New Year's Beseechment

Beseeching is like begging.

It is very rare that someone in a prominent position would beg.  They are more used to demanding or commanding.

It would have to not only be something extremely important... it would have to be urgent.  There would need to be a sense of imminent necessity... as if what was being asked for was a life or death situation.

Some things should be treated with this type of urgency.

Paul certainly understood this.

He felt so strongly… felt that it was so important… that he was willing to parakaleō (beseech, implore, beg…) the Corinthians…

The day after Christmas

There is always a day that follows Christmas.  A day when the shepherds go back to the fields, the census continues, and you find yourself… as Joseph must have… facing the responsibilities that were there before the delivery.

We focus a lot on Jesus at Christmas (or do we) and rightly so… but I think we need to pause for a minute on this day after Christmas and realize that Joseph gave us a great example as men, husbands, and fathers.

Joseph was what was termed “tsaddiq” – righteous.  He had upheld the Jewish law his whole life and attained a place of prominence in the community.

But when the law would have required him to stone Mary for adultery… even before knowing what had happened… Joseph was ready to forfeit all of what he had worked for… all of what he had “earned”…

His status… his position… his accomplishments… his reputation… and perhaps his family.

Think about it… would you be looking for a hotel in the town where your family lived?  Why didn’t Joseph feel that he would be welcomed if he sought out an aunt or uncle… a cousin or even a close family friend?

The height of success

“Now there was a man of Benjamin,… a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul,… from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” 1 Samuel 9:1,2

I remember reading an article regarding the average height of CEOs for Fortune 100 companies.  At the time none of the men who held these positions were under six feet tall.  Coming in a hair below that (OK… maybe a head below that) I didn’t stand a very good chance of getting a desk in the corner office.  Add to it that I had a beard and I wouldn’t make the cut even if you extended the list to Fortune 500… or the Less-Than-Fortune-8.

There is just something about tall men that makes people look up to them.

(I’ll pause while you let that set it.)

Israel had wanted a king… someone they could look up to.  So God granted there request… literally.  Saul was the tallest Israelite.  And something about that was appealing… until that is…
 

I have another hand

“Remember I have another hand.”

This was what the Lord spoke to my heart when He gave me a picture during worship this past week.

A picture that reminded me that we are instruments… instruments of ten strings as the scripture call us.

Instruments in the hands of the most skilled Musician.

I saw the neck of a guitar and on that neck a hand…

I couldn’t tell you the cord the fingers formed but I knew that they were holding the strings firm.

And that was when He reminded of His other hand…

The hand playing…

The hand releasing the sound…

The song of heaven.

"But that... was not... the prayer."

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a prayer you prayed is… well… sort of answered?  It isn’t exactly what you asked for… but who are you to complain?

Maybe you didn’t ask for the right thing.

Or maybe you didn’t ask the right way.

Or maybe God said, “No.”

Or, “Not yet.”

And when it doesn’t happen you try to keep your chin up and have an attitude of gratitude.

Maybe your mother’s voice plays in the back of your head, “Be grateful you got that!”
So you offer up a “Thank you” to Jesus that is more forced than natural.

I did that recently.

I had prayed a pretty specific prayer.  It’s a more detailed story that this… but I’ll give you the highlights.

“I want a my last day of work to be June 28^th.   I want to have a week off to be with my family (our son was visiting from Brazil).  And I want my new job to start July 8^th.”

God moved… fast.

Get primed...

“After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” Acts 19:21

I recently had a plumbing problem.  It has been ongoing.  The condensation pump for the AC unit has a tube going from it to drain to the outside.  Unfortunately, when the tube was installed and the hole was drilled to put it through the concrete, it was placed too high on the wall.  The pump doesn’t have the power to push the weight of that much water to that height so it winds up overflowing and draining into the house.

Not good.

Once it has been primed though, it works fine.  I just have to keep it primed.

All the pieces were in place.  Technically it should have worked… but what needed to come through the tube was more than what had been planned for.

The difference between purposing in the flesh and purposing in the spirit is that while one may prepare us… the other primes us.

When you have been primed (backfilled to remove all of the voids, empty spaces, dead air) God can send through you so much more than what you are expecting.

What you would be unable to make happen in your own strength… what your “pump” could not handle… will flow.

Are there things you have planned for… things that you feel that you are ready for… that it is time for…