A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is drawing Muslims around the world to faith in Jesus Christ

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Dr. David Garrison’s long-awaited global survey of Muslim movements to Christ reveals that we are in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history. Garrison’s core question: “What did God use to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ? Tell me your story.” The result is the most extensive survey of Muslim movements to Christ ever achieved. This is a fabulous book, extremely insightful. I strongly recommend it!

Ethiopian Beef Tibs

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Ethiopian Beef Tibs

My favorite meal in Ethiopia was these fabulous and yummy beef tibs! The sauce in this wonderful dish gets its kick from berbere, an Ethiopian chili powder fragrant with cardamom, fenugreek, and clove. Use it once and you’ll quickly see why much of Ethiopian cuisine is built upon it.

Cook: 45 minutes

Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

1-   

Melt niter kibbeh(see recipe below) in a heavy saucepan on medium heat, then add onions, ginger, garlic, and berbere. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are dark, ruddy, and golden, about 30 minutes. Onions should be at a low sizzle during cooking process. Adjust heat accordingly. Transfer to food processor and blend until not quite a purée. Return to saucepan, season to taste with salt, and keep warm.

2-   Season beef on all sides generously with kosher salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet over high heat high until lightly smoking. Add beef in a single layer, leaving plenty of open space in the pan (brown in batches if you don’t have a large enough skillet). Cook without moving until well-seared on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip meat cubes with tongs and cook on second side until well seared. Continue to cook meat, stirring and flipping occasionally until desired level of doneness is reached. For rare meat, transfer to saucepan immediately. For medium, cook an additional one to two minutes before transferring to saucepan. For well done, cook up to five more minutes before transferring to saucepan.

3-   

Toss beef with warm sauce, stir in lemon juice, and serve.

Niter kibbeh is a spice blend always at the peak of freshness since you lock the flavors into clarified butter. There are as many recipes for niter kibbeh as there are Ethiopian cooks; this ingredient list is just what I’ve found most satisfying and well-balanced. The coriander and bay leaves aren’t strictly traditional, but they help unite this diverse array of spices into a satisfying whole.

Recipe for Niter Kibbeh:

 Ingredients:

1 pound of unsalted butter

1 small onion, minced

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

2 inches of ginger, peeled and sliced thin

2 3-inch sticks of cinnamon, or 1 teaspoon ground

8 crushed cardamom pods, or 1/2 teaspoon ground

1 teaspoon of fenugreek, whole or ground

1 teaspoon of coriander, whole or ground

2 cloves, or 1/8 teaspoon ground

2 bay leaves

Procedures:

1-   

In a saucepan, slowly melt the butter on low heat. Meanwhile, toast the spices. If grinding, toast beforehand.

2-   Add all the spices to the butter, and reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Keep an eye on the pot every few minutes to make sure it’s not boiling as the water evaporates. The milk solids will rise to the surface of the pot as the water cooks out.

3-   

Let the butter simmer, with just a few bubbles popping through, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Like a good stock, longer cooking is better, but it needs to be gentle so the milk solids don’t burn. If they do, the niter kibbeh will be irreparably bitter.

4-   When the solids have turned a pleasant brown and plenty of time has past, line a mesh strainer with a cheesecloth or paper towel and place it over a small storage container. Strain the butter well, making sure there are no milk solids or spices in the final product. Your niter kibbeh will last for months in the refrigerator. The larger a batch you make, the less butter you’ll lose to straining.

Cut Through the Noise

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So you say to yourself, “Here I am again enduring the daily grind.” If you’re like most of us, you have stressful concerns that don’t seem all that important when you are healthy with the Lord, but when you’re wrapped up in them, they seem to be the most important things in the world. Your perspective alters and you feel yourself getting sucked into worrying about those Matthew 6:33 things. Rather quickly, you’re no longer thinking about those current or future plans that God has designed for you to complete. Distraction is shifting your focus.

So now what do you do to stay on track and to not get distracted? How can you keep or develop a missional focus?

First of all, read through these revolutionary texts from Jesus in Matthew 10:34-39.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (ESV)

It’s easy to get bogged down in the anxieties and stresses of daily life, but it’s also amazing how easily all of that noise clears up when you set your focus on Jesus’ words. “Whoever finds his life will lose it.”

I’m on home assignment right now preparing for an upcoming mission to Ethiopia and Kenya. There have been many distractions the last two weeks that have affected my normal schedule. My lack of consistent schedule is not only causing me less time for writing, but also less time in the Word. It is so evident that the cares of this world have a stronger effect on me when my time with the Lord and his concerns are cut down.

