Preparation Must Come Before God's Presence

                                                      When The Door Slams

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in  the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God's salvation.'"                                                                 Luke 3:4-6

        If we are to receive the powerful presence of God, we must prepare ourselves. John the Baptist was God's messenger to help people prepare to receive the Savior of the world. John preached unwaveringly: "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!" (Matt. 3:2). Those who heard John's message and prepared their lives recognized Jesus when He came, and they left all to follow Him. This was especially true of the disciples, whose hearts God Himself prepared (matt.16:17). Preparation must come before God's presence! 

        God's instruction for preparation is specific: repentance! This involves a complete change of mind, heart, will, and behavior toward Him. He is Lord, and your life must be prepared to receive Him as your Lord. Anything less is inadequate. Some were obviously unprepared to follow Jesus and missed the opportunity (Luke 9:57-62). The religious leaders of Jesus' day were largely unprepared for His arrival. They know the Messiah was coming. They even knew where He would be born (Matt. 2:4-6). Yet when word came that the Savior had been born, they made no effort to join Him, preferring instead their religious ritual. 

        Think about this: If you are unprepared, you, too, will miss the opportunity to experience Jesus. You may practice religion, but you will miss God. While others encounter the Lord personally in worship, your heart will remain unmoved. As others receive a fresh word from God, you will experience a painful silence. Religious activity can never substitute for a heart that is pure before the Lord. A clean heart and an obedient spirit comes only through repentance. Pray, and ask God to examine your heart and reveal your need to repent of your sin (Ps. 139:23-24). 

Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we face death all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Yet in all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him who love me (Romans 8:35-37). 

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness. 

                                                                        Never Rest Ministries.                          

There Is Shortcuts To Spiritual Maturity

                                                      When The Door Slams

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who build his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."                                                                   Matthew 7:24-27

        The Christian life is hard work. Christianity involves systematically striving to implement the truths of God's Word into your life. Spiritual depth and maturity do not come without consistent effort. Jesus had just concluded the Sermon on the Mount, which sets forth some of the most profound truths ever spoken. The Son of God had clearly explained the kind of life that is pleasing to the Father. Yet Jesus knew, even as He was concluding His sermon, that some of His listeners would leave and never apply a word they had heard.

        Jesus said that a man who takes the words of God and builds them into his life is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Rocks are hard to build on. It takes great effort to attach a foundation to a rock. A house built on sand provides instant comfort; building on a rock is laborious and tedious. Yet building on sand leaves the builder in a vulnerable position, while the one building on the rock is secure.

        Think about this: How can you tell what kind of foundation your life has been built on? Watch to see what happens when a storm comes. You will stand for truth or fall for lies. A life built upon the Word of God will withstand the very storm that sweeps away the life that did not heed God's Word. There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. Maturity comes only through hard work and obedience to what God says. The next time you hear Jesus speaking, begin immediately to firmly build His truth into your life, so that no storm can unsettle you.    

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits Who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit And crowns you with love and compassion; Who satisfies your desires with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:1-5). The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God is my rock; I will take refuge in Him, My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge-My Savior, You save me from violence. I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, And I am saved from my enemies (2 Samuel 22:2-4). 

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness. 

                                                                    Never Rest Ministries                    

What Is It The Lord Requires Of You

                                                     When The Door Slams

What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin? Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.                        Micah 6:6-8 

         God never conceals His expectations from us. We never have to guess how we should live. In response to the misguided ways in which people sought to please God, the prophet Micah clearly explained what God does and does not expect. The people asked: Should we come to God with many offering? Should we bring a thousand rams and ten thousand rivers of oil? Would God be pleased if we gave our firstborn child to Him to express our devotion (Mic. 6:6-7)? Micah's response was straightforward: "He has told you what is good."

        Think about this: Micah listed three things God desires. First, He wants us to show justice. The desire to receive justice is not enough. We must also be absolutely just in the way we treat others. If we have given our word, we should keep it with complete integrity. If we have people working for us, we should treat them as fairly as Jesus would. We should act justly in every relationship.

        Second, we are to love mercy. The knowledge that we have received underserved mercy from God should motivate us to show mercy to others. We must resist the temptation to retaliate against those who have wronged us, choosing to show them mercy instead. 

