Author: arisewithhope

I love studying the Bible about topics that most Christians deal with, and sharing my findings. My hope is to inspire others with the good news of the Gospel and point others to the great and precious promises of Jesus.

24 Biblical Blessings From Fasting for Today

Author: Lisa Groen

Why did OT believers or I, myself have to do anything to “get” God’s presence? As fasting is an approach that is taken by some to draw near to God, we can see similar postures of heart comparable to fasting were prescribed and even ordained by God in the Old Testament. Fasting goes hand in hand with mourning or taking a heart posture of sorrow, self-denial and self-control. Are developing these truly a good work for the believer? This sorrow of fasting is not a type of play acting that God is telling us to do like a child play acts sad and cries with fussy “tears” to manipulate their parents. Fasting is not a process comparable to the “refusal of food” a child might do to try to get the parents to do something the child wants in order to make the child happy. Biblical fasting is for “the believer” (at a minimum) because fasting isn’t needed by God to help God hear us more effectively. There is nothing deficient in God’s hearing. God is not dependent on us, but he does enable pathways by which the believer can draw nearer to God. But let’s examine how is it used to help a believer draw near to God.

Let’s first read how God addresses the lack of self-denial, entitlement, and several other self-gratifying attitudes spoken of in Isaiah 58:

Isaiah 58:3 Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’—-this is entitlement
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, —-this is entitlement
And oppress all your workers. —-This is an absence of self-control
4 Behold, you fast for contention and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. —-This is an absence of self-control
You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high!—maybe they were fasting physically but in their hearts they had wrong attitudes.
5 Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?—short lived “humility” or “an outward spiritual show”
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed— short lived “humility” or “an outward spiritual show”
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? —this is all outward show but doesn’t mention heart attitudes changing.
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?

God’s fast appears to be the solution God gives for breaking the entitlement attitude off of us (vs. 3) and appears to be God’s solution for breaking off of us the menacing lack of self-control.(behold…you find your desire, vs 3), and appears to restore back godly self-control. Fasting appears to deal with getting rid of the wrong attitude of the heart, like the heartless using physical force against people. (vs. 4) Fasting deals with getting rid of the wrong belief that just bowing yourself to God like a reed for a day (the pride of a spiritual appearance) that related to the idea they will get noticed by God for their spirituality. They were wanting their voices to be heard on high, and Isaiah doesn’t say that that was a bad pursuit, but just that the way they were going about it was bad. A list of actions in Isaiah 58:1-5 were fruitless, or wretched, and self-indulgent and fasting is shown to be the hatchet that would cut them away. Fasting can build the discipline of maintaining a longer-term posture of humility instead of just humbling yourself for a day (vs. 5). Next, fasting can make our prayers more effective in causing or letting the oppressed go free (vs 6) undoing the bonds of wickedness (vs 6) and undoing the bonds of the yoke and that every yoke of wickedness would be broken (vs 6).

Let’s look at a more extensive list of 24 direct blessings from fasting:

6 Is this not the fast that I choose:
To release the bonds of wickedness,  —blessing 1
To undo the ropes of the yoke, —blessing 2
And to let the oppressed go free, —blessing 3
And break every yoke? —blessing 4
7 Is it not to break your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn, —blessing 5
And your recovery will spring up quickly; —blessing 6
And your righteousness will go before you; —blessing 7
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. —blessing 8
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; —blessing 9
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ —blessing 10
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you offer yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness, —blessing 11
And your gloom will become like midday. —blessing 12
11 And the Lord will continually guide you, —blessing 13
And satisfy your desire in scorched places, —blessing 14
And give strength to your bones; —blessing 15
And you will be like a watered garden, —blessing 16
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. —blessing 17
12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; —blessing 18
You will raise up the age-old foundations; —blessing 19
And you will be called the repairer of the breach, —blessing 20
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. —blessing 21

13 “If, because of the Sabbath, you restrain your foot
From doing as you wish on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a pleasure, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
14 Then you will take delight in the Lord, —blessing 22
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; —blessing 23
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, —blessing 24
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

God shows us He is truly responsive to a mournful heart, and tears of repentance and sorrowful seeking of Him, as people knew their brokenness and need for Him. In Isaiah 58, God gives at list of 24 spoken blessings God that come with the right heart attitude of self-denial that goes with fasting and does not  take away these 24 promises for the believer after Jesus went to the cross. The promises of Isaiah 58 are still active and alive today. Isaiah 58 seems to be about the theme of self-denial and self-control in seeking the Lord, and the lack of self-denial and self-control. The desire to build these back again and making room for self-control and self-denial leads were possibly the singular cause and best reason today in the New Testament for God’s people to resort to fasting.

