Blog Archives
Yeast, and that wonderful question: “Can I pray for you?”
Reading: Luke 13
Scripture
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Luke 13:20-21 NIV
Observations
Recently I have had the privilege of praying for people in our central city through a ministry called Healing on the Streets. The folks we pray for are passers by who stop to talk, respond to our invitation for prayer, and are brave enough to take a seat and allow two or three of our team to gather around and pray for them, in full view of other shoppers.
I believe that in those few brief minutes of prayer, the folks we pray for truly come into contact with the presence of God.
And so I love this thought that the kingdom of God is like yeast. I like to think that during those short encounters people have with God, a deposit of the “yeast of the Kingdom” is given to them.
And just as yeast, when the conditions are right, will cause dough to rise, so the yeast of the Kingdom, when the conditions become right, can bring to a person life and restoration and the joy of a relationship with God.
Application
Every invitation I make to pray for someone is an opportunity to give that person an encounter with God. For some that encounter will be profound; for others, it may simply be a curiosity. But no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, the kingdom of God is like yeast! Who knows what effect that little deposit of yeast might have as the Spirit does his work.
At work, at school, on the street, at the mall, or with family and friends, I will always have opportunities to offer to pray — opportunities too precious to miss.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please give me opportunities to share the yeast of the Kingdom. Help me to see and respond to the needs of those around me, in practical ways, but also by offering to pray. May I be gentle but bold, and always motivated by love as I ask the question, “Can I pray for you?”
Generation Changers
Reading: Joshua 23:1 – Judges 3:6
Scripture
Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel. Joshua 24:31 (NIV)
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord… Judges 2:10-11 (NIV)
Observations
Head knowledge will always be trumped by personal experience. Though stories be a powerful influence and storytelling vital to sharing and passing on my faith, being IN the story takes it to a whole new level. To walk on the bed of the sea with water heaped up on either side, to feel the heat and the power of God manifested in a pillar of fire, to see water spontaneously gush from a dry rock, and to collect bread from heaven every morning – these are experiences that no handed-down story can match.
In the days of Joshua, these and many other encounters with God influenced the heart of the entire nation. They knew God not just because they had heard the stories, but because they were in them. But as these encounters with God became past history, even by just one generation, the faith of the nation began to crumble.
Application
It's not enough just to share stories handed down from others. I need my own stories. I need my own first hand experience of the power and presence of God. I need to have been on the receiving end of his goodness. I need to have been healed. I need to have prayed in faith and seen miraculous answers to my prayers. These things form the basis of my personal testimony.
Not only that, but others need to be able to see God at work in me and through me. Why would people be drawn to my faith if the substance of it was simply the stories of others? How much weight would that carry? No, I need my own stories.
It's not that my own faith depends on it. But the faith of others just might. Jesus himself expected that some would believe in him because of his miracles: “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:11)
And in the very next sentence, he reveals his expectation that some would believe in him because of miracles happening in and through me: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…” (John 14:12).
These things aren't for my benefit. They're for those who don't yet know him, because just as it was in the days of Joshua, so it is in this day: To see God at work first hand, and even more, to experience him – to be IN the story – that is the stuff that turns hearts and generations to God.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I so want to be a generation changer! To be salt and light in this world and to see your hand at work, to be a testimony to all whose hearts would turn to you. Please break the power of low expectation that has defined my generation, and release in us faith to move mountains and to do the work you have commissioned for us, that through us your love and glory might be clearly revealed, in our generation.
See also Supernatural Encounters with God and Faith Isn't Just Believing – It's Expecting!
Kingdom of Light
Reading: Colossians 1
Tags: light, dominion, kingdom of light, kingdom of God, truth, darkness, inheritance
Scripture
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14 (NIV)
Observations
I have been rescued from the dominion (the sovereignty or control; the supreme and independent power or authority) of darkness (the partial or total absence of light). The problem with darkness is that it prevents me seeing. When there is darkness, I can be controlled by something that I can't see, and remain completely unaware of it. Not until light is introduced do I begin to see things as they really are. In effect, light reveals truth.
I had to be rescued from the dominion of darkness because I had no way of escaping it myself. And who was it that rescued me? God. He didn't just “turn on the light” to show me the true state of things. He rescued me from the sovereignty and control of Satan and brought me into the wonderful kingdom of light – the kingdom of the Son he loves.
Application and Prayer
One day, I will experience the full glory of the kingdom of light. It is something I look forward to with incredible excitement and anticipation. But Father, until that day I ask that you would fill me with your light, and keep filling me, revealing and dispelling the darkness that still remains in my heart. May no untruth darken my thinking, and no work of the evil one remain hidden and active in my life.
