John 7:38

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

When the spirit of God is poured into the souls of men, we become like rivers of living water. The spirit was never meant to lay idle, but to flow, and not just to us but through us. I wonder why it is that in our observations we don’t see this happening as it was intended. Then, through observations made in the world around me I begin to understand.

Humanity has a habit of disrupting the natural order. We love to tame the wild, to make the wild things submit in obedience to our will, that it may work for us. Perhaps we need a plow to be pulled, train a mule and make him pull. Perhaps we need a way to go, train a horse and ride upon his back. Or maybe we need power, recreation, and water to quench our thirst. Build a Dam across the river and stop the flow.  This is the logical thing to do is it not? I cannot help but wonder if even in this we have stored up for ourselves provision and instead of filling our silos – we have filled our reservoirs.

“Dam that river,” says I, “bring it to its knees and make it work, fill the reservoir, and let the water turn the turbines”. We make wonderful use of God’s creation, always to our own benefit, and always in a way that serves to make this life more bearable…easier…simpler. Always in a way that reduces our dependence on God. It is interesting that in the study of language the word “Dam” is closely connected to the Greek word “Thaphos.” What does Thaphos mean? It means grave or tomb. I thought this quite interesting considering the words of Christ with regard to the Holy Spirit and the rivers of living water…water that flows.

When the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost and the tongues of fire descended upon those simple men…it flowed. In fact it gushed, uncontrollably through each of these men, and that day thousands were saved. Not given over to death, but given life instead…life that came by way of living water. So what is the problem today? Why has the river been dammed? To be honest I don’t know why, except to say that maybe we fear what we cannot control, but which chooses instead to control us. I do know what the dam is made of, and it has many parts: Fear…sin…indifference…

Each and every believer knows what if feels like to have that spirit swell within their souls. There are times we want to stand and shout…but we don’t, there are times when we so desperately want to share what God has done in our lives…but we don’t, times when we feel compelled to show compassion and to demonstrate mercy…but we don’t, and certainly there are times when we are drawn to another knowing full well that God has appointed us this day to share the good news with our neighbor…but we don’t.

Instead our efforts are aimed at taming this thing that seeks to control us. In the process people die and the dams we often build serve as a grave to those we never reached with living water.

We are the dancing shadows of the father’s silhouette. As the shadow mimics the maker’s moves, so too, do we mimic the moves of that great and divine creator…the shadow maker. As he casts his glorious presence over our lives, engulfing us in a love like no other, we are compelled to follow. We study the moves as carefully as we can until finally they are a match, and simultaneously we dance…move for move.

Like David, we are overcome by this experience knowing full well the fathers love…and we dance.  No, there are no strings affixed to our hands and neither are we standing upon his feet, as children do their fathers. Instead, we, like our great savior have known the father and must be about his business. We see what the father is doing, and we do likewise, as we accept his invitation…we dance.

It is a carefully scripted repertoire that only the choreographer knows, he has taught us well, and we have learned well…so we dance. Hand in hand and step for step we see what the master is doing…and we follow, doing likewise. The cost is not so great as might have thought at first, should we make a mistake or fall out of step, He is patient enough to bring us along again. Surely there is the possibility of embarrassment, that possibility of course is only a thing if the audience is our focus.

Should we look instead into the eyes of our love…we are consumed, the audience no longer matters…and we dance. When the dance is done and we rest in his embrace, still focused on his amazing grace, we should know that the audience was not in that auditorium, but instead it was in sky…and they have now risen to their feet in a heavenly ovation as they rejoice over that one to whom the whole world was watching and waiting to mock.

I woke this morning early, much earlier than I normally do. It happens sometimes, normally when I have much on my mind. However, last night I left school (after a fairly demanding test that I fretted over for the last week), and made a trip to Wal-Mart in order to fill my sons prescription. Naturally they didn’t have it, and naturally he needed it. As it turns out the only drug store that had it was in Macon. Needless to say I left Wal-Mart and headed for Macon. By the time I finally arrived home it was close to 11 and all the kids were sound asleep. Another day missed, another day gone, more time that cannot be redeemed…and this is only part of the struggle in attempting to balance the life God has so graciously blessed us with.

As you can imagine, by this time I was exhausted and thought “I should have no problems sleeping through the night”. It was a fleeting thought, but one I embraced. I slipped off to sleep and before my mind could engage my dreams I was awoken. Unable to sleep anymore, I arose and began to read my bible, realizing that so much prayer was left unspoken, I then found my place on the living room floor. I prostrated myself as I began to plead for my children, my wife, my church…and so many other things. So many problems, so little time…I need wisdom, so I asked of him who hath promised to give abundantly (I am still waiting).