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Prayer of Dependence on God-4

For Those With Covid:

Lord, we come to you with humble and contrite heart, you alone have all authority and all power to answer our prayers. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that one of your Hebrew Names is Jehovah Rapha “I am the LORD, who heals you.'” Exodus 15:26, I thank you that Lord you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. I thank you that your desire is for us, and that Mathew 10:30 says, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” I thank you that you grant us everything we need for life and godliness, and that we have grace from 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 which gives us eternal encouragement and good hope. I ask Lord that you’d encourage the hearts and strengthen those who have Covid with your word. We ask you would be the glory and the lifter of their heads, and that their hope would be fixed in you and that you would grant them strong consolation and the joy of the Lord, and give them the grace to rest in you and find your arms of love and safety surrounding them with help in this time of need. We ask that this would be just a light and momentary trial working in them a glory that far outweighs all the trials they go through and that you would fix them with deep roots in your peace and joy. We ask for their spiritual nourishment and that you would grant their minds to be at peace and that you would take away the sharp pains in the lungs and chest and the fever and the cough and that you would remove all the bacteria and virus populations from their systems and open the alveoli in their lungs. Open up the bronchial passages to where they need to be for safe, peaceful, relaxed and undisturbed breathing. Lord, please watch over them and raise them up from their sickbeds and bring them to yourself. May you do something in this time of recovery that would make the most of this time, and that there would be a drawing near to you and a deepening of awareness of your presence, and that they would lose nothing of value in this time. May they find that you are a fountain of life welling up to eternal life, and may they sing and make melody in their hearts if it is too much for them to sing with their lungs at this time. May you renew their minds, and give them understanding in the word, and may their meditation of you be sweet. May your words and grace be ever speaking to them giving them life and sweet meditations, may you cheer them up with your kindness, and hope. Grant thee doctors the knowledge and know how to deal with specific situations that may require added medical provisions, and grant them to focus, and carry out the safest protocols and best practices that are out there. May you restore them in your care, physically, mentally, emotionally, and grant them to trust in your grace and goodness. Restore to them what the enemy is trying to steal, Oh Lord and may you be their governor and umpire and advocate through this trial. Please remove from them all forms of worry and anxiety, may they remember Lord that you are the God who heals all our diseases and the God who routes the enemy for our sake and that you are the One who grants the promise in 1 Peter 5:10 which says, “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.” Please grant that your peace would override every form of doubt, angst, and frustration and please renew in them the relationship that will establish them in love and contentment, hope, and strong faith by your spirit. Lord, may you use what the enemy meant for evil for the good of these folks and bring a blessing out of this time of need that they have. May you teach them you respond to faith, and that you hear their prayers. May you encourage them by growing them up in the faith in your timing and in your care. May you soon crush the enemy underneath their feet.

We ask these things in Your Name Lord, Amen!

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Revision to “If Christians Are Free From Condemnation, Why Do Many Struggle With It?”

Author: Lisa Groen

Through my interactions with other Christians over the years I have noticed a deep need. Many times, a person who is dealing with shame may be battling it because it has stemmed from a history of abuse suffered in childhood or later in life. If the abuse was long term or serious, the shame may be deep rooted. This shame can be heavy and even paralyzing for some.

The source for much and even most healing for our emotional needs will come to the Christ follower through the word of God. I have experienced this both personally and seen it in the lives of wounded friends who have received healing over the years. The word of God heals us through the very things it says to us about The Lord, about our faith and what our faith brings us, and about our progress in the faith. We will end up through the perseverance God provides, looking like Jesus in our spirituality. God means for us to be whole, stable, fruitful, and to be filled with Jesus.

If we have repented but still feel guilty, shame indeed can be exclusively an attack from the forces of darkness. The believer just like Jesus was, is equipped by with the word of God to fight against lies the enemy tried to send us and by believing the word of God we fight the good fight of faith.

What hope can we find in the scripture that leads us out of the bondage of shame? We first must look to who Jesus is and see plainly in scripture what he has promised the believer and intends for the believer to possess. We possess traits from the Lord because of our faith in Him that work themselves into our personality, emotions, our motives, and thinking. Embracing who the Lord is through our worship of Him is a normal way of life for the Christ follower. Seeing and looking into His traits brings freedom to us one scripture at a time, and we will look more and more like Jesus.

A great statement that John the Baptist made to his disciples in discussing how Jesus was baptizing more followers than he, is found in John 3:27 “John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.”” If we truly think about this statement, we can know the Lord would not have his people holding onto anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. The statement by John the Baptist was referring to the ministry that a person receives can only come from heaven. But in the broader application of the scripture, I think this would include that a person can receive only what heaven would have us to receive, and this includes food, shelter, clothing, friendships, love, purpose, work, spiritual strength, truth, etc.., but also would mean that it is not within the will of God for his people to receive any thing of any sort from the kingdom of darkness. That would mean it would not be right for us to receive lies, oppression, or faultfinding attitudes, fits of rage, backbiting, or other types of “equipment” from the enemy.

Even if the scripture John 3:27 was meant to have a very narrow context, it is still correct to say that it is not God’s will for his people to carry around a shame-based nature. We know this because of the promise of Romans 8:1 which says “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The very first thing we should ask is “do I know of any sin in my life I need to repent of? “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17. The good thing regarding this is that God will give a person the grace to repent of their sins. Sin can and must be dealt with in the life of the Christ follower. God does provide help for us to become free from sin.

