Tag: quiet time

“Blessed Rather are Those Who Hear the Word of God and Keep It (Lk. 11:28)

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional1 Comment

Have you ever wondered that hearing might not be enough?  Hearing doesn’t really do anyone any good.  To hear the Word of God is only part of the matter.  To keep the Word of God… now that is something other than hearing.

What does it mean to keep the word of God? Do we hold on to a Bible somewhere for safe “keeping” or do we keep it like we “keep” our wedding vows?  The one who hears and keeps is blessed, more blessed than Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Does all this Word of God “keeping” sound like good works to you?  Maybe it’s just a good relationship.  Those who know God will relate to Him like He is God. It’s a far greater blessing to know Jesus as the Messiah than to know Him like a mother knows her son.  Isn’t that the point.

Keep the Word of God, not because it’s a work by which one merits eternal life… no rather, keep the word of God because one has stood in your place and kept the law for you.  One has made you holy.  One has made you perfect.  One has made you acceptable before God.

Isn’t that the “word of God” we are supposed to hear… the gospel?  And doesn’t the gospel require faith from us? And in that faith we respond to what Christ has done by trusting him to do what He said He would do.  Keeping the Word of God then is to keep Christ as our righteousness.  To keep trusting Him, to keep a hold of Him, to allow him to transform us… change us… make us into his image.  It’s better to know Jesus as a Savior than a son indeed.

Father,

Thank you for working our my salvation.  Thank you that I come to you, not in my own merit and strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ.  I pray that I will not just hear your word today, but that I will keep it.  I pray that I will be the blessed man in Proverbs 1.

“You Give Them Something To Eat” (Lk. 9:13)

On By pastorjonathanIn DevotionalLeave a comment

There they were on the side of the mountain and late into the day.  The people were listening to Jesus preach, but it became apparent that they needed a break to get something to eat.  Eating is necessary after all.  Eating is what sustains us, it keeps up alive. Necessities of life were encroaching upon meeting.  They could go on meeting, but they could not go on without food.

The plan was to dismiss the crowd.  The disciples had determined that.  We don’t have enough, let them go into the villages and purchase food.  Who knows perhaps this would have been an economic stimulus for the area they were in.  But Jesus had other plans.  He looks at his disciples and says, “You give them something to eat.”

I’m sure they looked around at each other at this point.  They thought, “We don’t have anything, well not much anyway… maybe one man’s lunch, but not enough for the crowd.”  But he takes it, he takes those small rations.  He holds them out and blesses them and begins to pass out food to feed the multitude.

But, wait, there is more to this story that just plain old white bread.  Jesus was meeting a physical need.  He was feeding the hungry.  Just like Moses called on God and God provided the manna.  Jesus was saying here that he would provide for all that we needed.  Not just physically, but spiritually as well.  He is the Bread of Life!

So then I remember, this is how ministry works.  I truly have nothing to offer, nothing much anyhow. Nothing apart from His blessing.  Nothing apart from His hands. He is the one that takes my weakness and exploits it for kingdom gain.  He is the one ultimately opens his word before me to feed me and a whole multitude beside.

Father,

I remember today how little I have to offer you and how gracious you are to multiply your grace to me and many more besides.  Use me today to open your word before your people.  I am nothing if I am not in your hands.

And What Shall We Do? (Luke 3:14)

On By pastorjonathanIn DevotionalLeave a comment

The issue of repentance is tricky business.  There is more to repentance than intention.  There is action! When it was time to prepare the way of the Messiah.  When it was time to set things right.  John called people to repent.  Repent not just of having wrong intentions, but of doing wrong things.

You see that is where I struggle.  That is where I get confused.  I try and repent with my intentions, but leave off the action part. Repentance means turning over every misplaced stone in my life and putting it where it belongs. I often turn over the stone, but seldom do I work up the courage to place the stone where it belongs.  Repentance means doing the right thing, not just talking about the right thing.

Did you notice what repentance looked like when John spelled it out the people who were asking?  It was a matter of justice.  Repentance was a matter of treating your neighbor right, providing for those who had need, and being content with what you have. Speaking of being content…  Am I content?

