Sleeping and Waking

Tags

Bible, Church, Faith, Genesis, God, Jesus

I’ve never really struggled with sleep; sleep comes easily and quickly. There are times that my wife will have started speaking to me shortly after we’ve gone to bed only to discover that within moments of my head hitting the pillow, I’m already very asleep.

Neither have I struggled with waking, at least not terribly often do I struggle with getting myself to wake up. After I hear the alarm, I’m awake, with few exceptions.

The truth is that I’ve never given it much more thought than to joke with those who can’t sleep well. I suppose that I joke about it because I just don’t understand why others struggle with a task I find as easy as breathing.

As stumped as I am over how others struggle so awfully with finding sleep, they are typically either angry or confused (or both) over how I can possibly sleep so easily. I figure it’s an honest to goodness gift from God.

Recently I ran across a scripture that made me think a bit more deeply about what is going on behind the scenes while both some struggle with sleep and us weirdos pass out quickly.

“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” Psalm 3:5 ESV

Did you notice that? Regardless of our involvement, the only reason we wake up again (groggy or not) is because HE sustained us through the night. While that sounds ominous and a bit dark, it’s an absolutely beautiful thing to consider every single morning.

That word “sustain” in the original Hebrew, סָמַךְ, carries the idea of creating a covering. We often see it as the word “lay”.

In Exodus 29:10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.”

Then in Numbers 27:18 we read, “So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.”

Sustaining, laying on, reminds me of how in Genesis chapter 1 Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the waters and makes me consider that just as we don’t know what Holy Spirit was doing at that time, we may not fully understand what Holy Spirit is doing while He is covering or sustaining us as we sleep.

Think of your comfy blanket, how it makes you feel safe and warm, that’s what is happening spiritually while you rest. We are being sustained in our sleep, causing, or allowing, us to be capable of waking again because He has sustained us once again.

It makes you wonder, why has He sustained me again for this new day? What does He have in store for me today? Of what use can I be for the Lord today?

He allowed you some sleep,

but more importantly

He sustained you through the night

and…

He woke you up!

Are You and Jesus On the Same Mission?

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Bible, Christian, Church, devotion, Faith, God, Jesus, NLT, one minute devotional

When you wake up, what do your goals for the day look like?

Many of us have goals we work hard to complete so we can mark them off our list each day; career minded people have different goals than a stay at home mom, a student has different goals each day than a retiree.

Some people aren’t just interested in fishing their goals for the day; they’re on a mission!

The Blues Brothers coined the phrase “We’re on a mission from God!” which has widely been accepted as a phrase people use when they are filled with incredible determination to see something accomplished, regardless of what it may take.

Are you on a mission in your life? What is driving you? What is the singularly most important goal in your life?

I only ask because when Jesus came to earth he came, as did the Blues Brothers, on a mission from God. In fact, he expresses in chapter six of the Gospel of John that while he was on earth he had no intention fulfilling his own desires or wishes, only the will of the Father.

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. John 6:38 NLT

Logic demands that we consider Jesus’ words, “a servant ism’t greater than his Master” (John 15:20) therefore if our Master determined in His heart to follow the will of His Father, shouldn’t we determine to follow in His steps and make His mission our mission?

Our mission and Jesus’ mission should look identical!

If Jesus was emphatic about us being a people who loved others….

I’m just suggesting that hate shouldn’t even have a seat in our mental dining table. If Jesus blatantly told us to make disciples of everyone  we meet, I’m thinking that we should be much more prepared to love people, build a relationship with them and lead them to Jesus.

What might a goal list look like that makes Jesus’ mission OUR mission? Oddly normal, just your motivation for your actions will have changed.

• Go to the work (get there early so I can build relationships)
• Grab dinner at a fast food (Go inside so I can have a chance to chat with someone)
• call Bob  (develop that friendship – maybe lead him to Jesus)
• Finish “Gotham” (so I can have something fun to break the ice with Larry who loves Gotham)

Our seemingly mundane and terribly normal activities are suddenly transformed into spectacular spiritual service when it is motivated out of love for Jesus and love for the people for whom He died; when His mission becomes our mission life explodes with purpose we’ve never experienced!

Are you on a mission from God?

