Do You Know What Is Missing From Most People’s Lives?
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday, in my posting and in many but not all of the email devotionals, this ending text was deleted: “…a focus to empower us. Pray we appreciate the blessings of being in and of coming out of our cave. Pray we share in the victory with Christ. Pray we too are raised to new life. Pray we see the glory of God in the light eternal.” I guess it was ok for few complained, but the reality is that it was omitted. And it got me to thinking about what other things we might just accept even though something is absent. And as I think more about it we accept a lot of things that are ambiguous. But there is something of utmost importance we always need to include and frankly too few see it at all. We find it difficult for people to pray for us. There is something we are overlooking and maybe even avoiding individually and culturally. Do You Know What Is Missing From Most People’s Lives?
Scripture: We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:14-16 (NRSV)
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:17-27 (NRSV)
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.'” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.
John 5:1-16 (NRSV)
What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:6-8 (NRSV)
Message: Is Something Missing in Your Life? If you could change anything in your life, what would it be? Feelings of dissatisfaction or emptiness are usually what motivate us to desire a change. Perhaps we think better health, increased income, a different job, or a new relationship is the answer. Or maybe we can’t quite figure out what’s causing these feelings, but we know that something is missing in our lives. But changing our circumstances alone is a short-lived solution because the empty place in our souls can only be filled by God. Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God, identifies the failure of recognizing divine activity as one of the great tragedies of Christianity. He says: “Right now God is working all around you. One of the greatest tragedies among God’s people is that, while we have a deep longing to experience God, we, more often than not, do not know how to recognize Him.” So today, we examine some principles that can help us to see the unseen hand of almighty God and experience His powerful presence in our lives. And
it is important here to recognize that our emotions help create in us lasting feelings that perpetuate our existence in relationship one with another and God too.
We must feel the Spirit but it is not the same as having emotions, feelings or thoughts that are positive. That is only part of it. The Spirit is caught up in our experience of Jesus as we learn to know and to love him and be loved in the truth of who he is and who He wants us to become in relationship with each other. Therefore the Holy Spirit it is caught up in each act of faith we do with love. By the Spirit’s very nature it is witness to growth. By its very nature there is some tension in the experience that helps us to learn how to receive, recognize and respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit the more. It is here in the Spirit we join in the dance and singing of the Trinity as we grow into a more mature relationship with God. Part of this experience is learning to be subject to one another out of reverence to God. Here recognizing the Spirit at work helps us to learn and grow. When we join in fellowship sharing the joy in our hearts and yes, when we are willing to suffer with Jesus so that we may also be glorified with him that is the Holy Spirit. That is what is missing and why it is so easy to miss being in the will of God. Part of being in the Holy Spirit is being thankful and part of it is in making the most of the time we have by not only following the Holy Spirit but in guiding others as we have been guided. Oh we do need someone to guide us in the way…to help us understand what is required. Often this means learning to choose what is more difficult in order to complement the purpose of God. Friends, there are only two ways to live life, either in the flesh or in the Spirit. If the Spirit of God dwells in a person we need to be careful that nothing in our thoughts or feelings offend the divine quest. Friends, the Spirit is patient; the Spirit is kind; the Spirit is not envious or boastful or arrogant. When we are faithful, generous, kind, patient, peacemakers and joyful we witness to the commitment we have made as Christians and the Spirit of truth and love in us. To trust the Spirit is an excellent and powerful way of showing our love. After all, if we are trusting Jesus for our eternal salvation why would we not trust the Holy Spirit with the activities of our life. Friends, God is always at work around us in both life and death as part of the choosing and refusing…of the sowing and reaping. So ask God to open the eyes of your heart that you may see. What is missing can be found. We need each other to survive friends and the Holy Spirit can deploy us where we are needed most. Here something is missing from the Body of Believers. So do you know what is missing from the CH_ _ CH? Do you know what is missing from most people’s lives? If the Holy Spirit is in you then the answer might just be UR.
Pray we anticipate divine activity. Pray we realize that when we begin to obey God we increase our chances of seeing God work. Pray we accept the uncertainty of it all. Pray we nevertheless choose to believe. Pray we recognize the Holy Spirit. Pray we connect to the power and purpose of Jesus by choosing surrender to God’s will over compliance to the ways of the world. Pray we choose fellowship over isolation. Pray we choose honesty over pretense. Pray we invest in the journey of the moment now while not losing sight of the destination. Pray we value transformation more than information. Pray we invest in the corporate body not just the self. Pray we be grace-filled more than judgmental. Pray we take personal responsibility rather than blaming others. Pray we be willing to give away rather than hold on to things. Pray we realize that choosing to be powerless rather than controlling allows the Holy Spirit to act in and through us. Pray we discover what is missing in our culture and lives and communities of faith and commerce. Pray we be guided by the Spirit to bring a little of heaven to earth seeing the divine at work each time what had been lost is found.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 