After the Amen, I opened my eyes and found my gaze transfixed on the wall that hangs our wedding pictures. My thoughts drifted then to a time when things were so much simpler, when love was so much more naïve. I looked closely at her picture and tried to remember how much I loved her then. It was an impossible task. You see over the years Lori and I have recorded a history, it is a history that only we share. In that history there is great pain, great sorrow, great joys and so much happiness. As I thought about the events as they occurred I was faced with the realization that my love for her now is so much stronger having experienced this life together than it was the day we married. It became impossible for me to imagine a day when I loved her less.

As I meditated on this thought, my mind suddenly began to drift again to another time and another relationship. That being the day I was joined to the bride-groom. I wonder now, after so many years, the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the history recorded between us; has his love for me grown stronger. Perhaps this is a concept that needs to be explored. Can God with his infinite abilities possibly love us more now than yesterday, more tomorrow than he does today?

The mere thought of a perfect God, with a perfect love, loving us more with each passing day is almost more than the senses can handle. I suppose the answer to this question is better left to the theologians of the world, but I must confess it is an exhilarating thought to think…that God should love us more tomorrow than he does today. Like quicksand, it pulls us in and we soon begin to sink…deeper and deeper, until the world itself slips from our grasp and we are fully and finally consumed. The more we struggle the greater the pull…loving us more and more.

When the struggle is over and the fight is gone from our flesh, we learn to rest in his embrace…and we are comforted by it. Overcome by a quiet confidence that he will never leave us…he will never forsake us. What a wonderful God we serve.

I know…I know…I know, this is what we are really saying when we use this phrase in conversation. I presume at some point we have all been guilty of this. Perhaps we are seeking advice our council about a matter and know not the course we should take. As we seek out this council the giver of such advice feels compelled to rehash certain things about our past. Poor decisions we might have made, times or events that may have similar beginnings as our current predicament. If we are honest, we really don’t want the history lesson, what we really want is their approval.

It never fails that as we begin to hear the past brought up again, almost as a reflex we utter the words…YADA…YADA…YADA. YADA, by the way is the Hebrew word for know or to have knowledge of. So once again I will reiterate the translation…I know…I know…I know.

Now, let’s look at this word from another perspective. “Be still and YADA that I am the Lord.  Yes, be still and know that he is Lord. This verse may be the most quoted verse of the bible. There is comfort in it, there is assurance in it, there is confidence in it. But sadly, as events unfold in our lives we often treat God as we do any other councilor on earth. The moment He begins to remind us of who we are, of who he is, of the promises he has made and the ones he has kept (and he always keeps his promises), our response is…I know…I know…I know. As if to say, “I understand Lord, I know everything you’re telling me, but right now I need something else. Something new, something better. To simply say that my knowledge of you is enough is just not sufficient anymore,” and soon we hear the words as they roll off our tongues…YADA…YADA…YADA.

God is our refuge, and an ever-present help in times of trouble. Do we really yada this in our experience, or just know this in our intellect. The only way to yada that God is our refuge is to actually take our refuge in him. The only way to yada that God is our ever-present help in times of trouble, is to call on him in the midst of that trouble. As we take our refuge and call upon the lord in times of trouble, we are then instructed to “be still and yada that he is God.”

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“Anyone that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved“

The sun comes up, the sun goes down and the moon reflects its glory. Day after day this cosmic dance unfolds before an audience of stars that flicker with their approval. Daily we rise and daily we go. We go to work, to the store, to the ball game, or even to church. Rising and going seems to be our routine and somewhere in there we mix into this routine a little bible study and maybe even some family devotion. This too becomes routine.

There is a place and a purpose for routines, but there is also a danger in them. For when our routines are thrown into disarray by any number of possibilities, we panic as if to say that life itself must be lived according to our routine. We tend not to look at the interruption as one that may in fact have been sent by the one who makes heaven his throne and earth his footstool.

I for one have been caught up in this whirlwind of routine, especially now (having started school in September) my life must be scheduled and I cling tightly to my routines. I rise early and go to work, I leave work, I go home, I spend an hour or so with the family, I go to school, I come home, I help put the kids to bed, then I too retire for the evening; only to do all over again the next day. My wife, she has her routines as well…we all do.