Romans 6:18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.I

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

If sin is not the reason that is opening the door to the shame or guilt we may be dealing with, why do we struggle so long with it at times then? If we have repented of all known sin, there may be a spiritual attack of condemnation or accusation from the enemy. A demon of shame or condemnation could be at fault. Our enemy would like to send lies and accusation our way to get us to doubt the truth about the Lord and our Christian identity. The enemy wants us to doubt our faith, he wants us to doubt our relationship with the Lord, and he wants us to doubt the faithfulness of our God.

God’s work in a Christ follower is powerful. Since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1 a relevant question to ask is “how does one get into Christ?” This question is about salvation. We must learn about the work of Jesus and what he has called his own people to. To simplify the question of election and predestination, let us assume a person is a seeker of the Lord. Seek, ask, and knock, and it will be opened to you is what the Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-11  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” I believe a person who seeks to be saved will be saved. I believe the Lord is the One who gives a person the inclination to begin with to seek salvation in the first place.

There seems to be a tension in our walk with The Lord to keep fighting the good fight of faith, and to keep our hearts pure before The Lord. We are commanded to abide in Him. He expects us to go about our daily lives doing and being led by Him to take care of our affairs. Right along with the normal every-day work, relationships, housekeeping, care for our belongings, etc.. we are concurrently responding to The Lord. He is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. This is the place a believer abides in the Lord—in a place of respect for what the Lord has done for us where we take those realities into our minds and hearts which helps us to be in a place of worship of Him as we go about our days.

The second big part of abiding in Him is to be ever mindful of His word, because His word is truth and His word has much to say about the new nature of Christ followers that we received as a gift when we became born again. We are told in Proverbs to listen to the teaching of the Lord to gain wisdom. Here is a small sampling of just 3 verses with a blessing and/or benefit as a result attached to the command to listen:

Proverbs 1:33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Proverbs 8:32 “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways.

Proverbs 8:34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.

Jesus said in John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

When we listen to the words of God and we abide in the word of God, we let it be what we listen to and hear, and it inspires our faith. We can then ask for whatever we wish (as long as it is within his will) and it will be done for us. God’s will for us includes to think the thoughts the Lord thinks about us as forgiven and redeemed. This would include having our hearts made sure with confidence of being rooted and grounded in him. Isaiah 45:17 says of Israel representing all of God’s people: “But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” We can then ask in faith to have untrue condemning beliefs about ourselves removed (if we have repented) that may be there not from the result of our sins, but from the attacks of the devil. When we get forgiven by God, we get washed by God, and the guilt and shame he removes from us. A big reason to seek God for this if you do struggle with condemnation, is that condemnation is not part of our God-given Christlike identity we received at salvation. The Lord does not mean for us to carry condemnation because Christ bore our sin and shame. Some believers may struggle a lot less with it and some may struggle a lot more with it than the average Christian.

The Lord has designed the identity and nature of His followers to be one that does not get its definition from or partner with shame. Lets look at the following scriptures which mention shame or reproach to understand what we have been delivered from in Christ:

We are to abide in Him so that we will not be put to shame at His coming:

1 John 2:28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

We renounce hidden sins:

2 Corinthians 4:2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

We presently have hope the Lord will be exalted in our bodies with the mindset to not be put to shame:

Philippians 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

We are to be sensible, pure in doctrine, dignified, and sound in speech so as not to be put to shame:

Titus 2:1,6-8 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.  6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

We are to keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which we are slandered those who revile our good behavior will be put to shame:

1 Peter 3:16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

Proverbs says that sin causes a reproach.

Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

If a person’s sin was deep, or they fell out of fellowship with God, they may sense a need to get back into fellowship with the Lord and to believe in his atonement through faith in Christ. Then God’s grace is applied and the person in need is moved by God out of a state of condemnation and into a state of righteousness.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But, if we walk in the light (in Jesus) we will can get free from sin and not stumble (sin):

John 11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, (sin) because he sees the light of this world.

1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

How do we keep walking in the light? Keep going to Jesus and abide in his light.

What happens in the born again life is that the believer is brought from darkness to light, from the state he was in before being born again–spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ. Those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus for salvation are positionally no longer in a state of condemnation. The believer is positionally in a state of righteousness. This free gift of righteousness and state of being righteous is not earned nor maintained by the good works of the believer. God has changed the believer’s heart to love God and love his righteousness. The unbeliever however is in a state of condemnation already. God is the keeper of his people, and keeps them in a state of righteousness. The presence of the Holy Spirit is given to the beliver and abides in him and if the believer sins, he will likely have a sense that he has sinned and be moved by God to seek forgiveness, and cleansing, and to turn from that sin.

However, when the believer has sinned, he does not slip into positional condemnation. Positionally, the believer although he has sinned is still positionally righteous by faith in Christ. At that time the Holy Spirit prompts the believer to repent of their sin and seek cleansing. To contrast the unbeliever is positionally in a state of condemnation.

When the Lord may be working to bring about the salvation of the unbeliever they might either sense their need for God or might not sense their need. God might allow the unbeliver the awareness of their state of condemnation and along with that, God might grant them faith in the Savior. God is at work to draw people to himself.

If a believer is experiencing a sense of guilt, and they have already repented of their sin, it might be that they are experiencing some level of spiritual warfare. In that case, the believer can simply ask God to remove the feeling of condemnation because they are in a state of positional righteousness.

