21 Days of Consecration - Day 6, John 6 - God Knows What He's Doing

How do you narrow it down to just one thing? There are 71 verses in John 6 and it would be easy for me to give you a multi-point entry today, but let me keep it to just one thing - God knows what He's doing!

The chapter opens with a large crowd following Jesus out away from town. Jesus is concerned about their wellbeing (that gives you some insight into His character) and asks Philip, who is from the area, where to buy bread to feed the crowd. You know the rest of the story - Philip says we don't have enough money, Andrew brings a boy with some bread and fish, Jesus multiplies it and feeds the 5,000, 12 baskets are collected from the leftovers and great teaching comes out of this story.

But there's a little verse tucked away in the middle of this narrative that gives us a great insight into God's heart:

"This He was saying to test him [Philip], for He Himself knew what He was intending to do." (John 6:6 NASB)

When Jesus asked Philip where to buy bread, He already knew what He was going to do. But He was testing Philip. How many times in my life has the Lord allowed me to ponder a decision while all along He knows what He's planning to do? He did this to Abraham when He told him to sacrifice his son Isaac - ultimately God stopped Abraham because the motive of his heart was pure. He passed the test.

I think the point of the test is not so much for God to see what's in our heart, but for US to see what's in our heart. At the end of the day we see where our heart lined up with the Father's purpose and where it missed the mark. So these tests are good things.

As for God, He definitely knows what He's doing! And His plans are ALWAYS for good! To get a feel for that, listen to His words to Jeremiah the prophet:

"'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"

Sounds like God's plans are good plans! And we can trust in that. God knows what He's doing. And He's always doing something good. Another verse that drives that point home is found in Romans:

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NASB)

So I can trust Him. The point of the test is to see if I'm trustworthy. And with every test He makes me grow more and more like Him. So whatever I'm facing today, whatever quandary, whatever question, whatever impossibility before me, God knows what He's doing. And I can rest in that!

I hope that blesses you. I want to mention another resource you might enjoy. Our friends up at Life Church West Monroe are also taking part in the Awakening (21 Days of Consecration). Their pastor, and my great friend, Joel Dyke is writing daily comments on his blog from his devotional reading and I've been so blessed by them. Yesterday's entry was especially poignant for me. I hope you'll check out his blog at http://www.JoelDyke.com/ - you'll be blessed.

Wow! We're on Day 6 and it's hard to believe we're already more than a quarter way through our 21 Days of Consecration! God is speaking to us and drawing us to Himself and I'm so in awe of what He is doing! Keep on telling me what God is doing in your life - I have GREAT expectancy for what He will do in us collectively. And remember...

I love serving Jesus with you,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 5, John 5 - God cares, Initiative and Love

So many things are jumping out of God's word that it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing to share with you. So I'll do what preachers do - I'll give you three points! (But I'll spare you the poem! [G])

God Cares

We often think of God's miracles in terms of instantaneous answers to sudden problems. For example, Peter walks on the water, sinks, cries out and Jesus saves him. Or the people get hungry and Jesus feeds them. Or someone dies and Jesus raises them. But in our text today we find a guy who's been sick for thirty-eight years! And Jesus shows His concern, even for the long-term struggle.

That give me hope! Just because I've struggled with something for awhile doesn't mean I'll have to struggle with it forever. God cares! And he wants to intervene in my life, in my struggle.

Today is my study day for Sunday and I'm contemplating our next sermon in our "21 Days of Consecration" series. I've been talking about the ABC's of Consecration and last week we talked about Spiritual Alignment while this week we'll be studying Breaking the Yokes. There may be some yoke (bondages, habits, sins, sicknesses, etc) that we've struggled with a long time. And I'm convinced that God Cares - and wants to set us free. I hope you'll have that anticipation for our Sunday service!

Initiative

Last week when I was talking about Spiritual Alignment the final key I gave you was to Learn to Live from Heaven's Initiative. We talked about how the binding and loosing commands in Matthew 16 and 18 were to be the things that were already bound and loosed in heaven. We also talked about how Jesus said "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner." (John 5:19 NASB) Well as I read further in John 5 I came across this statement of Jesus:

"I can do nothing of My own initiative." (John 5:30a NASB)

He spells is out so plainly! Jesus lived from heaven's initiative and we must also. It's easy to come up with good ideas and ask God to bless them. But how about seeking God about what HE'S blessing and doing that? Hmmmm.

Love

The final thing I want to share with you today is from verse 42 where Jesus was talking to the religious leaders who were upset that He was "doing these things [healing] on the Sabbath" according to verse 16. He recognized that they were very religious, but they lacked one thing:

"But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves." (John 5:42 NASB)

It doesn't matter how religious you are, how outwardly aligned your life is with standards of righteousness and how much you go to church. If you don't have the love of God in you, you've missed the whole point. Jesus came to teach us how to love as the Father loved. John later wrote "We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19 NASB). Let's get the love-factor down right and everything else will fall into place.

