Paul Miller - A Worthy Goal for Everyday

I give thanks to my God always for you
(I Corinthians 1:4).



Instead of focusing on other people's lack of integrity, on their split personalities, we need to focus on how Jesus is reshaping the church to be more like Himself.

We need to view the body of Christ with grace.

Paul delights in the influence of Jesus on people's lives. It is at the heart of his praying. He doesn't have a generalized spirit of thanksgiving: he is thankful for "you."

Even with the messed-up Corinthian church, Paul is thankful. "I give thanks to my God always for you" (I Corinthians 1:4).

Then he addresses their permitting of incest, suing one another in court, and getting drunk at the Lord's Supper!

Because he keeps his eye on the present work of Jesus, Paul is not overcome by evil but overcomes evil with good. Goodness infests Paul's prayer life. He is living out the gospel.

Even as God has extended grace to Paul so Paul extends grace to the Corinthians.

He looks at the church through rose-colored glasses, tinted with the blood of the Savior.

Obviously, Christians are not better than non-Christians. In fact, Paul says in I Corinthians 1 that the raw material of believers is worse than that of unbelievers. The Corinthians themselves prove that Christians aren't superior, but our Savior is. He makes the difference. He is alive and well in His
church.

-- From A Praying Life, by Paul Miller



We should focus on how God is working to reshape the lives around us into people more like Himself,
not on their faults and shortcomings....
-- sort of like we want people to see us --

Quoteworthy - Who is the Pagan?

From Chesterton, The Everlasting Man


The modern missionary, with his palm-leaf hat and his umbrella, has become rather a figure of fun.

He is chaffed among men of the  world for the ease with which he can be eaten by cannibals and the narrow bigotry which makes him regard the cannibal culture as lower than his own.

Perhaps the best part of the joke is that the men of the world do not see the joke is against themselves.

It is rather ridiculous to ask a man just about to be boiled in a pot and eaten, at a purely religious feast, why he does not regard all religions as equally friendly and fraternal.

The Greatest Discovery

Glorious God,

I bless thee that I know thee.
I once lived in the world, but was ignorant of its creator,

was partaker of thy Providences, but knew not the provider,
was blind while enjoying the sunlight,
was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices all around me,
understood many things, but had no knowledge of thy ways,
saw the world but did not see Jesus only.

O happy day, when in thy love's sovereignty
thou didst look on me and call me by grace.

Then did the dead heart begin to beat,

the darkened eye glimmer with light,
the dull ear catch thy echo
and I turned to thee and found thee
A God ready to hear, willing to save.

Then did I find my heart at enmity to thee, vexing thy Spirit;
Then did I fall at thy feet and hear thee thunder,

The soul that sinneth, it must die

But when grace made me to know thee,
And admire a God who hated sin
Thy terrible justice held my will submissive.

My thoughts were then as knives cutting my head.

Then didst thou come to me in silken robes of love,
And I saw thy Son dying that I might live,
And in that death I found my all.
My soul doth sing at tbe rememberance of that peace;
The gospel cornet brought a sound unknown to me before
That reached my heart -- and I lived --
never to lose my hold on Christ or His hold on me.

Grant that I may always weep to the praise of mercy found,
And to tell to others as long as I live,
That thou art a sin-pardoning God,
Taking up the blasphemer and the ungodly,
And washing them from their deepest stain.

From The Valley of Vision, a Collection of Puritan Prayers

Divine Abdication - C S Lewis

For He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures.

He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.

He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, or to fail.

Perhaps we do not fully realize the problem, so to call it, of enabling finite free wills to co-exist with Omnipotence.

It seems to involve at every moment almost a sort of divine abdication.

We are not mere recipients or spectators.

We are either privileged to share the game or compelled to collaborate in the work, 'to wield our little tridents.'

Is this amazing process simply Creation going on before our eyes?

This is how (no light matter) God makes something --indeed makes gods -- out of nothing.

  - From "The Efficacy of Prayer," in The World's Last Night.

Quoteworthy -- So How Do We Do It?

Thinking about the church I attended when a child.  Great memories. We had an intensive educational program and I am so thankful for the foundation it gave me-- the resoures to meet real life and not only survive, but to beome a victor! -- little did I know then how much my life would be enriched by the study of God's Word while still a child.


Many people can easily recite the first Question and Answer  from the famous Westminster Catechism ~~~

Question #1: What is the chief end of man?


Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.




Question #1 is the logical beginning - what am I here for?


After answering that, everything else falls into place.






Question #2:  What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?


Again, the next obvious question -- from the catechism --  how do we accomplish our purpose?


Answer: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.




I remember our pastor, Bro. Burch, teaching us this part of the catechism.