In the Bible we see the Lord has provided the believer the spiritual disciplines to strengthen them in the faith. We must remember that the Lord said “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”. To keep condemnation out of our minds might need some healthy Spirit led work. This is a work of God’s grace when he strengthens the believer. With the help of the Spirit we are told to renew our minds by meditation on the word of God. We do our part and God will do His part in renewing our mind so then we are able to be more set free from old carnal mindsets. Definitely, through the process of God at work in the heart and mind of the Christian, leading them in sanctification, they will become free from mindsets or thoughts that are of a condemning kind.

Our part in renewing our mind:

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ephesians 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

More details are written about renewing the mind in Ephesians 4:19-22:

19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind…

God’s part in renewing our mind:

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The Lord has set the renewal in motion!

Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Again, the renewal he has set in motion is done by the Holy Spirit.

Condemnation is part of the old man that we were delivered from in Christ. Laying aside the old man and its thinking is simply what we have to do. We must be aware that many of our battles are won through the help of the Holy Spirit, and through believing God’s word. The main point I am sticking to is that through a born again relationship, our following the Lord by faith, repentance, and forgiveness, we close the door on positional condemnation. We receive righteousness from God through faith in Christ, and this is what God’s forgiveness supplies us with in a positional sense. Now, because of what the Holy Spirit does in renewing our minds we make progress in our security and intimacy with God and stand firm in faith against the lies and fiery darts shot at us from our enemy the devil.

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Prayer of Dependence on God-3

Author: Lisa Groen

The title of the song is a good one to follow to draw close to God-“Come ye Christians poor and needy”. With that posture let us look to the Lord in prayer:

Dear Lord, as we look about our country and see the brokenness, the abominations that the government is “forcing” us to accept as a freedom of choice, as we see the racial conflicts and the legalization of marijuana, the limiting of the police force, the harassing of children, and multitudes of other national grave problems, these things are a tap on our shoulders that our country has forsaken its first love. We need to look to the church to see if there is a weakness in us that may be a crack in our foundation. There is a cry from our children who know something is not right with society, and we along with much of the church have slipped in our opportunities to stand up and speak truth in the midst of these situations.

Lord, we know that you must prepare the soil of people’s hearts for the Word that is sown to go down deep into the soil, and for it to grow well and for the soil to be rich enough to sustain the healthy growth of the seeds of truth. As we fast today may you prepare the soil of the hearts of our loved ones, the hearts of the lost in our neighborhoods, and cities and in our governments, at a local and national level. We pray for hearts to be made ready to hear truth, and to hear just what you would speak to people from your Word dear Lord. We pray for hearts to be hungry for truth, and for people to seek to read the Bible. Oh Lord, may the fear of God grip people enough for multitudes in America and in our spheres of influence to seek, read, absorb, and look to your Word for direction and to honor Your word. May people think about your Word, and seek truth in the midst of our dark society. And with these prayers for the spiritual hunger for truth in the lives of people in our spheres of influence, we seek that our hearts too would be prepared with your truth, hoed, and weeded and cultivated with your Word, as we take in your Word and as it satisfies the spiritual hunger in us. Lord, may you open the right doors for ministry at the right time. May your love be in us to share and encourage others with, and may your light be in us as we seek you for spiritual life- that we may have life abundantly, nourish it in our hearts and protect it, and that our hearts would be a fountain welling up to eternal life and ready to be salt and be light and a fountain to the world around us that You alone are the giver of spiritual life and abundantly give us Eternal Life. 1 John 5:11, John 17:3

Amen.

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Prayer of Dependence on God-2

Author: Lisa Groen

The title of the song is a good one to follow to draw close to God-“Come ye Christians poor and needy”. With that posture let us look to the Lord in prayer:

Dear Lord, we your people live in a world of many seductive pulls and glitter. You alone know the reasons you have created us. You sent Jesus into the world to rescue us from the sin that would try to feed us. May we turn from the many shiny and sparkly attractions of this world to see you. May we have ears to hear you as we look up to you. May we magnify you and abide with you. Lord we must hear your voice above the attractions of this world, and we must ween ourselves from the abundance of comforts in this world to hear the only one who tells us the truth about everything. May we stay long sitting before you. May we quiet our rebellious flesh as we pursue the opportunity to meet with you. May we turn our heads away from the whining of our appetites and from the growling of our stomachs to gain something far better which is the life from your voice and the life that is in your word and your touch. May we turn our heads away from the pull of the TV and the internet to settle our spirits as needy children in your all wise grandfatherly arms of love. May we strip from ourselves as we discern any layer –even if there may be many –layer after layer of idolatrous habits. May our idols become less and less, not because we do less searching for them but may our self-examination be illuminated by you and not be diminished but let us keep looking through the lense of the gospel at our lives. May we as we keep our eyes on you keep striving to line up this area and that area, and more areas of our lives with the word of God, and our gospel examples. And this is only possible through the gifts of grace which are the basis of our relationship with you. And may our idols become less attractive to us as we begin to see them for what they are and as we strip them away by your help because we are enabled by your vision to do  more searching for you and and less gazing at temporal “answers”. May we put into practice being led by you more habits of self-denial. Our world is full of the gospel of me, mine and more!! May we seek the pure milk of the word and may our taste buds be cleansed from the world by drinking in the pure water of the word. Lord where our taste buds have gotten off track from too many options of flavors of the world, and too many thrilling worldly temptations may we still desire the pure milk of the word for cleansing us and the water of the word to satisfy us.

