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Who’s On First, Who’s In Space … or What did you say? (Part #1)
Abbott and Costello, the legendary comedy team of the 40s and 50s, was the most famous comedy team of their time, and perhaps, of all time. Their performance of “Who’s On First?” has passed the test of time, still being enjoyed by all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfmvkO5x6Ng “Who’s on First” is an example of a failure to communicate clearly to others .
SETI, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, originating in the early sixties, is man’s attempt to communicate with aliens from another planet. After almost 50 years of trying, SETI has, to date, yielded no proof of alien communication with earth, nor the existence of alien life. It seems to be a serious waste of much needed capital, which could be used to fund many other fields of scientific exploration. http://www.seti.org
How about the day to day communication that should take place between husband and wife? Most polls indicate that a failure in communication is one of the top three reasons why marriages end in divorce. Here, a lack of communication causes a rupturing of the family unit and the breaking of marital vows. This is an extremely serious problem that leads to the ruination of lives.
But there is one other type of communication failure that brings about even worse results… a person’s inability to communicate with Christ. In the case of the unsaved, his communication ruptured by his sinful condition. (Isa 59:2) The only remedy to restore that communication is God’s forgiveness. (1 John 1:6-10)
However, the Christian can also experience a loss of communion with the Lord. Christ presents a lesson on communion’s hindrances and remedies for those who are saved and seeking a closer walk with Him….
THE SCRIPTURE:
And when thou prayest, … For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(Mat 6:5-13)
THE STUDY:
In Part #1 of our study we will be looking at Our Preparation For Prayer. (Matt 6:5-8)
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Here we find our Lord presenting to us five different principles…
Principle #1 – We should prepare our hearts to be sincere in our prayers. We need to be SINCERE.
The Greek word for “hypocrite” is a word that means “to play a role” or “ to be an actor on a stage”. Our prayer life we are not just putting on an act or going through the motions; trying to impress Him or others? True, Scriptural prayer is entering into sincere communion with our Lord.
Principle #2 – We should enter into our communication with Him as a secret act between Him and us alone. We need to be SELFLESS
Our heart prepared to meet with Him and Him alone. This is done by confession of sin and thinking upon His Word. Also we should have His Word open in front of us as we pray, awaiting to hear from Him during our communion time. We should be ready to read His Word during this time, knowing He reveals His will for us through His Word.
Principle #3 – We should prepare our heart making sure our motive for prayer is not personal gain but humbling wanting to seek His face and then submit to the His revealed will for our lives. We need to be SUBMITTED
As His will is revealed to us, we must have a heart prepared to follow His leadership. As His will is revealed we should place any hindrances aside (no matter what the cost) and immediately seek to align ourselves with His desires.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Principle #4 – We should be desiring to communicate with the Lord not impress Him. We need to be SEARCHING
The Lord does not desire for us to be repeating any prayer verbatim, including His model prayer in the following verses. He desires sincere communication that is simply being transparent and speaking the truth from the heart. Which would mean more to our spouse… having a friend of ours write a poem of love that we could read , or for us to simply open our heart and proclaim our love in our own words?
Principle #5 – We should be dwelling on His greatness, His knowledge of all things and His ability to change any circumstance if it is His will to do so. We need to be SEEING
As we enter into prayer our hearts should be filled with a knowledge of His greatness. In prayer, we are coming before the Sovereign Lord of all. We should be in awe and appreciation for His wanting to meet with us. We should be joyful knowing He is the One who can truly meet every need in our life. Nothing is too hard for Him.
As we pray, our heart should be:
Sincere
Selfless
Submitted
Searching
Seeing
In Part #2 of our study we will be looking at The Makeup of our Prayers. (Matt 6:9-13)
To see this lesson taught on video please go to my Video Blog at http://www.youtube.com/settledinheaven
If you have any questions concerning this blog, or if you have a subject you would like discussed, please feel free to email me at settledinheaven@gmail.com. I will answer all emails via my blog, email, or both.
Follow my Squidoo Instructional Lens “Presenting God’s Grace” “The Solemn Obligation To Present the Doctrines of Grace to the Lost and Saved Alike” http://www.squidoo.com/presenting-gods-grace
May the Lord bless your study of His Word. Like God’s Word… may your soul’s salvation and your life’s faithfulness be “Settled in Heaven.”
Who’s Our Boss?
(Rob’s Note: Following my Monday posting of “The True Wonder Of Nature… Ignored!” I have received several emails asking for further information on why the Bible would say that if we reject God as our Creator, it results in many other sins to be committed.
I was planning on posting today’s blog entry sometime next month. However, I thought that this entry might help to answer your questions, so I have chosen to post it today. If you had questions about the relationship between rejecting our Creator and the sin that flourishes around us, please review Monday’s posting after you read this entry.
It is my privilege to answer any questions you may still have about Monday’s posting, just leave a comment or send me an email. It is only through your input that I can know what needs clarification. Thank you for graciously reading my blog, you are all a great blessing to me.)
In the mid 1980’s, Tony Danza, Judith Light and Alyssa Milano starred in a situation comedy called “Who’s the Boss?” This show was a classic about a professional woman, her male housekeeper, and their children. Over the course of the show’s 8 year run, the continual theme was who was running the household, the woman or her housekeeper. Many times, the housekeeper would override the woman’s instructions, creating havoc for the entire household.
If you are not sure if you’ve ever seen this show, just listen to the theme song, it is one of the most memorable theme songs on TV. If you’ve heard it, you will recognize it in a heartbeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBKsHdZJjZM
In a sitcom, confusion about who runs things can be humorous and harmless. But in the world today, our society is falling apart, due to the confusion concerning to whom we should submit. It is a very serious issue… we are watching our society implode due to a lack of recognition of the ultimate authority that is over us.
Who holds the ultimate authority over us? What should our attitude be towards this authority? The Bible gives us an answer to both of these questions…
THE SCRIPTURE:
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?(Rom 9:20-24)
THE STUDY:
Today we complain about our appearance, or maybe our vocation, or our financial status in life, or even our family and friends. In our text, the people were complaining about their eternal destiny (Rom 9:10-19).
Paul, by the inspiration of God, begins to address these complaints…
Man was complaining to the Creator of the Universe, the true God over all, Jehovah. Paul makes it plain that NO ONE has the right to complain to the One who created him. Why not? Because the God who created us has every right to create us as He pleases. (vs 20)
If a potter desired to make a cup without a handle, he has every right to do so. However, if He desires to make one with a handle, he can do this as well. Does the cup without the handle have a right to complain to the potter due to his lack of a handle?
Oh course not, Why not? Because the potter was not obligated to make only cups with handles. SINCE HE WAS THE CREATOR HE COULD MAKE THE CUP AS HE PLEASES. The cup is obligated to recognize his creator and submit to his desires.
In the same way, if He desired to show the greatness of His wrath in my life, He certainly could do it. But He desired to save my soul from sin and withhold the judgment I deserved. In either case, He would be fair and just (vs 21-24)
Since all men deserve eternal punishment, He can allow it into any one’s life. If He chooses to show His grace and mercy in the life of some, He has every right to do it as well. We are obligated to recognize Him as our Creator, therefore recognize His authority and submit to His wishes for us. (Isa 64:8)
What’s THE major problem in our world today? We are in denial about Jehovah God being our Creator. Because of this, we do not see the need to submit to His will for our life. This is why we see such heinous sin taking place in our society. Once we denied Him as Creator, we no longer see the need to submit to His desires for us. This is the insidious result of denying His Creatorship. This is the state of our society today… we have rejected His Creatorship and, therefore, no longer see the need to submit to His will.
THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION
For the Christian….
As a Christian, we need to recognize that God is our Creator. He is the Creator of both our physical and spiritual life. Oh, what a responsibility we have to submit to His desires for us.
Our life’s slogan should be…Since God is my Creator and my Savior, I owe Him my all. He has every right to do with me as He pleases, I have no right to complain to Him about my lot in life. No exceptions. He has already blessed me above measure with my salvation. I am only to always be in alignment with His will. (see Jer 18:3-6)
For those who have never trusted in Christ…
Remember, He is our Creator (Gen 1:-2:), therefore, we are obligated to conform to His desires for our lives. What is His utmost desire for us? To come before Him, humbly trusting Him to do what we cannot do… save us from our sins. If you would like more information about receiving the forgiveness He so graciously gives, please take a look at the page labeled “All About Salvation” just beneath my blog heading above. May the Lord bless you.
If you have any questions concerning this blog, or if you have a subject you would like discussed, please feel free to email me at settledinheaven@gmail.com. I will answer all emails via my blog, email, or both.
Follow my Squidoo Instructional Lens “Presenting God’s Grace” “The Solemn Obligation To Present the Doctrines of Grace to the Lost and Saved Alike” http://www.squidoo.com/presenting-gods-grace
May the Lord bless your study of His Word. Like God’s Word… may your soul’s salvation and your life’s faithfulness be “Settled in Heaven.”
It Tempts, It Taunts, It Distracts. What is it?
Hunger, we’ve all experienced it. Nobody likes it. According to this Weight Watcher’s commercial, it’s like a small orange demon constantly tryin’ to “get ya”: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ytP9oazCo).