I’m very seldom affected by the lust for material wealth, but, lately, caught up in the rush of this world, not having a consistent schedule, having less time in the Word, etc, I became much more vulnerable to the things around me. Recently being plopped in the life of a friend whose retirement life seemed to be much more desirable than my busy life, I have to admit I felt tempted. For a moment I thought that it would be so easy to shrug off this rigorous mission life and to move into a pleasurable retirement life. As that thought passed through my mind, I knew immediately, that I would soon long to be on the missions tract once again. Surprisingly, in spite of that realization, my emotions were still screaming, ” A leisurely life would be so appealing.”  The temptations of life clamor in our ears. They are ever present and oh so NOISY!

In a comfortable retirement life I would surely be able to find and enjoy all that life has to offer: Travel, peace, perpetual vacation, and great living conditions in sunny California. Following that deceptive thought, a familiar scripture floated through my mind. I seemed to hear Jesus’ voice saying, “those who find their life will lose it,  but those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

It is in vulnerable moments like these that we need to take out our Bibles and read and meditate on those powerful and demanding words of Jesus in Matthew 10:39. Allow those words to cut through all the noise in our lives and cancel out anything that’s not from our Lord. He is our shepherd, and we need to yield and listen to his voice alone. Temptations will come but they need not overcome us.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it.”

I believe Jesus spoke to my spirit as I read that passage and it was as if he started to question me, “Do you love your family more than me?” Do you refuse to take the trials that come when you follow me? Will you try to find your life on your own or will you give it up to me?”

“Whoever finds his life will lose it.”

Oh, how my heart ponders and rests on those words ….for it’s then and only then that my heart breaks, I lose my life, I find my life, and I am made truly alive through Him!

 

Blood Moon Rising

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“I will set wonders in the heavens and the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke; the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of God” (Joel 3:3).

The result of a total lunar eclipse is that the moon will appear reddish-orange in color, a phenomenon known as “Blood Moon.” The intriguing color is the result of the moon passing through the earth’s shadow. In fact, this Saturday’s blood moon is merely the third of four blood moons within a year: April 15, 2014; October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015. This close interval frequency is a very rare event. In fact, before the 20th century, there was a 300-year period when there were no such eclipses. In the words of NASA, “getting four umbral eclipses in a row is like drawing a rare lunar poker hand of four of a kind.”Although single blood moons happen fairly regularly, four appearing so closely together is extremely rare. There have only been a series of blood moons a handful of times over the past 500 years.

What does the Torah(first five books of Hebrew scripture)and Jewish tradition have to say about blood moons? Well, for starters, the first eclipse of the four appeared on April 15,2014 on the Jewish holiday of Passover, a pivotal event that commemorates the ancient Israelites’ Exodus from slavery in Egypt. As those familiar with the book of Exodus know, God unleashed ten plagues upon the Egyptians when they refused to follow God’s command to free the Jewish people.

The first plague was “blood”. The 10th and final plague was Death of the Firstborn (at which time the Egyptians literally kicked the Jews out of Egypt). Death is always associated with blood. Not only that, but the Israelites were commanded by God to paint lamb’s blood on their doorways so that the plague of the Firstborn would pass over their homes. As you can see, there was much reference to blood in this passage.

Remarkably, all four Blood Moons coincide with major Jewish Holidays
The first blood moon occured on Passover 2014, followed by the holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)2014, then again on Passover 2015 and then again on Sukkot 2015.

Curiously major events of significance to the Jewish people happened on each of the last three recorded times that these rare blood moons occurred. They were events that changed the course and direction of Jewish history for all time. A blood moon coincided with the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem; Jews were able to return to Jerusalem after 2000 years of Exile. Sadly, Jewish blood was spilled during this war.There was also a blood moon on the eve of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, following a bloody war that took place only a few years after the Holocaust, when six million Jews were destroyed.

Is the Blood Moon a Sign from Heaven?
Believers around the world of diverse faiths are attributing the blood moon phenomenon to the teaching of the prophet Joel, who had preached:

“I will set wonders in the heavens and the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke; the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of God” (Joel 3:3).

Inspired by the concluding words of Joel, some are suggesting that the blood moons are a sign from God that we are one step closer to the coming of the Messiah.

