Enter His Courts with Praise

Enter His Courts with Praise

Psalms 100

 

When God Shows Up

 

When God Shows Up

Acts 16:25-35

 

 

 

In this passage, Paul and Silas were in jail and were praying and singing hymns to God.  While they were praying and singing, God shows up!!!  He loosed their chains and set them free. 

 

What happened in this passage?  First Paul and Silas are singing and praying and others are listening to them.  When God shows up He caused a great earthquake that shook the very foundation, the prison  doors are opened and the chains are broken!! 

 

There are several things we can learn from this passage of scripture. 

 

1.  When God shows up, He knows how to get our attention

 

2.  When God shows up, we must evaluate our spiritual needs

 

3.  When God shows up, we must share with others what God speaks to us or has done for us

 

We see in this passage as we sing and pray to God, He shows up!!  We see that God got the attention of all in the jail that night.  He made his entrance into the jail in God's style.  The earthquake shook the very foundation.  Not only did God show up to deliver Paul and Silas, He also revealed himself to the others in the jail.

 

When God shows up, we must evaluate our spiritual needs.  When God showed up that night, the jailer was watching and saw God's great miracle.  The jailer was frightened and fearful and as he evaluated his spiritual needs, he asked what he must do to be saved.  That is a personal questions that we all must ask when we encounter God. 

 

When God showed up, He not only showed up to deliver and set free Paul and Silas, He also came to save others in the jail.  God had a specific agenda, to save others who needed His salvation.

He delivered the jailer, the unsaved.  He replaced the frightened and fearful jailer and gave the jailer joy and freedom for him and his household. 

 

What a miraculous story of being set free from the chains that bind us.  Many of us wear chains of fear, anxiety, worry, stress.  These chains bind us from experiencing the joy that God has for us.  When God shows up, He releases those chains, literally breaking them loose, so we can remove them from our lives and experience the joy and salvation of the Lord.

 

When we pray and sing praises to God, He shows up.  God loves to hear his people pray and sing praises to Him.  Others may be watching our lives as we sing and pray to the Lord.  When that happens, God uses our lives to be a witness to others just as God used Paul and Silas that night in the jail for all who were listening that night.

 

When God shows up, this opportunity gives us time to evaluate our spiritual needs and call out to God to save us and make us a new person just as the jailer cried for salvation.  Just as the jailer, who was fearful and frightened, when God showed up, we too, become fearful and frightened in the presence of the almighty God.  When we bring everything to the Lord and ask Him to save us, He shows up with the most beautiful and amazing joy.  Joy unspeakable fills our hearts. Our fear vanishes and our heart is full of love and joy to the One who is able to save us from our many sins. 

 

When God shows up, He does so to complete His plan and purpose.  His plan and purpose that night was to save the unsaved.  Not only the ones that saw His miracle but others experienced salvation as we see the jailers family and household also experienced the salvation from God. 

 

Are we willing to pray and sing praises to God - expecting Him to show up in our lives and our circumstances?  Are we willing to allow Him to break us free from the chains that hold us bound so we can experience freedom and joy from our Lord?  Are we willing to look into our own hearts and ask the most important questions of all... What must I do to be saved?  What must I do to allow God to have full control over my life?  Are we willing to accept His salvation and experience the joy of the Lord?  Are we willing to allow others to watch our lives and allow God to use our lives to bring salvation to those around us who are watching and needing the Lord? 

 

Lord, help us today to be willing and expecting you to show up! Allow us to see your miracles and be willing to discard the chains that have us bound.  Help us to remove those chains and experience your freedom, your joy, your salvation.  May our lives be a witness of your great mercy and grace who saves us and forgives us of our many sins.  Praise be to God, our Father, forever and ever. 

 

 





The Lord Watches Over You

The Lord Watches Over You

 

 

Psalms 121: 5-8

The Lord watches over you.  The Lord is your shade at your right hand.  The Lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your ife.  The Lord will watch over your coming and going both NOW and forevermore. 

 

When I read these verses I had such a sense of peace knowing the Lord is watching over me.  Of course, being analytical, I always look up the definitions of words to try to glean more understanding of God's precious words.