Jesus, I am impressed with the Israelites and how you brought them through the wilderness eating simply one kind of meal from heaven for 40 years, and that was manna. You are not a God who had a goal of boring your people on purpose with one choice, but I believe you were building the taste buds toward the bread from heaven into the consciences of the people as a simple and holy staple of a plain but pure heavenly food. May we simply recognize the temptations to the Israelites in the wilderness was not prostitutes, heavy drugs, or a life of crime, or drunkenness, –things we consider vulgar or obnoxious sins, but the simple foods of cucumbers, melons, leeks, and onions and garlic. Because of not having these things, they grumbled and fell in the wilderness. (Numbers 11).

They were made to “fast” in this way by you for their good—that you would do good to them in the end, and you wanted them to treasure you, your word, feed upon you, your provision, your love, your care, your shepherding and your baptizing them, even if the food choices were not in abundance for them at that time. You were building them although you stripped away their comforts.

Help us Lord as we apply what we can learn from the Israelites in their times of testing and trial and in their times entering the promised land though it may seem like a long and sort of monotonous and bland journey for us and them both (although their life may have been very much more difficult, and inconvenient and much more harrowing than ours, and for many more years!) Hebrews 4:11 NIV states “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (See all of Hebrews 4) May we be strengthened in our fasting and learn directly from scripture the needed disciplines and heed the warnings of weaknesses seen in the Exodus so that we do not follow the same pattern of disobedience and unbelief. And build in us a sweet and tender abiding in You even if we are uncomfortable in the process.

Amen

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Prayer of Dependence on God-1

Author: Lisa Groen

Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today acknowledging your greatness, your authority, your power, your all sufficiency and your deep love for us and all the world, and grateful that we can know that because of Jesus’s payment for us, we are welcomed by you to come before you. We thank you for the reality that you are the God of our salvation and acknowledge your desire to save people is greater than we can fully know in this life. We acknowledge your keeping power of us your people is greater than we can fully know in this life. And we acknowledge that yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. We seek that you would be glorified in our lives and in this prayer time. May the blessings of Psalm 1 be granted to all people in all our spheres of influence and that you would let us prosper in all we set their hands to do, and that you would establish the work of their hands as in Psalm 90:16-17…16 May Your work be shown to Your servants, and Your splendor to their children. 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands— yes, establish the work of our hands!

Lord we seek you to fight off the enemy as in Exodus 14:14 which says “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” And because of  Numbers 6:24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; dear Lord, may those blessings be granted again to us. Lord, please protect us and everyone in our spheres of influence as we seek you and your will and as we seek to live out our faith and callings before you. We seek that you would show lovingkindness to us your people, as is written in  1 Kings 8:23 … that you would “…keep covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,”. Lord we are grateful that Jesus fulfilled the covenant and fulfilled the law of God in any place that we fall short, so that we are simply recipients of your grace oh God (Romans 4:4; 11:5–6; 2 Timothy 1:9–10), so may we be given your help, and enabled with strength to follow you, to fulfill our callings and accomplish all your will for our lives. May you fill us with power to will and to act according to all your good pleasure as you desire for our lives. Lord, the many great ways and promises you granted on behalf of your people in the old testament still hold great promise for us today and so we ask that you may grant that you would establish us before you as your holy people as is written in Deuteronomy 28:9. And that the promise of Isaiah 32:18 would be true in our lives which says “My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places;” We pray for that security and rest and safety in our habitations. Lord, as you are aware of the many people that we have loved or that have been close to us over the year have been affected with illness, hardships, losses and deaths, may you avert the enemy from attacking in any unnecessary way and keep the enemy from hindering us in accomplishing your will. May your will be done and not the enemy’s will Oh Lord. I remember your promise Lord that you are the protector of Israel, and you neither slumber nor sleep, and you watch over your garden day and night lest anyone hurt it. Please may that continue to happen in our lives and spheres of influence. May you guide us in our personal prayer times and devotion times and as we recognize that from you comes any power that we could ever have to do any ministry, or to bear any good and lasting fruit, so we pray that you would continue to use us as you see fit, and make us fruitful in your kingdom. Please heal up any breaches in our walls in any way that our protection may have been damaged, or in any way the enemy may have gotten a foothold. Please deliver, keep the devourer from devouring and grant our loved ones and us too, the safety, health and deliverance they need and that we all need to follow you strongly and to keep our eyes on you as we should, and that we would continue to seek you in everything and that our hearts would be wholly and fully yours. I am reminded of 1 Kings 8:61 Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day. And think of 1 Chronicles 22:12 which says “Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.” And Lord, we do want to keep following you, and you alone are our protection and from you alone comes all of our success, so we ask specifically for the discretion we need, and the understanding we need, and I ask for good discernment also in our plans, our choices, in our motivations and in our work and rest as well. In any way our discernment may have failed, please forgive, and cleanse us and grant discernment and the right responses to situations that we need for the ministry we are doing and at the level we all need to follow you would be granted that we can wholeheartedly and to fully do your will and to fulfill our callings. Moses prayed in Exodus 33:15 “If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here. Lord, we want to be of the same mind as Moses and have the same approach. We want the approach of David who sought your direction in 1 Samuel 30:8 … saying, “Should I pursue after this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue them, for you will surely overtake them and will surely recover all.” But in 2 Samuel 5:23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up;…” May we have the responsiveness before you to have the ears that truly hear you even when you might say to us “You shall NOT go up…”

