Stop begging and start obeying!

Have you ever felt like all you do with God is ask?

God, bless my marriage, bless my children, bless my job. Bless my pastor, bless my finances, and most of all, bless my food.

I think we so often loose focus on what God really wants. The Lord does say “Ask and you shall receive”, but He is also a relational God. He desires to be close to his children.

Think of it this way. If mom says “Timmy it's time to clean your room now” and Timmy smiles and says “I love you Mom” and walks away, but doesn't clean his room. Later he says, “Mom, can I have a new toy car?”. Knowing Timmy did in fact not clean his room, what do you think mom's response will be?

“Sure my son, you have been a good boy, so here it is”… No way!

It's a no-brainer, isn't it? If she's a good mother, she will ask him something like, “Did you clean your room like I asked?”, followed by Timmy's (hopefully) honest response of “Ummm... Noooo...”, followed by mom saying something like “I'm sorry Timmy, I love you and want to give you a new toy car, but unless you obey me when I ask you to do something, I cannot give you your reward.”

So it makes sense when we look at it like that, but when we put it in the context of God it seems like nonsense!

God says, “Jacob, it's time to clean your heart now”, and I smile and say “I love you God” and walk away, but don’t clean my heart. Later I say, “God, can I have a new car?”. Knowing I did in fact not clean my heart, what do you think God’s response will be?

“Sure my son, you have been a good man, so here it is!”… No way!

If He is a good God, He will ask me something like, “Did you clean your heart like I asked?”, followed by my (hopefully) honest response of “Ummm… Noooo…”, followed by God saying something like “I’m sorry Jacob, I love you and want to give you a new car, but unless you obey me when I ask you to do something, I cannot give you your reward.”

What a sobering thought!!!

1 Kings 2:3 says:

“Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn.”

Furthermore, John 14:15 says:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Finally, 1 Samuel 15:22b says:

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

The key to prosperity in life… I am not talking about financial prosperity, I am talking about full life prosperity… is obedience to our Father!

Be bold, and ask of the Father what you need, but before you do, make sure you have – and are striving to – obey what He has asked of you.

In the presence of God

What an incredible weekend, what an incredible God! Have you ever had an "Ahhh" moment? You know, the kind where there is something staring directly in your face but you don't even realize it's there?

For the past several months, there has been something stirring in my heart... "If you do your part, God will take care of the rest"... I know it's a Biblical truth, to my supprize I stumbled upon it about three weeks ago but didn't think to write it down...

Anyway, I have just been hearing it over and over in my spirit... to the point that I have been saying... "God, WHAT IS MY PART?!?" Tonight it hit me! James Montera, an evangelist out of Pueblo Colorado spoke at our church, and something he said hit me to the core...

He said, (and this is the Jacob paraphrase) "So often in the churches I see people running to God like selfish children, reaching into his pockets to find out what presents he has brought us next. There is no doubt that God has brought His children gifts of blessings, gifts of peace, gifts of joy... Really, His pockets are overflowing... Sadly, as often as he visits us ready to give us His gifts, He leaves with all those things still in His pockets. You see, as greedy Christians, instead of running to God, simply to be in His presence, we run to God to receive things from God. Like a father returning from business trips, bringing his children gifts... over time, those children, instead of saying 'Daddy, we missed you, we are so glad to see you', the begin to say 'Daddy, we missed you, where is our gift', and then just 'Daddy, where is our gift'. How sad is it that we ignore the giver and focus all of our attention on the gift!"... now this is where it got really good!...

He said "I have seen a lot of people seek after the 'things' of God, and leave unsatisfied... but I have never seen anyone seek after the 'presence' of God and not receive the 'things' of God along with it!"

And that's when it hit me!!! That's when I had my "Ahhh" moment... If I do my part, God will take care of the rest!!! So, what is my part??? To simply seek after the "Presence of God"!!! Forget the gifts, seek after the giver with everything that is in you, and the gifts will simply come!

Jen and I are pastoring the Children as well as the Youth and Young Adults! We need fresh ideas for the children, where will they come from? If we seek the presence of God, he will bring us fresh ideas and fresh vision like we have never seen before. We need to come up with gripping discussions and messages for the Youth and Young adults, where will they come from? If we seek the presence of God, His word will come alive to us, and we will NEVER run out of things to talk about! We need strength and patience to deal with these young people, where will that come from? If we seek the presence of God, His grace will abound in our lives.

I have so much more to say, but it's already 1:30 Monday morning and I have to go to bed. But, let me just leave you with this statement once again.. "I have seen countless people seek after the things of God and walk away empty handed... but I have never seen anyone seek after the presence of God and not receive the things of God"!