The demands of connection
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Psalm 4:3
That snowy morning I spent time reviewing my part of the connection with God. I saw some gaps that needed to be “caulked” with a more focused pursuit of the Lord. I realized that I had been slacking off in the time I spent before the Lord, and I needed to draw more closely to Him to seek and enjoy His presence with undistracted abandon. A demand had been placed on my end of this connection—a demand to be more purposeful in my pursuit of Him. And I was happy to do my part to connect more tightly again.
In healthy relationships, both parties typically understand the need to spend focused, undistracted time with the other. And this intentional set-aside involvement is considered a “demand”, even if it is an enjoyable one. Most Christians understand that our primary job as believers is to seek God and to worship Him regularly. This is a “demand” that is placed on our end of the connection.
And yet that is just our side of the connection. On His end, He absolutely delights in our fellowship and savors our worship. But over and over again in the Word of God, He lets us know that He desires each of us to place demands on Him, as well.
One of the most incomprehensible attributes of God to many people—maybe even you—is that He desires and even delights in having demands placed upon Him. Now, He’s not a Sugar Daddy, a genie, or an ATM and will not be treated as such. But He is a loving Father who cares tenderly and very deeply for each one of us.
And hence, when the psalmist declares, “Know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him,” you can be assured that He not only hears you when you call to Him, but He delights in that connection, as well.
Consider the contrast of the wicked: “Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord” (Psalm 14:4, NIV; emphasis added). A key characteristic of ungodly men and women is their refusal to humbly recognize their need to call upon God for His divine help. Evidently they think that placing a demand on the God of the universe is beneath them.
But as for you who know Him—or who would like to know Him—He is ready and waiting for you to place the demands of your life upon Him. He will lovingly take those demands and transfer to you the wisdom you need and then work out the rest in His own sovereign, supernatural way.
“…the…Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (see Romans 10:12-13). The Lord has committed to richly bless anyone who calls on Him; even salvation is accessed by calling on His name. You call; He provides. Never again think that you bother the Lord.
The psalmist wrote, “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High,” a clear delineation of the human end of the connection between God and man (Psalm 50:14). Your part is to openly thank God and follow through with your commitment to Him. But then the psalmist wrote prophetically concerning God’s end, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me” (Psalm 50:15; emphasis added).
Again, He beckons you to call on Him—even on the worst day of your life. And the Creator and God of all things has commanded you to place a demand on Him. He urges you to completely and one hundred percent look to Him to deliver you. And His part of the connection is this: He will rescue you.
Here’s the kicker: You bring honor to God because He rescues you. And that’s the way He set it up! When you encounter trouble, you cry out to Him; and He delivers you. That brings Him honor. What a deal!
No matter what life, the devil, or people throw at you, your part is to call boldly upon God. His part is to hear you and rescue you; and in all of this, you honor Him.
As you draw near to God, don’t neglect to place a demand on His great power and saving provision. In this way, you will minister to His Father’s heart and you will honor Him.
Dorothy
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Psalm 34:6
Read MoreThe greatness of His power us-ward
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know…what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:18a; 19b
That snowy morning God spoke to me quite a bit about my part of our relationship and how to recognize looseness on my end of that connection with Him. But connections run two ways—He reminded me about His commitment to do His part, as well.
It would be absolutely impossible for us humans to be personally accountable if God refused to uphold His end of the connection. We could try—but we would fail again and again. But because God is God; because He is good; and because He is gracious, He provided His Son as an atonement for our sin so that through Jesus, we could be empowered to walk in newness of life and to receive the grace necessary to sustain a close connection with Him.
The apostle Paul wrote, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know…” In order to access anything, it is beneficial to know that it exists and is available. Someone may have set hundreds of thousands of dollars aside in an account for you, but if you don’t know about it, the money just sits there—unknown and unaccessed—while your financial needs pile up, unmet.
Along with other momentous truths, one thing that God wants you to know is this: that His power is surpassingly great toward you who believe. I like how the King James Version says it: “…that ye may know what is… the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe”. The exceeding greatness of His power is “us-ward”. In other words, you can read it this way: God has locked and loaded the exceeding greatness of His power me-ward—and He’s not afraid to use it!
