As believers in Jesus Christ, we press on into God driven by thirst, spending time in doing all the “right” things to learn more about God. We think we know what the “right” things are. We pray; we worship; we read and study His word; we delve deeper into the wisdom of the scriptures; we choose to love through the purity of His Love. Indeed we seek after God through all possible biblical means. Such is the nature of the business in this whole pursuit of knowing God. No, I am not saying that it is a misguided quest. In fact, many of you would agree it is rightly so that we press on into God for all we are worth. That is the ideal, would you not agree?
Then He says “Anyone can think they see all of me – from a distance.” With that, we are woken up from our dreams.
Getting to know God sounds like a tedious business. Movies show monks and priests poring over dusty manuscripts and ancient Apocrypha texts as a mean of learning more about God. Or maybe you would consider the following to be more realistic perspectives on our lives? For many of us, time seems to slip through our fingers too easily and too quickly. Spending it with God through the reading of His Word, and reflecting on His goodness may sound rather boring to a lot of people. Quiet time with God often runs a distant second to a quiet snooze with Rip Van Winkle, especially so with those "five more minutes".
Then we are caught up in a whirlwind. We are such highly sought after commodities that a whole myriad of things under the spectrum of the realities of this world vie for our attention. Then again, many of us want quality time with God, but are uneasy with the solitude, for there we face our unanswered questions, our unresolved hurts, our desires, and our unconfessed sin. To many of us, God does not seem to be the source of delightful fascination, but the reminder of our faults. Yet it is within our nature that these very needs of ours be met. God has made us so.
How then, can our needs be met? How can we view God with a sense of wonder and constant fascination? C.S Lewis asked:
"Do fish complain at the sea for being wet? If they did, would the fact not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? If you are really a product of the material universe, how is it you don’t feel at home here?"
The fish don’t complain, for they are in their element. The fact that we complain; that we are never satisfied; that we have unending streams of needs to be met; the fact that we are restless and thirst for more – betrays just how ill at ease we are in a material universe apart from having an intimate relationship with the God who made it.
We are made in the image of a creator of all things who himself is immaterial, yet in every way very real and tangible indeed. We see the wonders of God in the Rainbow, the autumnal colours of the maple trees, all life on Earth, and the oceans and the coral reefs of the world. We see His might in the creation of The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, and the mass of stars in the heavens. We see His humour in the Platypus, and we see His glory as the Sun rises each new morning. In accordance to the infiniteness of His nature, God is wonderful beyond all this. On that concept, it is not surprising, yet life itself is full of surprises. Trust God on that.
We seek after God because we are filled with a part of Him – He breathed into us. We are made in His image. We will remain insatiable in our thirst as long as we remain in this material world because we are meant for a life of eternity in a spiritual world with Him. Even so, when we are eventually with Him, we will still be continually drawn toward Him in worship for eternity.
As we worship, God will reveal more of Himself and His glory in His perfect endless nature. For as the apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:10, God’s wisdom is manifold; it is so that we will realise that God is inexhaustible in His wonder. Only from a flowing stream which is inexhaustible in its supply will an insatiable thirst be quenched.
Let our prayers be that our eyes be open to the wonders of God, and our hearts be continually singing of His praise. That our hearts remain tender to His overtures of love and not hardened by angers big and small. That we take time to look at and not only just to see His wonders. That within us, from the restored joy of knowing Him, we will sing, listen and embrace Him without reservations.
"Read not to contradict or believe, but to weigh and consider"
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Boys, let's pray
He said, “Boys, let’s pray.”
He knelt by a chair, and his two friends lowered themselves to the bedside, and one of them recalled that he “really poured out his heart to God.” They had never heard a prayer of such childlike directness.
His friend recounts, “Lord, you know I’m doing all I can. You know I don’t have any money, but I believe we ought to do this. You know, Lord, I’ll put another mortgage on; I’ll take the little I have and put another mortgage on. Lord, I don’t know where the money is, and if I did know where it is, I’m too busy to go out and get it. I feel the burden for it, but it’s up to you, and if you want this, I want you to give me a sign. And I’m going to put out a fleece. And the fleece is for the $25,000 by midnight.”
His friends agreed in awe, “You could feel the presence of God there. You could feel a state of expectancy. God was listening to him. Something is going to happen…God is faithful. Whatever God starts, God finishes.”
At the end of the crusade, he spoke of the radio opportunity. He said he felt he should take this available time for God rather than let it go to a tobacco company or suchlike; that he had no money nor the time to raise it. When he mentioned $25,000, a lot of money in 1950, he heard a ripple or two of laughter.
