Reflections in The WORD

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Teach me Lord

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go; I will guide the with mine eye.” ~ Psalm 32:8

TEACH ME LORD

Many times in the Scripture it tells us,
Lord, teach me, that I may see
The wonderful truths in Your precious Word,
That they may become real to me.

Out of habit, do we read just a portion
And close The Book for the day,
Without meditating on the truth it offers,
Or think through what it has to say?

Lord, help us to have a hungry heart
And long for the joys you will give,
If only we’ll spend quiet time with You,
In Your Book we’ll learn how to live.

Fulfillment in Your presence can be ours,
When we spend time with You in Your Word,
A life filled with peace and comfort,
And contentment can be assured.

So, thank You Lord, for all that You give,
We’re recipients of Your great love,
Our lives are filled with rich blessings,
Sent down from Your Heart above!

By Elsie K. Young

Ye-centricity

Published by reflectionsintheword

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” ~ Romans 12:15

This Scripture verse sticks a metaphorical finger in the eye of modern “it’s all about me” culture. Instead of focusing on ourselves, this verse challenges us to focus on our brothers/sisters.

If my fellow Believer, my brother/sister in Christ, is rejoicing then I rejoice as well, for I celebrate their success. My brother’s/sister’s joy is more precious than my joy or my lack of joy. Similarly, if my brother/sister is sad/sorrowful then I weep with them, for I feel their pain in my heart. My brother’s/sister’s sorrow is more precious than my sorrow or my joy.

Instead of life being all about me, life must be all about Jesus. And, as a channel of Jesus’ love and mercy, I cannot allow MYSELF to become clogged up with MY SELF.

To be clear, God does care about my joys and my sorrows; God cares about all the issues that affect my life. But life is still not about me, life is about Jesus. Therefore, my focus is on serving, being there to support my brother/sister. My focus is not on being served.

In the story of Lazarus’ death (John 11) it seems cruel and heartless that Jesus, knowing He could save his good friend Lazarus, allowed him to die. Consider all the pain Lazarus must have gone through (no modern-day drugs were available) as he struggled with illness till he finally died. Lazarus’ sisters also suffered greatly as they endured their brother’s illness and death, as their hope of Jesus’ help was crushed. They didn’t know the end of the story. Only Jesus knew the end and the purpose of their suffering.

As we know, Jesus did raise Lazarus from the grave, which was a great ministry to many and helped many to believe in Him. God is in control of our situations, despite how difficult they are. God challenges us not to let our situations (good or bad) cause us to lose sight of Him or of our brothers/sisters.

As the author learned at a church camp a some time ago:

J–O–Y = Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between.

Suffering may Endure for a Season…

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“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7

SUFFERING

Suffering may endure for a season,
And we wonder when relief will come.
Is this for a time of testing,
A really deep trial for some?

Day by day we endure our heartaches,
Often questioning why,
We don’t seem to fully understand
And we come before God with a sigh!

“Just quiet yourself in My presence,” He says,
“I have blessings for you in store,
This time with me will be precious,
Even more than ever before.”

The wonderful promises in God’s Holy Word
Bring comfort, encouragement and peace,
And as we nestle up close to Him.
Our Faith brings sweet release.

So let us joyfully praise the Lord,
If, through suffering we can learn,
Truths that will help to guide our way,
And His Word more clearly discern.

By Elsie K. Young

God’s Waiting to Share

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God’s Waiting to Share

When you’re troubled and worried and sick at heart
And your plans are upset, and your world falls apart,

Remember God’s ready and waiting to share
The burden you find too heavy to bear…

So with faith, let go and let God lead the way
Into a brighter and less-troubled day.

For God has a plan for everyone,
If we learn to pray, “Thy will be done”.

For nothing in life is without God’s design
For each life is fashioned by The Hand that’s Divine.