All of “the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power” (Amplified) is focused on you, and God is more than willing to unload it on your behalf. He wants you to become so intimately knowledgeable about His willingness to use His power “you-ward” that it will be as natural for you to trust Him as it is to breathe.
Everything in your life; everything in your heart, mind, and personality; everything that has anything to do with you is something about which you can access the exceeding greatness of His power “you-ward”. In fact, your end of the connection with the Lord can be made snug and secure only because His end of the connection provides the power to make it secure.
When you were little, you learned your ABC’s and math facts by repetition. You learned how to tie your shoes and ride a bike through trial and error—through practice—over time. You may have thought at first that “el-em-en-o-pee” was a big, fancy letter; you may have computed 2 + 3 to equal six every now and then; you may have hopelessly knotted your shoelaces a time or two; and you probably wiped out while learning to ride your bike a few times. But with every miss, you got up and tried it again. And eventually, you conquered.
Have you suffered a couple or so “misses” while seeking to receive from God? Take a lesson from “little you” and get up and keep on going. Don’t let your past failures—whether through misinterpretation, miscalculation, misunderstood instructions, or unbalanced attempts at moving ahead—steal from you the joy of your salvation. The Lord remains the same; His mercy endures forever; and His power will always be you-ward.
So get back up. Say those ABC’s. Calculate that math fact. Tie that shoe. Ride that bike. And trust God once again. He will make things clear; He will illumine your darkness; He will not fail.
And pray. Pray for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened to know—to really know—what is the surpassing greatness of the power of His connection “you-ward”. This is a prayer He delights in answering.
Dorothy
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Read MoreConnection—even when you don’t get your way
After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses learned that God would not allow him to enter the Promised Land. Faithful Moses had disobeyed the directive of God at Meribah, and as a result, the Lord revealed to him that neither he nor Aaron would be crossing into Canaan with the rest of Israel.
Here’s what happened. Miriam, Moses’ sister, had just died, and the Israelites, after journeying relentlessly for decades, came to Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin. They were weary, hungry, and thirsty—and utterly miserable. “The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, ‘If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink’” (Numbers 20:3-5).
It’s bad enough to be around angry, contentious souls when you can feel your car keys in your pocket, ready and waiting to facilitate your escape. Moses and Aaron had no such recourse. They sought God; He revealed the plan.
“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink” (Numbers 20:8).
Moses took the rod, and instead of speaking to the rock, he beat it with the rod, like the Lord had commanded long ago at Rephidim (see Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11).
To us humans, the difference between speaking to a rock and striking it may seem like no big deal, but in God’s eyes, Moses was disobedient. He had chosen to approach the command of the Lord his own way.
Although hundreds of rich and meaningful sermons have been preached concerning Moses’ choice at Meribah, I don’t want to focus on any of these worthwhile topics: his poor decision; the difference between speaking to and striking the rock; the symbolism involved; or the consequences of Moses’ disobedience. Instead, I want to look at the solid connection between the Lord and him despite Moses’ failure to obey.
You see, Moses’ relationship with the God of Israel did not end at Meribah. God continued to lead Moses, to provide for Israel, and to do the miraculous among them. Unlike some Christians who cut others off after being offended, God did not give Moses the cold shoulder from then on. No, He remained faithful to the man of God, and Moses maintained his connection to the Lord despite the heartbreaking consequence of his disobedience.
This is a huge and all-encompassing lesson to learn in your walk with God. What do you do when things flat-out don’t go your way? How do you approach life and your relationship with the Lord and others from that time forward?
Consider Moses. His heart’s desire was to lead God’s people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Even after that fateful day at Meribah and the stunning pronouncement of the Lord, “…you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (see Numbers 20:12), Moses continued to lead the people and to serve God faithfully. And before his death the man revealed that he had pleaded with the Lord, “Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon” (Deuteronomy 3:25), but God, the God to whom he was connected, said, “Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan” (see Deuteronomy 3:26-27). God allowed Moses to see the desire of his heart; he was not allowed to enter. Moses chose to cling tightly to God, nonetheless, and died, leaving behind the overarching testimony of faithfulness to the God who loved him.