The danger in routine exists when we begin to treat God as something of a routine as well; expecting him only to show up in a certain place, or a certain time. Should we treat God with such contempt? As if to say to him you’re out of place and it’s not your time? “You see God, right now I am spending my scheduled block of time with my family, I am to meet with you Lord on Sunday, I will see you then, at your proper place.”

This routine has in itself the potential to lead us down a path of despair. By not allowing for the frequent interruptions in our lives, and instead scheduling God into our calendars, what we find is that we soon begin to miss him dearly. We wonder, where has he gone and why has he gone? Before long we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness, waiting for our next encounter. Hoping against hope that He will come again with that same water of which we first drank, and that satisfied our thirst.

Like I said, routines most assuredly have their place, but when routine becomes so common place that God himself must make an appointment,  we can be sure that we are taking those first steps into a wilderness of despair. Look expectantly for God to interrupt your life, and examine closely his reasons.

Stop whining, I know Cupid is a cute little fat guy shooting arrows at countless unsuspecting patrons of love. Unfortunately, Cupid is a first class fraud, lending credence to this idea that love is some unseen force that overtakes us with the impact of an invisible broad head to the heart (NOTE: A broad head to the heart will kill actually kill you).

Love is work and work is sometimes exciting, sometimes difficult, and sometimes dull. Which then stands to reason that if love is work than love is also all the aforementioned things as well. We simply need to stop teaching our children that Mr. or Mrs. right will someday swoop and suddenly fill the air with love.

Love is wonderful, but love is also hard, which is why we are commanded to love one another. If Love were easy it perhaps may come more naturally to us, instead we are instructed in this so called emotion (Love is really an action taken based on instruction given), should we base our actions on emotions there is the potential for grave consequences. For instance I have been a very un-loveable person from time to time, yet my wife still lavishes it upon me and we have learned to smile through it. We have learned to laugh in spite of our differences and even the pain we have inflicted upon one another from time to time.

You see my wife chooses to love me, and I likewise choose to love her back, not as a response to her love but out of obedience to the father. And that’s it…love is simply an act of obedience.

Scripture tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Remember I said that love was sometimes difficult, well then remember too the actions of Christ as he prayed in that garden and sweat droplets of blood in the hours before his crucifixion, this was surely no easy task at all. It was hard…even for the Christ. Why then did Jesus go through with such a scandalous act?  The answer is found in John 5:

The Pharisees are once again trying all the harder to kill him, not only was he (Jesus) breaking the Sabbath but he was even calling God his own father and making himself equal with God.  Jesus responded with these words…Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

It is true that God loves us, it is equally true that Jesus loves us with the same love because that which he sees the father doing he doeth likewise. Jesus hath seen the fathers love for us and so he too has poured out his love as demonstrated on the cross of Calvary. Should we learn anything from Christ, perhaps we should start with this idea: That which we see the father doing, we go and do likewise. Let us not wait for Cupid…Cupid is simply just stupid.

PS: Cupid is also just a marketing scheme to get you to spend more money on Valentines day. A word of advice to you and to myself: Stop spending your money on your family and start spending your time on them. The dividends are much much greater.

For freedoms sake we are called to defend our positions, to stand firm, not submitting ourselves again to a yoke of slavery. Over the course of the last several days I have considered many things about our current political crisis, and to be sure it is a crisis. I watched as many others did when President Trump took his oath of office, I watched as some in the opposing party cringed at the philosophy laid out in his inaugural address. I watched and listened intently to the prayers and recitations that took place by the various members of clergy. At the end of the day I must admit…I have concerns.

No, I am not concerned about the policies that the president will enact. I am not concerned about the possibility that in some way my rights may be infringed upon. I am not concerned about the rhetoric or offensiveness of his words. I am not concerned about the division that appears to have taken place within the halls of congress.

None of these things concern me, what does concern me however is our own willingness to buckle when the pressure increases. The desire we have to submit ourselves once again to a yoke of slavery. Too many in our society have been conditioned to believe that the government is the “end all-be all.” First, I think it’s important to remember that scripture declares the government will be upon HIS shoulders; and this is certainly not a reference to Trump, but rather to Christ. I find it interesting that in the last 16 years we have witnessed three different campaigns that won on very different, but in some ways very similar platforms.

