“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Day 1, James 4:2; Many years ago, I heard a sales trainer use the following illustration to stress the importance of not being afraid to ask for the order after a presentation. “If I saw a pretty girl that I didn’t know walking down the street and asked for a kiss, there are really only two things that can happen—either I get a kiss or I don’t get a kiss! If I get a kiss, then I’ve achieved my objective. If I don’t get the kiss, I have broken even because I didn’t have a kiss to begin with, I didn’t lose anything!” Then he added, “Never be afraid to ask, the worst you can do is break even!” I recently used this illustration with a man who was having problems in his career. A normally religious man who never hesitated to pray for the needs of others, he confided that he just couldn’t bring himself to ask God to help him. For some reason he felt it was all right to ask God to help others in need of guidance, but it wasn’t proper to ask God to come to his aid. What’s your biggest worry? Your greatest concern? Go ahead and ask God, you’ll do better than break even every time! You do not have, because you do not ask.
Day 2, James 4:3; This passage states one of the great principle we must learn to have success in prayer. We have probably all had the experience of asking God for something and seemingly had nothing happen. When we are confronted with a problem our first impulse is usually self-preservation, the avoidance of pain (emotional or physical). Logically, our first attempts to pray about the problem tend to focus on having God wave his magic wand to cause the situation to disappear. I don’t think God holds such prayers against us, in fact the book of Psalms if full of such prayers. But to be successful in our prayer life, we need to be willing to move beyond this type purely self interested prayer by seeking insight into what we should pray for. When we begin praying for guidance for our prayers our motives become purer as we begin to see the direction God wants to lead us—then our prayers develop the type of suction that is needed to move the right mountain at the right time. Our focus shifts from our comfort to our capacity to become one with God’s plan and direction for our lives. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly
Day 3, Luke 11:3; In what has become known as The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray “Give us each day our daily bread”. Granted, in certain extraordinary circumstances God might answer this prayer by literally supplying us with bread, but in most cases we have to use our God given abilities to gather the ingredients and bake the bread. I think there is an even broader application of these words of Jesus. They are really a plea for God to make the things available to us that are needed order for us to use our God given skills to do what needs to be done to support ourselves. Several years ago, I knew a successful sales person who had not always been successful. He told me that his success came when he started beginning each day by asking God to open his eyes to the prospects around him. He stated that he was amazed at how many opportunities he had overlooked in the past. No, he didn’t ask God to make these people buy his products (many didn’t), he simply asked for guidance to the opportunity so he could use his God given abilities to “earn his daily bread.” Give us each day our daily bread.
Day 4, Luke 18:1; We might as well admit it, the daily grind of living can wear us down. Add into a typical day an unanticipated problem and a couple of difficult people and we can find ourselves discouraged, disillusioned and ready to throw in the proverbial towel. Yes, there will be times when circumstances, our own mistakes and events beyond our control come together to dampen our enthusiasm for life, our career, family and even our faith. But Jesus gives us a reliable antidote to head off feelings of futility—Pray your way through it! Moreover, experience has taught me that we are less susceptible to disappointments turning into extended periods of disillusionment when we make a practice of regular and systematic prayer about our affairs. (Jesus told them a parable about) their need to pray always and not lose heart.
Day 5, Matthew 5:44 (KJV); Have you ever been wronged by someone and tried to pray for them? It can be difficult, because praying for them doesn’t mean asking God to show them how right you were and wrong they have been, praying for them means asking God to bless them! We naturally rebel against such an idea (after what she did to sidetrack my promotion, how can I ask God to bless her!) but that is exactly what Jesus is telling us to do. A true testimony to this was given by a businessman whose competitor was unscrupulous. Over time, his feelings of annoyance turned to animosity and then to hate. Knowing this wasn’t right, he asked his minister what he should do. The minister gave him this verse as a prescription. The man said that every night during the first week, his prayer was “Lord, Rev. So and So said to pray that you’d bless this miserable crook, so I’m asking you to. But I don’t really mean it.” The second week, it changed to “Lord, Rev. So and So said I had to pray that you’d bless this guy, so I am.” The third week, he began to experience a change of attitude and began praying more specifically for the man’s situation. A few months later he introduced the man to his minister as “My best friend and new partner.” Pray for those who desspitefully use you
Day 6, Matthew 6:5,6; I’ll never forget being in a busy restaurant one day and having my meal interrupted by a person who stood up and loudly asked for quiet so he and his companions could ask the blessing over the meals being served (it really happened!). Then there was the time one of my lunch companions asked to say grace before we ate, which was fine—until he began praying so loudly that everyone in the place started staring at us. Another true story, a children’s church worker was discussing prayer with some preschoolers and she inquired about family prayer habits. One little girl innocently replied “My daddy only prays when he’s on stage.” She was the daughter of a minister! I have nothing against public prayers, but if we would have a successful prayer life that transforms not only our lives but the situations of life, we need to consistently go into the closets of our minds and “pray without ceasing”. Then God will reward us with guidance, insight and intervention. Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites…Whenever you pray; go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in heaven…(He) will reward you.