Lord, I pray for those of us and others in our spheres of influence that have been assaulted or wounded by the enemy in the line of battle, we seek you for your healing of us as in Psalm 12:5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

May you grant us to have the mind of the spirit which is life and peace and grant a peaceful meditation before you as we go on our way today keeping our eyes on you.

Psalm 121

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forever.

May you be mindful of the prayers of Your people Oh Lord, Amen!

Keep growing in the Word! LG

The Power of Fasting, Weeping, and Mourning

Author: Lisa Groen

Joel 2:12-13a reads, “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God,…”

Here is yet another Biblical account of fasting, weeping, and mourning going hand in hand for God’s people. It is interesting that not all Biblical accounts of these come with a prophet or with God CALLING his people to fast, but Joel 2 does. When a biblical call is given by a prophet or directly from God to a group or an individual, it usually is done with the idea that those who are called to some task, or to God, will be brought somewhere God will chose, or will go somewhere God will chose, simply by following the call, and simultaneously are told to exit or leave a place, leave their life of sin, or let go of some desired circumstance, environment, belief or tradition. 

In the case of the call of the fast in Joel 2, the options for God’s people are clear. Joel sets the stage with the prophecy about the circumstances surrounding the day of the Lord. Joel 2 sounds like a judgement from God falling on all of the earth. Indeed, it is. But Joel 1-2 sets the reader up with by allowing some blindness about what the reasons are for the worldwide judgement. There is no mention of anyone’s sin in Joel 1 or 2, and so logically we are not given the tools to “assign the blame or the cause” for the destruction in Joel 1 & 2 on anyone specifically, nor for any sin or group of sins, specifically. The on-purpose design I believe given by God in the book of Joel is to get the reader to think about and search for what could possibly be the reason for the judgement of God and the day of the Lord—the terror, the crops dying, the seeds withering, the flocks going hungry, the invasion of the army of locusts, widespread destruction, and the fire burning behind them and before them…(to mention a few of the judgements in Joel 1-2). With nothing but emergencies happening, we are given Joel 2:12-13a “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God.”

“Return to Me with all your heart” tells the reader they must leave something behind and go towards the Lord. It tells us those who hear Joel’s prophecy were once following the Lord, and must return. And the way it is written by not mentioning specific sins in Joel 1-2 allows for the individual to meet with God and to hear God personally speak to him or her, or remind them of scripture that points to sin, as they fast, weep and mourn for what to leave behind and what it will take to return to God.  In this way it is only with following the call to fasting, weeping, and mourning that these things become the light switch that will illuminate God’s truth for God’s people and begin to give them insight as to what to repent of and for how to return to the Lord.

The phrase “Yet even now…” speak volumes to us today to answer the call to fast, weep, and mourn, for our sins and for the sins of the God’s people and for the whole land around us. If we have reason to think we need not fast, Joel chapters 1-2 breaks apart every reason to think this way, because the day of the Lord has not yet happened. Until we see the blessings of Joel 2:13-14, 17-32 come to pass and unfold before our eyes, which appear to be the results of God’s people responding to Him, we have every reason to fast, and weep and mourn and to seek to return to the Lord, and to seek God that others around us in the church and in the world would be enabled to return to the Lord as well.

The prayer is a little longer today as I wanted to cover a lot of bases and holiday issues.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, as we know you are Sovereign, and that the day of the Lord will come, and that you have planned it, and that destruction will come with it, but you have given us and countless people the wisdom from the book of Joel. And you are wonderfully Sovereign and yet allow the space of time between Joel’s writings and the day of the Lord to encourage your people to seek you with all of our hearts. You are Sovereign and you will have your way and you do not enjoy the destruction of the wicked, and you “take no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Eze 18:23, 33:11) and there are blessings in the latter half of Joel 2 that will Sovereignly come as your people seek you. But you say in Joel 2:14 “Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him…” so you call us to do our part and fast, weep, and mourn, and return to you. Please work with our humanity as we seek you. You never call us to a pursuit of no purpose. Dear Lord, may your purposes of the call in Joel for us to fast, weep and mourn and to return to You, with all of our hearts be fulfilled as we draw near to you and cry out to you. Give us grace to fast, weep and mourn and grace to return to you individually and for the people around us with all of our hearts, as you reveal things to us to repent of and also to those in our land around us, Oh Lord, as we seek you today. And as we seek you may we be refreshed and renewed and though this time of consecration may you open the doors for ministry opportunities be opened. Strengthen us in the opportunities that we now have, and for the assignments you have given us.

