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Far too often when we do something well it leads us to taking the credit for having produced such superior results.  We see the depth of that misguided thinking when we read something profound that Moses, Paul or another Bible character did or said.  We unconsciously attribute what happened to that person’s genius or talent rather than to God who inspired and empowered the person to do or say it.  It was this misappropriation of glory that led the mighty man, Samson, to fall into the hand of his enemies and disgrace the nation.

The highly revered apostle Paul identified with that deceptive shadow and wrote even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud (2 Corinthians 12:7, NLT2).   Even Paul had to wrestle with this misguided impulse.

After declaring the blessings and strength of a person who trusts in the Lord, Jeremiah reveals the source of wrongfully assuming the credit for God’s workings by writing, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV).  Some like to fantasize that once a person becomes a believer, that evil nature was eradicated by Christ’s death.  Paul obviously did not see it that way.  He had a God-given desire to do right but he also saw his sin nature as a roaring lion waiting to pounce and defeat him.  To overcome that risk, he revealed his strategy by determining so now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me (2 Corinthians 12:9b, NLT2).  

The Psalmist clarified the victories the early Hebrews experienced by writing; they did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them (Psalm 44:3, NLT2).  In recounting his ministry Paul wrote, [to make mature disciples is] why I work and struggle so hard [as an Olympic athlete pushes his/her body to the limit in the finals], depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me (Colossians 1:29, NLT2).  A true believer strains their ability [no arm-chair quarterbacks or laziness] to work with God then trusts Him to multiple her/his efforts to complete what needs to be done.   

We tend to think we do not have to go out of our way to be like Jesus.  We can do some pretty good things on our own.  We are not that bad.  I have found the average person feels he/she has little daily need for God’s grace or mercy.  But that is due to the deception of the heart.  We can always find people to compare ourselves with and thereby feel decent about ourselves.  But when we compare ourselves to the true standard—not our friend, not our neighbor, but to the conviction, attitude, love and behavior of our model Jesus Christ,—we realize we are not as hot as we thought.  Paul wrote Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it (2 Corinthians 13:5, MSG).  Are you aware of God’s Spirit within affirming your intuition that He is living within you?  If you were arrested for being a Christ-follower, would there be enough evidence in your attitude, passions and daily lifestyle to convict you ‘guilty as charged’?  I must continue to press myself to do all I am capable of doing as I also depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

I have discovered my deceitful heart is my worst enemy, not the devil.  How about you? 

I have visited with countless individuals whose past failures continued to haunt them—no, more accurately, they continued to defeat them on a daily basis.   Each breath of hope fades into the ever-present dark cloud that pursues them.  Candidly, I truly grieve for them because I know the routine waves of hope followed by defeat are emotionally and spiritually exhausting them.  They say they believe God can deliver them from their draining malaise, but the cycle still persists for them.  Too many have taken their life in order to escape the constant defeating sequence.  I often wonder how this will end for each of them.

I have not studied nor read of scientific studies of this cycle of defeat.  I can only offer from my limited observations that it seems partially related to the confused expectations or what Satan and company perpetually bring to their memory.  Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ disciples, who failed Jesus in a miserable way.  I do not know exactly what was in his mind when he betrayed Jesus but based on his subsequent response, I suspect he may have had a risky strategy in mind.  He had hoped to force Jesus to exercise His supernatural powers in such a way that would lead Him to become the earthly king he and the other disciples had fantasized would happen.  That strategy had worked for Mary in getting Jesus to turn water into wine which launched His earthly ministry.  

In Judas’ case, his heartbreaking failure prompted him to throw the blood money of 30 pieces of silver on that floor at the feet of the chief priest and elders.  Unfortunately, that did not stop the loud haunting voice within from reminding him of the gravity of his unexpected failure.  He could not bring himself to believe he could be forgiven and therefore chose to take his life.

Lay that episode along side of Peter, another of Jesus’ disciples, who also miserably failed Jesus after vociferously vowing he would never do so.  After he had unexpectedly failed Jesus, like Judas he too was deeply remorseful and expressed it by going out to weep bitterly.  It was at this point of the two men’s failures where each made a choice in how they would respond to their devastating action.  For unknown reasons Peter must have chosen to trust enough in God’s forgiveness, enough at least to walk out the consequences.  After the resurrection, when Jesus faced Peter, He did not rebuke or even chide Peter for his cowardly choice. Instead, He gave Peter three consecutive opportunities to reverse each betrayal by confessing his love for Jesus.  Yes, it could be said that betrayal and denial are two different horrendous sins, but both would be classified as totally unacceptable by God!  The difference was not so much in what they did but in how they responded after they did their despicable deeds.  Judas would not allow himself to believe he could be forgiven while Peter at least thought perhaps God would forgive and cast his lot to wait and see his consequence. 

