KathLF

It's about God
2018-02-27 07:00:40 (UTC)

Lent Day 8

What a beautiful morning! We have a cold front coming in or rather, passing over and as I drove to morning prayer I looked up at the sky. The dark rain clouds were separated by golden rays of sunshine and in between this incredible view a rainbow shone bright. It reminded me of God’s promise to Noah after the flood. He told Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with water and that the rainbow is a symbol of His promise to care for Noah and His children here on earth. It’s a promise of His love.


I received the following scriptures to guide me through my day;
Nehemia 2:4 So I prayed to the God of heaven
Revelations 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow or anguish, crying or pain; for the former order of things has passed away.

How fitting then the rainbow God gave me this morning.

When I pray to Him He restores me, He gives me hope and He assures me that He will be with me to protect me and to guide me. Just as with Noah, God gives in Revelations a prophecy (promise) of restoration and mercy. A promise that the things I now must endure in the flesh will soon pass. This horrible condition of sin will soon have no relevance and the battle between good and evil will too end in favor of those who trust and love God.

I can look at a situation where I or a loved one is suffering, and I can pray to God and He will give me hope that whatever it is that we are facing, however terrible and unjust, soon it will be over and accounted for. Soon my Father will wipe away our tears and we will no longer be subjected to a fallen and wicked world. Until then, these circumstances and the things the enemy uses against us like sickness, death, famine, violence etc. will serve the purpose of bringing me closer to Jesus by strengthening my faith in Him. God doesn’t bring suffering to us, yet He will strengthen us and equip us to deal with the things that happen in this life.

I am now beginning to understand the true meaning of staying in Christ as John 15:7 says;
John 15:7 If you remain in Me and My Words remain in you; that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

I want to point out the following, the words vitally united refers to a deep and conscious understanding of Who Jesus is, what His heart is, how He thinks and what His character is. Understanding Jesus in this intimate way will enable us to know what to pray and why. This will keep us from praying for things that are opposing His will and the message of His salvation and love. Many people, including myself, have been praying without understanding Who Jesus is. This kind of prayer life causes great affliction because I didn’t realize that my prayers were superficial and worldly. I couldn’t understand why God would invite me to ask Him anything only to ignore my requests…that’s until I started to understand Who Jesus was. Jesus is not a get rich quick scheme, or a get out of jail free card, or some genie in a magic lamp that grants you unlimited selfish wishes. It wasn’t about me at all. It’s about Him!

A great example of this was my longing to become a mother. I prayed day and night, begging God for a baby. Doing everything in my power to get pregnant. I was miserable. I couldn’t understand why God hasn’t answered my prayers, why He was silent on the matter (when in fact, He was very vocal about it if I had just bothered to listen to Him). Then, as my insight into His heart deepened and my understanding of His divinity grew I was able to start to recognize and hear His voice. The simple fact of the matter was that I simply wasn’t ready. It wasn’t yet the season to become a mother. I was wasting valuable time in getting to know God by trying to control the situation and God. I was wasting magical and god-inspired moments with my husband which in turn would strengthen our bond so that God could bless our marriage so that our children will have a healthy and loving environment to grow up in. I was missing so much of the little and very important details God was showering over my life – all because I didn’t know Him. I wasn’t remaining in Him. Praise God that changed and not a moment too soon! I stopped all that I was doing. I don’t bother with ‘trying’ to be a mom anymore. Instead, I truly praise God for His divine wisdom and I am so very grateful that He didn’t allow me to become a mom when I had begged Him to because I am not ready! My marriage isn’t ready. My husband isn’t ready. I was too blind then to see it, but God did. Now I spend time on tending to my marriage, to my relationship with Jesus and to deepen my understanding and insight into Who He is. Also, I don’t serve or love God for what He gives or can give me, no. I love and serve Him because of Who He is. So, if I should never become a mother or if I have nothing in this world to show in terms of fleshly success it will not change my love, need and appreciation for Him. Nothing can change it. Because nothing can separate me from the love of God. I love Him not for what He does for me but for Who He is and for who I am when I am with Him. Unconditionally.

Proverbs 2:3 Yes, if you cry out for insight and you lift your voice to understanding;

Cry out – this is a deep, urgent and highly emotional plea with God not for a baby or for anything I might think I need; but to really have insight into His heart and His character. To have an acute awareness of His plans for me, the discernment to know that He is working all things for my own good and especially for the good of others (you see, we aren’t blessed with a healthy marriage because God’s sole focus is my happiness, no, He blesses us because my children – God loving and fearing children – need an environment that is safe and loving. He doesn’t bless me with financial security and wealth because He wants me to have a Prada handbag, no, He gives me more than I need or deserve so that those He sends my way will have food, clothing, medical care, a safe place to rest and most of all my time to nurture, strengthen, pray for and love them. God blesses us FOR OTHERS.)

Insight – this is the capacity to gain accurate and deep understanding for someone (God) or something (circumstance).
I cry out to God, desperate for a deeper, more meaningful and intimate relationship with Him because I want insight into His heart, His mind, His plans and how I can best serve Him. I am no longer interested in worldly things and I do not care for my fleshly wants and needs because I realize that I cannot trust them. I was created for His purpose and for His pleasure, to serve Him and to love Him – and therefore, before Him, I was never happy. I was searching the world for what I found in Him. The world could never provide what I needed or really wanted, that’s why the loneliest people in the world are often those who look as if they have all their hearts desires…I’ll tell you what my heart’s desire is. I was born with it and it is an integral part of my identity - to be loved and to love in return without fear or restraint. I wanted real unconditional love, the kind you can lose yourself in. The world tries to sell it, but it has no stock of the real thing. You can only get it from one place and one place alone – Jesus Christ.

Lift up your voice – worshiping and giving thanks to God! When Jesus gave His life on the cross the veil was lifted. The veil separated me from my Father. In the old testament times, we as human beings because of our sin and inequities were not allowed to enter before God because He is Holy. The priests (which were selected by bloodlines) of that time had to purify themselves with animal offerings before one would be allowed to enter before God. They would tie a rope around his waist in case he was found unworthy – because should that happen, he would immediately die when in God’s presence. Then they would pull him from the throne room and send another to atone for our sins with God. The role of the priest was to stand before God and plead for His forgiveness for the sins of the people for the past year. Then, he would bring an offering to God to ask God to be merciful for the year to come. This ritual was done year in and year out because there was no one else who could do it on our behalf. Just like with Job, there was no one who was worthy enough to stand between us and God, who would be able to testify on our behalf and atone for our sins. That’s where Jesus came in. Long before the prophets wrote about it or even long before such a revelation came into the mind and heart of a man, God knew that He would send His Only Begotten Son to be the perfect sacrifice (blood sacrifice) to save us and restore friendship with Him. It is because of Christ’s work on the cross that I now can lift my voice and sing praises to God – because it is the cross that enables me to seek God, to have communion with Him, to have friendship with Him, to speak with Him and experience when He answers me back. It is because of Jesus that I can know the heart of my Father, His mind and His plans for my life and the lives of those He blesses me with.

And to think…. this all started with a rainbow. How blessed I am through Jesus Christ and how privileged I am to have the Holy Spirit that I might have God with me every second of this wonderful day.




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