Quotes: God Shaking Our Foundations

Charles C. West once said “We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.”  This is a quote that has had a profound effect on my life; both in its truth, and in its reality.

Very often in our lives, it seems like the world is falling down around our ears. Everywhere we look, things are being torn down; no matter where we are in life, it seems as though it is nothing more than complete upheaval. For those in positions of power and wealth, times like this can be extremely concerning; for those who have far less, it can be downright terrifying.

The thing to keep in mind is that God is always in control. It is hard to focus on this in moments like these, but it is in these moments when it is vital to turn to He who directs our steps and lights our paths.

Here in the United States, there is a partial government shutdown taking place. I'll not go into the politics of it at the moment, because those views are better left to my personal blog, for one; and for another, politics can be a grave distraction from the things of God for many. Suffice to say, our political leaders have dropped the ball once again, but in doing so, have granted us all a fantastic opportunity to seek God in our daily lives. We must seek Him not only for guidance and direction in our spiritual walk, but now we have a "real" reason to seek Him as our provider.

I use quotations because many of us know that He is always our provider. Many of us know Him to be the source of all we have. Yet in this current time, many more are having to face the reality that God is not just the Provider in hard times, but He is the Provider at all times.

Our foundations have been shaken, my friends; shaken by political upheaval; shaken by personal tragedy and hardship; and shaken by a sudden lack of those things which we consider to be vital and important in our lives- Indeed, things which we consider to be necessary. Some of us have lost our methods of transportation; some of us are facing uncertainty in the area of benefits; some are seeing the warning signs of layoffs; some seem to be trapped in locations far from home with no way of getting back; and still others have found a loss of will to continue on.
Yes, these are all times of hardship, and can indeed be times of chaos - If we allow them to be.

The answer to the hardships and trials we face is a mere prayer away; nay, even a simple whisper. Our loving Creator will provide all our needs, but there are times when we must ask. The days are coming, and coming soon, when we as followers of Christ must rely upon Him solely for the provision that we require, and now is as good a time as any previous to make that change.

Allow me to give an illustration from my own life- I was uprooted from my home state of New Hampshire and brought to New Mexico for no other reason, it seemed, than to languish. I had a job lined up out here, but when I arrived, I discovered that they had given it to someone else. I found myself staying with a friend, my benefactor to whom I will forever be grateful, and looking unsuccessfully for employment. No matter where I went; no matter how many applications I filled out; no matter how many resumes I dropped off, I could find no work anywhere.
That is when I realized that God had brought me here for the sole purpose of learning to rely upon Him, and at that point, I'd been attempting to make my own way- All the time, complaining to Him for not opening doors. I required a time of sincere repentance, and refocused my vision so that my eyes were upon Him day and night.

Shortly after these events, I found work with a gentleman from my former church in his auto detailing business. Yet again, I find myself forever grateful to him not only for the work, but for opening his home to me when my other living situation fell through. After about a year, he received one of the desires of his heart, and was accepted to study at Oxford.
No matter what events transpired, however, so long as I kept my eyes upon Christ and relied upon God for the provision of all my needs, He saw to everything. Employment when needed, housing when required, and the provision of money, food and transportation at all times. Never have I gone without my needs since I returned control of my life to Him.

I share this story with you all, not to show how righteous or amazing I am (because such a statement would be a far cry from the truth!), but to encourage you, our readers, to look to God for all things. He will always provide- I have learned this truth in my own life, and will continue to learn this lesson in greater and bigger things.
My prayer for each of you is that God shows Himself to be as amazing, if not more so, in your lives as He has in mine. Indeed, I pray that each of you see greater blessings in your lives than I have seen, so that those around you may see and believe.

May God bless and keep you all in His mighty hand, safe from the intentions of the enemy, and provide all your needs- For though your foundations are shaking, it may very well be He who is reminding you that He must be first in all things in your lives.

Escape or Endure?

Rarely has so true a Scripture been depicted so falsely

The question before every human being on the face of the planet, to which God has already given answer, is this: Escape or Endure?

No trial has overtaken you that is not distinctively human; and God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear, but with the trial will also provide the way through, so that you will be able to endure it. ~1 Corinthians 10:13

This is from the Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament. I love the way it phrases this, because this is one situation where many English translations fail miserably. Let me give you an example or two of this:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. ~NKJV

The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it. ~NCV

The original text actually says that God will provide "ekbasis," or a route out. This Greek word is a combination of "ek" or "ex" meaning "point of origin; where action begins" and "basis" meaning "to walk; foot pace." Literally, it is stating that God will provide a route through the hardship. Not an escape, as if God was going to snap His fingers and remove you from the situation you're dealing with; rather, an escape route- A path to follow by which to exit hardship.

Readers confuse themselves on whether to escape or endure

The second point of issue with English translations, to a minor degree, and much more with the very READERS themselves, is the less than regular emphasis on the latter portion of this Scripture. Everyone loves the idea that God doesn't give us more than we can handle; still more people are very happy with the fact that God will just speak and *boom* - Our trials are over. The problem is that one section at the end which reads "so that you will be able to endure it."

Oops. If that remains there, then the verse as a whole can't mean that God's going to magically remove us from our individual struggles. So as a result, very few actually pay attention to that section... And as a result of that, we have some translations pandering to the itching ears. For instance:

There hath none other temptation taken you, but such as followeth the nature of man. God is faithful, which shall not suffer you to be tempted above your strength: but shall in the midst of the temptation make a way to escape out. ~2004 edition of the William Tyndale New Testament

You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations. ~Contemporary English Version

We’re all tempted to do so, but God is more than willing to help us follow God’s advice. ~Better Life Bible

A lot of you have heard me rail against the BLB, saying it should not even be considered a Bible, and this last quote is offered as further evidence of this.  However, even it is closer in truth at the last than the previous two.  You see, God is willing to help us follow His law (not advice) and His ways.  He is rarely willing to remove us from those situations wherein we are required to choose whether to follow Him or succumb to the world.

This is why the Mounce is so excellent in this regard- Not only did it handle the issue of the way through the temptation correctly, but it also makes certain to emphasize the fact that the answer to the escape or endure question is the endurance of the trial.  Ironically, for all the hard words and accusations that our modern translations get, one of the most maligned got it dead on accurate.

There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape.        ~God's Word Version

Final thoughts on whether to escape or endure

Oftentimes, we as humans are so caught up in our daily lives that we read our Bibles when we should be
soaking in them. We simply give our Scripture of the day a quick read, and do not take the time necessary to pray and meditate on what it means.  If we took the time necessary, it would be obvious to most what this Scripture is saying right from the start.

In closing, let me reiterate this simply:

God tests us. He will not allow us to be so assaulted that we cannot stand our ground.  In every test, no matter how hard it gets, we can rest assured that He's already prepared our exit, and the path to get there.  He will rarely pluck us out of the hard times; but He will strengthen and encourage us so that we are able stand firm as long as we trust in Him- And THAT is our way out... Endurance.

Grace and peace be with you as you endure!

Waffles, Bacon and a Side of Prayer

I am a breakfast kind of guy.  I love breakfast food, and at any given time of day I'm as likely to be eating oatmeal, pancakes or cold cereal as I am a "normal" lunch or dinner.  Don't get me wrong, though- I'll plow through steak, pork chops, or a good bowl of pasta in a heartbeat!  I just like breakfasts because of the great memories that come with them.

On Saturday mornings, Mom and Dad would work together to make breakfast for us kids.  Sometimes, it was a simple pot of oatmeal.  Other times, it was pancakes or french toast with bacon and eggs.  No matter what it was, one thing remained the same on a regular basis: We'd eat breakfast as a family.  It was the best day of the week, and the best time of day, as the morning sun shone brightly and we gathered around the table together with a promise filled day ahead of us.