If you are ashamed of your past and try as you may to have hope only to have it melt away in a matter of time, can I encourage you to be as Peter and at least give your past failure to God and trust in His character to do for you what He did for Peter and innumerably more through the centuries.  Trust He has and will continue to forgive you, not because you deserve it but because of His incredible love, grace and mercy for sinners like you.  I have recommended to many through the years to take a helium filled balloon and attach a paper with your sin to the balloon.  Then take it out and with your confession of faith in God’s character, love and forgiving nature, say as you release the balloon to ascend skyward, “God, I now give my shameful past to You.”   Then allow His love, peace and hope to embrace you as the balloon fades into the heavens.    

When you go to a doctor because you have a pain somewhere in your anatomy, the doctor’s role is not to treat the symptom but to identify and treat the source of the problem.  To do so the medical practitioner reaches into his/her bag of all she/he has learned in undergraduate studies, medical school, residency to discern the root cause of your pain.   With the diagnosis the physician prescribes medicine or treatment that hopefully will get rid of your pain. 

A sinner is not a sinner just because they break God’s laws.  In fact, they may not even be aware they are breaking His laws.  Paul explains in Ephesians 2 the root cause of what makes a sinner.  He says a sinner is dead (like a spiritual zombie) or unregenerated leaving them virtually blind to the evil they consciously or unconsciously practice.  He says in v 2  the cause is following … the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air [Satan], the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient (NIV).  He then explains in v 3  the sinner lives … gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (NIV).  What is often categorized as sin is simply misdirected deeds that are the fruit of our spiritually blind condition.  It is this inner darkness that makes the person by nature objects of God’s wrath, not just the symptomatic sins they do.

I write this because unless we understand the total depravity of our inner being, we will never really understand our need for God’s great mercy and grace.  When we do become aware of a wrong deed we have done, normally we try to somehow a) justify it, b) call our sins ‘mistakes’, c) glibly expect God’s mercy to forgive us d) ignore it as no big deal, OR e) we try to exercise more self-discipline or behavior modification, so we do not repeat it. 

Unfortunately, the other alternative of mentally or emotionally acknowledging that we have broken God’s laws only brings us temporary relief, that relief is not sustainable.  Only when a person becomes aware that his/her nature is irreparably broken and he/she lacks the ability to heal him/herself, is that person able to sense their desperate need of God’s mercy and grace.  When that person humbly admits their depraved condition and asks God to do what only He can do, they will then discover a sustainable peace and joyful regeneration by God’s Spirit that makes them alive after being dead.  It is this supernatural transformation that gives us the desire to love and obey God and the connection to His ability to literally live a life in Jesus’ likeness.

Have you been treating sin’s symptoms rather than root cause?  Has your life consisted of cycles of failures to be like Jesus and trying harder next time?  Or has it consisted of being very aware of your need for God’s continued mercy and grace and asking for more of them to empower you to live the better life?  God is not angry when we sin.  Jesus’ closest disciple wrote if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John 1:9, NLT2).  He is a like loving parent whose child has fallen and skinned his/her knee.  Humble confession of our hopeless sin nature brings God’s immediate forgiveness.  The most critical factor is remembering we are sinners not because of our failed efforts, but because we follow our sin nature that tells us we can make ourselves better next time.  Have you been genuinely enjoying God’s grace and mercy or are you still trying to fix yourself through self-discipline, self-help or positive thinking?  Hope and freedom come from leaning on God’s provision and cooperation with His guidance.

We have all thought about and heard others report how hard it is to know what is truth.  Pilate must have felt a bit like so many in our world when he asked Jesus “What is truth?”  (John 18:38).  Today, we have heard so many conspiracy theories, exaggerations, seen so much hypocrisy, few if any know what the real truth is about Covid-19, its variants or the vaccine’s actual effects.  The media has put our society into such a swirling motion people are so off balanced they have started to think and say evil is good and good is evil (Isaiah 5:20).  We can now relate to Pilate’s frustration with all who claimed to have the truth.

