Chocolate Milk (Radio / Podcast)

…feed me with the food that is needful for me
(Proverbs 30:8 - ESV)

Have you understood the truth that where God places you He graces you (2 Corinthians 12:9)? When you look back on your life, and as you grow in grace, you discover the hand of providence has always been there for you. It has taken on and worked through many forms. The life of Christ has incarnated in more than one person you have encountered, and this has helped you along your way.

One way is through the parents. Babies cannot feed themselves. Toddlers may be able to stuff food in their mouths, but they cannot handle proper eating utensils. Children may be able to use a knife and a fork, but left to their own devices they would subsist on a diet of sweets and snacks. Teenagers may be able to cook for themselves, but how many would have a regular menu of burritos and fries, sodas and chips? No, the parents have to control the diet of their children, in order to best facilitate their growth and health. The child’s responsibility is to eat; the parent’s responsibility is to feed.

This is the way it is with God. When we pray and study as “baby Christians”, we are not so ready yet to be able to feed on the meat of the Word. The Bible declares that we are to “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Just as a toddler moves into adolescence, and can now feed themselves, yet they remain in need of a parent to control their diet, lest they eat nothing but “junk food”.

However, just as a toddler isn’t ready to eat a steak, some of us as believers are “such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat” (Hebrews 5:12). We haven’t yet moved on into a more mature state. This is why Paul told the Corinthians that “I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able” (1 Corinthians 3:2 – ASV).

Indeed, it would seem that even considering milk, we often have need of help digesting the truth. Perhaps you have known of children, whom their mother or father was trying to get used to drinking milk? The children resist, but will comply when a small amount of chocolate is added. “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” it has been said.

The problem is when our “daily bread” is the “bread of affliction” – what then? Well, hard as it may seem, one of God’s gifts to us in affliction is that we may experience His Word in a way that we otherwise could not. It is in this place of grace where we learn some of God’s most profound truths. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:71).

Martin Luther discovered this “method” of seeing God in His Word. He said there are three rules for understanding Scripture: praying, meditating and suffering trials. The “trials,” he said, are supremely valuable: they “teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God’s word is: it is wisdom supreme.”

Therefore the devil himself becomes the unwitting teacher of God’s word: “the devil will afflict you [and] will make a real doctor of you, and will teach you by his temptations to seek and to love God’s Word. For I myself . . . owe my papists many thanks for so beating, pressing, and frightening me through the devil’s raging that they have turned me into a fairly good theologian, driving me to a goal I should never have reached” (What Luther Says, vol. 3 [Concordia Publishing House, 1959], p. 1360).

Well, that is Luther, a “spiritual giant" you might say. What about us as adults, as we are growing in grace? We are told to ask for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11): but is it okay to ask for “chocolate milk” when we ask?

The answer is yes. Perhaps it might be the necessary ingredient we need to be able to digest the truth God is feeding us on. We might liken this to James telling us to ask for wisdom (James 1:5), or to finding the way to escape out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). In any event, we can be sure God has made a provision for us (Genesis 22:13-14). His grace is sufficient.

We must let God control our diet, and not eat too much junk food. But when the going gets tough, it could be wise to ask for a little “chocolate milk” to go with the bread of affliction.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Bad Dad? (Radio / Podcast)

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
(Luke 11:11-13 – ESV)

People often say that if we ask God for something good He won’t give us something evil, and they use this text as proof. This is true. However, we might ask God for something, and yet receive something else from someone else and think it is God who gave it. Just because we ask God for something doesn’t mean anything we get is from God. True, if you ask the Father for a fish, the Father is not going to give you a snake. But that is the test – if you get a snake, you know it wasn’t God who gave it to you.

Instead of looking at your own desires for it to be something good, look at what is produced. You may want a fish, but you may be asking the wrong source. It is not “look at what is given and it must be good”, but “look at what is given and you can know where it came from”. It is not that whatever comes must be deemed as good, but that whatever comes must point to the source.

What we receive must be consistent with whatever else God has already revealed. If God doesn’t give it, you don’t want it, no matter how “good” it may seem. James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

You may be wanting and hungering and needing something God isn’t going to give, but Satan will, and so when you get it you automatically think it is from God because you asked for it. To your mind it was good to ask for it, and so whatever you got was good, it was from God, or so you think. But there is the problem, we may have thought we wanted something good, but we have actually asked amiss, for our own desire to be an instrument in an area God doesn’t want us to deal with others in. We may be asking for something God isn’t giving, like some made up mantle or whatever, then when something else comes we think we got what we asked for but what we got was some counterfeit.

We must be wary at all times, not knowing the extent to which God will allow the enemy to influence our lives. If we leave a foothold to Satan, God may allow him to use it to test us to see if we are truly faithful or not. It is as if we come asking and waiting and we will wait till we get something, but perhaps God isn’t the one who gave it. As if all the asking seeking and knocking means we can always get what we ask for, even when it isn’t what God wants for us. There are things, even good things, which God in His providence does not desire for us to have. It is not about our desire it is about His.

Our motives are not what we think they are and too often we judge them by our feelings and so then God becomes a projection of our best feelings, our inclinations to do “good”.

So when we ask God for something good, it is true He won’t give us something bad, but that doesn’t mean we will get anything at all, and it isn’t true that He will prevent us from receiving something bad from someone else just because we “claim” this verse as our protection. You can “get’ something, and it not be from God.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 – But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

We can be Christians and receive the ideas of false spirits, not necessarily possession, but false doctrine and false signs and wonders and teachers, and false systems, etc. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

We must be diligent and on guard against counterfeits. We cannot just wait around till we get something and then declare that it is of God. We must learn to discern, to test what is going on. How can we do that if the something we are waiting on is some anointing that some prophet claims we can have if we ask for it or receive it when it isn’t found in scripture or it is twisted out of its context and made to seem like something we can have when it isn’t? That is the problem when using Luke 11:11-13 as some sort of defense against counterfeit gifts; when we ask for something God doesn’t allow, doesn’t want us to have, or simply doesn’t exist. So you may have this verse memorized, and that is good, but you cannot have it as an unbeatable weapon in your arsenal against deception.