~By Helen Steiner Rice

“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” ~ Luke 12:6-7

A Mother Explains Heaven to Her Dying Son

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“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” ~ Psalm 116:15

To Our Ellis

How does a loving mother, explain
Heaven to her dying child?
Please give me the words, O Lord, and
let me say them with a smile…

There is a place called Heaven, Son,
beyond the skies above,
It is the place where GOD is watching,
His Heart so full of Love.

He watches all His children, Son,
He watches you and me,
He wants to know we love Him, and
hopes that we will be…
Always strong and healthy, always
kind and free!

But, sometimes, things do happen, Son,
and sickness takes a hold,
It might be something serious, it
might be just a cold.

GOD sends His special angels,
to watch over us and pray,
And, by our side they linger, they
are never far away.

They lift us up on angels’ wings when
we are all too weak,
And, oh!, they pray so softly, Son,
with gentle whispers do they speak.

So, have no fear, my darling, should
GOD come to take you Home,
For it is up there in that Heaven,
Son, where you will run and laugh
and roam!

You will hear that angel choir rejoice
in praises to the LORD,
And, my darling precious child, you
never will be sick, again…
No, never, anymore!!

But, most of all, you will meet the
King, our Saviour, your Best Friend,
oh my!,
If I could see him take your hand, I
know that I would cry!!

You have fought so long, you gave your
all..GOD says it’s time to rest,
We will always love and miss you, Ellis,
but GOD…He knows what’s best!

Dedicated to the Memory of 7 yr old, Ellis Mayfield, of Simpsonville, SC, who fought a 1 1/2year battle with an inoperable brain tumor. He received the SC Governor’s Outstanding Leadership and Citizenship Award for his unfailing bravery and courage…a little boy who kept laughing and loving… ’til the very end.

Source: Mother Explains Heaven To Her Dying Son, To Our Ellis, Prayer Poem at Family Friend Poems

God Will Answer Prayers that Answer God’s Will

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“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” ~ 1 John 5:14-15

Our text seems to be a long forgotten Scripture verse. There is a lot of focus in the modern church on prayer, God’s blessings and prosperity. Popular theology sees prayer as a tool by which Believers can obtain/leverage God’s blessings. And God’s blessings are often seen as anything that produces comfort or material prosperity.

Because this way of thinking has taken root in the church, many Christians, many of us, wonder why God hasn’t answered our prayers in the affirmative. Indeed, many of us share the following frustrating experience:

“I need ____ and so I prayed earnestly for ____ so I am waiting for when God will give me ____”

However, when ____ does not arrive it leaves many of us perplexed. And so we start thinking:

“Maybe, I didn’t pray hard/long enough… maybe there is a sin in my life… maybe I didn’t ‘bind the devil’… maybe I just need to wait longer… etc… “

Our text, however, shows prayer in a different light. And, thereby, corrects our understanding of prayer and of God’s Blessings.

Specifically, our text states that the only prayers guaranteed to be HEARD by God are those that conform to His Will: “if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us“. That is the awesome truth on which our prayer life rests: To be HEARD by God, for God to consider our prayers, they must first conform to His will.

We can readily appreciate, then, why many of our prayers go unanswered: they weren’t even heard (considered) because they never fit into God’s will for our lives. So, before we begin praying, the key question we must answer is whether our prayer requests, our petitions, match up with God’s will… otherwise, we will just end up spouting words that are going nowhere.

It is important to note that Jesus didn’t heal every sick person in Israel. His healing ministry, as great as it was, was limited to those the Father willed for him to heal. And Jesus never sought to operate outside of the will of God (John 5:30) even as God’s will led Him to death on The Cross (Luke 22:42).

Similarly, Paul, a great man of God, a man through whom God did marvelous miracles, did not have his own infirmity taken away from him, because it was not God’s will (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Once Paul understood the will of God regarding his problem, he stopped praying about it. Instead he rejoiced in having the problem because in it was part of God’s will and, therefore, a blessing for him.