 

Tested and Tried, Non-Stop Miracles

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Bible, Christian, Church, devotion, God, Hebrews, Hebrews 3, Jesus, life, Miracles, NLT, one minute devotional, Supernatural

There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,

even though they saw my miracles for forty years. Hebrews 3:9 NLT

The Israelites were surrounded by the miraculous for 40 years; there was

• the manna from Heaven, daily, enough to feed all the Israelites
• the quail
• the water from the rock
• and the fact that there clothes NEVER wore out!

Can you imagine seeing the miraculous EVERY DAY in your life for 40 years! Sounds amazing right? The problem was that it became common-place for them. God providing for their needs became expected and eventually unappreciated.

They had tested God’s patience, they had tried Him, and found that He was faithful in that He would provide for them supernaturally, proving His faithfulness to them daily for 40 years! Over and over they experienced the faithfulness of God until it became mundane. God called it “hard-hearted” in verse 8.

Have you allowed for the miraculous in your life become common, mundane, and unappreciated? Perhaps it’s time to step away from your busy-ness, recognize what He’s been doing in your life, and tell Him that He is awesome! Be sure to tell others too, because your testimony could awake them from their hard-hearted attitude and bring them to a place of gratitude and praise!

What miracles are going on all around you right now? He’s a faithful God. He’s been tested, tried and proven!

 

“And I’m Loved by You, That’s Who I Am”

Tags

Bible, Church, Faith, God, Jesus, love

We were singing the song, “Good, Good Father” the other night at church; when we sang the lyrics, “and I’m loved by You, that’s who I am” my heart jumped. What a statement of identity! I AM KNOWN AS ONE WHO IS LOVED BY GOD!

I’m very quick to admit my identity as a husband, father, grandfather, and Pastor… but how often do I offer up, “Oh, also I’m someone who God loves”?

It reeks of arrogance but it is actually a very true statement! How would it change the way I perceive, well… everything if I started to think like that? If God’s love for me personally was an identifying point of my psyche, how would I begin to behave differently, think differently, respond differently?

When I married my wife, Kim, I began to think as a married man. After our first child was born the reality of my new identity as “Father” began to set in. I think you get the picture.

I’m not basing this line of thinking off of a song, there’s actual scriptural reference to this concept.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!                                                                                                             1 John 3:1 NLT

What about you? Do you identify as a child of God? Does the fact that God identifies you as one of His children change you? In what ways might your status as “one who is loved by God” change the way you think or worship?

What’s This Test About?

Tags

Church, Faith, Genesis, God, Jesus, Tests

Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” Genesis 22:1 NLT

Smarty Pants

In school, the teacher would occasionally pop a test or quiz on us announced; this was meant to test if we had acquired the information that had been given to us, to test if we had it IN us.

This was, of course, a matter which would cause great amounts of anxiety in all the students because we weren’t sure if we had the information in us! Unfortunately, the only way to tell from time to time was to test us.

Inevitably, there was always that one student in every class who seemed to have no problems with tests. They wouldn’t study or do the assignments or homework, yet he/she always passed every test, pop quiz, or exam easily.

I often wondered if there was an extra class I had missed because they seemed so confident. Turns out, they were just really exceptional students who acquired information much more quickly than the rest of us; they were confident because they KNEW they had the required information at their fingertips.

Two Types of Tests

In scripture there are two types of testing of our faith that occurs; one is to produce something inside of us (James1:3), the other is to prove what is already there, such as what’s about to happen to our friend Abraham in Genesis 22:1.

Many times, we’re in need of God to produce something greater in us, endurance, character, and hope, etc. but it’s very important that we understand the God has already placed FAITH inside us!

In a discussion with His disciples, Jesus had just finished telling them to forgive anyone who repents regardless if they offend and repent as many as seven times in a day, to which the disciples responded, “Increase our faith!” as if to say, “We don’t have enough to cover that sort of problem”.

I absolutely LOVE Jesus’ response to them from Luke 17:6;

6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

You don’t need MORE faith in order to deal with whatever test you’re going through, what you need is a GREATER REVELATION of what God has already placed in you!

How do you get the greater revelation?

The test.

God tests us to REVEAL what He’s already done in us.

Is the test that you’re going through meant to spiritually develop you, or is God showing you what’s already true of you?

Do you know what is already true of you?

He has already given you plenty of faith to make it through this test.