To not be content is to want more.  To not be content is to covet (and last I checked, “do not covet” is still in the top 10 commandments).  Coveting is the enemy of loving my neighbor. I can’t love my neighbor and be coveting his stuff.  Even if I’m not coveting his stuff  I will love stuff so much that I won’t care about his condition.  After all isn’t coveting what would prompt a man who had two tunics not to share with the guy that didn’t have one (Lk. 3;11)?  It’s not wrong to have two tunics, but it is wrong to love your second tunic more than you love your brother. So repentance is action.  It’s giving me second tunic to my brother who is in need.

Father,

It all belongs to you.  Search my heart today.  Help me to see every stone that needs to be set right.  Give me the courage to set things right in my life.  People are more valuable to you than stuff.  I ask that stuff would never come in the way of me serving you.

Problems in Paridise (Ecclesiastes 3)

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional, spiritual disciplinesLeave a comment

Ok here is the drill. I’ve been keeping up with chris aiken’s blog. He posts his devotional thoughts in real time via his daily blog post. So somewhere between 6-7am you can catch his thoughts.

I wish I functioned like Chris does in the mornings. I post earlier in the morning before I go to bed (it’s around 12:30 as I write this). There is a lot more to it than that, but it should explain why I post earlier than my good friend and pastor Chris Aiken.

Everything has it’s time
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)

This is a sobering reality in the world in which we live. God has a plan and a purpose for everything. This makes God a little difficult to understand when we are hurting in the short term. We wonder at how God can take the bad things, even evil things and use them for our good (Genesis 50:20). We wonder, “how can God cause anything good to come out of this?”

Quite frankly that’s how this week started for me. Sunday from sun-up to sun-down I was dealing with the darker shades of life. Many of the situations were well beyond my control.

Solomon’s advice here is to not let what “we cannot know destroy what we can enjoy” (Tommy Nelson). God is good and ultimately what He decrees will prevail, even through short term pain (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

There is a time for everything and God is good. Ultimately his goodness will shine through, even on the darkest days.

Application:
How do you handle it when bad things happen? Are you quick to blame others for your circumstances?

What are your thoughts on Ecclesiastes 3?

How to Have a Daily Worship Time

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional, discipleship, spiritual disciplines1 Comment

What is a Daily Worship Time (DWT)?

A daily worship time is a special time set aside for an individual to grow closer to God.  The DWT most often includes practical and consistent excercise of spiritual disciplines (bible study, prayer, silence, fasting,etc.).  This practice has various other names, such as a daily ‘”quiet time” or “personal devotions”, the name doesn’t matter as much as the concept of intentionally putting ourselves in a place where we are more likely to hear from God.

When Should I have a my Daily Worship Time?

Daily worship times really work best for me when scheduled in the morning before breakfast.  I personally like this time because it helps me start my day out right.  On days that I have missed my DWT, or done it later in the day, I can really tell a difference.  This may be hard for some people because it requires self-discipline.  This early morning time is somewhat important for me, but you haven’t blown it if you need to set up another time.  It is better to be consistent with your DWT than it is to be early and not consistent.  If you have never had a consistent DWT before, you may want to schedule a time with Jesus  (ex. before breakfast, when you get home from school, or 8PM every evening).  You may want to set an alarm clock to remind you or leave yourself notes.   Make it as important as if you were meeting one of your best friends (after all you are meeting with Jesus).

What do I do for a Daily Worship Time?

Many people do different things for their daily worship time.  The main thing is that the focus is on learning about and worshiping God.  Even though people do their DWT differently there are some elements that  should always be involved.

The first important element of a DWT is reading God’s Word. It is by reading what God has said about Himself that we learn about who God is.  When we read His word we are reminded of his unchanging character.  You can learn more about how to read God’s word here.

Another element essential to a DWT is  Prayer. Prayer is how we communicate with God and verbally submit our lives to him.  Through prayer we recognize His ability and our inability over people and circumstances.  There are many parts to prayer, but the main parts are:  recognizing who God is, recognizing our need for God, submitting our lives (and specifically each day) to God, asking God for direction, and asking God to move and work in the lives of other people. I will post more on prayer later.