Is something wild or miraculous going to happen during the course of the upcoming series of blood moons?  Perhaps the words of the Talmud(Jewish civil and ceremonial law) can give us some insight on how we should relate to all possibilities and speculations:

“When the Jews perform the will of God, they need not worry about omens [or celestial phenomenon]. Thus says the Lord ‘Do not be frightened by the signs of the heavens.’” (Talmud Sukkah 29a)

Believers look forward to times like this. Jesus said there would be signs to alert His coming. No one can say with any degree of certainty when Jesus is coming again, because He said clearly that even the angels in heaven do not know that day (see Mark 13:32). No man knows that day, and the Son of God, when He was on the earth, did not know either. This knowledge, the Lord Jesus said, was strictly reserved for the Father. However, we are getting closer to the moment when we will be gathered together with our Savior. If you are a believer, it is time to work even more vigorously for the Father’s glory. If you are not a believer, it is time to trust Christ as your Savior. We receive new life by faith… believing that Jesus died for our sins, that His death was in our place, and that His payment for sin is fully acceptable in God’s sight. …Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved… (Acts 16:31).

In Jesus’ Name…Amen

Where and when to view the April 4th 2015 eclipse:

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2015-april-4

 

 

 

 

The Race You Never Win

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“No matter how fast you run, you won’t escape. No matter how strong you are, you will lose your strength.” Amos 2:14

Running away is a race you never win. Running from our problems has, unfortunately, become more and more commonplace in our society. Tenets run out on renters, a spouse runs out on their family, and debtors run out on their creditors. People seem to be running in all directions; running from their fears, from other people, from their responsibilities and running from God.

Jonah tried to run away too. The book of Jonah  opens with God speaking to Jonah, commanding him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Jonah found this order unbearable. Not only was Nineveh known for its wickedness, but it was also the capital of the Assyrian people, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. Jonah, a stubborn fellow, did just the opposite of what he was told. He ran to the seaport of Joppa and booked passage on a ship to Tarshish, heading directly away from Nineveh. The Bible tells us Jonah “ran away from the Lord.” But Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). The trouble is, there are a lot of difficulties in life that we simply don’t want to embrace. Some things seem too hard to confront. Often times we’re afraid we’re not strong enough, we fear suffering, we fear reprisal or we don’t want to be embarrassed.

Sometimes, like Jonah in the Old Testament, we have a tendency to run from what we don’t want to face. Yet the Bible portrays God as a refuge where we can find safety: “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield” (Psalm 144:2).

So what does God ask us to do instead of rationalizing our behavior or bolting for the nearest exit?

1. God is your Refuge, Keep Him close.

It’s easier to recognize a disconnect between the truth and whatever we tell ourselves when we’re very clear on what the truth is! Bible reading, prayer time and service to others helps clarify our vision. We can frequently pray, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

2. Admit your Problem.

Paul speaks for all of us when he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15). We’re always more focused on staying on track when we recognize that we frequently fall off it!

3. Define the Fear.

Fear is often a sign that in some way we aren’t trusting God. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18). Whenever we fear, we need to think of it as a red flag that signals we’re likely to run!

4. Don’t Rationalize.

One of the key markers is the word “but”  (as in, “I did wrong but…”). Try to go for a whole day—and then an entire week!—without blaming anyone or anything. Look only for the plank in your own eye (Matthew 7:4) and figure out its true dimensions.

5. Be Quick to Reconcile.

We can’t have a good relationship with God until we face—and clean up—the messes we’ve made. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Whenever we want to run from something, we must train ourselves, instead, to run to God. “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent” (Psalm 27:5). To do this we must be honest with ourselves and honest with Him. And we must never give up hope. After all, even Jonah (Jonah, chapter 3) got a second chance!

So what problem are you running from today? What issues are causing you to “lose your strength?” Make up your mind to stop right now and deal with them. “Do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph 4:27) by spending one more day on the run. It doesn’t matter how badly you’ve failed in the past, “The blood of Jesus…cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7 ). Whether it’s a stubborn habit, or someone you fear confronting, “step up to the plate.” The thing that’s chasing you will lose its power when you face it down in the Jesus’ Name. Paul says, “Having done all… stand” (Eph 6:13), …and you do that through the power of God, not in your own strength.

Father, we surrender ourselves to you this day and every day and ask you to intervene on our behalf. May we be strengthened by your Spirit to never run away from our fears, our responsibilities, from other people or from you. May we stand strong and confront the things that hinder us. May we always run to you in all that we do, that we may be strengthened and empowered to complete the plans you have for us. In Jesus’ Name…Amen

A Prayer for the 90 + kidnapped Christians of Syria

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My heart weeps as I write this today….

