[CF Devotionals] 2010-01-15 - Spas of the Scripture

Part 3

  • Seek

    Matthew 6:33 says "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Seek after God. Listen to his words. Seek his wisdom and his ways not his rewards. If we seek what he can teach us he will freely give his blessings but if we seek only reward we may never learn His truth. As Peter Taylor Forsyth said, "The Word of God is in the Bible as the soul is in the body." To seek him we must turn to the Bible.

    Revelation 3:20 - I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

    This is an invitation to a dinner table conversation with God. Read 2 Peter 1:3,4 We are to partakers of the divine nature rather than corrupt nature of ourselves. Eat from the word of God. The Lord's Supper does two things. First we honor the past as we remember the supper with Apostles and Jesus' sacrifice. And it gives hope for the future when we will sit & eat with Jesus. He won't drink of the cup again until his return.

  • Prepare

    We need to prepare in prayer. We need to talk to him so he can talk back. We should make our requests known.

    Matthew 7:7-8

    1. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
    2. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

    James 1:5-8

    1. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
    2. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
    3. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
    4. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

    Verse 5 is saying ask God for wisdom and he'll give it. Wisdom is different from knowledge. Knowledge is taught and learned from reading and study. Wisdom is the ability to understand and use that knowledge in experiences of daily life. This passage in James is a promise of divine guidance. If you're unsure, ask God and he will reveal what is right and good and best for you. That's the truly amazing thing God knows what is best for us and he wants to reveal it to us or give it to us.

    Verses 6 to 8 tell us we are to ask in faith with no doubting. Being double minded means asking but only accepting one answer. It would be like a child who asks, "Can I have a cookie?" That child will continue asking unless it gets a Yes answer - the answer the child wants. As we read the scriptures or anything we must separate our views and our understanding from God's and be willing to accept the answers he gives whether they match ours or not.

    Now, if we pour pure clean fresh water from a refreshing mountain spring into a glass with a little dirty water we get a lot of dirty water. The same results occur if the glass has no water in it but mud is caked up on it. So we must also pray for cleansing.

    "Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other needs; prayer is the beginning of that communion." (George McDonald)

    Prayer initiates or prepares us for the dinner conversation with God. Prayer is the "How was your day?" or the "What do you think about ...?" of the conversation. Now like many of you I sit with my wife at dinner and I ask these questions as a good husband should but I only hear half of what she says because I am watching TV or looking at the latest Craftsman catalog.

  • Avoid

    Avoid distractions. Turn off TV and get away from all the distractions of life. Shut yourself up in your prayer closet. It's hard to eliminate all distractions and interruptions but we should try. It's sad to say but in today's world the only private life many of us have is that spent on a porcelain throne when our private lives should also include time before God's throne.

    Jesus set the example and it is recorded in several passages that he went off to be on his own free of life's distractions.

    Matthew 14:13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

    Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

    Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

    Luke 4:42a And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place

    Luke 5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.(NKJV and other translations add the word often - he withdrew to be alone often)

    John 7:53 And every man went unto his own house. 8:1 [but] Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

Once we get away to spend time with God, we can begin the next SPA treatment.

To be continued.

IHFHBOH
Adam

[email adam] acdum@hotmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted