Tag Archives: Bible study

Pastor Wrinkles: What Are You Not Praying For?

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7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “SovereignLord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

3 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

6 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b]in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.” Amos 7:1-9

I was meditating this morning on the power of prayer.  In Amos chapter 7 prayer was even able to push-off a sovereign judgment (that is a HUGE DEAL in case you are wondering).Prayer does change things but not because it is intrinsically powerful. Prayer changes things because it moves the heart of God. Maybe it would be better to say, God changes things because His people pray.

However you choose to relay the message it must be noted that prayer is a necessary part of the work of God in the world. We must pray because for whatever reason God has tied His movement in our world to our prayers. When we pray in faith God moves. When we don’t pray in faith God limits His movement.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” MA. 21: 21, 22 NIV

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:2,3 NIV

So let me ask you, “What are you not praying for?”

Sunday Post: Perspective

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WATER SNAKE 2013

Our word this week is perspective:

Just a part of the pot

Just a part of the pot

Raphael Petrucci was quoted as saying, “The fact is we have confused one system of perspective with perspective as a whole”.
Let’s face it our eyes and our minds are easily deceived. What we perceive as real many times has more to do with where we are standing than what is true. Perspective is important. The story as we see it lends a piece of the truth to the world, but lets not confuse what we understand with the whole truth. Only God knows that and He has yet to show all His cards.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 2 Cor. 2:9 NLT

 Tell me about a time when your limited perspective caused you to second guess God.

If you would like to write your own perspective post join the gang over at: http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/sunday-post-perspective/

Pastor Wrinkles: Ways or Deeds

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He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psm. 103:7 NIV

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psm. 103:7 NIV

 

We discussed this verse of Scripture during our staff devotion this morning. I suppose a Bible study on the verse could lead to a discussion about the sovereignty of God versus the free will of man. But whichever way you choose to lean there is an intimation here that  what Moses was given (the knowledge of God’s ways) was far and away better than what the people of Israel were given (knowledge of His deeds).

Now while I see in Scripture that God is sovereign (and who wouldn’t see that) I also see in Scripture that man has free will. I can’t do anything about the sovereignty of God but I am fully able to choose my own will. So as far it concerns me I want to have the better part of Psalm 103:7. I want to know God’s ways!

As I was pondering this verse the Holy Spirit dropped three nuggets of grace into my soul that helped me to understand why knowing God’s ways is infinitely better than knowing just his deeds:

1. When I know God’s ways I no longer doubt the Holy Spirit’s motives. Knowing God’s character helps me not to be afraid of the move of the Holy Spirit in church. Conversely only knowing his deeds can leave me shaken and afraid like the children of Israel before the fires of Mt. Zion when His supernatural power moves in my life.

2. When I know God’s ways I become all that God wants me to become as an actor in His Divine Drama. When I only know his deeds I remain a spectator in the audience of the Jesus Show.

AND FINALLY

3. When I know God’s ways I understand that God can be relied on in every situation. When I only know his deeds I again doubt his motives and lean more towards  trying to solve all of my own issues.

I have to admit that as I read through these blessings of knowing God’s ways I am coming to understand I have some more knowing to grasp. Number three in particular is one I struggle with. How about you?

Pastor Wrinkles:The Ever-Present Now

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Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof Gardens

 

In his well-known book, The Screwtape Letters,  C.S. Lewis writes from the vantage point of a devil. He writes, “The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present–either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. “

Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” MA. 6:34 NIV

The truth is God dwells in eternity which is not lots of time but no time and all time together. He is able to inhabit past, present, future and something else besides which is beyond any of those things. But He has made us different in that we cannot dwell in anything but the ever-present now. We remember the past. We can minimally plan for the future, and He has set eternity in our hearts according to Ecclesiastes. But we can only dwell in and deal with the present.

While this may frustrate us it is God’s plan. The Psalmist writes, “As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—Psm. 103:13-17

To paraphrase Lewis the present is the context in which we identify with eternity. We understand eternity only as we come to, “obey the present voice of conscience, bear the present cross, receive the present grace,  and give thanks for the present pleasure. “

While I suppose we can’t speak absolutely about why God has made this so I believe we can say with some authority that the reason God has made us like this is because in this form we are continually offered the opportunity to put forth that attitude which He so deeply enjoys…faith. As we walk in faith He becomes our hope and we then have access to that greatest force in all the universe…God’s love. So it is our very diminished capacity, living in the ever-present now, that has the potential to create the cycle of which I Corinthians 13 speaks so highly…“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Cor. 13:13

23 Pt. 23

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23 Pt. 23

“… and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Psalm 23:6 KJV

It fits that pt. 23 is the last session we shall have together in Psalm 23. Today we are going to be talking about Heaven! It’s one of my favorite topics. In fact I like it so much I have written 110 blogs on the subject of Heaven between “Lillie-Put” and “Reinventing the We’ll”.
” 

What do we know about this place? Some people think it’s all clouds and harps and singing for eternity. David seemed to want to go there. I suppose for a guy who loved music the clouds and harps thing seemed like a pretty attractive deal; But what about those poor guys who can’t carry a tune in a bucket? You know those guys who can hardly sit through an offertory? Clouds and harps for eternity hardly sounds like a plan for the man or woman of action!….And what about the ADHD among us? Spending all eternity in one place doing one thing? Torture!