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Fasting to Direct Our Hearts To Serve The Lord

Author: Lisa Groen

Today we will look briefly at one account of God’s people returning to the Lord with all their heart and how fasting is involved in this process, and have a prayer in response. Thursday we will cover Joel 2. 

1Samuel 7:3-6 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone. 5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.”

In previous places in 1 Samuel, we can determine why Samuel gave the admonition for God’s people to return to the Lord with all their heart. There was a CONSEQUENCE for Israel if they did NOT return to the Lord with all their hearts. The consequences of staying where they were at “in their hearts” was to suffer the pain of the current broken social and military position Israel had amidst other persecuting nations. In 1st Samuel this meant the Philistines would continue to be attack, harass, abuse, and control the Israelites in various ways.

A first step God gave his people as to how they were to return to the Lord with all their heart, was to “remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone”. Once Samuel spoke to them about the false gods in verse 3, they removed them in verse 4. Now that some outer obstacles were dealt with, they were ready to work on a change in their “inner life” in order to be able to follow the command to “return to the Lord with all your hearts”.  When their hearts were occupied with other gods, they were not admitting their sins to God. But by verse 6, they began admitting “We have sinned against the Lord.” (highlighted for reference) It took Samuel to point out their sin with a promise of hope in verse 3, and so their sin became a problem to them, and their sin became real to them. Perhaps they were realizing for the first time that it was their sin that had opened the door for the Philistines to constantly attack them over many years. When their sin became real to them in verse 6, they confessed their sin. If they had previously been aware of their sin, would some have confessed it already? But not until verse 6 does it mention they confessed their sin, and they undergo some great healing as a nation by God giving them great deliverance. God was responding to their change of heart, and Proverbs 28:13 was coming true for them: He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. As Israel was embracing their whole-heartedness in turning away from their sin, they fasted in verse 6 with true genuineness, because they were finally telling the truth about their sin, and finally their hearts were becoming fully engaged in fasting/mourning for their sins as they were serving God.

Verses 10-14 describe the multi-layered victory God gave them: God gave the Israelites victory against the Philistines as long as Samuel was alive, God struck the Philistines down, the Israelites recovered all the cities which the Philistines had taken, the Philistines stayed outside the borders of Israel, and Israel had peace.

Lord, as we consider the importance of fasting through many Bible examples, may we also engage our hearts in fully serving you. May we receive your direction for how to wholeheartedly serve you and do the physical work of getting rid of false gods or false loves of any kind in our life and see them for what they are—these types of things CAN open the door for the enemy to harass, attack and “invade” certain areas of our lives. We know that not every attack is due to some sin or false god in our lives, and not every hardship is a result of some sin or false god. We also know you promised that in this world we would have tribulation, and we often see lots of it, but you promised that we could be of good cheer because you have overcome the world. May we not get into speculation of why problems exist in our lives and not be prone to condemnation, but may we also as we pray for success, protection, grace for living out our Christianity, our ministries, and depend on your discernment for success. But may we also remember how right it is to weigh out honestly in our minds that famous John Calvin quote, that “The human heart is an idol factory, churning out new idols like the conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant rolling out new widgets.” May we take warning, and may you grant us good solid discernment to know if we have any sins that we are blind to that we need to repent of that may be weakening us, and may it only be from your discernment that we follow and perceive our condition. May we follow truth and have clear vision. May we mourn and grieve appropriately for our sins, and by grace forsake them and find mercy. And as we do so, may we keep the victories of 1 Samuel 7 before our minds, that you are the God who desires truth in the inner man, and you are the God who gives us a love for the truth and will cause us to truly hate any false gods we might have once loved. May we worship you singularly, and with joy wholeheartedly, and see fasting is a strategic tool of mercy that can strengthen us and sharpen us in our renouncing sin, and in turning from it and in our pursuit of you and in our living for you and living out our love for you. May you through the process that you need to take us, grant us recovery of any parts of our lives, our homes, or of the places we trod, or that we work, that have been harassed or broken into by the enemy, to us and to our loved ones, that you would restore them to us, and dedicate them afresh to you, and allow that the promise that we would live in peaceful dwelling places as in Isaiah 32:18 be granted. May you grant us that we would keep our hearts devoted to you and forever raptured by your goodness, your grace, your strength, your mercy, truth, and love, and, all the more as we see the day approaching. I pray this in your great name dear Lord, Amen!

Keep growing in the Word! LG

How Effective Could Fasting Possibly Be? I Mean, Can’t We Just Pray and See Results?

Author: Lisa Groen

It is my aim that today’s devotional will be motivational and show us the difference fasting can make for the believer, based on the first instance of fasting in the Bible that I came across after looking at a few different translations.

It begins in Judges 20:4 where a Levite tells of the death of his concubine, and later in the chapter Israel fasts and finds victory, but they have a slow and painful start until they add the corporate fasting.

Judges 20:4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. He tells how some men from Benjamin had raped her all night and murdered her and how evil it was that this happened. (And strangely the Levite doesn’t take responsibility for not protecting her… but that point is for another day…)

The response of “Israel” is to “go up against Benjamin”.

