Return to Me

~ Jeremiah 24:7, "Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart."
I call you to return to Me today; but I call you to return with your whole heart.Whole-heartedly repent and return to Me, offer your whole heart to Me upon your return, hold nothing back. Do not allow the enemy to maintain a foothold in your heart upon your return to Me because He will always demand more and more. Allow Me to cut off that area of disobedience from the root so you may be whole and clean before Me.

My MRI appointment and Contemplative Prayer

   What I learned while I was in a MRI machine this morning

"Man, I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic."

"Oh boy, maybe I am claustrophobic."

   While I was in a MRI machine this morning at Smith Northview Hospital, with the MRI doing its best impression of a bad "European disco-tech drum machine" pulsating through my ears for over forty-five minutes; I was trying to be still before the Lord and listen to His voice. While I was in the MRI machine and trying my best not to move or look at the small space above my head, I spent my time being still before God. But I asked myself; did it take a hurt lower back, 45 days of denial, and then a MRI appointment 48 hours later, to get me to the place of being quiet and still before God… unfortunately it did. You see, I am a person who loves to move, to be on the move, and sitting still, unless it involves watching Jack Bauer on "24" or Liz Lemon on "30 Rock," it does not appeal to me to sit still. I remember reading an article by Jim Baker, the television evangelist who was sent to prison, that during his stay in jail he spent an entire day with his son on the prison grounds. Before leaving, Jim's son told him that he had just spent the best day with his dad. Jim realized that it took God putting him in prison, to see what was really important in his life.
   I realized that I had been neglecting being still before God. Being still before the Lord to me is different than my normal prayer time. It is being calm, reflective and quieting myself before the Lord and listening to what God wants to tell me. Sometimes God will speak to us when we are still before Him and at other times He will just surround us with His presence.

   "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

   What I felt God tell me when I was still before Him was that I cannot earn my way to heaven. I don't believe that one can enter into heaven by doing good things for the Lord, but I was, in my own way, still trying to earn my way to heaven. Salvation is a gift, a free gift. And due to the price of that gift, God's Son Jesus Christ dying on a cross for you and me, I cannot earn it. In fact, I can never begin to repay any part of it; it's too great a price. The price that was paid was an exchange of each person's sins for our salvation and restored relationship with our Father. To begin to think that we can ever earn that within ourselves is foolish and lessens the price that Jesus paid for us. I'm not saying that we need to stop doing well for others; I'm saying that salvation in and of itself is a free gift that must be willingly accepted by us, with no reservations and a thankful heart.

What I need to understand...

   What I need to understand is a forgiveness that transcends that time, understanding, and human reason. A forgiveness that was purchased through blood in the name of love for me. A love that requires my willingness to exchange my wrongs in exchange for One that committed no wrong but willingly gave up life and blood for a relationship with me. Such a love seems beyond human reasoning and intellect but is just as real and concrete as me. A love that harbors no resentment and keeps no record of wrongs suffered, of sins committed, but instead sees me pure, forgiven, and clothed in a wonderful place of grace and love. This is a love I commit to understand with my frail, human reasoning.
   Ephesians 1:7, He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
   1 Corinthians 13: 4-5, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Questions to ask yourself while reading the Bible during your devotion time...

Questions to ask yourself when reading the Bible during your devotion time

1. What is revealed about God in this story?

2. What is the main point of the story?

3. What character do you relate to the most in the story? Why?

4. In what ways do you relate to each of the different characters found in the Story; whether protagonists or antagonists?

5. What is God be speaking to you through this story? What is God trying to affirm in you about who you are as His child through this story?

6. What areas of life may God be calling you to move forward in?

7. What sin areas may there be in your life that God is using this story to cause you to confess?

8. How do you think this story might cause you to more fully experience the healing, freedom and life Jesus came to offer us?

9. What is the "call to action" for me or the church to accomplish?

Compiled from "A story approach to understanding scripture" by Mark Krick with some additional points added by me, Bill Meli.

My example after reading Hebrews 11:8-12:

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

 1. What is revealed about God in this story? Sometimes God calls us by faith, to do something, or to go somewhere, that we don't fully understand in the beginning. Walking by faith in the land of obedience takes faith and determination.

2. What is the main point of the story? God calls us to do impossible things that can only be accomplished by faith and trust in God.

3. What character do you relate to the most in the story? Why? Sarah, she held onto God's promises when it looked like all hope was gone.

