Having Time Alone..Craig Denison Ministries

 Having Time Alone

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

Why should we spend time alone with God? Why is meeting with God in the secret place so important? Until we gain an understanding of the immense value and availability of encountering God, we will never consistently engage in this foundational, vital practice. As we discover God’s heart to meet with us in order that we might experience the depths of his love, I pray that your life would be marked by a new grace to consistently and powerfully encounter the living God.

Scripture:“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” - Luke 5:16

Devotional:

Why is time alone with God so important? Why can't just going to church, a community group, or a Bible study be enough? Those of us who have grown up in church or havebeen going to church for many years have been told that time spent alone with God is vital to our relationship with him. Many of us, however, were never given a reason why. And in order for us to consistently and effectively engage in this crucial practice, we must understand why it is so important.

Here's what we learn from Scripture about having time alone with God. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that Jesus spent time alone with his heavenly Father. Luke 5:16 states, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Mark 1:35 states, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Often in Scripture, Jesus withdrew from the crowd to pray. So the first reason to spend time alone with God is because Jesus did. If Jesus needed time alone with his heavenly Father, we can all be sure we need it even more. Jesus walked in God's presence constantly. Jesus constantly responded to God's will for his life. He is our perfect example. And even still, he needed time alone with God.

We also see from Jesus' example that time alone with God empowers us to carry out God’s purpose for our life. It was after withdrawing into the wilderness in Luke 4 that he began performing miracles. Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane filled with grief and sorrow, asking God for a way other than his own death to achieve salvation for his people. After spending time alone with God, he came out of the garden empowered to endure the worst atrocity in history. Spending time alone with God empowers us to live a life filled with a knowledge of God’s purposes and the ability to faithfully see them through.

Lastly, Jesus is clear in Matthew 6:5-6 how we are to pray. Scripture says, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” God rewards time spent alone with him in prayer. It’s by praying in secret that we clearly and tangibly encounter God’s love for us. It’s by spending time engaging in conversation with the Spirit that we learn what his voice sounds like. It’s by asking God questions that we discover his will. And it’s by spending time alone with him that our lives become centered around his nearness and goodness.

All of the money in the world cannot buy the rewards God longs to give you. All the favor of men will not satisfy your insatiable desire to be fully known and fully loved. Receive right now the best gift you could be offered, one-on-one communion with your heavenly Father.

Guided Prayer:

1. Wherever you are, find a place to get alone and pray.Seek out a place that you can find solitude that will be uninterrupted.

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Mark 1:35

2. Read and pray through this Scripture.May God give you a revelation of his provision and love for you as you pray Jesus's model prayer.

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.” - Matthew 6:9-13

3. Engage in conversation with God. Ask him how he feels about you. Come before him with anything that is weighing you down and lay your burdens at his feet. Rest in the peace that comes from his presence.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

God’s desire to spend time alone with you is not meant to add stress or pressure to your life but to relieve you from it. He is not a God who is after you religiously checking off a quiet time box, but a good Father who longs to fill your life with his grace, power, and love. Spend some time today mulling over these important questions from Brennan Manning written in his book, The Furious Longing of God. May your day be marked by the love of your kind, good Father.

“Is your own personal prayer life characterized by the simplicity, childlike candor, boundless trust, and easy familiarity of a little one crawling up in Daddy’s lap? An assured knowing that the daddy doesn’t care if the child falls asleep, starts playing with toys, or even starts chatting with little friends, because the daddy knows the child has essentially chosen to be with him for that moment? Is that the spirit of your interior prayer life?”

Extended Reading: Matthew 6

False Heroes and Fake Idols..Rev. Kyle Norman

 False Heroes and Fake Idols

By Rev. Kyle Norman

“Why by spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy.” (Isaiah 55:2)

The other day I was shopping in our local discount store, the kind that specializes in trinkets not exceeding a few dollars. I found myself in the toy aisle looking at the various figurines and figures on display. As I spanned the selections, my eyes rested upon an action figure, a superhero. This muscle-bound superhero was dressed in a blue suit, with red boots and a red cape; a bright yellow “S” was displayed upon his chest. The packaging around this hero proudly heralded “Up, Up, and Away!”

You may think you have guessed the name of this superhero, but you would be wrong. The name given to this toy was “Super-Heroic Man!” Super-Heroic Man is distinctly not the beloved hero of comic-book fame – but he looks the part. He is the spitting image of the well-known superhero, but at the end of the day, Super-Heroic Man is nothing more than a cheap knockoff, a figure wrapped in fakery and façade. 

There is a big difference between what is real and what is fake. That which is real has intrinsic value for us. For example, we readily accept the difference between the value of gold and that of iron-pyrite, known aptly as “fools gold”. Similarly, salt water, while looking identical to the water of freshwater springs, will never quench our thirst. In fact, mistaking salt water for fresh water could be detrimental to our health. Whether it be in the realm of action figures, precious metals, or natural thirst-quenchers, the difference between that which is authentic and true, and that which is a lie, is significant. 

Why is it that we look for our spiritual comfort or healing in vain efforts or in human-bound work rather than the grace of God? Why do we find it so easy to turn to cheap knockoffs when it comes to our spiritual lives? Can false idols really satisfy? Do they ever free us from our sins or liberate us from the spiritual weights that we carry upon our shoulders?

This is the question that God asked the people of Israel as they struggled through the exile. Despite the many invitations given to them to turn to the Lord, to receive blessing and life, the people frequently chose to follow their own wishes. Instead of redemption given by the Lord, the people chose a façade of salvation brought about by false idols and fake gods. And time after time, God asks the most important of questions: “Why?” Why choose that which is insufficient? Why chase after that which offers no life and no freedom?

Intersecting Faith and Life.

When it comes to why people may turn to Fools Gold or Super-heroic Man, the answer appears relatively simple. People turn to these cheap imitations because they feel they cannot afford the real thing. The cheapness of the objects becomes part of their attractiveness. Why spend your money on an overpriced action figure when you can purchase one that looks the same at a reduced cost?

And while this makes sense when it comes to commercial products, it breaks down when we think about our spiritual lives. This is because the true life that God offers us costs us nothing. Our spiritual satisfaction is given to us out of the bestowal of grace. We need not earn it, merit it, or purchase it. And because it is free, no matter where we are or what we may be struggling with in life, we can be assured that the grace of God is offered to us; here, now.

When we invest our spiritual health in that which is fake, we ultimately pay a higher dividend. The inauthentic will never truly satisfy or nurture. Saltwater will never quench, and the not-bread will never satisfy. And while we may, at times, feel that we are moving into freedom and life, in the end, we will always find ourselves suffering from weights that we do not know how to handle. Liberation is never achieved, and all the baggage that we thought we were moving away from still lingers upon our weary souls. In the end, false idols and fake heroes offer no life, no healing, no redemption.

But God’s invitation to us is to enter true satisfaction, a satisfaction that comes from a life rooted in grace. God’s love is constant and unceasing, freely offered to us in Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life and life to the full” (John 10:10). 

True life, and authentic soul-deep satisfaction, await you. And while this invitation is free, without money or cost, it does demand a response. “Come”, the Lord says. Come all who are thirsty. Come all who feel empty and lost. Come all who feel completely raw before God. Come and receive. In fact, this grace-filled invitation closes the entire scriptures. Sitting on the throne of heaven, Jesus beckons us to come to him. In words echoing the prophet Isaiah, the Lord calls out: “Come all of you who are thirsty; let them come; and whoever wishes let them take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). 

The invitation is made. True satisfaction awaits. All we need to do is accept it.

A Prayer of Praise for Who God Is..Heidi Vegh

 A Prayer of Praise for Who God Is

By Heidi Vegh

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD”. – Psalm 160:6

As readers of the Bible, we often get caught in the mindset of reading the Bible to find ourselves. It is true that the Bible is full of the ways that God loves us, the beautiful ways that God created us, and how He longs to be invited into our lives. These are beautiful truths; however, if we are only trying to find ourselves in the Word and striving only to apply it to our lives, we are missing the biggest part of Scripture - Who God is.

When we read the Bible instead to find God, our eyes open to a whole new way of finding out who He is, why He did what He did, and why he does what He does. When we understand who God is and why He loves and cares for us so much, it gives it much more depth and penetrates our hearts at a deeper level. Not just “God help ME,” but “God, be who you ARE; that will help me.”

We often go looking in the Bible for ways that God can help us; that is what it is there for, YES. But there is so much more to it when we really seek it out. I often find myself flipping through the Psalms. This is my favorite book in the Bible as it is filled with prayers from people, real hurting and confused people seeking guidance and truth from God. We find prayers of praise, lament, and oftentimes confusion and anger about what is going on in the writer's life.

We find that over one-third of the prayers in Psalms are of lament or mourning. The writer is hurting and looking to God for comfort. But on the flip side, we find that in the entirety of the Bible, we see the phrase Praise God an astounding 6,892 times! God is worthy of our praise! The list of things that we suffer from seems endless. But let us remember that God IS endless. His capacity to care for us and love us is something we cannot comprehend.

