Breaking News

"Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land." 

Proverbs 25:25

We live in an age of ever-increasing forms of communication. Years ago, couriers ran on foot or horseback to bring word verbally or in written form. Boats, trains, cars, trucks and airplanes made this form of communication easier and quicker. Postal carriers today deliver what's come to be called snail mail because its slower than the many forms of electronic communication. The telegraph, telephone, radio and television impacted our lives forever as it changed the way we communicate. Now we have the internet and email, facebook etc. Satellite communication brought us another avenue. These increased methods of communication are not a bad thing. They bring news from far away--loved ones who live in other countries, weather warnings and news alerts are all possible because of our ability to communicate rapidly and easily.

With each form of communication comes its own form of advertising. From word of mouth to electronic mass marketing, advertising is woven into all of a society's ways. Advertising is simply a method used to try and persuade people to buy their product, sway their thinking, promote their idea or get their vote. Yes, even the Gospel is spread through our testimony, our story. However as communication forms have increased, we've grown accustomed to being bombarded with all types of advertisements trying to get us to buy something or believe something. Television and radio commercials, pop-up ads on the internet, printed ads in newspapers and magazines, junk mail, billboards etc. Ads have taken many subtle forms, sometimes disguising themselves to look like news, or agendas hidden in television shows. Each advertiser learns to be bigger, louder, and wittier than the other in order to get our attention and win our approval. In fact, we even have "breaking news" bulletins in order for us to pay attention to "important" events. We learn to dismiss ads because we realize they all seem to want something from us and are not always truthful or honest. There is a whole psychology to advertising and to avoid being manipulated we learn to be skeptical and do a lot of tuning out and ignoring what's blasting us in the face.

What does all this mean? For one thing, it has given us less motivation to think for ourselves. We expect if something is important it will invade our lives. We will be bombarded with news flashes or phone calls from family and friends if we really need to know something. We've become reactive instead of proactive. If we're not paying attention, the ads and the agendas of others will tell us how to think, what to believe, what we will spend our money on etc. So much time is spent weeding through what is thrown at us that it never occurs to us to plant our own seed! We end up looking to choose from the best of what's offered, instead of seeking out what is life and truth.

Today, find that quiet place in time and space, where you can think your own thoughts. Listen to the Holy Spirit's communications and the Word of God as revealed to you. He is the one voice you do want to listen to. He is the voice of truth and life. He is the voice that set creation in motion and the One we need to follow and pattern our lives after. Go after Him. Seek out and cry after His wisdom and understanding. Do as Paul said and press on so that you may lay hold of that for which you were laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12). He got a hold of you for a reason, so press in and get a hold of your purpose in Christ. To do that, tune out all the noise around you and follow His lead instead.

Proverbs 2, John 8:31-32

Reflections

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;

now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." 

1 Corinthians 13:12

In my quest for truth I got sidetracked, by looking for perfection.

When on perfection's path you'll see, much evidence of frustration.

The calmer my mind and heart might be, the clearer I see reality.

While man looks for satisfaction from achievement,

God says be at peace.

While man compares and competes,

God says be creative.

While man looks for better than,

God says choose good.

While man looks for good,

God says choose life.

While man looks to please,

God says to love.

When man admits failure,

God says to hope.

While man looks for pleasure,

God says a clear conscious is full of joy.

While man uses driving force,

God says have determined faith.

While man justifies and becomes proud,

God says to soul-search and repent.

When man says, I want,

God says to thank.

While man says God what can You do for me?

God's man says, What can I do for You?

When man says I can't,

God says in Me you can.

Your Story

"One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts. Psalm 145:4

In a tall building, there are many stories. One is built upon another until a beautiful, functional structure is built. Throughout history, there are many stories--personal stories--of individual people, cities, cultures and nations. God is building His kingdom, which is not just one building, but many beautiful buildings made with the stories of people and how they built their lives upon the foundation of the Savior of mankind--Jesus Christ. History is His story--and we can tell it through our stories. 

As believers, we are a temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in us. Each one of our lives is being built on the foundation, the only foundation that has been laid--Jesus. No other foundation will hold up. We secure ourselves to the foundation through hearing and doing the words of the Lord. By being fastened to Him in this way, what we are building will remain standing through the storms. 

While building the story of your life, know that what you are building is on the foundation of the Lord. Hearing and doing the words of Jesus, how you hear His words and the motives of your heart will determine if what you are building will remain standing when all is said and done. When your time here on earth is done, what will your story say? What will remain for the next generation? As they explore your story will they discover how your generation has praised the works of God into the next?