Day 7, Matthew 21:22 (KJV), The secret to seeing miracles happen around us is contained in this verse! Just as our lives aren’t simply lived in the church, our prayers are not to be limited to “spiritual” matters, the text tells us “all things”—we should not hesitate to bring every situation in every area of our lives to our Heavenly Father. When we seriously pray for something God begins to show how we should pray about a matter, when we reach this point, we are then able to “ask in prayer, believing”. We often confuse believing God for something with building our expectations up through affirmations or psyching ourselves up, but in the original language this word believing comes closer to meaning “entrusting” than “expecting”. In other words, when we sincerely pray about a situation and fully entrust it to his wisdom, timing and power, we “shall receive.” Prayer is the mightiest force in the world once we learn the principles of prayer and consistently practice them. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
God Bless You in everyway, everyday, all the way!
Robert Hidde
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
August 24 through August 30, 2009
Monday, Psalm 50:1; This verse contains a powerful, awe inspiring vision of God. But on a more personal level it provides us with inner confidence and a sense of determination to fulfill our destiny as children of God. You see, this “Mighty One” created us in His own image. While it is true that by our self-defeating choices we have damaged that image, it is still there just waiting to be repaired and reactivated by His Spirit when we reestablish and maintain our relationship with Him. Once we realize this fact, nothing can defeat us because just as we get our eye and hair color, etc. from the genes of our parents, we have within us the genetic imprint of the one who “speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting! The Mighty One, God the Lord speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Tuesday, Psalm 50:14a; The other day I was waiting for a traffic signal to change when I got one of my “brilliant ideas”. Not wanting to forget it, I quickly grabbed my pen and jotted it down. Suddenly I heard tires screeching and horns sounding. Looking up I saw a speeding van cross in front of me, the screeching tires and horns were from drivers in the lanes facing me. While I was writing the light had changed and the van had run through the red light. It dawned on me that had I been watching the light, I probably would have been in the intersection when the van roared through. As I carefully drove through the intersection I recalled something one of the speakers had said at a retreat I attended many years ago in upstate New York, “When prayer stops, coincidences stop happening”. While this incident had nothing to do with prayer, it sure was a “lucky” coincidence for me. But was it a coincidence that I got this brilliant idea that I had to jot down or was it an example of the scores of ways God “creates” the right coincidence to guide us, protect us and bless us each day? How many of our coincidences do we just take for granted and never consider that maybe we have something to be thankful for? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
Wednesday, Psalm 50:14b; I found this text among my late father’s sermon notes with this comment written under it “This passage should cause each of us to stop and think about how seriously we take our relationship with God.” I don’t know how he developed it, but the thought that came to my mind was that if we truly want to maintain and nurture a relationship, we make it a point to keep our promises to the other person. You see, in its essence a relationship is based on mutual trust. This is established through a series of encounters where each person proves to the other that they are trustworthy. A relationship that is broken usually has become one sided because one party failed to live up to their word and trust is eroded. Our relationship with God is one of mutual trust—God trust us to fulfill the promises we made to follow his ways, as well as to live up to the promises we have made in our hearts, just as we trust Him to keep his end of the bargain. To my dad’s comment on this verse, I would add these words, “How far can God trust us based on our track record of being trustworthy?” Pay your vows to the Most High
Thursday, Psalm 50:15; Harvey MacKay, a successful businessman is known worldwide for his contributions to the art and science of establishing, maintaining and managing business relationships. In one of his books, he ask the question “Who can you call at 2:AM when you are backed up against the wall?” His point, which he elaborates on is that it is necessary to be sure we have nurtured our relationships by being both givers and takers, because if all we’ve done is take from the other party, chances are they won’t be much help to us at 2:AM. This is the principle that the psalmist has been dealing with—we must do our part to nurture and maintain our relationship with God by showing our gratitude and proving trustworthy—then, when we face that “2:AM crisis”, we can call on Him and he will come through for us! Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
Friday, Psalm 50:23; This passage is a summary of our meditations thus far this week. It is a covenant that God offers each of us. One of the things that disturbs me about the theology I hear espoused by many people these days is that God’s covenants are one sided—that is, God will always keep his part of the bargain whether or not we keep our part of it. Such a concept is foreign to the author of today’s mediation. He firmly believes (and therefore those who believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God must also believe) that the covenant of God to “show the salvation of God” is conditioned by our choosing to be mindful of and show appreciation for God’s goodness and our deliberate decision everyday to “go the right way” in every area of our lives. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.