The poet William Arthur Ward said:

I will do more than belong…I will participate.

I will do more than care…I will help.

I will do more than believe…I will practice.

I will do more than be fair…I will be kind.

I will do more than forgive…I will forget.

I will do more than dream…I will work.

I will do more than teach…I will inspire.

I will do more than learn…I will enrich.

I will do more than give…I will serve.

I will do more than live…I will grow.

I will do more than suffer…I will triumph. 

We can’t do whatever is easiest and still reach our goals. We must do more. We must do “whatever it takes.”

Ah, that we would be people of faith with such passion for the glory of God and His kingdom that we would be compelled by Christ’s love in all diligence. William Arthur Ward’s statements are all tenets of our faith propelling us go beyond all that is expected or asked of us into the miraculous realm of God.

Yesterday more that 90 Assyrian Christian men, women, and children were kidnapped from their Syrian village by militant terrorists. They have been drawn into a horrific situation beyond our imaginations or our understanding. And yet, many of them are already crying out, “ We are Ready to Meet Jesus today.” In spite of the torture, the molestations, the beatings and the beheadings, many of them have already stated that they will not compromise. And most of the parents have trained their children to do the same. In war torn countries, like Syria, parents actually practice daily with their children, repeating the actual words they will say in the event of capture. This is what Christian mothers and fathers have to train their children to do in Syria. While we are teaching our children to ride a bike, tie their shoes and bake a cake, they are teaching their children how to face torture and death. They are ready to go beyond expectations and beyond all earthly demands. They are ready to die for their beliefs. Ready to die for love of Jesus.

What about you? Have you died to self and laid down your life for Jesus. Time is shorter than we believe. Have you made a decision to give your life for Him? Will this be the day you will be asked to give your physical life as well? We don’t know what life holds for each of us, nor the time frame, but we do know that we will all leave this life one day. May we all be prepared to meet Jesus. May we all be captivated by His great love and His demonstration of that great love as He died for us. Beaten, humiliated, tortured and mutilated, He laid down His life for each of us. As much as we try to avoid and deny it, suffering is part of our legacy. It’s engrained in our lineage.

Today let us cry out for the 90 + kidnapped Christians of Syria who face unspeakable tortures and possible martyrdom this day. May they be set free my Lord! May Christians rise up around the world in great prayer, pleading and crying out in unison, to the only real power that can intervene and set them free, Jesus Christ our Lord. And if they be martyred this day,  may they be strengthened beyond all measure. Embrace them my Lord and wrap them in your Spirit that they may find you in the midst of incomparable pain and suffering. May they do more than suffer, let them triumph!

“And they overcame him( Satan)by the blood of The Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives unto death.”(Revelation 12:11)

A Naive Paulette

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As a young girl of 19 years old, I identified quickly with the boldness and fire of the apostle Paul. My childhood had been wrought with fear and great pain. Reading stories of Paul strengthened me and propelled me. I wanted to be like him, to have His great strength and His boldness in my life. Paul became the mentor for my life, and I began to pray daily to become a “Paulette”. I wanted so much to be a woman of vitality, bold, and mighty for the glory of God. I prayed daily, “Lord please make me a Paulette”. I continued those prayers for many years. But somehow amidst those desires and my naiveté, I seemed to overlook in my Bible readings the great cost of His strength and His mission.

Paul spells out the true story behind his success:

“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was [stoned], three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own [countrymen], in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Co 11:23-28 NIV).

Most of us have a vague notion when we accept Christ, that someday we will have to make sacrifices. But for many, that price will have to be paid sooner than we realize. Not expecting that, many of us become discouraged and disheartened. We have a tendency to rationalize and to devalue ourselves and the work that we do. When our dreams don’t unfold in the time frame or manner we think they should, some of us table our dreams, putting them on hold. Others have abandoned them entirely. Reflect for a moment…Years from now, standing before our Father in heaven, will we be weeping and saying, “Father, forgive me for wasting so many of your gifts, I should have done so much more for the glory of your kingdom.”?

That’s the cost of a God-given dream.