Some think that their motives are pure, saying, “I just want to be used by God”. Well then just be used by God right now in whatever you are normally doing. Oswald Chambers said, “Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do” (My Utmost For His Highest: June 15).

Now what we often mean when we say “I just want to be used by God” is that we want the excitement of being used by God in some mighty way, or what we think is mighty. However, anyone who can go about the daily life giving God the glory and being excellent in whatever they are doing now, that is the person who is being used by God.

If you are growing in grace, not gifts, but fruit and holiness, in repentance and faithfulness, God is using you. If you are evangelizing out there everyday without those power gifts, God is using you. Remember those in Matthew 7:21-23, they thought that doing God’s will was using power gifts to do His work. They had the power but they didn’t have Christ.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

I Don't Agree with the Prayer of Agreement (Radio / Podcast)

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
(Matthew 18:19 – ESV)

I love praying, and I have taught on prayer and preached on prayer many times and for many years. It is one of my favorite subjects and one of my favorite things to do. Whether it is by myself or with others, it is something I am wholeheartedly committed to, without reserve. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, but of course that power needs to be defined biblically.

Many who want to make more of the power of prayer than they ought will claim that this verse teaches something it does not. They will say that if two or more Christians agree in prayer about any specific issue, God will accomplish the prayer. Is that what this verse teaches?

It is good to agree with other believers in prayer for God’s will, certainly this is true. But if this idea about the “prayer of agreement” was true, why then doesn’t God answer all our corporate prayers in accordance with our desires? It is obvious then that there are qualifications to this idea, at best, and it might not even be biblical, so we need to think about it while looking to the actual text.

It isn’t as if there are three votes to be cast, and if you and your prayer partner agree that you want things done one way, then God, His will notwithstanding, has to observe the majority rule. Now you may balk and try and explain the position away as not actually being like that, but it really does boil down to that, doesn’t it? Does your agreement automatically make God to be in agreement? Of course not, we would all say, so let’s look a little closer at this idea, shall we? Let’s not just agree to disagree, but let’s take a look at the text, and see if we can clear up our disagreement by clearly seeing what the text does or does not teach. Agreed?

There can be a real problem with certain ideas drawn from “proof texts”. While they might sound good, and be based on scripture, and in many instances the single verse provided appears to confirm the teaching, on closer examination we see that the verse has been pulled out of the context in which it was given and is claimed to say what it does not. Oh, this particular verse does “say” what it “says” but it does not clearly teach what it simply says.

We cannot simply use “verses in a vacuum”, in other words, we cannot pull them out of their context, and make them say what we want them to mean, thereby becoming “verse ventriloquists”. This is what the kingdom of the cults do all the time; they pour their own meaning into the words. Although we have all had our difficulties with misinterpreting texts and teachings, when we can by God’s grace find our way to the truth, we need to take it as it is.

When looking at texts, we can understand them to apply to Christians universally, such as Matthew 28:19-20 (go therefore and teach all nations), or to someone or something specifically, such as Matthew 10:5-6 (do not go to anyone but the Jews, a command for the disciples only and for that particular time period only, overruled by the Great Commission), or principally, such as Philippians 2:3-4 (Paul was speaking to a particular church but the principle of Christlike behavior applies to us) or not at all, as with 2 Timothy 4:13 (Paul tells Timothy to bring his papers, which we are obviously not to do). Texts meant specifically may also apply principally, so sometimes texts that aren’t teaching on a particular subject may still give us a principle to follow and apply to other matters.

Matthew 18:19 is part of a group of 6 verses, beginning with Matthew 18:15 and ending with Matthew 18:20. This section of scripture is about church discipline, and not specifically about prayer at all. The asking part is about the offended parties going to the leadership as part of the process of that discipline. Church members are asking church leaders to do something, in accordance with standard protocol. So this verse, in the asking part, is not about people asking God, but people asking people.

However, does the verse apply in principle? What about the binding and loosing aspect from verse 18? What about the Father doing something from heaven?

This verse does apply in principle, but not with respect to prayer. This was Christ telling the disciples that the Heavenly Father would ratify the decision of the church leaders. This wasn’t about giving church leaders or “prayer agree-ers” unlimited authority, it was Jesus telling us, in principle, that when proper disciplinary procedures are followed in the church, the leaders have the right to deny fellowship to the person who won’t repent of their sin that they committed against another believer. The binding and loosing has to do with the disciplinary decisions being made; God vests a certain authority to the church.

This is why other passages dealing with the handling of disputes and handing out discipline in a Christian manner, such as 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 are so important, and why church membership, once again, is seen to be an essential for the New Testament believer, not an optional ideal. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is applying what Jesus was teaching here. If you are not part of a local assembly, you are undermining part of the foundation for your Christian life. You need to be a vital part of a local fellowship of believers. This is not just about attending this or that church once in a while, or moving from church to church, that would escape this scenario and all like it, and now YOU KNOW IT.

However, most people don’t want to submit themselves to God’s people. They don't have to worry about failing a test they don't have to take. Many will never submit to discipline, either from the church, or in some degree to the scriptures themselves. They never give up the right to be the final arbiter, and this is the glaring problem in many so-called Christians. The gospel truth is that submitting to God means that we also have to submit to one another.

Now realize that this passage isn’t about handing out punishment without any procedure; this is a very specific plan of action for grieved parties. It is not a decision in relation to the salvation of the sinning Christian, but only in relation to their association with the fellowship. The agreement part is in relation to the process employed in verses 15 through 17 that results in the decision to expel the sinning person from the fellowship.

As a matter of prayer this text does not apply at all. It isn’t about a universal prayer power, it does not specifically deal with prayer, and it does not apply in principle either. It is a good and wonderful thing for believers to dwell in unity, and to pray together in God’s will with faith. However, with regards to how it is taught and understood in some circles, I do not agree with the prayer of agreement, because the bible does not teach it, especially from this verse.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Still the Small Voice? (Radio / Podcast)

…the LORD was not in the wind… the LORD was not in the earthquake…the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
(1 Kings 19:11-13 – ESV)

How many times have you been told that in order to “hear God” you need to listen for that “still small voice”? Yet when we see Elijah actually hearing words, it wasn’t necessarily in that still small voice, or the gentle whisper, as your Bible version may say. No, the gentle whisper, or still small voice, was the end the demonstration, the earth, wind, and fire preceding it.

Now notice, after Elijah heard the whisper, he then went back to the front of the cave, and THEN he heard a voice speaking to him. It was the same question as before, and Elijah answered the same as before. The text seems to indicate that it wasn’t the still small voice that spoke the question again, but that the whisper led Elijah out, and then he heard as he had before.

Even if the voice that came to Elijah was in that same whisper, there is only one time in the whole Bible when God possibly spoke in a still small voice, and yet for some reason we have people trying and people teaching others to try and hear the still small voice.

Yet, the still small voice wasn’t inside of Elijah, it was outside the cave.

In the Bible we don’t read of anyone who clears their mind to seek the voice of God and actually hearing from God. We see people going about their routine when God suddenly speaks to them.

If God wants to get your attention he doesn’t have to wait until you are still or get quiet. As a matter of fact, as we have said before, when Psalm 46:10 says “be still, and know I am God”, it isn’t God telling us to be still and then we will hear Him, it is God telling His enemies and His people that He is God and so we should shut up!

So it would seem as if this is certainly not the way to hear from God.

Oh, and by the way, when God spoke, whether it was in that still small voice or not, it was to tell Elijah that He accepted his resignation (vs. 15-18). Yes Elijah would still serve for a time after that, but really, now, are you resigned to taking one scenario in the scriptures and making that your final position on the voice of God, when He says elsewhere, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty” (Psalm 29:4)?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Elderly Care (Radio / Podcast)

Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him
(James 5:14 – ESV)

It should be the ordinary way of things that members come to the elders for special prayer in special situations (James 5:13-20). Many times we go looking for answers elsewhere first, when we should be availing ourselves of the means of grace first, including our elders (1 Peter 5:1-11). The truth is that the love of the elders for the flock is a covering for you (James 5:20 / 1 Peter 4:8). Of course if you run out from under the umbrella and into the rain, you will get wet. They cannot stop that, but they can call you back to shelter. They cannot pay for your sins but they can pray for your sins, and God has put them in place to help you back into the fold.

It is the role and responsibility of the elders to shepherd the flock of God humbly and ably. It is the role and responsibility of the congregant to call on, submit to, pray for, and abide by the elders and their care. Are we examples of humility to one another, knowing our roles and exercising them rightly, not using them for show or for selfish ends, and not to force people but that they are willingly submitting to each other? Are we humbling ourselves under the hand of God, which is demonstrated by a godly submission to each other in our roles and in our responsibilities to God and to one another? Are the elders eager to help (do they answer the call), and are the congregants willing to be helped (do they call at all)?

Don't assume that God will aid you in a way that avoids or evades the ordinary way. The elders are there for a reason. Their admonition and nurture is important. They don't dole out grace with a ladle, but God has appointed them to serve your spiritual needs. Do you recognize and submit to the authority God has placed them in due to their role? If you need special prayer because of trouble brought about by your sin, do you admit that you are to blame, not others, not the devil, and not some so-called generational curse, but you who are to blame? The world and the devil only enflame what is already there, and where there is no fuel the fire dies out. Will you confess your faults, all of them that pertain to the issue, the ones that have led to being prayed for, so that you may be healed?

We must realize that prayer is only part of the process, and that persistence (Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9), and perspective (1 Peter 5:9 / James 5:17-18), are what lead to progress (James 5:15 / 1 Peter 5:10). You must then stay on the road, if you go back it is harder to get back, and the going will be worse than before (John 5:14 / Luke 11:24-26). Stay in the elderly care center.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

How to A-S-K in Prayer (Radio / Podcast)

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8 – ESV)

Ask according to His direction, His will, His Word

Seek Him with your whole heart

Knock with sincerity, like you really want it, with diligence (fervency + frequency)

Luke 18:1 – Prayer is many things and we are not going to cover everything here, but what we want to do is give some specific principles that you will find as you come to understand God more fully. These things could be backed up with hordes of proof texts, but the point is that God has revealed His character in the Bible so clearly as to render these principles obvious to anyone who wants to truly have a prayerful relationship with Him. These are good to remember.

Thank Him for what you have before you ask Him for what you need.
He already knows what you need (Matthew 6:8, 32); what He wants is to hear how much you appreciate what He has already done.

Tell God what you have done wrong before you ask Him to make it right.
God already knows what you have done wrong, but He wants you to live in constant view of the fact that He does know all that is going on about you, more than we know about ourselves. Realizing we are open to God (Hebrews 4:13) helps us to live a more holy life.

Praise Him for who He is no matter what He does.
Thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory – our prayers should have doxology in them. Until our hearts find their safety, satisfaction, and rest in God, they will have no rest. We cannot glorify God in the world until we have glorified Him first in our hearts.

Why do we pray?
Personal
Relationship
As
Your
End
Result

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Pleading, Pouring & Power (Radio / Podcast)

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
(Philippians 2:17 – ESV)

The people that pray with passion are the people that stay in His presence. Not a false, worked up energy or showy emotionalism, but a heartfelt knowledge of His will and a willingness to lay out the case before Him in passionate prayer, in faith. It isn’t simply the volume or the amount of tears but if we are truly pouring out our heart it will often be accompanied by increased emotion. This isn’t faith in our fervor, but faith in our God. It isn’t a demonstration of a lack of faith; it is a demonstration of the power of it.

