Psalm 27: Boldness

Recently, my church finished a 41 days of prayer and at the heart of it was this prayer:

Our prayer is to be at the epicenter of an unprecedented move of God in the city marked by glorious conversions and supernatural life transformation. To this end we ask for: faith- to believe it is possible, passion- to care about lost people, and boldness- to play our part.

Although we have finished, it is a prayer that I still pray from time to time and adopted it for other groups of Christians I work with.  While I was spending time in the word today, I came across Psalm 27 which includes, 

"The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?  When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though a mighty  army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.  Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident."

Even though many us may not have enemies like David, there are spiritual forces at work that do not like  that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.  It is verses like these that give me the boldness to represent Jesus and follow the example he set out in the Bible.  As I trust God for boldness, I am looking forward to what is in store.

Wait patiently for the Lord.  Be brave and courageous.  Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Image courtesy of Official Blackberry Images

The Pursuit of God: Chapter 1- Following Hard after God

We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can.  It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved by one encounter.

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.  

The evil habit of seeking God and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation.  In the "and" lies our great woe.  If we omit the "and" we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.

There are many quotes in the first chapter of The Pursuit of God that I wrote down to comment on or to guide my first response to this amazing book.  I think I wrote down 7-8 of them.  I think 3 will suffice to help me respond to this first chapter.

I am guilty of complacency.  I have been that person that lived like I only had one encounter with God and thought that was enough.  I have bought the lie that I needed God and...  

I have many "and"s, but at the forefront is convenience.  I think inside of me, I believe that God and convenience will give me the satisfaction my heart is looking for.  But convenience is just the desire in me that leads to complacency - I just do enough to get by and I am content.  But I usually don't realize that I miss the opportunity and the joy that comes from going further to experience God.  My end goal was really convenience and not God.

picture by JPhilipson

I have not grasped what Paul said when he writes, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Philippians 3

Like a friend taken for granted, I do not cultivate my relationship with my Friend - I only do enough to get by.

So what needs to change?  I need to cast off complacency, not settle for convenience and be intentional in my communion with God (3 C's... that could be a sermon).  That is why my church's Prayer 41 is such a challenge and a great channel to break out of complacency. It is my hope my church's small group can hold me accountable to.

Prayer 41

Our prayer is to be at the epicenter of an unprecedented move of God in the city of Halifax marked by glorious conversions and supernatural life transformation. To this end we ask for: faith- to believe it is possible, passion- to care about lost people, and boldness- to play our part.

What I first made as a casual commitment to prayer is quickly becoming something that is forcing me to be more serious in prayer.  I have always prayed, but praying for one thing over a specific period of time in a community of like-minded people via different avenues of praying that prayer is new.  And I am liking it more and more.

Praying for a one hour period is part of this commitment and as I was praying this morning, I wondered why God "waits" for prayer before acting.  This was evident in the Bible when God waited for Elijah to pray for no rain (James 5:17, 1 Kings 17:1), and then for rain (James 5:18, 1 Kings 19:42-44) even though he declared rain was coming (1 Kings 18:1).  

I wondered because I was praying that there would be "an unprecedented move of God" - why do we have to pray it?  God is capable of doing this on his own.  But I realized that even though God can do so on his own it is for our benefit that we are included in God's work.  By praying, we have a whole lot to gain - faith, passion and boldness.  Why do you think God wants us to pray?

Merry Christmas

Photo courtesy of hellosputnik

Christmas is the best of times and the worst of times for people.  "Best of times" because family and friends get together and traditions are borne and followed.  "Worst of times" because of the memory of lost ones or events that have passed that don't result and family and friends getting together.

But Christmas isn't only about family and friends - it is about acknowledging and remembering that we are not alone in this world and that we are pursued by Love and offered Grace and a Relationship with Jesus Christ.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I admit this is a hard thing to do during this season.  I worry about getting gifts for people and navigating the different things to do and events to attend.  I admit it is a struggle to celebrate why Christmas is recognized and marked as a holiday in the first place - the birth of Christ, but I hope and pray that I will not let the distractions blot that out.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and may it be a time to reflect upon Jesus Christ and why He came.

David's Mighty Men

Wouldn't it be great to have a novel based upon the exploits of the Mighty Men of David?  This probably has been done already, and from my limited experience in book stores, probably written and marketed in the romantic vein.  I'm not talking about that kind of book.