Father, you have given us dreams to complete. Please intervene on our behalf. We stand in the authority that you have given us and denounce spirits of discouragement, pain and doubt. We boldly stand and declare that we will not abandon the dreams that you have implanted within us by your spirit. We thank you for dreams and visions that propel us for your Kingdom glory. May we rise above our fears, our inadequacies and the surpassing cost.  May we continue to run the race and finish strong according to your promises and in your great might and your strength. In your name we pray. Amen

What You Tolerate Dominates!

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Don’t Win the Battle and Lose the War!

Setting boundaries within families can be one of the most difficult things to do. We are bound to these people for a lifetime and frequently interpret that as a no-choice position if we want to honor Christ. Lack of boundaries wreaks havoc in a home. Growing up with an abusive mother was quite the adventure at my house; the cliché “roller-coaster”,  a hysterical adventure ride that often times threw me right off the tracks of my life. Moving and compromising my boundaries became the pattern of my youth. Arguments, threats and unrealistic expectations were daily occurrences. Years later, after I left home, the Lord generously began to reteach me in terms of His precious boundaries for my life.

One of the first things He taught me is that setting boundaries is not about making threats. It is about giving choices and then consequences for the poor decisions that are made, much like we do with our parenting skills. So don’t feel guilty enforcing or witnessing consequences. Guilt leads to compromise. We cannot be in a healthy relationship without appropriate boundaries. Setting personal boundaries are like identifying the gates in our invisible fence lines which protects the heart and soul inside our bodies. Our personal boundaries are God’s boundaries for us, for our protection. We need to maintain boundaries in order to freely grow and expand in our relationship with Christ and also in our ability to minister effectively to others. Boundaries are tools of protection. They set appropriate limits both externally and internally. Externally, they can provide protective limits on others who treat us poorly or in an aggressive manner. Internally, they can protect us from unreasonable expectations we place on ourselves which could unwittingly hinder our walk with Christ.  Many people look at boundaries as walls, but rather, when we establish healthy boundaries, they provide a way to distinguish what we choose to let in and what we choose to let out. They form flexible gates, not stationary walls. It is important to learn about setting healthy boundaries so we can make decisions about what is and what isn’t permissible in our relationships. It really doesn’t matter how elaborate the fencing or how eloquent our statements are, if we don’t honor ourselves enough to draw the boundary line and stick to it consistently. 

Often we grow weary in holding our ground, especially when old patterns draw us back to unhealthy behaviors. We must keep our eye on the mark…this is a spiritual war to tear down strongholds of pride, rebellion and narcissism. Winning a battle in a relationship means little if we lose the spiritual war. “Winning a battle but losing the war”, describes a poor strategy that wins or settles for a lesser objective, but overlooks and loses the truly intended objective.  Occasionally I would win a small battle with my mother and she would become a little responsive and for a time peaceful. Believing that the battle was won and not wanting to upset her further, I would begin to compromise my boundaries once again in order to maintain a semblance of peace in the household. Walking on eggshells was my way of life. The more I yielded, the more she consumed, and pretty soon the situation was progressively worse than before. It was a vicious cycle and, at the time, I had no clue how to altar it or how to escape from it.

Godly relationships give honor one to another. It is just as important for the other person to learn how to be with you and what the guidelines are for the relationship. If there are old patterns, it may take some time to convince others that you are serious about sticking to your boundaries. Improving our ability to set boundaries can, at times, be both painful and difficult. It requires consistency, perseverance, much prayer, and the support of others. Setting appropriate boundaries is an ability we can all learn through God’s direction. Below are some practical steps in learning to set boundaries:

1. Be honest about your anger when others violate your boundaries. First of all be honest with yourself and with God.  Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin.” Pouting or the “silent treatment” is anger as well. Manipulating people through any form of anger is not God-honoring. People who have difficulty setting boundaries are often angry because they feel like others are wielding power over them. They do not realize that they themselves have unwittingly relinquished that power. 

2. Ask God to help you to be truthful in all things, even in negative truth. Setting boundaries may sometimes rock the boat. Take special note of this scripture…

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.”Luke 6:26

3. Cultivate relationships with people who encourage the use of your boundaries, instead of threatening your boundaries. Those closest to you should love your “no” as much as they love your “yes”!

Careful…….. What you Tolerate, Dominates!

Let It Go!