As life dragged on, the family breakfasts grew more and more infrequent, until it was nearly a miracle to get us together at the table for any meal.  Communication began to crumble, and the family followed closely behind.  Without the support of one another, we began to make bad choices all around: I fell headlong into a pornographic addiction; my sisters began dating and befriending people of dubious influence; and my parents' marriage dissolved into resentment, hurt feelings and heartache.
Soon, the only communication we had took the form of either written notes or face to face arguments.  There was a day, shortly before my parents separated, that my Dad called the house and I didn't recognize his voice.  That moment sticks with me because, all fault to the side, no child should ever forget the voice of a parent who took an active part in their lives.  In fact, the memory haunts me to this day- In that until recently, I never knew what had gone wrong.  My family had survived car accidents, a catastrophic fire (read more here), economic hardship and several church splits...  So what went wrong?

Over a Men's Breakfast of Belgian waffles, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, and a side of bacon, I mulled over this question once again.  As I stared idly at the smaller plate of bacon, my pastor began talking about prayer and the importance of it.  I had learned a while before that prayer was a means of communion with God.  Then, suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place.

You see, I've never ordered a plate of bacon and a side of waffles.  Waffles are a main course; bacon is a side.  (Though it is an excellent garnish for salads!)  Sometimes, though, we order a side of prayer, instead of making it our main course.  When we do this, our communication with God begins to falter, and soon our relationship with Him begins to suffer.
Likewise, it was the communication between my family that was the lifeblood of our relationship.  When that began to fail, the family began to suffer.  It was no one person's fault, though we all had a hand in its demise. When we stopped communicating, the family began to fall apart.

When we do not communicate with God, our lives suffer for it.  So remember- When it comes to prayer, order it as the main course...  And get the waffles on the side.

Prayer Snobs

(NOTE: R.E.T.S. will be taking a few days off from writing.  Thus, we'll have a couple "guest authors," as well as Ajax and hopefully Yoda.)


A lot of Christianity seems to look at prayer as a magical incantation or ritual- Something I find to be ironic given the sheer amount of venom that is sprayed on anything having to do with magic. (Point in case: Harry Potter)


Think about it for just a moment. In order to pull off a "proper" ritual, everything must be in the exact order- Nothing can be missing, but nothing must be added. Every word must be exact, pronounced the right way, and for some, tone must be held for a certain amount of time.


Now, let us go into the church. In order to pull off a "proper" prayer, everything must be in the exact right order... Not a single "amen," name, request or unction can be missing. However, many also believe that using the Lord's Name too often will also screw up the prayer- so nothing can be added, either! Every word has to be exactly what is prescribed in seminary; they must be pronounced exactly right- (GEE-sUS, Gah-duh, Holey Sspeer-et-ah); not to mention that if the "Holey Sspeer-et-ah" is on you, then you must draw out certain sounds of every word.


Folks, I have always found this debate to be ridiculous, for several reasons.

1) The Lord said to let the children come to Him and not to hinder them. When we go into prayer, we are going before the Lord. Yet what do you think this debate does to children, when held around them? What do you think we do when we tell a child they should not, or do not need to, pray in the way they always have? Let the child come to a personal understanding of their own prayer style and prayer life.


2) I see prayers of all sorts throughout the Bible, and guess what? There are some that use the name of Jesus and some that do not. However, not once have they been the self aggrandizement they seem to be today. Sure, the Pharisees prayed just to be heard, but I'm talking about the believers. To continue to demand, or even believe, that there is a specific method to prayer is foolish- Moreover, if you actually believe this, and also believe that YOU'VE got it? ....Well, all pretty mausoleums line up just there.

3) I do not see the words "In Jesus name, Amen," written anywhere in the Bible. In fact, I don't even see the words "In Jesus name" at the end of a prayer or otherwise. So what?! I do see in many places after Christ's ascension, people praying for something very specific and doing so "in the name of Christ." For instance, "silver and gold have I not, but such as I have, I give to thee- In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk!"


4) There are some who find it foolish to address God more than once or twice in a prayer. I find it interesting that they do, because I see no reason why one shouldn't. Prayer is you and I speaking to God. I am not going to alter my prayer style to fit the preferences of any other human being- I am not going into prayer for their ears, I am praying to God's alone. If HE delivers me a Gibbs Slap and says to knock it off, then I will.

