This Is A Stick Up

"What can I offer the LORD for all He has done for me?" -- Psalm 116:12
It happened during worship this morning. As we were singing the line, "Everything that's in me praise the Lord," the phrase "this is a stick up" came floating toward me, seemingly out of nowhere, as I stood, hands raised high, worshiping the King. And I began to think about a stick up. Unlike the kind where a desperate person raises a gun to your head and demands your valuables, this one was as if the King of Kings was pointing all that He is -- all of His love -- straight toward my heart. This was a voluntary stick up. I wanted to give Him "everything that's in me." And then, to echo a line from Bob Hostetler's sermon, "What do you give to the God who has everything?" You give Him your thanks, with every breath that's in you. And if you missed the rest of his sermorn you truly missed a great blessing, for many people left this morning without their shoes. ;)

Pray Attention!

Woke up this morning with this phrase swirling about in my head: Pray Attention! So, of course, I figured God is up to something and true to His way with me I know we're about to embark on another treasure hunt, so I began meditating on this simple phrase: pray attention. I immediately thought of pay attention and what that entails: To heed; be attentive to; as in "pay attention" to these instructions.

There are over 25 scriptures where God says "pay attention."

Pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. -- Proverbs 4:20
Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. -- Isaiah 28:23

And so I think what God is saying to my heart is not only do I want my children to pay attention to my voice, but also to pray attention to my heart. Don't just come before me with your list. Come before me and let me give you MY list. In order to pray what the Father prays we need to "pray attention" to His voice in prayer. The more we recognize what He is doing the more he pours out his heart.

Today's prayer: "Father, I lay down my list and take up yours. What is on your heart today? Holy Spirit, guide my thoughts and prayers this day. May they line up completely with my Father's heart in all ways. Amen."

God Will Use Anything

He Owns the Elephants in a Thousand Jungles

Recently on the east coast of India there has been intense persecution of Believers, who are a small minority there. Church facilities were being destroyed and Believers murdered. Major political parties that had coalitions on state and federal levels turned the other way. Believers had no natural resources, and no one to intervene on their behalf. There was no one to bring justice. God worked in this intense situation to bring His people into fresh dependency on Him. They began to cry out to the Lord to intervene, and His ears were open to their cry.

Enter the elephants. In the capital city of this region, a herd of wild elephants had been coming into the city and causing all kinds of damage to vehicles, property, and businesses. As officials were trying to figure out a way of preventing the elephants from entering the city, they suddenly disappeared. Why?

God dispatched them. He gave them a very specific assignment. He had heard the cry of His people and decided to show himself strong on their behalf. The elephants reappeared several hundred miles from the capital city, and when they did, they had systematically gone through several villages absolutely destroying them and rendering them uninhabitable. The amazing thing is that the villages which were destroyed were the very same villages from which the most intense persecution had been based. Those villages and towns had been totally wiped out. However, the villages the Believers lived in remained untouched, even though they were in very close proximity to the destroyed villages.

God intervened on behalf of His people. No lives were lost in this demonstration of power, but the fear of the Lord gripped the region. Those who had formerly supported the persecution of the Believers began to say, "Don't do anything to harm the Christians, they have elephants!"
[post by Caleb Klinge, New Life Christian Center]

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." -- 2 Chronicles 16:9

So Long Self!

Woke up this morning to MercyMe singing "So Long Self" and I felt a since of freedom. Not so much because of the song, but because over the past week I've heard some excellent teaching on healing -- teaching that has set me free! I've been known to take on some sort of "false" guilt when I pray for people and they don't get healed (as if I have anything to do with it). Last evening's teaching by Roger Sapp helped me get off that roller coaster. It's not about me -- never has been. It's about Jesus Christ and the work He did on the cross. Healing belongs to us all and it has nothing to do with our character or our goodness or our works. It has everything to do with His goodness; His love; and Jesus' death on the cross. In fact, healing is not our idea; it's God's idea; and we don't have to convince Him. He wants to heal us more than we want to be healed. Freedom is a wonderful thing, and besides, I don't even like roller coasters! :)

So long, self
Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long, self
There's just no room for two
So you are gonna have to move
So long, self
Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell
Oh well, goodbye, don't cry
So long, self