I was at my wife's uncles funeral the other day and something struck me as curious. The "Lords' Prayer" as found in Matthew 6 is known by the saved and unsaved alike. The minister leading the service led everyone in the prayer and all the people knew it word for word. It made me wonder and think why we are so eager to fall back into wrong practices.
OK Brian what are you talking about? Jesus said to pray in this manner; not to repeat this example of prayer. He further said to not pray like the heathens by vain repetitions. I love my brothers and sisters in the main stream denominations and the Catholic Church but repeating this prayer is in direct contradiction to the warning of Jesus right before he spoke it. I would like to share some of my thoughts of pray in this manner and what it means to me.
1. Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name..... This part of the example of prayer should have sounded familiar to the original listener and readers as this followed the Hebrew prayer of Kaddish which exalts the greatness, splendor, majesty, power and holiness of Father God. It is to settle us and turn our focus rightly towards the author and finisher of our existence and faith. To remind us that only through the adoption as son's through Christs act on the cross can we even communicate with God and come boldly before the throne of grace. It changes our attention off us and towards heaven as it says in Colossians. So for me and when I pray this part of my prayer is to shift my eyes, my thoughts and my entire being towards God.
2. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done as it is in Heaven..... I take this personally and to heart. I know the rebellion in heaven has been dealt with and that as it is in heaven come into my life, my kingdom here on earth. In other words I pray that the same authority and power that overcame the evil and rebellion against God in heaven, that same power come into my life and make it so in my life even now as I live and breathe here on earth. The same evil one that came against the throne of God is also trying to attack my kingdom and even though I am forgiven of my sins by the act of the cross the stain of those sins in my soul (intellect, will and emotions) needs to be overcome. That is nothing in my own strength I can accomplish so Jesus is saying here to invite the power of the Holy Spirit to empower and quicken your mortal soul and body from the consequences of sin. To have his government set up in my life by my life being yielded to his loving perfect authority.
3. Give us this day our daily bread......Or better translated to mean give us today what we require for tomorrow. This again was understood to the hearer of the day as workers labored all day to get paid daily at the end of the day. They took their daily earning to buy what they needed to sustain themselves for tomorrow by most likely buying graines to make bread. The method of weighing the grain was by either pressing down the wheat or shaking the wheat into the container to fill it completely. We are promised to get the required grace from God pressed down and shaken together for the day we are to face. Remember the Bible tells us that we do not go through more than what God says we are able to endure. The key though is that we must make room for the grace in our life daily to receive it. Put yourself into the shoes of again the listener here. When he went to the market to get his wheat he probably said give me a container full of wheat. He had of coarse to pay for it from the work he just got done that day. We must work out our salvation daily and not take it for granted. We can't receive from the storehouse of heaven unless we put in the work to seek him first.
Well this post is getting a bit long so I will break it up into a part two. If you have any questions, complaints, gripes or discussions I would love to hear your input.
In His Service!
Brian
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Don't be like Esau
The worst thing we can do as a church is nothing. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 verse 17 says, "You know that afterwards, when he wanted to receive the blessing that the firstborn son was to receive, he was rejected. Even though he begged and cried for the blessing, he couldn't do anything to change what had happened."
This is reminding us of the story of Esau and as individuals and as the church we are to value the things of God more than this world. Esau as you remember rejected his blessing from God and his earthly father by being caught up in disobedience and caring little for what he "presumed" would always be his. In other words his thoughts were it was already his and he did not have to do anything to get it. Much like the church today and people in it, we hear messages of blessings of God but not the responsibility of receiving and caring for that blessing.
People and churches that think like Esau only care about themselves and the blessings they can get. I would dare say that they care little about the person of Jesus Christ and the price he paid to pour out the grace of heaven unto us. For a single meal Esau gave up the rights and blessings of God and his earthly father. What is in your bowl? What are you putting ahead of your relationship with God? Don't be fooled that the blessing of salvation is something you make with your mind and not live it out with your heart. Don't be fooled that you can pursue the lusts of your soul like Esau and then come crying with earthly sorrow when you are rejected of God. Hebrews 6:4-8 tells of this kind of false salvation. Jesus said that many will call upon me Lord, Lord and he will say depart from me I never knew you!