Let me rest your mind. Heaven is much more than clouds and harps and angels singing. It’s more than just “a great big house with lots and lots of room” as the song goes. I’d like to start with your thoughts.

What do you think Heaven is? What will it be like?

23 Pt. 22

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23 Pt. 22

 

“…shall follow me all the days of my life” Psalm 23:6 KJV

       Many years ago I came to a place in my life where I felt like God had played fifty-two pick-up with my heart. I was at loose ends with ministry and didn’t even feel like I had a church family (I realize now that was mostly from my end not anybody else’s). During that season I actually turned my back on God for a time and decided that if what was going on in my life was truly God’s plan, then I could handle things better on my own, thank you very much!

Have you ever been there?

It was a terrible time. I shut God out and God did what God does with all of His children who come to such dark valleys; He pursued me; He stalked me; He followed me!

And for a while I was ticked because I didn’t want to be followed. I wanted Him to go away. I was mad at Him for treating me “wrong”; But His favor and His forgiveness pursued me… wouldn’t leave me alone even for a minute!

This is what the phrase “…shall follow me all the days of my life.” means.  The word is “RADAPH”. It’s the word used to indicate passionate pursuit, even harassment in some cases. It’s the picture of the lovesick boy who won’t leave the damsel alone despite her attempts to discourage his advances.

God pursues us with His mercy and his goodness! Today He is actively wooing me to come closer to Him with His favor and His mercy, because He passionately desires me! ME! I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT!

I am so glad He did not give up on me all those years ago. Even when I became faithless, He remained faithful!

How does this phrase challenge or confirm your view of God?

23 Pt. 21

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23 Pt. 21

Sorry this was held up everyone. I didn’t get as much computer time as I thought I would in PA. My son’s graduation from college however was  absolutely fantabulous! Pictures are to come of course.

“and mercy…” Psalm 23:6

I asked a leading question the other day. It boils down to the ages-old query “how could a merciful God consign anyone to Hell?”

I think  we have to understand that mercy is a word closely connected with covenant. A covenant in David’s day was a binding agreement between two parties. In the agreement both sides had responsibilities towards and privileges from the other party. Mercy is one of God’s covenant responsibilities:

“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” Deut. 7:9

“And he said, LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:” I Kings 8:23

      In David’s day God kept His covenant with those who obeyed the law and followed the sacrifice faithfully…. In other words, with those who chose to enter into covenant with Him.

Today God has made a new covenant offer to mankind. It’s called the New Testament. Mercy is still God’s responsibility. Our responsibility is to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus as Paul wrote in Romans, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” Romans 10:9,10 NLT

God’s mercy you see is available to everyone. It is accessible to all. Still it must be received by faith. Further, Jesus must be confessed as Lord in order for mercy to be accessed. Sadly this is the jumping off point for many.

I once had a pastor say to me “Mr. Lillie you and I do not see eye to eye on many subjects and I will tell you right now if I have to accept Jesus in order to go to Heaven then I will be perfectly happy to go to Hell.”

You see a loving God does not consign anyone to Hell. Unloving humans separate themselves unto it.

How many do you know who are knowingly walking the path away from God’s mercy?

23 Pt. 20

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23 Pt. 20

 

     ”And mercy…” Psalm 23:6

I have often heard it said that grace is God’s unmerited favor and mercy is God’s refusal to give us the punishment we so richly deserve. I have also heard it said that we cannot earn mercy or grace, that they are gifts. The Bible bears this out time and again:

“ For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:” Eph. 2:8

Still have you ever wondered what motivates God toward mercy? If He is truly merciful then why doesn’t He just save everyone? After all no one is more deserving than anyone else. Romans makes it perfectly clear that we have all fallen too far to be worthy of salvation. So why can some claim to have received mercy while claiming that others have not received it?  Does mercy follow everyone or just a certain few?

Tell me what you think!

23 Pt. 19

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23 Pt. 19

 

“ Surely Goodness…” Psalm 23:6

     For a long time I was confused about this word, “goodness”. What is good?

If my family and I go to Olive Garden and the new dish we try is delicious we will say “It’s good.”

If I find a person to be exceedingly kind or giving or righteous, I will identify them as a “good” person.

So when I started meditating on this verse months ago, “surely goodness…will follow me all the days of my life”, I mistakenly thought that goodness following me meant God would be constantly making me more and more righteous, conforming me to His image as it were; But the word goodness used here has more to do with favor or blessing than it does with righteousness. To have goodness following me means that the blessing of God is constantly upon my life. Practically it means that everything that happens to me will somehow work out for my benefit.

The Bible bears this out in the writing of the Apostle Paul, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

That means everything, even the bad stuff, is bringing about a blessing for my life if I follow it to its conclusion….And there is the rub. So many times we fail to receive the goodness because we don’t continue to walk with God in a situation until He can bring the blessing out of it: We get fed up and leave the church; We get sick of being sick and grow bitter with Jesus who has “held up” our healing; We get tired of waiting for that certain someone to change and walk out on the relationship.

Somehow though if we can just keep next to the Shepherd in the midst of our circumstance He will cause His blessing and goodness to follow us all the days of our lives.

So how is goodness following you today?