Gotta Love 4am

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood ~ Ephesians 6:12

You've got to love 4am. A 4am wake-up call from God means that I need to deal with something, listen up, pay attention, and/or pray. This morning, it was all the above. The last couple days, I’ve been dealing with something that I didn't see coming and am always astounded and disturbed by how easily I get caught up in the petty nit-picking that goes on between people. Before I know it, I've stopped looking at them as a child of God and all I see are their words picking at me and their fingers pointing out all the things that I've done wrong, all the while they have placed themselves on top of the mountain with all the things that they've done right. How do I fall into that trap so quickly that I don't extend grace for the situation?

The “how” is my humanity. It’s because I look with human eyes at a human being and assume the worst instead of the best. But I need to live by God's grace--instead of by my own ability--because God's grace is empowerment. John Bevere recently spoke at our church and he said that God's grace gives me the power to live beyond myself and my abilities and gives me the "ability to walk in the fullness--the full abilities--of Jesus Christ." But... Did you know that the word "but" is a dangerous word. It's a very powerful word. The word "but" negates everything that comes before it. So using the word "but" should come with some thought. So again, God's grace gives me the ability to live in the fullness and full abilities of Jesus Christ, but I have to accept it, believe it, and take ownership of it. If not, then it's as though God's grace is not on me and does not operate in my life.

So, what do I do now? 1) Add “but God.” If “but” negates everything before it and God is the beginning and the end, the completer of all things, then I just need to add “but God” and my situation of “I have not strength,” becomes, “I have not strength, but God…gives me strength, is my rock and my fortress, etc., etc.” 2) Live by grace. We learned that “grace” is God’s empowerment for me to live not in my natural abilities, but in the fullness of Jesus Christ. 3) Remember the name of my real enemy. Ephesians 6:12 tells me that my battle, my struggle, my emotional conflict is not with the person I see standing before me, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Thank you, Lord, for my 4am. Thank you for the reminder, for the revelation, and for loving me enough to drag my butt out of bed at 4am so that you’d have my undivided attention. Help me to have an amazing, empowered rest of the day. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Revealed

Matthew 13:11-12 "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.

"As long as information remains a secret, hidden in obscurity, no one can prosper from it, no matter how powerful the secret or how might the person. But that person to whom it is made known, no matter who, will have access to abundance;" (Commanding Your Morning, Cindy Trimm, 11). So the question is what secret has been revealed? What truth has been made known? What do you know that you know that you know? For me, this is more than just a question, but a statement of my journey, a part of my reality.

In late spring of 2006, I went through a period in my life where I didn't know anything. Looking back on it, the time period was only two months at the most, but at the time, it seemed like an eternity. I didn't know up from down; I didn't know God loved me; I just didn't know anything. It was in that time of struggling, that I wanted to know--needed to know--something, anything. I needed to have a "know that you know that you know" kind of feeling. One of my friends spoke to me and she said, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God," (Romans 10:17). She gave me several scriptures on construction paper that I hung on my bathroom mirror, so that I could see them all the time and speak God's word over me. She said the more I heard it, the more I would believe it and take it in the truth. She also said that I had a choice to make: I had to choose to believe (or not believe) the Truth. She said the choice was mine and I had to make it. So I kept seeking God and speaking His word over my life and one night, I had a know that you know that you know experience. God revealed a truth, a promise, to me through His Word. Psalm 23:3 says, "He restores my soul." That was my promise, and I claimed it, that God would restore my mind and my soul and pull me out of the darkness. And let me assure you He didn't fail and He didn't break His promise. We can trust God's Word and His Truths when He reveals them to us.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. ~ Jeremiah 33:3

Truth

What do you know that you know that you know?

The word "know" has many uses. For example, I can know somebody intimately, or I can know an acquaintance, or I can know of somebody. So if I can know somebody on many different levels, is the same true for Truth? Unfortunately, yes. The Bible says that knowing the truth will give you freedom and power. Jesus, Himself, said, "If you hold to my teachings...Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free," (John 8:31-32). When the Jews heard this, they questioned Jesus asking how they could be set free since they had never been slaves. “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin,’” (John 8:34). But there is hope and joy for those of us who are in Christ Jesus and know the truth about His redemptive blood. The truth is, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death,” (Romans 8:1-2). You see, there is Truth in laws, as well, and even if we don’t know them, they still affect us.

Take the law of gravity, for example. Gravity is the force that causes two objects to pull toward each other and the force is determined by the amount of mass. Now I may not always have a handle upon that definition, but that doesn’t mean I don’t fall subject to the Truth of that law. In other words, if I step off a step stool, the earth’s gravitational pull will still pull me down, even if I don’t know what it is that’s pulling me down. But, if I take the time to understand this truth and walk in the knowledge and full understanding of it, it will keep me from harm.

The same is true about the Truths in God's Word. He put them in there so that we could live life to the fullest and not keep bumping into or tripping over things because we don't understand how things work. God put all of His Truths into His Word. He has them in there for you to seek out. And as you seek Him out and seek to understand His Truths, He will give you revelation. And when you have revelation about a matter and you hold on to it, that's when it becomes something that you know that you know that you know. So what do you know that you know that you know?

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. ~ Proverbs 25:2

The Key

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. ~ Jeremiah 33:3

I used to think that scripture referred to some profound mystery, like why God chose oxygen as the gas we would breathe. Really, what God reveals is profound, but in a personal way, because our God is personable. When you have that relationship with Him, you can call on Him and trust that He will answer you. There's been an area of my life that I had concerns about and needed God's reassurance and clarity. After praying and seeking God in a mighty way, He impressed upon me a peace last week. It wasn't an answer, but a knowing that He would answer me. Then, during our 1st Wednesday service at church, God revealed the answer to me, which was the key to everything in my life. The truth He revealed may not be considered profound to others, but because it was the key to unlocking so many areas in my life, it was very profound to me.

What answers do you need from God? What things do you need Him to reveal? Spend time with Him and ask Him. You can trust that He wants to reveal the answers to those who seek Him.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ~ Jeremiah 29:13

The Crowd

If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. ~ Exodus 16:3

Ever heard of "crowd mentality"? It's where a crowd of people follows the actions and words of the loudest voice in the crowd--even when those words or actions are illogical and illegal. They do it because no one wants to be the odd man out. Everyone wants to "fit in," so they follow the crowd. In a crowd, a single person may speak out about what's right, but they are usually trampled on and their words stamped out by those of the rest of the crowd.

Jesus, however, throughout His ministry, would separate Himself from the crowds to pray. He knew that if He was to find the strength to endure, He would have to spend regular, quality time with the person who could supply Him with everything He needed--His heavenly Father. We need to follow Jesus' example. The crowd is a great place to reach many people all at once, but it can be very draining. If we are to maintain a pure heart, wisdom, and strength, we must follow Jesus' lead and separate ourselves from the crowd to be alone with our heavenly Father to listen, to learn, and to pray. Alone time with God must become our first priority.

If we are to do the will of our heavenly Father, then we will need His wisdom and His strength to carry it out. When we draw closer to God, He promises to draw closer to us to love on us, encourage us, and strengthen us. Be sure to spend the time drawing closer to your heavenly Father today.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. ~ James 4:8