Well, that's it. No poem - just three points from today's reading. What is God telling you on this journey of consecration? I'm really enjoying your feedback. Keep those emails and phone calls coming (although I probably won't answer on Thursday! [G]).

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 4, John 4 - Weariness

It's interesting how the Lord will speak to you right where you are. In today's reading a couple of things really jumped out to me. First the part about weariness:

"He [Jesus] left Judea and went away again to Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." (John 4:3-6 NASB)

Following these verses is another one of the incredible interchanges between Jesus and someone He's ministering to, a dialogue that all of us are so grateful for. But what jumped out to me is that the whole reason Jesus stopped at the well was because He was "wearied from His journey."

Sometimes our weaknesses are the very things used by God to bring about powerful ministry to others. It's not always when we plan on it or when we're at the top of our game. Paul spoke of this in 2 Cor 12:9. He had asked the Lord to remove an area of weakness from Him and the Lord responded: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." So Paul said he would prefer to boast about his weakness for that's when Christ's power is perfected in him the most.

Those of us who are fasting know what weakness is. Here on day 4 we've probably all experienced a moment of wooziness or some fatigue, and even a headache or two (or two hundred!). And yet, through this weakness the Lord is sharpening our mind, clearing our focus, brushing aside the cobwebs of our thinking and helping us see Him more clearly. And thus we are more useful to Him, because of our weakness.

This applies in other areas of our lives as well. So often we tend to hide our shortcomings, thinking if others knew that we didn't have it all together, we'll be lowered in their estimation. (This is a particular problem for preachers. (How about that alliteration? [GRIN])) The truth of the matter is that when we are honest with others about our struggles, it actually empowers us to have a greater impact in the lives of others who are struggling too! So let's all commit to let the Lord use our weaknesses that He may be glorified.

Let me bring you to one more thing that really jumped out to me from this chapter:

"Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.' But He said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples were saying to one another, 'No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.' (John 4:31-34 NASB)

If you're fasting, you are finding that this is true! Hopefully, like me, you're experiencing God's grace when it comes to hunger. My previous experience with fasting has been that by day 4 the hunger diminishes greatly, and that's proving true this time as well. I hope it is for you also. Truly by focusing on the Lord we are being reminded that what we think are needs are really more like wants. And we are sustained by His Word. So in the words of Hosea:

"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."
(Hosea 6:3 NASB)

Let's press on together! What an adventure! Until tomorrow ...

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 3, John 3 - Late Night Conversations

Have you ever stayed up late with a friend, talking into the wee hours of the night? Those are the conversations we seem to cherish the most from our friendships. That's when real heart exchange takes place. That's what came across my mind when I began reading John 3 today. Listen to the first part of this chapter:

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." (John 3:1-2 NASB)

I've often read of Nicodemus' coming "by night" as a sign of fear. But maybe he wanted to have a long talk, which would have been difficult in the daytime with the crowds around Jesus. And this late-night conversation affected Nicodemus in a tremendous way. He appears two other times in the Gospels, one when speaks out in Jesus' defense when the rest of the Jewish leaders wanted to arrest Him (John 7) and then later when he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in burying Jesus, personally providing a costly sum of spices for the burial. Early Christian tradition says that he was a strong believer and was martyred for his faith in Jesus.

I know that Nicodemus' late-night conversation with Jesus had a profound impact on him. But it also had a profound impact on all of us. If it were not for that late-night conversation, we wouldn't have one of the clearest presentations of the gospel, as we find in John 3:16. In fact, that entire conversation demonstrates God's plan and love better than just about any passage you'll find. All because of one late-night conversation.

I believe the Father wants to have those kind of "late-night" conversations with us, even if they don't happen late at night. But it's the kind of heart-sharing that takes place when we commit to consecrate our lives to Him, giving Him the first place in everything. This journey of consecration that we're on will bring us to many late-night-type conversations as we seek to find time with Him alone, away from the distractions of life, the hustle and bustle of the crowds. That's when the most intimate, life-changing truths will be shared.

So how about it? What truths is He sharing in your life? What kind of life-exchange is taking place on this "21 Days of Consecration" journey that we're on together? I'm loving your emails and phone calls - keep 'em coming!

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 2, John 2 - Breadcrumbs of Belief

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you had an "Aha!" moment, when pieces of the puzzle came together and things just made sense? When you looked back at things and saw them in a new light? In today's reading of John 2 there's a description of this very thing.

