For weeks God has been dealing with me regarding His call to intercession. I used to be part of two organizations dedicated to intercessory prayer. It is often a solitary life, but it is a life of obedience. Recently the tug on my heart by Holy Spirit has been so much stronger, because God needs my full attention, not my half-hearted response! He needs we who
know Him to get up off our faces and answer the call!
In my reading this morning: "There were prostitutes and pick pockets in the days of Christ; there
will always be some who submit to the soft, glittery pleasure of this world.... Asaph, in observing the criminal element in his day, was honest to ask God some searching questions: Is godliness really worth he struggle (Psalm 73:13-14)? Implied in those words is another protest: God do you really care...? If you've asked the same questions, you need what Asaph found: perspective."
Without reading further I understood these feelings, but in my frustration with the Christians of this day, I see such a failure to truly trust God. If only...yes! If only we would walk in the power of our Almighty God and Savior we would not be such wimps! I see within the reading I just quoted something very wrong: the word "godliness" should be Godliness, because it is in Him that our strength and power comes.
In my anger I cried out to God regarding the people who are just trying to walk in "godliness." The Bible says there are "gods" of this world, but it also speaks of our Almighty God who has given the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, to walk through the fire and not be burned, and the flood and not be overcome by the waves!
I prayed with my daughter yesterday afternoon, and the only one on whom I stood was the Rock of my sure foundation, the cornerstone of our nation and world. We faithfully sing:
"A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing;
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side
The Man of God's own choosing;
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Martin Luther
We joyously sing: "On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand...!" In the desert places of our world we find "quicksand." In researching the effect of this phenomenon I found: "With quicksand, the more you struggle in it the faster you will sink. If
you just relax, your body will float in it, because your body is less
dense than the quicksand." Our spiritually weak, half-hearted, lethargic bodies are being held captive, prisoners who are being sucked down slowly to our deaths. In this present day we trust God in part, but in seeing miracles in this present day, we fail, because we are struggling.
I have suffered with hideous pain and incurable, "rare" diagnoses, according to the medical profession, the better part of my almost 66 years of existence. I remember my daddy taking me from one doctor to another trying to find an answer without results. Parents do this: expend their limited resources to find hope for their children. But even as a child I realized that I had to go on. I couldn't stop living. I was driven to do what I had to do to survive, to live a normal life. And as I have testified numerous times, God was always there with me, strengthening my every step! It is so sad to me that the one person I loved as a teenager and on into my adult life only remembers that I had headaches all the time. I listened to the words, "You're too sick..." too many times. Thank God I finally broke free of that lie from the pit of hell!
I am so tired of excuses, malcontent, dis-ease! I grow weary at the Christians who are weak in their faith and their walks stuck in the past to include my own. It is time to say, "IT IS ENOUGH! IT STOPS HERE AND NOW, SATAN! IN THE NAME OF JESUS GET OUT OF MY FACE AND LIFE!" No more excuses. We find a way to live the abundant life in the midst of our afflictions and suffering. And we help other people not "just believe" but know! The apostle Paul wrote from prison to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2 not to be afraid: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." He goes on to tell him not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the verse I have held onto for years: But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure (persuaded) that he is able to guard (keep) what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return." 2 Timothy 1:12 For me I have entrusted my family, and now, the lives of every person I meet.
It is not enough to believe - we must know. Not just read the words or absentmindedly quote them, but live them and really trust in Him. Jeremiah 29:11-14 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity...."
Hope eternal springs strong. I do honestly believe, no I know, we are on the verge of a great miracle, as the enemy always fights the hardest when he realizes victory is near. He realizes God has had enough in each circumstance, and He is going to raise up a struggling person to pound satan to bits! How did Jesus respond when satan tried to tempt him with power? "IT IS WRITTEN!" And although Jesus may have been very hungry and spent going without food for all that time, I am certain he spoke the words in power.
Read your Bibles - not a half-hearted effort to say "I read my Bible every day," as a way to satisfy our daily Christian duty. Don't just go to church but be the church. We are called to stand! We need to stop asking why, because all we are doing is sinking into the mire and muck, struggling with God, while we are being sucked into the spiritual quicksand, our very lives being sucked dry spiritually as well as physically, emotionally, and mentally.
My daughter is a spiritually strong, beautiful child of God, but she has been held back her entire life, particularly the past 23 years, and I am tired of watching this struggle. We all have our days of being on God's back burner - waiting. Waiting for Him to answer, to show mercy, to answer our prayers. He has! He sent us a Savior - Jesus! And Jesus sent Holy Spirit and power! The Comforter! The Paraclete meaning "advocate," "helper." Re-read Acts 2. The disciples, who had been with Jesus for three years, were nervously waiting in the Upper Room afraid, because they still did not know Him!
We have the answer.
