Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” -Psalm 46:10

Surprise, surprise! Another song has led me down the path of discovery in the Lord. As before, even though this “lesson” was intended for me, I want to share it with you. Perhaps you will find some application in your life as well. Read more »

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Have you given up on your dreams? Or do you feel your dreams have given up on you?

Do the things you dream about, wish about, and pray about seem further away than ever?

If so, then give those dreams to God. Surrender the things you dream about to our Heavenly Father. Look to Him and listen to Him. He dreams more than enough for you.

As He says in Jeremiah 29:11,
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

[That you may really come] to know [practically,through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
Ephesians 3:16-19
Amplified Bible

Take some time today to meditate on these verses. I especially love the Amplified Bible translation because of its full, rich, wording bringing out the abundance and lavishness of that love.

The passage speaks of the love of God which we can begin to experience only through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I can add but little to its already complete description of the love we can experience when Christ comes to dwell in our very being through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, we often do not experience that love to its fullest because we do not take the time to sit with Jesus.

Sit with Him today. Read this passage and allow the Holy Spirit to “amplify” in His own way the love God feels for you.

Love,
Brother Bill

About the Author:

Bill Walker is the creator and webmaster of Everyday Christianity, which provides ministry and resources for Christian families. This article may be reprinted in your e-zine, e-book and/or on your web site so long as it includes this resource box and a link back to the website at http://www.EverydayChristianity.com.

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The song He is Here is one of my favorites. I heard it at Christmas time a few years ago and, of course, that is the appropriate time because that is when we think of Jesus’ birth and that He is Emanuel, God with us.

However, the thought occurred to me that we need to know as Christians that God is always here with us.

At His birth, his mission was to redeem us from sin and restore a relationship with God the Father by dying on that terrible cross. Quite simply, that was the plan and Jesus fulfilled His mission for you and for me. Read more »

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here I am, Lord
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord
If you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart

(Words and Music by Dan Schutte, 1981; adapt. by Carlton R. Young, 1988)

A number of years ago my dear friend, Robbie, gave me new insight into the significance of this song. We must have been singing it in a service and I told her how much I liked it. She said something like, “But have you ever thought of the seriousness of the words—about what you’re saying when you sing this song?”

And, therein, lies the beginning of another journey with the Lord…

I had to admit to her–and myself–that, no, I really hadn’t thought much about it. The song is so upbeat and we usually sing it with such enthusiasm that it gives the impression that I’m ready to do anything for the cause of Jesus. “Send me anywhere, Lord! I’ll do anything! I’ll go to Africa (or the popular third-world continent of the month) and be a missionary! I’ll lay my life on the line for You, Lord! I’ll drop everything to serve you!”

But then I begin to sound like Peter—the pre-crucifixion version—ready to walk on water, even get in front of Jesus’ face and stop Him from going to the cross, or run out and cut off someone’s ear. Peter was ready all right—before the arrest actually came and he was recognized by an adolescent girl and challenged as a friend of Christ.

Poor impulsive Peter. Yeah, and poor reluctant me! And perhaps I am not alone in not really considering the cost of volunteering for duty.

The song comes from Isaiah 6, where the prophet says, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV)

The Lord’s call can elicit varied responses from us, but basically they seem to fall into one of two categories. The first one—the one Isaiah gives—might be termed:

“What do you want me to do, Lord?”

To be fair, let’s look at the event that led up to Isaiah’s rush to volunteer—with no details about what he was to do, I might add.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

“And they called to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’

“At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“’Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among the people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’

“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’

(Isaiah 6:1-7 NIV)

At this point, Isaiah, steps up front and center and volunteers.

Now, although none of us, probably, are called exactly as the prophet Isaiah, he was just a human being—as are you and I. When I put myself in his place—as little as I can imagine it and feel it–it’s a vast understatement to say that this was quite an impressive scene.