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Let It Go       9792442-musical-notes-and-staff

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.” Ps 143:10 NIV

My granddaughter Allyson is an energetic five year old who loves the movie “Frozen”, and especially loves to sing at the “top of her lungs” the movie’s theme song, “Let It Go.” When the movie was first released Allyson sang that song, to the dismay of her parents, again and again and again. She is also the typical five year old, who wants what she wants, when she wants it. When we just couldn’t seem to hit “the replay button” fast enough to suit her, she would bellow “Let it Go”  over and over without the music with a joy and enthusiasm that made us all smile. Let’s just say patience is not a favorite word to a five year old. In fact I believe I’m correct in saying “patience” is not a popular word at any age. When God promises us something and it doesn’t seem to happen in our time frame, it’s so easy to get impatient and start doubting Him right away. Eager to make it happen, we start to take matters into our own hands and can unknowingly detour the plan and even make quite a mess of that plan like Abraham did. God promised Abraham children “as numerous as the stars” (Genesis 22:17 NIV). Tired of waiting He took matters into His on hands and had a child, Ishmael, by his maid servant, Hagar. That’s when Abraham’s troubles really began!  Rivalry between the two wives set off a spiral of events that eventually led to the “letting go” of his son Ishmael. Hagar and her son were literally sent away from their home and forced to fend for themselves. God loved Ishmael and had great plans for him, but Abraham had to “let go” of him in order to fulfill God’s will. It was one of the most painful experiences of Abraham’s life.

So what do we learn from Abraham’s story? First of all, emphatically refuse to allow the Enemy to send anything into your life that will undermine your plans while you are waiting and praying. Secondly, be careful of the advice you receive, even if it is from someone close to you. Fathering Ishmael was advised by Abraham’s wife Sarah. When God speaks directly to you, listen and obey His will above all others. Thirdly, because you are willing to take responsibility for your actions doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for those actions and sometimes even long-lasting ones!  There are things you can give up effortlessly, and other things that will take every ounce of grace within you to release. Letting go of troublesome past experiences may be extremely hard. It is especially difficult to give up something of great attachment or something that reflects you, like a job you love, the house where you live, a friendship or a present relationship. But when you have gone as far as you can with your “Ishmael” and you are ready to see God’s promise fulfilled in your life, you must be willing to ……Let It Go!

The good news is obedience to God is always followed with blessing. When you know God is clear about what you must do, even if it hurts, “ throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1) and eagerly and enthusiastically cry out or even sing at the “top of your lungs”…

Let It Go…Let It Go…Let It Go !   9792442-musical-notes-and-staff

Whining in the Wilderness…A Leanness Of Soul

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“He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” Ps 106:15 

No one likes a whiner. Does this sound like a familiar pattern for today?

While living as slaves in Egypt for many long years, the Israelites cried out daily, “ Lord deliver us, save us, get us out of here!” While crossing the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land they continued their cries, “ God we are going to die out here! We were better off in Egypt. At least we had all the food we wanted!” So God in His compassion delivered food right to their doorway and fresh manna bread actually fell at their feet. This was a diet so perfect and healthy that the Bible states “ there was not one feeble person among them.”(Psalm 105:37). However, after a short time, they began to cry out again, “ We’re tired of this stuff, we don’t like this manna. Where’s the meat? We want something more than what you’ve blessed us with? We deserve better.” So God once again said okay to their grumbling and wailing. “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (Nu 11:18-20)

Ouch! Such a lesson! Be careful of what you are asking, because you might very well get it! Covetousness angers God because it is rooted in pride and spills forth in ingratitude. Covetousness is defined as an excessive desire for wealth or possessions, or an excessive desire for anything in our lives that we seek more readily than God. The Bible says “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:15.) What a dreadful prospect! He actually sent leanness into their souls.

With God we can be satisfied with very little, but without Him there is no satisfaction. There is only leanness of soul; an emptiness, an insatiable longing that can never be filled. Many of us say that God is first place in our lives, but our desires reveal our hearts. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. (Luke 6:45) God viewed the hearts of His people and the malnutrition of their souls. Sadly, we often view God, consciously and unconsciously, as positioned only to fill our endless requests and “questionable” desires.

What are you coveting today that has put your life on hold or that you find yourself continually begging God for? The question is: “How lean is your soul?” What will it take for you and for me to come to a settled place in Him where the manna fills and fully satisfies each and every day of our lives?

God is the only true essential for our lives. Nothing can even partially fill His seat.

“Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isaiah 55:2)

Oh may our souls delight in the fatness of contentment in Him!

When will our prayers and our voices find rest in crying out daily, “Lord today and every day, You are my ultimate desire. You are more than enough…I just want more of you…”

 

Be Blessed…