Can you Pray a Miracle/Promise Into Existence?

Short answer: Sometimes, If it’s God’s will.

Long Answer: I’m blogging a bit of a controversial post. However, I am doing this in context because it is in my daily reading plan provided by http://www.lifejournal.cc. Today’s reading is Joshua 12:24. To set up the passage, Joshua has taken over for Moses and led a charge through the “promised land” (a region that God has promised Isreal…however, they would have to fight many battles to take the land). We read about a series of kings that Joshua and his army had defeated. Here is Joshua 12:24b:

“thirty-one kings in all.”

I know it seems like an unimportant verse, but it speaks volumes to God’s promises for our lives. Here is the point:

It has taken Joshua fighting and destroying 31 kings…and they STILL have not taken all of the promise!

Perhaps you feel that God has made a promise to you. How would one go about receiving a promise? We have many promises through God’s word such as eternal salvation and a promised place in heaven. However, for others, maybe they feel God has spoken a promise through a personal hearing of God’s voice, or even a prophet or other christian. For example, maybe that promise is:

• Healing
• Financial
• Job Opportunity
• A brighter future
• A future spouse

So, you feel that God has promised you something…but you aren’t really feeling that God has kept his promise? How does that make you feel? We read in many passages that we will receive healing, blessings, prosperity, salvation. Verses such as John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” seem to promise something. (If you want to read more just google: Prosperity Verses)

There seems to be 2 mind-sets when it comes to promises of God:

1. You will prosper if you obey and follow God, in all aspects of life (i.e. finances, health, etc)
2. Prosperity comes in relationship with God, however, life on earth is full of hardships, trials, and tests. Many eternal promises engage in eternity, not on earth.

I would love to write a blog that says if you read certain verses, pray certain prayers, believe hard enough, read the right books, and name it/claim it, your promises will come to pass immediately. If I were to write this, I believe there would be a false hope. We see in Joshua, that God’s chosen people still had to fight daily battles to take what God promised. It wasn’t immediate. However, God does do many things in an instance. He froze the sun in the sky for Joshua to win a battle. He will answer prayers and fulfill promises…on his terms.

This would seemingly be a bummer of a blog. I would encourage you with this: If you read just a few verses further in Joshua you will read a small verse that talks about inheritance. For the tribe of Levi (the Levites) their inheritance was simply “The Lord God.” He was enough. No land was necessary. Just God.

As you pray for blessing and fulfilled promises, I would also pray that “just God” would always be enough. Do not harden your heart when a promise takes a life time. This life was never intended to be the ultimate reward. We have made it so much more than it is supposed to be. When you read the authors of the New Testament there is a constant message: this world is not our home. We can pray heaven on earth every day, name and claim and agree on a promise, but if it doesn’t happen on your time DO NOT BLAME IT ON YOUR LACK OF FAITH OR SPIRITUALITY! That is a lie from satan. If you blame yourself for an unanswered prayer, that also means you can take credit for answered prayer. We are to ask, God answers, and he receives the Glod. God is SOVEREIGN. God is God, we are not.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!

Why be normal?

If you know me, you know I am a Mac user and fan of Apple Products. However, I have a huge respect for Bill Gates. I’m not just saying this because he is a giving away billions of his dollars for great causes, but because he is such an ordinary person who did an extraordinary thing by changing the way people manage their lives through the use of a computer. He’s a nerd. He looks so plain and geeky in early pictures. He’s small, and looks a bit weak. But he changed the world.

I have always wanted to be a “rock star” christian. I have always wanted to be extraordinary and do great things like the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, and Billy Graham. I have always hated being ordinary. It’s boring. How can someone who is ordinary and even despised ever change the world? Because Jesus told us so. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29:

“26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.”

God has deliberately used ordinary people, despised people, un-cool, nerdy, geeky, weak, funny looking people to literally change the world. So why do we all try so hard not to be ordinary when it’s obvious this is the kind of person God uses to change the world? Because we are trying to force God’s hand by standing out in the crowd. We want him to see us like Waldo. We want him to see us through all the ordinary people so maybe he will take notice and use us.

We can’t force God’s hand, but we can ask him to use us. I love how Isaiah said it to God in 6:8, “And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

I had the opportunity to attend a church Pastor’s conference a few weeks ago. There were many rock star pastors. They looked so cool and they stood out in the crowd. It began to bug me a bit because fashion and the “look” seemed overly important. What really mattered, though, was that in their hearts they were obviously men and women who said, “And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” They just decided to look good while being sent.

So, I encourage you today with this: Are you despised, are your normal, are you geeky and nerdy and weak? Are you ordinary? That’s ok with God. You don’t need to look or act like someone you are not. God will take notice of you when he looks at your heart and you respond with, “Here am I. Send me!”

Faith 2.0 or How To Ruin Something That Started Out So Right

We live in a world up “updates” and version numbers associated with applications and software. My favorite program of all time, Adobe Photoshop, is now on version 12.0.4. What that means is there has been 12 major versions with literally hundreds of updates over the last 25 years since it was created by Thomas Knoll. The way this all works goes something like this:

1. Create a new app (software program)
2. Beta test the app with people who are willing to give input into refining the app
3. Sell it to as many people as possible
4. Fix glitches and “fine tune” the program to work better as time goes on through version updates, patches, and fixes.

So when you hear something like, “Man I love my Windows 95!” you can respond with “Dude, get with the times! We’re on Windows 8…you’re like 10 versions and 15 years behind!” I personally would say something more like this, “Windows…really? When did you become an accountant. Buy a Mac already.”

