Whispers from Your Father, God – My Abiding Presence

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Joshua 1:5 NIV

One of the greatest privileges of being one of my children is my abiding presence.  I created you out of the earth and water, yet your body is built as a temple for my Spirit to dwell.  From the moment I created you, I desired continued relationship with you.  You can’t fully imagine my disappointment when Adam hid from my presence.  Yes, I was sad, but even more so for Adam and Eve.  They were to live the rest of their lives in the insecurity that comes with living in darkness.  They had lost the compass that always pointed to me.  They could not distinguish the sound of the constant heartbeat of my love for them.  That sound was lost in the noise of all their affections and cares of the world.

Yet, my Son restored the relationship available to mankind.  He brought you back into the kingdom of light in which I dwell.  My presence will always be with you.  As I was with my Son Jesus as he walked on this earth, so I will be with you.  Abiding is like the two of us locked inside a story book living the adventure together.  Abiding is like the fragrance of fresh bread filling a room for all to experience.  Abiding is like the joining of paint colors of yellow and blue to create the new and living color of green.  Abiding happens with a whisper of acknowledgment of my presence.  Abiding happens when you know that I love you just like you are. 

You make me smile…because I really do love you with all my heart.  No greater love is this than someone lays down their life for a friend.  When my Son died, I fully expressed the extent of my love.  I will never, ever leave you nor forsake you in your time of need.  I am…I am here!

Whispers from your Father, God.

God's Answer for Lack...Blessing

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV

 Wow, what a thought, having all you need…in all things…at all times. If you are thinking this is only about financial sufficiency, you are limiting the scope of God’s ability to bless. To be sure, this verse in context is about the generosity of providing gifts (money, food, provisions) to those in need.  And, God is the one who supplies the abundance so that the giving generosity will never be lacking.  But there is more about blessing that is at the core of who God is.

 When Adam and Eve sinned, part of the curse that transpired was the introduction of lack of resources.  Adam and Eve would now have to work for their food by sweat and toil.  The land would resist production through representation of thorns, thistles and painful labor. Decisions would have to be made in managing the lack of resources to meet the need that always seemed to be greater than the supply.  So, does God have an answer?

 Blessing!  God wants mankind to know that abundance comes because of Him and not through man’s own efforts.  Adam tried to live life apart from God’s direction which resulted in the relational breakdown.  Jesus death and resurrection gave access for a restored relationship with God.  But blessing was God’s answer to allow Him to meet the demands of our lack.  For God sends rain to the just and the unjust.

 Is there anything we can do specifically to get in the flow of God’s blessing?  Yes, we BLESS.  In Numbers 6:22-26 ²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴ “‘“The Lord bless you    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you    and give you peace.”’

²⁷ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

 Aaron was instructed to speak blessings over Israel.  This was God’s instruction to Moses to reverse the lack that they could be experiencing.  When Aaron spoke the blessing…God put his name on them and would bless them.  They should see the direct correlation of asking God to care for them and the resulting provision that He would provide.  When “the blessing” is not spoken, then in some way God was not free to bless them.  Yes, God can do whatever He wants, when He wants.  But the freeway of choice for God to bless us, is for us to ASK God to bless.  He then is free to pour forth the abundance that He desires for us to experience.  When we don’t ask or even worse, when we curse, then we limit God’s interaction to meet our need.

 Let me illustrate how this may look in your life.  Perhaps you have a son or daughter who is struggling with doing good in their school work.  You have been watching for some time and notice that they don’t do their homework and seem to be more withdrawn from desiring to excel.  You have been harping on them to change their behaviors if they want to succeed.  Eventually, out of the anger of a moment, you say things that you may regret, “the reason you are doing poorly at school is because you are lazy.  You are not going to amount to anything if you don’t start applying yourself.  I’m not sure if you even have the skills to be successful.”  Your words have now started a cycle that withholds God’s desire to bless.

 Conversely our words can begin to counteract the outcome. In the same scenario, suppose your child heard you say to them on a regular basis.  “May God give you the ability to enjoy school and your classes.  May He help you understand the difficult subjects that are hard to grasp.  May God help you know that He is with you all day long and wants only good for you.  God desires to bless everything good that you put your hands on.”  We have moved so far away from speaking blessing, that this last phrase sounds contrived and coercive.  Yet, this type of speaking connects the outcome to God’s working in their life, and places the child as a person that God focuses on blessing.

 We must learn again how to recapture the wonder of speaking blessing over all those we know.  Jesus even says that we are to BLESS our enemies.  For to understand God’s heart…everyone, even our enemies, is worthy for God to bless.  The power of life and death are in our tongues.  Learn to love the taste of life giving blessings that can fall freely from your lips to those around you.  Is there anything more productive for the use of our tongues?

 One last thought…speak the word of God over your life and experience.  God’s word is always true, even if the present issues in your life don’t agree with that word.  Speak God’s promises aloud and let Him allow those issues to rise to His truth. 

 This brings us back to our starting verse.  God desires for us to have abundant provision so that we can be generous in our giving.  But perhaps your life situation shows that you don’t have enough to meet your own needs, much less be able to give to others.  Every direction you turn in your life seems to be revealing lack, instead of abundance. 

