By My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers’
When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly —Matthew 6:6
Jesus did not say, “Dream about your Father who is in the secret place,” but He said, “. . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place. . . .” Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.
We must have a specially selected place for prayer, but once we get there this plague of wandering thoughts begins, as we begin to think to ourselves, “This needs to be done, and I have to do that today.” Jesus says to “shut your door.” Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place”— He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in “the secret place,” it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into “the secret place,” and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Pardon: For Giving - Part 4/5
Written By Sheila Schuller Coleman
Today we are continuing in our series on "Spiritual Sustainability: Living The Lord's Prayer." You've been hearing the word sustainability, that new "go green" word that represents anything from fabric to architecture to foods to anything that can be renewed and continue to grow. Anything that is sustainable.
Don't we want that for our spirits, as well? To be spiritually sustained? And the secret to that is found in the Lord's Prayer. There are principles in the Lord's Prayer that will give you spiritual sustainability. And so today, we'll cover number four in a series of five. However, before we do, let's review the first three principles.
We begin the Lord's Prayer with praise: "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Praise. Beginning your day with praise and continuing throughout the day by living and praying with a God who has a can-do-anything attitude. He's a loving Father, a powerful God, a protective Father, a heavenly Father.
The order of these principles align with the order of the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus gave to us when His disciples asked Him, "How, then, should we pray?" He only gave one answer to that question and it's the Lord's Prayer. And the order is very important. Number one, begin with praise. Why? We thank God, we worship Him, we focus on Him, and we remind ourselves it's to Him that we pray. And that's important because we tend to forget about how big God really is. So begin with praise.
Then move on to permission, giving God permission. He doesn't need our permission, but we give it to Him anyway. You may remember that I used a rope to illustrate our daily tug of war with my will and my will. Do I want to go to the gym or will I stay in bed? Will I eat healthy food or will I eat junk food? Me and me. My will versus my will.
And then there's also my will versus Thy will, meaning I have a tug of war between my will and my spouse's will, my will and my child's will, my will and my friend's will. Those tug of wars, those clashes of wills.
Ultimately we talk about Thy will be done, my will versus God's will. I can give God permission. I can say to Him, "Thy will be done with my life. You do with me as you want to do," because, remember, I've just praised Him. I've just focused on who He is and I can trust Him with my entire life. And so we pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done," in my life "on earth as it is in heaven." And we say, "What are You up to today, Lord? I want to be a part of it."
So, praise, permission, and then we have petition. After we have praised Him, after we've given Him permission and submitted to Him, then we ask Him for what we need this day. Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." It doesn't say give us this day our day old, moldy, stale bread, but give us this day our fresh-from-the-oven artisan bread. God says, "Ask and it will be given to you" (Matthew 7:7a).
So praise, permission, petition. Today we get to pardon. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
I've brought with me today, to help illustrate this Sunday's message, a restoration bucket, that's what I call it. I'll put it right here. And I have lots of little illustrations in there on how this verse works. There are two parts to this part of the Lord's Prayer. The first part is "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Again, the order is really important. The first part is asking for forgiveness, and the second part is giving forgiveness.
I'll have you know, I abhor house cleaning. Anybody else here feel the same? I just don't like doing it. And the worst part is cleaning the shower and the bathtub, don't you think? Scrubbing that soap scum. Nonetheless, I buckled down and cleaned my house from top to bottom. I even cleaned the grout in the tile. The house was beautiful; it was sparkling. There was no dust anywhere in the entire house. That was ten years ago. I haven't done it since. NOT! Really truly, if I only cleaned my house once in my lifetime, is that enough? No. I wish it were, but it's not. We have to do perpetual housecleaning, don't we?
That's why I love the fact that you can pray the Lord's Prayer every day. Every day you praise God. Every day you give Him permission. Every day you ask Him for what you need today. And every day, you do your housecleaning in your soul and in your relationship with God and with other people. And you do it by asking for forgiveness, which is pardon.
One of our biggest fears is the fear of failure. I truly believe that. You've heard Dad and others talk about the fear of failure to live up to our potential, to do the right thing, to pay what we owe other people, to pay our debts. How we fear that we might fail our families, friends, God. How many of you have ever dealt with the fear of failure? I have. I do. Yet every single one of us has already failed. Every one of us will fail. Probably we fail a little bit every single day. So you say, "Sheila, that isn't the positive message." Oh yes it is because, what if I were to give to you the antidote for failure? What if I gave you the antidote for the fear of failure? Would you love to have that, the antidote to failure, to the fear of failure? Well it's right here in the Lord's Prayer. The antidote to failure is forgiveness. Forgiveness. Jesus gives us the antidote.
You may think, Oh I failed. Oh, I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be. And I want you to know, you're in good company if you feel that way. King David was known as one of the greatest kings, if not the greatest earthly king ever to walk this earth. Remember, he was the little shepherd boy who took on the big giant Goliath and he built this great big empire for God. David is revered; people talk about him as this wonderful, successful king. Oh, to be a David, right? Yet David failed. Let me tell you about David, how he failed.
As a king. He had multiple wives and he had multiple concubines, many beautiful women that were his. Back then, this was okay. Yet he saw this one woman, Bathsheba, and thought, wow, she's good looking. He desired her. But she was married to Uriah, another man, a soldier in David's army. When Uriah was away, David took her. He took her and she became pregnant. Now wouldn't this make headline news in the newspaper that the king took somebody else's wife while the husband was away and got her pregnant? Would you say that's a failure on David's part? Absolutely. He failed God, he failed his country, he failed Bathsheba, and he failed Uriah.
So what was his response? What do you think he did? He continued to fail because, when he found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, he decided to cover up his failure. Now have any of you ever tried to cover up your failure? Or do you know anybody else who's tried to cover up a failure? Absolutely yes.
What David did was to send Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, to the front lines where he knew he would be killed. In essence, he murdered Uriah to cover up his adultery. So here he is, this great King David, who has committed adultery and has covered it up with murder. A failure. And yet the Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart. When Nathan the prophet said David, "Look what you have done," David agreed he had failed. This is why David was a man after God's own heart.
David said, "Yes, I failed. Yes, I messed up. So, Father, forgive me." He then wrote a beautiful Psalm - Psalm 51. If you ever feel that you've failed, read David's Psalm because the antidote for failure is forgiveness. He wrote, "Have mercy on me, oh God. Have mercy on me. Because of Your unfailing love, because of Your compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sins and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow."
The next time you feel you've failed, or maybe today you feel like you've failed, I want you to know that it's just a sign that you're alive. It's a sign that you are a child of God and all you need to do, the antidote for failure and fear of failure, is ask for forgiveness. When we say, "God forgive me," He cleans our hearts. He's the great "Mr. Clean."
So, here in my restoration bucket is a Mr. Clean eraser. It's supposed to be able to erase any stain from your house. I also have in here a pink pearl eraser because, as a teacher, I love pink pearl erasers. If we make a mistake or if we have debt, wouldn't you love just to take this pink pearl eraser, erase that mistake or that debt once and for all, and get rid of it? I do hate debt, personal debt, especially. Most of us have debt of some sort or another, to either a credit card or a car loan or a mortgage loan or maybe a student loan for your child. This Bible verse says to forgive us our debts - to wipe us off, clean up that heart, make us whiter than snow. And God will do that. It's a gift. You don't have to pay for it, and when you accept it, there are no monthly payments. It's just a gift. No interest accrued. It's just a gift.
Well, you know that I don't like to clean my house. You may also like to know that I'm very dangerous when it comes to fixing anything that breaks in the house. So my husband doesn't like it when something breaks. He's always afraid that I'll try to fix it before he does, because this is my favorite tool. It's a table knife. It's always handy, and the handle works as a hammer. This part, at the blade, works like a screwdriver and it works as a wedge; you can pry out all kinds of things from the wall. Whenever anything breaks and I open the drawer, my husband says, "Put that table knife away!" So I put it away. Jim is Mr. Fix It. And he fixes things.
The first part of the Lord's Prayer is where we ask God to forgive us, to clean us up, to clean our hearts. The second part is where we ask God to help mend and fix our relationships with others. We take the forgiveness that we've been given from God, we accept that forgiveness that we've been given by God, and we pass it on to others who hurt us.
Jesus was asked, "How many times am I supposed to forgive my brother?" Most of you have heard this. "Am I supposed to forgive him seven times?"
Jesus said, "No, you're supposed to forgive him seventy times seven. That's how many times you're supposed to forgive him." And many, many more times. But beyond that, Jesus didn't stop there. In that passage, He shared this parable (Matthew 18:23-35, paraphrased):
There was a master who had a servant, and the servant owed his master ten thousand talents, a lot of money. And the master called the servant in and he said to him, "You owe me this money, and I want you to pay me. The servant didn't have the money. He couldn't pay his debt. The master said, "Where's the money?"
The servant said, "I don't have it."
The master said, "If you don't pay me back every penny, you, your wife, and your children will be my slaves. You will work off your debt. I don't care how long it takes you - probably the rest of your life. You will be my slaves for life. No longer will you be my servant where I pay you; you will be my slave."
The servant bowed before the master and he said, "Please, please, please have mercy on me. Forgive me my debt. Forgive me my debt."
The master showed him mercy and he forgave him completely. He said, "Because you've asked for mercy, I'm going to give you mercy. You may go. You're completely forgiven." So, off went the servant. Free.
He returned home and, when looking at his own financial records, realized that one of his sub servants, who worked for him, owed him a hundred denarii, not nearly as much as the ten thousand talents he had owed. So he called his sub servant in and he said, "You owe me money. I want it right now." In fact, it says in the Bible that he took his sub servant by the neck and choked him and said, "Give me my money. Pay me back immediately!"
