Day 93 Resting Place

 4/3/2025

 "There are times when to speak is to violate the moment...

when silence represents the highest respect. The word for such times is

reverence. The prayer for such times is 'Hallowed by Thy Name.'"

Max Lucado

Once more our Global Prayer Gathering brought a smile to my face. Our leader has been hosting Thursday morning calls once again, even though his healing is not yet complete. He always lights up my heart, as his wisdom and discernment is so clear and deep, and his closeness to God is so obvious. This morning his teenage daughter presented our worship songs, and her sweet voice reminds me of her mother. There was a praise report right at the start, as we heard of a recent retreat and how God is moving to bring unity within the Messianic and Arab Christians in Israel. My heart is always lifted when I hear of brethren walking in unity together. What a world we would have if everyone followed suit!

Joshua, who is over the prayer ministry, shared about a local retreat held for pastors called Sitting at Yeshua's Feet. As I said, it was a gathering of pastors from the Messianic and Arab Christian churches in Israel for a time to share their experiences during this war. Josh shared a vision he had during one of the sessions. He said he saw a man's back, open for surgery on the spinal column, the vertebrae needing fusion. Then he saw a hand reach down and begin the process of repairing it. He said it was if God was doing surgery on the participants at the retreat and within the church, knitting the vertebrae or fusing the vertebrae back together into one strong, whole column - unified. As I thought about it, with my medical mind, I saw the nerve plexus extending off the spinal cord. The nerves in a human spinal cord branch off into organs of the body and the extremities and innervate the muscles and cells to produce responses and functioning of the individual parts, so they function symbiotically. It reminded me of the description of the functioning of the church, the body of Christ that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians. Each member of the church body has a function, a purpose, a gift, and just like the human body, each part works together for the good of the entire body. We cannot function properly if our toe is sore, as it affects the foot, and if painful, it can affect the entire body, and so it is with every tissue, organ, cell, and extremity. God knie us together, according to Psalm 139, in an extremely intricate fashion. What a masterpiece. Each member of the body of Christ works together, each one with an individual gift and calling that joins the church together, functioning in unity. This is what Josh's vision called to my mind. How wonderful will it be when churches work together for the common good, sharing love, like brothers and sisters who love the Lord should. It reminds me of the early church in Acts, and I believe that is what God had in mind. 

This report confirmed the prayer points for our meeting, plus it spurred the exhortation to participants on the call to be focused on what was being discussed and praying along with the one praying to be united and agreed in prayer. Staying on topic is not something that has been happening on this call for a very long time, and I had been turning off the chat on my end, as it was irritating to me. I feel it is disrespectful to have a free for all during a prayer service. But then it seems that this is a common thread in many other meetings, during Sunday services even, when people are talking, drinking beverages and eating food, on their cell phones, during the service. I have even observed this behavior by pastors and elders during prayer. I am not a fan of cell phones in the meetings especially church services. I think a Bible should be carried in one's hand into a meeting, rather than using a cell phone or i-pad or any device. I understand the value of them being used where it is dangerous to be caught with a Bible, but I think we take it too far. I just received an article from a spiritual leader I know that said the material had been AI generated. This is dangerous, and I do not feel that it is God inspired. I am grateful for leaders who exhort their followers to behave honorably and respectfully. I was beginning to think I was an old grouch who was just being "me." Thankfully, God felt the same way.

It's interesting that recently I've seen many discussions among friends on the discipleship site I use in conjunction with my group I host, where the questions pertain to appropriate or Bible response to various situations. I hope we all learn from scripture how God views things, and we receive the godly response so our behavior is as unto the Lord. People are watching our reactions. I have my own challenges that I have mentioned in previous posts along these lines, but the best defense is to remain in the word and abide in Christ's presence. Finding our resting place and doing everything to ensure that it is a consistent part of our lives. There are people who actually schedule quiet time, but I let God create that deep desire within me, so much so that I cannot wait to talk to Him in the morning, spend time with Him in my day, discuss everything, even the mundane or crazy ideas I get in head from time to time. He cares about everything. Yesterday He helped me clean the living room, and we even watched a bit of Ant Man while we cleaned house. He's partial to Marvel, I think, but, like me, He's disappointed that they killed off Iron Man. Not a great idea. I'm just being silly, I hope you know, but realize that Holy Spirit does dwell within the heart of the believer, so we need to examine everything we do each day. Asking ourselves "Does this honor God? Or is it taking time away from spending quality time with Him?" Examining the heart is a good thing, a practical thing. I do not want to be an unsuspecting idol worshiper.

Let's maintain the focus and keep it on the Author and Finisher of our faith, resting in the safety of His arms.