Packing It Up

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Luke 12:34 NLT

A decade ago, when we evacuated for Ike, we had no idea what, if anything, we would come back to. The one common thread was pictures. Family pictures. Baby pictures. Pictures of parents or loved ones who'd already gone on to eternity. Too little space, not enough time, a life's span of goods. What do you take? Hurricanes usually provide some advance notice. Last year, Harvey took us by surprise even though we knew it was coming close.

What about those who get no advance warning? All is lost.

Jesus is coming. God has given us fair warning. We have time to plan. We have time to prepare. We have time to be ready...but not a lot of time is left...

The time of the Son of Man will be just like the time of Noah— everyone carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ship. They suspected nothing until the flood hit and swept everything away. It was the same in the time of Lot—the people carrying on, having a good time, business as usual right up to the day Lot walked out of Sodom and a firestorm swept down and burned everything to a crisp. That's how it will be—sudden, total—when the Son of Man is revealed. When the Day arrives and you're out working in the yard, don't run into the house to get anything. And if you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot's wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.
Luke 17:26-33 The Message

We're packing it up. We're getting ready to leave. Are you ready?

Prayer:

Father,
Adjust our eyes from the darkness of this world to see and seek Your light. Cause our hearts to store up only what is important in heaven where it cannot be destroyed. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Catch My Drift

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:5-8 NKJV

How do I get from one place to another? Obviously, I have to know where I want to go. If I want to go from Texas to Missouri, I have to decide what course I will take. What will be my mode of travel? How much time - how much money to buy gas or to pay for a ticket - how much food- all that will help to determine what course I take.  I have to plan and prepare all those things.

 

Praying in faith - without doubting - is a planned course of action. Faith is not action-less. Contrary to what some folks think, it is not living in la-la land, refusing to acknowledge what's going on around us. If we have faith, we are following a plan. We're following our course. We're not moved by what we see or hear. We are focused on following the plan. We've filed our intent with the powers that be to follow the course laid out by the God of heaven; the course that WILL get us to our destination.

 

Have you paid attention lately to the tenor of your prayers?  No, not tenor like Pavarotti or Domingo, but tenor meaning the settled or prevailing or habitual course of a person's life. I believe in spontaneous prayer and/or praise, but I also think there needs to be intentional prayer and/or praise. We can NOT count worried thoughts thrown somewhere in the general direction toward heaven as prayer any more than we can throw our boots in the oven and bake and expect a biscuit when the timer goes off. We're talking about intentional. Settled. Prevailing. Habitual. The course of a person's prayer life. Planned.

 

If I ask God for wisdom to live my life, and I am not intentional about believing He will give it to me, according to His Word (THE Plan), then I would be drifting like a wave of the sea. 

Merriam-Webster defines adrift as:  

1 : without motive power and without anchor or mooring <a boat adrift on the sea>  

2 : without ties, guidance, or security <people morally adrift>  

3 : free from restraint or support.  

And just like it is dangerous to be adrift on the sea - powerless and without an anchor - it is infinitely more dangerous to be adrift in the sea of life. 

Although not being restrained may seem like a good thing to lots of people, no support is a bad thing (there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death...Proverbs 14:12). Without God's motivating power, without the Cross as our anchor or mooring, without the ties, guidance, or security of our relationship with Christ, His Word, His people, we are unstable in all our ways. 

How do we build relationship with Christ? We talk to Him. We get to know Him. We learn about things He's done. Things He's going to do. (Prayer, praise and pursuit).

 

So, do we just want to drift along or do you want to plan your course?

 

Prayer:

 

Father,

          According to Your Word in Psalm 141:4, Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.  I need Your wisdom to plot my course in life and to follow Your plan. Let everything I do and everything I say be intentionally faithful to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Planning for the Future

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
1st Peter 1:3-5 The Message

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!

A Future in God
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. 1st Peter 1:6-21 The Message.

Prayer:

Father,

          We pray Your Word from Psalm 31. We come to You, Lord, for protection; never let us be defeated. You are a righteous God; save us, we pray! Hear us! Save us now! Be our refuge to protect us; our defense to save us. You are our refuge and defense; guide us and lead us as You have promised. Keep us safe from the trap that has been set for us; shelter us from danger. We place ourselves in Your care. You will save us, Lord; You are a faithful God. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen