Trust and Obey for a Positive Life.

I learned from an early age the importance of resting in the sovereignty of God and then surrendering to the sovereignty of God. Resting in God’s sovereignty—that’s the trust part—and then surrendering to God’s sovereignty—that’s the obey part. 

 Our family had a high view of God. Most of us today have a high view of self. What matters most to us is our feelings, our thoughts, our ambitions, our plans, our ideas, and our opinions. But what should matter supremely is, “What does God think? What matters to God? What is His opinion?” 

 You see, my mom taught us that God is sovereign, which is a sophisticated way for saying He’s the Boss! He is in control. He is the supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. 

 Joy comes when we acknowledge that He is Lord, when we trust His sovereignty and surrender to it. That means that God has the right to give and He has the right to take away. 

 During my college years, I saw my mom respond to a series of difficult circumstances in a way that profoundly impacted my life. Over the next several years, my mom dealt with a divorce that was unfair. I saw a stay-at-home mom have to enter the work force to make ends meet. About the same time period, my mother went through life-threatening surgery to have breast cancer removed. 

 Through it all, I watched my mom rest in God’s sovereignty; I saw her be as calm and peaceful and devoted to Christ in that season of loss and pain as he had been in previous seasons of gain and ease. She modeled a quiet confidence that God knows what He’s doing, that He is all-wise and doesn’t make mistakes. That is the time period I came to believe at the core of my being that every event in our lives is being watched over by a wise, loving, and good God who really can be trusted. 

 I love that verse in Psalm 135 that says, “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (vv. 5–6). 

 You see, God is in control. Whatever He pleases, He does. And if He does it, it’s because it pleases Him. We need to come to the place where we say, “Lord, if it pleases You, it pleases me. If it’s what You want, it’s what I want.” 

 Through my mom’s example and now through many years of personal experience, I’ve learned that we will never be more secure, more safe, more happy, and more satisfied, than when we are trusting and obeying. 

 What circumstances is God asking you to accept as coming from His sovereign hand? Would you take a moment to verbalize or write out a brief prayer in your journal or Bible expressing your desire to “trust and obey”? Blessings on the journey.

The Power of Prayer

Have you ever prayed for strength and power to be present in your life? My guess is most of us believe in the power of prayer but know we don’t nearly pray enough. There may be many reasons why we don’t. Maybe you’ve heard others pray eloquent prayers and thought you couldn’t possibly measure up. Other times, you start to pray but you’re ADD kicks in so the ding on your phone gets you off track and you don’t finish your prayer.

I do think we have two major mistakes when we pray. We pray way too small and way too general. It’s probably because we don’t want to be let down. I mean, what if I pray and God doesn’t grant my request. I don’t want to risk it so we keep everything generic.

But we serve a God who goes before us (Deuteronomy 31) and who levels our mountains (Isaiah 45). Jesus said it you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Paul said we serve a God with whom all things are possible. I wonder if we are undercutting our God by praying too shallow.

Paul wrote the house church in Ephesus from a Roman prison cell in 60AD. In the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, Paul reminds us what God did for us. In the last 3 chapters, Paul reminds us the type of life practically that we are called to live because of what God did for us. Right in that transition in chapter 3, Paul prays for the church, and us, to be empowered with the incredible power of God and the indwelling of his strength.

Paul in Ephesus 3:14-20 reminds us that we have every possible resource from our God to accomplish what comes our way everyday. Paul also said in Philippians 4 that God would meet all our needs through His glorious riches. Yet, you and I pray as if we are impoverished children. God wants us to ask for the good things which He will give us as it falls into his plan.

In this section of Ephesians, Paul uses the word “power” multiple times. The Greek word Paul uses is the same word we get the English word “dynamite” from. It means we have access to the miraculous, explosive power of God through prayer.

Paul’s prayer reminds us to be rooted in love so that we may have the power that only comes from God. When we are rooted in Jesus, we are able to live into the power of His glorious riches so that we have the ability to love the unlovable, be patient with our coworkers, and stay calm while others are abrasive in their interactions with us. We can do that because the power of God lives within us.

Verse 20 Paul says that through Christ, God can do more than we can imagine in our life. So my prayer for you is that daily, you pray the power and strength of our God dwells in you. Be specific for what you pray. Be bold and ask for things that only God will do. I know prayer changes things. I have seen it in my own life. May you pray with passion and may the Spirit of God dwell in you. Blessings on the journey.