Sometimes it isn’t pouring out what you have extra, it is pouring out from what you need. Not like some seed faith thing, that is still selfish thinking, but something you have and you need. You have it and you are willing to lose it, and go without, to give to someone else, but in the name of God and knowing Him, not to look good, and not making a deal with God, not “I’ll do this if you do that”. If you want to get poured upon you must be poured out.

A man came from a town that was in severe drought and people were dying. He went to look for water, got lost and was near death. He would need to drink just to make it back to town, let alone get any water for anyone else. He pleaded to God for water. Soon he came across a pump with a canteen hung on the handle and a note. The note read: “This pump is routed directly to the neighboring towns, and below is a supply of all the fresh water they could ever need.” He was elated, and went to take a drink of the canteen when he read the rest of the note. “The canteen contains exactly enough water to prime the pump.” It takes great faith to pour out the whole contents of the canteen for a promise of unlimited water. Will you use the water to fill yourself or to prime the pump? Will you take the risk?

In Philippians 2 we see that Jesus Christ had enough but He gave up the comforts of heaven and gave His life to the cause. The Bible says therefore God has exalted Him. You may not be recognized, you may receive no earthly blessing, and you may actually be ridiculed, but will you pour yourself out then? Would you, will you, pour yourself out to someone who will hate you? Jesus Christ did, He died for us when we still hated Him, and God has poured out His love, that same love, by the Holy Spirit in us (Romans 5:5-8).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Risky Prayer (Radio / Podcast)

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
(Philippians 2:17 – ESV)

Paul took a risk; he didn’t want to labor in vain (vs.16). Timothy risked it all on serving Jesus single-mindedly. Epaphroditus risked his health for their wealth, his life to fulfill the ministry (he agonized for people in prayer – Colossians 4:12).

The even if is in the present tense, not talking about his death so much as his life right then, he was even now being poured out, in other words, since I am being poured out. It wasn’t his death he was speaking of, it was his life, he was a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), and his death was only the culmination of that. It wasn’t that he was saying that his martyrdom was the drink offering, but his life was. It wasn’t just that he was willing to die for the cause, but that he was willing to live for it. The sacrificial death was only the end of a sacrificial life. Paul is saying since I am being poured out, and it is upon your faith, I rejoice. He rejoices because his labor isn’t in vain, they have faith and are sacrificing and serving God themselves, and his being poured out is the “cherry on top”, as it were. The Philippians were making the greater sacrifice, says Paul, because their sufferings were multiplied. This shows Paul’s true humility. He considers it all as a sacrifice, unity, everyone playing his or her part.

It is not joy in spite of; it is joy because of, counting it joy to be counted as worthy to be poured out. Do you consider what God has poured in you worthy to be poured out? Paul’s greatest joy came when giving the greatest sacrifice. Now only God can make us to be like that. Paul says I am rejoicing, you are also being sacrificed, so also joy, let us all joy together for one another. We love one another, and our joy is made full. Obedience is greater than sacrifice, but if you are obedient you will sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of obedience. Ultimate sacrifice produces ultimate joy. What have you said no to in order to say yes to God, to His will, to His kingdom, to His Church?

Paul was fully poured out, now to the point of his very life. His heart was spent on them in service to Christ. People talk about pouring in to someone’s life but you cannot pour in unless you pour out, and you can only pour out what has been poured in. I am not talking just about giving advice and mentoring someone, I am talking about taking risk; giving up things you need for what they need, like a parent does for a child (1 Thessalonians 2:8), doing it as if something of yours was at stake. When someone pours themselves out like that you know it, you know them in a way that resonates with your own soul. This is why I call Martin Luther my friend, good and bad, he poured out himself in his life and it shows in his writing, and in those things written about him. He didn’t leave anything in; he poured it all out. Sure he made mistakes but he took risks and he left a legacy still felt to this day.

The great heroes of the faith have the heart of a humble servant, selfless, one who was willing to give himself up in the simplest task not for his own fulfillment or his own gain, but for the sake of the Lord he loves. God is the end not the means to an end. That would be just pouring to get something, not to give something.

One key way we pour ourselves out is in and through prayer. We need to pray like it means something, like we have a stake in it, like we are taking a risk. That is how you seek God; that is the place where He works. If it doesn’t cost you anything it doesn’t benefit anybody.

F.B. Meyer – "It was because Moses was prepared to be blotted from the book of God for his people that he carried them for forty years through the desert and deposited them on the very borders of the Promised Land. It was because Jesus wept over Jerusalem that He was able to send a Pentecost on that guilty city. It was because Paul was prepared to be accursed for his brethren according to the flesh that he was able to turn so many from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God." "No heart pangs, no spiritual seed."

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Poured Out (Radio / Podcast)

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
(Philippians 2:17 – ESV)

In chapter two of this epistle Paul exhorts the Philippians to pour themselves out to one another. You live out the faith, you pour out what God has poured in with humility and without complaint. He says Christ was poured out, Paul himself was being poured out, Timothy was being poured out, and Epaphroditus was nearly all poured out.

I want to relate being poured out specifically to prayer. You are pouring out yourself to something every day already, time, money, effort, thoughts, deeds, words, every minute of every day your life is being poured out. If you pour it out in prayer and service to God He will keep pouring His Spirit within you and upon your sacrifice of faith.

Being poured out is the path to joy. Paul was poured out as wine upon their sacrifice. The wine was to symbolize joy indicating that the sacrifice was done with a joyful heart and with the intent to bring joy to the Lord. Paul is saying, “Even if I have to die it is a small thing, a little sacrifice compared to the far greater sacrifice and service coming from your faith. I am going to die but it will make the sacrifice complete.” He rejoices that he was counted worthy to make a sacrifice and that they were also. His tireless effort helped lead to their true faith.