In that context I have found God’s ways to be especially fascinating.  Strangely enough He loves to hide truth in the Bible, in prophecies, in parables—even in ants and spiders!  Proverbs 25:2 (ESV) “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.”  We often think Jesus made things simple by telling stories or parables.   If you honestly believe that to be true, consider this thought-provoking insight.  Jesus very clearly said “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Matthew 13:13, ESV).   Jesus did not speak in parables to be simple so everyone would understand!  Far from it.  He spoke in parables to separate the unbeliever and casual Christian from those serious enough to seek out who the Bible God really is.  Instead of trying to mislead or hide truth, God draws us to seek to know the truth that will set us free. He waits for us to be hungry and thirsty enough to earnestly invest ourselves in the pursuit of finding His eternal life-giving truth.  A quick read will not cut it.  I believe this tells us a lot about God’s character, value system and His ways with man.   

Ezekiel 36:27 explains when a person is authentically spiritually regenerated (born again in Jesus’ words), His Sprit plants within that soul a yearning that will cause them to …  follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations (Ezekiel 36:27, NLT2).  Paul pressed Timothy to  Do your best (study KJV, = to be eager) to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV).

I have read the Bible through many times yet to this day, each time I drill down to find out what the passage is really saying, my heart is refreshed, and understanding is enlightened with fresh insights on God’s timeless truth.  In contrast to the fading of my physical and mental faculties, this hunger to find God’s truth has not faded away with age.  It has only become more intense.

I am convinced there are many modern-day Pilates around us today who are eager to know the truth about the Bible God but are not sure anyone knows it.  But rightfully so, they are very wary of receiving our version of truth for fear of listening to one more Charlatan asserting false truth. But when they see a Christ-follower plainly practicing the heart and lifestyle Jesus lived, the Spirit utilizes that witness to energize that person’s desire for solid truth.  This opens the door for you to share with them the authentic, life-changing truth you have found.  

If ever there is a time, we MUST take time now to invest more earnestly and intensely in moving our own faith journey forward, it is today.  It will be our progressive, life-giving changes evident in our love, behavior, attitude, patience, and convictions that will provide the validation that we have found genuine truth and not just some form of faddish culture change.        

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (ESV)  Is Paul, inspired by the Spirit, saying every bad thing that happens to you and me is actually for good?  No, he is saying that from the bigger picture of our life, when we look back on our history, we will be able to see that even the terribly dreadful things that happened God leveraged to bring us to the good end He intended for us.  The operative word that provides us the right perspective is the word together.  Satan no doubt intended it for our demise, but God saw farther down into the future and turned it for our good. 

Joseph is a classic example of this.  When he was 17 years of age (Genesis 37:2), His brothers had jealous hatred towards him and would have killed him except the more ingenious brother had a better idea—sell him as a slave to a traveling trader, pocket the money and tell their father an animal had killed him.  That certainly was not a good thing for Joseph, it was horrendous!  But God saw farther into the future.  Thirteen years later (Genesis 41:46) God leveraged that ugly action into bringing good to both Joseph, his father Jacob as well as the very bothers who had ill-will towards him.  Twenty years after last seeing his brothers he ended up as the second most powerful man in Egypt then said to his brothers,  You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 (NLT2)

In the middle of my senior year in high school, my dad got a notion God wanted us to move to Illinois.  This was very traumatic for me, so much so I could not longer trust him to care about my well-being and therefore carried unforgiveness towards him for decades.  Not a good thing!  Years later the Holy Spirit addressed my unwillingness to forgive by opening my eyes to see that if I would have continued to finish high school where I had lived for 11 years, I very likely would have married the girl I had been dating for several years.  As it was, I ended up marrying the most wonderful woman I know.  God used the mixing bad into my life to bring me the best possible, which has been a blessing everywhere we have served in ministry.   

I have learned from what Jesus said on the cross that people who do what appears evil to you or me do not know what they are doing.  I now see my dad, a God-fearing minister, as well as all of those who had a part of bringing what I felt as pain in my life, did not know what they were doing when they did it.  They thought they did, but they were blind to the bigger picture.  I dread to think of how many times have I hurt someone and did not know what I was doing. So why should I be angry at someone for hurting me when they do not know what they are doing.  I now see it is far better to trust God’s knowledge, love and wisdom than to get upset when something bad happens in my life.  I now see God will use whatever bad it might be, to work TOGETHER with other experiences in my life and good will come out of it.  It may take decades as it did for me, or 13 years as it did for Joseph, but at the end of the day, all is well because of God’s hand working all things together. 

Have you been struggling with something that appears bad in your life?  I suggest you consider trusting more in God’s love for you than in your perspective of your situation.  It is not worth the stress trying to make things happen so you can get what you think is best for you.