Could I have mine now?

I remember going to the store as a kid and often asking if I could have a toy or at least some candy. I asked every. single. time. I was certain those were things that I needed. But in fact, they were things that I wanted. There is a difference in the two but as Americans, I’m not sure we understand that concept.

Jesus is teaching us how to pray in Matthew 6. As Christians, we know prayer is an essential part of our daily life. Since God is our father and we are his children, we have this close, personal relationship with him. He wants to know what’s going on in your life whether good or bad. He wants to hear our requests made to him. So, one of the lines of provision in prayer is found half-way through where Jesus prays, “Give us today what we need today.”

As I think about that line, there are so many things that come to mind. I think about close-to-home moments that we are effected by each day. When we have bills we can’t pay, we need enough of an income to cover those debts. During this economic downturn, we need food for the table and to be able to make it stretch. For that newly divorced parent wondering how they will provide for their children. For the home owner whose repair bills are piling up. For the recent retiree hoping they have enough to last. For those with health concerns and those whose marriage is hanging on by a thread. There seems to be so many different things we need today from our Heavenly Father. It calls us to two types of living as followers of Jesus Christ.

As believers, we must have a commitment to dependence on God. Truly, God owns it all anyway. We are simply managers of the blessings he gives us. We must trust him to provide and have faith that he will not leave us alone to figure it out.

Take the Jews during the Exodus story. They have left Egypt but are not in the Promised Land yet. They are wandering. They began to complain that they had nothing to eat. So God sends bread from heaven. They called it “manna”. They woke up each morning and there is was all over the ground. God told them to pick up just enough to feed their family for one day. If they picked up more, there would be worms in the bread the next morning. It was God reminding them to depend on him for what they needed on a daily basis.

Jesus even goes on in Matthew 6:25-34 challenging us not to worry about tomorrow. It doesn’t add one hour of peace to your life when we worry. Jesus says to focus on today. God has your back. He won’t let you down. We can trust him to give us today what we need.

But we are also called to be committed to be content with our life and what God gives us. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 that we should be content with what God gives and that in itself is a great wealth. When we trust God to provide, it moves us to be satisfied. We end up worrying less and grateful for what we do have in our life.

See, instead of focusing on the Bread of Life, that’s Jesus, we get distracted by the toppings. We want wealth, Instagram popularity, a big title on our office door. We get consumed with our kids and what sporting team we can get them on. We get sidetracked by physical relationships rather than a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

But Jesus reminds us in John 6 that he is the Bread of Life. He will sustain us. He will make sure we are taken care of every day. We are called to put our trust in him for our needs. I’m called to let go of control, to give up my life, and know we serve an incredible God who knows me by name and my story.

The challenge today is to live one day at a time knowing you can fully trust in God to provide for you. He’s got your back. He won’t let you down. Blessings on the journey.

How do we know God's will in our life?

How do we know God’s will in our life? It’s the question that haunts each of us who claim to be a believer in Jesus. We all want to follow God’s will but sometimes it’s foggy or distant or blurry. If you’re like me, you want clear boundaries and parameters in direction. You want to know where you are headed so that you can correctly make wise decisions.

We know prayer is an essential part of a Kingdom-person’s life. We pray to our Heavenly Father to speak to us and guide us. We want to hear his voice. We know, based on Jesus’ own life on earth, that Kingdom-people love, serve, and live humbly. Jesus’ Kingdom is upside down compared to earthly kingdoms of fame, wealth, and power. In Jesus’ Kingdom, the greatest will be servant and slave of all. The first will be last and the last will be first.

So, in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus prays, “You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Most of us pray that but then add, “I’ll weigh out your will and if I like it, then I’ll do it.” But how do I know God’s will? What do I need to do to find God’s will in my life?

Well, for God’s will to be done, I have to obey his instruction. Any of us that have children know this to be true. There have been moments when we taught them to change a tire, load the dishwasher or mow the grass. In those initial moments, we walked with them and interacted with them. They learned from us by being with us. They obeyed our instruction and example in order to accomplish the task.

