Hooking up to God (Part 1 of 8)

HOOKING UP TO GOD

Forming a Relationship with GOD Part 1 of 8
Luke 11:2

"And He said to them, 'When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be Your name...'"

Benjy was angry. "I prayed and prayed for a new bike, and my Birthday has passed!" He stomped his feet and slammed the door. His big brother overheard Benjy's complaint, and went outside to calm down his little brother.

"Benjy, let's talk about how you pray. Maybe you're doing something wrong."

"How can you pray the wrong way?" Benjy asked his big brother.

"It's easy when you don't follow the prayer plan." Was the answer.

Benjy shook his head, he'd never heard about a plan to pray. Have you?

Our biggest mistake is to think we can take God on our terms. This shows up in our prayer life.

Relatively few people pray to God on His terms. God wants a relationship with His children, and prayer is how we achieve that relationship.

In Jesus’ life, prayer was His motivation, and His ministry was the prize. Being separated from the Father was only tolerable because Father and Son reconnected through prayer. God the Father wants that same relationship with us—that same kind of connectedness. Jesus’ ministry was a marathon, and He showed us how to complete the race and attain our own gold medal.

The disciples came to understand how important prayer was to Jesus, and said, ”Lord, teach us to pray--as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1). John the Baptist had a whole curriculum for teaching his disciples, and he focused on teaching them how to pray.

After more than two years of following Jesus, His disciples wanted that same lesson. They had front row seats to hear Him preach. They were right beside Him when He performed miracles. Now they wanted to learn the nuts and bolts of His ministry: prayer.

Don’t we usually ask an expert to teach us something? Because prayer was the core of Jesus’ ministry, they asked Him to teach them. Jesus wanted prayer to be vital in their ministries, too.

Can you see His warm smile when they approached Him with this request? Immediately He taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”

This is a misnomer—something called a wrong name. Jesus couldn’t say this prayer Himself because He was without sin. He could not say, “Forgive us our sins” for example. But, he taught it to them. Now it is called “The Lord’s Prayer” because He was the author. It is really an outline, or blueprint for us to follow in building our own prayers.

Take Home Nugget
Learning how to pray will carry a child into old age and usher that person into heaven. The following devotions will address the individual phrases of a well-known prayer that can be an outline for every prayer. Could there be anything more valuable in your life than learning to develop a relationship with the Father like Jesus had?

It would be great to learn how to pray,
But words don’t come easily.
Teach me, Lord, my heart to stay
In a place where we can grow intimately.

J.D. Griffith

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Independence

INDEPENDENCE
Matthew 6:9-11

Stacey was happy she had fooled her sister, Devin. Sneaking the last brownie, she swallowed fast. When Devin wanted some, Stacey shrugged her shoulders. “All gone!” she proclaimed, licking her lips.

Stacey’s delight was short lived. Her conscience screamed of her trickery. Tormented from within, Stacey thought, I could have shared that last brownie with her. Her calm left her, and she couldn’t forget her deception.

“I am sorry Devin. I ate the brownie just before you saw me. I should have split it in two. I won’t do that again, I promise.”

Immediately, Stacey felt better—especially after Devin hugged her and said, “That’s OK, I ate the last cookie.” They shared a giggle. That’s transparency and intimacy.

This is the relationship God wants to have with each of His children.

When those pangs of conscience strike, it’s a sign that we’re to admit guilt. We are not calm until we admit our wrong. Admitting our offense will restore peace, and that brings freedom.

Conscience attacks rob us of freedom. When we’re not free, we’re in bondage. Repenting and admitting our wrong releases those knots of bondage from our seared conscience.

This is how prayer works, too.

Consider Jesus’ example of how we are to pray. Matthew 6:9-14 in the Bible outlines the blueprint of how we’re to pray. This is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer”. By following this example of prayer, we find a personal relationship with our Creator—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. By meaning the words we say, we’re cementing a family bond with our Creator. This creates an intimate and transparent relationship between God and His child.

This is freedom, independence from bondage. Just as young America

broke free from the bondage with Great Britain, we can be free and

independent, too. Through prayer and repentance, we are independent

from the sin that held us captive.

Take Home Nugget
Jesus’ model prayer recognizes the Father’s holiness and acknowledges His omnipotence (all power). With those words we reach out to Him in worship and reverence. We also admit our guilt and thank Him for forgiving us when we forgive others. We recognize Him as sovereign over all. Do you mean those words as you say them?

Jesus taught His children how to pray
So in our hearts peace would stay.

J.D. Griffith

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Sustaining Grace Part 4 of 4

Greetings faithful reader,

These past few weeks overwhelmed, tried, and delighted me. I am pleased to be back into your realm posting weekly devotions. I’ve missed you! Moving from Charleston, West Virginia to Walnut Creek, California was an adventure, to be sure! I am reunited with my husband now, after he “tested the waters” before moving us cross country. This new beginnings for us was not free from trials, however. Alone, I packed and packed and packed. My husband arrived and hauled our belongings to storage, then loaded up our Impala. Shocks smashed flat, she groaned with the weight insulting her free spirit. (Who doesn’t name their cars? Ours is a female named Rosita). She courageously climbed the Rockies and delivered us safely to Walnut Creek, CA. We marveled at the richness and diversity of our country. Finally on the fourth day, we stopped driving West. We settled in and slept soundly.

