February 3, 2012

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10

I was walking Tyrod early this morning and I watched as the light from the rising sun slowly overcame the darkness leftover from the night. The walk that began in darkness was completed in dawn. And, this evening as Barbara and I are heading out for our date we will observe the process in reverse as the setting sun gives way to darkness.

God gives us dramatic daily reminders that the battle between darkness and light is relentless. So it is in the spiritual realm, darkness never rests in its assaults on the light. I have shared a couple of contemporary examples of how the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light is raging around us.

What can you do? How can you push back the darkness and see the light prevail?

This moral and spiritual battle between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness is waged in your heart and mind every day – sometimes hourly and often moment-by-moment. It must be won there!

Could this be why when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He instructed them to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done”?

That prayer is a declaration of war against the darkness that relentlessly attacks you daily. It is a declaration of surrender to the presence and power of God. It is an acknowledgement that He is King and you are not! It is a recognition that you are unable to defeat your inner darkness without His might and His light.

Praying “Your Kingdom come” is not a rote or ritualistic petition, it is a continual cry of the heart in the midst of your daily routines. Moral and spiritual darkness is relentless in its attacks against you and you must go on the offense against it! Fight in the light!

In this very same Sermon on the Mount, Christ has already challenged His hearers to be the “light of the world” and “let your light so shine that men will see your goodness and glorify your Father in heaven”. You are to be a lighthouse in a dark world.

God’s plan to overcome the darkness in this world is to snuff out the evil and darkness within you and me. The Son must rise in us! His kingdom must be received in us and His will must be accomplished by us!

If you don’t exercise your will toward God, the prince of darkness will use it against you! A kingdom will rise within you today, you decide which one.

February 2, 2012

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:10

I have recently made a decision that I will join the Catholics.

Why?

The Catholics have taken a strong, courageous and principled stand for the Kingdom of God against the powers that seem to be opposing God’s Kingdom.

Let me aske you, “What do you think the liberal media’s reaction would be if the Bush administration would have created a law that all Muslims were forced to eat bacon, egg & cheese sandwiches daily?” Obviously not very well – so why hasn’t anyone made a peep about the Obama administrations blatant attack on Christianity, specifically Catholics, where institutions would be mandated to cover things that blatantly violated their beliefs? Catholic priests all across the USA were asked to share a position statement with their parishes during last week-end’s masses.

What did the letter say?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just been dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers,including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

I share this letter to illustrate how the kingdom of darkness and evil is coming to confront, challenge and hopefull, conquer the Kingdom of God. There is no way the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could have legally or conscientiously prayed, “Your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” and then issued some of these health-care mandates and edicts they have been attempting to implement into law.

The Catholics are to be commended for their courage to stand for their Biblical convictions and to confront the US Government to challenge it’s discriminatory laws. I suggest we Wesleyans join them on this one. I say we too should let out position be made clear, we will not bow down to any Kingdom that sets itself in opposition to the Kingdom of God!

Heavely Father, have mercy on our land. Find favor with your people who are doing their best to allow your Kingdom to come and His will be done through them.

February 1, 2012

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:


Here is a deeply troubling article published Friday. It is a joint finding from the National Institute of Health and the Bioethics Department of Duke University.

As you read it think how incompatible it is with the verse of the Lord’s Prayer written above. Would this article have been written this way if the writers took seriously the teaching of Jesus on how to pray and how to think about God? Do you think this question would have been asked if these people were seeking God’s kingdom and His will!

There IS a kingdom coming and someone’s will is going to be imposed, but who’s kingdom and who’s will?

Is it morally wrong to take a life? Not really, say bioethicists by Michael Cook

 

Is it morally wrong to kill people? Not really, argue two eminent American bioethicists in an early online article in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, of Duke University, and Franklin G. Miller, of the National Institutes of Health believe that “killing by itself is not morally wrong, although it is still morally wrong to cause total disability”.