He would hold up his Bible in loving hands and gently caress it and say, "This is the only rule to go by ...the only rule....the only rule God has given us to show us how to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Never forsake it." We learned lots of verses, too, to develop our understanding.




And I have found that as the answer to Question #1 settled the big mysterious why of my life (why am I here?), Question #2 settled the big how of my life (how am I supposed to live this life to glorify Him and enjoy Him?)


After understanding that, everything else falls into place.

We can't be insulted! - Brennan Manning

To be alive is to be broken.

And to be broken is to stand in need of grace.

Honesty keeps us in touch with our neediness and the truth that we are saved sinners.

There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.

When a man nor woman is truly honest (not just working at it) it is virtually impossible to insult them personally.

Those who are truly ready for the kingdom are just such people. Their inner poverty of spirit and rigorous honesty has set them free. They are people who had nothing to be proud of.

There was the sinful woman in the village who kissed Jesus' feet. There was freedom in doing that.

Despised as a prostitute, she had accepted the truth of her utter nothingness before the Lord.

She had nothing to lose!

She loved much because much had been forgiven her.....

To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in the need of grace.

   -- From The Ragamuffin Gospel, Chapter 4, 
                         by Brennan Manning 


One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal.

He went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town heard that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.

Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is -- that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

"Tell me, teacher," he said.

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Neither had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.



Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven -- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven....Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."  (Luke 7:36-50)

Hope for backsliders?

Backslider - an interesting word. We don't hear it much anymore.

I don't know why. It still fits.

The dictionary says to backslide is to: slide backward in morals or religious enthusiasm; become less virtuous, less pious, etc.

The picture is of someone on a slippery path who slides back - he is not holding on...he has lost his grip....but there is something or someone to hold on to, something to bear his grip. He just lets go.

We never picture a backslider without seeing that he was first being pulled up by something or someone. Or perhaps he was pulling himself up by grasping a rail or rope, and then he loses his grip and slips back.

There are many examples in Scripture of believers who backslid, or fell away.

The Apostle Peter fell, but he was not lost. He came back with enthusiasm and steadiness of purpose.

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers," Jesus told him (Luke 22:32).

Simon Peter suffered loss, but he was not lost.

John Mark is another example.

He failed so miserably on his first missionary journey
(he abandoned his companions) that when his uncle Barnabas suggested he go on the second journey, Paul turned him down.

Paul as much as said, "Never! he failed last time and I am through with him!" (Acts 15:37-40) so Barnabas took the young man with him to Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and left on his trip.

It caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas.

Paul was through with John Mark, but God wasn't!

And before he died, Paul wrote to Timothy and requested, "Take Mark, and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry (2 Timothy 4:11).

Peter and Mark - backsliders who were restored!

Restoration - to bring back to a former condition -
is enacted every day in God's Kingdom.

And ever notice that "restoration" always refers to
bringing something or someone back to a former condition that was finer, better than the present condition?

We never think of restoring someone or something to an earlier, less perfect, condition. Why would we want to do that anyway?

So backsliding is always backward to a less desired position, and restoring is always to a better, more
preferable place.

God is in the business of restoring us. He wants to
bring us up, raise us higher - always!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with

every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world...

in him we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the

riches of God's grace that he lavished on us

with all wisdom and understanding.

 (Ephesians 1:3-8).

And God raised us up in Christ and seated us up with him 

in  the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

 in order that in the coming ages he 

 might show the incomparable riches of his grace,

expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

(Ephesians 2:6-7).

What He does for backsliders:

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

(Psalm 40:2-3)

Backsliding? Backslidden? He's ready to lift you out

and put you up on a solid rock, not a slippery rock.

 Those "streams of mercy" are "never ceasing" and they still "call for songs of greatest praise"!

Where did you last see Him? C H Spurgeon

I sought him but found him not.
          Song of Solomon 3:1

Tell me where you lost the company of Christ and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him.

Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? 
then it is there that you must seek Him.

Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way than by giving up the sin.

.

Did you lose Christ by neglecting the scriptures? You must find Christ in the scriptures.

It is a true proverb: Look for a thing where you dropped it -- it is there.




So look for Christ where you lost Him, for He has not gone away.

But is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us that the pilgrim found the piece of road back to the Arbor of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever traveled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master to cling close to Him.

But how is it you have lost Him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a precious Friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you!


How is it you did not watch Him every moment for fear of losing sight of Him?

Yet, since you have let Him go, what a mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you mournfully groan, O that I know where I might find Him!

Go on seeking for it is dangerous to be without your Lord.


Without Christ you are like a sheep without his shepherd, like a tree  without water at its roots, like a withered leaf in the storm -- not bound to the tree of life.

With your whole heart, seek Him, and He will be found by you [Jeremiah 29:13-14].

Only give yourself thoroughly up to the search and truly you shall discover Him to your joy and gladness.

