Tag Archives: Jeremiah 29:13

Flight or fight

 

I suspect we are all familiar with the phrase “fight or flight” and how we tend to pursue one strategy or the other when confronted with stressful situations. In truth, I think most of us would rather flee from our crushing circumstance than stay around and face them in battle. Our first prayer is likely, “Get me out of here Lord” instead of “Help me to stand firm in the battle and let me honor you.”

 

It’s natural to want to escape the pain and chaos in our lives. Given the chance, we’d gladly press the Fast Forward button on life’s remote control and skip past the crummy parts if only we could. Don’t see them as wasteful disruptions to our lives? But here’s the truth. Pain, chaos, and disturbing interruptions ARE our life.  They come as a bundle package along with the comfort, joy, and love we experience along the way.

 

Beyond running marathons and triathlons, the real key to building strength is to find meaning, purpose, and even joy in the midst of our troubles. We want to choose flight from our woes, but it is in learning to fight that which strives to defeat us, that we build strength and endurance. Be it money, the fight for control, or even death, we might as well face it with a well planned winning strategy because victories don’t come by chance. One strategy is to focus on the source of the problem which is also the source of the solution.

 

I remember Evelyn Christiansen’s book, Lord Change Me. She went to church, studied the bible, and prayed while her husband stayed at home, having nothing of it. Furthermore, his belligerent attititude and lack of gratitude or appreciation for his wife made for an unpleasant marriage. For years she prayed for God to make her marriage better. “Lord change him,” she would plead over and over. Until one day, she became convicted by the Holy Spirit that God was interested in changing her heart. It was her resentment and bitterness and disappointment that he wanted to change. As she obeyed God in praying for her to be a more loving wife, her husband took notice and her marriage improved.

 

We often assume that where there is conflict the problem is with the other person. Lord change them is our plea too. But whether it is an annoying or abusive person, or a situation like pain or suffering that oppresses us, the prayer strategy that works is Lord Change me. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t pray for the other person, or the pain to be removed. But it shouldn’t the center of our prayers. A better approach is to focus on God’s greatness and drawing closer to him. It seems to me that one of the primary reasons for prayer is not to beg for changing others or our life lot, but to change us. Create in me a clean O Lord. Renew a right Spirit within me. Draw me closer to you.

God’s mercy and power and bestowed on those who seek him with all their heart. (Jeremiah  29:13)

 

 

Ask God to search your heart and see how many times the source of the problem – and the first step toward a solution – is within you. Don’t let selfish pride get in the way. Confess and let him show you how to fight in prayer. Ptrayer releasesmGod’s power. learn to fight in his strength.m

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Corinthians 7:14

We’re called to the battlefield to proclaim Christ,, the King of kings, Lord of lords. We need a generation of believers not only to stand up for their faith but to kneel in prayer to build it up. Will you fight for God’s best in your life today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finding what you’re not looking for

 

I like the story of the man who went into a barbershop for a haircut and a shave. As the barber worked, he and the barber talked about a number of things, eventually coming to the subject of God. “I don’t believe God exists,” said the barber. The surprised customer asked, “Why?” The barber replied, “If you just go out into the street you’ll see people who are sick, abused children, and suffering everywhere. If God existed, there wouldn’t be such a mess. I can’t imagine a God who would allow such things!” The customer didn’t reply but simply left the shop when his haircut was finished. A few moments later, he returned to the shop and told the barber, “I don’t believe that barbers exist.” The astounded barber asked, “How can you say that? I’m a barber and I just cut your hair!” But the customer insisted, “No, if there were barbers there wouldn’t be people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards.” The barber replied, “But barbers do exist. Those people just didn’t come to see me.” The customer smiled and concluded, “Exactly! God exists too! Because people do not look to God for help is why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

 

It’s true, isn’t it? Sometimes we don’t find God in our day because we aren’t looking for him. We don’t come to him. But (thank God) God seeks us even when we’re not looking for him. He draws us to himself even when when we’re far away. “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.'” Isaiah 65:1

 

Discover how real God is today. Seek him and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

 

Advent – waiting in obedience; seeking God’s will

The angel of the Lord came to Mary and spoke the prophecy to her. She would give birth to the savior of the world. “Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:38

There is much that confounds me about Luke’s accounting of the prophecy of Jesus’s conception and birth. The angel appears to Mary and she doesn’t freak out. She accepts that it is the angel of the lord. He says she will give birth even though she remains a virgin. She asks about this but readily accepts the incredulous explanation. And she responds with such faith, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

I completely believe this account and yet still find Mary’s faith so remarkable and such an every-day reality. I find it likely you and I might have been taken more off guard and perhaps with more to say about the events that were to pass. I mean, an angel of the lord comes to your door. What is YOUR reaction?

As we discussed before, God looks for “FAT” followers, that is, those who are Faithful, Available, and Teachable. Especially in this advent season let us find ourselves actively seeking God’s presence throughout each day, faithfully waiting for the revelation of his plan for us, and in obedience to his call. Let’s have the attitude of “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

“You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Follow Your Heart?

