Mountains to molehills
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ~1 Corinthians 13:2
A while back God really pressed upon my heart to pray for someone. I was in a broken place, a place where God’s voice and direction could not have been any clearer. And so I prayed. I prayed ferverently, both day and night, when I woke, when I went to bed, any moment I thought about this person, I prayed. Sometimes it was just a quick thought other times it was a long conversation but I have never prayed that hard in my entire life.
For 6 weeks this went on, day after day. And then one day I was given some information that forced me to a decision. You see, Satan whispers in our ears, and sometimes those words come out in our conversations with others. I should have seen this, looking back, but I took it and used to rashly. Simply put, I gave up on this person.
I wrote about this before, Daniel 10:12-13 talks about an Angel sent to Daniel as an answer to his prayers to God and how that Angel was caught up with a demon for 21 days fighting to keep him from coming. If Daniel had just given up praying on day 11 or day 20 would his answer have come?
I believe that part of the reason I gave up was because I gave up on God. Satan knew exactly what words would bring me to despair and drive me away from God. He knew what my prayers were doing, changing lives through the spiritual. And he would stop at nothing to make sure I stopped.
I pushed and pushed and pushed through the weeds that entangled me over the last several months. At times I felt like I was walking in knee deep mud in the pitch black. I couldn’t see Jesus but I knew He was there somewhere ahead so I kept on moving, even if at a snails pace. Something special happened. The closer I got the more the Lord pressed that same person on my heart again. I hadn’t blown it. There was still time. I had forgotten one thing, written here in Amos:
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth-
the LORD God Almighty is his name. ~Amos 4:13
He formed the mountains and reveals His thoughts to me!! How much easier is my small little bump in the road for Him? My little hill… I had faith that He could change lives through my prayer and yet I gave up after only 6 weeks. In my world I lacked the true love needed for this person and gave up far to easy.
We serve such a BIG God. A God who formed the mountains and treads the high places. A God who told us if we only had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains ourselves. When I was little I imagined this God fuming when I failed. As I’ve grown I’ve recognized His compassion and grace. I see Him now pleading and weeping for me to continue praying.
I’m beginning to understand the love my Savior has for me and the charge He’s placed on me to love others and continue to pray for them. My sins held Him to the cross and He still found it in His heart to love me and He intercedes for me dispite my shortcomings(Romans 8:34).
My point is, recognize how big our God is, how much He loves us and desires good for us, and how really simplistic the tasks He asks us to do are. Prayer can not only change lives, but the world.
Paycheck to Paycheck
Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. ~Mark 10:21
“I’m living paycheck to paycheck.” You’ve probably heard this phrase used before. But is it such a bad thing, when done for the right reason?
I’ve been wrestling lately with the idea of tithes and giving gifts to the Lord. Whether or not to actually do it, isn’t the question, but the faith behind it is what has been stirring up inside of me.
The world tells us to store up and prepare. That’s why we have saving accounts and 401k’s so that we can “retire happy”. Maybe my argument here is radical and over the top but I suggest that the less money you have the happier you will be. There are some conditions to this but here me out:
1. Know Christ.
2. Trust Christ.
When we know Christ as our Lord and Savior our lives are drastically changed. Matthew 4:19 Jesus says “Come, follow me”. Immediately they drop their nets and follow Him. They didn’t ask, but how will we eat? They simply obeyed. Read Mark 12:41-44. This poor widow comes and puts everything she has to live on in this basket for the Lord. She didn’t ask, but how will I eat? She simply obeyed.
My argument is this: if you are living paycheck to paycheck because you are buying “things” and “stuff” you are going to be miserable. Things will not fill the void in your soul. But if you are living paycheck to paycheck because you are giving out of an abundance of joy to the Lord He will bless you over and over and your life with be filled with happiness. Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow and not to worry about the clothes we will wear or how we will put food on our plate, but that the God of heaven is faithful to his servants.
It takes a lot of faith to go against the grain. To forgo safety and security in this life is contrary to everything this world teaches. I feel that if this “experiment” were to take place in ones life, even other Christians would mock the “insanity” of it.
What would happen if we lived paycheck to paycheck for the Lord? What would happen if every extra dime we had went to the Lord? What if I saw someone who needed a coat and gave them mine? What if I saw a need and fulfilled it? I believe life altering, world shattering events would happen.
