though it had been a time of great suffering, how quickly they had forgotten the hardships that had been their affliction. Their lack of faith and trust in the Lord brought them to the quick conclusion that they would rather return to Egypt than trust the Lord to deliver them as conquerors over the inhabitants of Canaan.

Secondly, it only took a few “bad apples to spoil the entire bunch”….to stir the crowd into such a frenzy that they wanted to stone Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. The bad report of these leaders blinded the Israelites to the power of their God and wiped their memories of past victories that had been theirs. God had continually cared for them and had already given them his assurance that He would be with them and provide them a homeland that was “flowing with milk and honey.”

As you can imagine, God was NOT PLEASED. He told Moses that He would send a plague that would destroy them; however, once again, that great man of God, Moses, fell on his face before the Lord and begged for mercy….and once again, God forgave the Israelites for their disobedience and lack of faith.

The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me 10 times (there’s that number of times God forgave) …not one of them will ever see the land I promised on an oath to their forefathers. No one who has ever treated me with contempt will ever see it.” Numbers 14:20-23

So, God granted their grumblings and let them wander in the desert for 40 years… until every one that had complained and wept aloud received their desire…to die in that desert!

And the same holds true for you and me when we gripe, complain and moan about the unfairness of life or the lack of God’s faithfulness. It is in these times that God leaves us to our own designs and allows us to wallow in our own grumblings. He may forgive us, but there will be consequences to our lack of faith and our poor vision of God’s infinite provision.

If we are believers, then we are called to remain steadfast and trust in God to make us the overcomers He has called us to be….for He is faithful, unwavering and unchanging…So, whenever you encounter a rough patch in life, do what I do...just take a moment to think back and you will ALWAYS recall a time of God’s divine intervention and the blessings that followed.

But there’s still a question that remains unanswered …What happened to those “few bad apples’ that sent the Jewish nation into such an uproar?

Numbers 14:36-38 gives us that answer; “So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it; these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.”

So remember, when God places you in a position of leadership, you have one of two choices….you can be a “bad apple that spoils the entire bushel” or you can be “the pinch of leaven that makes the entire loaf rise”….the choice is yours…. and the results of your decision can have earthly, as well as, eternal consequences.

Striving to be an encourager,

WPQ

POOR VISION OR HEAVENLY SIGHT?

My quiet times, recently, have me studying in the Old Testament book of Numbers. Now I have often wondered why this book was named Numbers…. Was it because of the number of times the Israelites tried the Lord’s patience or the number of times He forgave them their transgressions?

There is an answer to that question…but let’s save that for another time.

Today, I want to focus on the return of the spies from their scouting duties in the land of Canaan. If you remember the story in Numbers 13:1-25, Moses hand-picked twelve men to journey into the land of Canaan to scope out this “land promised to the Israelites by the hand of God.” Moses gave them a query of things they were to assess on their mission and told them to bring back a sample of the fruit of the land…after all, it was time for the grape harvest!

 So, off they went to explore the entire region; and, at the end of forty days, with a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes that hung on a pole being carried by two men….they returned. Here’s the rest of the story… “They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account. “We went into the land to which you sent us and it does INDEED flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit. BUT….(Numbers 13:26-27) 

 And that’s where the trouble began…right after the BUT. If they would have just continued to trust in the word of the Lord; in the leadership of his chosen spokesman, Moses; in the promise of a God that had never failed them or abandoned them in their time of distress or need….instead they trusted what they could see…as we continue to read in verse 28, “But the people who live there are powerful and their cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.” 

They continued to lament how it would be impossible to overtake the Amalekites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaannites who inhabited the land. But one of the explorers, Caleb, stepped forward to silence the people and proclaimed, “We should go up and take possession of this land, for we can certainly do it. But, the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than us.” And that’s the difference …both the naysayers and Caleb saw the same things. Both stood with a large pole of a single cluster of grapes before them….both saw the size of the people living in the land…however; one was using heavenly vision and the others only saw the weakness of themselves as no match for the giants in the land. 

What about you? When God as given you a mission or has set before you a test of faith…how do you see it? Are you empowered by your Heavenly Father to accomplish His will for your life or are you weak and powerless as you face the giants of inadequacies, confusion and despair?

You can’t move the mountain on your own…BUT (there’s that little word again) …NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR OUR GOD….for when He is for us, who can possibly stand against us?

