On Your Knees ?

If we hope to win a battle, it is wise to trust One Ruler, One Almighty General, One Sovereign Lord, the One CEO, the only Commander in Chief with ALL authority. Soldiers cannot go off into battle and disobey orders and expect to win! The big picture, the past, the present, the future, and eternity is held by the One who holds ALL the authority, and ALL the power to win! One great soldier named Paul told a young man named Timothy to "fight the good fight". How do we fight to win? In every fight there is one winner and one loser! How do we fight without thinking, speaking or acting like a fool, like those that deny that God exists? God warns us in His word to prepare for battle, to put our armor on and STAND FIRM. When our souls are deeply troubled, when doubt takes a hold of our minds, when our hearts are grieved, when we cannot make a decision, what should we do? How we as Christians fight the good fight is ON OUR KNEES! A war rages, and we must be aware that the Liar, the temptress, the coniving one makes the praying Christian his special target. We know the good fight is the ongoing battle for our souls and with the right stratedgy, we WIN everytime ON OUR KNEES! The enemy knows that if he can keep us distracted by being overly extended at church, at home, at work, so that we will not take time to get on our knees and pray, THEN Satan plans his victory! Have you ever been falsely accused? Ever been the victim of a crime? Have you been laughed at, or made to feel unwanted, guilty, discounted, disrespected to the point you squirm to fight --- to defend yourself, to lash out, to attack back? Well that it is our sinful nature at work in us. We do not hold our tongue, we whine inside, to others about the wrong been done unto us, then we scheme to return the pain that we feel. In our darkest hour we begin to slander others, to plot to kill their character, as we gossip about how they offended us. TO WIN THE BATTLE, we must hold our tongue, STOP, get
ON OUR KNEES and hash it out with God! Cry out your pain to Him, ask for His help, then listen for what He points out in you to release. Why would we not follow the example of Jesus and get on our knees before the ALL MIGHTY, ALL POWERFUL GOD, Elohim, Adonai, Yaweh, Jehovah God, Jesus Christ and TRUST in His word, His promise as the truth? "God causes ALL things (hatred, envy, jealousy, bitterness, emotional and physical pain) to work together for good, to those who love Him, to those called according to His good purpose". GET alone with GOD daily. SET UP a SACRED place. SET ONE HOUR aside. GET ON YOUR KNEES. CRY OUT TO GOD. LISTEN TO GOD. BELIEVE HIM. "For I know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." IF we trust that what God says is true then ALL that happens to us comes from God! The boss, the mate, the neighbor, the child, the parent, the sibling, the friend that betrayed you, that lied to you, that caused you pain --- came from God. WHAT? Does God mean that the unfair criticism, the hatred, that hostility, that rejection, that abandonment, that abuse was from Him? YES! Whatever it took to cause us to give up, surrender our ways, abandon revenge, to fall on our face, to get on our knees --- will be allowed and used by God to bring us to agree with Him, that we are lost without Him, that we need Him, and when we stop blaming others, when we forgive as we are forgiven, when we let go and trust God to fulfill His word, His promise to WORK ALL THINGS for good, we are then ready to receive the best of His blessings! When did you last get on your knees with confident assurance that the Spirit himself intercedes for us and that God listens? ROMANS 8:26-28 Zig talks about how God used situations that appeared to be disastors in his life for good. God does the same for all of us. As for me, I thank God for all the people that have prayed for me through many troubles. My faith rattled as excruciating pain and fear gripped my soul. A freak VAD, vertebral artery dissection occured and I was raced by ambulance to UC Davis for a week. God used that incident to reunite me with my estranged dad. GOD says "Hold on to what you have" The truth, the light, and the way shall be revealed. Within the same year, before my back surgery, my ex-husband, the father of my only son died. My son who was then strung out on drugs, came to live with me. It was hard, we both suffered tremendous pain. But God used it for good. He sent saints to assist me and my son was there to help me during many necessary trips to the ER. Life is hard, and we are tempted to deny Jesus, the narrow path and go with the crowd. God gave me a position in life to see the truth, to work in a job that confirmed that it was time to give up my home. Losing the hope of future equity to assist at retirement was real hard. The short sale of my home ruined my credit, but it did not limit God! He used the situation for good. My son moved into the house under contract for sale and kept it safe as he regrouped without rent. Then God did the impossible and provided the way for me to purchase a new home in Mexico and pay it off in three years! MIRACLES happen when we are bankrupt, when our plans fail, and when we simply surrender all we are and have to God. Jesus also struggled in the garden of Gethsemane. In His ALL knowing, He knew He was going to be separated from God, for a time, on the cross. "He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.' Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will. Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. 'Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?' He asked Peter. 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (Matthew 26:37-42) Soon after that Jesus was taken prisoner and He told Peter that he would deny even knowing him three times before dawn. Peter's pride was hurt, and God knew his heart, God knew he would be tempted to betray his vow to serve Him. Out of fear, Peter defended himself, "No Lord not me, I love you!" God loved Peter, He asked Peter to pray, He warned him that he would be tempted. His word is our handbook, it points out what works, and what has never profited our souls. We do not see the wind, but we know that it moves the trees. We do not see God, but we know that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, because God said so! He waits to hear from us, to fill us, and to use us. Prophets approached our Holy God with reverence on their knees. In Daniel's captivity, he got on his knees and cried out for help before he entered the lions den. Isaiah the prophet, the man who God used to speak through his lips had been preaching from the pulpit in chapter 5: "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, Woe to those who draw sin along in cords of deceit, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil" But in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus seated on a throne, higher than any authority, exalted above all creation, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Flying above Jesus were seraphs calling to one another "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory" At the sound of their voices the door posts shook and the temple was filled with the smoke of God's glory coming down! That is when Isaiah got on his knees and said "Woe to me! he cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!" Then a seraph flew over to Isaiah with a live coal taken from the alter of the Lord and touched Isaiah's mouth. "See this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for". Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Isaiah responded "Here am I. Send me!" Jesus came to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Light. He is the King, and He submitted to His Father, to die for us, to serve us, to wash us of our sins. In the presence of Jesus, in the light of the truth, Isaiah was convicted of his sin and cried out "Woe is me!" When Jesus came down from the throne, He came down with a purpose. He took the pain of being seperated from God, the abuse of the mockers, the unfair beatings, the torture of the cross --- to take away our guilt, to atone for our sins, forever! IF we desire the joy and peace that surpasses all understanding, then we must OBEY God's request "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, through prayer and supplication, let your request be known to Him." Jesus asked Peter to take one hour to pray with him. Peter did not think he needed to, and Peter denied that he knew Jesus. So let us give the King of Kings one hour in our garden, a sacred place that we go to be alone with God. Let us ask for wisdom and patience to wait on Him. Let us talk it out, then listen. When our spirit is tugged, IF we feel resentment, bitterness, anger, let us spit that truth out --- no sense in pretending to be holier than thou art! Lets take it to the cross and let the light shine through. God knows your heart, and that it is deceitful above all else! When we have lost our pride, money, or relationships as a result of our stubborness, allow God to reveal in you what you need to let go of in order to win the battle! Take my daughter, my son, my dad, my mom, my mate, my home, my health, my job, my money, my freedom, my pride and watch me continue to praise God --- THEN is WHEN what we treasure most of all is SHOWN to a watching world. That our relationship with the Author of our life, the Lover of our soul is our gold. When we surrender our will, our wants, our desires --- THEN we can see through His eyes, and we see ourselves as He sees us --- Holy, Holy, Holy is God, and when we are purged of all malice, envy, unforgiveness and loathing - we are purified and filled with His Holy Spirit to do His will, and we are blessed with His very presence. AMEN "Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray." Mark 1:35
Lord God Almighty, we kneel humbly before You, as Your children, and we ask that You would speak a word to us. We come before You to worship You as the God of all creation, the God of our salvation and our redemtion. We claim You as our loving Father full of compassion. We want a fresh encounter, we want to feel Your presence, we want to hear Your voice speaking in our ears. We sincerely desire to feel Your glory filling our temples. We ask You oh Lord, to perform that supernatural miracle of communication. We are open to hear Your Holy Spirit speak to our spirit. Nourish us, sharpen us, quench our thrist with truth, satisfy our hunger for more of You. Here we are Lord Jesus, speak to us and we will listen and obey. AMEN