Ultimately their aim is to justify organ donation after cardiac death (DCD). This is a state in which a patient is neurologically damaged and cannot function without a respirator. Within minutes of withdrawing this, the organs are removed. However, the authors state frankly that the patient is not dead at that point because it is possible that the patient’s heart could start beating again. (Other bio-ethicists disagree, vehemently.)

“[T]he criterion of irreversibility has not been satisfied; hence, these patients are not known to be dead at the time of organ procurement.”

In view of well-publicized organ shortages, transplant surgeons are eager to increase the number of available organs. DCD is an important avenue. However, a nagging suspicion that these patients might not be dead is still a substantial stumbling block because the medical profession insists that donors must always be dead. But Sinnott-Armstrong and Miller have an solution:

“[T]he dead donor rule is routinely violated in the contemporary practice of vital organ donation. Consistency with traditional medical ethics would entail that this kind of vital organ donation must cease immediately. This outcome would, however, be extremely harmful and unreasonable from an ethical point of view [because patients who could be saved will die]. Luckily, it is easily obviated by abandoning the norm against killing.”

This radical conclusion may shock some readers, but the authors are not murderers. They want to bring greater precision to what we mean by killing. Rendering someone totally and permanently incapacitated is just as bad as taking a life, or so they contend. Killing totally disabled patients does them no harm.

“Then killing her cannot disrespect her autonomy, because she has no autonomy left. It also cannot be unfair to kill her if it does her no harm.” Nor, they say, is life “sacred”. The only relevant difference between life and death is the existence of abilities – and a brain-damaged person no longer has these.

“[I]f killing were wrong just because it is causing death or the loss of life, then the same principle would apply with the same strength to pulling weeds out of a garden. If it is not immoral to weed a garden, then life as such cannot really be sacred, and killing as such cannot be morally wrong.”

It really makes a difference who’s kingdom come and who’s will gets done in this world!

I want God’s kingdom to come in me! How about you? I want God’s will to be done in me! How about you?

January 31, 2012

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
There is no spiritual Switzerland.

What?

Switzerland is a neutral country, according to Wikipedia - The Swiss Confederation has a long history of neutrality — it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world.

Switzerland made a decision to sit out all regional or international conflicts by not making alliances with warring nations. Other nations have honored Switzerland’s policy of neutrality and not invaded them. They do have a military but has only deployed their forces when they perceived threats of invasion from neighboring nations.

There is however, no spiritual neutrality. Contrary to what some seem to believe, you are either in the kingdom of evil or the kingdom of God.

To which kingdom do you belong?

It depends on who you have chosen as your king! Everyone serves a king! Either you serve God or you serve the evil one who is the ruler of this world. And, unless you have renounced evil, repented of your sins, turned from sin, and began to love and obey God you are not of His kingdom.

The significance of Christ’s death on the cross was to provide you and me with the choice of which king we would serve. His death and resurrection made it possible break free from the kingdom of darkness and have power to step into God’s Kingdom.

You have the power to let His kingdom come to you or you can oppose His kingdom by stubbornly refusing to surrender to His will.

Switzerland is great for chocolate and cheese and yodeling but you can’t go there spiritually. Don’t even try!

January 30 2012

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and when you ask Jesus a question you will always get more that you asked for. After all, He IS the Answer!

Jesus did not just give them a prayer but He gave them a pattern for HOW to pray and a paradigm for how to think about God!

Yesterday I spoke about verse nine that I summarized as God desiring to make your life a living prayer that glorifies Him.

This week I invite you examine verse 10 with me and I believe that once again you will discover He has given us a lot to think about.

At first glance you notice that God has a kingdom. Why is that important? For a couple of reasons:

1)       To have a kingdom He must be the King – He is!

A King is sovereign. He isn’t elected or appointed. All authority rests in Him. He answers to no one.

2)       Since He IS the King He has a kingdom not a democracy.

