Guest Post: Leave Behind a Legacy of Prayer

Earlier this week I was very challenged when I read the following entry on prayer written by my dear sister in Christ, Asia. I am excited to share it with you for this week's new entry and I hope you will also be challenged to spend more time in prayer.

I remember when I was in high school, I was challenged to get up early in the morning to pray. I decided that around 5:30am, I would get up and pray to God. I had my prayer journal of requests from other people and I would start praying for them. Before I knew it, I saw prayers being answered and I loved spending time with God. There was a delight that grew in me to spend time with God in prayer and reading the bible. I loved that I could communicate with a God I was once separated from because of my sin.

This past week in a small group, everyone was asked, "What do you think you will be remembered by once you're gone?" I thought once I am gone, I want to be remember as a "praying woman of God." I love to pray for others, there is nothing like being before the Father and praying. I do pray that if I ever have a family, they will see my heart for prayer and not only them but others who know me.

I would encourage everyone to spend more time with God in prayer. Getting to know Him is the most amazing thing. Our time in prayer is where we can be honest, offer praise, confess, interceed, offer supplication, and pray for the world around us and pray for those close to us.

Bible Verses:


Psalm 73:28 (New King James Version)


28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.


Hebrews 10:22 (New King James Version)

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.


 Job 8:5-6 (New King James Version)

5 If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty
6 If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.


Quote:


Intercessory prayer is the sweetest prayer God ever hears.... The more your prayer is like Christ's, the sweeter it will be.... Intercessory prayer exceedingly prevails. What wonders it has wrought! It has stopped plagues,...healed diseases,...raised the dead.... There is nothing that intercessory prayer cannot do. Believer, you have a mighty engine in your hand - use it well, use it constantly, use it now with faith, and you shall surely prevail.... Never give up anyone for spiritually dead until they are dead naturally...


Charles Haddon Spurgeon


Asia shares about her life and vibrant heart for God at A Lady in the Making.

Humility and Humiliation

Many a time while reading the Word, God impresses upon me how contrary He is to the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:20) and my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). One such passage that jumped out at me these past weeks talks about pride and humility. It seems to me that these words have taken on very different definitions in our present culture of individualism and self-love. Yet we need to refocus our perspectives, shed the old man for the new. Here is my thoughts and reflections on this verse.

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall beabased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Matthew 23:12)

Christ firstly speaks of the person who "shall exalt himself." The word exalt, Hupsoo, is related to the word altitude and has the idea of height. According to Strongs, to exalt is to lift up to the heights. The man or woman who lifts up themselves is filled with pride. They are guilty of self-exaltation. They promote themselves and promotes their own agenda. They are full of their own importance. Two prime examples from the Word are Satan and Nebuchadnezzar.

Lets take a quick look at the story of Satan's fall in Isaiah 14:12-15. Notice all the "I will’s"?

I will ascend into heaven… (vs.13)
I will exalt my throne… (vs.13)
I will sit also upon the mount… (vs.13)
I will ascend above the heights… (vs.14)
I will be like the most High."  (vs.14)

In his pride, he exalted himself. Only what he wanted was important. Nothing else mattered.

Another example is Nebuchadnezzar. He walks in his palace in Babylon and says, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30). Again, his thoughts are totally filled with himself and his accomplishments.

These may be extreme examples, allowing us to remove ourselves from the picture saying, "I do not have that kind of pride; I know that all glory belongs to the Lord." In the New Testament letters Paul brings it home when describing his fellow labourers, "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Philippians 2:21). Thankfully, he does give Timothy as an exception so their is hope yet can we think ourselves 'naturally' better than the general rule of the apostolic age? If most of Paul's companions selfishly sought their own good above the cause of Jesus Christ, how can we think ourselves any better. Look at the greed, selfishness and pride of the modern church - We speak against others in order to exalt ourselves: we respond in anger when someone else is given an honor we think we should have received: we compare, criticize and contend with others who are also serving the Lord: we are quick to judge others yet glacially slow in judging ourselves. It is time to judge the pride in our own hearts.

In the next part of the this verse Jesus teaches us that the man who exalts himself will be abased. The word abase, Tapeinoo, comes from the root word, Tapeinos (commonly translated as base) meaning not rising far from the ground. To abase means to lower or bring down to the bottom. Colloquially we use the word humiliation. The second half of the verse will use the word humility but what's the difference?

Humility is self-abasement and it is primarily done before God. Humiliation is divine-abasement and it is done before all. One who is humiliated suffers what many Asian cultures refer to as losing face - a serious situation indeed. He is shamed before all.It is important to note that humiliation is a direct result of haughtiness. He is brought down to the ground because he lifted himself up. Other scriptures support this dichotomy:

Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. (Job 40:11)

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

God's wisdom is so different to that of the world's. If we exalt ourselves, God will bring us down. Self-promotion is not God’s way and those exalting themselves cannot accomplish His will. 

In the second contrasting section of this verse, Jesus talks about the man "that shall humble himself." Humility is found first of all in the way we think of ourselves and others. A humble man thinks of God and others first and himself last. He carries the burdens of others but he does not expect anyone else to carry his burden (Galatians 6:2,5). He expects not to be ministered unto, but to minister to others (Matthew 20:28) The man who humbles himself "shall be exalted". Self-exaltation comes before divine-abasement. But divine-exaltation is the result of self-abasement. This is further supported in other scriptural passages;

The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. (Proverbs 15:33)

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10)

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time (1Peter 5:6)

What glory to be exalted by God! Why would you seek the glory and praise of man when you can have the eternal glory of God? What is a moment of glory in this world compared to the riches available in Christ? Biblical humility is the opposite of selfishness; it is selflessness. It is not a hatred or embarrassment of self, which are both still focused on self. It is a removing of self from conscious thought. It is a life so lost in pleasing God that there is no time and no need to please self. Pleasing God brings full satisfaction beyond anything this selfish world can offer. Christian humility is a losing of self in God and in others. God and His will is our focus. This is the servant’s heart. This is the disciple’s calling. 

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). 

Please pray with me that this may ever be so in our lives. 

I hope this has been of some encouragement to you and has wet your appetite to seek out God's Word for all that pertains unto life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

Looking forward to our lovely blushing bride-to-be's post next week :)

The Preeminence of Christ

Over a year ago I heard a sermon on Colossians 1:15-19 that has come back to my memory many times since then. As I have been considering the insights I gleaned from this sermon, I thought I would share some of my notes and thoughts.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:15-19

Matthew Henry adds:

"Christ in His human nature, is the visible discovery of the invisible God, and he that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. Let us adore these mysteries in humble faith, and behold the glory of the Lord in Christ Jesus. He was born or begotten before all the creation, before any creature was made; which is the Scripture way of representing eternity, and by which the eternity of God is represented to us. All things being created by Him, were created for him; being made by his power, they were made according to his pleasure, and for his praise and glory. He not only created them all at first, but it is by the word of his power that they are upheld. Christ as Mediator is the Head of the body, the church; all grace and strength are from him; and the church is his body. All fullness dwells in him; a fullness of merit and righteousness, of strength and grace for us. God showed his justice in requiring full satisfaction."

From this we are reminded that Jesus is preeminent in all things and His preeminence is past, present, and future. Jesus is the Creator of all things and the sustainer of all things.

It is worth noting that Jesus never went more than 100 miles from His birthplace of Nazareth, yet nearly 2 billion people describe themselves as followers of Christ! As Christians, we agree that Christ is preeminent, but do our lives show that Christ is preeminent? What does it mean for Christ to truly be preeminent in our lives? Luke 6:46-49 provides the answer to this question:

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:46-49

We often assume that the man building his house on the sand is not a Christian, but actually, Jesus is talking about people like us. In order to build our lives on the preeminence of Jesus Christ, we must first come to Him. So often, we come to Jesus on our way to something else. We use Him as a ticket to something else. We come to Jesus with our eyes fixed on what He's going to do for us.

Jesus says, "Come to me." Saving faith is faith in Jesus. We often make His teaching more about what we can do "for Him", not what He has done for us. The rock of our faith is the person of Jesus Christ. Everything we do should be an expression of what Jesus has done for us.

Next, as we endeavor to make Christ preeminent in our lives, we must hear His words. Jesus is speaking to us, but are we hearing Him?

Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away."

Our doctrine should be made up of truths from the Bible. Studying Jesus' words and understanding what they mean involves effort. This is so challenging to me because I often struggle with going through my entire morning devotions without even really taking the time to think deeply about what I am reading!

"If you want to feel deeply, you need to think deeply." - CJ Mahaney

"A lot of us want an experiential, deep feeling, but feeling built on feeling is empty. Emotion and feeling need to be built on something solid and unchanging. Dig your way to the truth and then the emotions will come. You will be founded on the unchanging truth of who He is." -Joshua Harris

The third step is to put His truth into practice.