When Jesus cleansed the temple of the moneychangers the Jews demanded to know in what authority He was acting. He explained that if they destroyed "this temple" that He would raise it up in three days. The Jews thought He was speaking of the literal temple and were incredulous - how could He build something in 3 days that had taken 46 years to build, and still wasn't finished? Listen to the next two verses:

But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. (John 2:21-22 NASB)

It's neat how the Lord will show us it was Him all along, when He pulls back the veil of our understanding and helps us to see that He truly was in control of the situation, that He was the one working behind the scenes. And oh how that helps us believe in Him all the more.

The neat thing is that because He knows us so well, and knows we need reaffirmations, He leaves little breadcrumbs of belief so that we will come to full faith in Him. That's just how much He loves us!

I'm grateful for this nugget from John 2. How about you? What did the Lord speak to you today? BTW, today was a tough day, physically. If you've suffered headaches and physical discomfort from fasting, you're not alone. But it will get better ... I promise! And the Lord will continue speaking in even more clear ways. I can't wait to hear from you so let me know what God is doing in your life!

Blessings,
Nathan

21 Days of Consecration - Day 1, John 1

Hello friends and family,

Over the past couple of weeks I've been pointing towards our "21 Days of Consecration," January 11-31. I've talked about the ABC's of fasting (for Spiritual Alignment, Breaking Yokes and Setting the Captives Free) and many in our church family have committed to varying degrees of fasting during this season. Of course fasting is not the only way to participate, but it's a tool many of us have chosen in order to draw closer to the Lord. (BTW, thanks to Labenske Music for the great grahpic!)

Well, Day 1 has arrived and we're off to a great start. We had a wonderful service this morning and I'm hearing many testimonies of how God is calling individuals to spiritual alignment with Him and His purposes. I hope you'll continue sharing testimonies with me over these next 21 days. You can leave a comment here or email me directly. I love hearing what God is doing in your life!

BTW, I mentioned that each day of our 21 days I'm encouraging you to read through the book of John, which has 21 chapters. As I read John 1 today here's what jumped out to me:

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:18 NASB)

Scripture teaches that no one can see God as He really is and live to talk about it. God has revealed parts of Himself to various Bible characters, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, etc, but none of them could see the fullness of God. But God longs to be known and experienced, especially by His crowning creation. So He explains all that He is through Jesus. According to Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is the "exact representation" of God's nature. Everything we need to know about God, we learn through Jesus.

As we journey through the book of John together, we're going to learn all sorts of neat things about the Father, as taught to us by the Son. I'm excited that you're on this Journey of Consecration with me. One thing you might want to do is visit the Awakening website for a daily devotional from John. You can find the devotionals at http://www.awake21.org/category/daily-devotional/ - I think you'll be blessed. And remember to let me know what God is doing in your life! I look forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,

Nathan

Happy New Year!

I hope you've had a great beginning to your new year. We had a wonderful time of fellowship on New Year's Eve up at the church, starting at 9:00PM. We had several folks bring their Wii games and we set up 5 stations, which was a lot of fun! We were going to show a movie, but everyone was enjoying the fellowship so much that we never got around to it. I figured we'd be out of there shortly after midnight but it was around 2:00AM before we left. That's just how good the fellowship was (... and the food! ).

A lot of people are making New Years Resolutions right about now but this post isn't about that. But I did want to tell you about a resource you might enjoy here at the beginning of the year. Many of you have read the book "The Shack" by William Paul Young. It's somewhat controversial in its protrayal of God. (If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I won't ruin it for you!) It's written as a parable, not so much an allegory. (There is a difference - see here, here and here - mainly that a parable uses imagery to make one big point and in an allegory every facet of the story has a parallel in truth.) If you'll read it as a fictional story, a parable with a "big picture", and if you don't get caught up in the details, it will bless you. Especially if you've experienced some level of loss in your life or if you've been stuck on a "performance" level of Christianity. This book will challenge a lot of your conventional, traditional thinking. But it will also free you to fall in love with our Abba, our Papa, our Heavenly Father.

One of the things that will help you appreciate any book is if you can get a glimpse into the author's heart and intentions. I came across a link to some videos of Paul Young speaking at a church in California and I wanted to share the link. Mariner's Church has four weekend services and he spoke at all four, plus a Q&A session the Wednesday before the services for those who had read the book. In addition he shared his life story during a talk at one of the leader's homes and they recorded that. I would encourage you to take the time to view at least his testimony or the Q&A session. I think you'll be highly blessed. Here are the links:

• Link to page with all the videos
• Paul's life story
• Q&A session

Paul speaks the way he writes - sort of rambling, but very enjoyable. The "life story" video is 73 minutes long and the Q&A session is 97 minutes long. There's some of the same information in both but unique information as well. Pour a cup of coffee, turn your speakers up and take the time to be blessed.

I'll write more later - hopefully there will be more blog entries in 2009, making it worth your while to drop in for a visit. Thanks for your emails and comments. I appreciate the encouragement! And most of all ...

I *LOVE* serving Jesus with you!
Nathan