In God’s kingdom you don’t vote on the rules. He makes all the rules because He is the Ruler. You either obey His laws or you break them. If you break them you will discover God is also the judge and jury and jailor!

3)       His Kingdom WILL come!

God’s earthly kingdom was wrestled away from Adam when he disobeyed God in the Garden. Therefore, Satan became the ruler of this world. But His rule is limited.

Jesus came to defeat Satan and win back the kingdom on earth by His death and resurrection. Once Jesus had come back to life and gone back to His Father He ushered in God’s Kingdom on earth through His people the Church.

God’s kingdom comes through you and through me as we make Him the King of our lives.

How do we make Him King of our lives? By serving Him. By Obeying Him. By surrendering your heart and your will to His and proclaiming Him as King of your life His kingdom comes to you. By helping to promote righteousness and to defeat evil on earth you bring His kingdom.

God is the King.

God has a kingdom.

That kingdom WILL come and no one or nothing can stop it.

Is He your King? Have you allowed His kingdom come to your heart?

January 29, 2012

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Matthew 6:9-13

Several months ago a friend asked me a sincere question that went something like this, "What is the purpose of prayer if God already knows how it will turn out?"

I don't come as an expert on prayer. I can't tell you why sometimes you pray once or twice and get an answer and other times you may pray for months or years without seeing an answer. But, I can point you to One Who IS an expert on prayer and share some truths for the prayer He taught us to pray.

What are those four purposes for praying?

You should pray to worship - “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name......"

You should pray to know His will - “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven......"

You should pray for your wants - "Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors......"

You should pray for spiritual warfare - "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

As I study the Prayer I see three goals for prayer: to know God, to grow in God and to show God through living a holy life.

Let me ask you this, "Which of those is not important to your spiritual life? Which one of those can you afford to not pray for?" Because if none of these are significant to you then you don't have to be concerned about prayer.

However, if those things are important to your spiritual relationship and growth, prayer is priority one! Jesus cares about prayer! God cares about prayer! Maybe you and I should – and one BIG reason is that prayer is WORSHIP!

HOW CAN PRAYER BE WORSHIP?

I.                    Worship Involves the Person of God – “Our Father” – (So does prayer)

Just like the Sermon on the Mount is a whole new way of thinking about faith, the Lord’s Prayer is a whole new way of thinking about God!

God is a God Who is anxious to know and be known by you. Like a Father, He delights in giving good things to His children! (Vv. 6-8)

Did you ever know someone who seemed stern all the time and you wondered if they even like you? For a long time you were afraid of them but when you finally got to know them personally you were surprise to discover that you like them and they liked you as well.

If you relate to that then you understand the impact this had on those hearers Jesus is speaking to. Practically all of the NT writers made this a point of emphasis in their writings:

PAUL – Romans 8:14-17

LUKE – Luke 11:11-13

JOHN – John 10

The idea of a personal God was revolutionary in that day, especially to the religious leaders.

The idea that a personal God who desired to be in relationship was a stretch. The God they imagined was distant and fearsome. Jews couldn't even mention the name of God and when the scribes wrote it they had to pause and was their hands before they wrote it.

But the idea that a personal God who presented Himself as a father was unheard of!

So, with this new way of understanding God and identifying prayer as the means of communicating with Amazing Person framed prayer in a whole new way for them!

BIG THOUGHT: Worship Helps You Get To Know A Personal God – So Does Prayer!

II.                  Worship Involves the Presence of God – “in Heaven” – (So does prayer)

While we were on vacation we stayed with some very good friends. We feel very much at home every time we are at their home. They love us so much and are some gracious and generous toward us that whenever we spend time in their presence we leave feeling rested and refreshed.

I believe that is an example of how it should be in the presence of God.

We were designed to live in the presence of God!

We are destined to live in the presence of God!

What should we be doing in the meantime?