Praise God for delivering us safely into our new beginnings! Now, we are challenged to find a “new normal”, three hours earlier from our original time zone. Yes, the trials continue, but as I praise God for His provisions, James 1:2-3 reminds me. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” I thank God for my trials, and for you, dear reader. You are so worthwhile persevering through trials for, as God’s child—and my sibling.

Our trials are not done, however. Sometime in the near future, God may change my circumstance where I may be absent from you again for a short while. But in the meantime, let’s move forward in Him whose grace sustains.
Let’s finish God’s grace devotion series today; it is good to be back with you!

SUSTAINING GRACE (Part 4 of 4)
2 Corinthians 11: 23-28, 12:6-11, Philippians 4:11

2Corinthians 12:8-9: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'"

Four answers God gives to prayer requests: “Yes”, “No”, “Wait”, and “My grace is sufficient”.

How do Christians respond to life’s circumstances? Confidently--regardless of how our Father answers our prayers.

St. Paul talks about his attitude about life. After his transformation from a persecutor of Christians to a Saint, he learned contentment. (Philippians 4:11). He was whipped, put in prison, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, weary, hungry, thirsty, and often naked. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
Through it all, he didn’t complain. He felt privileged to have been called to suffer for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But he had one thing that irked him.

He had a thorn in the flesh. No one knows exactly what it was, but we know

it bothered him. Three times he asked Jesus to remove it. Jesus answer to

him was, “My grace is sufficient for you; My strength is made perfect in

weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

What kind of an answer is that? If you were to study the passage in the Bible, the answer is there. Jesus hates boasting. The thorn in Paul’s flesh made Paul humble. When he was in this state, Jesus could use him to the Father’s glory. Indeed, Paul’s weakness was glorified before the Father through Christ’s strength.

Two thousand years later we’re still reading Paul’s letters. These are called Epistles. Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica were cities where he founded churches. His friends, Timothy and Philemon received his letters, as did the Romans and the Hebrews.

Paul found contentment in God’s sustaining grace. Always sufficient, always present, grace expresses kindness and sustaining power. This sustaining power changed Paul’s life from defeat to victory. This same grace enabled him to persevere through trials when tempted to give up.
God wants us to learn to live by His grace. We’re to be salt and light to the world. His grace covers all situations. We’re covered with a canopy of grace that works everything out for our good.

Take Home Nugget
With this canopy of grace covering every circumstance in our lives, we have no excuse to give up when we feel something is too hard. Our life is in the hand of the Sovereign God of the universe. How can we give up when He is on our side?

The things that come before me
Are too many to list.
But when grace covers everything I see,
Serving God is hard to resist.

J.D. Griffith

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MOVING ... and trips

Hello, friends.

I just wanted to let you know that Jolene is fine, but making a change. She and her husband are moving from West Virginia to California. That's quite a change and does take some time, so she is technically off line for the month of July and she will be missed.

She faithfully had written some devotions that I could post, but I also have been off line due to family issues have not been able to post them, either.

The last part of July will find me in Colorado (traveling from Iowa) with the church high school youth group at Nation Wide Youth Roundup (NYR) for 10 days. That trip also requires lots of attention and packing. July has and continues to be filled to capacity. So we are taking a bit of a "leave" and Jolene will be back in August with plenty of items to post.

Prayers for safety and God's good will in all these efforts, plans and travel.

As we continue is His service,
Linda Shanks
Bible Study for Kids

Riches of God's Grace (3/4)

RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE (Part 3 of 4)
James 1:17, Ephesians 1:3-8

James 1:17-18b: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth...that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created."

Remember the two words that are used to describe a believer’s life? Grace is when believers receive (blessings) which we do not deserve. Mercy is when believers do not get (the justice) we deserve.

The moment you accept Christ into your heart and receive salvation, you are incredibly rich! This amazing treasure comes to us through grace.
Grace is: A) Given by the heavenly Father (James 1:17). B) Given freely (Ephesians 1:6). C) Given abundantly (Ephesians 1:7-8). D) Given immediately. E) Given on Christ’s merit, unearned and underserved by us. F) Given to us forever; nothing can take it away.

Feel rich yet?

There’s more: We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. We were predestined to be adopted sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. We were redeemed (bought with Jesus’ blood). Our salvation was costly; the price was Jesus’ death. We are justified before the Father. That means we are no longer guilty of our sin. We are removed from God’s enemy list; He accepts us as children. That is reconciliation. (Romans 5:10).