OK, so why the explanation of how the world of computer programming works? Today I was reading Galatians 3. I love this chapter because Paul slams the church in Galatia with one of my all-time favorite lines in the bible:

“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Gal 3:1-3

Bam! That was a smack in the face. So here is how Adobe Photoshop and the Bible collide: The Galatians started out their faith in Jesus founded completely on faith. However, the decided to upgrade it and created something of a “Faith 2.0” that obviously, from how Paul calls them out in Vs. 3, they were mixing faith with law (works). The original version wasn’t good enough and somehow it became tainted and confused. It’s like the original version wasn’t good enough so they began to make version updates to better suit their needs.

Bad idea.

This is just as applicable today as it was 2000 years ago when Paul kicked them upside the head with his pen and parchment. Do you remember that day you asked Christ into your life? It was a beautiful and simple thing. It probably went something like this: I’m lost in my life until I met this man Jesus. So I give it all to him in simple and pure faith. Just like a child, I outstretch my arms and ask you to be my father.

However, perhaps you have been bewitched! As you grew in your faith, maybe there were some experiences in life that caused you to begin working on a new version of faith that better suited your circumstances. I think we do this because we begin to feel that “simple faith” is too simple and childish—we need to salt and pepper it with some good works. Works feel good because you can “do something” to earn more favor and grace (that’s a lie). However, Paul was explicit about how wrong this is. Today as you think about your faith from when it began until today, ask yourself where you have made version updates to better suit your preferences. Ask God if those updates where His idea or your own. Test them against His word (The Bible). Check your facts and figures, so-to-speak. Go back to the original download CD and make sure that it’s not just as good now as it was then.

The Apostle Paul would have loved a MacBook Air with an Epson Powerlite LCD projector running Keynote! Just saying.

 

The Single Most Useful Parenting Verse in the Whole Bible

I apologize for the really long title…but you need to read this if you are a parent or thinking about becoming a parent.

There are 2 simple little verses in the old testament that will revolutionize your parenting abilities. Here goes: Deuteronomy 6:6-7

⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

So what are the “commandments” that God is asking you to be so passionate about? It’s actually in the previous verse 5:

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Great. Now we know what we are suppose to “impress” on our kids. But there is this beautiful application stuck in verse 7. God directly tells you 4 instances when you should remind your child that we are to love the Lord with all our hearts:

1. Sit at home (maybe chilling at the dinner table)
2. Walking along the road (ok, you may not walk but you drive. So lets say the car)
3. Lie Down (right before bed)
4. When you get up (breakfast or the hustle and bustle of getting the kids to school)

The point is this: God has directly instructed us to tell our kids this most important commandment at least 4 times a day. It doesn’t even take much. Maybe it’s a short prayer, a quick bible verse, a hug and a kiss while you say, “God loves you very much!” It won’t take much, but the effect will literally change your child’s life. So please, take God at his word on this one!

That Sharp Pain of Rejection

Being rejected is possibly one of the most painful of all emotional experiences. Rejection can actually shape the future of a young person and ultimately set them on a rough path. Here are a few possible areas of rejection that you may have experienced at some point in life:

1. Rejected by a parent or close family member
2. Rejected by a girl/boy
3. Rejected by a career
4. Rejected by a school
5. Rejected by a spouse

Those 5 rejections alone can alter a bright future!

Reading Mark 12 we see how Jesus dealt with rejection. He tells a parable of a the vine-growers. The story goes that an owner of a vineyard rented out his vines. When he sends his servants to collect some of the fruit, the renters either kill or beat up every servant that is sent. The owner of the vineyard even sends his own son, yet he too is killed. Then Jesus quotes Psalm 118 in Mark 12:10:

‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;

So how can this encourage us? There are a few important things to remember from this passage.

1. We see in the parable of the vine growers, it’s not the servants who are being rejected, nor even the son, but the owner! So Jesus must have know that he wasn’t being rejected, but his Father (God) was the one ultimately being rejected.
2. When you begin to study the Psalm 118 passage and look at other verses that relate to the “stone” (who is Jesus) we find Romans 9:33 quoting a passage from Isaiah: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE…” It’s as though God knew that Jesus would be offensive, causing people to stumble and reject truth.

So here is the take away. Rejection is no fun! However, if you are being rejected because of your convictions and faith in Jesus, be reminded that YOU are not being rejected, but the one whom you serve is being rejected. You may be offensive and a stumbling block…for the right reasons. What is the reward for this rejection? Jesus himself preached that when you are persecuted for HIS namesake, you will inherit the kingdom of God. That even the son of God, who was bringing good news, freedom and life, was rejected by many. Yet, he knew that his value and worth was in the one he served. Be encouraged.

A Cryptic Warning to the Saints in Mark 9?

Mark 9 is full of amazing, in-depth teaching from Jesus. So much that your head could explode. It took me reading it 3 times until something interesting popped out. Jesus was warning disciples/followers/the church of bickering and fighting for status. Look how the last 12 verses play out:

As Jesus was teaching he has a child with him as an example in two different instances. Beginning at vs 38 the disciples complain that a man was doing miracles in Jesus name, but was not an “officially” licensed disciple. Jesus tells them,

“Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.”

Then he goes immediately to warning them about causing a little one (he had the child in his arms) to stumble,

42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

After that he continues in a long warning of what will happen if you do stumble. He finishes up with a bit of a cryptic verse talking about being salted with fire (BTW I did some research on vs 49 and there are up to 15 possible meanings, but that’s not my point). He ends with this:

“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Be at peace with one another! Do you see the 3 main points of what he is doing here? Here it is:

1. Don’t bicker with people doing good stuff in my name just because they don’t do it like you!
2. When you do, you may cause a new or young believer in the faith to stumble resulting in really bad things!
3. So…..be at peace with one another!

There it is, sort of hidden in some really deep stuff Jesus is warning us to not argue or bicker or pick a part each others style or way in which they follow Jesus because it will result in a stumbling. Be at peace!

Is it possible? With God, all things are.