Escape from Doubting Castle and the Giant of Despair

This excerpt is from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress:

Christian and Hopeful have been captured by Giant Despair and are prisoners in the dungeon of Doubting Castle.

Christian: Brother Hopeful, what shall we do? The life that we now have is extremely wretched. For my part I know not whether it is best to live like this for a time, then starve to death, or be beaten to death by their brutal man, or to die now and get out of it. Surely the future grace is to be desired rather than this dungeon.

Hopeful: As you see, I am in the dungeon, too, and a far weaker person by nature and experience than you, receiving the same punishment and suffering the same agony. This giant has wounded me and has also cut off bread and water from my mouth. And along with you, I mourn without the light.

At about midnight, Christan and Hopeful began to pray and continued until almost break of day.

Then Christian suddenly cried out in amazement:  What a fool! What a fool I am to lie here in this stinking dungeon when I might walk free on the highway to glory! I have a key in my bosom called Promise which I am sure will open any door in Doubting Castle.

Hopeful: That is certainly good news, my brother. Get out your key and try it.

Then Christian took the key of Promise and pushed it into the lock of the dungeon door. The bolt fell back and the door came open. Then they went to the door leading to the castle yard. The key opened that door also.

Now they came to a great iron gate leading outside. The lock to that gate was exceedingly difficult, yet they unlocked it and pushed the gate open to make their escape.

The prisoners came to the King's highway, where they were safely beyond Despair's jurisdiction.

                                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


          His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness, through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  2 Peter 1:3-4



                         Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature's night

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray

I woke, the dungeon filled with light

My chains fell off, my heart was free

I rose, went forth and followed Thee!

          -- From And Can It Be by Charles Wesley

And from Jeremiah:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: because of the LORD's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.

Great is Your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."
                        --Lamentations 3:19-23

Prayer for Every Day

Almighty and Eternal God,
You are hidden from my sight
You are beyond the understanding of my mind
Your thoughts are not my thoughts
Your ways are past finding out
Yet You have breathed Your Spirit into my life;
Yet you have formed my mind to seek You;
Yet You have inclined my heart to love You;
Yet You have made me restless for the rest that is in You
Yet You have planted within me a hunger and thirst that make me dissatisfied with all the joys of earth.

O You alone know what lies before me this day. Grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to You. Let me be in the world, yet not of it. Let me use this world without abusing it. If I buy, let me be as though I possessed not. If I have nothing, let me be as though possessing all things.

Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with Your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which Your will may demand.

Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind, for my Lord Christ's sake. Amen.

-- John Baille



Prayer from St. Augustine, Book One, Part One

You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is Your power, and Your wisdom infinite.

And man would praise You; man, who is a but a small particle of Your creation; yes, man, though he carries with him his mortality, the evidence of his sin...

You awake us to delight in Your praise; for You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.

The Jews - He heard their cry

And God said, When I look down upon the earth I see how really hard the Jews work; how industrious they are, and how oppressed they are. They are basically good people and so I want to save them from their taskmasters.

(Book of Hezekiah 3:4)



Sound strange? Well, it is strange. It's not in the Bible. I just made it up. There is no Book of Hezekiah, and these words could never be attributed to our God.

Why did God come down to save the Hebrews? He tells us exactly in Exodus 2:23-25.

During that long period the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

God saved them because: He heard their cry for help and He remembered His covenant.

It's our story, too. We cry to Him for help, He hears us, and remembers His promise that He will save those who come to Him. He promised He would not cast us out.

God did not look down at the Jews and save them because they were worthy. He didn't see any goodness in them. No redeeming qualities at all. Out of His grace and mercy, He reached down and saved them. Knowing that they would not always even appreciate His goodness, that they would reject Him many times, that even though He would always be faithful, they would not remain true to Him or obey Him.

And looking down through history, He knew the cost for redeeming His people would be greater than any one could ever imagine. He counted the cost and was willing to pay the price.

God promised Abraham:

I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing...

Being God's Chosen People carries a rich history and a great responsibility. Remember Topal in Fiddler on the Roof? (God, why couldn't you choose someone else sometime?)

Here are some interesting figures. Looking at the list of recipients of the Nobel Prizes:

In the field of Physics: 25% have been Jews
In the field of chemistry: 19% have been Jews
In the field of medicine: 28% have been Jews
In the field of economics: 41% have been Jews
In the field of literature: 13% have been Jews
For the peace prize: 9% have been Jews

So how many people in the world are Jews? Just under 1/4 of 1 percent......

About Prayer - Derek Prime

From Practical Prayer by Derek Prime ~~



Understandable...yet a mystery....

Earlier we likened prayer to the human pulse. It is a necessity: Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and prayer naturally expresses faith...it is faith's breath. Writing of Jerusalem's spiritual failure, the prophet Zephaniah declared, She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God (Zephaniah 3:2). Trusting in the Lord and drawing near to Him are one and the same.

