Monday, April 23, 2007, 05:57 PM
Keeping our Promises
By
Nancy Howe
God if you give me that new car I promise never to tell a lie again. This statement says many things. First it cannot even be considered a prayer. It is a trade according to the individual’s desires. It desires a tangible object and feels it must give a pay back. Another flaw is that it is impossible to keep this promise. It is also trying to put the control in our hands. It is saying I will control God’s decision on this by what I plan to do to repay him.
It is pride speaking because it is saying that we think God needs us and our promises for Him to give us what we want. This is not a prayer of worship, praise, faith or love for God. It is a prayer that God will not hear. This is not a Christian prayer but a prayer of the world. A Christian knows that there is no way to ever pay God back for anything. A Christian knows that God desires our praise honor and worship. God is not interested in our promises of the future that we cannot keep. He is interested in our obedience to Him now.
When we make a promise of returning the favor to God we are saying that we desire to do just one thing back for God but the rest of our life will be lived according to our plan and not to God’s plan. God’s plan is that we are obedient in all things. This is not for our salvation but to gain the best God has to offer to us. Christ has paid for our salvation.
Christ never insisted on having authority as we do. If He did we would have to be subject to His demands for us. We would not have a will of our own. Christ allowed us the freedom to mock, scourge and spit in his face. He completely obeyed His Father. He knew exactly what was going to happen to Him. He allowed men—us to put Him (God) on the cross. He had absolute authority over us and He gave it up. He allows us to make our decisions and empty promises to Him. But when we recognize who He truly is by the Holy Spirit and His absolute authority over us we come to faith and repentance and desire to be obedient to His authority. Christ did not stay in the tomb but was bodily resurrected and He walks with us daily. He keeps His promises but we do not have that ability. He does because he is perfect. We cannot because we are not perfect.
We are by nature never worthy of Christ’s love. Only by His grace are we worthy and when we come to Him in humility we are filled with His love. There is always a part of me that is very unworthy and this part refuses to bow to Christ’s authority over me. This is the sin that still lives in me. This is a condition that I cannot fix and make it go away. But by Christ’s submission to the Father it too is gone by the grace of God when I have faith in Christ’s sacrifice. By Grace through faith we are saved. Not by works. Promises are a work. We are to submit to the Son and honor, praise and worship Him above all else.
To grow in faith we will experience God’s very best. Our hearts will be filled with His love, comfort, joy and peace. God will increase our wisdom as we study His word, go to church, and learn from more mature Christians. When we find someone more leaned then we are we are to hang on every word. However, intellect is not the goal. Faith is always the goal and by our knowledge of God’s Word our faith will mature. As we grow we desire to obey God. If we do it out of pay back or duty it is not His Grace working in our heart but our desire to do something toward our own salvation. And we can do nothing to be saved. Only by the Holy Spirit can we come to the knowledge of this truth. Love is God’s greatest commandment. It replaces the old law. We are to love God first and then others. In doing this we are obeying God. When we look on obedience in this way we are full of God’s Grace.
Christ obeyed the Father because they are equal. “I and the Father are one.” He did not have to obey to become the Son. He is the Son of God. Love is His motivation to obedience. Love for the Father and love for us. Our motivation should be the same. When we pray it is not making a deal with God, it is loving God and desiring His perfect will in our lives. There is no love in deals because it is conditional. Love is giving without expecting anything in return. That is how God loves us. We are not worthy of His love but He loves us anyway, not because of our appearance or our performance but because it is His nature. Don’t make deals with God, it won’t work. It is empty promises. Faith in Christ brings God’s perfect forgiveness and God’s perfect love into our lives. We are saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph.2:5). This is God’s perfect promise to us.
You can reach Nancy at:
Crossing the GAP
PO Box 384
Marshall, IL 62441
Monday, April 16, 2007, 05:53 PM
Lust
By
Nancy Howe
Lust means I must have it now. We usually think of lust in the context of sex but there can be lust for many things—even in our walk with God. In Numbers 11:34 we see the Israelites craving good food. The desire was not wrong. But if it turns into greed it is lust. And lust can affect your perspective on everything else. A desire can turn to lust very easily. We can claim to be in love but in many cases it is lust. Here are some ways to tell where your heart is. Love is patient—lust requires immediate satisfaction. Love is kind—lust is harsh. Love does not demand its own way—lust does. When we pray, how is your heart and mind set? Is it a demand of God and is it wanting your answer from Him immediately? If this is the condition of your heart then it is not a prayer to God. This is a lust and a demand for your own personal gain. We are to first seek God and than He will give us our hearts desire. When we demand and our focus is on our own personal needs—this is not after God’s heart. It is on ourselves. To go after God’s heart our focus must be on God. The condition of our heart must be in love with God. God’s love is directed out toward others. It is not selfish. We are to be the same. Because we are sinful this is very hard to do at times. Only God can give us this unconditional love that we are to show others. When our heart is in this state we will benefit in many ways. We will benefit from the joy and peace that God puts in our heart. We will experience His comfort. We will see His love at work in our lives and in others lives that we reach out to. Our focus is steadfast on Him who gives all good things to those who love Him.
We are to love God above everything and everyone else and that includes ourselves. To do this we must repent of our self-righteousness and the “me” syndrome. Our eyes must always rest on God and His goodness and His righteousness and not on ourselves. When our first love is for God he will fill all our needs.
If we are seeking things for ourselves then we are not seeking God. When we seek God first He gives us the answers to our prayers. They may not be the answers we were expecting or desire but they are the ones that are best for us. He is our loving father and He will only give us good gifts. He knows the future and He knows what is best for us.
We may want to ask ourselves—what do my prayers consist of? Are they filled with a personal desire, or are they filled with praise of the glory of God? Are they filled with humility or pride? Are they filled with love for God first and it reaches out to others? Are they repentant and filled with the desire to only do God’s will? Do you pray your prayers in faith or are there seeds of doubt in your heart. When we do not receive an answer from God or it is different than what we desired we may have a tendency to blame God. But we can always be assured that God always answers all prayers for His glory and for our good.
The first purpose of prayer is to praise honor and worship God and not to hold on to our desires and demands for worldly things. When we feel like God has rejected us and our prayers-- this does not come from God but from ourselves. We are always to blame for it. We cannot blame God for we have failed Him again with our selfish and self-centered desires. We are to praise and honor God in all things even when the answers are not what we had in mind.
We look for God’s mighty hand to do miracles and wonders and we look in the wrong way and places. We desire earth shaking evidence and he is always doing them in every day life. Most miss them. Many are so preoccupied with lust for things and experiences that that they miss God at work in their lives. We are all guilty at times.
No matter where we are—we are to do His will. We are to obey Him. Whatever is close to us—where we live, who we are, are all a part of God’s plan in our lives. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to do with this? It may very well be in a suffering situation. It is still to God’s glory when we look at the cross of suffering. God desires us to be His personal loving children and He desires that we obey Him. He desires our praise. When we fail He is there to catch us. On the cross Christ took all of our sins which allows us to have forgiveness of sins. He took them all into Him self because of His great love for us. This is a free gift from God. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. How great is your faith? How great is your love for Him? Our lust for God should be a total commitment and not just bits and pieces. When it is total we will do His will and He will give us the desires of His heart. When we are humble and obey God our desires will fit what God desires for us. The lust in our heart will only be for God. We will only want all of Him and we want all of Him right now, however God will make us wait and give us our growth in His own time. Patience is one of God’s lessons but that lesson is for another time.
You can reach Nancy at:
Crossing the GAP
PO Box 384
Marshall, IL 62441
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