No One …NO WAY….NO HOW!!!!! IT’S ALL A MATTER OF VISION….Seeing before you what God can and will accomplish when you surrender to Him and trust His word….Heavenly Vision ….ask for it by name…..and come back tomorrow for the rest of this heart-breaking story.

 Looking through my faith to catch a glimpse of Him,

 WPQ

U R Unique....

I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad there is only one of me(and I’m sure that there are several people I know that would agree with that statement).

What I am getting at is really quite simple…God uniquely made only one you (and me)….and then He threw away the mold….not because it was broken; but because He wanted each of us to be His unique creation.

Now, no one…no where…at no time is or has been or will ever be JUST LIKE YOU. Even twins or triplets or multiple babies from the same egg are different…in their personalities, their demeanors and their talents. God is not into prefab or mass production when it comes to his greatest creation.

You see, you can do something in a unique way that no one else can do…that no one else is wired to do. In fact, God’s Word speaks to that very fact in the following passage from Galatians 6:4

The Message translation says, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”

Exploring and extracting the uniqueness that is you will accomplish much…it will excite and motivate you to become all that God wants you to be…it will honor God as your creator and the administrator of your life….and it will expand the work and the growth of God’s kingdom.

God has called you to be uniquely …YOU! So, don’t waste time and energy by comparing yourself to others….for there is no one quite like you…and in God’s eyes, that’s a VERY GOOD THING.

Take responsibility to be all that God wants you to be…study His word, talk with Him daily, seek godly counsel and most of all, listen to the voice of His Spirit as it directs your path and guides your footsteps.

God wants you to do the most what you do the best!!!! When you do that you can be sure that God is well pleased….

I can just see that smile on His face….how ‘bout you?

Living uniquely to make Him smile,
WPQ


Thought for the Day:
The Lord has given you a task
That only you can fulfill;
To serve Him in love and faithfulness,
To seek to do His will.

Are you a True Worshiper?

There's always a lot of finger-pointing going on whenever people of different faiths assembly in close proximity to one another ...each group wants to accuse the other of a lack of faith and the practice of true worship. The only thing that usually comes out of such encounters is bruised feelings and wounded egos.

Christ dealt with such problems of faith whenever he encountered the religious sects of his time...the Pharisees and the Sadducees always seemed to have some type of perpetuating skirmish or conflict brewing. They were always ready, willing and anxious to do battle of who was the true protector of the Jewish faith.

Christ gave his best answer to this perplexing problem in a sit-down interview with the Samaritan woman at the well when he said, ""Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." John 4:20-24

Jesus made it very clear to her that there was indeed a new way to worship...true worship of God the Father in SPIRIT and TRUTH....but was does that mean? Well, for me it means that we must first get our heart right (our spirit/soul/mind) by coming to the Father and accepting that we can do ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING TO EARN OUR SALVATION; rather we are TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD'S GRACE AND HIS ABUNDANT MERCY to save us through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our spirit must become one with our Heavenly Father and that can never take place until our sins have been forgiven and our right relationship with God has been restored....we must surrender our desire to "make it on our own" and enter into a new covenant with God...a covenant that replaces our will with our desire to do His will. When this takes place, God breathes His spirit, the Holy Spirit, into us and then we can begin to worship Him as He forever intended.

But what about this TRUTH thing?

Again for me, its very simple...we live out a life of worship in the everyday nitty and gritty of life...when we worship God with our lives in service to Him, we do so in truth. Our very existence takes on the supreme element of truth as we live each day trusting God for our very next breath...our next meal...our next opportunity to share with someone how our relationship with our Heavenly Father has made all the difference in who we are and in what we are becoming and where we are going.

As a child of his, the truth of the matter is evident in our lifestyle, our choices, our demeanor and our every action....we are HIS and so we worship Him in EVERYTHING....THE GOOD AND THE BAD....and when we are able to do that in a world that is lost and spinning out of control....God's Truth is shown and becomes known.

So next time a crowd of religious wannabes gather and begin to point fingers and take sides....excuse yourself from the impending Malay and just stick to the basics of true worship....keep your heart right with God and live in the truth of each moment....now that's TRUE WORSHIP.

Living in the moment ...worshipping with every breath,
WPQ

Taking Hold of a New Mind

Yesterday, we asked ourselves….what was the Apostle Paul talking about when he told us to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds?” Here’s my take on this topic of letting go of our earthly claims and taking hold of our heavenly gains.