God is not unfair; He is righteous in all that He does. And when things don’t go the way you had hoped; when the desires of your heart remain unmet; when it seems that everyone else is blessed but you, what will you do? Will you throw in the towel? Will you leave it all behind? Moses could have—but didn’t.
Sometimes we don’t see the forest for the trees. Have you ever been so distracted by all the little pieces to the faith-puzzle that you missed out on the big picture of God’s never-failing, abiding love? Has your desire ever grown to be so all-consuming within you that it even overshadowed the Lord Himself? Was the direction you insisted upon going second- or third-best (or much worse), and all the while God was urging you elsewhere? Often what seems to be God’s rejection actually stems from our own frailty and human thinking—not recognizing the leading of His love and care.
Don’t let the disappointments of life or failures in faith unravel your connection with the Lord. His love toward you never fails; He is faithful to you till the end; and He is both your anchor and your high tower when everything around you falls apart.
If things don’t go your way, recognize this: You are connected to Someone far greater than all the blessings you could ever desire all wrapped up and tied together in a massive bundle. You are connected with the One whose love is better than life itself (see Psalm 63:3).
Let your attitude be this: Nothing shall ever be able to separate me from my tight connection with the Lord—including not getting my way.
Dorothy
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Read MoreDon’t drift away
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. Hebrews 2:1
Before I dove into the devotionals that snowy morning, this verse from Hebrews came up within me, along with a portion of verse 3 from the same chapter: “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
I understand by experience that drifting can be dangerous; I’ve been on enough float trips on Missouri streams to know that if I don’t use my paddle skillfully and watchfully, the canoe drifts wherever the river takes it. Drifting is especially hazardous during high waters following the spring rains; trust me—been there, done that. Sure, it can be relaxing and more “chill” to settle back and just let the river do its thing, but on more than one occasion, simply drifting along has resulted in getting caught in the rooty snags of fallen trees, capsizing the canoe, and losing coolers, eyeglasses, car keys, or wallets!
You can always get a new pair of glasses or set of keys; wallets and their contents can be replaced; and usually you can fish your cooler out somewhere downstream.
But Hebrews speaks of a different kind of drifting. Hebrews speaks of drifting nonchalantly away from your connection to the Lord. This sort of drifting is the effortless floating away from the things you’ve learned in your relationship with Jesus. This type of drifting occurs with ease when you neglect what you’ve heard, seen, and received in the Lord.
And this kind of drifting can get you into trouble. Snags, snares, and snafus await drifters at every bend, ready to snatch oblivious floaters. Quite honestly, the Word is clear: such neglect of your connection with Jesus has consequences (see Hebrews 2:2).
Then I read Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest entry for that day, and he wrote, “Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life?” (See http://utmost.org/have-you-felt-the-pain-inflicted-by-the-lord/.)
Oh great, I thought, let’s read about pain. But when God fingers issues in your life, it is the sign of His tender love for you, not disdain or disgust. Hebrews 12:6 states, “For who the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (NKJV). And verse 11 addresses the pain of correction: “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (emphasis added).
In fact, the writer of Hebrews also insisted that if you never experience the uncomfortable touch of discipline or correction in your walk with Jesus, then you are illegitimate—you’ve never been born of God (see Hebrews 12:8).
As much as most of us don’t enjoy owning up to our flubs, flaws, or failures, nevertheless, the way of discipleship, the way of growth, and the way to yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness in your life involves just that—owning up to your flubs, flaws, and failures as you become aware of them.
So what was the Lord correcting me about? I had grown lax in giving Him first place in my day. I had allowed gadgets and media to consume my time before I gave Him a chance to speak, and as a result, I was actively laying a foundation of distraction to start my day. Betcha I’m not the only one dealing with this issue!
When you give God the right to correct you, you submit to Him. And as you do so, He can build upon that foundation, brick by brick, the scaffolding and structure of your life, and then He can direct the flow of the river within you to accomplish great things through you.