Some people like to include a Journal as part of their DWT. This is a notebook where you can record your thoughts about who God is or how you need to respond to Him.  A journal can consist of just a few short notes or well thought out paragraphs.  When I was younger and had a hard time praying, I would write out my prayers to Jesus in a journal.  Since then it has been a blessing to look back at my journals and see who and what I was praying for and how God answered those prayers.

Many people like to sing as part of their DWT. They use music to proclaim their delight in God or to remind them of certain things about God like His love or His faithfulness.  We have a few  awesome worship teams at our church both on Sundays and Wednesday nights with our students who have introduced me to several great songs.  If I hear a song that really speaks to me, or reminds me of a particular truth about God, I will do a word search and get a copy of the music and memorize the song so I can sing it during this time. Some of you are very musically gifted and will write songs of praise based off of what you have learned about God in your DWT.

I strongly recommend that near the end of your DWT that you write out what your response to God should be. This allows you to apply God’s word to your life and how you live.  In my own DWT  I call these action steps.  Action steps are practical ways that you will apply the truth you learn each day to your life.  You can read more about action steps in the second half of this post.

A Few Tips on How to Read the Bible

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional, spiritual disciplines3 Comments

When I was little I knew that it was important to read the Bible, but I didn’t know how.  I used to flip open my Bible and what ever passage it opened to I would read.  I heard a preacher tell a story about a man who was looking for God’s will like that.  He flipped open his Bible and placed his finger on a verse and it said, “Judas went out and hung himself.”  He thought, “that can’t be God’s will for my life.  I need to try again.”  He did it again and this time it came up, “Go thou and do likewise.” We know God would never tell us to go hang ourselves, this man’s idea about how to hear from God was a little flawed.

My bible at Whirled Cup Cafe

Needless to say you don’t normally get a lot from reading the Bible like that.  You can’t get a lot from any book by doing that, especially God’s word.  When it comes to God’s word there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.

1.) The Bible is a collection of books. The Bible is collection of books and those books were meant to be read just like any other book, from beginning to end.  That is how we can make the most sense of other books.  That is how we can make the most sense out of God’s word.

2.)  We call the Bible God’s word because it is what God has told us about Himself. It is a record of how God has dealt with mankind through the centuries.  Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us,”God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His son.” The Bible is the recorded word of God and so when we read it, whether we are reading about Noah and the Flood, or Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we can rest assured that God has given us His word in order to reveal Himself.  So as we study the Bible we need to ask, “What is God saying about Himself ?”  The story of Noah and the ark isn’t about a floating zoo, its about God’s grace in saving Noah, God’s intolerance of sin, and so much more!  We read God’s word to learn about God.

3.)  But we don’t stop there, we also need to apply it to our lives and so we should ask a second question, “What should my response be to what I have just learned to be true about God?”  We want to be a responsive people.  Think about it.  Why did God give you His word?  He shows you who He is through His word and so as our understanding of God changes our response to God changes.  We can not be the same people.

These two questions help me to develop resolutions or what I like to call action steps. Action steps are tangible things that I can do in my life that day to put into practice what I have learned to be true about Jesus.  They can be as simple and general as “I’m going to call out to Jesus every time I am tempted today because he knows what it was like to be tempted and was yet without sin” (Matthew 4).  Or they can be as specific and complex as, “I am going to ask my mother to forgive me because I was a jerk to her last night because Jesus commands his followers to live in a right relationship with others” (Matthew 5:24).

——————————————————————————————————————-

Just to recap, here are the highlights.

1. Read a book of the bible in the order it was written (don’t randomly flip open the bible and throw your finger down in the middle).

2. Ask two important questions….

  • What does this say about God?
  • How should I respond to God?

3. Use those questions to help you formulate resolutions or action steps

—————————————————————————————————————————

Looking for a place to start?

If you are new to this bible reading thing or haven’t done it in a while and you are looking for a place to start, I encourage you to check out the blog of my friend (and pastor) Chris Aiken.  Each morning he reads a proverb and a chapter from another book of the Bible.  He then makes a blog post commenting on the chapter of scripture he read.  What is really neat about the blog format is that you can post questions or responses to each daily reading.  You can find his blog at http://www.chrisaiken.wordpress.com