After taking a few months off, I've decided to start writing my blog again. I finally finished the draft of my second book, How to Live the Christian Life, so I will now start editing it. Please feel free to comment on my blog at any time. Also, please click on the follow button if you wish to follow my blog.
Me reading the Bible: After I read 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story by Dr. Larry Crabb, I felt God wanted me to read the Bible one book at a time and then read what Dr. Crabb wrote about that love letter (book) in the Bible, so I started reading Genesis a few days ago. After reading Genesis 27-32, I had one question for God: Why couldn't Isaac take back the blessing he gave Jacob after he found out Jacob deceived him?
God: Because you cannot take back what you say. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21
Me: Wow, that is powerful. I will have to remember that the next time I say something. I remember Joyce Meyer talking about how important the words are that come out of our mouths. If we pray about something and then go about our day complaining about the very same thing we asked God to take care of, then what we are actually saying is that we don't have faith that God will take care of it. God only moves when he sees faith. Fear moves Satan. Faith moves God.
Here is the question I had for God after reading Genesis 33-36 today. How can the sons of Leah and Rachel's handmaids be considered part of the sons of the 12 tribes of Israel, since they weren't married to Jacob (Israel)?
God: Because the seed came from Israel. It's doesn't matter who houses the seed, they are still Israel's sons.
Me: What about Abraham's son with Sarah's handmaid? Why wasn't he considered Abraham's son?
God: He was Abraham's son, but not part of my promise to them. I promised Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son, but they didn't wait on my promise and instead tried to fulfil my promise on their own. It's always better to wait on me.
Me running on the treadmill and listening to a sermon on my iPod: Father, this message I was listening today will definitely be one of my favorite messages. It is entitled, "Are you Intimate with God?" by Dr. Dan Knickerbocker. He gave this sermon at Bible Baptist Church on August 15, 2010. Here is a link to BBC's sermons: http://www.biblebaptistfairbanks.com/audio/index.shtml . Dr. Knickerbocker talked about three types of Christians: secular, spirited, and the spiritual few. He likened the secular Christians to the millions of Israelites in Exodus who God told not to touch the mountain, and the spirited to the 70 elders that were allowed to go on part of the mountain, and then Moses, one of the spiritual few, who was allowed to go to the top of the mountain where God was. This message sure gave me a lot to think about. Am I a secular Christian who always complains and doesn't really care about spending time with God? Am I a spirited Christian who is up when things go well, and down when things don't go well? Or am I one of the spiritual few who are completely consumed with the will of God for their lives and nothing can shake them because they are in His hand, and under His divine leadership and under His control. Yes, this message gave me a lot to think about.
Me: Father, I finished the book, They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman last night and it was as good, if not better than I thought it would be. I ask you every day to direct my path, so I know the books that come across my path are the books you want me to read. What a powerful book this was. I am going to read it again, because I want those truths to get deep inside my heart. The main message in my book on how to live the Christian life is that we cannot live the Christian life. This is what you have been teaching me for the past couple of years. The Holy Spirit wants to live the Christian through us. The Holy Spirit wants to accomplish your will for our lives through us. I was amazed that that was the very lesson that almost every one of these 20 godly people in They Found the Secret had to learn. Here is a quote from the book, "Jesus Christ does not want to be our helper; He wants to be our life. He does not want us to work for Him. He wants us to let Him do His work through us, using us as we use a pencil to write with--better still, using us as one of the fingers on His hand." What powerful words spoken by Charles G. Trumbull.
Father, you have already taught me the difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which happens as soon as we get saved, and the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is a daily thing. But I have been searching for more about the filling of your Spirit. I didn't understand exactly how to get it every day except to ask you for it every morning while I spent time with you and your word. I believe you gave me the answer I was looking for in this book, They Found the Secret. I learned from this book that you get the filling of the Holy Spirit when you surrender to him. Whatever you surrender to the Holy Spirit, he will fill with his Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not force us to do anything but waits for us to surrender our lives, our bodies, our souls to him. This is powerful, Father. I can't thank you enough for teaching me this.
I surrender my life to you, Father. I know I have already done this, but I still have fears in my heart about what you are going to do with my life, but I don't want to say what Job said after he found out that he lost all of his children in one day, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me." (Job 3:25(a)). Father, I give you all my fears. Please help me every day to forget those fears and just concentrate on you and what you want to accomplish through me today.