 

In the dictionary, I looked up the following definitions:

 

WATCHES- is to look attentively; observe, to remain vigilant as for protection or safekeeping

 

OVER - above in place or position; above in authority and power

 

RIGHT HAND - a position of honor or special trust; one's most valuable supporter

 

Wow!! What beautiful words!!  The Lord looks attentively on me and remains vigilant for my protection and safekeeping.  The Lord watches OVER me: above me in authority and in power.

 

The Lord is my shade at my right hand!!  He holds a special position of honor and special trust when he is on our right hand. He is my most valuable supporter.

 

As I began to read the words Right Hand... I wondered what the significance was of the "right hand".  Searching the bible, there are 137 verses mentioning right hand. 

 

Many times in the Bible, the mention of the right hand was shown as God showing his majesty and His power.  See Exodus 15:6

Also see:  Psalm 16:8, Psalm 17:7, Psalm 18:35, Psalm 60:5, Psalm 89:13, Psalm 80:17, Psalm 109:31

 

The Lord not only watches over me, He watches over my entire life.  He watches over my coming and going.  He watches over me NOW and forevermore. 

 

If the Lord has determined it important to watch OVER me for my entire life and He cares me and loves me enough to watch over me with authority and Power.... what shall I fear?  Why should I worry?  The one that watches over me is watching me for my protection and safekeeping.

 

It reminds me of a story when Joshua was just born and I was home alone at night.  I heard a noise at the window in Joshua's room. I was afraid because it sounded like someone was trying to get inside the house through the window.  I remember being afraid but then my fear turned into determination that no one was going to come into my house and harm my baby!!  I went to the bedroom and got a gun for protection so I could protect my child from harm. At that moment, I was determined to protect my child at all costs.  Let it be known... that a mother will do anything to protect her children!! 

 

This protective desire to protect my child no matter what the cost was so strong that I would have fought as long as necessary to protect my child.  Isn't it great to know that our Lord watches over us to protect us and will do all in His power to protect and keep us safe.   

 

Not only does He watch over us to protect us, He is doing it NOW and will do it FOREVERMORE.  How exciting to know the Lord loves me enough to take care of me now and for eternity. 

 

May we feel His presence and know that He is on our right side watching over us.   He is our most valuable supporter as He watches over our comings and goings.  Let us examine our comings and goings to make sure they are in alignment with what the Lord desires for us. 

 

Thank you Lord for continually watching over us.  For continually protecting us and keeping us safe.  Thank you for your power and majesty over all things in our lives.  May we learn to trust you more and lean on you as the Great Protector in our lives.  May we recognize your presence in our lives and that you care for us deeply.  We are never out of your sight.  Thank you for this precious promise of truth. 

 

 



Will people say ...She has a heart like Jesus

Will people say ...She has a heart like Jesus

In church today, the choir sang a song called "Your Heart".  This song asked the question... at the end of the day, will people say I have a heart like yours? 

What does it mean to have a heart like Jesus? 

The bible refers to the word "heart"  in 725 verses. 

The dictionary gives the definition for heart as
 "the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion" and "capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection" 

What is emotion?  any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc. 

Deuteronomy 4:29

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 4:39

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

Deuteronomy 6:5

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 

My Dresser Drawers... Dresser Analogy

The Dresser Analogy

As I began to think about the dresser that Andrew is building for little Rose, I heard God speak truths to my heart.  I was familiar with the story of the potter and the clay and how the potter molds the clay into something special.  As I began to correlate the similarities of this story with a dresser, I began to hear God speak to my heart.

The carpenter begins with just slabs of wood but he carefully begins to measure and cut the pieces of wood to construct the dresser.  The dresser that Andrew is making for Rose is being made for a purpose.  Just as God makes each of us for a purpose.  As I began to look at the dresser, my attention was drawn to the dresser drawers.  I could see many things inside the drawers and I heard God gently speaking truths to my heart. 