But that’s not all: We are forgiven. Colossians 2:13 in the Bible says God does not hold our sin against us. But God will discipline us, as needed. (Hebrews 12:6). We are one with the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He abides in us, and we in Him. (John 15:5). We are joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:14-17). We have dual citizenship: citizens of Earth, and Heaven. (1Peter 1:3-4). God is working all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28).

Do you feel rich now?

Still with me? At salvation, we are set apart for God’s service. That’s what sanctification means. We are continually cleansed and refined throughout our lives. The indwelling Holy Spirit seals us as children of God. He guides and teaches, equipping us to do God’s will. This enables us to approach the throne of grace with confidence. (Romans 5:5, Ephesians 4:20, Hebrews 4:15-16). We’re promised a physical resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).

When you feel poor, think of the riches you already own. Don’t ever say that you didn’t realize you were wealthy beyond measure.

Take Home Nugget

These are incomparable riches of God’s grace. How can anyone argue that being called, justified and glorified doesn’t make you feel special? (Romans 8:30, Ephesians 2:4-7).

Living life is more than playing a game.
Before the world, our heritage we trace--
God’s lavish grace upon us in Jesus’ name.
We’re trophies of His grace!

J.D. Griffith

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Grace Displayed Part 2 of 4

GRACE DISPLAYED (Part 2 of 4)
1Timothy 1:12-17, Acts 9:1-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 9:1-4

1Timothy 1:13-14

"Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unfelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

Remember the two words that are different sides of the same sword, grace and mercy? Grace is when believers receive blessings which we do not deserve. Mercy is when believers do not get the justice we deserve.

Bobby swung the bat that hit the ball through his neighbor’s garage window.
Bobby slinked inside his own house. His Dad asked, “Did you hit that ball, Son?”

Bobby nodded, his head down.

“Well then, I want you to tell the Parkers who broke their window. Go now.” Bobby’s Dad said.

Bobby knocked on the Parker’s back door. Mrs. Parker heard Bobby’s admission. She smiled and told him to come inside. Mr.Parker listened to Bobby’s guilt of having broken the garage window. Bobby went home with a cupcake and a smile on his face.

Grace is transforming the person from the inside out. Grace changes thought. Grace changes habits. Grace is more than abundant where there is mercy for the sinner. 1Timothy 1:12-17 outlines what our lives would be without grace. We’d be dead in our sin. By faith in Christ, we have eternal life. This is certainly undeserved and earned.

The Christian religion is the only religion in the world where we cannot earn favor from the almighty. This is life by grace. Apostle Paul was chief of sinners, his admission. (Acts 9:1-6). Grace broke through the ring leader of persecutors and saved him by grace.

Every believer should be an example of Paul. His life was changed by grace. He went from sinner to saint. No one is an exception to God’s grace. By saying, “I’m too bad, God won’t forgive me” belies God’s power and sovereignty. How rude! We serve an almighty God, a God of impossibilities. If He says he can, He can! Ours is a life in grace. For behold, when we’re in Christ, we become a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:15).

We owe God everything!

Take Home Nugget

Romans 9:1-4 gives us a conscience of gratitude and humility. This grace, unearned and undeserved blesses us abundantly. As we follow Jesus, this humble attitude of gratitude puts us in service to our Lord.

Without knowing how blessed we are
We serve others in humble gratitude.
For Our King Jesus has put us above par
To make eternal goals our attitude.

J.D. Griffith

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Throne of Grace 1/4

THRONE OF GRACE (Part 1 of 4)
Hebrews 4:14, 16

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess...Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

What do these two words mean? Grace: God gives us what we do not deserve. Mercy: God doesn’t give us what we do deserve. Opposite sides of the same sword bless us in different ways.

Both words make our lives hopeful, do-able. Both are gifts that are unearned. Both gifts are undeserved. We depend on both gifts. We depend on God’s grace every minute of every day. Who wakes us up every morning? Grace. Why does God allow us to live after we rebel and sin against Him? Mercy. Romans 6:23 in the Bible says plainly, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

1 John 1:9 in the Bible says, ”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.”

Every good thing comes from God, the Father, through the cleansing blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14 calls Jesus our high priest. Verse 15 says Christ was tempted as we are, but was sinless. The clincher verse is what makes us cherished children, and is found in verse 16. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

WOW!

How happy are you to sit on a loved one’s lap and feel precious love? This is soothing, especially after we’re hurt. The loved one is pleased to give you healing after your feelings, or body gets hurt. Our Heavenly Father is the same way.

He gave us the Bible so that we learn about His love for us when we study His Word. He opens His arms welcoming us onto His lap. For comfort, peace, healing.

Take Home Nugget

We know God is sovereign and in control of all things. Will He stoop down to listen to our silly, trivial needs? St. Paul makes it clear that we’re to approach His throne boldly. We’re to approach Him with confidence; sure that we’re not bothering Him or are too insignificant for Him to care. In fact, we’re specifically instructed to “bother Him” with everything that troubles us. (1Peter 5:7).
God’s Riches At Christ's Expense.

J.D. Griffith

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