"Interrupted"

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  Luke 2:13,14

When I am working on a project, doing business or having a conversation, I don't like to be interrupted.  I want to stay involved in what I am doing until it is finished.  But interruptions are a part of life.  God even "interrupts" us at times.  We can be going through the business of life then all of a sudden God step in and interrupts what we are doing.  This happened with the shepherds who were abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night.

These shepherds were going about the business of life, doing what they always did, then suddenly God sends an angel to give them a message that would interrupt the rest of their night-- and lives.  The Lord interrupted what they were doing to make them privy to the most glorious event ever known to mankind.  "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." (verse 11)

The shepherds stopped what they were doing and gave heed to the angel's message.  As a result, they were the first ones, besides Mary and Joseph, to lay eyes on the Messiah- their hope, their salvation, their God.  Had they gotten angry about the "interruption", had they decided that what they were doing was too important to stop, had they ignored it, they would have missed out on a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.  They would have missed the honor not given to others.  They would have missed being able to look into the plan of God.  They would have missed God's will and being a direct part of His plan. 

When God interrupts you, and He does, what are you going to do about the interruption?  Are you going to ignore it or heed it?  Are you going to rejoice or get angry?  When He interrupts our lives there is always a reason.  If you ignore it, you might be missing out on the greatest blessing of your life.

Have a great day.  The Lord often interrupts our lives-- our plans, our will, etc.  When He does, what will you do about it?

For further reading:
Luke 2:1-17 

"Seek Him For Yourself"

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."  Isaiah 55:6

"Seek ye..."  Let me preface what I am going to say by saying that we should pray for one another, encourage one another, teach and preach to one another, share insights from God's word and help each other to keep running the race set before us and stay faithful in our walk with the Lord.  But when it comes to seeking the Lord, we can't do it all for each other.  We can't do someone else's "seeking" of God and His will for their lives.

The verse says "seek ye"-- you seek the Lord.  We have to seek Him for ourselves.  No one else can seek God for you.  As I already said they can encourage you to seek Him, they can point you toward seeking Him, they can instruct you in how to seek Him, but they can't do it for you. 

Jacob was left alone and sought God for himself- his wives, children or servants could not do that for him.  John the Baptist sought God for himself in the desert- his mother or father couldn't seek God for him.  The Bible is full of examples that teach us that when it comes to a personal relationship with Father God, we have to seek Him for our own selves.  Even Jesus did, leaving us the perfect example.  This is why the Bible tells us to "work out our own salvation".  No one else can do it for you. 

Are you depending on others to do all your seeking?  Are you letting your pastor do it for you?  Your spouse?  Some prayer line?  It will never happen.  You will not know Him, or His will, apart from seeking Him for yourself.

Have a great day.  No one else can do your seeking for you. 

For further reading:
Philippians 2:12

 

"Delight In Him"

"Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."  Psalm 37:4

This is one of our favorite verses because of the promise that is attached to it---- to have the desires of our heart.  But as with all promises, there is a condition.  The condition is to delight yourself in the Lord. 

Is He your delight?  Does your heart take delight in Him?  Do you derive pleasure from spending time with Him in His presence?  Do you enjoy being with Him in prayer and praise?  Where is your focus?  On Him or His promises?  On what He can give you or who He is?  Is your delight in Him or the expectation of the desire that He is going to fulfill?  Would you delight yourself in Him even if there were no promise attached?  Even if you knew you would get nothing in return-- no material blessings, nothing? 

Our hearts should delight in Him because He Himself is the prize.  He is the promise.  He is the delight.  Are you delighting yourself in Him because of who He is or because of what He can give you?  Should He give you nothing would you still take pleasure in Him?

Have a great day.  Are you delighting yourself in the Lord only because of what you expect to receive from Him or simply because you love Him.

For further reading:
Psalm 119:16

"Thankful - Part 3"

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not" Lamentations 3:22

Today I would like to give thanks to the Lord for His mercy.  His mercy withholds from us what we deserve.  We deserve judgment, punishment-- death.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of our sins is death.  But because of His mercy we have been given the opportunity, as we have been talking about, through His Son Jesus to have forgiveness of our sins and receive instead the gift of God which is eternal life. 

If you have noticed over the past three days, I have used two of the same scriptures.  In those we see His attributes of mercy, compassion and faithfulness.  But these are not all, there are more-- He is more.  He is Love.  He is Grace.  He is Peace.  He is Deliverance, Healing, Righteousness, Holiness, Purity, Goodness, Joy, etc.  You see, God doesn't just possess these attributes, He doesn't just "carry them around in His pocket" this is Who He Is.  For example, in my purse I have a wallet, but I am not a wallet.  I have a package of Kleenex, but I am not a tissue.  I have a comb, but I am not a comb.  Not so with God.  He doesn't just carry love around with Him, He Is love.  He doesn't just possess righteousness, He Is Righteous.  

I hope you are taking time with me to thank the Lord for all that He has given you and blessed you with, take time to thank Him for Who He Is.  Had it not been for Who He Is, He would not have given you what you have.  Because He is compassion, mercy and faithful He has given you the gift of eternal life, and all the blessings that come with it. 

Have a great day.  While thanking the Lord for all He has given you, thank Him for Who He Is as well.  You wouldn't have what you have had He not been who He Is.

For further reading:
1 John 4:7,8
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8   
John 3:16,17

"Thankful - Part 2"

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Lamentations 3:22

This morning the attribute of the Lord that I am thankful for is His compassion.  I don't always understand the compassion that He has towards us.  When I looked up the word compassion, it also referred to "womb".  The compassion of the Lord is so deep. It comes from the very inner most part and depth of who He is.  Were it not for His compassion for us, we would have all been consumed and destroyed by our own sin without hope.

His compassion for us prompted Him to reach out to us with the hand of salvation.  He was, and is, not willing that any of us should perish.  When one person dies lost and goes out into eternal hell away from Him, it grieves His heart.  He is grieved because of the great love He has for them.  He is grieved because He provided a way of escape, and they would not take it.  He is grieved because they rejected His Son whom He sent in exchange to pay the ransom price for their sins.

Have you experienced the great compassion of the Lord?  Perhaps you know about it.  Perhaps you have heard about it.  But have you experienced it?  Do you know how it feels?  Do you know it personally?  How do we experience it?  We experience it by accepting His Son Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  His compassion is then placed in our lives in the person of Jesus.  When Jesus comes in, His compassion floods our souls giving us peace, taking away the shame and guilt, and setting us free. 

Have a great day.  I am thankful for the compassion of the Lord.  Are you?

For further reading:
Psalm 111:4; 145:8
Romans 9:15