We are like the dresser drawers and we store things inside of us.  Many times, drawers will hold things we treasure and are sentimental to us.  We are the same way, we store many memories and special experiences in the drawers of our own lives and hearts. 

Drawers in a dresser hold intimate apparel that we wear close to us in special places no one sees.  The same with our lives, we have intimate parts of us that we hold close to us.  Jesus wants to be close to us and intimate with us in those special places that no one sees.

Dressers hold clothes we wear.  They may be sports clothes when we feel sporty and carefree.  The clothes may be formal or casual.  They cover us so we are not naked.  Just like the clothes we put on to wear, we are to let the Holy Spirit cover us so we are not empty and naked.

Sometimes our dresser drawers become full and hard to close because we have packed too many things in the drawer.  Jesus wants us to look at what we put in our dresser and inside the drawers of our hearts.  Sometimes we pack too many things in our lives the same as we pack too many clothes in our drawers.  Jesus wants us to look at what is inside the drawers of our heart and see if there are things we have placed there that has crowded Him out.  Do we need to clean out our hearts to make room for the things God wants us to keep? 

Sometimes when our dresser drawers are packed full, things get pushed to the back of the drawer and we forget the item is there.  It is the same with our own lives.  Sometimes we put so many things into our daily schedules such as relationships, duties, activities, meetings, church activities, school activities into our lives that we push God to the back of the drawer of our hearts.  We become so busy, we forget He is there.  Once we begin to clean out our heart and remove those things in our lives that do not need to be there, we can place God in the front of the drawer so we don't forget He is there.

Sometimes  we do decide to clean out the drawer of clothes and decide to give items away because we don't need them anymore or they don't fit.  It is the same in our lives,,, as we clean out  our heart drawers, we find we don't need things anymore or they just don't fit anymore because we want to make room for more of God in our lives. The things we once thought we needed are not important anymore.  We can gladly give them to Jesus and he replaces them with more of Himself.

The dresser that Andrew is building for Rose will also be a place where they will use the top of the dresser as a changing table.  She will have her clothes changed, her diapers changed, she may be washed and have oil and lotion rubbed into her skin.  As Rose is cleaned and has new clothes put on, her parents will pick her up, love her and hold her tight.  What a wonderful picture of Jesus being our caregiver that wants to "change us".  He wants to take off our dirty filthy clothes of sin and put on new clothes and make us feel clean again.  He wants to wash away our sins with his blood.  He wants to rub into us the oil of the Holy Spirit to make us a new creature.  A person that smells good and is full of the fragrance of the Heavenly Father's love.  He wants to pick us up, hold us and cuddle us so we can feel His love and pleasure. 

Just like the carpenter that carefully constructs and measures the wood to make a beautiful dresser that is crafted into a useful piece of furniture, we find that God formed us and constructed us in the womb.  He carefully measured us and crafted us with all the things we needed to be the beautiful person He created.  We become the person He envisioned when we allow Him to fill us and are used for His glory.  Every part of our body and mind has been crafted by the great Creator.  He created us intentionally and purposefully with His master plan so that we would be the person He desired for us. 

 When Andrew is finished making the dresser, he will place it where it can be used and others will be able to see its beauty and the dresser will fulfill its purpose.  When God finishes making us and crafting His beauty inside of us, then He places us  where He wants us so we can fulfill His purpose for our lives. 

Reflection: 

So as I contemplate the dresser and the truths God reveals to me, I began to ask Jesus to show me the drawers of my heart.  Show me the places I need to clean to make more room for Jesus.  Let me clean out the busyness of my life, to make more room for Jesus.  Let me examine the things I store in my heart and throw away the things that are not pleasing to Him.  Let me become as a child being changed on the changing table.  Let me allow God to change the sins in my life and throw them away.  Let Him clothe me with His goodness and righteousness.  Let me allow him to rub in me the fragrance of His Holy Spirit.  Let me be as a child fully trusting Him and allowing Him to hold me close, cuddle me and love me.  Let me feel His secure arms wrap around me and feel the presence of His heartbeat as He holds me close.  Let me allow Him full control to place me where He wants me so I can be used for His purpose and glory.