So, to obey God’s instruction, you have to hear his voice. How in the world do we hear the voice of God? It comes in many ways. On Sunday mornings when you are gathered to celebrate Jesus as one big family of God, you hear the voice of God through the singing of praise, through the comments offered by the person presiding over communion, through the reading of God’s Word, and through the pastor offering his or her observations over a text from God’s Word. In those moments, God is speaking to you. Equally, as you interact with other people in your small group or a ministry group or even your own family, people offer insight from God into your life as you journey together. Sometimes, in the stillness of your day, you feel the Spirit of God laying some direction on your heart and soul.

But to truly hear His voice, you have to be listening. Years ago, my youngest son played high school football. The stands on Friday night were always fun, full, and loud. It was south Kansas City and the school was 6A so it was big deal. But out of all the noise that happens during a game, my son said he always heard two voices: his coach on the sidelines and his dad from way up in the stands. It’s because he had trained his ear to hear the encouragement that my voice offered during the heat of the battle.

To be able to hear God’s voice then, you must spend time with him. Compare the time you spent with God last week reading His Word and in prayer to the time you spent on the phone or on social media or binging Netflix. If you really want to hear God, you must dedicate time with him every single day. God’s voice is like radio waves…they are always in the air. You and I must “tune in” his voice to discover his will for us.

Ultimately, in order for God’s will to be accomplished, I have to be willing to let go of mine. God must become priority in life. His voice is the one you follow over everything else. His will is that you would live with him forever. He’s pursued you through all of history, eventually sending his Son to die for you. His upside down Kingdom is calling you. Your best life will take place when you answer God’s voice. So, create margin in life and in your calendar. Listen closely to those around you. Lean in and hear his whisper. Blessings on your journey.

Learning to Talk.

As a Jesus-follower, one knows prayer is an essential part of our journey. But there are critical moments when we know prayer is an absolute must. There are significant decisions to prayer over like who to marry/date, what career path to choose, and where to live. Sometimes we live with an uncertain future where you need to be laser-focused on what to do next. Moments when your job is eliminated or you’re unsure of the economy. And there are difficult circumstances like a devastating diagnosis, or a spouse leaves you, or you’re battling a sense of depression and loneliness.

When these moments come, and they will, we should not be looking left or right but up to our incredible Heavenly Father for direction and peace.

Jesus shows us how to do that in the Sermon on the Mount and specifically in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. But first, he shows us how NOT to pray. Jesus addresses it in verses 5-8 where he describes the religious leaders of his day who loved to be very showy with their prayers. The word “hypocrisy” that Jesus uses is a theater word which envisions being an actor with an audience. Don’t be an actor.

Instead, Jesus says pray in private. Just have a conversation with God the Father. There is no “right way” to pray so don’t worry about the wording or your body position. Simply have a conversation with the God who loves you.

Jesus reminds us as he opens the prayer in Matthew 6:9 that we are praying to “our Father”. And this indicates it’s a very personal relationship we have with our God. So many times we pray as if there is a contract in place and God is somehow obliged to us. We come to him and say, “God, I’ve tithed, gone to church on Sunday, been a part of a ministry 2-3 times this year…why aren’t you granted my prayer request?”

But Jesus in opening his prayer with the word “father” reminds us that we have a father/child relationship with God. He knows you by name and your story well. So come to him unconditionally as you would your own father knowing God wants what’s best for you.

“Our Father” also indicates immediate access to God. You can go to God anytime, any place. He’s available. Although the opening indicates his home is in heaven, He’s never far away but awaits to have a conversation with you about you life and Kingdom work.

God lives outside the time and space we are confined to live which means he knows more about our story than we do. He’s already in tomorrow so trust him like you would your own father and follow his design for life. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Trust in God and follow how He’s called us to live in his Son, Jesus. He knows what is best for you.

Finally, Jesus says, “Keep His Name holy.” Holy means set apart, separate, make sacred.” It’s a reminder that God is in a category all his own. We are saying that God has no equal. There is nothing in all creation like God. So, when we pray, we are putting all things under Him and in His will. In prayer, we remove our focus from the mountains in our life and focus on the mountain mover.

Our personal relationship with God the Father comes through Jesus Christ. Start this year by recommitting to Jesus and a regular prayer life. Speak up. God wants to hear your voice. Embrace Jesus and gain access to the Heavenly Father. Blessings on your journey.