The first being a message of compassion, you will remember that George W. Bush ran his campaign with a message of compassionate conservatism. I find that interesting because as a society we have no clue what real compassion looks like. Sure it’s a good catch-phrase, but to put that message to the task is to elicit varied responses from the masses. Some will say that compassion is to view life as God does and that the murder of unborn children is wrong; I don’t disagree. Still others will say that true compassion is to allow thousands of scarcely vetted immigrant’s access to our land and our freedoms. Or, that to show compassion is to allow everyone the opportunity to engage and participate in Holy Matrimony. The real question is, how does God line up on the issue? That is a question that most if not all will simply refuse to ask. Compassion literally means to be moved to pity and love in our most inward parts, but instead of having compassion on others, especially those that oppose our political or sometimes ideological positions, we bring down wrath and condemnation. If we are to learn anything of compassion, we are to learn it from Christ, whom though he had not sinned became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. A God-Man that loved so deeply (that even while the object of his affection was still in sin) He died for us. That my friends is compassion; to have died for a people that despised him, that spat upon him, and that would so callously trample the blood of our Savior under their feet.

The second was a campaign ran on a message of Hope. Hope in what? Progressiveness, post-modernism, liberalism, equal rights, women’s right…what exactly was our hope supposed to be in. Perhaps that was part of the problem after the election was won. It seemed as if nobody could agree on what exactly we were hoping for. That is with the exception of the liberal left. Again the problem is that hope is something to be enjoyed by all people. So where do we find this hope? How exactly do we identify a particular hope that all can agree upon. Turning once again to the Holy Scriptures we find that we are called to a living hope, one that does not put us to shame – a hope that is in Christ. It is of particular importance for us to understand and take heed of the fact by placing our faith in Christ we have a LIVING hope. You see the hope that so many people undoubtedly felt just eight short years ago is now dead. The evidence lies in the fact that many today our grieving over the outcome of the last election…some have allowed this grief to manifest itself in very destructive ways. If what we had experienced in the past was real hope, than to be sure it would not have been lost with the election of Donald Trump. Real hope is not found in a president, a politician, or any other celebrity or idol that one can craft. It is instead found in Jesus Christ.

The third campaign, which was filled with as much cynicism and divisiveness as we have witnessed in our lifetimes was a campaign built on a promise of greatness, or to be more specific a promise to restore the greatness that we once had. Fortunately for Donald Trump the power of nostalgia is enough to overtake the feelings of anxiety and reservations that so many had (and still do) about a Trump administration. The promises that were made were too many to count, and unfortunately politicians are never held to account for the promises they make. Yet again we see that scripture proclaims to us something different about greatness. In fact, while our president declared in his inaugural address “America First,” what we see in scripture something very different “the greatest among you will be the servant of all.”  If we are to serve all people than we must have value for those people, coincidentally scripture would declare this as well “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” It is possible that God may still bless this country as he has in the past; of course it is also possible that God may be judging this country as he has others in the past. We are not above correction, but subjected to it when we go astray.

Scrolling through social media is another area of fascination for me, as I have discovered that many people are now praying for our president. My question is: were you not praying for the last president? It seems somewhat hypocritical that suddenly the church is compelled to pray. Prayer is something we are instructed to do, not compelled to do. For Christians maybe a better illustration will help to underscore the message. If your church is like ours, and you find yourself in a need of a pastor, perhaps you have been encouraged by your leadership to pray. To pray that God would identify that man and move in his heart to submit his resume, and then likewise to move in the hearts of your search committee, offering discernment and wisdom to know who that man is. Suppose that through these petitions God answers in a mighty way, delivering that man to your church: Do you then stop praying for that man? There is no need to answer the question; I know the answer, because I too am guilty of having pressed the pause button on prayer from time to time. But isn’t it true that our president as well as our pastors need as much prayer while they are administering their oath of office as they did while they were seeking it? Perhaps this then explains much about the current condition of our nation as well as our churches. Or maybe it is better stated to say that perhaps the current condition of our churches explains the current condition of our nation.

We have become far too political and far less theological in our leanings. The effects of such cataclysmic error are that we will, if we are not careful have submitted ourselves once again to a yoke of slavery. We are a free people, not because our government has extended those rights but because our savior with extended arms died for those rights. The freedom He offers serves to develop within us the compassion we long for, a compassion that will move us to love. In love we will learn to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure…all things. In the end it can be said our God is great and because of that we too have been privileged to know greatness. We are called to greatness…as a nation, as a people, as fathers, and mothers, and children. But let us also remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A great man is always willing to be little.”

Saints and Angels are of a different stock, scripture would tell us that Angels have longed to look into the matters regarding Gods saints. I have never known an Angel, but to be sure I have known many of the saints. Of the ones I have known there is but one that stands as a benchmark to the rest. One in whom the loftiest standards of holiness have been set and kept. One, whom has known the greatest of tribulations in her own life, yet used her life as a vessel of God’s grace and truth.