The sub servant said, "I don't have it, I don't have the money."
So what do you think this servant - the one who had been graciously forgiven, his debt erased by his master - did? What kind of response do you think he had for this man who owed him money? He threw him in jail.
Well, Jesus let us know that God has forgiven us. He has completely forgiven us. He has erased our debt. We don't owe Him a thing. And all He asks for us in return is to take that forgiveness and give it to others who have hurt us and who will hurt us.
So we ask for forgiveness, and we give forgiveness. That is the antidote for all of our failures in life, and especially our failure in relationships. And, yes, there are many of us who have either strained or ruptured relationships, and the antidote for that is forgiveness.
I also have a trowel in my restoration bucket because it says in Hebrews 12, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God, and that no bitter root grows up to trouble and defile many." In other words, the "bitter root" is "bitterness." You may, like Dad likes to say, "Nurse and rehearse those hurts." You may think that you have every right - and you probably do - to feel mad, to feel angry, to feel resentful, and to be bitter. But be careful because that bitter root will just wrap its tentacles around your heart, and choke the love and the joy right out of you. Bitterness is a spiritual and an emotional cancer. And so we say, "God, take Your trowel and lovingly, carefully, tenderly dig out that bitter root from my heart."
I want you to think about how you would feel if the following was your experience. Imagine someone murdered your entire family. Imagine that someone broke into your home and, before your eyes, tortured your children, murdered your husband, and then raped you. Then later that murderer was captured, put in jail, and quickly released by the warden. He sets him free, gives him pardon, and says, "Go home." And, what if he moves in right next door to you? You see him walk his dog. You see him when you go to the grocery store. You see him when you wash your car. How would you feel? Wouldn't that be hard? Wouldn't that be excruciating? Forgiveness? Sheila, you say you want me to forgive him?
That is exactly what happened in Rwanda with the genocide in 1994. Nearly a million people were tortured and killed. Forty thousand murderers were thrown in jail, and then pardoned, and then released to live as neighbors beside those they had hurt. And do you know what the country of Rwanda is teaching the rest of the world? How to forgive. They're learning to forgive, and this is what the bishop of Rwanda has said: "A murderer able to accept forgiveness? Impossible! A victim of such atrocities able to give forgiveness? Impossible. But remember, men and women, that what is humanly impossible, with God all things are possible." He says there is no greater grace than the grace that is in Rwanda, and that grace comes from the cross of Jesus Christ.
I go through the day and, every now and then, somebody will say something that hurts my feelings. Any of you ever have that happen to you? And right away, you go ouch, oh, ah! And you harbor a little anger towards them. But I have trained myself to, most of the time, think of Jesus hanging on the cross with the people who put Him there standing down below Him. What did He do to deserve that? Did He deserve to have nails pounded into His hands? Pounded into His feet? Did He deserve that? No. And yet He looked down on these same people who did that to Him, and He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
And so when I get those little twinges and those little hurts, I think of that and I immediately say, "Father, I forgive them. They know not what they do."
So much of hurt is resentment. So many fractured relationships with our Heavenly Father and with others come from broken hearts. And so I want to ask you, what would you do? What would you use to mend a broken heart?
So, let's look in this restoration bucket - these are my husband's tools. So, would you use a hammer and a nail to mend a broken heart? Would you? Actually, that is exactly what God used to mend our broken hearts. He used a hammer and a nail. Hammers pounded nails into the hands of Jesus. A hammer pounded nails into the feet of Jesus because God wanted to mend your broken heart. He wants to mend your broken relationships. He loves you so much that He would send His Son to die so we can be mended, we can be pardoned, our debts can be paid when we pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
Please stand with me. Let us close in prayer. And we're going to do our hand motions as we've been doing so we remember. It helps us remember through the week. So we start with praise, right? Hands up, faces lifted up and, with Crystal Cathedral gusto, repeat after me: "Our Father, Who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven)." A little more gusto. "Hallowed be Thy name (Hallowed be Thy name)." Now we're going to do permission. Take your hands down and open them up. "Thy kingdom come (Thy kingdom come), Thy will be done (Thy will be done), on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven)." Now we put them together in petition and we ask Him, "Give us this day our daily bread (give us this day our daily bread)." And, Lord, we ask not for day-old, moldy, stale bread, but for daily bread.
And now we're going to do the pardon and this is American sign language for Jesus; you just put a nail in the hand. Repeat after me: "Forgive us our debts (forgive us our debts) as we forgive our debtors (as we forgive our debtors)." Lord, I ask You, today, to forgive me (Lord, I ask You, today, to forgive me). Forgive me for thinking I don't need You (Forgive me for thinking I don't need You). Forgive me for holding grudges (Forgive me for holding grudges). Forgive me for hurting that person I really do love (Forgive me for hurting that person I really do love). Amen (Amen).
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Today we are continuing in our series on "Spiritual Sustainability: Living The Lord's Prayer." You've been hearing the word sustainability, that new "go green" word that represents anything from fabric to architecture to foods to anything that can be renewed and continue to grow. Anything that is sustainable.
Don't we want that for our spirits, as well? To be spiritually sustained? And the secret to that is found in the Lord's Prayer. There are principles in the Lord's Prayer that will give you spiritual sustainability. And so today, we'll cover number four in a series of five. However, before we do, let's review the first three principles.
We begin the Lord's Prayer with praise: "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Praise. Beginning your day with praise and continuing throughout the day by living and praying with a God who has a can-do-anything attitude. He's a loving Father, a powerful God, a protective Father, a heavenly Father.
The order of these principles align with the order of the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus gave to us when His disciples asked Him, "How, then, should we pray?" He only gave one answer to that question and it's the Lord's Prayer. And the order is very important. Number one, begin with praise. Why? We thank God, we worship Him, we focus on Him, and we remind ourselves it's to Him that we pray. And that's important because we tend to forget about how big God really is. So begin with praise.
Then move on to permission, giving God permission. He doesn't need our permission, but we give it to Him anyway. You may remember that I used a rope to illustrate our daily tug of war with my will and my will. Do I want to go to the gym or will I stay in bed? Will I eat healthy food or will I eat junk food? Me and me. My will versus my will.
And then there's also my will versus Thy will, meaning I have a tug of war between my will and my spouse's will, my will and my child's will, my will and my friend's will. Those tug of wars, those clashes of wills.
Ultimately we talk about Thy will be done, my will versus God's will. I can give God permission. I can say to Him, "Thy will be done with my life. You do with me as you want to do," because, remember, I've just praised Him. I've just focused on who He is and I can trust Him with my entire life. And so we pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done," in my life "on earth as it is in heaven." And we say, "What are You up to today, Lord? I want to be a part of it."
So, praise, permission, and then we have petition. After we have praised Him, after we've given Him permission and submitted to Him, then we ask Him for what we need this day. Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." It doesn't say give us this day our day old, moldy, stale bread, but give us this day our fresh-from-the-oven artisan bread. God says, "Ask and it will be given to you" (Matthew 7:7a).
So praise, permission, petition. Today we get to pardon. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
I've brought with me today, to help illustrate this Sunday's message, a restoration bucket, that's what I call it. I'll put it right here. And I have lots of little illustrations in there on how this verse works. There are two parts to this part of the Lord's Prayer. The first part is "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Again, the order is really important. The first part is asking for forgiveness, and the second part is giving forgiveness.
I'll have you know, I abhor house cleaning. Anybody else here feel the same? I just don't like doing it. And the worst part is cleaning the shower and the bathtub, don't you think? Scrubbing that soap scum. Nonetheless, I buckled down and cleaned my house from top to bottom. I even cleaned the grout in the tile. The house was beautiful; it was sparkling. There was no dust anywhere in the entire house. That was ten years ago. I haven't done it since. NOT! Really truly, if I only cleaned my house once in my lifetime, is that enough? No. I wish it were, but it's not. We have to do perpetual housecleaning, don't we?
That's why I love the fact that you can pray the Lord's Prayer every day. Every day you praise God. Every day you give Him permission. Every day you ask Him for what you need today. And every day, you do your housecleaning in your soul and in your relationship with God and with other people. And you do it by asking for forgiveness, which is pardon.
One of our biggest fears is the fear of failure. I truly believe that. You've heard Dad and others talk about the fear of failure to live up to our potential, to do the right thing, to pay what we owe other people, to pay our debts. How we fear that we might fail our families, friends, God. How many of you have ever dealt with the fear of failure? I have. I do. Yet every single one of us has already failed. Every one of us will fail. Probably we fail a little bit every single day. So you say, "Sheila, that isn't the positive message." Oh yes it is because, what if I were to give to you the antidote for failure? What if I gave you the antidote for the fear of failure? Would you love to have that, the antidote to failure, to the fear of failure? Well it's right here in the Lord's Prayer. The antidote to failure is forgiveness. Forgiveness. Jesus gives us the antidote.
You may think, Oh I failed. Oh, I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be. And I want you to know, you're in good company if you feel that way. King David was known as one of the greatest kings, if not the greatest earthly king ever to walk this earth. Remember, he was the little shepherd boy who took on the big giant Goliath and he built this great big empire for God. David is revered; people talk about him as this wonderful, successful king. Oh, to be a David, right? Yet David failed. Let me tell you about David, how he failed.
As a king. He had multiple wives and he had multiple concubines, many beautiful women that were his. Back then, this was okay. Yet he saw this one woman, Bathsheba, and thought, wow, she's good looking. He desired her. But she was married to Uriah, another man, a soldier in David's army. When Uriah was away, David took her. He took her and she became pregnant. Now wouldn't this make headline news in the newspaper that the king took somebody else's wife while the husband was away and got her pregnant? Would you say that's a failure on David's part? Absolutely. He failed God, he failed his country, he failed Bathsheba, and he failed Uriah.