The one
thing God has asked of me is to trust Him, and I knew the road ahead was going to be a great challenge, but I said, "Yes, Abba, I will trust You." I
felt the gentle tug of Holy Spirit on my heart recently saying "How can you pray
for a nation and a world if you cannot trust Me for yourself?" Then
just as He is, the gentle bearer of truth, He confirmed it in a book I
am re-reading, Rees Howells, Intercessor. Rees is praying, and he hears the Holy Spirit speak to him clearly just
about the same thing. This great man of God, a strong Intercessor, who like me, had been privileged to witness miracles by the hand of God. And
He's right...I think I'm trusting Him, and my depression or anger show
otherwise.
My daughter puts herself in harm's way even though she knows how physically fragile her health has become. This is not a bad thing I believe, but her godly counsel and worldly counsel do not agree. She became brave and bold enough to ask me to put out a message to the Facebook media that she still loves her Manuel, who is in his own quicksand, struggling, and held captive by fear. In the natural there appears to be no chance that he would see the message, put down his baggage and say "ENOUGH!" but I know he will sense it, if not read it.
Fear is the great crippling disease in modern medicine. One word spoken, and it kills, steals, and destroys. It is satan's greatest ploy, as it holds people captive, against their will, and it comes in many guises: sickness, disease, puny faith, hopelessness, powerlessness, and lethargy to the truth of God. I have refused to walk in fear. At this time in my life I have been struggling with a work-related injury as well as another "rare" diagnosis involving my vision. There are some days when the pressure in my spine is so great I feel like the top of my head is going to implode or explode. I am having problems with my vision, hearing, and I have this loud whirring in my head and voices taunting my faith day and night trying to steal my joy and peace. But the joy of the Lord is my strength. There are days friends, family, and the church have failed me. The medical profession hasn't offered much support either. Sound a bit like the trials of Job? But my life is more than the fear satan tries to inflict, because my Jesus is more. He is enough! He is God! And I am not slowing down, in fact it has made me more defiant in standing against the enemy. To many who know my mood swings...I am not defeated. Each day I rise up on the wings of hope strengthening me to do the things that need to get done. If I waited for a pain free life I would have been waiting all my life, as the first head trauma was sustained at age 3 or 4. If I had cowered to fear and its many guises I would be dead.
Krsite gets upset with me sometimes when I say these words to her, because she feels I am denial. But I am the one who has the "rare" pronouncements from which her diseases were birthed, and my sons in some instances. I just couldn't buy into the traps satan set, and yes, I have paid, paid dearly at times, but I don't care because satan needs to have his teeth knocked out and his lying tongue severed! Yes, I am angry, because he continues to steal, kill, and destroy, but he is not going to have my children. So this day I ask God for deliverance and the strength to say, "Come what may I will trust You Lord, and I will do what needs to be done."
There are times in life to lie down and rest, wait, and sit in God's lap and listen. But there are also times to get up and defy the voices that tell you not to do it. Get angry, not at God, but at your true enemy and find a way. Having done all stand. Not physically perhaps, but in strength in knowing. Knowing in Whom we have believed, persuaded against all that appears, putting on the whole armour, smacking the snake off our hand (reference to Paul on the island of Malta), and move in power. Jimmy Carter hasn't given up or stopped teaching Sunday school. Helen Keller, Joni Eareckson Tada, Mark Hall from Casting Crowns, and not even my friend and his son are not giving up. No more "but you don't understand." I'm talking spiritual warfare here. Don't just believe - know!
Make your stand and then do it! If we die, then so be it, because we lived in power dauntlessly!
When you don't see me or don't hear from me, when I cry out for prayer, know this, I may momentarily be sitting under a bush as Elijah did after defeating Jezebel's legions from hell (1 Kings 18 and 19), but like him, I rest, I walk the distance in the strength of His sustinence, and I hear His mighty voice telling me: "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." (1Kings 19:11) So I quiet my overwhelming struggles, and the hand of God pulls me from the quicksand and places me back on the Solid Rock. I am overcoming, my faith may become weak at times, but I am an overcomer through the blood of Jesus and the power of my Almighty Father.
In the movie, Seven Days in Utopia, the character played by Robert Duvall instructs a young man on how to win at his game, a metaphor for our spiritual lives, by saying: "See it, feel it, trust it." This is what it means to truly trust God, and to know that His power is real and unchangeable.
My reading for today were Psalms 73 - 77, and Asaph asks the same questions we ask: Is godliness really worth the struggle? God do you really care? What he found according to the author of My Daily Walk was perspective, all in God's timing. Many times He's waiting for us. I know miracles happen, because I am one, my children are three, and each day I witness another and another. Please do not grow weary of the negative reports, because scripture promises we will rise above it, lives will be restored, if we do not faint, if we do not grow weary, if we wait!