Paul says in Ephesians 3:18, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is." When we list out our grievances to the Lord, we can rest assured that God’s character will have the perfect antidote for our suffering.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord,
We live in a fallen world full of suffering. We hear of tragedies taking place all over the world. We know there are people struggling to survive in indescribable hardship. I don’t understand why you allow for so much destruction, but I do trust that you are bigger than anything anyone will ever face in this world. Thank you, Jesus, that we have the hope of perfection in heaven and that this world is not all there is. 

Thank you, Lord, that for everything we suffer through in this life that you have a perfect attribute to cure us with simply being who you are. 

When I am weak, you are STRONG (2 Cor 12:10)

When my soul is hungry, you feed me. (Matthew 4:4)

When I am thirsty, you give me something to drink. (1 Cor 10:3-4)

When I turn from you, you remain FAITHFUL (2 Tim 2:13)

When I sin, you are GOOD (Psalm 34:8)

When I am worthy of punishment, you are MERCIFUL (Titus 3:5) 

When I am at the end of myself, you are OMNIPOTENT and INFINITE (Matthew 19:26) (Romans 11:33)

When I am undeserving, you are GRACIOUS (Psalm 145:8)

When I am hurting, you are my COMFORTER (Matthew 5:4)

When I am confused, you are my SOURCE OF TRUTH (John 3:33)

I praise you, Lord, for all your perfect attributes. You call me your child and beckon me to behold your glory. Help me to focus on who you ARE when I struggle. Help me to see you move in my circumstances even when I don’t understand but help me to trust you because you are SOVEREIGN (Col 1:17) over all things. 

Thank you, Lord, for your love for me, even when I fall short. There is nothing I can do to change that. Help me to live in these truths and remember to call on your name, praising who you are when I forget or when the world distracts me with lies. I know that you are with me; you promise in your Word. 

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” - Deuteronomy 31:8

Thank you, Jesus, Amen

Cultivating A Honeycomb of Gracious Words.. By Lynette Kittle

 Cultivating A Honeycomb of Gracious Words

By Lynette Kittle

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” -- Proverbs 16:24

What words are you putting out into the world? Are you choosing your words thoughtfully, taking every opportunity to encourage and uplift others? Are your words sweetening the lives of those who hear or read them?

Or, are you following the Social Media trend to speak your mind, set someone straight, or put another in his or her rightful place?

Maybe you try to be encouraging but others just push your buttons to the point where you feel like you have to say something or you’ll burst!

It’s so easy in heated moments of conflict to get caught up in the latest political, social, fashion, or celebrity debate and say things you’ll wish later you hadn’t said

So if you slipped up in your words a few times, you’re not alone.

James 3:2 describes how, “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”

Still, Scripture reminds that, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

Maybe you’ve been surprised by things you’ve heard or read by other Christians? Perhaps your own words at times have caught you off guard?

Proverbs 13:3 gives incentive for choosing to be careful with your words, describing the difference it can make in your life to do so, stating, “Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.”

If you struggle with speaking careless words, ask God to, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).

As well, Psalm 34:13 urges to “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.”

When you do, Proverbs 12:14 encourages that from the fruit of your lips you will be filled with good things.

Likewise, Proverbs 16:23 describes how, “The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction.”

Ask God to direct your speech so that your words are helping to build up the faith of those around you. As Colossians 3:16 urges, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

How to Maximize Your Kingdom Impact This Year PowerPoint Ministries..Dr. Jack Graham

 How to Maximize Your Kingdom Impact This Year

PowerPoint Ministries / Dr. Jack Graham

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.          

1 Corinthians 12:18-20

Several years ago, I got suckered into buying one of those pocket knives that has everything on it you could imagine. It has a can opener, about five different sized blades, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, and screwdriver heads. If there was something you could use a pocket knife for, this one claimed it could do the job.

But here was the problem: none of the tools on the knife worked very well. The blades were dull, the tweezers and toothpick fell out and got lost, and the screwdriver heads were so small that I couldn’t use them to turn a screw.

The tool was so versatile, but didn’t do anything well. And as I look at a lot of Christians today, they’re a lot like that knife. So many are multi-talented and well-rounded, but they rarely commit to doing one thing really well. They’re spread so thin that their impact is minimized.

As you step into a new year, put your focus on one thing you want to do well in the coming year. Resolve to make a deep impact in one place. Do what you do well, and you’ll make a tremendous difference for the Kingdom in the coming year!