Hope You're Feeling (Really) Good!

I’ve been sidetracked this week…an all day meeting, no school because of snow, and well, the list could go on and on. However, in all of these distractions, God showed up…numerous times, but I think His most profound presence was in the words of a child. On Wednesday I took Anna and Bella with me to the Sign of the Kingdom…school was out and I couldn’t find a sitter…and it was food distribution day. Now they helped awhile and played awhile, even got on my nerves a time or two, but for the most part were really good. After we left and were on our way back to church, one of them said, “I am really glad God let us help people today.” Kind of caught me by surprise; I knew they would be glad to get out of the house…I knew they would be glad to see other people…I even knew they would be glad to do something new…but for her to be glad God let us help others surprised me. Not sure why, Jesus told us that we are to be servants of others. When I asked why it made her glad she replied, “It just feels good.” Now, I am not searching for some profound theological truth here, but something even a child can relate to…feeling good. If we would spend more of our time serving others, even in what seems insignificant way, rather than trying to fortify our personal kingdoms where the goal is to be served…it’s no telling how good we might feel or how many others might see Jesus in our acts of service.

Praise God for the Church!

I read this today, from Basil Pennington work, Living in the Question.

“(Jesus) has said: ask and you shall receive; seek and you will find. Unfortunately we ask for the ephemeral which isn’t really satisfying. We seek what is passing and will leave us empty—until we come to realize in truth we do not know what we truly want, where our true happiness lies. We need to seek a teacher, a prophetic voice—the guidance of one whom the Lord has sent, the Church who makes Jesus present to us today, Jesus who is all that our hearts seek. Until we seek and find the Truth we will in fact be in a desert chasing mirages, encountering delusions, finding all swaying and unstable.”

That is a wonderful description of what the Church is to be and do…a prophetic voice to help keep us from chasing mirages...because that is our tendency…to chase mirages. The preacher, the teachers, the leaders, the classmates who hold us accountable, the folks who sit beside us in the pew as we worship…all these make up the body that helps us discern Truth in a world that screams lies from every corner. In Proverbs 8:17 God offers us this promise: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” Praise God for the Church as God intended it to be; a congregation of pilgrims each seeking while guiding others to Jesus Christ.

God's at Work!

What a weekend! Saturday two others and I attended a meeting on our upcoming mission trip to Haiti (please begin praying for this trip)…enlightening and useful, except I was reminded of bucket showers…not looking forward to those again! Then on Sunday, about 4am, the flu bug bit me and I spent the rest of the day either in bed or in the bathroom…praise God for those who intercede on our behalf and for healing! On that note, how is your time of prayer and fasting going? Even though it is not the most exhaustive instrument, I hope you’re using the prayer calendar and finding some progression and sense to it as you claim these requests as your own. These are not my requests for you or my requests for the church…many are actually my requests for me in 2011 and I added some others requests aimed at the church. It was my intention that you make these requests your own as well. I further hope and pray this exercise is drawing you either closer to God or placing you in God's presence more often each day…we could all benefit from both. I must believe several of us have engaged in this process as the Spirit is moving here at Beulah…Jesus promises us in Matthew 18:19 that when we agree on something in prayer, the Father will answer that prayer! Too often we want to focus on 18:20 in which Jesus tells us where two or three are gathered together he will be with us…I know that is comforting to some, but I personally find more joy in knowing He will answer my prayer than be with me…the Spirit’s always with me! Regardless, here’s my question for you today, Is God answering your prayers? If so, praise Him! If not, why not?

Here I Am, Lord Use Me!

