God's Purpose Part 4 of 8--Relationship with God

GOD’S PURPOSE Part 4 of 8 of Relationship with God
Luke 11:2-4

“Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”

Josh dove into the wave as it approached the shore. The ocean was cold, but it felt good against his hot flesh. When he stood up, as the wave receded back to the ocean, his feet clung to the sand, nearly toppling him. He felt the dragging pull of the ocean’s current and laughed out loud.

Josh may have felt safe from the ocean’s current, but is he safe from the deadly current of the world? For Josh to do God’s will as it is in heaven, his life is operating in enemy territory.

Living in this world today is to live in a realm that is controlled by Satan.

For us to do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, we must swim against the current.

Praying for God’s will to be done provides foundation for our prayers AND our lives. With these words, we are asking His will to be done in our lives and in the world. Often, we get prayers mixed up with our will be done. God does not change the way He runs the universe after hearing our petitions. Our wish list does not alter anything just so we get what we want.

The world’s current goes against God’s will, and Satan wants to topple us.

Just because this phrase is what we’re supposed to say in our own prayers, we must not tack it on the end if we don’t mean it. Some people add it and think, This is tricky, what I want may not be God’s will. If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be my fault.

But it is also a different way to reframe our wants. Consider them from God’s point of view. Is anything wrong by our request? Does it injure anyone? Is my want selfish, or will it benefit others? When we pray “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” we’re praying for our friends, our families, our society, and ourselves.

Many people despise God because He has not made them master of their own fate. Those of us who have a relationship with our Father, know that the heart of the Almighty is not only righteous and just, but also gracious and kind.

Take Home Nugget

We know that “all things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Praying to our Father
Hallowing His name,
Agreeing to welcome in His kingdom,
And seeking His will makes our lives complete.

J.D. Griffith

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God's Program Part 3 of 8

GOD’S PROGRAM Part 3 of 8 of Relationship with God
Luke 11:2-4

“Thy kingdom come.” This focuses on God’s program, and praying these words show Him that we want what He wants. His kingdom refers to the future messianic reign on earth. All through the Bible, we see passages referring to the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He will rule the kingdom of this world with righteousness. This will be the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. (Revelation 11:15).


Can you taste the Lord’s excitement? When your birthday approaches, how do you feel? Are you sad and disagreeable, or upbeat and eager to please? When people remind you that your birthday is coming up, all kinds of ideas pop into your mind, don’t they? Will I have a surprise party? Will I get lots of gifts? Will I get to blow out candles on top of my favorite cake?
What is your birthday dream?


We measure life not at the beginning, but at the end. With each birthday, we’re closer to our final moments on earth. Many people end their life with regret of dreams unfulfilled, a weak legacy. How sad that some people don’t remember the good things they did while alive.


But Jesus has a legacy, and He wants us to learn what it is. Where do we fit into the scheme of future history? Bible history is Jesus’ story, and His life is headed somewhere—to His return!


As we pray, we direct our gaze to the day when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of God.


“Your kingdom come” also means something else. We agree to submit to God’s will in the tiny space we occupy now to be God’s when Christ’s kingdom is established.


What we know now will be gone. (Isaiah 65:17).


If we pray for God’s rule over everything at some point in the future, then it follows that we must desire that He work His will out in our lives RIGHT NOW!


Am I prepared to make my daily purpose eager submission to His will?


When people are young, they often say “Your kingdom come”, but mean, “not yet, Lord.”
What will the second coming of Christ mean in our lives? Will we get to do the things we planned? After we get to do the things we dream about, THEN we will welcome Christ’s return.


Take Home Nugget
I can say to you know, children, there are no plans that Christ’s return would interrupt.
In truth, nothing takes precedence over His coming. The best is yet to come. We can say, “Your kingdom come” honestly, meaning every word.

My Lord, my God, You never lied to me.
I eagerly await Jesus’ return,
And I can’t wait to see
Your kingdom come, and all that it brings!

J.D. Griffith

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God's Paternity and Person Part 2 of 8

GOD’S PATERNITY AND PERSON Part 2 of 8 of Relationship with God
Luke 11:2-4

"And He said to them, 'When you pray, say, Father, Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Give us each day our daily bread, Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us, And lead us not into temptation.'"

As members of a family, we’re used to the familiar name for Dad. Are we jealous when someone other than family shares our Dad?

We often want to protect what is supposed to be ours, but we share our heavenly Father with others. He is every believer’s Father. Jesus made it clear that those who follow Him can address God as “Father.”

“Our Father which art in heaven” Jesus began when teaching prayer. With these words, Jesus gives us permission to approach the creator of the universe and call Him by name. This is for the entire Christian population. When Christians bow before God and call Him “Father”, they acknowledge that at the heart of the universe is ultimate power and ultimate love.

Jesus guarantees that we can enter a relationship with God and become members of His family. God is our Father. We are His children. This relationship of calling God “Father” is built solely on our relationship with Jesus Christ.

John 1:12 in the Bible says, “As many as received Him (Christ), to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”.

Although it is an awesome privilege to call the sovereign majesty of the universe “Father”, we must never take this for granted. Instead of anxiety, we’re to approach the Father in reverence and awe as we pray.

“Hallowed be Your name.” Hebrews thought a name had great significance. Hebrew parents often named their children after someone whose personality, characteristics, and disposition they hoped would personify their child.

When Jesus met Simon, he was impetuous, reckless, and brash. It took awhile for Simon to live up to the new name Jesus gave him. Peter means the rock. The Apostle Peter, as we know him, became the bedrock of the Christian church. (Matthew 16:18).

“Hallowed by Your name” refers to what we know about God. His personhood and His character is sanctified, (set apart), and made special. He is our God, and we set Him apart from all others, so that it is clear that we revere Him—and only Him.

Take Home Nugget
Oftentimes our prayers can be dangerous, revealing an inadequate distortion of who God is. We have a command to be holy--as God is holy. We must allow God to be God in all aspects of our lives—personal, recreation, family—and to understand that God has set us apart.

Is there something in your life that you’re not ready to let God mold and set apart for His purpose?

There is only one God, and He is holy.
He seeks a relationship with His children.
We belong to Him because He made us.
What an honor to be chosen and set apart for Him!

J.D. Griffith

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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