Are You Ready?

How do you approach your day?

Do you simply look at your day as something to be survived? Is it something to be cherished? Is it something to be seized?

In all reality no matter how you approach your ready you must be ready. As followers of Jesus we must be ready to fight the fight that will be before us. I have come to realize that no matter how good a day may seem or maybe be going I have an enemy that sneeking around ready to pounce on me and my family in a moments notice. If we are not prepared for this kind of attack then the affects of such an attack will be magnified.

So the question before you today is are you ready for the attack that is sure to come?

The Law of Possession

For marriage to be successful two individuals must find a way to become one. For a couple to successfully navigate this process they must be willing to completely surrender what was theirs individually and surrender it to the common cause. This does not mean that we completely lose our individuality no more than the Holy Spirit is not distinct from God the Father. What it means is that we must be willing to give our lives over to the other person. We must be willing to share all of our lives with one another. When we do this we make ourselves vulnerable to the other person and in so doing we open up more opportunities to grow closer. Along with this we must be willing to accept that which our spouse shares with us. They are who God has made them to be. They are wired in a certain way for a reason. We may not always understand why but that should not stop us from accepting them.

Sharing all of your life is difficult at times. We have so many things and thoughts that enter in to us that prevent us from sharing. Many times we do not want to burden our spouse with the troubles we have. We may even see this as a means of protecting them. In the end though it is not God's design for us to be this way. It is arrogant and demeaning for us to think that our wife/husband is not strong enough to handle whatever it is that we need to share. When we withhold parts of our lives from our spouse then we short change them. We deprive them of the opportunity of helping us in our need. We deprive ourselves the opportunity to grow closer in our oneness with them.

If you are married then I would encourage you to share your day, your feelings and your life with your spouse today. I would also encourage you to be prepared to receive whatever your spouse may bring to you this day. Be ready to be accepting and loving no matter what they share with you.

Confidence

In Exodus 33:18-23 we see how despite the closeness Moses had with God that he wanted more. Moses comes across as a man who could not get enough of God. In the end though the sinful nature of man would not allow Moses to truly come before God. Moses was not allowed to come completely in to God's presence (think in terms of coming face to face with God) because had he done so he would have surely died. Thankfully, the same is not true for us today.

Ephesians 3:12 tell us that we can approach God with confidence, freedom and boldness. So how is this possible? How is ok for me to have that kind of access to God and Moses, God's chosen leader, to not have that kind of access? Jesus! Jesus' sacrifice and blood make it possible for to go before a holy God with confidence and freedom. Furthermore, I believe God wants us to live our lives with same kind of confidence and freedom. He wants us to live a life that fears no man no matter his position or status. He wants us to be able to live a life that screams of boldness and peace no matter what comes along before us.

I know I struggle with this a lot. There are people in my life that have authority over me that struggle to stand before with confidence and assurance. At the end of the day I must remember that there is nothing that can defeat me when God is for me. No matter how bad things may appear to me God has me and my family in the palm of His hand. He will take care of us. He will provide for us. We shall be more than conquerors through our Lord! May I be confident in these facts this week!

Questions for God

The more I read in the book of Exodus the more I am beginning to see the intimate nature of the relationship between Moses and God. For some reason or another I have had this image in my head that it was more like the typical worker and boss kind of relationship. I suppose at some level there was this relationship between the two of them but at the end of the day God desired a deep relationship with Moses just like He desires a deep relationship with us. The closeness between Moses and God allows Moses to ask those questions that many may have been asking but unable to ask.

Have you ever had questions you needed answered but we too afraid to ask of God? Have you ever felt like your questions were too silly of foolish to take to God? I know I have. I know I have been in that place where I felt like I should know the answer or should not even be asking the question because of my position of leadership. The fact of the matter is that God wants us to be so close to Him that we always feel comfortable talking to Him and asking Him our questions. He will not condemn us for asking or questioning. In fact many times God will use our questions to give us answers.

In the end if you have a question for God do not be afraid to ask. Besides, He already knows that you have the question :)

Like a friend

We read in Exodus 33:11 that God spoke to Moses in same way that friends wouldn't speak to one another. God has always wanted this kind of relationship with us. It was meant to be intimate and even relaxed. Our sin messes this up but thankfully Jesus' blood fixes it back. His blood will make it possible for us to have an intimate friendship with God in heaven.

I think this passage, as well the scenes with God before the fall, gives us a glimpse as to what our time with God will be like. It is not always going to white robes and singing and bowing down. It is going to be so much more and I cant wait! How about you?

Priorities

Keeping things in the right perspective is one of my greatest challenges right now. I have a lot of stressful things going on in my life and I have done a poor job of handling that stress. I have been especially poor at allowing that stress to negatively impact the two most important relationships in my life. I have allowed myself to get to a place with my God where His voice seems distant at best. I have allowed my relationship with my wife to get to a place where she does not feel the peace and comfort of having a husband who will take care of her needs (emotional, financially, etc...).

I never intended things to get to this point but now that I am beginning to see how badly things have gotten I can begin to change them and make things better on all fronts. I have started this process this week while my family has been away to Texas. It has been a fight all of the way because the old me wanted to simply sit around and do nothing and hide in the darkness. I had to make the choice many times to literally get up and keep doing things that I knew needed to be done. It was a constant battle but it has been one that I know I must not lose. Over these last few days I have learned a lot about myself, my life and the power of the enemy. The goal for me this week was to get my life and priorities back in correct alignment. It is my hope that I have truly accomplished this but only time will tell.

It is my prayer tonight that your priorities are in the right place. It is my hope that if they are not that you make the decision tonight to change that.

Expectations...

When we are in any kind of a relationship with someone we naturally develop a set of expectations for that relationship and what we expect that person to do or give. This is true in all of our relationships. Some of the relationships we have we expect very little from people while other relationships we have higher expectations. I think most people who are married have a tendency to expect too much of their spouse. Most of us will at some point gravitate towards expecting our spouse to fill our needs for acceptance, identity, security, and purpose that can only be truly found in Christ.

I know for me I have done this many times. I have taken my eyes off of Jesus and as such I have stopped allowing Him to be meeting those needs and I started "requiring" Angie to meet those needs. That is an unrealistic expectation and unfair for me to place that upon her. The fact of the matter is that God intends for us to seek our basic needs from Him so that we can be a source of love and encouragement to others. In marriage, God expects me to love Him so much that I have an abundance of love and compassion for Angie. If I am able to constantly develop my relationship with Him then I will be better able and equipped to develop my relationship with her.