So what was his response? What do you think he did? He continued to fail because, when he found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, he decided to cover up his failure. Now have any of you ever tried to cover up your failure? Or do you know anybody else who's tried to cover up a failure? Absolutely yes.
What David did was to send Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, to the front lines where he knew he would be killed. In essence, he murdered Uriah to cover up his adultery. So here he is, this great King David, who has committed adultery and has covered it up with murder. A failure. And yet the Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart. When Nathan the prophet said David, "Look what you have done," David agreed he had failed. This is why David was a man after God's own heart.
David said, "Yes, I failed. Yes, I messed up. So, Father, forgive me." He then wrote a beautiful Psalm - Psalm 51. If you ever feel that you've failed, read David's Psalm because the antidote for failure is forgiveness. He wrote, "Have mercy on me, oh God. Have mercy on me. Because of Your unfailing love, because of Your compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sins and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow."
The next time you feel you've failed, or maybe today you feel like you've failed, I want you to know that it's just a sign that you're alive. It's a sign that you are a child of God and all you need to do, the antidote for failure and fear of failure, is ask for forgiveness. When we say, "God forgive me," He cleans our hearts. He's the great "Mr. Clean."
So, here in my restoration bucket is a Mr. Clean eraser. It's supposed to be able to erase any stain from your house. I also have in here a pink pearl eraser because, as a teacher, I love pink pearl erasers. If we make a mistake or if we have debt, wouldn't you love just to take this pink pearl eraser, erase that mistake or that debt once and for all, and get rid of it? I do hate debt, personal debt, especially. Most of us have debt of some sort or another, to either a credit card or a car loan or a mortgage loan or maybe a student loan for your child. This Bible verse says to forgive us our debts - to wipe us off, clean up that heart, make us whiter than snow. And God will do that. It's a gift. You don't have to pay for it, and when you accept it, there are no monthly payments. It's just a gift. No interest accrued. It's just a gift.
Well, you know that I don't like to clean my house. You may also like to know that I'm very dangerous when it comes to fixing anything that breaks in the house. So my husband doesn't like it when something breaks. He's always afraid that I'll try to fix it before he does, because this is my favorite tool. It's a table knife. It's always handy, and the handle works as a hammer. This part, at the blade, works like a screwdriver and it works as a wedge; you can pry out all kinds of things from the wall. Whenever anything breaks and I open the drawer, my husband says, "Put that table knife away!" So I put it away. Jim is Mr. Fix It. And he fixes things.
The first part of the Lord's Prayer is where we ask God to forgive us, to clean us up, to clean our hearts. The second part is where we ask God to help mend and fix our relationships with others. We take the forgiveness that we've been given from God, we accept that forgiveness that we've been given by God, and we pass it on to others who hurt us.
Jesus was asked, "How many times am I supposed to forgive my brother?" Most of you have heard this. "Am I supposed to forgive him seven times?"
Jesus said, "No, you're supposed to forgive him seventy times seven. That's how many times you're supposed to forgive him." And many, many more times. But beyond that, Jesus didn't stop there. In that passage, He shared this parable (Matthew 18:23-35, paraphrased):
There was a master who had a servant, and the servant owed his master ten thousand talents, a lot of money. And the master called the servant in and he said to him, "You owe me this money, and I want you to pay me. The servant didn't have the money. He couldn't pay his debt. The master said, "Where's the money?"
The servant said, "I don't have it."
The master said, "If you don't pay me back every penny, you, your wife, and your children will be my slaves. You will work off your debt. I don't care how long it takes you - probably the rest of your life. You will be my slaves for life. No longer will you be my servant where I pay you; you will be my slave."
The servant bowed before the master and he said, "Please, please, please have mercy on me. Forgive me my debt. Forgive me my debt."
The master showed him mercy and he forgave him completely. He said, "Because you've asked for mercy, I'm going to give you mercy. You may go. You're completely forgiven." So, off went the servant. Free.
He returned home and, when looking at his own financial records, realized that one of his sub servants, who worked for him, owed him a hundred denarii, not nearly as much as the ten thousand talents he had owed. So he called his sub servant in and he said, "You owe me money. I want it right now." In fact, it says in the Bible that he took his sub servant by the neck and choked him and said, "Give me my money. Pay me back immediately!"
The sub servant said, "I don't have it, I don't have the money."
So what do you think this servant - the one who had been graciously forgiven, his debt erased by his master - did? What kind of response do you think he had for this man who owed him money? He threw him in jail.
Well, Jesus let us know that God has forgiven us. He has completely forgiven us. He has erased our debt. We don't owe Him a thing. And all He asks for us in return is to take that forgiveness and give it to others who have hurt us and who will hurt us.
So we ask for forgiveness, and we give forgiveness. That is the antidote for all of our failures in life, and especially our failure in relationships. And, yes, there are many of us who have either strained or ruptured relationships, and the antidote for that is forgiveness.
I also have a trowel in my restoration bucket because it says in Hebrews 12, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God, and that no bitter root grows up to trouble and defile many." In other words, the "bitter root" is "bitterness." You may, like Dad likes to say, "Nurse and rehearse those hurts." You may think that you have every right - and you probably do - to feel mad, to feel angry, to feel resentful, and to be bitter. But be careful because that bitter root will just wrap its tentacles around your heart, and choke the love and the joy right out of you. Bitterness is a spiritual and an emotional cancer. And so we say, "God, take Your trowel and lovingly, carefully, tenderly dig out that bitter root from my heart."
I want you to think about how you would feel if the following was your experience. Imagine someone murdered your entire family. Imagine that someone broke into your home and, before your eyes, tortured your children, murdered your husband, and then raped you. Then later that murderer was captured, put in jail, and quickly released by the warden. He sets him free, gives him pardon, and says, "Go home." And, what if he moves in right next door to you? You see him walk his dog. You see him when you go to the grocery store. You see him when you wash your car. How would you feel? Wouldn't that be hard? Wouldn't that be excruciating? Forgiveness? Sheila, you say you want me to forgive him?
That is exactly what happened in Rwanda with the genocide in 1994. Nearly a million people were tortured and killed. Forty thousand murderers were thrown in jail, and then pardoned, and then released to live as neighbors beside those they had hurt. And do you know what the country of Rwanda is teaching the rest of the world? How to forgive. They're learning to forgive, and this is what the bishop of Rwanda has said: "A murderer able to accept forgiveness? Impossible! A victim of such atrocities able to give forgiveness? Impossible. But remember, men and women, that what is humanly impossible, with God all things are possible." He says there is no greater grace than the grace that is in Rwanda, and that grace comes from the cross of Jesus Christ.
I go through the day and, every now and then, somebody will say something that hurts my feelings. Any of you ever have that happen to you? And right away, you go ouch, oh, ah! And you harbor a little anger towards them. But I have trained myself to, most of the time, think of Jesus hanging on the cross with the people who put Him there standing down below Him. What did He do to deserve that? Did He deserve to have nails pounded into His hands? Pounded into His feet? Did He deserve that? No. And yet He looked down on these same people who did that to Him, and He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
And so when I get those little twinges and those little hurts, I think of that and I immediately say, "Father, I forgive them. They know not what they do."
So much of hurt is resentment. So many fractured relationships with our Heavenly Father and with others come from broken hearts. And so I want to ask you, what would you do? What would you use to mend a broken heart?
So, let's look in this restoration bucket - these are my husband's tools. So, would you use a hammer and a nail to mend a broken heart? Would you? Actually, that is exactly what God used to mend our broken hearts. He used a hammer and a nail. Hammers pounded nails into the hands of Jesus. A hammer pounded nails into the feet of Jesus because God wanted to mend your broken heart. He wants to mend your broken relationships. He loves you so much that He would send His Son to die so we can be mended, we can be pardoned, our debts can be paid when we pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
Please stand with me. Let us close in prayer. And we're going to do our hand motions as we've been doing so we remember. It helps us remember through the week. So we start with praise, right? Hands up, faces lifted up and, with Crystal Cathedral gusto, repeat after me: "Our Father, Who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven)." A little more gusto. "Hallowed be Thy name (Hallowed be Thy name)." Now we're going to do permission. Take your hands down and open them up. "Thy kingdom come (Thy kingdom come), Thy will be done (Thy will be done), on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven)." Now we put them together in petition and we ask Him, "Give us this day our daily bread (give us this day our daily bread)." And, Lord, we ask not for day-old, moldy, stale bread, but for daily bread.
And now we're going to do the pardon and this is American sign language for Jesus; you just put a nail in the hand. Repeat after me: "Forgive us our debts (forgive us our debts) as we forgive our debtors (as we forgive our debtors)." Lord, I ask You, today, to forgive me (Lord, I ask You, today, to forgive me). Forgive me for thinking I don't need You (Forgive me for thinking I don't need You). Forgive me for holding grudges (Forgive me for holding grudges). Forgive me for hurting that person I really do love (Forgive me for hurting that person I really do love). Amen (Amen).
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
Self-Awareness
By My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers’
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me . . . .” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me . . . .” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?
By My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers’
When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:23
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”
“Sell all that you have . . .” ( Luke 18:22 ). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.
When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:23
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”
“Sell all that you have . . .” ( Luke 18:22 ). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Are You Discouraged or Devoted?
By My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers’
. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23
Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.
Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.
Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.
. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23
Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.
Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.
Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Provision: Be Careful What You Ask For - Part 3/5
Written By Sheila Schuller Coleman
Today, I'm continuing with number three in a series of five messages on "Spiritual Sustainability: Living the Lord's Prayer." As I've mentioned before, about two years ago I started praying the Lord's Prayer as a template every single day. Soon I noticed that, not only was I praying the Lord's Prayer every day, I was living it. Those principles that Jesus gave us in the Lord's Prayer are principles that can sustain us and help us through the toughest times. You can have spiritual sustainability that will carry you through any storm, any challenge, any trial. And the principles are found in the Lord's Prayer.
It begins with praise. We begin our prayers, we begin our days, and we continue all day long praying, praising God with a God-can-do-anything attitude. Think of it. How will that change your life if all day long you're reminded that God can do anything, no matter what you face? That's why Jesus taught us to begin our prayers and to begin our days with "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." He is an awesome Father, a wonderful Father, a loving Father, an all-powerful Father.
And, as such, He is a Father who knows best. We can trust Him with everything. We can trust Him with our very lives. Therefore, we can submit to Him. We can tell Him, "Lord, You have Your way with me. 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,' in my life, 'on earth as it is in heaven.' You do what You want to do. I trust You because I've just praised You. I've just remembered what an amazing, awesome God You are."
Okay, now that we have submitted, now that we've praised Him, now that we've given Him permission to use our lives, now we can ask something of Him. He says, "Petition Me. I will give you provision. 'Give us this day our daily bread.' Ask. The Bible says, 'Ask.' Over and over again, ask Me," says Your heavenly Father.
I want to add to that this little caveat: But be careful what you ask for.
A husband and wife and were celebrating their 30th anniversary, so they decided to go out and have a wonderful, romantic dinner, just the two of them. So, they went to a lovely, quiet restaurant. They had just sat down and were opening their menus when all of a sudden there was a bright light, as dazzling as the one Paul encountered in Damascus. The voice of God came from the heavens, saying, "My son and My daughter, I am so pleased with you. You've been faithful to each other for 30 years. In fact, ask Me for anything. I'll give it to you as an anniversary gift tonight!"
The woman thought for a moment and said, "I would like to take my husband on a trip around the world." Poof! God gave her tickets to take her husband on a round-the-world trip.
It was the husband's turn and he said quickly, "I would like a wife 30 years younger." Poof! The husband turned into a 90-year-old man.
Be careful what you ask for. Be very careful.
Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, His model prayer for us, "Give us this day our daily bread." It does not say, "Give us this day our daily candy." If you prayed, "Give us this day our daily candy," which many of you children (in the sanctuary) would love to do, would your parent - if they were a loving parent who cared about you - want you to ask them for candy every single day? No. God doesn't encourage us to say, "Give us this day our daily candy." He says, "Give us this day our daily bread."
I have four sons who have often asked me to make them sandwiches or snacks or meals. They still do, are you kidding? They come by all the time. They're grown men and they knock on the door, or they text me, and they ask, "What's for dinner?" And I give them food. I bake them pies. I make them cupcakes. I love to cook for them. If they ask me for a pie, if they ask me for a cake, if they ask me for bread, would I give them a stone? Heavens no. I love them.
God loves you even more. In the Bible, Jesus said, "…if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?" (Matthew 7:9). Your heavenly Father loves you so much. He wants to give you something wonderful and awesome. When you ask Him, He's not going to give you a stone. It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily candy." It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily stone." So what should you ask for? "Give us this day our daily bread."
It's very interesting that Jesus would use that one word - bread. Bread has been around since prehistoric times. It is one of the oldest prepared foods known on the face of the earth. There are so many different names for it - pan, pita, ciabatta, focaccia, tortilla, and more. Whatever name you use for it, ask God for your daily pita. Ask God for your daily ciabatta. Ask God for your daily focaccia. He doesn't want you to ask for moldy bread. He doesn't want you to ask for stale bread. He doesn't want you to ask for day-old bread. He wants you to ask for fresh-from-the-oven artisan daily bread. Not day-old bread, but daily bread.
Your heavenly Father is the King of kings and so what does that make you? It makes you a prince. It makes you a princess. Do you know any prince or princess who eats moldy, stale, day-old bread? God wants you to have daily bread, fresh bread, fresh from the oven. The best bread money can buy. He says, "Ask Me boldly. Ask Me because I want to give the best to you, My children." Only God can provide bread.
It takes seeds, it takes water, it takes soil, it takes the sunshine just to grow the grain, and only God provides those things. Nobody else can provide that and I think that's why God said to pray for daily bread. It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily candy." Don't pray, don't ask for that. Don't pray, "Give us this day our daily stone." Think beyond that. Think that you're worth the best! It says, "Give us this day our daily, beautiful, lovely, fresh bread," because your Father cares about you.
Bread is also money. It can also mean that. Bread is the staple of life. It's a provision of what we need to survive. And that's what Jesus meant. He didn't mean just the literal interpretation of bread; He meant whatever it is you need. "What do you need? I want to provide and I will provide. Ask Me and I will." Ask boldly, ask bravely, ask every day, ask Him.
However, it's not enough just to ask. After you've asked, you need to seek and knock. We need to do our part because it also doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily orange." Now, what do I mean by that? Well, you could sit underneath an orange tree and, if you sat there long enough, an orange might very well fall into your lap. Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." Bread needs all these different ingredients in order to make it. You can't just go out, find a bread tree, and pick it as you could an orange. For bread, you have to go and get some salt, which God provides, and you can get some olive oil, which God makes. You can't make olive oil and you can't make salt. You can get some flour from the grain, which God provides, and you can get a little sugar - or if you like sweet bread, a lot of sugar - and you have to do your part. Metaphorically speaking, you have to make the bread. You have to build the fire. You have to do your part. You ask, but then you seek and you knock. Seek and knock. "Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7b).
So, if you need financial aid, if you need provisions in order to live, if you need anything, ask God. Ask Him. Say, "Lord, where shall I look? On which door should I knock?" Then, when He gives you some kind of guidance, do it. Go looking for jobs online. Look in the job classifieds in the newspaper. Talk to people and ask them, "What's available? Who's hiring?" Then fill out those applications. Go out there. Do it. Do your part.
Ask, but also seek, knock, and then trust. As my dad says, "Trust for the crust." Once you've asked the Lord boldly, then Jesus says (in Matthew 6:25-27), "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" He will provide.
The Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness after they'd been delivered from Egypt. They'd been in slavery and, oh, how they hated that slavery. Who wouldn't? They were beaten, and then they were delivered. They made it safely across the Red Sea, but then there was nothing to eat in that wilderness - nothing at all to eat. In their hunger, many said to Moses, "I'd rather be back in Egypt being a slave. I'm starving, I'm hungry, this is terrible." So God saw His children needing food and what did He do? He gave them manna from heaven. They woke up in the morning and there was manna on the ground. We know it was like coriander seed. However, to eat it, they actually had to do some work. They couldn't just open their mouths and let the manna fall in. They actually had to gather it, make little patties out of it, and cook it over a fire.
God had warned them not to store the manna. "I'm not giving you yearly manna, I'm not giving you monthly manna, I'm not giving you weekly manna, I'm giving you daily manna, daily bread, every day. And don't store it." However, some of the Israelites thought, "I don't think I can trust God. He gave me manna today and I'm going to hoard it because tomorrow God might be sleeping. Tomorrow God might not be powerful enough. Tomorrow God might forget all about me. So I'm going to take that manna that He gave me today and I'm going to store up as much of it as I can."
God had told them not to do that. He wanted them to trust that He would do it every day. Do you know what happened to those people when they stored the manna? The next day it was full of maggots, spoiled. It only lasted for one day - that was it. So, they learned they could trust God. Did they ever wake up any day to no manna? Never. Not one single day.
Every day God provided daily bread for them and every day God will provide for you. Just because He's given you something today doesn't mean that He won't tomorrow, and He won't the next day, and He won't the day after that. God doesn't provide for you today and then forget about you. He doesn't provide for you tomorrow and then fall asleep. He doesn't provide for you the next day and then lose all His power. He provides for you today. He will provide for you tomorrow. He will provide for you every day of your life. He provides daily bread, daily provisions because He knows you need it. Your Father is the King of kings. Ask boldly. Ask bravely.
Be careful what you ask for. Ask for the best. Ask not for just any bread, not just daily bread, but daily bread of life. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who come to Me," any of you, "if you come to Me, you'll never, ever, ever go hungry again." He was talking about how, spiritually, you will never, every, ever go hungry again. "I will fill you with My life. I am the bread of life; your spiritual sustenance, your spiritual sustainability."
So, I ask you today, what are you hungry for?
Are you hungry for food? Some people are. That's why we have our Monday Meals here each week to feed the hungry.
Are you hungry for finances? Do you need financial help? God cares about that. He does. It's okay to ask Him. He wants you to ask Him for help.
Are you hungry for companionship? Do you know what companionship means? The Latin "com" means "with," and "pan" means "bread." With bread. Breaking bread with people. That's companionship. Pray for your daily companionship.
Are you hungry to make a difference, to make your life count? Ask God for the daily bread of life, for Jesus, every single day, to fill your life to overflowing so that, not only can you be filled yourself, you will have enough to share with others around you who truly are hungry in many ways. They may be spiritually hungry, emotionally hungry, socially hungry, and even physically hungry. You can be filled to overflowing and make a difference.
I'd like you all, now, to stand. We're going to close in prayer. We're going to continue where we left off last week. So, everybody stand if you're physically able to do so. We're going to take a posture of praise. You're going to take your hands and reach them up to the heavens because it's a way of saying, "We love You, Lord. We praise You, God." Lift your faces up to the heavens and keep them up there. Keep looking up to Him. Repeat after me with Crystal Cathedral gusto: "Our Father who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven)." Okay, let's do that again. That was without Crystal Cathedral gusto. Let's do it again with Crystal Cathedral gusto. "Our Father who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven), hallowed be Thy name (hallowed be Thy name). You are a great Father (You are a great Father). You are a wonderful Father (You are a wonderful Father). You are King of kings (You are King of kings). That means I'm a prince or a princess (That means I'm a prince or a princess). You will provide generously (You will provide generously)."