1 Peter 2:5; 1 Corinthians 3:10-18; 4:5; Matthew 7:24; Matthew 13; Revelation 12:11; Psalm 145:4

Still Waiting

When the shadows told time

by the light of the sun,

I hurried to move on

and with old ways be done,

but the darkness shines bright

in my enlightened age.

The clock of creation

continues its ways,

whether or not

I think I've replaced

or removed all the trace

of One greater than I.

Might I welcome the deep

where the truth still ticks

and look past the surface

to embrace and kiss

the face of the One

who first spoke the light?

Then I’ll find peace

beyond my own strength,

and I’ll stand in awe

at the breadth and the length

of the love of the One

still waiting for me.

Rose Murdock
May 9, 2014

He Answers By Light

"Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven"

Daniel 12:3

One of our greatest pursuits as Christians should be to walk in the light, or to live our lives with understanding of the truth of God's ways.

From Daniel 9 we learn the following:

• Daniel found the prophecy which said that after seventy years God's people would be freed from exile.
• Daniel sought the Lord regarding this prophecy in prayer, fasting, humility and repentance.
• He asked the Lord for forgiveness and action.
• The Lord sent Gabriel to bring instruction and insight with understanding.

I think we sometimes look for God to do something in answer to our prayers, but we miss the answer because we don't value the instruction and insight He brings in response to our prayers. We think He didn't answer because it looks like nothing changed. However, God sends insight and understanding of His ways and His timeline so we can get in on the freedom He wants us to live in. We must be careful not to quickly toss aside the illumination from His Word or from His messengers. This is our answer!

• As Daniel found hope and promise from the Word of God, so must we. 
• As he sought the Lord in humility, fasting and repentance, aligning himself with the Word, so must we. 
• As he asked the Lord for forgiveness and action, so must we. 
• As the Lord sends light, truth, understanding and instruction concerning His ways and His times, we must embrace this response.

John 11:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; 2 Thessalonians 2; 1 John 1:5-10

The Seedtime and Harvest Cycle

"The soil produces crops by itself...when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Mark 4:28-29.

Jesus told the parable of the sower which is about a man who plants seed into the ground. We learn from this story that the seed is the Word of God and the soil is the heart. Jesus explains to His disciples that the condition of the heart determines the growth of the Word and whether or not it will grow to the point of harvest, as well as the size of the harvest. 

He goes on to tell the parable of the seed where we read that the one who plants the seed is not the one who determines the timing of the harvest. The harvest comes "when the crop permits." What is the crop? The crop is what is produced when the seed is allowed to mature. In other words, the seed, grown into a fruit-producing crop, determines the time of the harvest. The sower's job is to sleep and rise, night and day, making sure his life is in sync with the cycle of the seed. Our job is to cycle our lives after the pattern of the Word sown in our hearts, and let the Word bring the harvest time.

Even though the man does not determine when harvest time is, he must be able to recognize when its time to harvest. He does this by looking at the maturity of the fruit. If he doesn't recognize the fruit then it goes to seed and the whole process starts over again, and he's missed his harvest. We need to keep in close touch with the Word of God planted within our hearts so we will recognize and be in sync with His proper timing of harvest.

Why would the sower not recognize when it's harvest time? 

• Maybe he's looking for the familiar form of seed and not for the mature form of fruit. He hasn't kept the Word close enough to him, so he can recognize it as it changes and develops.
  
• Maybe he hasn't had the experience of reaping, but has only been served fruit that has been harvested by someone else. He's only seen the fruit after it's been plucked off the vine, washed, cut up and processed to fit someone else's taste. We don't receive the benefit of our harvest if we rely on the leftovers of someone else's harvest. We need to learn to harvest our own Word! 

Maybe we should teach people to plant the Word in their heart themselves, cycle their life around the cycle of the Word, stay so close to the Word that they recognize the mature fruit--the form it takes after maturing in their heart--so they can pluck it from the Vine themselves receiving the freshest form of life! The Word has been sown in your heart. It's a timely Word, unique to your life and situation, now pay close attention so you don't miss your harvest!

Holy Hunger

"The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked." 

Proverbs 10:3

Why does the Lord reject the craving of the wicked? Is it because He hates them? Is He mad at them? Is He punishing them? No, it's because their desires are for something He cannot give. He can't give what is evil or destructive. He can only give good. Even judgement on evil is a good thing. The entire universe revolves around The Most High God and if we are not in sync with Him there are consequences. He doesn't alter Truth to meet a selfish craving, rather He invites us all to participate with Him in His universal dance.

When our hearts are after His heart, then our hunger will be holy. Our cravings will be for that which is good in His sight. Our heart becomes so connected with His that we share His opinion, His desires, His passion and His dance. We agree with His assessment of right and wrong, and He will not allow our hunger to go unfulfilled. He will be just as excited about our desires being fulfilled as we are!