Saturday, Psalm 16:2; I office in Tulsa Oklahoma’s first “skyscraper” (well in 1927, twenty four floors was a tall building!). We have many older tenants, some of whom have had offices here for over sixty years. A few years ago, one of our older tenant’s wife passed away. Theirs had been a long and strong relationship and one day the old gentleman confided that “I have the same home, the same amount of money in the bank, the same everything…but nothing seems good without her because she was the goodness I drew strength from.” Were these simply the words of a grief stricken old man or do they reveal something deeper about the human spirit? I tend to lean toward the latter explanation. Deep down the quality of our relationships help determine not only how we define our lives but how we view things. Human relationships, while important can disappoint us and eventually end, but our relationship with our Heavenly Father, if nurtured and maintained provides us with not only the ultimate definition of good, but helps us understand the true meaning of the goodness in ourselves, other people and the world around us. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Sunday, Psalm 16:11a,b; I doubt that anyone would deny that there have been special people who have been instrumental in helping them in their careers and personal lives. These people are known as “mentors” because they are more than role models, they are people with whom we forge relationships that help define us. Those of us who have been around for any length of time have probably had several mentors who have shown us the path to take, given us timely advice and served as a sounding board for our ideas. It is good and right to have such relationships, but the psalmist in today’s meditation reminds us that the Good Lord wants to be our mentor. Unlike earthly mentors, He always knows the answer and is always available to us. This knowledge gives us an overwhelming sense of confidence, vitality and joy. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy
Tuesday, Psalm 50:14a; The other day I was waiting for a traffic signal to change when I got one of my “brilliant ideas”. Not wanting to forget it, I quickly grabbed my pen and jotted it down. Suddenly I heard tires screeching and horns sounding. Looking up I saw a speeding van cross in front of me, the screeching tires and horns were from drivers in the lanes facing me. While I was writing the light had changed and the van had run through the red light. It dawned on me that had I been watching the light, I probably would have been in the intersection when the van roared through. As I carefully drove through the intersection I recalled something one of the speakers had said at a retreat I attended many years ago in upstate New York, “When prayer stops, coincidences stop happening”. While this incident had nothing to do with prayer, it sure was a “lucky” coincidence for me. But was it a coincidence that I got this brilliant idea that I had to jot down or was it an example of the scores of ways God “creates” the right coincidence to guide us, protect us and bless us each day? How many of our coincidences do we just take for granted and never consider that maybe we have something to be thankful for? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
Wednesday, Psalm 50:14b; I found this text among my late father’s sermon notes with this comment written under it “This passage should cause each of us to stop and think about how seriously we take our relationship with God.” I don’t know how he developed it, but the thought that came to my mind was that if we truly want to maintain and nurture a relationship, we make it a point to keep our promises to the other person. You see, in its essence a relationship is based on mutual trust. This is established through a series of encounters where each person proves to the other that they are trustworthy. A relationship that is broken usually has become one sided because one party failed to live up to their word and trust is eroded. Our relationship with God is one of mutual trust—God trust us to fulfill the promises we made to follow his ways, as well as to live up to the promises we have made in our hearts, just as we trust Him to keep his end of the bargain. To my dad’s comment on this verse, I would add these words, “How far can God trust us based on our track record of being trustworthy?” Pay your vows to the Most High
Thursday, Psalm 50:15; Harvey MacKay, a successful businessman is known worldwide for his contributions to the art and science of establishing, maintaining and managing business relationships. In one of his books, he ask the question “Who can you call at 2:AM when you are backed up against the wall?” His point, which he elaborates on is that it is necessary to be sure we have nurtured our relationships by being both givers and takers, because if all we’ve done is take from the other party, chances are they won’t be much help to us at 2:AM. This is the principle that the psalmist has been dealing with—we must do our part to nurture and maintain our relationship with God by showing our gratitude and proving trustworthy—then, when we face that “2:AM crisis”, we can call on Him and he will come through for us! Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
Friday, Psalm 50:23; This passage is a summary of our meditations thus far this week. It is a covenant that God offers each of us. One of the things that disturbs me about the theology I hear espoused by many people these days is that God’s covenants are one sided—that is, God will always keep his part of the bargain whether or not we keep our part of it. Such a concept is foreign to the author of today’s mediation. He firmly believes (and therefore those who believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God must also believe) that the covenant of God to “show the salvation of God” is conditioned by our choosing to be mindful of and show appreciation for God’s goodness and our deliberate decision everyday to “go the right way” in every area of our lives. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.