I can learn to read, do math, how to behave respectfully, how to cook but can I learn how to love?  I can learn how to behave as though I have love, but can I learn to love or teach others to love with God’s type of love?  I have been pondering this for quite some time.

The Greek language (original language of the New Testament) has four different words for the single English word love.  The Greek word for sexual love (eros) is not taught because it is an instinctive, biological drive imbedded in the body, human or animal.  Because of our self-centered default or having experienced some form of abuse, Phileo (Greek for brotherly love) needs to be taught.  However, even after being learned, it often comes out looking like a tit for tat exchange, meaning that if the recipient does not do their part the initiator stops showing such love.  The mother/parent’s self-giving love (storge) normally comes naturally with the birth or adoption of a child.  Therefore, if teaching is involved it is more of a refinement of a natural love.  The highest Greek term (agape) for a divine selfless love is found deep within a person and cannot be taught.  According to Ezekiel 36:25-27, it comes with the divine gift of spiritual regeneration.  Verse 27 reads … I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (ESV).  The key operative words are my Spirit, cause, walk in and be careful to obey.  Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is love, not of education (Galatians 5:22).  The temptation will be to try to manufacture on your own what only God can give of Himself.  On the human level a person trying to practice this would feel like dutifully loving a spouse while lacking love from the heart that brings a deeper joy.     

I have noted many having prayed an acceptance of Christ and go on to become knowledgeable about the Bible and Christian behavior yet never having experienced an authentic love for Him.  This lack is exposed when they dismiss Jesus’ call to be His apprentice and instead chase after a self-gratifying, fun-loving lifestyle.  This mistake might be compared with confusing an expectant mother’s false labor pains with the real birth of her baby.  Such a person was perhaps being drawn or motivated by a form of peer pressure to come to Christ but lacked the deep humility that gives birth to authentic submission to a Holy God’s authority over them.

In that light, what sort of love do you practice for Christ and others?  If the divine gift of love you once experienced has become smothered with the cares of life or confused with other things, I urge you to take time to clear away the rubble and nurture the flicker of divine love that you DO have.  On the other hand, if you have never experienced a transforming passion for Him, you still have an unbelievable, life-giving experience awaiting you.  It will affect how you see and love others as well.  I urge you to take advantage of the deep intuitive drawing to know God in an intimate way.  You do so by continually surrendering your insistence to make things happen with your own ingenuity.  The benefits of having a deep sense of well-being, a conviction, confidence, and an inner peace are much more profound than anything else life on this earth can offer.  Although you will continually be tempted to respond as you did in your pre-transformed life, there will also be an extra empowerment to do what your new heart desires to do.  Following that internal desire will leave you with a richer satisfaction and pleasure of knowing who you are and why you are on this planet earth as well as knowing the joy of loving others as Christ loves you.  Yes, you will be different from those having never experienced a genuine spiritual regeneration since your identity will now be found in the tribe of your Creator.  You will have no regrets for having chosen to pursue His love.

Being a Christ-follower is very simple—yet most difficult to practice.  Sounds like a paradox. We’ve all said “I want to do whatever He wants.  But He just isn’t telling me what that is.” 

Jesus had fed 5,000 plus people with five barley loaves and two small fish, enough to satisfy one small boy’s hunger.  When the episode was over, the disciples gathered twelve full baskets of left-over broken pieces.  When the crowd realized what had just happened, it dawned on them Jesus was the one the prophet said would come so they wanted to make Him their king.  Knowing their fantasies, Jesus went away to be by himself.

The next day the crowd realized this miracle-worker had gone across the lake so the leaders in the crowd found boats to go enlist Him to be their king.  The leader then asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires? (John 6:28 NIV).  Isn’t this essentially the same question that rattles around in our heads?  Jesus’ answer is profound and applies to us today.   He said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29, NIV)  The text reads they asked about what works (plural) because they were accustomed to fulfilling their long list of things to do to be holy.  Jesus answered saying the work (singular – the only work) God wants you to do is to truly place your confidence in Jesus.  Everything He wants us to do will flow out of fully trusting Him.

Today we can say we have placed our confidence in Jesus, but have we really?  Somewhere through the years having faith in Jesus has become totally separated from becoming His student or disciple.  Such an apprentice is eager to learn and then practice whatever Christ does.  This negligence of emulating the heart of Jesus is prevalent in all too many regular church attenders.  As has been said many times, church members already know far more than they practice.  This unmasks the large gap between today’s church attender and Jesus’ apprentices (disciples) in the early church.