Yield to the training of His discipline; it will produce in you the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Dorothy
Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. Psalm 32:9
Read MoreThe morning connection with God
O God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
“Step by Step” © 1991 BMG Songs, Inc. / Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing / ASCAP / All rights reserved
One of the most profound disciplines I’ve bought into over the years is that of seeking God in the morning. I’d love to say that I’ve been consistent with this practice day by day, week by week, year by year, over the span of nearly forty years. Unfortunately, I cannot say that.
I can say this. The Lord taught me the value of seeking Him first thing, and as a result, I’ve almost always had some sort of fellowship with Him before I head out the door.
Like most of you, I’ve gone through ebbs and flows with the Lord in the mornings. More than once, when carnality and chaos seemed to rule the day, He would gently remind me, “Seek Me now—and give Me first place in the morning.” And every time He redirects me after I’ve been “too busy” to start my day in the Word and prayer, I pull myself out of bed the next day, find my Bible, a pen and paper, and start reading and talking to Him. Without fail, He shows up and highlights Scriptures and wisdom to my heart.
After a season in my life when I flirted with some carnality, the first thing God led me to do was to reestablish my time with Him in the morning. I purposed to set aside 6:30-7:00 before I left for work to spend time in the Word and prayer. (I had consistently prayed for longer periods of time as a younger believer, but I had to start over again with what I could realistically do. I’ve observed that sometimes we put bigger goals before ourselves than we can handle; when we fail, we give up. Start small; conquer that, and then increase as the Lord leads.)
As I remained faithful to my half-hour with God, the peace, revelation, joy, and blessing flooded back into my life. It always amazes me how God shows up when I obey Him.
I was one of those backwards things who didn’t have a lot of technology in my home. Well, when I finally went online, let’s just say I was swept away. You see, I love to study and think and learn about what’s going on in the world, and I discovered that every morning I had all of the world’s issues laid out before me with a click of a button. Of course, I’d pray and seek God, but something just didn’t feel right.
Clear as a bell, in March of 2010, the Lord told me, “Don’t even look at the news until after you’ve spent time with Me each morning.” And again, when I put my hand to the seeking-God plow first thing in the day, peace, revelation, joy, and blessing flooded back upon me in even greater measure.
And then I got my first iPhone less than a year ago. (Told you I was technologically backwards.) I learned how amazing it was—an alarm clock, email, news, weather and so much more—all at my fingertips! And what do you know, but I started checking my emails first thing (I’m not on Facebook, or I would be checking that, too) and one thing led to another, and I had journeyed around the world, to international meetings and crime scenes before I even got out of bed! Several conspiracies were unfolded before my eyes and I even learned about all of the sales waiting for me on everything from storage cabinets to cat food.
Oh, I would pray—way later in the morning—and feel about as spiritual as an empty potato chip bag.
And conviction came over me again. Lord, I’ve let go of what You told me in 2010. I’ve put all this other stuff before You. I need help! And it all happened on that snowy morning I told you about.
I knew I would hear from God if I opened up my devotionals, and right there in Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, I read, “Be ready in the morning, and come up…present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee” (Exodus 34:2,3; KJV).
In the morning. God had spoken again. Not only did He want me to present myself to Him each day, but He also said this: “And no man shall come up with thee.” Not emails, not the news, not the forecast, not sales, not the latest conspiracy—no man shall share that time slot which I have reserved just for the two of us, I sensed Him saying to my heart.
“And no man shall come up with thee.” That man—my iPhone—and the other man—my laptop—now stay in another part of the house when I go into the early morning secret place with God.
As you can see, for such an intelligent person, I’ve been a slow learner. But oh, the joy of connecting with God in the morning before the world around me clamors for attention! Nothing that beckons for my notice can compare to the sweetness of early morning fellowship with Him.
Top of the morning to you!
Dorothy
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:3
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8:17; KJV
Read MoreConnection vs. disconnect
Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26
Connection vs. disconnect. The difference can be subtle in a time of peace, but when giants arise to taunt the armies of the living God, or when voices opposed to sound doctrine amass in the land—insisting that good is evil and evil is good—the contrast can become gravely stark.