Saturday, Psalm 16:2; I office in Tulsa Oklahoma’s first “skyscraper” (well in 1927, twenty four floors was a tall building!). We have many older tenants, some of whom have had offices here for over sixty years. A few years ago, one of our older tenant’s wife passed away. Theirs had been a long and strong relationship and one day the old gentleman confided that “I have the same home, the same amount of money in the bank, the same everything…but nothing seems good without her because she was the goodness I drew strength from.” Were these simply the words of a grief stricken old man or do they reveal something deeper about the human spirit? I tend to lean toward the latter explanation. Deep down the quality of our relationships help determine not only how we define our lives but how we view things. Human relationships, while important can disappoint us and eventually end, but our relationship with our Heavenly Father, if nurtured and maintained provides us with not only the ultimate definition of good, but helps us understand the true meaning of the goodness in ourselves, other people and the world around us. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Sunday, Psalm 16:11a,b; I doubt that anyone would deny that there have been special people who have been instrumental in helping them in their careers and personal lives. These people are known as “mentors” because they are more than role models, they are people with whom we forge relationships that help define us. Those of us who have been around for any length of time have probably had several mentors who have shown us the path to take, given us timely advice and served as a sounding board for our ideas. It is good and right to have such relationships, but the psalmist in today’s meditation reminds us that the Good Lord wants to be our mentor. Unlike earthly mentors, He always knows the answer and is always available to us. This knowledge gives us an overwhelming sense of confidence, vitality and joy. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy
Monday, August 17, 2009
August 17 thru 23, 2009
Monday, Joshua 24:15; In her family worship workshops my wife often tells participants about sitting with her family in the pew at her father’s funeral. She said that as I was delivering the message the question came to her mind, “Is this my faith or is it my father’s faith?” After pondering this question she realized that she had taken the strong faith her father had imparted to her and used it as the foundation upon which to build her own faith. In our text for today, Joshua challenges the people to move beyond blindly accepting the faith of their forefathers and establish their own faith based on their experience with the Lord. While we can be thankful for the faith of our parents and grandparents, we must, like the people of Joshua’s day choose to embrace it as our own--in all its newness and freshness (for even the faith “delivered to the saints” is made new by the applications to the challenges and temptations of each generation). That is the greatest choice we can make in life because it will serve as the guiding principle for all our life choices. Choose this day whom you will serve
Tuesday, Hebrews 11:24,25; When I was growing up, a favorite phrase of preachers was “One of the greatest lies of the devil is…” and then they’d add something connected to their theme. We don’t hear that phrase too much in these “more sophisticated” times, but if there is a “greatest lie of the devil” these days it would have to be that once a person makes the decision to follow God’s way their lives will be trouble free. There are times when making choices based on our faith can cause us to become the subject of ridicule, cost us friends and even our jobs. Now, I’m not advocating that we go out of our way to create situations where we can claim we are being “persecuted” (I’m thinking of a man I once counseled who lost his job because he refused to remove a huge Bible from his desk at work—as Jesus said of the Pharisees, “he had his reward”), but we need to realize that there are some things about which we should not compromise our choices. The wording of today’s text indicates that Moses “refused” to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, making a choice to suffer with the people of God. The use of the word choosing indicates that he understood the ramifications of his decision, weighed the alternatives and based his decision on long-term rather than short-term gratification. Making good choices doesn’t always lead to short-term gratification, but in the long-term they prove to be right decision for all concerned. (Moses) choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin
Wednesday, Isaiah 66:4; The greatest truth about human existence is that the Good Lord created us with a free will. We are endowed with the capacity of choice from birth until death. Just as it is not enough to choose to obey the traffic laws one day each week and sporadically obey them the other six, it is not enough to choose to follow Jesus teachings one day out of seven and occasionally follow them the rest of the week. To have God’s peace, power, and guidance through the highs and lows of this life, as well as the assurance of life in the hereafter we must daily make choices consistent with our faith. (I, God) will bring upon them what they fear because when I called, no one answered…they did not listen…(they) chose what did not please me.
Thursday, Psalm 119:30; We live in a house that has a real front porch, not one of those little concrete slabs in front of the door, but a real porch complete with steps and pillars. On the porch are several plants which according to my wife must be watered daily. For some reason the task of watering them has been assigned to me. I figured that it wouldn’t matter whether they were watered everyday or every other day, but I quickly discovered three things. First, wives have a built in sensor that says “He didn’t water today” (which can destabilize the blissful existence of a husband). Second, because the porch faces the west the plants dry out and do require water on a daily basis. Third, the plants thrive better when watered daily. Therefore, I choose to water them faithfully every morning while my coffee is brewing. At first, I had to remind myself (thank God for sticky notes) to water, but now it has become a habit. Today’s text tells us that the psalmist has made a deliberate decision to be faithful to God’s truth when making choices. No doubt when he first made this resolution he had to stop to remind himself of his decision, but after time it became second nature for him to make his choices faithful to God’s ways. When we habitually make value judgments and choices based on God’s truths our lives become stabilized and our faith becomes firmer. The KJV uses the word “truth”, however the Hebrew word carries a connotation of faithfulness to truth. I have chosen the way of faithfulness…
