Devotion to God

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto you and will look up.” (Ps 5:3)

Recently, I have been receiving instruction on the ways that I resist some of what the Spirit of Christ desires to do in my life. My plans even though good in my estimation, may not always be according to His timing or with His given insight, when I am relying on my own understanding. Our habits can also either restrict or allow the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives as well. So, do we spend enough time waiting on God to know His will or do we act prematurely without really consulting Him or truly awaiting His responses? Daniel waited 3 weeks with fasting and we see many other examples of waiting on God that are found throughout scripture. King David said, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” (Ps 55:17) Will we consider this an encouragement to seek and wait on Him today? Brethren let us meditate on these verses. They should move us to consider our own state and how close to Jesus Christ we are truly living. “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in You do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto You.” (Ps 143:8)

It seems that we may be too comfortable as Christians in this nation and even among our circle of acquaintances. We gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus, but do we restrict His movements among us because we are so time sensitive? We have meetings that are set by the clock, but in some parts of the world they go all day and more if possible. What if our Lord wanted us to meet till 2am or to meet in a park instead of our buildings are we open to hearing from Him? Are we willing to be uncomfortable? We see Jesus preached out of doors for three days, then fed the people, Or Paul preaching till Eutychus fell out the window and when he was revived, they talked on till morning. Where are our meetings that go thru the night and in much prayer? Do we not desire these things? Are we gathering to fast and wait on the Lord as in acts (Acts 13:2) “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Or when someone is sick or suffering, do we come together in prayer? as in (Acts 12:5) “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made - without ceasing - of the church unto God for him.” It seems all too easy today, to send an email asking for prayer, rather than to coordinate a gathering of the saints. Would we wait on the Lord thru the night if necessary? Together? Believers, this is the standard that the bible and the saints of old have set for us. This is what we are called to. Oh, how it seems in most cases we have faded from these powerful principles.

I sense that God is calling us to come away with Him and on His terms. Not working to stay comfortable but forsaking all to follow Him. Gathering to wait on Him not worrying about the time or the cost, for He is worthy. We have heard the warnings from those aged among us that we are nearing the time of the end. So then, are we still trying to establish ourselves in Babylon? Let us forsake all, rise up and follow Him. Yes, we still work and provide for those God has given us, Yes, we still tend to the necessities around us and for those in the fields, but we are not to be concerned with loss or gain in this life, only to His will. Jesus made this statement in Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that takes not his cross, and follows me, is not worthy of me. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.”

I believe that we need to somehow get back to our first works. The place where we were so excited about the Lord and His Salvation that we would go anywhere or do anything for Him, at any time. (Ps 42:1) “As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.” Let us be willing to get back to the plain, unglamorous meeting places where we come to be with one another, to hear from God. Where we don’t have to follow a train schedule and are willing to wait on our Lord for direction. Have we become satisfied? Do we not desire a greater intimacy with God and with one another than we are seeing, along with a greater moving of Gods righteousness in the earth? If so, let us ask Him to move us. Song of Solomon 1:4 “Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in You, we will remember Your love more than wine: the upright love You.”

My fear is that we have grown comfortable in Babylon, that our hearts are no longer desiring above all else to be with our Lord Jesus. We have built our houses and settled in, just as Israel had. When the call came to go home, many stayed and did not return to the promised land. Has that happened to us? Are we too comfortable here? Or are we looking forward to the trumpet sound, without a desire to go back to the house for anything, but will run to our Lord? Will we dive out of the ship and swim to Jesus, as Peter did? Or is our desire else ware? Let us remember Lot’s wife.

Where is - your heart - today? “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” May we be those who will not turn back for anything in this world, being those who have already left all.