No Other Rock

And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. ~ I Kings 10:13

Today’s devotion deals with an issue that causes a lot of raised eyebrows when brought up; that of prayer and asking for things from God.

I have heard many people ask the questions, why even pray? Clearly, God knows what it is we seek and will pray for before we ever seek it, so why bother?

For some, the sheer fact that it is commanded is enough. But for others, there must be significant logic behind the reasoning. If for nothing else, they need motive and to know why they are to pray.

Baxter does good job of tying these two issues – why to pray and is it okay to ask of things from God – by paralleling King Solomon and our Lord. “It is instructive to remember this when we read of his [King Solomon’s] liberality to the queen of Sheba (p. 31).”

Solomon gave 1.) whatsoever she asked, 2.) all her desire, and 3.) his own royal bounty. This sentiment is echoed in Ephesians 3:20 that says; “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

It is in this that we realize we must ask God for our desires; even though He already knows. As Baxter says; “Often the very act of asking forces us to be clear instead of vague, and makes the answers unmistakable when they come.”

But prayer must go beyond asking. We must tell God what we desire. But we must not limit God to our desires. God desires great things for us . . . and He has a royal bounty unlike any other.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will remember to ask God and place our full faith in Him that we will not limit Him to our desires.

Tags: King Solomon Queen of Sheba prayer

There is joy in the presence of angels of God over one one sinner that repenteth. ~ Luke 15:10

When a sinner gives his or her life over to Christ, who rejoices?

As we learned yesterday, the angels who watch over us, fret over us and sincerely hold hope for us will rejoice over each and every soul who is won in Christ’s name. They care not for political correctness, military conquests, the top headlines of the day . . . “their pure joy immediately rises when souls are won to the savior.”

But if the angels are throwing parties and filled with joy by this event, imagine just how much joy is given to Christ himself!

Now, what about us? What brings us joy?

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will seek to find joy in winning souls for Christ and not in ways of this world.

Tags: angels Luke rejoice salvation

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. ~ Luke 15:10

The world we live in has watered down the concept of angels. We see stores that sell novelty angel figurines, plush dolls and home décor. We watch movies that make assumptions about angels who are supposedly sent form Heaven to walk among us as they do their work. In reading various books and watching those many TV shows and movies, we’ve been led to believe that there are situations in which angels are assigned people to watch over, are among us as misfits, are kicked out of heaven, are able to emotionally connect with earthly beings who have not yet gone home . . . we’ve seen so many of these scenarios, it’s no wonder they’ve become almost novelty.

But as the above passage tells use, angles do exist. What’s more, we know that they do watch over us and are able to possess concern for our well-being. What’s more, we see that they take joy in our success (and probably distress in our failures).

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will give the angels who watch over us a reason to celebrate.

Tags: angels Luke rejoice salvation

Friend . . . Servant . . . Witness. ~ John 15, 20, 27

Today, I’m just going to ask a couple questions:

How well do you know God?
Does God consider you a Friend?

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will take the extra time that would have been spent reading this post and get to know God better through prayer . . . and that we will connect with Him more often.

I am the Vine; ye are the branches. ~ John 15:5

Yesterday, we learned that among the chief roles of being Christians is to be a branch of Christ. The Lord declared that He is the one true vine and we are to be fruit bearing branches for Christ.

Baxter spends a lot of today’s devotion in explaining that Christendom is NOT the true vine, nor is the devout individual in any given denomination. Being a member of a church does not make use living members of Christ Himself. “There must be a personal, individual, heart-to-heart union with the living Saviour [sic].”

So how does one bear fruit?

First, there must be pruning, or cleansing. Second, there must be abiding. Finally, there must be obeying. These prerequisites can be found in John, Chapter 15, versus 2, 4 and 10 respectively.

We are cleansed through the word. That means as we read it, learn , live and respond to it, we are pruned. To abide, we

“allow nothing in the life, which breaks our communion with Christ; to leave no known sin unconfessed, unjudged, unexpelled; and by prayerful faith to draw upon Him for all strength and wisdom needed to live a Christlike life (p27).”

To be obedient, we must follow the simple commandment; “love one another as I have loved you” verse 12.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will be pruned, will abide and will be obedient so we will bear fruit as branches of Christ.

So shall ye be My disciples ~ John 15:8

Today’s devotion is one that simply makes you stop in awe by how much can be read into scripture. Baxter points to four versus in the fifteenth chapter of John (5, 15, 20, and 27) that point to the fourfold union we are to have with Christ.

Through those versus, we learn that we are to be branches, friends, servants and witnesses. In doing so, respectively, we are to live in Him, joy in Him, work for Him and know that He is our life purpose (or theme).