At last the audience was released. A long line soon formed near the back office where a shoebox was held. Scribbled pledges and dollar notes were thrust in. A lumberman from Idaho left a $2,500 pledge. A couple of youths asking, " Sir, is chicken feed acceptable?" threw in a handful of change and a dollar, and he said, "God bless you. Thank you." An old lady in a worn dress produced a $5 bill.
The box was given to the crusade chairman. The offering was tallied at just $23,500.
They all looked at him. "It's a miracle. You're as good as on the air!"
He, almost in tears at the generosity and trust of the people, firmly said no. The fleece was for $25,000 before midnight, so $25,000 it must be. The devil might have sent the lesser sums to tempt him. When the two friends offered the balance, he refused them.
A subdued team returned to the hotel shortly before midnight. He went up to his room, while one of his friends went to the mail desk where three envelopes delivered by hand were given.
In each was was a pledge from someone unable to wait in the line: one for $1,000, two for $250. Together they made up the $25,000.
The title of the radio programme, was "Hour of Decision." In his first-ever radio programme, he emphasised the urgency of the hour and pleaded for a nationwide movement of prayer - even in its time is still of great relevance today: "Faith, more than fighting, can change the course of event today. United, believing, self-humbling, God-exalting prayer now can change the course of history."
Only at the close did he sound a direct evangelistic call: "A crucified and a risen Christ will forgive sins, lift burdens, solve problems, and give assurance of salvation to many. This experience can be yours, whoever your are, and whatever your circumstances may be, if by faith you will open your heart to Jesus Christ. Right now you can say an eternal yes to Christ, and you can become a partaker of eternal life."
The programme caught on rapidly, and Billy Graham's voice became familiar across America and many countries overseas.
The "Hour of Decision" had a considerable influence on his development as a preacher. It demanded every week a fresh address of highest calibre, which disciplined him all the more to study the Bible and theology, and to observe and assess contemporary events.
He knelt by a chair, and his two friends lowered themselves to the bedside, and one of them recalled that he “really poured out his heart to God.” They had never heard a prayer of such childlike directness.
His friend recounts, “Lord, you know I’m doing all I can. You know I don’t have any money, but I believe we ought to do this. You know, Lord, I’ll put another mortgage on; I’ll take the little I have and put another mortgage on. Lord, I don’t know where the money is, and if I did know where it is, I’m too busy to go out and get it. I feel the burden for it, but it’s up to you, and if you want this, I want you to give me a sign. And I’m going to put out a fleece. And the fleece is for the $25,000 by midnight.”
His friends agreed in awe, “You could feel the presence of God there. You could feel a state of expectancy. God was listening to him. Something is going to happen…God is faithful. Whatever God starts, God finishes.”
At the end of the crusade, he spoke of the radio opportunity. He said he felt he should take this available time for God rather than let it go to a tobacco company or suchlike; that he had no money nor the time to raise it. When he mentioned $25,000, a lot of money in 1950, he heard a ripple or two of laughter.
At last the audience was released. A long line soon formed near the back office where a shoebox was held. Scribbled pledges and dollar notes were thrust in. A lumberman from Idaho left a $2,500 pledge. A couple of youths asking, " Sir, is chicken feed acceptable?" threw in a handful of change and a dollar, and he said, "God bless you. Thank you." An old lady in a worn dress produced a $5 bill.
The box was given to the crusade chairman. The offering was tallied at just $23,500.
They all looked at him. "It's a miracle. You're as good as on the air!"
He, almost in tears at the generosity and trust of the people, firmly said no. The fleece was for $25,000 before midnight, so $25,000 it must be. The devil might have sent the lesser sums to tempt him. When the two friends offered the balance, he refused them.
A subdued team returned to the hotel shortly before midnight. He went up to his room, while one of his friends went to the mail desk where three envelopes delivered by hand were given.
In each was was a pledge from someone unable to wait in the line: one for $1,000, two for $250. Together they made up the $25,000.
The title of the radio programme, was "Hour of Decision." In his first-ever radio programme, he emphasised the urgency of the hour and pleaded for a nationwide movement of prayer - even in its time is still of great relevance today: "Faith, more than fighting, can change the course of event today. United, believing, self-humbling, God-exalting prayer now can change the course of history."
Only at the close did he sound a direct evangelistic call: "A crucified and a risen Christ will forgive sins, lift burdens, solve problems, and give assurance of salvation to many. This experience can be yours, whoever your are, and whatever your circumstances may be, if by faith you will open your heart to Jesus Christ. Right now you can say an eternal yes to Christ, and you can become a partaker of eternal life."
The programme caught on rapidly, and Billy Graham's voice became familiar across America and many countries overseas.
The "Hour of Decision" had a considerable influence on his development as a preacher. It demanded every week a fresh address of highest calibre, which disciplined him all the more to study the Bible and theology, and to observe and assess contemporary events.
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