All right, we've begun with the praise. Now, take your hands and put them this way, open them palms out because this is an open posture of submission to God, giving Him permission in our lives. We've praised Him, so we can submit to Him. Again, repeat after me: "Thy kingdom come (Thy kingdom come), thy will be done (thy will be done), on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven). You are a loving Father (You are a loving Father). My heavenly Father knows best (My heavenly Father knows best), so I can trust You completely (so I can trust You completely). I trust You with my life (I trust You with my life). Work in me to do (Work in me to do) Your will and Your purpose (Your will and Your purpose)."
Okay, now that we've praised Him and we've given Him permission, now we're ready to ask for provision. We have been careful about what we ask for because we've given Him praise and we've given Him permission. Now, when we ask, we know we are asking the way He wants us to. So put your hands together; we're going to ask God together. Repeat after me: "Give me today my daily bread (Give me today my daily bread). I ask You, Lord, (I ask You, Lord,) to show me what to ask for today (to show me what to ask for today). Give me my heart's desires or take them away (Give me my heart's desires or take them away). I ask You today and every day (I ask You today and every day) to provide everything I need (to provide everything I need). I ask You today and every day (I ask You today and every day) to increase my hunger for You (to increase my hunger for You), my desire to serve You (my desire to serve You), and to live for You (and to live for You). Amen (Amen)."
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Today, I'm continuing with number three in a series of five messages on "Spiritual Sustainability: Living the Lord's Prayer." As I've mentioned before, about two years ago I started praying the Lord's Prayer as a template every single day. Soon I noticed that, not only was I praying the Lord's Prayer every day, I was living it. Those principles that Jesus gave us in the Lord's Prayer are principles that can sustain us and help us through the toughest times. You can have spiritual sustainability that will carry you through any storm, any challenge, any trial. And the principles are found in the Lord's Prayer.
It begins with praise. We begin our prayers, we begin our days, and we continue all day long praying, praising God with a God-can-do-anything attitude. Think of it. How will that change your life if all day long you're reminded that God can do anything, no matter what you face? That's why Jesus taught us to begin our prayers and to begin our days with "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." He is an awesome Father, a wonderful Father, a loving Father, an all-powerful Father.
And, as such, He is a Father who knows best. We can trust Him with everything. We can trust Him with our very lives. Therefore, we can submit to Him. We can tell Him, "Lord, You have Your way with me. 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,' in my life, 'on earth as it is in heaven.' You do what You want to do. I trust You because I've just praised You. I've just remembered what an amazing, awesome God You are."
Okay, now that we have submitted, now that we've praised Him, now that we've given Him permission to use our lives, now we can ask something of Him. He says, "Petition Me. I will give you provision. 'Give us this day our daily bread.' Ask. The Bible says, 'Ask.' Over and over again, ask Me," says Your heavenly Father.
I want to add to that this little caveat: But be careful what you ask for.
A husband and wife and were celebrating their 30th anniversary, so they decided to go out and have a wonderful, romantic dinner, just the two of them. So, they went to a lovely, quiet restaurant. They had just sat down and were opening their menus when all of a sudden there was a bright light, as dazzling as the one Paul encountered in Damascus. The voice of God came from the heavens, saying, "My son and My daughter, I am so pleased with you. You've been faithful to each other for 30 years. In fact, ask Me for anything. I'll give it to you as an anniversary gift tonight!"
The woman thought for a moment and said, "I would like to take my husband on a trip around the world." Poof! God gave her tickets to take her husband on a round-the-world trip.
It was the husband's turn and he said quickly, "I would like a wife 30 years younger." Poof! The husband turned into a 90-year-old man.
Be careful what you ask for. Be very careful.
Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, His model prayer for us, "Give us this day our daily bread." It does not say, "Give us this day our daily candy." If you prayed, "Give us this day our daily candy," which many of you children (in the sanctuary) would love to do, would your parent - if they were a loving parent who cared about you - want you to ask them for candy every single day? No. God doesn't encourage us to say, "Give us this day our daily candy." He says, "Give us this day our daily bread."
I have four sons who have often asked me to make them sandwiches or snacks or meals. They still do, are you kidding? They come by all the time. They're grown men and they knock on the door, or they text me, and they ask, "What's for dinner?" And I give them food. I bake them pies. I make them cupcakes. I love to cook for them. If they ask me for a pie, if they ask me for a cake, if they ask me for bread, would I give them a stone? Heavens no. I love them.
God loves you even more. In the Bible, Jesus said, "…if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?" (Matthew 7:9). Your heavenly Father loves you so much. He wants to give you something wonderful and awesome. When you ask Him, He's not going to give you a stone. It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily candy." It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily stone." So what should you ask for? "Give us this day our daily bread."
It's very interesting that Jesus would use that one word - bread. Bread has been around since prehistoric times. It is one of the oldest prepared foods known on the face of the earth. There are so many different names for it - pan, pita, ciabatta, focaccia, tortilla, and more. Whatever name you use for it, ask God for your daily pita. Ask God for your daily ciabatta. Ask God for your daily focaccia. He doesn't want you to ask for moldy bread. He doesn't want you to ask for stale bread. He doesn't want you to ask for day-old bread. He wants you to ask for fresh-from-the-oven artisan daily bread. Not day-old bread, but daily bread.
Your heavenly Father is the King of kings and so what does that make you? It makes you a prince. It makes you a princess. Do you know any prince or princess who eats moldy, stale, day-old bread? God wants you to have daily bread, fresh bread, fresh from the oven. The best bread money can buy. He says, "Ask Me boldly. Ask Me because I want to give the best to you, My children." Only God can provide bread.
It takes seeds, it takes water, it takes soil, it takes the sunshine just to grow the grain, and only God provides those things. Nobody else can provide that and I think that's why God said to pray for daily bread. It doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily candy." Don't pray, don't ask for that. Don't pray, "Give us this day our daily stone." Think beyond that. Think that you're worth the best! It says, "Give us this day our daily, beautiful, lovely, fresh bread," because your Father cares about you.
Bread is also money. It can also mean that. Bread is the staple of life. It's a provision of what we need to survive. And that's what Jesus meant. He didn't mean just the literal interpretation of bread; He meant whatever it is you need. "What do you need? I want to provide and I will provide. Ask Me and I will." Ask boldly, ask bravely, ask every day, ask Him.
However, it's not enough just to ask. After you've asked, you need to seek and knock. We need to do our part because it also doesn't say, "Give us this day our daily orange." Now, what do I mean by that? Well, you could sit underneath an orange tree and, if you sat there long enough, an orange might very well fall into your lap. Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." Bread needs all these different ingredients in order to make it. You can't just go out, find a bread tree, and pick it as you could an orange. For bread, you have to go and get some salt, which God provides, and you can get some olive oil, which God makes. You can't make olive oil and you can't make salt. You can get some flour from the grain, which God provides, and you can get a little sugar - or if you like sweet bread, a lot of sugar - and you have to do your part. Metaphorically speaking, you have to make the bread. You have to build the fire. You have to do your part. You ask, but then you seek and you knock. Seek and knock. "Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7b).
So, if you need financial aid, if you need provisions in order to live, if you need anything, ask God. Ask Him. Say, "Lord, where shall I look? On which door should I knock?" Then, when He gives you some kind of guidance, do it. Go looking for jobs online. Look in the job classifieds in the newspaper. Talk to people and ask them, "What's available? Who's hiring?" Then fill out those applications. Go out there. Do it. Do your part.
Ask, but also seek, knock, and then trust. As my dad says, "Trust for the crust." Once you've asked the Lord boldly, then Jesus says (in Matthew 6:25-27), "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" He will provide.
The Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness after they'd been delivered from Egypt. They'd been in slavery and, oh, how they hated that slavery. Who wouldn't? They were beaten, and then they were delivered. They made it safely across the Red Sea, but then there was nothing to eat in that wilderness - nothing at all to eat. In their hunger, many said to Moses, "I'd rather be back in Egypt being a slave. I'm starving, I'm hungry, this is terrible." So God saw His children needing food and what did He do? He gave them manna from heaven. They woke up in the morning and there was manna on the ground. We know it was like coriander seed. However, to eat it, they actually had to do some work. They couldn't just open their mouths and let the manna fall in. They actually had to gather it, make little patties out of it, and cook it over a fire.
God had warned them not to store the manna. "I'm not giving you yearly manna, I'm not giving you monthly manna, I'm not giving you weekly manna, I'm giving you daily manna, daily bread, every day. And don't store it." However, some of the Israelites thought, "I don't think I can trust God. He gave me manna today and I'm going to hoard it because tomorrow God might be sleeping. Tomorrow God might not be powerful enough. Tomorrow God might forget all about me. So I'm going to take that manna that He gave me today and I'm going to store up as much of it as I can."
God had told them not to do that. He wanted them to trust that He would do it every day. Do you know what happened to those people when they stored the manna? The next day it was full of maggots, spoiled. It only lasted for one day - that was it. So, they learned they could trust God. Did they ever wake up any day to no manna? Never. Not one single day.
Every day God provided daily bread for them and every day God will provide for you. Just because He's given you something today doesn't mean that He won't tomorrow, and He won't the next day, and He won't the day after that. God doesn't provide for you today and then forget about you. He doesn't provide for you tomorrow and then fall asleep. He doesn't provide for you the next day and then lose all His power. He provides for you today. He will provide for you tomorrow. He will provide for you every day of your life. He provides daily bread, daily provisions because He knows you need it. Your Father is the King of kings. Ask boldly. Ask bravely.