Even at this moment Holy Spirit, is there any darkness in me that you would bring to light?
Lord, I pray too that would you fill me with light not just for my benefit, but that others may see the light of truth in me. I don't want to be hidden or inconspicuous, like a lamp hidden under a bowl. Rather, may the treasure in me shine for all to see, and others come to know you and be qualified themselves “to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:5-9 (NIV)
See also, Radiant!
Anakites?! Big gnarly inconvenient obstacles… (mutter, mutter)
Reading: Joshua 15-20
Scripture
In accordance with the Lord’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai—descendants of Anak. Joshua 15:13-14 (NIV)
Observations
Joshua: Well, here's your promised inheritance Caleb – Kiriath Arba. The land is yours. Oh, and by the way, it comes with a few Anakites…
Caleb: No worries, Joshua, I'll sort them out.
And so he does. Caleb had been promised this forty five years earlier after spying out the land with eleven others. Only he and Joshua had believed that with God they could take the land. “So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’” Joshua 14:9
Finally the time had arrived to claim that inheritance. “Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day,” says Caleb to Joshua. “You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Joshua 14:12
Caleb sure had spirit, even at a young 85. As far as he was concerned, the promise had been made, the land was his, and nothing was going to stand in the way of him claiming it for his own.
Application
It strikes me that the promises of God often seem to come with “Anakites”. I wish that wasn't the case – I don't like big gnarly inconvenient obstacles parked all over my driveway. When I read in Isaiah 61 (for example) of those things that Jesus won for me at the cross, and then look at my actual situation (and those of others), it's clear that there are still a few gnarly old Anakites out there. Some of what has been promised to me through Jesus I have yet to claim. And I see others weighed down with burdens that, with his life, Jesus paid to remove.
Caleb is my teacher today. First and foremost, he took God at his word. Secondly, having spied out the land years earlier, he knew what had been promised to him, and had a clear picture of this in his mind. I too need to become completely familiar with God's promises, and then set about claiming those promises with the same spirit that Caleb had – one of faith and determination.
Thirdly, it's clear that although Caleb didn't focus on the Anakites, he did deal with them. As I deal with the “Anakites” in my life, and help others to deal with theirs, prayer is so vital, along with worship and time in the Word. By myself, I actually can't use these things, but with the ever-present help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, they are powerful in my hands. “The Lord helping me, I will drive [the Anakites] out just as he said.”
Prayer
God my Father, I pray for the faith and courage of Caleb. Help me Lord to truly be a man of prayer, and to take real action as I claim what you have promised me. As I spend time walking and talking with you, as I converse with you during the moments of my day, and as I talk and pray with others, may “your kingdom come, Lord; and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
See also Walking in Authority and To Him Who Overcomes…
Walking in “Promise Land”
Reading: Joshua 14
Scripture
So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. Joshua 14:9 (NIV)
Observations
The land on which Caleb's feet had walked was the very land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants hundreds of years earlier. Twelve men were sent out by Moses to spy out that land – Caleb, Joshua and ten others. Two of them had seen a land of opportunity, “flowing with milk and honey”. But the other ten had seen men like giants living in fortified cities, and their report made the hearts of the people “melt with fear”.
Whereas Joshua and Caleb viewed everything in the light of God's promise, their colleagues' eyes were darkened by fear and doubt. Perhaps they just didn't know God well enough to trust him. Perhaps they hadn't truly yielded themselves to God despite the amazing miracles they had seen him perform.
Nonetheless, the same promise of God was made to them all. Joshua and Caleb took the promise to heart, and prepared to take it in hand. They acted on their wholehearted belief that God was faithful, and their faith was richly rewarded. But the half-hearted were left empty-handed.
Application
What a difference it makes to view the world in the light of God's promises! It changes my perspective completely, like a new pair of glasses, bringing a confidence and hope that draws me out of my comfort zone, out beyond what I can achieve in my own strength, and into all the plans and purposes that God has for my life.
As I write this, I am aware of how quickly I jumped to condemn the ten fearful men, from the comfort of my armchair… Would I have acted differently? How am I responding myself to the promises of God as revealed in his Word? I suspect there is much “promise land” I have yet to walk on. And yet my strong desire is to walk there. Lead me on, Lord!
Prayer
Yes Lord, lead me on! Cut me loose from my fears and insecurity, and help me to live my life on the strength of your promises. Thank you for your written Word the Bible, and for all the promises it contains. Infuse my heart with the truth those promises contain, and may they be fulfilled in my life.
“The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance…”
See also, Confidence and Tumbleweed (If Trees Could Walk)