Our salvation is not just hearing the word and making an intellectual or emotional decision as given in the parable of the seed. We must cultivate the soil of our lives and let the word grow inside us and through us. We must deny ourselves and unlike Esau we must live for righteousness and value the blessing of our salvation and grace of God. We must defend our faith and when we see others getting weary like a boxer in a long fight we must remind them to keep their arms up to protect themselves and get the strength back in their legs. That's what is mentioned earlier in Hebrews 12:12-13. We as a church do nothing when we see others getting beaten up.
We see them drop out of church. We see them grow weary of the fight and do little or nothing to give them the strength they need to continue to fight. We watch as they fall into temptations and pursue things that are not called of God in their lives. We watch their marriages fall apart and their children get devoured in the process. We like Esau do nothing to the most valued blessing on earth and that my friends is the Church;the Bride of Christ. We must do better. We are called to do more and instructed to if I read my Bible correctly.
Esau made no confession of sin but just remorse for what he lost. We can learn from this! We must be a people who are fast to repent and fast to pray for others we know are hurting. Take time today to value your blessing. Take time today to remove the weeds from your soil and let the word of God grow deep and do its nourishing work in you. Pray for others in your prayer closet. Call up a friend you know can use a kind word and an encouraging prayer. Come to church with your hands up and your legs under you! Value the blessing of your salvation!
In His Service!
Brian
This is reminding us of the story of Esau and as individuals and as the church we are to value the things of God more than this world. Esau as you remember rejected his blessing from God and his earthly father by being caught up in disobedience and caring little for what he "presumed" would always be his. In other words his thoughts were it was already his and he did not have to do anything to get it. Much like the church today and people in it, we hear messages of blessings of God but not the responsibility of receiving and caring for that blessing.
People and churches that think like Esau only care about themselves and the blessings they can get. I would dare say that they care little about the person of Jesus Christ and the price he paid to pour out the grace of heaven unto us. For a single meal Esau gave up the rights and blessings of God and his earthly father. What is in your bowl? What are you putting ahead of your relationship with God? Don't be fooled that the blessing of salvation is something you make with your mind and not live it out with your heart. Don't be fooled that you can pursue the lusts of your soul like Esau and then come crying with earthly sorrow when you are rejected of God. Hebrews 6:4-8 tells of this kind of false salvation. Jesus said that many will call upon me Lord, Lord and he will say depart from me I never knew you!
Our salvation is not just hearing the word and making an intellectual or emotional decision as given in the parable of the seed. We must cultivate the soil of our lives and let the word grow inside us and through us. We must deny ourselves and unlike Esau we must live for righteousness and value the blessing of our salvation and grace of God. We must defend our faith and when we see others getting weary like a boxer in a long fight we must remind them to keep their arms up to protect themselves and get the strength back in their legs. That's what is mentioned earlier in Hebrews 12:12-13. We as a church do nothing when we see others getting beaten up.
We see them drop out of church. We see them grow weary of the fight and do little or nothing to give them the strength they need to continue to fight. We watch as they fall into temptations and pursue things that are not called of God in their lives. We watch their marriages fall apart and their children get devoured in the process. We like Esau do nothing to the most valued blessing on earth and that my friends is the Church;the Bride of Christ. We must do better. We are called to do more and instructed to if I read my Bible correctly.
Esau made no confession of sin but just remorse for what he lost. We can learn from this! We must be a people who are fast to repent and fast to pray for others we know are hurting. Take time today to value your blessing. Take time today to remove the weeds from your soil and let the word of God grow deep and do its nourishing work in you. Pray for others in your prayer closet. Call up a friend you know can use a kind word and an encouraging prayer. Come to church with your hands up and your legs under you! Value the blessing of your salvation!
In His Service!
Brian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)