4. In what ways do you relate to each of the different characters found in the Story; whether protagonists or antagonists? Sarah realized that God did not give up on her even when the world did and she impacted future generations!

5. What is God be speaking to you through this story? What is God trying to affirm in you about who you are as His child through this story? God calls us to obey and to "go" without giving us the whole picture. God wants me to develop my "faith muscles" and to get to the point where I don't care where He takes me as long as He is the one guiding me there.

6. What areas of life may God be calling you to move forward in? God is faithful to the promises He has given my family. I need specific promises from God, from the Bible, that I need to believe God for. Jesus asked God to answer specific prayer requests when He was here on earth; I need to be more specific as well.

7. What sin areas may there be in your life that God is using this story to cause you to confess? I need to move in instant obedience and not allow a debate in my mind. God knows more than I do and His commands are for my benefit. God has the benefit of seeing my entire life in one thought so His commands are for my benefit.

8. How do you think this story might cause you to more fully experience the healing, freedom and life Jesus came to offer us? God is taking me and my family to a land of greater promise and my obedience will have results on generations to come.

9. What is the "call to action" for me or the church to accomplish? This experience I am going through is temporal. Follow God through instant obedience even when I can't see the big picture.

 What are some other questions do you ask yourself after reading the Bible?

Who is your Delilah?

After feeling prompted to read the story of Samson from the Bible recently, "Lord, you mean the guy with really long hair?" I was surprised how much I received from the short story after reading it a couple of times.


The story of Samson and Delilah

Samson dates a girl named Delilah whose name means feeble. Anytime a name is mentioned in the Bible, its meaning relates to the person's character. In this instance, Delilah means feeble which means someone who is morally weak. We could probably stop here, "Don't date or associate with anyone who is morally weak" but we would miss a great story.

So, everyone knows that Samson is the strongest man around, probably had to do with the fact that he killed a thousand men with a donkey's jawbone earlier in the story. So, a group of men bribe Delilah with lots of cash to find out where Samson's strength comes from so she keeps pestering and pestering Samson to tell her his secret; and so the term "Gold Digger" is created for the first time. The first time, Samson tells Delilah that if he is tied up with fresh bowstrings he will lost his strength. So, Delilah waits for Samson to fall asleep, ties him up, allows the Philistines, Samson's enemies, into her house, wakes Samson up and discovers that Samson is lying to her, after Samson easily breaks the bowstrings. This goes on two more times. What is Samson thinking? He wakes up on three separate occasions to realize that his girlfriend wants him dragged off to jail. I think Samson would be a good candidate for The Bachelor.

Finally, in Judges 15 - 16 Then she (Delilah) said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies." She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it.

Samson finally tells her the truth, he gets his strength from his hair which has never been cut, so Delilah cuts his hair when he falls asleep, he loses his strength, and he is dragged away by his enemies to be tortured and imprisoned; what a caring and thoughtful girlfriend. Samson is eventually imprisoned, his eyes gouged out, and is made fun of of in front of his enemies.

So, "Who or what is your Delilah?" What, or who, in your life, is…

• Taking away your strength little by little?

• Holding you back from your destiny and life's vision?

• What are you allowing in your life that you are sick to death of that you are refusing to let go of?

• What are you putting up with today that one or two years ago you would have dismissed in your life?

What are the consequences of putting up with a Delilah in your life…

• The eventual loss of your vision and life's calling (Samson was called from birth to a particular task but Delilah derailed his life's vision and he paid for it with his eyesight and his life).

• You will eventually be worn down to the point of putting up with things you would normally not put up with (Samson allowed Delilah to try to tie him up three times before he told her his secret).

o Toxic friendships and relationships will do that to you.

What to do, what to do…Get rid of those things in your life, those habits, or those toxic relationships that are wearing you down little by little. You know you need to and your life will be so much better once you do!

His name is Wonderful...

And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" or, He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.*" Judges 13:18.


Jesus’ name is beyond our comprehension…

Jesus’ name is wonderful…

Jesus’ name is LOVE…

I am becoming More and more Amazed that Jesus invites us into such an intimate relationship with His Father. The love and pride that Jesus has when He introduces us to the Father when we come into Relationship with God for the first time or after we have strayed and returned …”This is My brother, this is My sister, “Father, this is your daughter, this is your son…””

Jesus' name is love because He is LOVE.
"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! Matthew 8:12-13.