Dave’s Monday Blast – May 28, 2018
Despite an intense firefight, he tied three times to save the soldier. On his third try, Jared was killed. He was posthumously awarded America’s highest honor for heroism, the Medal of Honor.
Country western singer Lee Brice recorded a song you will want to listen to this day entitled “I Drive Your Truck” about Jared’s father Paul. Just Youtube it.
Pastor Jiim Denison writes, “If you are like me you struggle with reconciling the events of our day with the sovereignty of our Lord.” I think we can all relate to that feeling. For years I have been reading the classic devotional guide by Oswald Chambers (don’t you love that name ) entitled My Utmost for His Highest. A recent devotional selection on prayer brought new insight: “There is one prayer God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus ‘that they may be one, even as We are One.'” As a result, “”God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus has prayed that we may be” (his emphasis).
Denison comments, “In other words, everything that God allows or causes in our lives is intended to bring us closer to himself. The reason: Jesus is praying for this outcome, right now (John 17:20 – 23). And whatever the Son asks, the Father answers.”
Seen through this prism, every event of the day takes on new significance. The challenging news and situations we are confronted with every moment of every day should drive us to our knees; INTENTIONAL men are committed to this posture. Every moment of every day takes on a providential depth when we see it as a step closer to our Father. We may not know in this life all the ways God is using this moment to draw us to himself, but we can know that he is.The decision to cooperate is ours, but this is what He intends. Such unity with the Lord has powerful outcomes in our lives.
One is answered prayer. Jesus promised us, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Denison notes: “Jesus’ model for prayer is abiding in his presence, abiding in his words, and then asking God for our heart’s desires. God desires that we should be so in tune with his heartbeat and so saturated with his word that our desires would be transformed into his desires. His plan is to fill us with the knowledge of his perfect will for our lives in the secret place so that we can pray and live wholeheartedly with full expectation that our heavenly Father will bring to fruition the desires he has placed within us.”
Another is confidence in the midst of challenges. When we know that God is redeeming our hardest days by using them to draw us closer to himself, we can trust his heart even when we do not see his hand! (I love this phrase).
Charles Spurgeon: “The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God’s method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith…they are waves that wash you further upon the rock…they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven.” That’s good isn’t it!
It begs the question my friends…What waves and winds are you facing today?