But how can we know God’s will, so that we can pray correctly? Scripture gives us this answer:

“…be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ~ Romans 12:2b

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” ~ John 14:26

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:14-16

In other words, we will be able to prove (authenticate/discern) the will of God when our minds are renewed (Romans 12:2). And our minds are renewed by the work of the Holy Spirit in us, teaching us the truths of the Scriptures we read (John 14:26). This renewal produces within us the “mind of Christ”, which enables us to know the very will of God (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).

Combining these truths shows us that our prayer life depends on our devotional/Bible-study life:

As we read God’s word, we get to know Him better. As we know God more, we know His will more. As we know God’s will more, we better know how to pray according to His will. And, as our text makes clear, when we pray according to God’s will, our prayers are heard and answered affirmatively:

“…if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” ~ 1 John 5:14b-15

Likewise,

“…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” ~ James 5:16b

Closing Thoughts:

Prayer. One inescapable conclusion from our text is that prayer is not about what we want, it is about what God wants. God has already designed a perfect plan for our lives and indeed, for the life of every individual. Therefore, praying is really about seeking God’s will and in submission asking God to put in effect His will for our lives: “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10).

In addition, it is not acceptable to just pray “…IF it is Your will…”. No, God challenges us to actually discover what His will is. And to prove His will and to submit to His will in prayer.

God’s Blessings. Another vital conclusion from our text is that God’s Blessings (because they come out of His will) are defined by Him, not by us. We might want a house, or a car, or a job, or a spouse or whatever, but if it is not in God’s will, then He won’t provide it.

Moreover, the house/car/job/spouse/whatever God provides might not be the one we were lusting for; God wants to give us not just the best in our eyes, but what is best in His eyes, in His will… that is the best for us.

Prosperity. Prosperity = living in the Will of God. Prosperity ≠ living in the lusts of man/self.

Therefore, instead of seeing prayer as a tool by which we can obtain/leverage God’s blessings, which we often think of as personal comfort and material prosperity. Our new view, as our text shows us, is that prayer is God’s tool that He uses to help us conform to His will, which is His blessing to us and the way we gain Spiritual prosperity.

To the Uttermost (Part II)

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“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” ~ Hebrews 7:25

“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?… Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth” ~ Job 38:31,33

We have an eternal advocate with the Father through Christ Jesus.
The One Who predated time; the Alpha, came to earth in the form of man meeting all the requirements of the Law on our behalf.
He offered Himself as The Sacrifice as Our Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
His perpetual office will save us to the end because He is the Omega; the eternal end outside of time.
There is not a sin that can be laid to the charge of those for whom He has died who have come to Him by faith that He is Messiah.
We stand in His righteousness alone before the Throne of God.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.
Hallelujah!

~ by Ciny Stelter Tesar

Waiting for the Right Redeemer

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“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” ~ Job 19:25

To understand this verse, it is helpful to understand the use of the term “redeemer” in the time of Job:

“The Hebrew term designates a male relative who delivers or rescues (Gen 48:16 ; Exodus 6:6); redeems property (Lev 27:9-25 ) or person (Lev 25:47-55); avenges the murder of a relative as a guiltless executioner (Num 35:9-34); and receives restitution for wrong done to a relative who has since died (Num 5:8). The unique emphasis of the redemption/salvation/vindication associated with the kinsman-redeemer is the fact that this action is carried out by a kinsman on behalf of a near relative in need.”

In addition, the context of our text shows that Job was feeling unfairly treated by his friends, who had accused him (incorrectly, Job 42:7-9) of wrongdoing, and by God, who had allowed calamity to descend upon him. It is in that situation that Job said the words in our text.

In other words, Job was looking for a redeemer who would give him ‘justice’: a redeemer who would right the wrongs that had befallen him: a redeemer who would examine the case and show that Job was right and that God and Job’s friends were all wrong. Indeed, that is exactly what Job had been arguing from chapter 3.

The point is that, despite the prophetic accuracy of Job’s declaration in our text, Job’s perspective on the role of the Redeemer was wrong. Indeed, God would correct Job’s erroneous perception in chapters 38 to 42.