You can be poured out the wrong way. The world speaks of pouring yourself out as well, but it is in the sense of pouring your life into what you do. A recent country singer captures this idea in his song, “Live Like You Were Dying”. Now the song is a nice sounding sentiment, to pour it all out, to live with intention, but all he talks about is thrill seeking and actually selfish things for the most part. It is a humanistic motivational idea. The video looks like it is supposed to be all spiritual or whatever, but it isn’t giving glory to God, it isn’t what being poured out means in the biblical sense. When compared to what Christ would have us do, we see that the sentiment to live with passion and intention can be perverted into getting the most for us out of this life instead of giving to God's glory as much as we can in this life. Indeed we ought to live like we were dying, dying to self, that is.

Christians want to be poured on or poured in but they haven’t yet poured out. We should be poured out, but people don’t want to take the risk of being poured out. People only want to serve the way they want to serve; they want to choose their altar of service. They need to realize that if they cannot pour themselves out in prayer then how could they ever in practice.

God takes a person who is truly filled with the Spirit and uses tough situations to spill them over, so that His power and presence can flood onto others’ lives, and then He fills the vessel once again. He doesn’t fill us with His Sprit just so that we can feel full. If you try and hold it all in you will get nothing but a spiritual stomachache. No, it is not about the fullness in our bellies but the overflow of His life out from our bellies. Christ promised rivers of living water to come forth from our hearts (John 7:38), but how can we expect to see this power if we won’t allow ourselves to be poured out?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Elderly Care (with audio)

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Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him
(James 5:14 – ESV)

It should be the ordinary way of things that members come to the elders for special prayer in special situations (James 5:13-20). Many times we go looking for answers elsewhere first, when we should be availing ourselves of the means of grace first, including our elders (1 Peter 5:1-11). The truth is that the love of the elders for the flock is a covering for you (James 5:20 / 1 Peter 4:8). Of course if you run out from under the umbrella and into the rain, you will get wet. They cannot stop that, but they can call you back to shelter. They cannot pay for your sins but they can pray for your sins, and God has put them in place to help you back into the fold.

It is the role and responsibility of the elders to shepherd the flock of God humbly and ably. It is the role and responsibility of the congregant to call on, submit to, pray for, and abide by the elders and their care. Are we examples of humility to one another, knowing our roles and exercising them rightly, not using them for show or for selfish ends, and not to force people but that they are willingly submitting to each other? Are we humbling ourselves under the hand of God, which is demonstrated by a godly submission to each other in our roles and in our responsibilities to God and to one another? Are the elders eager to help (do they answer the call), and are the congregants willing to be helped (do they call at all)?

Don't assume that God will aid you in a way that avoids or evades the ordinary way. The elders are there for a reason. Their admonition and nurture is important. They don't dole out grace with a ladle, but God has appointed them to serve your spiritual needs. Do you recognize and submit to the authority God has placed them in due to their role? If you need special prayer because of trouble brought about by your sin, do you admit that you are to blame, not others, not the devil, and not some so-called generational curse, but you who are to blame? The world and the devil only enflame what is already there, and where there is no fuel the fire dies out. Will you confess your faults, all of them that pertain to the issue, the ones that have led to being prayed for, so that you may be healed?

We must realize that prayer is only part of the process, and that persistence (Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9), and perspective (1 Peter 5:9 / James 5:17-18), are what lead to progress (James 5:15 / 1 Peter 5:10). You must then stay on the road, if you go back it is harder to get back, and the going will be worse than before (John 5:14 / Luke 11:24-26). Stay in the elderly care center.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Chocolate Milk (with audio)

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…feed me with the food that is needful for me
(Proverbs 30:8b - ESV)

Have you understood the truth that where God places you He graces you (2 Corinthians 12:9)? When you look back on your life, and as you grow in grace, you discover the hand of providence has always been there for you. It has taken on and worked through many forms. The life of Christ has incarnated in more than one person you have encountered, and this has helped you along your way.

One way is through the parents. Babies cannot feed themselves. Toddlers may be able to stuff food in their mouths, but they cannot handle proper eating utensils. Children may be able to use a knife and a fork, but left to their own devices they would subsist on a diet of sweets and snacks. Teenagers may be able to cook for themselves, but how many would have a regular menu of burritos and fries, sodas and chips? No, the parents have to control the diet of their children, in order to best facilitate their growth and health. The child’s responsibility is to eat; the parent’s responsibility is to feed.

This is the way it is with God. When we pray and study as “baby Christians”, we are not so ready yet to be able to feed on the meat of the Word. The Bible declares that we are to “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Just as a toddler moves into adolescence, and can now feed themselves, yet they remain in need of a parent to control their diet, lest they eat nothing but “junk food”.

However, just as a toddler isn’t ready to eat a steak, some of us as believers are “such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat” (Hebrews 5:12). We haven’t yet moved on into a more mature state. This is why Paul told the Corinthians that “I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able” (1 Corinthians 3:2 – ASV).

Indeed, it would seem that even considering milk, we often have need of help digesting the truth. Perhaps you have known of children, whom their mother or father was trying to get used to drinking milk? The children resist, but will comply when a small amount of chocolate is added. “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” it has been said.

The problem is when our “daily bread” is the “bread of affliction” – what then? Well, hard as it may seem, one of God’s gifts to us in affliction is that we may experience His Word in a way that we otherwise could not. It is in this place of grace where we learn some of God’s most profound truths. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:71).

Martin Luther discovered this “method” of seeing God in His Word. He said there are three rules for understanding Scripture: praying, meditating and suffering trials. The “trials,” he said, are supremely valuable: they “teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God’s word is: it is wisdom supreme.”

Therefore the devil himself becomes the unwitting teacher of God’s word: “the devil will afflict you [and] will make a real doctor of you, and will teach you by his temptations to seek and to love God’s Word. For I myself . . . owe my papists many thanks for so beating, pressing, and frightening me through the devil’s raging that they have turned me into a fairly good theologian, driving me to a goal I should never have reached” (What Luther Says, vol. 3 [Concordia Publishing House, 1959], p. 1360).