Have you felt God move yet? Has He spoken to you since we began this month of prayer and fasting? I’ve heard reports already from some that He has spoken! You know God wants to…He’s just waiting for you to come along side His will. Wednesday evening at Bible study we got off on the subject of prayer…actually it wasn’t “off the subject”…it was where God led us. Anyway, I made the statement that most of the time our prayers are not what God wants to hear from us. Sure, we are to intercede for others, but I believe we should spend more of our prayer time asking God what He would have us do for someone rather than praying that they are “fixed.” Now, I am not a physician, and I cannot go offer someone a remedy or healing by my hands, but what if God wants me to go to that person and pray for them or anoint them? Perhaps God is waiting for ME to share the Good News with someone I know who is lost? Or that person who has dropped out of church, that person you’ve invited so many times to come back to church, maybe God just wants YOU to go and sit with them and hear their pains. Rather than asking God to “fix” them or their problems, I think God is waiting for us to make ourselves available to help. If we would just listen as much as we talk to God…once we begin exploring the mind and will of God…we might just see a mighty movement of God’s hand. I have no doubt He wants to move in our lives…in the life of Beulah…but will we allow it? I hope the Prayer Calendar will help.

Fasting and Abstinence

As some of us are fasting this January, it is my hope that all of us will eventually become convicted of the notion that we need to fast. Now, first let me say again that for medical reasons not everyone should fast from food…but we should all practice the discipline of fasting or abstinence (which is doing without other luxuries, but commonly referred to as fasting). Jentezen Franklin says there are three duties of every Christian: Giving, Praying, and Fasting. If that is so, and recalling Matthew 6 I think Jentezen is correct, then what is fasting? Biblical fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose. Fasting is not dieting or starving. It is doing without something to focus on the God who gives all such gifts. The goal of fasting is to bring one into a deeper, more intimate and powerful relationship with God. But why in January? Well, it seems like an appropriate time to me. First, we have experienced may indulgences in November and December as we celebrate the harvest and Christ’s birth. Secondly, it seems biblical to me. Matthew 6:33 NIV says “But seek FIRST his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (emphasis added). Seems to me that seeking “first” naturally points to January…then we have the rest of the year to do as God speaks to us and to receive the blessings he wants to give us. Yeah, it could also be interpreted as first each week, or first thing each morning, but I also think it applies to our year. So, won’t you join me in intentionally seeking God’s face…there are blessings that await us!

Shaken, not Stirred (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

As we continue in our journey here at Beulah of prayer and fasting during the month of January, I came across this from a book called Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth.

“Note the words of Acts 4:31, ‘And when they had prayed, the place was shaken.’ There are many churches where they never pray the kind of prayer that you read of here. A church that does not know how to pray and to shout will never be shaken. If you attend a place like that you may as well write ‘Ichabod—the glory of the Lord has departed,’ over the threshold. It is only when men have learned the secret of prayer, of power, and of praise, that God comes forth. Some people say, ‘Well, I praise God inwardly,’ but if there is an abundance of praise in your heart, your mouth cannot help speaking it.”
Seems to me like Smith is on to something here…there is great power in our prayer and our praise, when done correctly for the glory of God. My hope is that everyone at Beulah might truly learn the secret of prayer, power, and praise and we might be shaken…not for the sake of being shaken, but for the end result: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and bravely spoke God’s message.”

No Other Way!

“I learned as never before that persistent calling upon the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times, there is simply no other way.” - Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.

As an extension of Sunday’s message I offer the above quote. Church, our battle is against the powers and principalities of this dark world, (Eph. 6:4) and prayer is the only way to break the stronghold. Do you believe that? If you do not, you have no hope…I would wonder why you bother to read my blog. If you do, you know that nothing this side of heaven can stop a praying child of God. I pray you will engage with the prayer calendar this January. If you don’t attend Beulah, you can access it on our website (visitbeulahumc.org). I hope you’ll seriously consider my call for us to pray for the lost in 2011. If each of us would develop a “10 Most Wanted List” and fervently pray for those individuals on our list, I think we would see the hand of God move in a mighty way in the lives of folks around here. But remember, it’s not about building up Beulah; it’s about building up the Kingdom. If we will focus on Kingdom work, God will take care of Beulah. May the Spirit guide you as we fast and pray through January together…there is simply no other way!