Week 12: Matthew 18:19-20

"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Matthew 18:19-20

 

 

Greeting everyone!  I hope everyone had a blessed time moving on the promise from Psalm 73 last week and that those of you who chose to fast drew closer to the Lord through that.  I have a feeling this won't be the last opportunity we have to fast through our promises to move on, so if you didn't have a chance to fast...don't worry...your time will come!

 

For this week we will be moving on a promise Jesus gave us in Matthew 18:19-20.  Thanks go out to Amanda Valantine for suggesting this verse.  If any of you have suggestions for promises to move on please let me know.  It is such a blessing to me to have others get involved!

 

For the promise this week I'm going to ask you to get out of your bubble and reach out to someone else.  All of the promises up to this point have been pretty singular, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the Bible calls us, very clearly, to be part of a body.  This means not doing things on our own.  I'm going to push it even a little further.

 

I am sure that some of the people reading this are involved in church and that is fantastic.  I don't think you are a lost soul if you don't attend church.  The Bible doesn't say anywhere that you have to attend church service once a week to earn eternal glory.  I do think it is incredibly beneficial to get plugged in to a body of fellow believers.  It's like working out.  I have always been more disciplined when I have a friend working out with me to push me and keep me going.  On the days I would rather sit on the couch and watch TV, having a friend to keep me accountable keeps me off the couch and on the treadmill (or bench, squat rack, bike trail, etc.).

 

So that is the promise this week.  Jesus promises us that when two of us agree on anything, it will be done by God!  That's as good as gold!  Where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus promises that He will be there with us.  What more could you ask for?!

 

For this week find one or two people at least to join with you in prayer.  I know that we all have incredibly busy schedules, so it may not be possible to physically get together with these people every day, but get in contact somehow and agree in prayer.  Praying together is such a powerful tool that is not utilized nearly enough! 

 

I'm going to take it even further though and "highly suggest" (this is like when your mother "highly suggests" you clean your room) that you involve someone you don't normally turn to.  My wife and I pray together all the time.  I absolutely love it!  But I'm suggesting - and am also going to participate - incorporating people I normally don't share my prayer requests with.  This whole promises thing isn't about reaffirming what we already "do right" - it's about pushing ourselves to go deeper.  So if our promise is on joining others in prayer, I'm not going to sit here and say, "Well, I pray with my wife...so check that one off the list."  I am going to push myself to go deeper.

 

So find a new prayer buddy, or a couple!  Talk about your requests to God, get in agreement (I should mention that this is a great time to make sure your motives are Spirit led...so don't just agree on everything, but challenge each other) and pray!  Then after all of that, know without a doubt that Jesus is there with you and that your prayers are answered!  God promised!

 

Have a blessed week moving on His promise!



Week 11: Psalm 73

"Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you."

Psalm 73:25

Hey everybody!  This week we will move on Psalm 73.  It's a little different than most of the other promises that we have moved on thus far, so let me explain how I see this going.

The beginning of Psalm 73 is a little depressing.  It talks about the universal truth in life that "nice guys finish last".  I'm paraphrasing...that quote isn't from the Bible (the Christian one anyway).  Verses 1-15 talk about how those who are wicked always seem to be getting the best life has to offer, while those who do their best to live righteously fall flat on their face.  The author sums it up in verse 16, "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me".  That seems to be a common theme when we try to understand the happenings of this broken world. 

The author gives us some great insight on what we should do when we start feeling this way though, "till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny."  When we enter into the presence of God it changes our perspective on everything.  We go from looking at things from a material, worldly, limited view, to an eternal perspective.  Upset about how "unfair" life is?  Enter the sanctuary of God (and by sanctuary I mean anywhere His presence dwells, could be church, your living room, the city park) and see if it doesn't change your mind about the very concept of "fair".

But I digress...there are many promises in this chapter:

1. God is always with us (Verse 23)
2. God holds us in his right hand (23)
3. God guides us with His counsel (24)
4. God takes us into His glory (24)
5. Where flesh and heart fail, God is our strength and portion forever (26)

Verse 28 ends the Psalm and says, "But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge, I will tell of all your deeds."  I really like this verse/promise because I have really been praying a lot, asking the Lord for more boldness to share my testimony with those around me.  Being near God and making Him our refuge makes it easy for us to share our testimony and His deeds with those we come in contact with.