The life of David—the shepherd boy, psalmist, and king of Israel—bears witness to this disparity. Our own lives also attest to the rewards and consequences of each—seasons of connection to the Lord and lapses into disconnect.
As a young man, David was sent to Israel’s front line with food for his brothers. When he approached his destination, David heard the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, defy the ranks of Israel, threatening them with defeat and enforced servitude (see 1 Samuel 17:8-10; 23). King Saul and his mighty warriors of Israel and were greatly dismayed and fled in terror (see verses 11 and 24).
But young David, fresh from shepherding sheep and singing out the depths of his heart to God, stood among them and asked in disbelief, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” He could fathom neither the display of defiance toward God nor the timidity of the warriors gathered. David would take him on—and bring him down.
From the reservoir of strength within him, built up in private, intimate fellowship with God, he stood fast when challenged by Saul: “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth” (see verse 33).
David recounted his testimony birthed from connection with the Lord. “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God” (verses 34-36).
He summed up his thoughts, giving honor to God: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (verse 37).
The rest is lauded history. David did his part, God did His part, and Goliath did his part—he died. And David became a rock star in Israel, loved and adored by all—except King Saul.
Fast forward
“Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1).
Many years later, long after David was crowned king in Saul’s place, in the spring of the year when kings went out to battle against one another, David stayed at home. Bible commentator David Guzik explains, “In that part of the world, wars were not normally fought during the winter months because rains and cold weather made travel and campaigning difficult. Fighting resumed in the spring” (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide_2Sa/2Sa_11.cfm).
King David was not unaware of this yearly threat to Israel’s sovereignty—although they took breaks, the enemies of Israel never gave up in their quest to decimate God’s people. Despite the menace to his country, David remained at home. In his commentary, Guzik quotes G. Campbell Morgan who wrote, “In the whole of the Old Testament literature there is no chapter more tragic or full of solemn and searching warning than this” (ibid; emphasis added).
It was his tight connection with God that drove David’s indignation at the taunts of Goliath; in the power of that connection the shepherd boy defeated the giant. Now, when his nation needed him again, his connection had grown lax; the godly outrage at the threats of the enemies of God had faded into comfortable nonchalance; the king figured that Joab could handle it—or perhaps he felt that no significant threat existed at all.
In that place of loose connection and resulting unguardedness, while relaxing on the roof, David—the giant-slayer, the king, and the beloved psalmist of Israel—saw someone pretty, and he wanted her. He sent for Bathsheba and bedded her despite the fact that she was married to one of his warriors. When she later informed him that she had become pregnant, he plotted to cover his sin by bringing her husband Uriah home from the battle for a few nights with her, in hopes that Uriah would be none-the-wiser when Bathsheba’s belly started to swell.
However, Uriah refused to join his wife, declaring, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing” (see 2 Samuel 11:11). His zeal for Israel and those who served stood in sharp contrast to the carnal complicity of the king.
David conspired, therefore, to do away with the godly warrior and wrote in a letter to his chief officer Joab, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die” (see verse 15).
Indeed, Uriah died in battle and David took the man’s wife as his own. And to re-quote G. Campbell Morgan, “In…the Old Testament…there is no chapter more tragic or full of solemn and searching warning than this.”
Connection vs. disconnect: The challenge emerges on a daily basis. You know that if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. You have read in the Word, Choose life that you may live. Yet without missing a beat, the enemy of your soul prowls around as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. How can your foe devour you if you are tightly connected in faith, love, and passionate pursuit of your God? He can’t—unless you allow him to entice you to loosen that connection.
Pay attention to this tale from the life of David, and make it your aim and lifelong pursuit to keep your connection with God sound, stable, and strong.
Could it be that from your connection with God the Light of Jesus will blaze brightly through your life and souls will be pulled out of sure death? Perhaps yours will be the connection with the Lord from which springs a giant-defeating blow or mighty restraint upon the agendas of darkness.
Is it worth it to maintain that tight connection with the Lord? Ask David.
Dorothy
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