Let’s say that any of us has witnessed such a spectacle. The often-overused word awesome comes to mind. Although the word awesome is used to describe everything from a meal to a movie to a praise and worship song and more, surely no one would argue that it is misused in this regard. In fact, it falls short of describing the effect of being in the presence of, and beholding, Almighty God. Moses could not see the face of God because it would be fatal, but Isaiah apparently does such a thing and, quite naturally, believes he is not long for this world.

Then his lips are made clean by one of the seraphim–the highest order of angels–who serve God.

Then, Almighty God asks the all-important question. I’d like to think that, under these overwhelming conditions that I, too, would raise my hand in the air and wave it wildly like a kid who finally knows the right answer in school, and say, “Me, me! I’ll go!”

But then, I come back to reality and I know: Many times I know as well as I’m sitting here that the Lord is calling me to do something and yet…I…hesitate. Oh, if it falls into the category of calling the equipped, I’ll gladly answer the call. “Yes, Lord, I’ll go.” In fact, these times usually call for me to do something I know entails the use of gifts and talents I know I already have—those that are well within my comfort zone. To be honest, I don’t have to even wait for a call in these situations but often tell Him, “Lord, let me serve here.”

Now, I’m saying this in full recognition that God does give us particular gifts and talents and directs us in their use. And we are expected to use them. He knows us better than we know ourselves and gives us outlets for service which are useful in the Kingdom and—surprise, surprise!—are even pleasurable to us. But doesn’t He equip the called as well? Might we be called to step out in faith and do something that does not seem to fit in with our individual gifts and/or talents?

In those instances—when a challenge is presented in response to my “What do you want me to do, Lord?” my question becomes:

“Lord! You want me to do WHAT?”

Now, Isaiah didn’t flinch when the Lord told him what the task was. Let’s continue Isaiah’s story.

“He said, ‘Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing. But never perceiving.’

Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’” (v9-10)

I would probably have said something like, “Well, then…what’s the point? It looks like a waste of time and energy, as well as being potentially embarrassing—or worse.”

But then, that’s me—not Isaiah.

The remembrance of “Here I Am, Lord”, and the experience with Robbie, came to mind only recently. I’ve been rereading Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. In writing about how God usually responds to our request that He “enlarge my territory”, Bruce says,

“As God’s chosen, blessed sons and daughters, we are expected to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed…unless God steps in. Take a minute to prayerfully comprehend how contrary that truth is to everything you would humanly choose: it goes against common sense, it contradicts your previous life experience, it seems to disregard your feelings, trainings, and need for security; it sets you up to look like a fool and a loser. Yet it is God’s plan for His most-honored servants.”

Wilkinson goes on, “For most of us our reluctance comes from getting our numbers right, but our arithmetic wrong. For example, when we’re deciding what size territory God has in mind for us, we keep an equation in our heart that adds up something like this:

“My abilities + experience + training + my personality and appearance + my past + the expectations of others = my assigned territory.

“No matter how many sermons we’ve heard about God’s power to work through us, we simply gloss over the meaning of that one little word through. Sure, we say we want God to work through us, but what we really mean is by or in association with. Yet God’s reminder to us is the same one He gave the Jews when they returned from captivity to a decimated homeland: ‘Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’ (Zechariah 4:6)

“Our God”, Wilkinson continues, “specializes in working through normal people who believe in a supernormal God who will do His work through them. What He’s waiting for is the invitation. That means God’s math would look more like this:

“My willingness and weakness + God’s will and supernatural power = my expanding territory.”

For all his impulsiveness and reliance on his own strength, when Peter stepped out of the boat in response to Jesus, he started out correctly, with his eyes on Jesus. As long as he did that, he was okay. It was only when he shifted his gaze from Jesus to consider the circumstances—the waves–that he began to sink.

Lord, let me remember that I do nothing for you out of my own strength; that it is not by my might nor by my power but by Your spirit. Today I step out of the boat relying fully on You.

Today, let me join You in Your work.

Love,
Brother Bill

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“When you get this concept into your mind and heart it will totally revolutionize your life.”

That’s just the way the Lord said it to me. And just what is this revolutionary concept? His all-consuming, unconditional love for me. And each of you can say the same of yourself. Read more »