The key to the promise stands in verse 25 though.  "Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you."  What do you desire on earth besides the Lord?  God brought this down on me like a hammer when I was praying about which promise to move on this week.  God lays all of these promises down at our feet - ours for the taking - but we cannot collect on them if our priorities aren't right.  It makes sense too.  Until I can honestly say, "Lord, earth has nothing I desire besides you." why would He give me more "things" to get in the way...more "things" for me to put before Him.

Jana and I have been talking about fasting to draw deeper into God.  I think this is the perfect opportunity for us to do this, and I ask that you prayerfully consider joining us.

DISCLAIMER:  I say prayerfully consider because you absolutely, 100% have to pray about this before you do it!  Jana and I have prayed about it and the Lord wants us to do this.  If the Lord does not want you to do this, you won't get anything out of it.  I have fasted without God and can tell you it's worthless...it just leaves you hungry and no fun to be around.  There is no shame in not doing this with us if you don't feel led to, just cling to the promises we have mentioned and make God all that you desire.

Jana and I have decided that we are going to do a technology fast, specifically our smart phones.  We have gotten way too comfortable spending too much time checking Twitter, Facebook, playing games, checking the weather, scores of sporting events, our e-mail...whatever else these amazing things can do now.  This alone isn't a problem...I see my smart phone and all this technology as one of the best ways I can spread the Word of God, but when some of these things start getting in the way of our quiet time with God, we have a problem.

There have been mornings that I have skipped my prayer time with God to write this blog.  Unacceptable.  There have been mornings I have thought, I'll check Facebook to see if any of my friends need prayer...and we all know how that ends.  Unacceptable.  It doesn't matter what it is, if there is anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God, it must be put in check.  This fast is a great way to set your priorities right.  Even if there are things that haven't elevated themselves in priority above God, but they are just getting too close for comfort, get them in check before they become a problem.

So ask God what He would have you do.  If He wants you to fast technology, do it!  Maybe He wants you to go traditional and fast food (not McDonalds and Burger King, but fast from food), maybe not even for a whole day or the whole week, but perhaps He wants you to fast through lunches this week, or fast on Tuesday and Thursday.  Maybe He wants you to start a month long fast or maybe He doesn't want you to fast at all.  You have to ask Him what He wants.

Then whatever He tells you, obey, move on it and watch the promises come to life!

Week 10: Psalm 77:12(7-20)

Hey gang!  This week we are going to be moving on Psalm 77; sticking with the meditation theme for one more week.  The entire Psalm is outstanding, but verse 12 is the verse that has to do with meditation.

Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. Then I said, "It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed." I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies gave forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there. The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known. You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
(Psalms 77:7-20)

Kind of a cool little personal story behind this verse:  A few weeks ago, we had a meeting with some of the friends joining us on these promises and decided to move on Joshua 1:8-9, then Psalm 119, then Psalm 77:12.  That was the order that I had presented them to the group, so that was the order we decided to move on them.

Then on February 25, while we were moving on Joshua 1:8-9, the Lord gave me the verse from Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?"  I really felt like God was telling me that something big was going to happen - maybe not even to me, but to someone moving on these promises.

It was a good kick in the pants to stop "praying like a sissy" and start trusting in the Lord to deliver!  I mean, come on!  He's God...NOTHING is too difficult for Him!  So for the rest of that week and into the next week meditating on Psalm 119, Jana and I pressed in and prayed hard.  We asked for the impossible.

And to date...nothing has happened.  In fact, last week I had a particularly bad week.  There have been "mountains" in my life that I have been praying to move and they all seemed to come crashing down on me last Wednesday.  I actually made the comment to Jana, "I know what David meant when he said, 'My eyes fail with longing for Your word, while I say, "When will You comfort me?"'  I have been looking for God's answer to this prayer for so long, I just physically don't know that I can look for it anymore."

"Ummm...Jeremy," you're probably thinking, "not the kind of thing you want to post to get people to join your group."  I know, it doesn't exactly inspire does it?  But that's because the story isn't finished!