I'm talking about a book more in the epic fantasy vein that follows the reign of David and the development and exploits of him, the Three and the Thirty.  I would buy a well written book or book series based on this.

10 Personal Growth Questions via Perry Noble Answered

In spending time with the Lord today, I decided I would go through Perry Noble's 10 Personal Growth Questions I found via my pastor's Twitter post.

1. Am I reading my Bible for information or transformation? (James 1:22-25) There have been times when I have caught myself reading the Bible just for the information.  I confess, this happens mostly when I prepare for a sermon or a workshop I am doing.  But my small group and the discussions we have force me to be in a place to allow transformation.  They hold me accountable, even if at times indirectly.
2. Am I allowing people or circumstances to steal the joy that Jesus promised to me?  (John 10:10) More recently, this has been true.  I have let people and circumstances get the better of my emotions and my joy that I should have through Jesus.  I have allowed frustration to turn into distrust and cloud my judgment and conduct.  I need to see the best in people and pray that the Spirit enables me to extend grace and forgiveness readily.
3. Is there anything in my life that God is consistently dealing with that I am trying to ignore?  (Ezekiel 14:1-5) There are many answers to this question as I believe being refined is a life time achievement so that there will be constantly things God will bring up in my life to deal with.  One current one is a prideful attitude.  Although it can be said pride relates to all sin, the issue I'm wrestling with is just pure pride.  How do I look?  Do people know I am a somebody?  What can I do to "matter" in the eyes of this world?  I try to ignore it by writing it off as something noble or "for the Lord", but, recently, have been convicted as just plain ol' pride.  
4. Who are the people in my life that God has placed around me for the purpose of me sharing Christ with them and/or inviting them to church?  (II Corinthians 5:16-21) Recently, God has been placing the poor in the downtown core in my life as I interact with them more day to day, week to week.  I have been able to learn a couple of names and I hope to continue the relationship that leads to Christ.  
5. Is there anyone I need to apologize to?  (Ephesians 4:25-27) Not that I know of right now.  This may change before this post ends. <update: yes, there is!  Just found out via email>
6. Is there anyone I need to forgive? (Ephesians 4:32) Not at the moment.  However, my thing has always been can I truly forgive someone who doesn't think they need forgiving?  Jesus paid for the sins of all, but forgiveness is only there if the sinner realizes they need it and the experiences the forgiveness as their heart is transformed by Christ.  Those who reject it, don't experience the forgiveness because they are not forgiven.  I believe this is the same for human relationships.  I still have to wrestle this thought through - can I truly forgive someone who does not recognize that they have wronged me or disagrees that they have wronged me?  There is no one currently in the scenario I described - but I need to wrestle through this thought more to be ready when the scenario becomes a personal reality.
7. Is there a sin I need to confess to others and ask for help? (James 5:16) There has been sins I have already confessed and have asked help from others, but do I have unconfessed sin? 
8. Am I fully utilizing the gifts and abilities that God has blessed me with…or am I simply choosing to waste my life?  (I Peter 4:10) With the current opportunities and responsibilities at church and with work, I believe I am using the gifts and abilities that God has blessed me with. 
9. Do I know more lines from the movies that I love than verse from the Bible that I read? (Psalm 119:11) Considering that I am horrible with my memory of lines or verses, this will be a poor comparison.  However, I can say with confidence I know my Bible more than a movie, even if that movie is based on a book (i.e. Lord of the Rings). 
10. Is there anything going on in my life privately that, if it became public, would cause me and/or the body of Christ to be embarrassed? (I John 1:9, James 5:16) Nothing I can think of.  This doesn't mean I don't have sin (i.e. in regards to what I shared above).  

Didn't realize that these questions can be quite personal.  Now to follow up on action points resulting from these questions.

Things I'm learning from David's life

I have been going through 1 and 2 Samuel lately and today I finished 2 Samuel.  Things I am learning from David:

God is honoured when we honour His choice of leadership
Even though David was chosen to be the next king, David showed respect and dignity to Saul on a continual basis, even when Saul was against God and was trying to take David's life. 

God is honoured when we worship Him from our heart and not based on other people's expectations
David danced with only a linen cloth in front of the Lord in front of all of the people.  He was not hindered by other people's expectations on how he should act, not even when his wife opposed his actions. 

There is always consequences to sin and disobedience to God
Although David was a man after God's own heart, he did sin and the consequences were serious.  From death in his family to pestilence to the whole country, David's action affected others.