Tag Archives: faith

Consciousness of God

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know…. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
1 Peter 1:18, 19, 21 MSG*

Is there such a thing as spiritual attention deficit disorder? “SADD” sounds kind of applicable. It’s so easy in the quiet of prayer to bask in God’s presence, but it seems as soon as I get around other people or performing routine tasks I forget to keep my spirit tuned to His.

I need to live each part of each day in relationship with Him, conscious of and relying on Him, serving and worshipping Him. Neither working in my own strength nor begrudging some duties because they keep me from the “important” stuff. Not leaning on my own understanding, trusting my own perspective.

It’s up to Him where He assigns me, after all. Whatever there is to do, I’m to be God’s child serving Him in that role at that time. Being with him there instead of wanting to be somewhere else.

Father, You know how easily distracted I am. Please open my heart and my spirit to a deeper awareness of You. Help me rely on You and rest in Your love. Help me be conscious of You and live in Your care wherever You place me. Thank You for giving me faith to trust You, and thank You for giving me a future in You.

There are some excellent songs lamenting how quickly we fall away or forget to follow through on our commitment to God, and celebrating His grace to take us back, but I can’t find a song that says “Help me remember You and learn to live moment by moment in Your presence.” If you know one, please leave me a note in the comments….

That being said, here’s Casting Crowns’ “I Know You’re There,” to celebrate those moments when we’re conscious of God’s presence… as a prayer that we’ll learn to stay there more and more.

Time for a Cleanup

What He Says

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For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
1 Peter 1:18-19, NIV*

Today is one of those days with more to do than hours to do it, and it’s been weighing on me since yesterday. But I think the same practice should apply here as if I were going into any other type of stressful or scary situation:

Trust in the Lord with all my heart, don’t lean on my own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Pray for wisdom to discern what God sees as important for the day, rather than assuming my entire list is the day’s agenda.

He says He’ll never leave me. Matthew 28:20

He says nothing can separate me from His love in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:38-39

He says all I need to do is ask for wisdom, because He wants to give it. James 1:5

He says trust Him and don’t rely on my own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6

He says my times are in His hands. Psalm 32:14-15

I choose to believe Him and to watch for and follow His lead.

Father God, thank you for redeeming me from the empty way of life handed down for generations. Thank You that circumstances and hurry-panic don’t own me anymore. Jesus, my Shepherd and the Overseer of my soul, has rescued me. Thank You that I’m in His care now, under His leading and authority. I choose to walk in that today, Christ being my helper.

The song God gave me is David Crowder’s “Every Move I Make.” How good of Him to choose a peppy one to energize me!

Scattered Strangers

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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
1 Peter 1:1-2, NIV*

So begins the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the early Christians. What catches my attention is his use of the words “strangers” and “scattered” — I don’t know if they’d been intentionally scattered by persecution as some were, or if Peter is just talking about how the believers are few and far between.

Whatever the reason, telling them there are other Christ-followers spread through the area reminds them they’re part of a larger group. They’re not as alone as they may feel.

I think that’s why he calls them “God’s elect” too — it’s not a snooty term for “better than the others,” it reminds them they’ve been chosen by God and belong to Him. He loves them.

Living in obedience to Jesus Christ can make us feel like we don’t belong. In a sense, we don’t. We’re changing, and while we pray those around us will recognize that God has also chosen them, for now we’re the oddballs, the aliens. But that’s okay.

Our hearts need acceptance, but the world around us is not the place to expect to find it. Peter reminds us we’ve found acceptance in Jesus. We belong.

Father, thank You for choosing us, for knowing and loving us before we came to You. Thank You that Jesus came, God in the flesh, to heal the broken. Everyone is broken somehow, Lord, and you’re not willing that any should perish. Help each one recognize that You’ve chosen them too. Help them come into Your healing embrace.

This week’s song is an oldie from the group Petra. It’s a medley of the Doxology and their song, “Not of this World,” and it’s one of their quieter pieces. I’d forgotten how much I loved this album.

Conscious of God’s Care

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Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Colossians 3:22, NIV*

Somehow this spoke to me about doing right for the right reason—pleasing God, instead of the wrong reason—appeasing people.

I’m not a little girl with authority figures looming in judgment. If someone does chastise, rightly or wrongly, that doesn’t need to crush me. Jesus is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul and I don’t need to fear men or women.

The verse in Colossians led me to 1 Peter, where it expands on what to do if you’re suffering unjustly: Jesus “entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23, NIV) and “it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because He is conscious of God.” (1 Peter 2:19, NIV)

For me today, this addresses fear of harshness, which can crush me if I let it. Instead, I’m to be conscious of God, who’s with me and loves me, and I’m to entrust myself to His care.