Well, that is Luther, a “spiritual giant" you might say. What about us as adults, as we are growing in grace? We are told to ask for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11): but is it okay to ask for “chocolate milk” when we ask?

The answer is yes. Perhaps it might be the necessary ingredient we need to be able to digest the truth God is feeding us on. We might liken this to James telling us to ask for wisdom (James 1:5), or to finding the way to escape out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). In any event, we can be sure God has made a provision for us (Genesis 22:13-14). His grace is sufficient.

We must let God control our diet, and not eat too much junk food. But when the going gets tough, it could be wise to ask for a little “chocolate milk” to go with the bread of affliction.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Bad Dad?

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What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
(Luke 11:11-13 – ESV)

People often say that if we ask God for something good He won’t give us something evil, and they use this text as proof. This is true. However, we might ask God for something, and yet receive something else from someone else and think it is God who gave it. Just because we ask God for something doesn’t mean anything we get is from God. True, if you ask the Father for a fish, the Father is not going to give you a snake. But that is the test – if you get a snake, you know it wasn’t God who gave it to you.

Instead of looking at your own desires for it to be something good, look at what is produced. You may want a fish, but you may be asking the wrong source. It is not “look at what is given and it must be good”, but “look at what is given and you can know where it came from”. It is not that whatever comes must be deemed as good, but that whatever comes must point to the source.

What we receive must be consistent with whatever else God has already revealed. If God doesn’t give it, you don’t want it, no matter how “good” it may seem. James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

You may be wanting and hungering and needing something God isn’t going to give, but Satan will, and so when you get it you automatically think it is from God because you asked for it. To your mind it was good to ask for it, and so whatever you got was good, it was from God, or so you think. But there is the problem, we may have thought we wanted something good, but we have actually asked amiss, for our own desire to be an instrument in an area God doesn’t want us to deal with others in. We may be asking for something God isn’t giving, like some made up mantle or whatever, then when something else comes we think we got what we asked for but what we got was some counterfeit.

We must be wary at all times, not knowing the extent to which God will allow the enemy to influence our lives. If we leave a foothold to Satan, God may allow him to use it to test us to see if we are truly faithful or not. It is as if we come asking and waiting and we will wait till we get something, but perhaps God isn’t the one who gave it. As if all the asking seeking and knocking means we can always get what we ask for, even when it isn’t what God wants for us. There are things, even good things, which God in His providence does not desire for us to have. It is not about our desire it is about His.

Our motives are not what we think they are and too often we judge them by our feelings and so then God becomes a projection of our best feelings, our inclinations to do “good”.

So when we ask God for something good, it is true He won’t give us something bad, but that doesn’t mean we will get anything at all, and it isn’t true that He will prevent us from receiving something bad from someone else just because we “claim” this verse as our protection. You can “get’ something, and it not be from God.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 – But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

We can be Christians and receive the ideas of false spirits, not necessarily possession, but false doctrine and false signs and wonders and teachers, and false systems, etc. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

We must be diligent and on guard against counterfeits. We cannot just wait around till we get something and then declare that it is of God. We must learn to discern, to test what is going on. How can we do that if the something we are waiting on is some anointing that some prophet claims we can have if we ask for it or receive it when it isn’t found in scripture or it is twisted out of its context and made to seem like something we can have when it isn’t? That is the problem when using Luke 11:11-13 as some sort of defense against counterfeit gifts; when we ask for something God doesn’t allow, doesn’t want us to have, or simply doesn’t exist. So you may have this verse memorized, and that is good, but you cannot have it as an unbeatable weapon in your arsenal against deception.

Some think that their motives are pure, saying, “I just want to be used by God”. Well then just be used by God right now in whatever you are normally doing. Oswald Chambers said, “Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do” (My Utmost For His Highest: June 15).

Now what we often mean when we say “I just want to be used by God” is that we want the excitement of being used by God in some mighty way, or what we think is mighty. However, anyone who can go about the daily life giving God the glory and being excellent in whatever they are doing now, that is the person who is being used by God.

If you are growing in grace, not gifts, but fruit and holiness, in repentance and faithfulness, God is using you. If you are evangelizing out there everyday without those power gifts, God is using you. Remember those in Matthew 7:21-23, they thought that doing God’s will was using power gifts to do His work. They had the power but they didn’t have Christ.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

I Don’t Agree with the Prayer of Agreement

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Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
(Matthew 18:19 – ESV)

I love praying, and I have taught on prayer and preached on prayer many times and for many years. It is one of my favorite subjects and one of my favorite things to do. Whether it is by myself or with others, it is something I am wholeheartedly committed to, without reserve. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, but of course that power needs to be defined biblically.

Many who want to make more of the power of prayer than they ought will claim that this verse teaches something it does not. They will say that if two or more Christians agree in prayer about any specific issue, God will accomplish the prayer. Is that what this verse teaches?

It is good to agree with other believers in prayer for God’s will, certainly this is true. But if this idea about the “prayer of agreement” was true, why then doesn’t God answer all our corporate prayers in accordance with our desires? It is obvious then that there are qualifications to this idea, at best, and it might not even be biblical, so we need to think about it while looking to the actual text.

It isn’t as if there are three votes to be cast, and if you and your prayer partner agree that you want things done one way, then God, His will notwithstanding, has to observe the majority rule. Now you may balk and try and explain the position away as not actually being like that, but it really does boil down to that, doesn’t it? Does your agreement automatically make God to be in agreement? Of course not, we would all say, so let’s look a little closer at this idea, shall we? Let’s not just agree to disagree, but let’s take a look at the text, and see if we can clear up our disagreement by clearly seeing what the text does or does not teach. Agreed?