The memories I have of my Grandmother will never be recorded in our history books, the life she lived will not be studied by the minds of theologians, missionaries, or any other high minded Christians seeking to glean some new truth for their arsenal. In fact, history will in large part forget her. I will never see a movie about her, hear a song about her, or see her name in lights. But rest assured I will never forget her, and while her name and her life may be forgotten by man, I know that it is recorded in the only book of History that matters when your life here on this earth ends…the Lambs book of Life.

I don’t know much about the battles she fought, I only know they were numerous. She would engage the enemy daily for the sake of her family. A husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would all be beneficiaries of the great victories she had wrought through prayer. She was a small and frail women; but a mighty wrestler she was…wrestling with God through the night on behalf of the wayward. I count myself among those as there was a time in my own life when I had chosen a path that was contrary to what she had taught. She never judged, never ridiculed, never complained…she prayed. That is how I will always remember my Grandmother. As I already said she was a small woman in stature, but without question she was and always will be the strongest woman I have ever known.

Though right now she is tired she is not yet asleep. Instead her flesh has waged its final attack against her spirit; the flesh loves the world and wants not to leave it. Jesus said a friend of the world is no friend of mine. Her spirit however longs for the great reception that awaits her as she slips off to sleep. We, who are left, are left with no other option than to lay siege against the enemy as we ourselves fall to our knees in prayer waging our own defense of the woman who had defended us all. God-speed Grandma as you enter your reward and receive the crown that you had so earnestly sought. A life spent with a heart that was rent, you have run the race and you have kept the faith.

I was told that one of the last things Grandpa said before he died was “remember your Faith, in the end it’s all that matters.” Well Grandma, in the end it is your faith that I will always remember, without it so many of us would never have found our own.

–ich liebe dich oma

Gospel Design
“Let us create man in our image,” this was the command breathed out by the Grand Designer himself. The command that went forth was different from the previous commands in which God said…let there be and there was. The act of creating in either case was quite obviously an intentional act, but for man, God chose a different method, something quite special. Special in that He would now put his Holy Hands to the task, and so along with the two other members of the Trinity, God Fashioned and molded his most precious creation of all, and he would do it in his own image.

This must have been a spectacular moment, a moment in which God himself would summon all knowledge, all wisdom, and all power to create this treasured thing. Then, at the completion of this most pinnacle of moments, when the sixth day had come to its end, and having saved his best work for his last work, God rested. He looked down upon his creation and uttered the words that we all should hope to hear at our end…”it is good.” How blessed is that moment when we all can look upon our work, upon some creation that hath been made by our own hands and say…”it is good.” We are reminded than that this skill of ours is only useful when employed with knowledge, and knowledge is only useful when employed with wisdom. For instance, man in past times may have had the skill to cut down a tree and burn its core for heat. But knowledge hath taught that man that the tree is useful in many ways…we may fashion for example: tools…tools that can then be useful in building better homes, or weapons that may be useful in protecting those homes when they are built. But in the same manner without the wisdom to know what those objects are useful for, the knowledge and the skill become futile.

Why though, for what purpose hath God created anything? I should think at first glance, and to be sure it only takes a singular glance, we observe the beauty of God’s creation. Picture if you will the snow-capped and jagged edged mountains that split our nation down the middle. The magnificence of such a thing, who, but God would have ever thought to have given a man this picture? Or the many oceans of the world, stretching as far as the eye can see, and making landfall on beaches around the world, beaches that share nearly as much beauty as the waters. It’s almost as if God hath said to himself “let the oceans meet the sand that my people will have a soft place to stand as they look upon the beauty of the seas and wonder.” Many men have known great fear of the waters deep, as they should. For within the waters there is great and massive power. We however have trained ourselves to ride upon their waves in glorious splendor, or even to sink below the surface and ride the currents beneath. So long as we follow the prescribed order written into the oceans charter, we shall not be consumed. We must at all costs understand and appreciate its power.

This truth is painted in a way that teaches us about our God, the same God which these oceans were created to reflect, for our God is a consuming fire, and we are instructed to fear Him, not for his wrath, but his power. God hath painted a picture, a living picture, one that moves and breathes and in some way reaches down into the depths of our souls and causes us to wonder. As we wonder our minds are carried away quite naturally to another place by which we wonder about the creator of such things. It is here, in this place of wonder that we come to realize the answer to our question…Why?