       Third, God requires us to walk humbly with Him. God does not ask us for spectacular acts of service-He asks for humility. At times we try to make the Christian life far more complicated than it is. We may hide behind questions about the Bible or uncertainty about the second coming of Christ. We can allow ourselves to become distracted in order to avoid confronting what God has clearly told us do today. If we strive to be completely obedient in the basics, the more complex assignments will become clear. 

May I put away all of these things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from my mouth (Colossians 3:8). Grant that I may be used to open the eyes of others and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Jesus (Acts 26:18).      

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.  

                                                                Never Rest Ministries 

Your Sin Will Have An Impact On Others

                                                     When The Door Slams

"Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.             Joshua 7:13  

        Just as the obedience of one Christian can bring blessing to others, the sin of one Christian can bring harm to many others. The children of Israel were rapidly advancing into the Promised Land. They had experienced a miraculous victory over the city of Jericho, and they were continuing toward their next conquest. To their surprise they met decisive defeat as they attempted to capture the small town of Ai. They sought God's explanation for their failure, and God provided it. God revealed that someone among them had disobeyed His clear command not to keep any possession from Jericho.

        The disobedience of one man and his family had paralyzed an entire nation! Achan thought he could conceal his sin and it would not affect anyone else. God chose to demonstrate the destructive power of one sin to His people. One act of disobedience cost Achan and his family their lives. It caused his countrymen to lose the battle; innocent soldiers were killed.

        Think about this: Your sin had serious repercussions for others, denying them the blessing, power, and the victory of God. Your sin will have an impact on others. Choosing to disobey God may cost your family God's blessing. The power of God may be absent from your church because you are living in disobedience. Your friends may suffer because you are not living righteously. You must diligently seek to obey every word from God, for you do not know how your disobedience could affect those around you. Scripture promises that if you will obey the Lord God, your life will be a channel of blessing to others (Ps. 37:25-26). 

May I not enter the path of the wicked Or walk in the way of evil men  (Proverbs 4:14).

The first man is of the dust of the earth; the second Man is from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the Man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have bore the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly Man (Corinthians 15:47-49). May I be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, may I let my requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). 

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                    Never Rest Ministries                                   

You May Not Want To Be Healed

                                                      When The Door Slams 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"                                             John 5:5-6  

        Jesus asked a man a question that appears to have had an obvious answer! He came upon a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years and who was sitting beside a pool of healing water. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. Why would Jesus ask such an obvious question? Perhaps the answer was not so clear. Bartimaeus was blind, yet when he cried out for Jesus to have mercy on him, Jesus asked "What do  you want Me to do for you?" (Mark 10:51). 

        It would have seemed apparent that the foremost concern of a blind person would be to receive sight. There were times, however, when Jesus considered it important for people to express in words their need and specifically when asking Him for healing them.

        Think about this: Just because we are spiritually sick, or just because we are near a place of healing, does not necessarily mean we want to be made well. We may attend church regularly, but choose to remain in our sinful state of mind. Our generation has taken many of the activities that the Bible identifies as sin and labeled them as addictions or character flaws or the result of an abusive upbringing. We act as if having an addiction or just lying, is sufficient excuse for disobeying God's commands. As true Christians, we are no longer helpless victims of our sin. There is no sinful habit or past hurt that is beyond the healing touch of our Lord. 

        You may have gone for years without receiving spiritual healing. You may have become comfortable in your sin. It maybe hard for you to obey God's Word, because you may not want to be healed. God is capable of freeing you, if you really want to receive spiritual healing, God can give it today, right now. He wants you to ask Him.  

May I trust in the Lord and do good; may I dwell in the land and feed on Your faithfulness. When I delight myself in the Lord, You will give me the desires of my heart. I will commit my way to the Lord and trust in You, and You will bring it to pass. You will bring forth my righteousness like the light, and my justice like the noonday. May I rest in the Lord and wait patiently for You; I will not fret because of him who prospers in his way, with the man who practices evil schemes (Psalm 37:3-7).  

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord God and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                            Never Rest Ministries