5) How proud do we need to be before we jump on someone else for their method of prayer? Jimmy prays with "in Jesus Name Amen" at the end. Johnny prays "in the name of Jesus, AH-men." Little Timmy, he says "God" or "Jesus" with nearly every sentence. You know what though? It is guaranteed that the Lord will hear their prayers, and He'll hear them long before He'll even bother with whatever "perfect prayer style" the theology snobs work out.




So, the question in my mind, when I see this sort of discussion, is almost never "should we use, or is it required to use, Jesus Name at the end of prayers?" Instead, it becomes "should this even be a discussion/debate?" Loxen had it 100% correct when he stated that prayer is mainly about the contact, and not the method or content. TC had it 100% correct when he stated it was about the heart more than anything. The fact is that if the heart is right, you could be talking to God about dust particles in a ray of sunlight and you would have an attentive and unwavering ear. You could pray for more sliced cheese packets for sandwiches, while saying His name a million times, and with your right heart, someone's going to walk through the door with sliced cheese.



However, if your heart isn't right, then you could be using the perfect prayer model while asking for a life to be spared... And guess what will happen? God'll listen to the child praying for extra blueberries in their pancakes before you, because their heart is right.


/rant


Nothing said here was meant to offend- If any of it did offend someone, then I ask two things: 


1) Please forgive me, as that was unintentional. 


2) If you're not inclined to forgive me, then put your big kid pants on, sit down, and shut up.

Encouragement From Job

Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm (Live)

R.E.T.S. - Encouragement From Job




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Velcro Devotion in a Teflon World

Once more, we're featuring a "Guest Writer," you might say.  This is such an important topic, and it was one we would have been addressing sooner or later.  The fact that Lisa Crum, (songwriter, inspirational writer, and pastoral assistant), wrote this as one of Streaming Faith's devotions, well...  Apparently it needs to be addressed now.

In these last days, it seems harder than ever to find people who will serve in any capacity—much less ministry--with lasting devotion. In the era of contractual service, we seek an “out clause” in almost everything we say ‘yes’ to. Marriages dissolve once the honeymoon is over; parents abandon their post and leave their children to be raised by the grandparents (an alarming trend); and, few places of employment are left where someone can hope to work clear up until retirement. We all tend to want to milk the best out of something and then discard it once it’s no longer profitable or fulfilling to us. It makes me think of the Winans’ song, “Bring Back the Days of Yea and Nay.”
Deuteronomy 15:16-17 relates to someone who had sold himself (or herself) into servanthood. “But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life” (NIV). It was an understood law that in the seventh year, that person would be set free from the master, at which time the master awarded a blessing for the service before releasing the servant. Now, I’m aware that sometimes it’s entirely fitting for someone to operate in a season, or an agreed time of service, and then be released from it. What I do want to encourage, however, is for a special remnant of people to catch the vision of becoming a servant for LIFE.

Can we say to the Lord, “I will faithfully tend this patch of Your field, in good times and in bad, in season, out of season, when I’m praised for it and when I’m an unsung hero too. I’ll be so predictable and so constant, You and my leaders won’t have to wonder if I’ll show up to serve…it’ll be a given!”

Do you consider God’s work and His priorities something that you do ala carte, or is it an integral part of who you are? You may never be called upon to go full-time into ministry, but if He were to ask, would you be willing? What material possessions, hobbies or other preoccupations would you find hard to push aside in favor of going to a higher level in your commitment to the Lord and His work? Do you ever feel offense rising within your spirit whenever the pastor or a leader asks you to give up some of your closely guarded leisure time for a worthwhile investment in kingdom work?

Most of us who serve in the ministry do so on a purely volunteer basis; but may we, from this day forward, never look at it as a “favor” that we do for God. Whether the time we invest in ministry is a few minutes a month or several hours each week, may we treat our offering of ourselves in this way as a holy thing unto the Lord…because it is.

God knows there are times in your life when you're only able to give less of yourself—He knows babies will be born, times of sickness may temporarily slow your pace, aging parents will need care. He is not a tyrant Master! That said, in whatever capacity you choose to give yourself to kingdom work, I pray that, beginning today, you will do so with joy and with excellence, and with a renewed sense of zeal for His purposes.

Is there any noise in your valley?????

Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

Eze 37:2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

Eze 37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

Eze 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

Eze 37:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Eze 37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Eze 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

Eze 37:8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Eze 37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

Eze 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Eze 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

Eze 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Eze 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

In this day and age it has become common for our people, our churches to take a back seat to things spiritual and fall into a comfort zone. This my friend is the death of our belief and our faith. So far from the glory of those new testament churches of old and the movement of the Holy Spirit. What happened to walking in authority, prophecy, walking in the gifts we have as believers in Christ????? The church has become a valley of dry bones, but I challenge you today to prophecy to these dry bones and command them to live. I challenge you to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit, to embrace and seek who you are in Christ and dare to tell the enemy where they can take their religion and their darkness!

Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Know this my beloveds, He is with us always, so today invite Him in, rise above your situation, get out of your comfort zone, raise a noise in your valley. Speak life to the dead places in your life, homes, businesses, ministries, schools.... wherever you are!

Let us pray: Father Yahweh come into our lives this day and renew our spirit pour out your love and power into our lives, remind us of the authority we have in your Son's precious blood. Help us to be bold where ever we dare to tread, help us to rise above the death and decay in our lives and find life and light in you. Be the breath we breath, our strong-tower in the storm, our light in the darkness. Lord we turn over our old will unto you and lay down our sins and and false mindsets, and take up the mantle you have placed before us. Heal us where we have gone astray, and give us the strength ,the wisdom and boldness to do your will. In Jesus's name and by His blood amen.

Bless you all -warriorsoul (yoda)

Because...

I won't do this often, but today I'm going to reprint a devotional I received in my own email inbox today.  This was written by Christopher J. Harris, Overseer of Youth at Fellowship Church of Chicago.  This was such an impactful and inspiring message, I had to share it with you all.  God bless!
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As we were exiting the department store, I watched one of my toddlers struggle to hold the door open for a stranger. When I explained to him that I would help him, he boldly told me, "Daddy, I've got it..." To be totally honest with you, I was amazed and curious as to why my son would struggle to open a door that was heavier than he is for someone that he didn't know. 

So I asked him. "Why did you open that door for her?" He replied, "because..." (He had that look that implied that my question was a dumb question...) When I further pressed him for a more detailed response, in his powerful childhood expressiveness, he responded, "Because that's what we do!" I replied, "We who?" Without hesitation he answered, "God people, Daddy!"

Wow! A toddler has learned, picked up, and processed that 'God people' serve.

The truth is that we adults know that, but we don't always live that out.

As I thought more about this idea of serving, there were a few critical questions that came to mind:
1) Why do we gather for worship and call it "service"?
2) Do you think people have confused being active in ministry and actually serving people?
3) Do people really know how to serve?
4) Are we able to serve without first being at the feet of Jesus?
5) Are we too busy to serve?

As I processed these questions and all of their potential answers, I immediately began to identify the starting points of how to move people from silent observers to engaged servants. Here are five starting points to serving:

1) Pray for discernment, discipline and passion to serve
2) Identify a social area of passion and frustration (i.e. - illiteracy)
3) Develop knowledge and expertise in that area by listening, learning, observing and training.
4) Set realistic goals for how you plan to serve and what you want to accomplish through serving.
5) Build intentional time in your monthly itinerary to serve in that area of passion.

As you move through the starting points to serving, be clear that moving into a serving mindset challenges and stretches you beyond areas of comfort. It is never convenient and a part of your normal thought process. As a matter of fact, I am convinced that there is a high degree of spiritual warfare that takes place to keep us from moving into a serving mindset. As much as the Word of God is used to allow us to hear God’s heart, and prayer is to get us into communion and communication with God, I believe that serving is what helps us develop the necessary character to look like Christ and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So it is only reasonable that our enemy, satan himself, will pull out all stops to keep us into a habit and routine of movement and busyness without starting afresh with the idea of real servant hood.

I believe it is time to begin something revolutionary, and create a new normal. As the world has branded 'God people' into denominations, judgmental, arrogant, selfish, and spooky, let's re-brand ourselves to accurately reflect the character of Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not only in moments of convenience or comfort, but consistently and courageously. We can all begin by serving people...because that’s what we do. 'God people', that is.