The other day I talked about the authority Christ has given us. This is part of it. If we grabbed hold of these concepts as Christians and truly united on one front we really could turn this world upside down.
Do you want it? I know I do. I want to be known as “insane”.
the hardest way to live
hey everyone,
thanks so much for all of your fantastic insight into this issue. i resonate with everything that was written and struggle with the implications of being a peacemaker in this world of violence. it is quite simply the most difficult way to live.
i have questioned, for quite some time, why it seems to be true that Christians (more than other people i speak with) have a hard time accepting that God asks us to love (and do good) to our enemies, to bless those who curse us and to turn the other cheek. not only does he ask us to live this way, but God himself lived this way through Jesus Christ.
why is it that we praise the martyrs of 1st and 2nd century christianity, but we are now baffled by those who would rather die and kill?
why do we continue to pluck out our brother’s and sister’s eyes for the wrongs they have committed against us?
why do we battle other christians, showing no love or compassion in our words, over trivial matters of theology?
why do we believe we can be pacifists by abstaining from physical violence, while neglecting to be peacemakers with our words?
the answer to all of these questions really is very simple…it’s not easy. Christ showed us the beautiful and selfless way of the cross, but we will always prefer the quick and easy way of the sword.
we still desire that which is the easiest and least costly.
if only we really believed what our Savior did and said.
peace
-dave-
Defiant
“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion” – 1 Peter 5:8
Have you ever heard the saying “everything comes in 3’s.”? It’s a common theme, you get a new car cheap, and find a $5 bill on the floor of the local stop and shop and one of your friends mentions “hey what’s next? Good things come in 3’s.”, and vice versa for bad things.
Let me walk you through the last month of my life: I got severally sick for 2 weeks(bed ridden for days at a time), my heat broke, I ran out of heating oil, I hurt my back to where I thought I had just had back surgery again, I was down to my last dollar, a girl at work is trying to make my job hard and for some reason doesn’t like me, and as soon as I fixed my heat, it broke again, only this time I need an entire new heating system!
You know what my plans were in that month? I started a Bible study and I taught awana(kids church). I can say with certainty that had I not done those two things my problems would have went away. My heat probably wouldn’t have broken, the girl at work would probably be cordial, and my back would feel great.
Satan knows the power of the word(1 Thessalonians 1:5) because he knows the Bible inside and out.(Matt 4:6). If you begin taking on the tasks God has given you, if you decide to change and live for Christ you are going to feel it. It will not be easy. He is not going to come at you and prick your finger with a pin. He will come at you like a roaring lion looking to devour you.
Several years ago I gave up. Any little bump in the road caused me to stumble. It didn’t even need to be my bump! “Oh they disrespected my dad? Well, I’m not going to that church then!” I’m 26yrs old and I’ve been through some crazy trials in my short years. And up until recently each one had the desired affect that satan was looking for.
Then something happened. I chose not to live for this earth. I still struggle, sure, but my focus is elsewhere. I started my Bible study, I taught those little kids, and the trials got worse. Some how I need to come up with $4,000 for a heating system.
When it first happened over the weekend I got a little down. How am I gonna do this? Then I got defiant. I got mad. But not at God. I became defiant to the devil’s tricks and lies. To his manipulation of my situation. I prayed. I prayed while I drove, I prayed while I ate, I prayed while I slept.
You do not control my situation. I will submit to my God’s will and will remain in the places He has me. Jesus, help me in my time of trouble. You are in control and because of this I know I will not freeze to death, I know I will not go hungry. I know my pain is temporary.
I know I am in God’s will because I’m being hammered from every direction. I’m making a difference, some way, some how, for God’s kingdom. Satan knows it and he’s trying to break me down. I don’t see the difference I’m making and maybe I never will but I know it’s happening.
BRING IT ON.
I am defiant and I’m angry. Take anything you want from me satan because I’ve already won. My soul has been won. I have been bought with a price and I will let everyone know you are a liar and the blood that covers me covers them as well. I have fallen on a stone not cut with hands(Daniel 2:34) and have been broken(Matthew 21:44) for the glory of my Lord and Savior. These cheap tricks will not work on me any longer. This world, this house, these clothes, mean nothing. Take it. I’m out to save lives.