My hope and confidence are in Jesus. He says I have value, and He loves me. He accepts me and is growing me into His image.

Father, when we’re alone I know You’re near, but the fear of others’ response can take my eyes off of You. Please forgive me, and teach me to walk in the truth of the healing Jesus gives. Help me stay conscious of You, trusting myself to Your care and protection no matter where You lead.

The soundtrack God has given me to keep my focus is “I Need No Other” from Todd Agnew’s new album, Need. It’s a new melody and arrangement of the hymn “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” (or “No Other Plea”).

Healed and Free

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He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25, NIV*

Peter’s words echo Isaiah 53, and to me they speak of a spiritual healing: from sin into righteousness, from our transgressions and iniquities and sorrows into peace.

I have no insights about physical healing, but spiritual hurts go even deeper—and they are clearly promised to be healed.

The Apostle Paul tells us to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and he doesn’t mean to ignore our failings and pretend they don’t exist. I think he means to walk in the truth of God’s Word and not give in to the old ways.

To take Jesus’ promises as true and trust Him to be at work in us. To believe that His power is greater than our pain. To cooperate with Him as He changes us into what He designed us to be.

Father, there are so many things You want to heal and change in each of us. So much pain in the world. You are the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. The Message says You have named us and keep us for good. Help me love, trust and obey You.

I know I referred to this song last week, but I can’t read these verses without hearing Peter Furler’s impassioned recitation of parts of Isaiah 53 in the newsboys’ song (extended version), “I Am Free.” What I’d really like to share with you is the 7-minute version on the special edition Go CD, but this is at least more of it than you’d usually hear on the radio. It’s loud, but take the words to heart. It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God Hears Us

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When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
John 1:47-49, NIV*

I’ve been told an Israelite’s fig tree in those days was a place of prayer. I like to imagine that whatever Nathanael’s prayer time had been that day, it was personal, intense. He meant business with God. Maybe he questioned if God really heard him, and if He’d ever send the promised Messiah.

Now something in Jesus’ words, or a look in His eye, let Nathanael know God had heard.

I’m making this up. But God does hear us, and sometimes He lets us know.

This morning after my quiet time with God, I turned on K-LOVE internet radio. Amid the friendly chatter, a lady called in to say she’d just read their Encouraging Word for the day on her Blackberry—and something in the verse spoke directly to what she’d been praying about. She knew God had heard.

I listened with half an ear until the next song began and my spirit shivered—the Newsboys’ “I Am Free” pointed right back to Isaiah 53, the Scripture I’d read twenty minutes earlier as I prayed for myself and for a friend. When the song started playing, I was typing him an email of encouragement.

Tell me God doesn’t hear prayer. The sun isn’t hot, either.

Father God, You are El Roi, the God Who Sees. Who loves us and has compassion on all He has made. Forgive our doubts when we wonder if You’ve heard us. Thank You so much for those very personal moments when You touch our individual spirits to let us know You hear.

Our song this week is “He Knows My Name,” by Tommy Walker.

God’s Purpose for Me

Choosing God’s Way

When Our Best isn’t Good Enough

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Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”
Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.
Mark 14:29-31, The Message*

Jesus has been preparing His disciples for what’s ahead, but it’s too much for them to grasp. Except for the traitor, their intentions are the best – but Jesus knows that won’t be enough. He knows how each one will fail.

He knows the same thing about each of us, and I’m so glad we have this example to keep us from despairing when we mess up.

Instead of condemning Peter – and us – Jesus takes on our unrighteousness so that we can find His righteousness in us. Pastor and teacher Charles Price says this is the heart of the gospel: “Salvation is primarily from unrighteousness to righteousness.”**

There’s nothing in me – in you – that’s worth much, but Christ in us is our hope of glory. He wants to grow us into His image, to direct and equip us to live worthy of His Name.

When I fail, He doesn’t turn me away. He just picks me up again and goes on working with me. I think it was The Shack that suggested God, instead of being put off when someone rejected Him again, counted it as one less rejection left until the person finally chose right. What a comforting perspective.

As the Apostle Paul would say, that doesn’t mean we should be slack and keep going our own ways. But if we’re doing our best and it’s not enough, we can rejoice that God isn’t finished with us yet.

Father God, You are holy and we worship You. Because You love us so much, we want to please You by living righteous lives. Thank You so much for the Holy Spirit who helps us, and for Your patience and mercy to forgive us and to continue the work You’ve started in each of our lives.

Our song this week can encourage us all: Brandon Heath’s “Wait and See (Not Finished With Me Yet).”

**Paul: Moulded by His Message, Charles Price (Kingsway Publications, 2001) page 116.

Janet Sketchley

Writing Christian Mysteries & Suspense