As branches, we are to bear fruit. As friends, we are to fellowship. As servants, we may be persecuted, and as witnesses Baxter points out the provision of Paraclete. Unfamiliar with the latter term, I sought the definition and found that;

Paraclete comes from the Greek word meaning “one who consoles” or “one who intercedes on our behalf”, which first appears in the Gospel of John (16:7). Christian theology afterwards identified Paraclete with the Holy Spirit. [source: wikipedia definition for Paraclete]

That makes sense.

Baxter also points out that these four characteristics (two of them spiritual and two of them practical) also represent renewal, privilege, endeavor and responsibility.

Taking all this into consideration, we are to accept these assigned roles with Christ as sources of gladness, and perhaps with challenge.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will consider these roles and ask ourselves if we are 1.) vitally united with Christ, 2.) living closely in daily fellowship with Him, 3.) faithfully serving Him while faced with the ways of this world, and 4.) giving witness for Him on a daily basis as opportunity allows.

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said: Lord, wherefore has Thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it Thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all. ~ Exodus 5:22-23

Today’s devotion opened with a longer passage of the same scripture used yesterday. We see the utter confusion, perplexities and maybe even the resentment that was polluting Moses’s mind at the time.

God was working inside Moses. Baxter refers to this as a “death of selfism” as Moses learns to rely upon God. And while we cannot fathom this concept real well in today’s world (not that it was easy back then), it IS possible.

Think of the ramifications: “Moreover, such death to ‘self’ brings wonderful peace. With pride and fear and envy and self-seeking gone – oh what peace!”

But let us not forget that dying is painful. Baxter quotes F.B. Meyer in saying that:

It is not easy to forego one’s own plans, to cease from one’s own works, to renounce one’s own reputation, to be despised and flouted by the very slaves you would save. What corn of wheat enjoys having its waterproof sheath torn from it, its elements disintegrated, its heart eaten into, as it lies helpless, exposed to the earth-forces, in the cold, damp, dark soil?

What a graphic way of looking at the death of one’s “self” - by seeing yourself stripped of your protective shields and all the “stuff” that establishes your identity – your worth – and being left with nothing but a core! Only then can you allow God to build you up.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will remember that when we are in conditions of distress, we will remember that it is BECAUSE we are in God’s will. Allow Him to build us up!

Why is it that Thous hast sent me? ~ Exodus 5:22

Yesterday, I lauded God’s timing. Today’s devotion does a similar thing, but much more eloquently than I could have by talking about Moses.

How many time shave you questioned God on why he was allowing something to happen (or not happen) to you? Have you ever felt God willing you to do something you didn’t want to do – but you did it and in doing so, you expected a successful outcome - except it backfired and it was not successful?

Such was the case with Moses. “Not only does Pharaoh disdainfully refuse to let the people go, he adds new rigours [sic] to the already pitiful lot of the slave-driven Israelites, so that the distraught Israelite captains bitterly accuse Moses and wish he had never shown his face again in Egypt (verse 21).”

But what do we learn from this failure? God’s timing and reasoning are not without reason.

Well, the truth is that the irony of refusal and the agony of recoil were graciously preparing Moses fo the greatest experience and mightiest service of his life. Immediate success might have been a cruelty rather than a kindness.

Moses, in being prepared for unequalled greatness, was being taught to trust and rely upon God alone.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will rely upon God alone through our struggles while knowing the best experiences are yet to come.

Called to be saints. ~ Romans 1:7

I am always amazed at God’s timing. Sometimes you pray for something, and while talking to Him, you don’t hear the answers. Then, He speaks to you when you least expect it.

Evidently, sometimes you know what you will ask him before you do, and answers it before you even talk to Him. That is the case with this devotion being read by me on this day. Though I won’t go into detail, I will tell you that it is true.

Today’s devotion builds upon yesterday’s; where we learned that we are called to be saints. I have always held the position that we are works in progress until the day we return home to our Lord. Put in other words, we are continually on this earth to learn from God and develop as He would have us do so, according to his will.

And, in a sense, that’s what Baxter teaches with today’s devotion. In this verse from Romans, we learn were are called to BE saints. In BE-ing, we are not DO-ing; i.e. “My character is to become like His, through consecration on my part, and impartation on His.”

One of the sentences that Baxter writes in this devotion that has a ton of impact (and was underlined by one of the previous owners of this book) reads, “Do not try to live a holy life; live a holy minute! – Sixty of them make a holy hour; and hours make days, weeks, years.”

Wow. When you look at it in that perspective, you have the ability to overcome and to become. You are called to be a saint. Through Him and this call, you can fight additions and vices, you can receive that call.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will take our call to be saints to heart by living in holy minutes.