We will not know all the answers to our questions about prayer until the time arrives when prayer will no longer be necessary! There is an essential mystery about it.

It seems plain from history, however, that when God is about to work in some particular way He frequently lays a burden upon His people to pray for that very thing. Somehow or another, prayer is a necessary part of God's chosen way of doing things.

We cannot overestimate the privilege of prayer. If we had unlimited access to our head of State, we would be regarded not only as fortunate but as influential, particularly if we had the ear of the person. How tremendous is our privilege of having access to the King of kings, and to 'have His ear'!

The influence of prayer in the affairs of men and women worldwide is nothing less than the power of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Bible itself is our best guide as to the things for which we should ask.

First, it tells us the things that are good and pleasing to God.

Second, it is full of prayers of others which are examples and patterns to follow. The Lord's prayer is an obvious example. The book of Psalms teems with prayers, and Paul's letters are liberally sprinkled with them.

And, third, the Bible reveals God's Name, God's character. The test of much of our asking is the answer to the question, 'Is this request in accord with God's character?'

Derek Prime's Thoughts on Prayer - Part 2

(Continued from Part 1, Practical Prayer, by Derek Prime)



The last three petitions in the Lord's Prayer relate to our own needs and interests.

Having given priority to the things that relate to God Himself, we may now pray for ourselves with confidence, because God, through the Lord Jesus' saving work, has become our heavenly Father.

First, we are encouraged to pray for our daily bread: Give us today our daily bread.

This represents all our daily needs: food, clothing, housing, and everything related to our physical and material well-being, and to our daily employment.

Second, as much as we require our daily bread, we need daily forgiveness: Forgive us our debts (trespasses) as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who trespass against us).

This does not mean that we earn God's forgiveness by forgiving others, but the reality of our experience of God's forgiveness proves itself as we practice forgiving others. It is a continuing experience. As He continually forgives us, we continually forgive others. We can't pay Him back for His favor, but we can pay it forward to others, and demonstrate His mercy.

Finally, we need to seek God's help against temptation and our enemy, the devil: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Satan, our great spiritual enemy, is always on the prowl, like a roaring lion, looking for someone to trip up by evil and temptation. We cannot handle it alone.

What it all means for us as we pray...

The Lord's Prayer provides us with a skeleton agenda upon which we may put our urgent needs and concerns. We should pray regularly for:

1. The honor of God's Name in the world
2. The extension of the church and the coming of God's kingdom through the preaching of the gospel
3. The obedience of God's people to God's will, and God's overruling control
of all the events in the world
4. Our daily practical needs and our work
5. Our relationships, both with God and others
6. Our temptations and the spiritual battle in which all Christians are involved

I am putting these 6 items on the weekly pages of my Journal.

This really is turning out to be PRACTICAL -- I think I will feel less overwhelmed when I consider all the things I want to pray for.


And I like the fact that I can put regular activities down on the weekly pages, like a calendar.

On Monday I can put regular Bible studies and on Wednesday I can put Prayer Meeting. I can pray for Sunday services on Saturday, since I am skipping using the Journal on Sunday. (Derek Prime suggests we use the Journal six days a week, praying without it one day, in order to keep us from feeling like we are in a rut).


If you give this kind of Prayer Journal a try and want to share your thoughts, please email them to me.

Prime's Practical Prayer Journal - Part 1

Derek Prime suggests we analyze the Lord's Prayer and let that progression of thought direct us in our own prayers. After all, it is how Christ answered His disciples when they asked Him to teach them how to pray (Matthew 6).

Derek Prime shares these thoughts with us:

There are 6 basic parts to the Lord's Prayer: the first 3 are concerned principally with God, and the remaining 3 with our personal needs and interests -- that immediately suggests the kind of balance which we should endeavor to strike.

Our prayers for God's Glory and Kingdom....


Our first concern must be for God's own Name and glory: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

This expresses our desire that men and women everywhere may know the truth about God and love and respect Him; and also that those who claim to know Him may live in a way that brings praise to Him.

Our second concern is for the coming of His Kingdom: your kingdom come.

The expresses our concern that the number of those who believe in God's Son and enter His Kingdom may increase day by day, so that His Son's return may be brought forward.

Our third concern must be for doing God's will in the world: your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In this we pray for our own obedience, as well as the obedience of men and women everywhere to the purposes of God, and the doing of His will in spite of our frequent disobedience and misapprehension of His will.


Having given priority to the things that relate to God Himself, we may now pray for ourselves with confidence, because God, through the Lord Jesus' saving work, has become our heavenly Father.

(The last three sections of the Lord's Prayer brings our focus to our own concerns. Concluded in Part 2)