There can be a real problem with certain ideas drawn from “proof texts”. While they might sound good, and be based on scripture, and in many instances the single verse provided appears to confirm the teaching, on closer examination we see that the verse has been pulled out of the context in which it was given and is claimed to say what it does not. Oh, this particular verse does “say” what it “says” but it does not clearly teach what it simply says.

We cannot simply use “verses in a vacuum”, in other words, we cannot pull them out of their context, and make them say what we want them to mean, thereby becoming “verse ventriloquists”. This is what the kingdom of the cults do all the time; they pour their own meaning into the words. Although we have all had our difficulties with misinterpreting texts and teachings, when we can by God’s grace find our way to the truth, we need to take it as it is.

When looking at texts, we can understand them to apply to Christians universally, such as Matthew 28:19-20 (go therefore and teach all nations), or to someone or something specifically, such as Matthew 10:5-6 (do not go to anyone but the Jews, a command for the disciples only and for that particular time period only, overruled by the Great Commission), or principally, such as Philippians 2:3-4 (Paul was speaking to a particular church but the principle of Christlike behavior applies to us) or not at all, as with 2 Timothy 4:13 (Paul tells Timothy to bring his papers, which we are obviously not to do). Texts meant specifically may also apply principally, so sometimes texts that aren’t teaching on a particular subject may still give us a principle to follow and apply to other matters.

Matthew 18:19 is part of a group of 6 verses, beginning with Matthew 18:15 and ending with Matthew 18:20. This section of scripture is about church discipline, and not specifically about prayer at all. The asking part is about the offended parties going to the leadership as part of the process of that discipline. Church members are asking church leaders to do something, in accordance with standard protocol. So this verse, in the asking part, is not about people asking God, but people asking people.

However, does the verse apply in principle? What about the binding and loosing aspect from verse 18? What about the Father doing something from heaven?

This verse does apply in principle, but not with respect to prayer. This was Christ telling the disciples that the Heavenly Father would ratify the decision of the church leaders. This wasn’t about giving church leaders or “prayer agree-ers” unlimited authority, it was Jesus telling us, in principle, that when proper disciplinary procedures are followed in the church, the leaders have the right to deny fellowship to the person who won’t repent of their sin that they committed against another believer. The binding and loosing has to do with the disciplinary decisions being made; God vests a certain authority to the church.

This is why other passages dealing with the handling of disputes and handing out discipline in a Christian manner, such as 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 are so important, and why church membership, once again, is seen to be an essential for the New Testament believer, not an optional ideal. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is applying what Jesus was teaching here. If you are not part of a local assembly, you are undermining part of the foundation for your Christian life. You need to be a vital part of a local fellowship of believers. This is not just about attending this or that church once in a while, or moving from church to church, that would escape this scenario and all like it, and now YOU KNOW IT.

However, most people don’t want to submit themselves to God’s people. They don't have to worry about failing a test they don't have to take. Many will never submit to discipline, either from the church, or in some degree to the scriptures themselves. They never give up the right to be the final arbiter, and this is the glaring problem in many so-called Christians. The gospel truth is that submitting to God means that we also have to submit to one another.

Now realize that this passage isn’t about handing out punishment without any procedure; this is a very specific plan of action for grieved parties. It is not a decision in relation to the salvation of the sinning Christian, but only in relation to their association with the fellowship. The agreement part is in relation to the process employed in verses 15 through 17 that results in the decision to expel the sinning person from the fellowship.

As a matter of prayer this text does not apply at all. It isn’t about a universal prayer power, it does not specifically deal with prayer, and it does not apply in principle either. It is a good and wonderful thing for believers to dwell in unity, and to pray together in God’s will with faith. However, with regards to how it is taught and understood in some circles, I do not agree with the prayer of agreement, because the bible does not teach it, especially from this verse.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Change You Can Believe In

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 3:18 – ESV)

I want us to consider the prayers that Paul prayed for other believers. Of course, the specific content of the prayers themselves is vitally important, and each passage could make up many messages. However, what we want to focus on is the fact that these prayers represent our need for change. In doing this we will see some very important truths that God wants us to realize about change in our lives. We not only want to pray these prayers, we want to live them out, and by thinking about these prayers as a unit we can know God’s will.

The NT teaches that we are supposed to be changing, and Paul wouldn’t pray for change if it wasn’t possible. Prayer is the pipeline for God’s power, and Paul prayed not as much for their situations to change as for them to change. We need to believe that God answers these prayers. You must learn to be a twig before you become a tree. God isn’t a quick fix, change is more process oriented than crisis oriented, not a moment but a momentum. God’s power for change is something you can believe in.

Ephesians 1:16-19
Ephesians 3:14-19
Philippians 1:9-11
Colossians 1:9-12
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Change is Possible
* No matter how good your situation is
* No matter how bad your situation is

Change is Providential
* Through God’s power
* In God’s will

Change is Prayerful
* We should pray for it
* We should be mindful of it

Change is Predestined
* A process
* A guarantee

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

A Prayer for the President

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority…
(1 Timothy 2:1-2 – NET)

In the United States of America, on January 19, 2009, we celebrated the life, legacy, and longing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his famous “I have a dream” speech, Rev. King said that his dream was that one day men would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Now, on January 20, 2009, at least in one very important sense, the day has come.

We may not agree that this man, Barack Obama, this man of color, this man the people have freely chosen, has the character we think a President ought to have, but we also can see that his color did not hold him back from being elected to the highest office in the land. We may not agree in theology or politics, but we can all agree that it is a step in the right direction, for a man of a different color than all the Presidents before has been chosen to serve.

Here is my prayer for our new President.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that your truth is still as valid today as ever. Your Word says that “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). We know that you can do impossible things, O God! Our prayer is that through this man, through these times, your righteousness would prevail. May your righteousness prevail upon his life for his salvation. May your righteousness prevail in his work, for his administration and stewardship. May your righteousness prevail in his family. May your righteousness prevail for our country, in its policies, pronouncements, and decisions. May your righteousness prevail that our President would stand for what is right, and for those who cannot defend themselves, including the unborn. May your righteousness prevail that our President would influence others toward right thinking and action, with all wisdom and prudence. May your righteousness prevail upon him so he would be an example of what righteousness truly is, and as a witness to God’s righteousness. May your righteousness prevail that it might be seen of all men, through this man, for your glory, O God.

We pray that you would protect President Obama during the Inauguration and in the following days and years as he leads the United States of America, and as an example to the world. Lord, we pray that you would bless us, not simply by sanctioning our choices, but rather that you would stir our hearts and steer our paths. This we ask that your name would be glorified, your Word would be magnified, your people would be edified, and your kingdom be multiplied. May your righteousness prevail for your glory, O God. This we ask in Jesus name, amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Prayers of Paul

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
(Colossians 4:2 – ESV)

This is what I pray for your new year:

Ephesians 1:16-19
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Philippians 1:9-11
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Colossians 1:9-12
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Sharpen the Sword

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
(Ephesians 6:17 – ESV)

When we “mess up”, it isn’t as if Jesus leaves us because we sin. We may grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and thus lose the joy of our salvation, and feel He is far away, but as we draw near (James 4:8), in repentance, He is right there with us. We need to remember the difference between relationship and fellowship, judicial (Romans 5:1 / 2 Corinthians 5:21) and parental forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Things like keeping in your Word are what sharpen the sword, so to speak, and keeping in repentance and prayer keeps the armor feeling snug, in a sense. It doesn’t fall off; it just needs to be refastened. We let it sag, not realizing we are wearing it and utilizing it in defense.

It is always the season to sharpen your skills. You need to remind your mind of these truths everyday, and then they will begin to sink in, talk to your self about God before your self talks to you about you. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 helps to clarify the meaning here, “and for a helmet the hope of salvation”. We have absolute assurance of our salvation no matter how fierce the battle becomes.

When you don’t believe you can be deceived, that’s when you already are. By this I mean that we are not as invulnerable as we think we are, not if we think we can slack in the spiritual life. Even Peter, after receiving the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the greatest revelation of all time, which Jesus said was given to Peter by God the Father (Matthew 16:16-19), apparently just moments later (vs.22-23), Jesus rebukes him as if Peter was being led by Satan. At any given moment we can be deceived so we always need to be on guard. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

This also points us back to the armor of God; we look to God and His Word as our defense, not our own feelings of wisdom and invulnerability. We are to be wise in God’s ways, not wise in our own eyes (Isaiah 5:21).

You need to keep renewing your mind around the truth. It is unbelief that is hindering you. Pray as the man in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” You may be carrying the sword of the Spirit, which is already sharp (Hebrews 4:12), but it is your duty to learn to wield it properly.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Risky Prayer

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
(Philippians 2:17 – ESV)

Paul took a risk; he didn’t want to labor in vain (vs.16). Timothy risked it all on serving Jesus single-mindedly. Epaphroditus risked his health for their wealth, his life to fulfill the ministry (he agonized for people in prayer – Colossians 4:12).

The even if is in the present tense, not talking about his death so much as his life right then, he was even now being poured out, in other words, since I am being poured out. It wasn’t his death he was speaking of, it was his life, he was a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), and his death was only the culmination of that. It wasn’t that he was saying that his martyrdom was the drink offering, but his life was. It wasn’t just that he was willing to die for the cause, but that he was willing to live for it. The sacrificial death was only the end of a sacrificial life. Paul is saying since I am being poured out, and it is upon your faith, I rejoice. He rejoices because his labor isn’t in vain, they have faith and are sacrificing and serving God themselves, and his being poured out is the “cherry on top”, as it were. The Philippians were making the greater sacrifice, says Paul, because their sufferings were multiplied. This shows Paul’s true humility. He considers it all as a sacrifice, unity, everyone playing his or her part.

It is not joy in spite of; it is joy because of, counting it joy to be counted as worthy to be poured out. Do you consider what God has poured in you worthy to be poured out? Paul’s greatest joy came when giving the greatest sacrifice. Now only God can make us to be like that. Paul says I am rejoicing, you are also being sacrificed, so also joy, let us all joy together for one another. We love one another, and our joy is made full. Obedience is greater than sacrifice, but if you are obedient you will sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of obedience. Ultimate sacrifice produces ultimate joy. What have you said no to in order to say yes to God, to His will, to His kingdom, to His Church?

Paul was fully poured out, now to the point of his very life. His heart was spent on them in service to Christ. People talk about pouring in to someone’s life but you cannot pour in unless you pour out, and you can only pour out what has been poured in. I am not talking just about giving advice and mentoring someone, I am talking about taking risk; giving up things you need for what they need, like a parent does for a child (1 Thessalonians 2:8), doing it as if something of yours was at stake. When someone pours themselves out like that you know it, you know them in a way that resonates with your own soul. This is why I call Martin Luther my friend, good and bad, he poured out himself in his life and it shows in his writing, and in those things written about him. He didn’t leave anything in; he poured it all out. Sure he made mistakes but he took risks and he left a legacy still felt to this day.

The great heroes of the faith have the heart of a humble servant, selfless, one who was willing to give himself up in the simplest task not for his own fulfillment or his own gain, but for the sake of the Lord he loves. God is the end not the means to an end. That would be just pouring to get something, not to give something.

One key way we pour ourselves out is in and through prayer. We need to pray like it means something, like we have a stake in it, like we are taking a risk. That is how you seek God; that is the place where He works. If it doesn’t cost you anything it doesn’t benefit anybody.

F.B. Meyer – "It was because Moses was prepared to be blotted from the book of God for his people that he carried them for forty years through the desert and deposited them on the very borders of the Promised Land. It was because Jesus wept over Jerusalem that He was able to send a Pentecost on that guilty city. It was because Paul was prepared to be accursed for his brethren according to the flesh that he was able to turn so many from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God." "No heart pangs, no spiritual seed."

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©