Friday, Psalm 119:173; Several years ago, I had a dear attorney friend who was captivated by the life of Winston Churchill. In addition to reading everything he could get his hands on written by or about Churchill, he had a notebook in which he had collected various sayings by England’s wartime leader. He once confided that when he faced particularly difficult situations, he would shut himself in his home office and read from this notebook. “I know it wasn’t the ghost of Churchill” he told me, “But pondering his courageous words and sage advice, it is almost as if the great man is there to help me stay my course.” I think about his comment every time I read today’s text, because in essence what the psalmist is saying is that he has chosen to collect the “sayings” of God (the word precept implies the collected mandates of God), and therefore expects to find God’s help in time of puzzlement and difficulty. In order to be faithful to God in our choices shouldn’t we choose to take the time to collect and internalize the “sayings” of our Heavenly Father? I have chosen your precepts
Saturday, Proverbs 22:1; In its essence the choices we make as to our attitudes, actions and reactions toward other people and the circumstances of life determine not only our relationship to God, but what people think about us and how we will be remembered when we cross to the other side of this time/space continuum called eternity. One of the wonderful things about human existence is that with God’s help, we can “teach an old dog new tricks”. While we can’t go back and undo all the wrong choices we’ve made in our lives, we can decide today to begin making better choices. We can choose to be more loving, kind, generous and concerned toward others. We can make the deliberate choice to begin taking time to collect and meditate on the precepts of God. We can choose to establish a closer relationship between our professed faith and our daily lives. In other words, we can choose how people think of us in this life and after we are gone. That’s what the teacher is telling us in today’s text. While he applies it to unethical gain we could apply it to almost any decision we have to make. A good name is to be chosen rather than…
Sunday, Isaiah 7:16; Several years ago, my wife and I spent several days with our daughter’s family. I’m an early riser and as I enjoyed my first cup of coffee of the day my youngest granddaughter padded into the kitchen followed by her older sister. Both told me they were hungry. Peering into the refrigerator I told them that all I saw was chocolate pie. My oldest granddaughter (then six years old) told me that wasn’t breakfast food, but the youngest one (then three years old) said it sounded like breakfast to her. Both children love chocolate but they made different choices because of their age difference. As I’ve grown older I have come to realize that the real challenge of parenting (and grand parenting) is teaching children to make right choices. Based on the words of this ancient text, which most consider to foretell the coming of Jesus, even the child Jesus had to learn to make good choices. Unfortunately, many times as adults we forget to take the time to weigh our choices careful. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good...
Tuesday, Hebrews 11:24,25; When I was growing up, a favorite phrase of preachers was “One of the greatest lies of the devil is…” and then they’d add something connected to their theme. We don’t hear that phrase too much in these “more sophisticated” times, but if there is a “greatest lie of the devil” these days it would have to be that once a person makes the decision to follow God’s way their lives will be trouble free. There are times when making choices based on our faith can cause us to become the subject of ridicule, cost us friends and even our jobs. Now, I’m not advocating that we go out of our way to create situations where we can claim we are being “persecuted” (I’m thinking of a man I once counseled who lost his job because he refused to remove a huge Bible from his desk at work—as Jesus said of the Pharisees, “he had his reward”), but we need to realize that there are some things about which we should not compromise our choices. The wording of today’s text indicates that Moses “refused” to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, making a choice to suffer with the people of God. The use of the word choosing indicates that he understood the ramifications of his decision, weighed the alternatives and based his decision on long-term rather than short-term gratification. Making good choices doesn’t always lead to short-term gratification, but in the long-term they prove to be right decision for all concerned. (Moses) choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin
Wednesday, Isaiah 66:4; The greatest truth about human existence is that the Good Lord created us with a free will. We are endowed with the capacity of choice from birth until death. Just as it is not enough to choose to obey the traffic laws one day each week and sporadically obey them the other six, it is not enough to choose to follow Jesus teachings one day out of seven and occasionally follow them the rest of the week. To have God’s peace, power, and guidance through the highs and lows of this life, as well as the assurance of life in the hereafter we must daily make choices consistent with our faith. (I, God) will bring upon them what they fear because when I called, no one answered…they did not listen…(they) chose what did not please me.