"You can know 'Christianity' backwards and forwards, but if you don't put it into practice, it is nothing. Christian doctrine is for living." - Joshua Harris

"It is not enough to have your life in close proximity to the rock. When Jesus is preeminent, He pushes other things aside. His demand on us is the greatest expression of His love for us." - Joshua Harris

I pray others will be challenged by these scriptures, notes, and quotes!

Just a Closer Walk with Jesus

Thank you for your study, Laura! What an appropriate beginning for this blog. It made my mind travel along the lines of, “This woman sounds so wonderful – how could I ever be like her? How could I glorify God through my very being?” Pondering your three-step process, the following words sprang to mind: “I am week but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong. I’ll be satisfied as long as I walk, dear Lord, close to Thee… Just a closer walk with Thee; grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee; let it be, dear Lord, let it be!” It became the title for today’s study.

First thought: do I really mean it when I sing or say, “JUST a closer walk?” I tend to storm my Father’s throne with so many petitions. And although Jesus told us that it’s ok to do so, once in a while I need to stop and re-assess my priorities… Well, walking more closely with Jesus is definitely at the top of my list, but HOW do I actually do it? Once my mind started down that track, many verses came to mind and began to form a story line further to Laura’s three-step process. I decided to put them into a slideshow for you, but you may wish to keep reading first to get the bird’s eye view before pondering the slides at the end of this post.

What do I need for my daily walk? First, I need a solid foundation. In order to trust God, I need to know that He and His word are absolutely trustworthy. 2 Tim. 3:16-17 tells me that this is so. If I believe it, then I also know that God’s word supplies everything I need for every good work. And furthermore, that it keeps me from sinning against Him if I hide it in my heart (Ps. 119:11).

Do I need to produce ‘good works’? Yes! Not in order to be saved, but because I am. Good works are the evidence of my new nature. You see, I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for this very purpose. Just imagine, God actually prepared those works for me beforehand that I should walk in them (Eph. 2:10)!

What constitutes a ‘good work’? A ‘good work’ is not just doing a specific thing like being a Good Samaritan. In essence, it means doing absolutely EVERYTHING to the glory of God – whether I eat, or drink, or do anything at all (1 Cor. 10:31). Glorifying God in all that I do is the outward expression of my inward faith. The Bible warns believers not to forsake the assembling of themselves together because they need one another to stir up love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25).

Why are good works so important? Because God’s light shines through them, and He gets the glory generated by them (Matt. 5:16). Obviously, every Christian undergoes a growth process before their mind is renewed by Scripture. But even older Christians tend to retain some corners of their minds (and thus their bodies) that remain conformed to the world. The thing is, the more my mind is conformed to what God’s word tells me, the more closely I will walk with Him, and the more effectively I will prove in practice what is His good and acceptable and perfect will (Rom. 12:2). And thus (in some small measure, of course) I become God’s light in this dark world!

I am no longer my own - ouch! I grew up being ‘my own woman’, doing my own thing. I like planning and deciding and… But I don’t want to do that any more because I have been bought with a price – the ultimate price: Christ’s blood. My body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit (how awesome is that!) and I am to do His bidding (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Paul begs us to present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, purely because this is our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). It is for this purpose that I want to walk with my Savior every day, no, every moment. I want Jesus to be magnified in my body in every situation (Phil. 1:20-21). I want Him to live through me in a very obvious way (Gal. 2:20).

How can I tell whether I am actually walking with Jesus? It’s definitely not a fuzzy feeling! When I esteem others more highly than myself and don’t do things through selfish ambition or conceit (Phil. 2:3), I am getting closer. When I cover the sins of others by exercising love (Prov. 10:12), I am doing well. But when I follow Christ’s commandment to love others as He loved me, then I am walking in His Spirit (Jn. 13:34-35). Whenever I ask, “What would You have me do, Jesus?” and walk accordingly, His Spirit will display godly fruit in me (Gal. 5:22-23), and this fruit will give all honor and glory back to Him.

My resolution: To let the things of this earth grow dim in comparison to God’s glory and grace, and to treat each fellow Christian as though I were dealing directly with the Lord Himself. I need to remember that He lives not only in me but also in them, and that He therefore takes my behavior toward them very personally. Acts 9:4-5 refers to Paul’s persecution of Christians, yet the Lord said, “Why are you persecuting ME?” (no slide for this one).

Please visit again next week to read Meredith's study on... surprise!

And finally it's time for the slideshow (you can click on the 'full' button to watch full screen :-) I hope that your hearts will be encouraged with a yearning for our wonderful Savior.

Wishing you every spiritual blessing for the coming year,
Margaret

A Closer Walk With Jesus

View more presentations from Dr Margaret Lepke.