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” ~ Habakkuk 3:17-18

The application of this truth comes when we recognize similar tendencies in ourselves. Like Job, when tribulations come into our lives it is easy to feel that God is being unfair. This is especially true for Believers: those who have tried to “do the right thing”: those who have made the difficult choices: those who tried to put God first in their lives.

Consider the family who attends church faithfully, who tithes, who gives to missions, who adopted a disabled child, who never chased after money or material, who had a stay-at-home mom looking after the children’s needs, who had family altar daily. Then the father loses his job and is out of work for more than a year and the family is struggling to get by.

It is easy in that situation to think that God is not fair. And that, though you are powerless now, one day, one day, you hope to be vindicated: one day, you (or your descendants) hope to receive payback.

It is in that sense that Job hoped for a redeemer and it is in that sense that we often see God. We want him to “pay us back” for the wrongs that have been done to us, for the unfairness we have experienced in our lives, that’s the least we deserve. Right??

That struggle has driven many a believer off course.

“What’s the use in trying to do right, when life ‘kicks us in the teeth’ anyway? Why bother to pray??? It’s not going to change anything!”

That was what was so admirable in Job: he never gave up. Though he thought God was unfair, he never gave up. He was looking forward to a meeting with God to plead his case.

Moreover, he recognized that he didn’t have the capacity to argue with God, so he would rely on The Redeemer to plead his case for him. And, in that sense, Job was correct. As Scripture tells us, Jesus spends his time constantly interceding for us.

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” ~ Romans 8:34

However, when The Redeemer looked at the case of man versus God, He did not find Job or anyone else guiltless. Rather, mankind was guilty and so far away from God we could never achieve righteousness on our own

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” ~ Isaiah 64:6

Job, despite all his works and his exemplary life (God even boasted about him! Job 1-2) Job was sinful, just like the rest of us.

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…” ~ Job 13:15a

Contrary to his expectation, The Redeemer Job hoped for declared him guilty and, as such, deserving death. BUT, here is the Good News, instead of letting Job pay the price, The Redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord, paid the price for him. The Redeemer died on the cross in Job’s place and, indeed, in our place.

Like Job, we often get caught up in our own righteousness: when things start going against us, we feel that we deserve better, that God is unfair to let bad things happen to us. And we hope that somehow, God would be made to see things our way.

But, therein lies our problem. Like Job, the challenge is not for God to see things our way; rather we need to see things God’s way. And when, because of our human frailties, we can’t see things as God sees them… then we need to trust Him.

Therefore, rather than seeking a redeemer to bring us justice because we think we are right (and God is wrong), we need to seek The Redeemer who brings us mercy because we know God is right (even when we don’t understand).

God’s “Eighteen Wheeler”

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“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” ~ Matthew 6:13a

An attractive young lady was returning from a church meeting at a late hour. When she stopped at a traffic light, a large “eighteen-wheeler” truck was in the next lane. As the light changed and she pulled away, the large truck “tailgated” her car while blinking its lights and blowing its loud air horn.

She was very frightened and increased her speed as she drove out of the city limits toward the farmhouse where she lived with her parents. The huge truck followed her all the way, blinking its lights and blowing its horn. She turned into a long dirt road that led to her home. The truck followed her as she drove right up to the porch of the house. When she frantically popped open her door to run for the house, the back door of her car suddenly opened and a man with a large knife bolted for the woods.

When she stopped for that light, the truck driver saw the man crouching behind her front seat with a knife in his hand. Realizing that she was going to be attacked as soon as she drove into the country, the truck driver was determined to save her from that tragedy.

Sometimes, our suffering and limitations seem like that eighteen-wheeler bearing down on us. Actually, however, that suffering can be a vehicle of our loving God, purging out of our lives the evil one who is determined to ruin us. This is what our Lord was profiling when He instructed us in the disciple’s prayer to pray that we might be delivered from the evil one.

Can you meet yourself in this story?

Adapted from ‘God’s “Eighteen Wheeler”‘ by Dick Woodward.