We tell ourselves practicing what Jesus practiced is too hard, maybe impossible, so each of us determine how much space we will give between knowing and learning to literally live with the heart Jesus had.  To be certain, it IS impossible for us to live that kind of life in our own abilities—but then, wasn’t that precisely why the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus was promised to be given to each believer?  Our problem is not that we CANNOT live like our Master, it is that we want to control our lives instead of trusting in Jesus and all He and His Spirit have provided for us in order to be like Him.

The Christian walk is amazingly simple, genuinely believe/trust only in Him; lean not on our understanding.  We glibly say we seek the kingdom of God where He is the sovereign King, not us; yet we discount what we already know what our King has written for us to do—Love Him and Him alone with ALL that is within us.  Our biggest challenge is to deny our insistence to control our agenda in life and do our part to spend quality time talking with Him and obediently take the steps He sets before us.  We don’t have to figure everything out if He has everything well planned for us.  Yes, there will be mountains, dark valleys, potholes, and speedbumps but so what if He works everything for our good.  Can we just accept we won’t know what will be around the next corner as long as we have a firm connection with Him?   We can walk through it all with a deep sense of healthy confidence and well-being plus enjoy the rewards of walking with Him in His path. 

How is your life reflecting the single work of God—just daily resting in your trust in Him?

I love learning new insights, especially those found in the Bible that reveal more about God, His character, values and ways.  The danger in being too eager to learn new things is being so thirsty that I inadvertently drink dirty water without knowing it.  Therefore, I must confirm that any new insight is consistent with what is taught in the rest of Scripture.  Here is how this works.   

Until recently I discovered I had been misinterpreting Jesus’ admonition Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you (Matthew 7:6, ESV).  As so many others, I used to think this verse contrasted the worth of dogs and holiness as well as pearls and pigs.  To me Jesus was telling us not to waste giving a dog what is holy or a pig a pearl.  When I consider that interpretation with what God did in sending Jesus, most certainly a priceless pearl, to earth where He would be rejected and eventually crucified, I realized my interpretation totally misrepresented God’s heart towards the unholy, those who we might consider spiritual swine. 

After pointing out the difference between the spirit of the world and God’s Spirit and how a believer is given the Spirit of God, Paul wrote  … people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means (1 Corinthians 2:14, NLT2).  Among other things, Paul adds clarity to the heart of Jesus’ words about the dogs and pigs.  A pig’s inability to digest a pearl leads him to trample on the pearls, so a person without the Spirit lacks the capacity to digest spiritual truth leading him/her to turn on Christianity.  Both point out the folly of being insensitive to the capacity of others.

When Jesus sent His disciples to preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand, He told them  Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16, NLT2).  Doves are harmless and snakes are shrewd in that they wait for the right time to strike their prey.  His point is, pushing truth down someone’s throat does not represent Jesus’ heart.  Instead, prepare their mind and heart by framing questions or otherwise waiting until they something indicating their heart is open to hear the gospel.  Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did with the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria (John 4:7-26)? 

I wonder how many times I have inadvertently tried to force feed my young daughters, friends or acquaintances a spiritual pearl they were not capable to digest at that time.  Could it be some of our well-intended evangelistic outreaches have been misguided by our zeal to count souls saved instead of converted hearts?  Could it be what leads our children to leave the home and church at the same time is that while their minds understood the rationale of the gospel, their inner being was unable to absorb how the spiritual truth applied to them?   

I suspect too many Christians are either insensitive to one’s spiritual receptivity or are too concerned about a relationship to risk taking the opportunity the Spirit has opened to introduce them to Christ.  Holy Spirit, please help us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves in leading our friends to You and making disciples.  Help us to express Your patience and love for the lost as well as Your boldness as we lead others to You. 

We have all seen it.  A child throws a temper tantrum when a parent refuses their request for a toy, candy or to ride their trike in the street.  How does an adult respond to that type of display of manipulation?  We normally attribute it to their age.  So how do we respond when an adult expresses an adult version of manipulation because they do not get what they want at work, home, on the basketball court or from God? 

When our request is rejected, do we withdraw, become passive resistant, pout, get angry and say things we regret, or pick up our tools (toys) and go home in a huff?  I have not been too extreme, but I have felt the sting of tears and/or withdrawn for a time when God chose not to answer what I thought to be a fair and righteous request.  At other times I imagined an excuse for God not answering and asked again a few days later.     