Be careful what you ask for. Ask for the best. Ask not for just any bread, not just daily bread, but daily bread of life. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who come to Me," any of you, "if you come to Me, you'll never, ever, ever go hungry again." He was talking about how, spiritually, you will never, every, ever go hungry again. "I will fill you with My life. I am the bread of life; your spiritual sustenance, your spiritual sustainability."
So, I ask you today, what are you hungry for?
Are you hungry for food? Some people are. That's why we have our Monday Meals here each week to feed the hungry.
Are you hungry for finances? Do you need financial help? God cares about that. He does. It's okay to ask Him. He wants you to ask Him for help.
Are you hungry for companionship? Do you know what companionship means? The Latin "com" means "with," and "pan" means "bread." With bread. Breaking bread with people. That's companionship. Pray for your daily companionship.
Are you hungry to make a difference, to make your life count? Ask God for the daily bread of life, for Jesus, every single day, to fill your life to overflowing so that, not only can you be filled yourself, you will have enough to share with others around you who truly are hungry in many ways. They may be spiritually hungry, emotionally hungry, socially hungry, and even physically hungry. You can be filled to overflowing and make a difference.
I'd like you all, now, to stand. We're going to close in prayer. We're going to continue where we left off last week. So, everybody stand if you're physically able to do so. We're going to take a posture of praise. You're going to take your hands and reach them up to the heavens because it's a way of saying, "We love You, Lord. We praise You, God." Lift your faces up to the heavens and keep them up there. Keep looking up to Him. Repeat after me with Crystal Cathedral gusto: "Our Father who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven)." Okay, let's do that again. That was without Crystal Cathedral gusto. Let's do it again with Crystal Cathedral gusto. "Our Father who art in heaven (Our Father Who art in heaven), hallowed be Thy name (hallowed be Thy name). You are a great Father (You are a great Father). You are a wonderful Father (You are a wonderful Father). You are King of kings (You are King of kings). That means I'm a prince or a princess (That means I'm a prince or a princess). You will provide generously (You will provide generously)."
All right, we've begun with the praise. Now, take your hands and put them this way, open them palms out because this is an open posture of submission to God, giving Him permission in our lives. We've praised Him, so we can submit to Him. Again, repeat after me: "Thy kingdom come (Thy kingdom come), thy will be done (thy will be done), on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven). You are a loving Father (You are a loving Father). My heavenly Father knows best (My heavenly Father knows best), so I can trust You completely (so I can trust You completely). I trust You with my life (I trust You with my life). Work in me to do (Work in me to do) Your will and Your purpose (Your will and Your purpose)."
Okay, now that we've praised Him and we've given Him permission, now we're ready to ask for provision. We have been careful about what we ask for because we've given Him praise and we've given Him permission. Now, when we ask, we know we are asking the way He wants us to. So put your hands together; we're going to ask God together. Repeat after me: "Give me today my daily bread (Give me today my daily bread). I ask You, Lord, (I ask You, Lord,) to show me what to ask for today (to show me what to ask for today). Give me my heart's desires or take them away (Give me my heart's desires or take them away). I ask You today and every day (I ask You today and every day) to provide everything I need (to provide everything I need). I ask You today and every day (I ask You today and every day) to increase my hunger for You (to increase my hunger for You), my desire to serve You (my desire to serve You), and to live for You (and to live for You). Amen (Amen)."
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Sunday, August 8, 2010
Permission - A Clashing of Wills - Part 2/5
Written By Sheila Schuller Coleman
Today, I am continuing my message series, "Spiritual Sustainability: Living the Lord's Prayer." Last week, we explored first phrase of the Lord's Prayer, which is, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." That's "Praise." Praising God. Beginning your prayers and living your day by praying with God can do anything attitude. Focusing on whom it is we are praying to. And this whole idea of praise can transform your life.
The Lord's Prayer is the model prayer that Jesus taught us. Yet, we don't have to do it all the time - this is not something legalistic. But I have found that, when I start my day praying this way, it really, really has transformed my life.
So, I begin my day with praise, talking to my Heavenly Father, focusing on who that heavenly Father is. He is a Father who is all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful. He can do anything. He is a Father who knows best. And so, now that we have praised God, we can give Him permission to do with our lives as He will. I'm not going to give permission to just anybody. But I will give permission, I will submit my life, a hundred percent of my life, to my heavenly Father and only my heavenly Father.
So you see what Jesus was trying to teach us - it was to begin with praise. "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name." I thank You, God, for this. I praise You, God, for this. And that's how I begin my prayers and begin my day.
And then we continue, today, with the second part: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The kingdom of God, the kingdom that Jesus Christ came to establish, was a kingdom, a spiritual kingdom, a spiritual kingdom that is in heaven, and Jesus came to show us that that same kingdom could be yours and mine.
We can also live in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. When we say to Him, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," it is possible to live a heavenly life on earth.
We all know when we go through life, and we go through our day, that it's not always heavenly. It's full of conflict. There are those negative emotions - the fears, jealousies, anger - and I would dare say that the majority of that conflict that we encounter is what I would call a clashing of wills. A clashing of wills. I'm going to demonstrate that concept because I believe that it'll help you remember. Make it a little sticky. So, this week when you're finding yourself irritable, negative, fearful, resentful, maybe you'll remember Sheila and her rope. And you'll say, "Oh! This is just a clashing of the wills."
So, I asked my husband for a rope. If I had brought it, it would have been a little string, but this big rope is what my husband got for me. These conflict-of-wills demonstrations aren't necessarily in order. It's just the way I'm presenting them - those between me and me, or between you and you. You don't think you have internal tug-of-wars? Oh, yes, we do.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #1 - ME AND ME...
This one is a common one for me. Here I am. I wake up in the morning. I'm going to go to the gym and work out, do the whole thing - cardio and the weight resistance. I'm so tired. I didn't sleep well. I think I'll just stay in bed. No, I'm going to go and work out because you know that this is good for you. Oh but I'm so tired. I'll go tomorrow. Anybody do anything similar to that kind of tug of war or is it just me?
Here's another one. Today I'm going to eat healthy. No junk, no sugar, no refined carbs. Just fresh fruit - berries, egg white omelets. And then I look at that delicious scone as I'm standing in line in Starbucks. It calls my name. Oh, I can smell the cinnamon wafting right over here. I can go on my diet tomorrow, can't I? Sheila, you made a vow this morning. But it tastes so good. It's just a hundred calories. Not its not, its two hundred calories. Oh my gosh! I'm doing this, right? Whew. Now, did I make much progress? Did you see me move anywhere? Accomplish anything great? No, I was stuck. Stuck. Got nowhere because of a clashing of wills with myself. And that's part of the problem with clashing of wills - we don't make progress and we're stuck.
Let me show you another one. Those were humorous but this next one is something that we all do all the time, too.
We want to do something great for God. But what if I fail, and people see me, and I'm nothing but a big fat failure? What about the people who won't be helped? Other people out there can do it better. God doesn't need me. The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. All those negative emotions can get in the way of us being and doing, making progress. We remain stuck through a clashing of wills first within ourselves - me and me or you and you.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #2 - ME AND YOU...
To illustrate this next conflict of wills, I need a volunteer. Anybody willing to be a volunteer and come on up and help me? Come on down and take a hold of this big fat rope? All right, thank you. The other clashing of wills is between me and thee, between me and other people in my life. So I'm just going to pretend that you're my employer, okay? And I'm going to go to her and I'm going to say, I want a raise! I want a raise. I can't make ends meet. Will you give me a raise? Why not? Because of the economy? Now, you're supposed to pull. Okay, you're pulling me, oh she's not going to give me my raise. But I can't afford to work for you anymore.
Okay, has anybody had any kind of tug of wars like this with their employer? Or maybe it's a family member, all right. Now I'm going to pretend you're one of my sons, all right? Okay, Nicholas, I need you to clean your room. Will you clean your room? Tomorrow? That's too late. You need to clean it today. I can't even get in there to vacuum. After you study?
Okay, any of you have any conflicts, tug of wars with your family members? How about with spouses? There are people that are in relationships today who are stuck because of a clashing of wills. And today, through the Lord's Prayer, you're going to learn how to get unstuck.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #3 - ME AND GOD...
The bottom line is we also have a tug of war going on with God. I've asked Jim Penner to come up and be God for me. Okay, I wake up this morning, and I have this wonderful dream. God, will you bless my dream? This is my will. Aren't You going to bless my dream? It's for You. I want to do this wonderful thing for You. Come on, come on, come on. Boy, He's not budging. Come on God, I've asked You for permission. I've asked You for permission. Come on. He's not going to move an inch. What am I doing wrong? Okay, just forget You then and I'm just going to do it my own way. And I'm just going to be...oh my goodness...I'm all tied up in knots now. That's not working either. My life is a mess. Come on God, come on. I've been praying to You, I've been asking for You and nothing, nothing. Wait a minute: Thy kingdom, Thy will be done. Oh Thy will, not my will. Is that right? Oh. So I jumped the gun instead of having it be my idea, I should have stopped and asked You what Your idea was? Oh. So instead of asking You for permission, I'm supposed to give You permission. Okay. But what if I give You permission, what if I say to You what do You want me to do? And, what if You tell me do something I don't want to do? Oh, that's right, I've already praised You, and I know You're a good Heavenly Father, and a Heavenly Father always knows what's best. Okay. I will say because I've praised You, and I know You love me, I will pray this prayer: Thy will be done. Thy will be done.
Thank you Jim, thank you.