Thursday, Psalm 119:30; We live in a house that has a real front porch, not one of those little concrete slabs in front of the door, but a real porch complete with steps and pillars. On the porch are several plants which according to my wife must be watered daily. For some reason the task of watering them has been assigned to me. I figured that it wouldn’t matter whether they were watered everyday or every other day, but I quickly discovered three things. First, wives have a built in sensor that says “He didn’t water today” (which can destabilize the blissful existence of a husband). Second, because the porch faces the west the plants dry out and do require water on a daily basis. Third, the plants thrive better when watered daily. Therefore, I choose to water them faithfully every morning while my coffee is brewing. At first, I had to remind myself (thank God for sticky notes) to water, but now it has become a habit. Today’s text tells us that the psalmist has made a deliberate decision to be faithful to God’s truth when making choices. No doubt when he first made this resolution he had to stop to remind himself of his decision, but after time it became second nature for him to make his choices faithful to God’s ways. When we habitually make value judgments and choices based on God’s truths our lives become stabilized and our faith becomes firmer. The KJV uses the word “truth”, however the Hebrew word carries a connotation of faithfulness to truth. I have chosen the way of faithfulness…
Friday, Psalm 119:173; Several years ago, I had a dear attorney friend who was captivated by the life of Winston Churchill. In addition to reading everything he could get his hands on written by or about Churchill, he had a notebook in which he had collected various sayings by England’s wartime leader. He once confided that when he faced particularly difficult situations, he would shut himself in his home office and read from this notebook. “I know it wasn’t the ghost of Churchill” he told me, “But pondering his courageous words and sage advice, it is almost as if the great man is there to help me stay my course.” I think about his comment every time I read today’s text, because in essence what the psalmist is saying is that he has chosen to collect the “sayings” of God (the word precept implies the collected mandates of God), and therefore expects to find God’s help in time of puzzlement and difficulty. In order to be faithful to God in our choices shouldn’t we choose to take the time to collect and internalize the “sayings” of our Heavenly Father? I have chosen your precepts
Saturday, Proverbs 22:1; In its essence the choices we make as to our attitudes, actions and reactions toward other people and the circumstances of life determine not only our relationship to God, but what people think about us and how we will be remembered when we cross to the other side of this time/space continuum called eternity. One of the wonderful things about human existence is that with God’s help, we can “teach an old dog new tricks”. While we can’t go back and undo all the wrong choices we’ve made in our lives, we can decide today to begin making better choices. We can choose to be more loving, kind, generous and concerned toward others. We can make the deliberate choice to begin taking time to collect and meditate on the precepts of God. We can choose to establish a closer relationship between our professed faith and our daily lives. In other words, we can choose how people think of us in this life and after we are gone. That’s what the teacher is telling us in today’s text. While he applies it to unethical gain we could apply it to almost any decision we have to make. A good name is to be chosen rather than…
Sunday, Isaiah 7:16; Several years ago, my wife and I spent several days with our daughter’s family. I’m an early riser and as I enjoyed my first cup of coffee of the day my youngest granddaughter padded into the kitchen followed by her older sister. Both told me they were hungry. Peering into the refrigerator I told them that all I saw was chocolate pie. My oldest granddaughter (then six years old) told me that wasn’t breakfast food, but the youngest one (then three years old) said it sounded like breakfast to her. Both children love chocolate but they made different choices because of their age difference. As I’ve grown older I have come to realize that the real challenge of parenting (and grand parenting) is teaching children to make right choices. Based on the words of this ancient text, which most consider to foretell the coming of Jesus, even the child Jesus had to learn to make good choices. Unfortunately, many times as adults we forget to take the time to weigh our choices careful. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
PowerPoints for August 10 thru August 16, 2009
Monday, Psalm 101:1; It has been said that we can “prophesy” what we will be like five years from now by analyzing what we currently spend our time thinking about. That’s because it been proven in several studies that people really do become what they think about all day long. The Psalm for the week is the resolution of the writer to think about lofty aspirations and practical applications. In today’s verse for reflection, he states his resolve and that he is doing it to please God. The idea of “singing” refers to spontaneously bursting out in song due to something we’ve been thinking about. The words “loyalty” (mercy in the KJV) and “justice” (judgment in the KJV) refer to the lofty aspirations we should have as human beings—to be people known for our faithfulness to principle and doing that which is right toward other people. When the writer says that he “sings” to the Lord, he is really saying he is making this resolution to think lofty thoughts for God’s honor and glory, not his own. What do we think about all day long? I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing.
Tuesday, Psalm 101:2a; I once saw a cartoon in a magazine showing one man explaining to another fellow as we robbed him “Theologically, I’ve always been a Calvinist…how else could live with myself.” Too often today we hear people making excuses for their refusal to take responsibility for progress in the Christian life. Phrases like “I’m only human”, “God made me this way”, “We have to sin everyday because we’re human”, and “If God didn’t want me to have this (temper, lust--you can put whatever in there) He would take it away from me” are heard routinely. Because the psalmist had lifted his thoughts to loftier aspirations, he finds himself willing to take his part of the responsibility for his conduct and spiritual journey. Maybe that’s why so many people don’t set their spiritual aspirations any higher than they do—because when they do, they begin seeing that they have some personal responsibility in the matter. I will study the way that is blameless. When will I attain it?
Wednesday, Psalm 101:2b; Someone said that character was determined by how we acted at home, when we didn’t have to put on a good front for others. The psalmist is really getting carried away with this business of living up to lofty aspirations—not only does he plan to live them out in public, but in the privacy of his own home. In other words, he plans to live a consistent life at all times, not to please others, family members or even the neighbors but because he is doing so to honor God. I will walk with integrity of heart in my own house.
Thursday, Psalm 101:3b; If the psalmist was living today he would be really challenged by this statement—if you don’t believe me just spend an evening surfing the cable channels! Of course the word “set” refers to deliberately placing any object in a place where we will think about it. Obviously this goes beyond the base things we see on television, it also includes anything that might cause us to compromise the lofty aspirations we have set for ourselves. I will not set before my eyes anything that is base.