(READ JOHN 15)

There is LIFE in the presence of God, Vv. 1-8

There is LOVE in the presence of God, Vv. 9-10

There is LIBERTY in the presence of God, Vv. 11-15

How can you abide with God except for prayer?

With that in mind, listen to this verse – “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”  I Thessalonians 5:16-18

 "Abiding” means staying connected to the vine……..

If you are not connected to Christ you live a “disconnected” life.

BIG THOUGHT: Worship Is Growing In the Presence Of God – Prayer Makes It Possible.

Why Should I Care About Prayer”

Prayer helps you know God as your Father

Prayer helps you grow in God’s presence   AND,

Prayer helps you show God’s praise

III.                Worship Involves the Praise of God – “hallowed be your name” – (So does prayer)

“hallowed” = holy, sanctify, consecrate

“Name” = totality of God’s character

The Prayer = “may Your Name be honored through my holy living”

^“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  ROMANS 12:1-2

When I thought about an example of someone I could point to as an example of a person who reflects the presence of God in a way that brings God praise, I think of Tim Tebow. All through his very successful college football career and now as a pro quarterback Tim has maintained a strong and shameless personal faith in Jesus Christ.

You and I must be mindful that we are walking commercials for the most important "product" in the universe - the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So God expects us to live and walk in a way consistent with His holiness!

“If you were arrested under suspicion of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

Why Should I Care About Prayer?

Prayer helps you know God as your Father

Prayer helps you grow in God’s presence   AND,

Prayer will help you show God’s praise.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Why Should You Care About Prayer?

Prayer Is Worship!

It Helps You Know The Person of God

It Helps You Grow In The Presence of God

It Helps You Show The Praise of God

Here’s how I want to wrap this up this morning. I want to you to remember the most powerful worship experience you have ever enjoyed – go back there in your memory – go back there emotionally….....are you there yet?

Are you reliving how it felt?

Can you remember how peaceful that felt?

Worship Seemed Easy Didn’t It?

Prayer Seemed Natural Didn’t It?

God’s Presence Was So Real That Time Didn’t Matter

Would You Like To Have More Moments Like That?

Understand The Relationship Between Prayer & Worship And Embrace It!

January 28, 2012

Everyone knows prayer is part of a worship service. It opens with a prayer and usually has a pastoral prayer near the middle followed by a commitment prayer at the end on the message and a closing prayer or benediction to end the service.

I am not sure nearly as many would realize that prayer IS actually worship.

Why do I say that?

Think about this:

Worship involves the Person of God – BUT, so does prayer – “Our Father”

Worship involves the presence of God – BUT, so does prayer! – “in heaven”

Worship involves the praise of God – BUT, so does prayer! – “hallowed be your Name”

The last post considered prayer as connecting with the Person of God and how that can transform you because you are connecting with a powerful, loving, and supernatural Heavenly Father.

Today I want you to think about prayer as a vehicle for bringing you into the very presence of God.

We were designed to live in the presence of God! Just like Adam was.

We are destined to live in the presence of God! Just like Adam did.

What should we be doing in the meantime?

(READ JOHN 15)

There is LIFE in the presence of God, Vv. 1-8

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will^] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

A vine draws its life from being attached to the vine. The vine has not life of its own. What a clear illustration of why you MUST live in the presence of your Heavenly Father. He is your vine. You live through HIS life and by His life in you there is fruit produced.

There is LOVE in the presence of God, Vv. 9-10

 ⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

There is LIBERTY in the presence of God, Vv. 11-15

 ¹¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you”

Living in relationship with a Heavenly Father brings powerful results! Connecting with Him by faith and remaining connected through prayer and worship pumps spiritual life from His heart to yours!

How can you abide with God except for prayer? With that in mind, listen to this verse – “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”  I Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Abiding” means staying connected to the vine – through prayer and worship.

Worship Is Knowing the Person of God – Prayer Makes It Possible.

Worship Is Growing In the Presence Of God – Prayer Makes It Possible.

Are you abiding in Him?