Okay, all those clashes of wills within me and me, all those clashes of wills between me and thee, and all those clashes of wills between me and my heavenly Father. And if it starts with praising Him, knowing what a great God He is, how loving He is, I can trust Him with my life. So, after I've praised Him in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." A wonderful, wonderful Lord. Hallowed be Your name. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will" not mine, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So, do you want to continue to live your life stuck in a clash of wills? In a tug of war where you pull people away from you or you push people away from you? Or are you willing to say, "Not my will but Thine be done" and live it every single moment of the day? As you begin to pray the Lord's Prayer every day, suddenly you notice and you're out of sorts - I'm not happy, I'm irritable, I'm fearful, I'm afraid to step out because I've taken my eyes off the Lord and I've put them on me. I've taken my eyes off of what God can do - how I can give to the world instead of what I can get from the world - that is what Thy will be done means.
So, okay, once we've submitted and we've given God our life, and we say okay Lord, You can have Your way with me, how will we know? God will not be looking at you, giving you nods, and shaking His head. That doesn't happen, but you do have God's word. You do have Jesus Christ. And God does reveal His will to you through His word and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When I was a little girl, my dad taught me this prayer: "God, what are You up to today? I want to be a part of it. Amen." Do you want to say that prayer with me? Ready? "Good morning God, what are You up today? I want to be a part of it." Do you see? That's a really good prayer because it's not like I said, "Good morning, God, here's what I'm up to today. I want You to be a part of it." That's backwards. It's what are YOU up to? And so, just that simple, just that little prayer, asking Him. Then He will begin to reveal His will for you.
In Philippians 2:13, it says, "It is God at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purposes." That's God's will for you, to achieve His purposes in your life, moment by moment, day by day.
After I had graduated from college, I was working here at the Crystal Cathedral Ministries. I was single and beginning to be afraid I might just never be married. I was beginning to wonder if God would ever have somebody for me. So, I began to pray because I wanted to know what God's will was for me. One day I was up in the mountains, I was sitting on a rock, and I opened up my Bible to Psalm 37. When reading verse 4, it just jumped right out at me, and it said, "Commit your way to the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Whew. How many of you would like to have the desires of your heart granted? Well, you can. It's right there in the Bible. It's a promise. But there's a real strong caveat to it, which is "Commit your way to the Lord." When we've said "Thy will be done, I commit my life to You Lord, a hundred percent," then what happens is your desires become God's desires, meaning God's desires become your desires, they become one. I no longer have Sheila desires; I have God-desires in my heart. But that only comes because I've committed my way to Him.
So, do you think God is in the process of not granting His own desires? No. He wants to grant His desires, so my prayer at that point in my life was, "Okay, Lord, I commit my life to You. And if You want me to get married someday, so be it. Right now, I feel the desire to be married someday, to be a wife and a mother. But if that is not Your desire, I pray You'll take the desire from me so that in all circumstances of life I can be content." And that was my prayer.
It was several years later that I met Jim Coleman. He came to work here at our ministry. And he was a party boy. He was not considered a committed Christian. He had not committed his way to the Lord. In fact, when he first started working here, somebody called my dad and said, "Dr. Schuller, you know that man Jim Coleman that you just hired? I want you to know he's not a Christian."
My dad said, "Well, then, I can't think of a better place for a non-Christian than church, can you?" Go dad, whew!
So, Jim worked here and we worked together, side by side. We were just friends. Two years later, Jim gave his life to Jesus Christ, and he changed, and he grew before my eyes.
For four years, we'd been friends - two years with Jim as a non-Christian and two years with Jim as a Christian. And then one day he said something to me and I thought, wow, he's really become a man of God. Just then, I felt my heart go bump-bump, bump-bump. I thought uh oh, four years of working side by side and no bump-bump, bump-bumps. What kind of future is there in this? So, I prayed about it and I said, "Lord, if this is of You and only of You, then You will make this happen. And I won't have to do it. I won't have to be involved and do any kind of manipulations."
So Jim and I did start to date and then he began to think, "Should I propose to Sheila. Is Sheila the one? Is she supposed to be my wife?" And Jim did this, but he didn't tell me, and I'm so glad he didn't because I'm not so sure how I would have reacted. I'm glad I didn't know. But he wanted to know God's will, if I was the one for him. So he said, "Okay, Lord, if Sheila's the one, on Friday at noon, my friend Toby will come walking into my office." He didn't have an appointment with him or anything like that or any work that he was doing with Toby. But he had said, noon, Friday, Toby will come walking into my office.
How would you feel if that was your boyfriend? A little nervous?
Well, at noon on Friday, the handle of the door turned, the door opened, and Toby walked into Jim's office. Jim jumped out of his chair. He said, "Toby do you know what this means? Do you know what this means? I am eternally grateful for Toby!"
You know, I wouldn't have had my husband, my love, and I wouldn't have had my four wonderful sons, if it weren't for Toby, but God made His will known. He revealed His will.
When your will is God's will, or when God's will is your will, then all will be well. Let me say that one more time. When your will is God's will, or when God's will is your will, than all will be well.
So stand with me now. We're going to practice doing the Lord's Prayer. The first two steps of it, all right? I want you all to stand unless you're physically not able to. And now I want you to take your hands and put them up in the air. I always wonder why people are afraid to do this in church. I don't get it. I know we all wear deodorant. I just don't get it. Okay? So put your hands up in the air. This is a posture of praise. It doesn't have to be, but it is one. Lift your eyes up to the heavens and repeat after me with the same gusto that you did earlier:
Our Father who art in heaven (our Father who art in heaven) hallowed be Your name (hallowed be Your name). Thank You Lord for this beautiful day (thank You Lord for this beautiful day). Thank You Lord for loving me (Thank You Lord for loving me). Thank You Lord for being such a mighty, powerful God (Thank You Lord for being such a mighty, powerful God). Thank You Lord for being a part of my life (Thank You Lord for being a part of my life).
Okay, now take those hands; stay standing, that's praise. Okay? And we begin by praising God; we begin by focusing on Him. He's a God who can do anything. He is a God; He's a father who knows best. So we can trust Him. So take your hands now, because this is a posture of openness. It's not gripping onto our life, but its opening it up to the Lord in a posture of submission and repeat after me. Thy Kingdom come (Thy kingdom come) Thy will be done (Thy will be done) on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven). Continue to repeat after me. Lord, (Lord) I give permission to do Your will in my life (I give permission to do Your will in my life). I commit my life, my will to You (I commit my life, my will to You). As a result, I know (as a result, I know) that the desires in my heart (that the desires in my heart) are Your desires (are Your desires). I trust that You are working within me (I trust that You are working within me) to do Your will (to do Your will) and Your purpose (and Your purpose). Amen (amen).
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Today, I am continuing my message series, "Spiritual Sustainability: Living the Lord's Prayer." Last week, we explored first phrase of the Lord's Prayer, which is, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." That's "Praise." Praising God. Beginning your prayers and living your day by praying with God can do anything attitude. Focusing on whom it is we are praying to. And this whole idea of praise can transform your life.
The Lord's Prayer is the model prayer that Jesus taught us. Yet, we don't have to do it all the time - this is not something legalistic. But I have found that, when I start my day praying this way, it really, really has transformed my life.
So, I begin my day with praise, talking to my Heavenly Father, focusing on who that heavenly Father is. He is a Father who is all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful. He can do anything. He is a Father who knows best. And so, now that we have praised God, we can give Him permission to do with our lives as He will. I'm not going to give permission to just anybody. But I will give permission, I will submit my life, a hundred percent of my life, to my heavenly Father and only my heavenly Father.
So you see what Jesus was trying to teach us - it was to begin with praise. "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name." I thank You, God, for this. I praise You, God, for this. And that's how I begin my prayers and begin my day.
And then we continue, today, with the second part: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The kingdom of God, the kingdom that Jesus Christ came to establish, was a kingdom, a spiritual kingdom, a spiritual kingdom that is in heaven, and Jesus came to show us that that same kingdom could be yours and mine.
We can also live in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. When we say to Him, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," it is possible to live a heavenly life on earth.
We all know when we go through life, and we go through our day, that it's not always heavenly. It's full of conflict. There are those negative emotions - the fears, jealousies, anger - and I would dare say that the majority of that conflict that we encounter is what I would call a clashing of wills. A clashing of wills. I'm going to demonstrate that concept because I believe that it'll help you remember. Make it a little sticky. So, this week when you're finding yourself irritable, negative, fearful, resentful, maybe you'll remember Sheila and her rope. And you'll say, "Oh! This is just a clashing of the wills."
So, I asked my husband for a rope. If I had brought it, it would have been a little string, but this big rope is what my husband got for me. These conflict-of-wills demonstrations aren't necessarily in order. It's just the way I'm presenting them - those between me and me, or between you and you. You don't think you have internal tug-of-wars? Oh, yes, we do.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #1 - ME AND ME...
This one is a common one for me. Here I am. I wake up in the morning. I'm going to go to the gym and work out, do the whole thing - cardio and the weight resistance. I'm so tired. I didn't sleep well. I think I'll just stay in bed. No, I'm going to go and work out because you know that this is good for you. Oh but I'm so tired. I'll go tomorrow. Anybody do anything similar to that kind of tug of war or is it just me?
Here's another one. Today I'm going to eat healthy. No junk, no sugar, no refined carbs. Just fresh fruit - berries, egg white omelets. And then I look at that delicious scone as I'm standing in line in Starbucks. It calls my name. Oh, I can smell the cinnamon wafting right over here. I can go on my diet tomorrow, can't I? Sheila, you made a vow this morning. But it tastes so good. It's just a hundred calories. Not its not, its two hundred calories. Oh my gosh! I'm doing this, right? Whew. Now, did I make much progress? Did you see me move anywhere? Accomplish anything great? No, I was stuck. Stuck. Got nowhere because of a clashing of wills with myself. And that's part of the problem with clashing of wills - we don't make progress and we're stuck.