God is communicating his love to us through his creation. Why, because without him we are doomed and damned to a place of everlasting torment. God is, I think a true romantic, hypnotizing us with his beauty, and drawing us nearer and nearer with every glance upon his masterpiece. As we make our approach, seeking a deeper examination, we observe the lines, the curves, the color, the height, the width, the breadth and we reach out our own hands now to touch and to feel the thing in our hands. We are launched now into a much deeper investigation, one that will lead us to an even greater discovery. We will have uncovered the true identity of the author and creator of such things.

This is where the Gospel comes in, for we may discover the name of our creator, Elohim, without ever having come to know him ourselves. This is not enough…we must know. We must make every effort to come to him, to introduce ourselves and lavish upon him the Glory he is due. There never has been or ever will be an Author quite like this. It is clear however through our own discovery that this Author and Creator is one of perfection. We realize too that we ourselves are far less than perfect. Will he allow us into his presence, or might we disrupt his Holy hands from doing Holy work? We hear that this author has a son, a son who like his creation was perfect…a son in whom his father delights. We hear also that his son has come to our land in search of us, that he might take us to his father. What wonderful news this is, however it gets even better. You see the son knows too that his father demands a clean garment and we have none to wear. Yet the son has come to give us all new garments, garments that look much like his own. Garments that his father approves, the only condition is that we accept the invitation.  Yes, the gospel was in mind when the Grand designer designed.

There is this place that I know, a place where I spent a great deal of time when I was a youth, a place that if I were to return to now would usher in a flood of memories…none of them bad. Not many of us have a place that holds for us what seems like a lifetime of memories. The place I know goes by the official name White River Canyon, to me however it’s just known as the place…that certain place. In High School my buddies and I would spend our holidays and long weekends at that place. We would camp, fish, hunt rattle snakes and drive them old dirt roads just to see where they would lead us.

I loved going to that place, and even now I love to think about that place. What’s more is that as I have grown older I have realized that it wasn’t the place that I longed for or really loved at all. It was the experience of spending that time with friends…friends that I loved, friends that trusted me and I trusted back. Friends that would eventually go onto to join the military and make separate lives as I have. One friend in particular that would only begin his new life before his life was taken. A friend that never had the privilege of watching his daughter grow up…or even be born. A friend that even still I think about nearly every day of my life. A friend that I would come to name my middle son after. Aside from all that has changed however I have never forgotten that place…the smells, the sights, the laughter and the joy. I presume that as long as I live I never will.

Jesus it seems  would often retreat to a similar place, whether it be the Mount of Olives or some other hill just outside of Jerusalem. In fact in Luke chapter 11 just before his disciples asked him how to pray, scripture tells us that Jesus was in a certain place.

Luke 11:1

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

At first glance this may seem insignificant and often times we encourage others to follow that pattern and find for themselves a certain place…a special place…a place that is known between only them and God. I don’t disagree at all with this advice, however after doing a little reading yesterday I happened across this verse and the spirit within me spoke another message from the same verse. Here is what it said…

One day Jesus was praying in a place of certainty. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

I am not sure whether you caught the subtle difference and in no way am I attempting to take the scripture out of context, but only to add another dimension of truth to what the scripture has already said. Jesus always prayed from a place of certainty, Jesus was always in the fathers will and doing the fathers business. Jesus always had a holy motivation to do for the father and ask of the father only what the father willed. Scripture tells us that many times we ask but do not have because we ask with wrong motives…selfish motives.

The truth is that even the disciples recognized this in the ministry of Jesus Christ, so much so that they begged him for this teaching…”teach us how to pray.” It’s not that they didn’t know how to talk to God and surely all of us likewise know how to talk to God, but do we really know how to pray.

The effectiveness of the private ministry Jesus had with his father was evidenced in his public ministry to the lost. In his private ministry Jesus would come to know fully the fathers will and do exactly as he asked…though his flesh be opposed Jesus would always subdue his flesh by his spirit so as to be perfectly aligned with the will of God.

So here we are asking the question, what effect, if any at all,  is my private ministry with the father having on my public ministry in the world? Understand that location has absolutely nothing to do with praying from a certain place, there is a way we can pray with certainty. We must confess our sins to God and in doing so he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, we must check our motivation and ask of ourselves is there any degree of selfishness in my prayer, and finally we must spend however long it takes prostrated before God waiting for the command that will compel us to act. We shall not move from that place of certainty until we have wrestled the blessing from his hands.

Good Day…