Friday, Psalm 1013b; People in the psalmist day weren’t much different that they are today. Seemingly pillars of the community of faith often took shortcuts in their business dealings or compromised their integrity to gain some advantage. Tragically, these very people are often the folks that others put on a pedestal and try to emulate. Aware that not only his testimony before others, but his aspiration to become all God created him to become was at stake, the writer vows not to be swayed just because someone he has considered a “spiritual giant” doesn’t always live up to his profession. No, the psalmist says he will sort out their actions and not allow their influence to attach itself to him or influence his thinking. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me
Saturday, Psalm 101:6; Realizing that it is important for people to have role models the writer declares that he will draw his inspiration for living from the people who are also living by nobler and loftier aspirations. He says “that they may live with me”, meaning that their example and courage in the face of adversity and troubles will live in his mind. Not only will he think of their resolve and courage during difficult times, he says that these people will “minister” to him. This means that he will draw comfort, hope and encouragement from the fact that these role models have not compromised their faith, lowered their aspirations or subordinated their standards. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me
Sunday, Psalm 101:8; Using hyperbole, the writer declares that the way he plans to carry out his resolve to live by loftier aspirations is to take it one day at a time. He realizes that unless he takes the time to mentally and spiritually prepare himself for the day (thus “destroying the wicked” in his personal land) he will face an uphill battle. When we dare to set lofty aspirations for ourselves and live everyday in pursuit of their attainment, we need to take the time each morning through prayerful mediation and scripture reading to destroy those things that might cause us to fall short. Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land
May God Bless You All The Way, In Every way, Everyday!
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com
Tuesday, Psalm 101:2a; I once saw a cartoon in a magazine showing one man explaining to another fellow as we robbed him “Theologically, I’ve always been a Calvinist…how else could live with myself.” Too often today we hear people making excuses for their refusal to take responsibility for progress in the Christian life. Phrases like “I’m only human”, “God made me this way”, “We have to sin everyday because we’re human”, and “If God didn’t want me to have this (temper, lust--you can put whatever in there) He would take it away from me” are heard routinely. Because the psalmist had lifted his thoughts to loftier aspirations, he finds himself willing to take his part of the responsibility for his conduct and spiritual journey. Maybe that’s why so many people don’t set their spiritual aspirations any higher than they do—because when they do, they begin seeing that they have some personal responsibility in the matter. I will study the way that is blameless. When will I attain it?
Wednesday, Psalm 101:2b; Someone said that character was determined by how we acted at home, when we didn’t have to put on a good front for others. The psalmist is really getting carried away with this business of living up to lofty aspirations—not only does he plan to live them out in public, but in the privacy of his own home. In other words, he plans to live a consistent life at all times, not to please others, family members or even the neighbors but because he is doing so to honor God. I will walk with integrity of heart in my own house.
Thursday, Psalm 101:3b; If the psalmist was living today he would be really challenged by this statement—if you don’t believe me just spend an evening surfing the cable channels! Of course the word “set” refers to deliberately placing any object in a place where we will think about it. Obviously this goes beyond the base things we see on television, it also includes anything that might cause us to compromise the lofty aspirations we have set for ourselves. I will not set before my eyes anything that is base.
Friday, Psalm 1013b; People in the psalmist day weren’t much different that they are today. Seemingly pillars of the community of faith often took shortcuts in their business dealings or compromised their integrity to gain some advantage. Tragically, these very people are often the folks that others put on a pedestal and try to emulate. Aware that not only his testimony before others, but his aspiration to become all God created him to become was at stake, the writer vows not to be swayed just because someone he has considered a “spiritual giant” doesn’t always live up to his profession. No, the psalmist says he will sort out their actions and not allow their influence to attach itself to him or influence his thinking. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me
Saturday, Psalm 101:6; Realizing that it is important for people to have role models the writer declares that he will draw his inspiration for living from the people who are also living by nobler and loftier aspirations. He says “that they may live with me”, meaning that their example and courage in the face of adversity and troubles will live in his mind. Not only will he think of their resolve and courage during difficult times, he says that these people will “minister” to him. This means that he will draw comfort, hope and encouragement from the fact that these role models have not compromised their faith, lowered their aspirations or subordinated their standards. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me
Sunday, Psalm 101:8; Using hyperbole, the writer declares that the way he plans to carry out his resolve to live by loftier aspirations is to take it one day at a time. He realizes that unless he takes the time to mentally and spiritually prepare himself for the day (thus “destroying the wicked” in his personal land) he will face an uphill battle. When we dare to set lofty aspirations for ourselves and live everyday in pursuit of their attainment, we need to take the time each morning through prayerful mediation and scripture reading to destroy those things that might cause us to fall short. Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land
May God Bless You All The Way, In Every way, Everyday!
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com
Sunday, August 2, 2009
August 3 thru August 9, 2009
This week we are going to depart from our usual daily verse with a meditation format. I personally have found special strength in the type of format we usually use, but I have also found it helpful to have a special One Week “Mini-Retreat” every couple of months. Like most of you, I can’t afford to take an entire day much less a week off to simply be alone with God and his word. Several years ago I read about the mini-retreat approach and began using it.
This simple spiritual discipline, if practiced consistently will help you grow spiritually, gain insight into the scriptures and deepen your relationship with God.