Let me show you another one. Those were humorous but this next one is something that we all do all the time, too.
We want to do something great for God. But what if I fail, and people see me, and I'm nothing but a big fat failure? What about the people who won't be helped? Other people out there can do it better. God doesn't need me. The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. All those negative emotions can get in the way of us being and doing, making progress. We remain stuck through a clashing of wills first within ourselves - me and me or you and you.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #2 - ME AND YOU...
To illustrate this next conflict of wills, I need a volunteer. Anybody willing to be a volunteer and come on up and help me? Come on down and take a hold of this big fat rope? All right, thank you. The other clashing of wills is between me and thee, between me and other people in my life. So I'm just going to pretend that you're my employer, okay? And I'm going to go to her and I'm going to say, I want a raise! I want a raise. I can't make ends meet. Will you give me a raise? Why not? Because of the economy? Now, you're supposed to pull. Okay, you're pulling me, oh she's not going to give me my raise. But I can't afford to work for you anymore.
Okay, has anybody had any kind of tug of wars like this with their employer? Or maybe it's a family member, all right. Now I'm going to pretend you're one of my sons, all right? Okay, Nicholas, I need you to clean your room. Will you clean your room? Tomorrow? That's too late. You need to clean it today. I can't even get in there to vacuum. After you study?
Okay, any of you have any conflicts, tug of wars with your family members? How about with spouses? There are people that are in relationships today who are stuck because of a clashing of wills. And today, through the Lord's Prayer, you're going to learn how to get unstuck.
CONFLICT OF WILLS #3 - ME AND GOD...
The bottom line is we also have a tug of war going on with God. I've asked Jim Penner to come up and be God for me. Okay, I wake up this morning, and I have this wonderful dream. God, will you bless my dream? This is my will. Aren't You going to bless my dream? It's for You. I want to do this wonderful thing for You. Come on, come on, come on. Boy, He's not budging. Come on God, I've asked You for permission. I've asked You for permission. Come on. He's not going to move an inch. What am I doing wrong? Okay, just forget You then and I'm just going to do it my own way. And I'm just going to be...oh my goodness...I'm all tied up in knots now. That's not working either. My life is a mess. Come on God, come on. I've been praying to You, I've been asking for You and nothing, nothing. Wait a minute: Thy kingdom, Thy will be done. Oh Thy will, not my will. Is that right? Oh. So I jumped the gun instead of having it be my idea, I should have stopped and asked You what Your idea was? Oh. So instead of asking You for permission, I'm supposed to give You permission. Okay. But what if I give You permission, what if I say to You what do You want me to do? And, what if You tell me do something I don't want to do? Oh, that's right, I've already praised You, and I know You're a good Heavenly Father, and a Heavenly Father always knows what's best. Okay. I will say because I've praised You, and I know You love me, I will pray this prayer: Thy will be done. Thy will be done.
Thank you Jim, thank you.
Okay, all those clashes of wills within me and me, all those clashes of wills between me and thee, and all those clashes of wills between me and my heavenly Father. And if it starts with praising Him, knowing what a great God He is, how loving He is, I can trust Him with my life. So, after I've praised Him in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." A wonderful, wonderful Lord. Hallowed be Your name. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will" not mine, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So, do you want to continue to live your life stuck in a clash of wills? In a tug of war where you pull people away from you or you push people away from you? Or are you willing to say, "Not my will but Thine be done" and live it every single moment of the day? As you begin to pray the Lord's Prayer every day, suddenly you notice and you're out of sorts - I'm not happy, I'm irritable, I'm fearful, I'm afraid to step out because I've taken my eyes off the Lord and I've put them on me. I've taken my eyes off of what God can do - how I can give to the world instead of what I can get from the world - that is what Thy will be done means.
So, okay, once we've submitted and we've given God our life, and we say okay Lord, You can have Your way with me, how will we know? God will not be looking at you, giving you nods, and shaking His head. That doesn't happen, but you do have God's word. You do have Jesus Christ. And God does reveal His will to you through His word and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When I was a little girl, my dad taught me this prayer: "God, what are You up to today? I want to be a part of it. Amen." Do you want to say that prayer with me? Ready? "Good morning God, what are You up today? I want to be a part of it." Do you see? That's a really good prayer because it's not like I said, "Good morning, God, here's what I'm up to today. I want You to be a part of it." That's backwards. It's what are YOU up to? And so, just that simple, just that little prayer, asking Him. Then He will begin to reveal His will for you.
In Philippians 2:13, it says, "It is God at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purposes." That's God's will for you, to achieve His purposes in your life, moment by moment, day by day.
After I had graduated from college, I was working here at the Crystal Cathedral Ministries. I was single and beginning to be afraid I might just never be married. I was beginning to wonder if God would ever have somebody for me. So, I began to pray because I wanted to know what God's will was for me. One day I was up in the mountains, I was sitting on a rock, and I opened up my Bible to Psalm 37. When reading verse 4, it just jumped right out at me, and it said, "Commit your way to the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Whew. How many of you would like to have the desires of your heart granted? Well, you can. It's right there in the Bible. It's a promise. But there's a real strong caveat to it, which is "Commit your way to the Lord." When we've said "Thy will be done, I commit my life to You Lord, a hundred percent," then what happens is your desires become God's desires, meaning God's desires become your desires, they become one. I no longer have Sheila desires; I have God-desires in my heart. But that only comes because I've committed my way to Him.
So, do you think God is in the process of not granting His own desires? No. He wants to grant His desires, so my prayer at that point in my life was, "Okay, Lord, I commit my life to You. And if You want me to get married someday, so be it. Right now, I feel the desire to be married someday, to be a wife and a mother. But if that is not Your desire, I pray You'll take the desire from me so that in all circumstances of life I can be content." And that was my prayer.
It was several years later that I met Jim Coleman. He came to work here at our ministry. And he was a party boy. He was not considered a committed Christian. He had not committed his way to the Lord. In fact, when he first started working here, somebody called my dad and said, "Dr. Schuller, you know that man Jim Coleman that you just hired? I want you to know he's not a Christian."
My dad said, "Well, then, I can't think of a better place for a non-Christian than church, can you?" Go dad, whew!
So, Jim worked here and we worked together, side by side. We were just friends. Two years later, Jim gave his life to Jesus Christ, and he changed, and he grew before my eyes.
For four years, we'd been friends - two years with Jim as a non-Christian and two years with Jim as a Christian. And then one day he said something to me and I thought, wow, he's really become a man of God. Just then, I felt my heart go bump-bump, bump-bump. I thought uh oh, four years of working side by side and no bump-bump, bump-bumps. What kind of future is there in this? So, I prayed about it and I said, "Lord, if this is of You and only of You, then You will make this happen. And I won't have to do it. I won't have to be involved and do any kind of manipulations."
So Jim and I did start to date and then he began to think, "Should I propose to Sheila. Is Sheila the one? Is she supposed to be my wife?" And Jim did this, but he didn't tell me, and I'm so glad he didn't because I'm not so sure how I would have reacted. I'm glad I didn't know. But he wanted to know God's will, if I was the one for him. So he said, "Okay, Lord, if Sheila's the one, on Friday at noon, my friend Toby will come walking into my office." He didn't have an appointment with him or anything like that or any work that he was doing with Toby. But he had said, noon, Friday, Toby will come walking into my office.
How would you feel if that was your boyfriend? A little nervous?
Well, at noon on Friday, the handle of the door turned, the door opened, and Toby walked into Jim's office. Jim jumped out of his chair. He said, "Toby do you know what this means? Do you know what this means? I am eternally grateful for Toby!"
You know, I wouldn't have had my husband, my love, and I wouldn't have had my four wonderful sons, if it weren't for Toby, but God made His will known. He revealed His will.
When your will is God's will, or when God's will is your will, then all will be well. Let me say that one more time. When your will is God's will, or when God's will is your will, than all will be well.
So stand with me now. We're going to practice doing the Lord's Prayer. The first two steps of it, all right? I want you all to stand unless you're physically not able to. And now I want you to take your hands and put them up in the air. I always wonder why people are afraid to do this in church. I don't get it. I know we all wear deodorant. I just don't get it. Okay? So put your hands up in the air. This is a posture of praise. It doesn't have to be, but it is one. Lift your eyes up to the heavens and repeat after me with the same gusto that you did earlier:
Our Father who art in heaven (our Father who art in heaven) hallowed be Your name (hallowed be Your name). Thank You Lord for this beautiful day (thank You Lord for this beautiful day). Thank You Lord for loving me (Thank You Lord for loving me). Thank You Lord for being such a mighty, powerful God (Thank You Lord for being such a mighty, powerful God). Thank You Lord for being a part of my life (Thank You Lord for being a part of my life).
Okay, now take those hands; stay standing, that's praise. Okay? And we begin by praising God; we begin by focusing on Him. He's a God who can do anything. He is a God; He's a father who knows best. So we can trust Him. So take your hands now, because this is a posture of openness. It's not gripping onto our life, but its opening it up to the Lord in a posture of submission and repeat after me. Thy Kingdom come (Thy kingdom come) Thy will be done (Thy will be done) on earth as it is in heaven (on earth as it is in heaven). Continue to repeat after me. Lord, (Lord) I give permission to do Your will in my life (I give permission to do Your will in my life). I commit my life, my will to You (I commit my life, my will to You). As a result, I know (as a result, I know) that the desires in my heart (that the desires in my heart) are Your desires (are Your desires). I trust that You are working within me (I trust that You are working within me) to do Your will (to do Your will) and Your purpose (and Your purpose). Amen (amen).
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