POWER

by Barbara Chadwick

 

“They can’t go back to their homes ‘til they get power.”

“I wonder what the pioneers did.  You can’t go west ‘til you get power!”  My friend was speaking tongue in cheek, of course.

We were discussing the High Park fire in Colorado and the people who were evacuated from their homes.  It was eight days after the fire started.  About 2000 families had been displaced, 180 homes destroyed, many more damaged and one person killed. (Note: Today, after 2 weeks, the fire is 45% contained and has burned 75,537 acres with 191 homes destroyed!)

A forest fire creates its own power. It develops intense winds that fuel and fan the flames. What would it be like if believers were filled with the Holy Spirit today as they were at Pentecost and if that Spirit and power would overflow and be spilled out to others?  What an amazing thought!

Charles Spurgeon said, in his devotional book Morning by Morning, about the Holy Spirit, “Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit’s presence. As sacred oil, He anoints the head of the believers and gives them grace to do His work properly. As the only truly purifying water, He cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us to holiness. As the light, He first revealed to us our lost condition, and now He reveals the LORD Jesus to us and in us. As fire, He both purges in us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on fire. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love He hovers over His Church. As a Comforter, He dispels the cares and doubts that mar the peace of His beloved. As the wind, He brings the breath of life. Would to God, that we might feel His presence this day and every day.”

Jesus told the disciples before He was taken up into heaven, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will baptized with the holy Spirit…. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:4; 8)

Father, God, fill us with Your Spirit. Light a fire within us. Make us aware of Your presence in our lives. Let the light of Your love and grace emanate from our words and actions to touch others.

FINISH STRONG

by Barbara Chadwick

I just finished the book, Through My Eyes, by Tim Tebow with Nathan Whitaker. I mentioned it two weeks ago.  I am impressed. I’m impressed with Tim’s desire to make his life count for Jesus, and his desire to be the best that he can be in whatever he does.

He is a two-time winner of the NCAA National Football Championship with the University of Florida and he is the first-ever sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. But what shines more for me is that he loves the Lord.

Here are two statements he made before the 2008 BCS National Championship Game:

- I have never been more nervous than I was headed into the BCS National Championship Game
- After all of the hours, days, and months in the weight room, it was time for all of that to pay off.

 The score was 7-7 at halftime and stayed close through the third quarter. In the fourth quarter with time running down Tebow made a touchdown with a jump pass from the four yard line to cinch the game. They won 24-14 and became the 2008 National Champions.

 He writes: “After the final touchdown I walked over to Coach Meyer. He pulled off his headset, opened up his arms, gave me a great big hug and said, ‘Atta boy. Great job. You finished. I love you.’”

 The next paragraph says, “As great as that was, how much greater will it feel when we get to heaven and Jesus takes off his headset, opens up His arms, gives us a big hug, and says, ‘Atta boy. Great job. You finished. I love you.’ … Finishing strong; It’s great for football. You have to finish in football; you have to learn how to finish in the weight room, through the line, finishing a sprint everything gets hard. Finish. Eventually some people are going to stop, some people are going to quit, and some people are going to start going slower, but the people who can finish and finish at the same pace or stronger than when they started, those are the ones who are going to succeed… Those are the ones who are going to have an impact in this world and on the lives of others around them. How much more so in life to finish strong. For yourself. For the world. For others. For the God who created you."

At the end of the book he says, “As I’ve said before, ‘I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know Who holds my future.’ With that in mind, I’m pressing on toward the upward call of Christ Jesus, seeking to continue living in the way that always brings glory to him.”

 Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7,  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.  And we can hear God say, “Atta boy. Great job. You finished. I love you.”

Dry

By Barbara Chadwick 

“You have dry eyes.”

“How can that be? My eyes are constantly tearing up.”

“Yes, I know, but those tears are not quality tears. They do not provide enough lubrication.”
I thought the ophthalmologist was a little crazy.  Later, I thought, that’s so spiritual. You know what I mean?  Sometimes we are spiritually dry. We pray at morning and evening devotions, at meals, at Sunday School and Church prayer meetings but they are not quality prayers!  Sometimes they are rote prayers – saying the same words every time or sometimes we say words that we think are expected of us.

So at first I thought well that’s wrong!
 
But what are the options?

#1 -  We could stop praying and going to church and telling others about God’s love and wait until we - feel - the Spirit. That’s spiritually dangerous. That would be like someone who is dehydrated waiting until it felt right to drink water.

#2 - We continue praying as always. We continue to do those things we were taught because we know that God is faithful.

Psalms 37:7; 23; 27 encourages us to wait for the Lord.  Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him…  A man’s steps are established by the Lord, and He takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord holds his hand… do what is good, and dwell there forever. For the Lord loves justice and will not abandon his faithful ones.

Did you notice that the scripture says, wait expectantly? – like waiting for a loved one to arrive at the airport; knowing that when the passengers deplane and that special someone walks into the terminal it will be very sweet. When we come into a prayer time expecting God to be there He hears and His response to us is very sweet.

and the Lord holds his hand?  You know those times when you held the hand of a child, keeping them safe from traffic, from the river, or from the crowd of people at the fair and the child pulled out of your grip and ran into harm’s way? Do you remember how scared and frustrated you felt?  But, don’t forget that Jesus says in John 10:29, …No one can snatch them (believers) out of my hand.  The Lord holds our hand.

So:

WAIT,

              EXPECT,
                                   DO GOOD

and mentally picture yourself enfolded within God’s capable and faithful hand.

KNOWING

i was born “KNOWING”

i knew how to sing and sang on pitch before i can remember

i knew how to engage people of all ages in conversation as soon as i could talk

i knew the way into the kingdom of God and completely embraced it by the age of six

            for every time i fell, literally and figuratively, i knew why

BUT

for all the ways that “KNOWING” made my life easier, blessed, different, special

there were 1000 ways it made it harder

i’ve wasted and squandered countless hours

            on being a “know-it-all”

            on crying – fighting – pouting because i didn’t “know what to do”

            on covering up a myriad of things because

                        i was afraid it … i would become “known”

KNOWING – instinctively understanding …

            what to do – what to say – where to go – how to react – when to leave – when to stay

A submitted KNOWING

            Blesses Me – Blesses Others – Blesses God

An UN-submitted KNOWING IS sin!

God in His gracious, loving, patient way is showing me, teaching me, allowing me to discover ways that my “KNOWING” is wrong … even a kind of “UN- KNOWING” or “NOT KNOWING”. He’s revealed Himself, His KNOWING, as sufficient, reliable, and trustworthy.

Now … today …

                                                 i live in the land of “i don’t know”

                                        amongst a people who say “you know”

                                                in a world that is “dying to know”

and yet …

            in the midst of NOT KNOWING

i can rest quietly, content, and confident

                                    because i know  …

i am KNOWN