First, we must have the mind of Christ, thus a new mind set is in order. We cannot just think differently on our own; we must take hold of the mind of Christ through surrender.

It was always the passion of Christ to be obedient to the will of God…to do all that the Father had set before him…to gladly bear our burdens and our sins and to rejoice in the plan of salvation that would provide each of us forgiveness and clothe us in His righteousness. That mind set is not simply acquired; rather, it is given to those that empty themselves of worldly desires, goals and ambitions and concentrate on the will of the Father. It is that transformation of our mind that allows us to ‘test and approve” the will of God in our lives.

We begin that transformation by giving our bodies as a living sacrifice to God….our physical, fleshly desires are laid to rest on the alter of grace and we give up our “rights” to who we are or who we think we should be according to the standards of this world.

Paul says it best in Philippians 3:8-9a, “Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of ALL THINGS and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.”

Did you get that? It’s all RUBBISH…EVERYTHING….except knowing Christ…that is our earthly portion and it is counted as heavenly gain. Sure, you can struggle with trying to do the will of God or you can surrender your will to His will. Once you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior, the battle is no longer for your soul…rather it is for the surrender of your will to the good, acceptable and perfect will of your heavenly Father.

So, make the clear choice today and begin with the surrender of your flesh, the acquisition of the mind of Christ and the mindset that it is all rubbish…unless it is for heavenly gain.

You should be able to ask yourself this question regarding your citizenship in heaven…If I do this today, will it make a difference on earth that will impact my future in heaven?

Stop living and planning just for the consequences of your actions today and start living a life of obedience to the Father’s will….you will be amazed at the peace and security that will invade your life as you live one day at a time for Him.

After all, we really don’t belong here…You and I are destined for Better, Brighter and BIGGER things! Remember, we’re just passing through on our way HOME ….and the only thing we can take with us….OUR FAMILY AND OUR FRIENDS.

Do they see Christ living in you ….or are you practicing dual citizenship?

ONLY YOU CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION!


Praying that others see Christ in me,
WPQ

Poem for the Day:

Seeking the Father's will is sometimes hard to find,
But I stand a better chance when I seek with my new mind.
A mind that comes from Jesus and His Spirit up above
As it fills me with His mercy and His never-ending love.

So that I might live for Jesus and in everything I do
I will seek to be obedient and though our numbers may be few...
We will serve our Lord in everything so that others of our kind
Will know that we belong to Him because of the renewing of our mind.

WPQ 2012

Dual Citizenship....Where do you stand?

In almost every country around our globe, you can choose to proclaim your allegiance to that country and, after meeting their citizenship requirements, declare that you are a citizen. However, for it to be a bona fide and recognized act of declaration, you must first denounce your citizenship from your previous homeland.

The same is true for us as Christians. We were born into this world as sinners and in our sins and citizenship of this world we would die…if not for the love of our Heavenly Father and the shed blood of His Son, Jesus.

In fact in John 17, when Christ prayed for his disciples, He prayed…"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of this world any more than I am of this world. My prayer is not that you would take them out of this world but that you would protect them from the evil one. They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world."

Christ knew that our salvation made us a new creation in Him…that we would be adopted into His heavenly family and would indeed be the sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have new citizenship in a new homeland that He has gone to prepare….but the sad truth is that too many of us have failed to renounce and denounce our former ties to this worldly sphere. We are in truth practicing dual citizenship.

We have to take ourselves out of this world. Thomas Watson, a Puritan of the first magnitude, used this analogy to help us understand what happens when we fail to do this. He said, “A Christian in this world is like a ship in the ocean. It’s one thing for the ship to be in the water, but when the water gets in the ship, it begins to sink.”

Paul gave us the formula for removing ourselves from this world…for denouncing our citizenship and claiming our new birthright in God’s heavenly kingdom. “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

So what’s the practical application of Paul’s advice to each of us in regards to claiming and proclaiming our new citizenship….what does he mean when he tells us to renew our minds….how can we know that we are no longer of this world; only passing through to our glorious homeland where our Savior awaits …..

Come back tomorrow and we’ll discover what’s written in the fine print of our citizenship papers.

Living in this world …longing for the next,
WPQ

Thought for the day:

You may attempt to persuade another to change their point of view,
But nothing speaks more plainly than what Christ has done in you.
So if another’s lifestyle you are hoping to rearrange...
Just testify how the Father’s love can make an everlasting change.

WPQ 2003