Have you ever received or maybe even given this advice? You’re facing a difficult decision, fraught with anxiety and not sure which direction to turn, and someone comes up and says, “Just follow your heart.” Is this good advice?

If we trust our hearts to be good and just and wise, we may consider this to be a good alternative to the confusion of following our minds. After all, there is this thing called “irrational rationality” that is created when we think and think and finally convince ourselves something is right when it is not. Say the word ‘rationalize’ really slowly and you will come to hear “rational lies” that we and others tell us. So in that context, listening to our heart may seem a good alternative. But what does God say about that?

Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Acting out of passion is zealous but not always wise. Can you remember times when you or a loved one acted out of the passion of their heart and regretted the outcome? I have done this, even sometimes when doing a good thing, but rashly and not getting God’s counsel on the matter first. And I have followed my heart to bad things too.

Psalm 139:23 offers a measured approach: “Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.” The one who created us, knows our thoughts when we rise and when we lay down. He knows the condition of our hearts and He alone can reveal to us and convict us of our innermost thoughts and motivations. His point of view clarifies truth when all around there seems to be confusion. He brings peace to our heart when it seems at war. He stills us and leads us when we feel like we are being rushed and pushed in different directions, He calms us when we are obsessed, and convicts us of both the wrong and the right in our hearts.

Isn’t it GOD’s heart we need to pursue and not our own? After all, His heart pursues us! We were on His mind when He laid the foundations of the earth, He created us and knit us together in our mother’s womb, He sent His son to rescue us while we were still sinners. There is no getting our act together and THEN coming to God. He came out running after us while we were still astray. God has a heart that loves us more than we can imagine and His love never fails. His heart has good plans for us, plans for real hope and a good future.

Don’t follow your heart; follow God’s heart.

“You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with ALL your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Guess Who’s Talking?!

All throughout your day you are surrounded by sounds and voices, many of them directed at you, clamoring for your attention. People need your help, your recommendation, your approval, your response to some event or action. Staff, children, the boss, neighbors, and so many more all speaking to you. But did you know also that God is speaking to you throughout the day? This is not an adventure where we get our marching orders in morning devotionals and then report back at bedtime prayers. Our loving God is a personal God who goes WITH US wherever we travel throughout the day. And always He is ready to speak to us, guide us, comfort and strengthen us for the demands of the day.

Henry Blackaby wrote a book, Experiencing God, where he observes that God can use any means within His imagination to get our attention. Likely, it won’t be a burning bush, a talking donkey, or handwriting on the wall…but it could! More often, God speaks to us through people, His Word, circumstances, prayer, and our thoughts guided by the Holy Spirit.

God is always reaching out to benefit us. He speaks to us because He loves us and wants to draw us near to Him and help us discover His best for us, throughout each day.

But how do we attune to His voice? The answer is simple but not easy. We need to view and live our day with Him in mind. Whatever else we have on our agenda, however seemingly important, is secondary to our focus on who God is and who we are in His sight. When we seek to delight Him and enjoy Him in all we do, we will hear His voice speak to us and we will find ourselves delighted.

He is speaking now. Our job is to listen throughout the day…and respond.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.” John 13:7
“You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Can We Have It All?

“You can have it all.” Wherever you turn, this proclamation confronts you, either as a direct quote or an implied fact: whatever you want, you can have it. After all, we live in the land and time of opportunity, right?

Often in our struggle to ‘have it all’ the focus turns to work-life ‘balance’. Questions like, “How can I succeed and advance at work while balancing my responsibilities to family?” It seems we approach life balance as if it were an acrobatic act. How many things can I juggle without dropping one? Have you ever felt that way? Maybe that’s where you are now, trying to balance:
Career, marriage, children
Money, home, hobbies
Facebook friends, family, future dreams
Ministry, personal goals, family
(Can I have a slice of God and a side of purposeful living with that?)

One of the problems with ‘balancing’ life is that it is not easily separated into categories that give themselves well to compartments. If you have ever carried family struggles to work or work problems home, you know what I mean. Author Myron Rush said it well in Lord of The Marketplace. We don’t have a secular life and a sacred life. We have just one life to live. It is not either quality or quantity of time and effort. It is “both-and.” One life is lived with one purpose.

This life is not so much balanced as it is blended.

If there were a recipe for a well-lived life it certainly would not keep all the ingredients separated in their own containers. Instead, all the ingredients must be blended together in proportion with one another. If we approach life in this manner, it seems we can have it all. You can eat your cake and have it too. At least to the extent that we live each day with ‘all’ our being, all that God has created us to be. If God has the very best plan for us, then bringing all our desires and ambitions in alignment with His seems to be the key to ‘having it all.’

What does ‘having it all’ mean to you? What would it look like to stop balancing life and start blending it? Add your comment to benefit other readers in the Go Light Your World community!

“You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – God. (Jeremiah 29:13)