Having made numerous personal sacrifices and done many miracles with God’s empowerment, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, the infamous apostle Paul asked that God to remove a “thorn in [his] flesh”, a relatively small matter.    What do you suspect Paul’s response was when God’s Spirit told him “No”?  We do know he asked two more times receiving the same answer.  God told him, …”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Instead of being offended he took the lemon and made lemonade.  His words, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  Have you tried that response when God said “No” to you? 

Before Jesus was to be crucified, He offered prayers and pleading, with a loud cry and tears … and he was heard because of his reverent submission (Hebrew 5:7).  Yet God did not give His very own Son what he wanted.  How did Jesus respond?  He continued His prayer saying yet not my will, but yours be done.  Have you had the courage to pray that?   

Some have said we should never pray that way after Jesus paid for our healing on the cross.  We only need to pray in faith believing.  Well, if that is true, Paul was out of line. 

Our response to God’s answer of “No” reveals the level of faith we have in the God we say we love and trust.   Real faith trusts in the love and wisdom of our Sovereign God who sees into the future which we cannot.  He also knows all the desirable benefits for denying our request.  For example, if He had answered Jesus’ request you and I would not have eternal life today! 

Yes, we are told to persist in making our petitions known to God.  However, that doesn’t imply we should arrogantly try to manipulate God into giving us what He knows is not best for His plan for others or ourselves.  We cannot allow our circumstances, no matter how painful or seeming unrighteous they may appear, to affect our faith and trust in our God who created the stars and gave each of them a name.  He has a much larger view of life and knows what is best for all concerned, including us.  Our responses to God reveal to our world what authentic faith in God looks like.  The faith of the three Hebrew young men still inspire us today because they proclaimed to the king, if our God does not deliver us [from the fiery furnace] it will not make the slightest difference, we will not worship another god—not even the desires or rationale of our flesh. [my translation]  What are your responses to God telling others about your faith in God.

All of us live at the mercy of our notions about God.  Those who embrace misleading information about Him are not likely to hear His whispers when making decisions that shape their life.  What is worse is they will miss out on a delightful, intimate relationship with the Almighty God and the complemented regular communication with Him. 

Too often we think we are not holy enough to hear His voice or the other extreme that He is like a heavenly vending machine just waiting to satisfy our desire for comfort, pleasure, health or wealth.  Or we want to hear God’s voice just to know what He wants us to do so we can placate Him.  All such thinking is about us rather than it is about being close friends with Him.  God has created us for intimate friendship with Himself.  A relationship that allows us to regularly hear His whisper is not focused on one’s self but on simply enjoying each other’s presence.  Hearing God regularly is possible only when one seeks to know His heart, values or ways. 

The Bible is not just collection of literary pieces for us to ritually read.  Peter compared it to an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23-25).  Like a seed it is packed with God’s life-giving truth and principles.  When it is read, digested and obeyed it blossoms out into a living reproduction of Christ.  When a person exposes his/her hungry heart to know God in a more personal way, miraculous transformations appear in that person’s way of thinking and thereby way of life. 

The fact is God created us for a relationship with Him just as He created Adam and Eve before their fateful fall.  He longs for us to know Him more fully because we will then discover our deepest joy and peace and significance in life.  Isaiah described this divine desire this way.  Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God  (Exodus 29:45-46 (NIV).   Jesus’ name was Immanuel which means God with us.   John described the natural results of a close relationship by writing You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:14 (NLT2).  Instead of stressing about doing and being what we imagine His will is for us, in close relationship we do it as naturally as we love our spouse or children. 

God’s Word is often pictured as food or bread that we hungrily eat.  It is like the chemical continuation of life.  This assimilation happens as we reflect on His Word, or otherwise absorb it.  As the Spirit whispers to us, just hearing it brings fresh life, energy, confidence, joy and peace that the world can never give.  There are enough rich resources in His Word and the Spirit’s enlightenment to take care of all our spirit, soul and body for today and forever.

How close of a friend are you to God?  Have you found a way to know God through His Word, a way that results in commonly hearing His voice in your intuition?  Do you read His Word as one searching to know another facet of God and His ways, who you are in relationship with Him and what you need to do to honor and glorify Him in practical ways—in contrast to just marking something off your duty list?  Have you made the Bible a rendezvous experience with God and His life?  If not, when you decide to invest your time and passion into exploring the depths of the Bible God, you will discover a deep thirst springing up leaving you longing to know even more.  I know this is true because those very feelings are what have energized my passion to pursue knowing more of Him for decades.