Ok, if it’s all that bad, why would anyone, on purpose, bring it upon them self? Well, if you talk to many Christians they will tell you that fasting (willful abstinence from food) is one of the most spiritually beneficial experiences they’ve ever had.
Here are some of the Scriptural teachings about fasting…
THE SCRIPTURE:
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.(Psa 35:13)
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.(Psa 69:10)
THE STUDY:
What is fasting?
The word “fasting” in the Bible is the translation of two different words. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated “fasting” means “to cover the mouth”. In the New Testament, the Greek word for “fasting” is describing a “willful lack of food”. When we view the concept of fasting, it is the idea that a person decides to allow their hunger to remain unsatisfied by not partaking of the desired food or drink.
Please under this… it is an extremely important point… any food desired, but willfully not partaken of, is a type of fast.
Notice in Daniel 1:8-13, the Israelite boys had chosen to fast specific flavorful items (king’s meat and wine) but they allowed themselves to partake of very bland food (pulse and water). Their hunger for tasty food was not satisfied even though they were partaking of nourishment. Much like a person desiring a steak is not satisfied by eating a boiled egg. If we are fasting, we can continue to eat food items as long as we do not satisfy the specific desire we are experiencing. ANYTIME WE REFUSE TO SATISFY A DESIRE OF OUR FLESH WE ARE FASTING.
What is the purpose of fasting?
Fasting is to help us learn to keep our flesh under control. Fasting is used to help us learn how to control our desires and not let them control us.
In our texts, fasting is described as “humbling my soul” (Psa 35:13) and “chastening my soul” (Psa 69:10). Both verses are using “soul” to describe our fleshly desires.
When we fast, we are saying to our fleshly desires:
”I control you! You do not control me!” (humbling our desires)
“I am going to discipline you and teach you to submit to my will!” (chastening our desires)
This is why in 1 Cor 7:5, fasting is done in conjunction with abstaining from marital relations (which involves fulfilling another type of fleshly desire.)
Why is fasting done in conjunction with prayer?
When we pray, we are to always pray in submission to our Heavenly Father’s will. This principle is clearly shown to us in Christ’s prayer before His arrest and crucifixion when He prayed…”O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. “ (Mat 26:39)
By fasting while in a season of prayer, we are constantly reminded of our need to place our fleshly desires second to that of our Lord’s will concerning the issue we are praying about. In every prayer, the intent of our heart should be “not my will, but thine be done”
Is Fasting For Today?
Fasting is not just an OT rite. It is to be practiced in our times as well. It is not to be stopped until the Lord comes back and takes His children to heaven with Him.
Note Mark 2:19-20…. “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”
When Christ was on the earth, the followers of Christ were not to fast, in recognition of their joy at their Lord being present with them. However, once Christ ascended to be with the Father, the fasting was to begin, and continue, until Christ is reunited with His disciples at the rapture.
This is why the churches fasted (following His ascension) at the sending of the missionaries (Acts 14:23 etc)
THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
We are living in troublesome times. If you have any doubts, just listen to the news and you will realize many of the physical, political, economic and spiritual perils we all face in our country and the world.
Based on my previous series from Matt 24:, I have tried to explain why I believe we are living in the times immediately before the return of Christ. There is much to do for our Lord and, yet, there seems to be shrinking amount of time and workers getting the job done. There appears to be a very apathetic spirit entering the lives of Christians and churches these days.
It is time for Christians to begin fasting and praying for our country and the world. Pray and fast for the lost around us, it is very possible their time is running short. Pray and fast for one another, that the Lord might strengthen and protect each of us in these trying times.
And finally, as we pray, always make sure we are praying with a heart that is crying… “not my will, but thine be done”.
If there is anyone who has read this blog and has never submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; maybe, you have never been able to say to God “not my will but thine be done.” The Lord has brought you to read this blog for a purpose. Perhaps, it was to awaken you to the spiritual need of your heart. It is not too late. There are Christians around this world fasting and praying for your salvation. You can begin to seek Christ by studying His Word. Read Peter’s sermon in Acts 4:8-12. There you will find what Christ has done for you so that you might be saved.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me, or any Bible believing church in your area. I’m sure they will be more than happy to tell you more about our wonderful Christ and all He has done for us.
If you have any questions concerning this blog, or if you have a subject you would like discussed, please feel free to email me at settledinheaven@gmail.com. I will answer all emails via my blog, email, or both.
Follow my Squidoo Instructional Lens “Presenting God’s Grace”“The Solemn Obligation To Present the Doctrines of Grace to the Lost and Saved Alike”http://www.squidoo.com/presenting-gods-grace
May the Lord bless your study of His Word. Like God’s Word… may your soul’s salvation and your life’s faithfulness be “Settled in Heaven.”
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