So, what next?  Speak God’s word over your life and family as if the promise is true.  Don’t just wish it or hope it…read the verse aloud over your life and see how God will connect His blessing with the provision that He will provide. There are many promises of God in the scripture that reveal His heart, His character, His ways and His love for the world.  Memorize these promises and speak them aloud and watch how God provides in the area of our lack.  We were created to be objects of His blessing for the Bible says that in even when we were sinners God chose us as the objects of His affectionate love.

Let’s be known as a people that speak blessing.  Blessings that flow from God’s rich abundance to a people that He loves.

The Road less traveled is worth it

I had the privilege of sharing a concert with my daughter the other night.  Actually. she was trapped

in the car I was driving as we were returning from Birmingham late one evening.  Through modern technology I asked her to look up a song on an album that I listened to as a young teenager over 40 years ago.  She found a Youtube entry that had the whole album recorded.  I asked her if she would play all 36 minutes of the old vinyl by Larry  Norman called In Another Land.

I still had 90 percent of the songs memorized as I sang along.  The mid 1970’s were at the peak of the Jesus movement- a time when many people were saved.  The songs on this album reflected the major themes of that generation – the return of Jesus Christ as imminent, wars, radical life transformation found in a relationship with Jesus, and God loving us even when we don’t deserve it.

About mid-way through, she started sharing some of her thoughts about life and church.  I was able to put the concert on hold.  Besides my voice needed a rest as I had already been trying to sing higher than my range.  She shared how God had been speaking to her and how that was influencing her life decisions.  It was one of those rare moments when a parent knows to be incredibly quiet.  Your child is giving you a rare opportunity to participate in their private world.  Such is the power of song that communicates again and again that God loves us and has a plan for us. 

After a few minutes, I asked if we could continue the concert.  I know that she was obliging her old dad as she was listening to songs for the first time.  As the second to the last song was about to play, I spoke out loud.  “This next song reflects the course of my life.”  I am not sure why I said it, but I knew that it came from one of those “life changing decision moments” as I listened to this album in my bedroom as a teen.

You can take your diamonds and lock them in your room

And you will lose everything you save

You can take your flowers and lay them at his tomb

But I know He rose up from the grave

Two roads diverged in the middle of my life

I heard a wise man say

And I chose the one less traveled by

And that has made the difference every night and every day

So I say One way, one way to Jesus

Hold up high your hand

Follow free and forgiven, Children of the lamb.

I am in the fifth decade of my life.  Probably more steps in my past than will be in my future.  But it was clear during that song, that I have followed that path.  And along the way, Jesus helped me understand and experience what it means to be free and forgiven not to just endure the journey.  The amazing thing is that even though I made some stupid and hurtful decisions along the way, Jesus still uses me to share his love to others.  I love to sing to the one who has made me free.

At this point in our drive,  I slowed the car down so that we had time to finish the entire album. Surreal to say the least,  I felt as though I had taken my daughter to a concert in my bedroom nearly 45 years ago.  I told her that I listened to that album many times.  She responded, “I could tell.  You still had 90 percent of the songs memorized.”

So, thank you Katy.  I pray that you will also have a lifetime filled with following Jesus that leads you to walk free and forgiven.  The road less traveled is worth it.

Why would we forget to do good?

16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16 NIV 

This past week I heard a motivational speaker, Robert Jackson, share about his childhood experiences.  On one occasion, he was walking to school when he was confronted by a local gang. They told him to stand watch while they went in to rob this home.  He was not a good kid, but he knew this was wrong and he told them he would not be the “look out”.  They responded that if he did not do what they asked, then they would beat him up.  He replied, “then you need to start beating.”  For the next 3 months, they beat him up on the way to school.  Not one time did an educator ask him about his bloody nose or signs of being in a fight.  By the time he was 21, three gang members from that group were dead and one was doing life in prison.

Why would we forget to do good and share with others?  The starting principle is all people are hurting and have unresolved needs.  Maybe they haven’t been in a physical fight, but they may have had a heated argument with a spouse in which damaging words where shared, or one family member is dealing with a crippling addiction to alcohol or drugs, or perhaps the pressures and demands of life are causing them to contemplate ending their life.  People are hurting and many times it is below the surface.

So, why would we forget to do good and share with others?  What excuse comes immediately to your mind?  Part of the answer is located in the verse.  “With such sacrifices, God is pleased.”  To take steps to engage in “doing good” will require sacrifice.  The biggest of these sacrifices will NOT include money, but rather your time.  You can’t meet every need, but people are always worth the sacrifice of time.  Jesus had time to talk to the woman at the well, spend the afternoon with Zacchaeus, go to a party at Matthews house, or go into the wilderness with his disciples.  All of these “time” investments communicated to people that God “sees” them.  These investments (sacrifices) changed  the ones with whom Jesus spent time.

This side of heaven is your only opportunity to sacrifice your time and money.  Since heaven is in our future, sacrificing now is sometimes easy to forget. Remember to engage in doing good.