I have to be honest, we chose these verses to move on because they all had to do with meditation.  I really didn't study all of them in depth before I picked them.  I read through the verses, but generally I don't read the context of the verses until a few days before we move on them...primarily so I can write this blog.

God knows His word though (duh!), and I believe that He laid out this plan and my circumstances perfectly for this exact moment.  Reaching a point of brokenness is no fun, but it can also be the most beautiful thing in the world.  When you reach the point when you can't solve the problem on your own, when you have exhausted all avenues and there is only one road left to take - total and utter dependence on God - that is when things can finally start to move.  You can't give up though.  You have to press in, even when your eyes fail looking for God to come to the rescue.

That's why I love Psalm 77 so much, and that's why I love that God designed it to come this week; the perfect time for me (and hopefully you as well).  Psalm 77 is all about pressing in.  The writer is filled with the same questions I have been asking this past week:

"Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

But look at what the author does when these questions threaten to destroy his faith.  When doubt begins to attack and strangle out the hope that is ours. 

Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

 The same is true today.  We serve the same God who parted the sea for Moses and Aaron.  The same God who brought down the walls of Jericho.  The same God who slew Goliath.  I don't know if we don't believe those stories, or if we just don't believe that they happen anymore, but we serve that same GOD! 

I don't know that you'll be in a situation where you literally need a sea parted so you can walk through it, but I know that God can do it.  I don't know that you or I will literally need to break down the walls of a fortified city or kill a giant threatening our nation, but I know that God can still do it!

It doesn't matter what you need as long as you know who you need.  When fear and doubt start to creep in and replace peace and hope, meditate on God's past works and mighty deeds.  He is the same God!  He hasn't gotten weak in His old age...in fact, He doesn't age!

So press in!  Remember God's miracles of long ago, meditate on them, and apply them to your life!  When you reach the point when your eyes fail looking for God's promise, remembering His faithfulness in the past will fuel your hope and give you the faith to push on.

"not one word has failed of all His good promise..."
1 Kings 8:56
 

Week 9:Psalm 119

Happy Sunday everyone!  Time for our weekly Promise to Move On!

We're going to be sticking with the meditation theme for this week, this time drawing on Psalm 119.  I'm going to approach this blog a little differently.  Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible and I don't think it is any coincidence that the chapter is about the deep love the author has for God's Word.

The chapter also happens to mention meditation 8 times.  So instead of writing about all of the verses, I'm going to leave the interpreting of each of these verses between the Holy Spirit and YOU as you meditate on these verses throughout the week.  Pick one of the verses that sticks out to you, or, read them all, let them soak in, and then pick a completely different verse to meditate on.  Last week I spent the entire week meditating on Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"  I spent some time meditating on Joshua 1:8-9, but the majority of the time the Lord wanted me to spend on this verse from Jeremiah.

So here are all the verses from Psalm 119:

• Psalms 119:15 I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.
• Psalms 119:23 Even though princes sit and talk against me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
• Psalms 119:27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.
• Psalms 119:48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
• Psalms 119:78 May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts.
• Psalms 119:97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
• Psalms 119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
• Psalms 119:148 My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.

And as an added little bonus, here are all the verses from Psalm 119 about God's promises:

• Psalms 119:38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
• Psalms 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
• Psalms 119:140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
• Psalms 119:154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.
• Psalms 119:162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.
• Psalms 119:170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise.

And as a super-duper added bonus, here are some verses that I thought were pretty cool:

• Psalms 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
• Psalms 119:31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!
• Psalms 119:46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed.
• Psalms 119:58 I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word.
• Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.
• Psalms 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
• Psalms 119:147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.
• Psalms 119:151 You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.
• Psalms 119:175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.

I absolutely love that last verse!  Never forget, the entire reason that we are doing this promise moving, the entire reason that we even exist is to praise God.  Let your life be a living testimony to that truth this week as we move on His promises and meditate on His Word!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to contact anyone in the group.  We have started a Facebook page to keep plugged in, pray for one another and help keep each other moving on God's promises.  Even if you just want to be added so you know what promise we are moving on right away.  We try to get this blog out ASAP, but with life and everything sometimes we are good to get anything out at all.  Becoming part of the Facebook group just assures that if we don't get the blog out, you are still in the loop.

Have a great week moving with Jesus!

God bless!