What do you need to get started? Find a quiet place and time when interruptions are unlikely. Have your favorite translation of the Bible, a pen and a spiral notebook. Naturally, you’ll want a comfortable chair. Some people also have things like a candle, cross, etc. to enhance the sense of the sacred around the space.
How much time does this take? Ultimately, people find the time to do that which is important to them. My experience (and that of others) is that a minimum of fifteen minutes should be set aside each day for the mini-retreat. Whether you set aside fifteen minutes or thirty minutes you should regard that specific time as important as you would an appointment with your attorney or doctor—it is your appointment with God.
What does the mini-retreat involve? Basically, the various components of the mini-retreat are flexible, depending on the amount of time you set aside. The core of the retreat involves three things: prayer, meditation on scripture and journaling. By prayer, I mean specific prayers for God to open your mind to his word and the voice of his Spirit. By meditation on scripture, I refer to reading the day’s passage slowly several times and allowing your mind to digest its meaning and reflect on it. Journaling refers to writing your thoughts in your notebook. For people not familiar with journaling this might seem odd, however after doing it for a few days you will be able to see growth toward holiness and insight into the Word. Many of the meditations I use in the weekly notes are the result of entries I have made into journals over the years. If you have set aside enough time, you can add in a hymn or two, as well as brief readings from a Christian classic.
Below I have listed the day and passage, as well as a question to reflect on during your meditation. I believe that you will find this practice will grow into your favorite time of the day.
Monday, Psalm 39:1-3
Question: What do these verse say to me personally about sharing my faith with others?
Tuesday, Psalm 39:4-6
Question: What do these verses teach about mankind in general and what impressions do you get about a Christian’s responsibility in the face of those teachings?
Wednesday, Psalm 39:7-10
Question: How does this passage advance the kingdom of God?
Thursday, Psalm 39:11
Question: How does this passage challenge you as a believer?
Friday, August 5, Psalm 39:12
Question: What does this passage teach us about our life on earth and our priorities?
Saturday, Psalm 39:13
Question: What benefits come from right relationship with God? Think about specific times you’ve experienced those benefits.
Sunday, Psalm 39:1-13
Questions: How does this Psalm attack the kingdom of evil?
How does this Psalm lead me toward holiness?
How does this Psalm speak to my own weaknesses?
Let me hear from you as to your progress, and may God bless you as you spend the week reading, meditating and journaling!
Robert D. Hidde
This simple spiritual discipline, if practiced consistently will help you grow spiritually, gain insight into the scriptures and deepen your relationship with God.
What do you need to get started? Find a quiet place and time when interruptions are unlikely. Have your favorite translation of the Bible, a pen and a spiral notebook. Naturally, you’ll want a comfortable chair. Some people also have things like a candle, cross, etc. to enhance the sense of the sacred around the space.
How much time does this take? Ultimately, people find the time to do that which is important to them. My experience (and that of others) is that a minimum of fifteen minutes should be set aside each day for the mini-retreat. Whether you set aside fifteen minutes or thirty minutes you should regard that specific time as important as you would an appointment with your attorney or doctor—it is your appointment with God.
What does the mini-retreat involve? Basically, the various components of the mini-retreat are flexible, depending on the amount of time you set aside. The core of the retreat involves three things: prayer, meditation on scripture and journaling. By prayer, I mean specific prayers for God to open your mind to his word and the voice of his Spirit. By meditation on scripture, I refer to reading the day’s passage slowly several times and allowing your mind to digest its meaning and reflect on it. Journaling refers to writing your thoughts in your notebook. For people not familiar with journaling this might seem odd, however after doing it for a few days you will be able to see growth toward holiness and insight into the Word. Many of the meditations I use in the weekly notes are the result of entries I have made into journals over the years. If you have set aside enough time, you can add in a hymn or two, as well as brief readings from a Christian classic.
Below I have listed the day and passage, as well as a question to reflect on during your meditation. I believe that you will find this practice will grow into your favorite time of the day.
Monday, Psalm 39:1-3
Question: What do these verse say to me personally about sharing my faith with others?
Tuesday, Psalm 39:4-6
Question: What do these verses teach about mankind in general and what impressions do you get about a Christian’s responsibility in the face of those teachings?
Wednesday, Psalm 39:7-10
Question: How does this passage advance the kingdom of God?
Thursday, Psalm 39:11
Question: How does this passage challenge you as a believer?
Friday, August 5, Psalm 39:12
Question: What does this passage teach us about our life on earth and our priorities?
Saturday, Psalm 39:13
Question: What benefits come from right relationship with God? Think about specific times you’ve experienced those benefits.
Sunday, Psalm 39:1-13
Questions: How does this Psalm attack the kingdom of evil?
How does this Psalm lead me toward holiness?
How does this Psalm speak to my own weaknesses?
Let me hear from you as to your progress, and may God bless you as you spend the week reading, meditating and journaling!
Robert D. Hidde
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