Problem #1 was even though they had unity as stated in verse 11, (So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man) They were overpowered by Benjamin and had a lot of loss of life of 22,000 Israelite soldiers. They prayed again to God for what to do….and encountered another problem

Problem #2 was even though they sought the Lord and got an answer from the Lord to “fight them” they were still overpowered by Benjamin and had more loss of life–18,000 more Israelite soldiers died.

Then in verse 26 they add the fasting solution: 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 27 And the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand.

When we read from verses 29-48, we can see the Lord providing his people the strength and fighting power and overcoming ability to overtake their enemy and to deal out justice against wayward Benjamin for the horrible acts of rape and death that several of the men from Benjamin did against the innocent concubine.

This chapter is a clear picture of the power fasting gives in following out the command of God to fight the good fight of faith. For Israel to do nothing in response to finding out about what happened to the Levite’s concubine, would have been another atrocity and deep injustice because of the sin, but also the people of God, when united, when having the arc of God in their presence, and when having the go-ahead Twice from God to fight the enemy, should have been able to win! But they were wounded in battle, and had a lot of loss of life and the ONE solution that worked in their favor was to FAST.

Now, I know the Old Testament is not an exact parallel to the New, but Jesus never tells us in the New Testament that fasting is UNNECESSRY, but does the opposite, when he says “This kind only goes out with prayer and fasting…” So, based on our Old Testament example, we must consider the cost of not fasting (40,000 unnecessary deaths) and the rewards for fasting as seen here, and logically count it as well worth doing …

It is very probable that this story in the OT represents some of the battles in the NT that need to be fought with heavenly power and WILL require fasting in order to win. And some battles may possibly need a whole army to fight an injustice against maybe one single person when that person represents Christendom today. May we be people dedicated to being available for God to use to fight with victory and be ready to fast and pray when circumstances call for it that His message will travel like an army spreading righteousness across the land.

Amen!

Lord may we fast at your leading!

Keep growing in the Word! LG

Meditations and Prayers About Worship and Serving the Lord

Author: Lisa Groen

Lord, you are building the believers together into a holy temple in the Lord. When we were saved, we were given the new language of worship. Before we were saved our language was pointing to the things of the world because our attention was on the things of the world. But in Christ we were given a new language because our attention should be upon Christ. God leads our worship. And God our Father is growing us now as part of his worshipping family. We worship God more than with our songs and music, but with our lives, our plans, our decisions and actions, and thoughts. Listen to the passage in Ephesians 2:18-22. It reads “for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” As I read this, I am reminded today that “Unless the Lord builds the house the workers labor in vain who build it.” What we try to build ourselves in our own strength will not last. The word of God lasts and what is started by God will last because His fruit will last. I want to have lasting fruit and that is your desire for your people. What fruits you chose to be lasting coming out of our lives are fruits that get their life from you Lord. Take us into the place of more fruitfulness. Lord we ask that our hearts would be pliable moldable and our mouths yours and yours alone. My prayer is Lord, show me what I don’t see about myself that is keeping me from serving you more fully—wholeheartedly. Show me if I have any hidden sins that I need to surrender. Help us to count the cost that it takes to serve you at the level you have called us to so far, and Lord please forgive us for any way we have been lagging behind the leading of your Spirit.

By nature we are worshippers. Our hearts were designed by You Lord to long for something or someone to worship. Help us Lord to not make the false assumptions that what I long for in the here and now is as good or better than the goal Paul speaks of to lay hold of that which Christ calls me heavenward Phi 3:14. Lord, may we pursue as our goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Help us not to worship the goal of something that is just spiritual looking activity. Help us to have the substance of the fruits of Christ in our devotional time toward you Lord. We truly have relationship with you Lord as we put our faith in you and you change our hearts. Because of your life in us, we know you are bringing forth fruits from the life of your Spirit.  We worship You Lord, the Living God, and though this living relationship we are doing something other than worshiping the “practice” of worship. We sense and believe in Your Lordship and in the community you create through our worship time in our churches Oh Lord, and we believe you have given us a family of love—our Christian brothers and sisters. We find we are being built by you, built together by your spirit, and we have more than just “awesome friends”—we have a family born from above by your love Lord! We worship You Lord and are drawing closer to you in that worship. We are living for you, not just seeking to have “great ministries” or even having some spiritual mileage under our belts. We think, taste, see, and in many ways experience Lord that you are alive and well and real and able to communicate with us and somehow satisfy something within us as we worship you! We are not trying to show that we “know our way around the mountain” so to speak spiritually because it is only by your amazing grace that we can see anything at all in your spiritual truth and among our relationship with you and with our spiritual family members! Lord, may we not lean toward presumptions about our fitness to be ministers, because it is by your grace alone that we are saved, and not of ourselves. Free us from clouding our own vision with egocentrism, and self-sufficiency, and secondly may we never hold back from you how you would have us to surrender to the very work we trust is being done “by your Spirit” Oh God! To be built together by your Spirit into a holy temple in the Lord with fruit that will last!

Keep growing in the Word! LG