Knowing Who He Is

“We weren't meant to be somebody--we were meant to know Somebody." John Piper

I absolutely love this quote by John Piper and if you read it and it makes you upset, you are too full of self. Is he saying that we are a nobody? No. He is simply pointing out how important it is that we are to be constantly seeking after God. God created us for His pure enjoyment. Deuteronomy 4:24 says "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Consider the background for this particular verse. The children of Israel had always had a problem with allowing false religions to creep into their camp. Weak-minded individuals were ofter persuaded by women. One example was Solomon. King Solomon was seduced by foreign women to sway him from worshiping God which led him to worship their false gods.

"For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father." 1 Kings 11:4

If God is a jealous God, He requires our complete devotion. How can we give Him our complete devotion with everything else going on? Before I give examples, be mindful that God commands us to put Him first. We are to put Him above our spouses, children, work, materialistic belongings, play, and most importantly, ourselves. He sounds selfish, doesn't He? I don't mind at all and neither should you. God is so great and so full of love and grace, that it should be nothing short of wise to put Him above everything else in our lives. There's reward in doing so. Psalm 37:3-6 says, 

"Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday." 

If we put Him first, which requires trusting in Him, we are guaranteed His faithfulness. He will fulfill the desires of our hearts if we put Him first. Unfortunately, this world that we live in keeps on getting busier and busier. So many times we find ourselves caught up in our "To Do" lists and we find it near impossible to find time to even involve Him in our daily decisions, let alone putting Him above everything that goes on. 

God created us for the very purpose of finding Him. He loves you and He loves me. He wants us to talk to Him and for Him to be able to talk to us. What good and faithful father doesn't want to spend time with his son or daughter? He took precious time to mold you into His likeness. He loved you and I enough to even consider creating us when He didn't have to. So, with that being said, if you hear a tiny voice telling how useless you are in life, how unwanted you are by others, how ineffective you are to the Kingdom of God, please know that that's the devil's voice. God doesn't want us to feel bad about ourselves. He wants us to be happy and full of joy. He loves to see us smile, laugh, and be kind to others. Stop worrying about who are you going to be in this life and start focusing on who God is in your life. Knowing who He is, is the beginning of a life full of promise and hope. Take focus off of self and let God take over.

 Tips on how to "Know Him"

Read your Bible.

Pray daily and on purpose.

Seek others who desire Him for gain of knowledge of who He is. 

Is Satan Sifting You?

How do you know if Satan is sifting you? What do I mean by sifting? In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus says:

"And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

After reading these verses, there are 3 important things to point out. 

1. If you are a disciple (follower) of Christ, Satan will ask to sift you. What's even more mind-blowing, is that Satan will call you by name in front of God. He will ask specifically for Heather Hall and if you are a child of God, he will ask for you by name, too. Rest assured, Satan has to ask for permission from God before he is able to do anything. Remember Satan asking God for permission to take everything away from Job in chapter 1 and 2? Whether he likes it or not, he HAS to ask for permission to do anything. Why? God is God. He is Master over Satan and Satan knows it so well, that he makes a trip to God's throne to get permission to do anything. It should bring us joy knowing that God is still and always will be in control.

2. Jesus prays for you and I. Odd to think about it, isn't it? Shouldn't we be the only ones praying to God, especially since Jesus and God are One in the same? According to the above verse, Jesus prays to His Father, God, asking that God would keep Simon Peter's faith from failing. Don't doubt for one second, that Jesus doesn't pray for you either. He loves you so much that he brings your name to His lips and lifts you to God. Sounds beautiful, doesn't it? Can you imagine your name being spoken in Heaven right now as you read this? Imagine it this way:

* It is gloriously sunny, children are running around playing and laughing, rivers are flowing, Angels are singing and Jesus turns to His Father and says: "Father, I bring ______ to You. Father, I pray that You will give ______ strength and I ask that You keep ______'s faith from failing as we know that Satan is asking to sift _____. May You be glorified. Amen." 

3. Because Jesus knew that Simon Peter would deny Him thrice, before Simon even denied Him, Jesus gives him advice: "And when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Jesus knew that Peter would weep bitterly and repent of what he had done. He also knew that after his repentance, it would make him a stronger disciple. Isn't that encouraging to us? How many times have you been through trial after trial only to come out more on fire than ever? Same thing applied to Simon after. Not once is it recorded after his repentance did he deny Christ again. In fact, he was so bold and brazen about his devotion to Christ, that he was crucified (upside down) for Christ because he wouldn't deny Him again. 

Do you feel like you've been sifted? Good news! You officially belong to God and His Kingdom! Keep heart and don't lose faith. No matter what Satan asks to do to us, Jesus will always pray for us, asking His Father to uphold us. Keep heart, we will all be going Home soon!

Friendship Evangelism

Friendship Evangelism is one of many approaches to witnessing to others about Christ. This approach aims to befriend someone first and then slowly working your way to telling them about Christ. While this approach seems innocent in and of itself, in reality, it doesn't make sense and I'll show you how.

One of the main problems with Friendship Evangelism, if not thee main problem, is timing. Matthew 24:36 says, "But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." If we wait around trying to make a friend out of that person we are trying to reach, how do we know if Christ doesn't come back before then? What if that person has an accident and dies? It just doesn't make sense.

Another problem with this approach is assuming a friendship. If you try your hardest to befriend someone and they have no desire to be your friend, you have wasted all that time and energy.

What is the best way to witness to others? First and foremost, spend time in prayer asking for God to give you an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone. Sometimes, it's easy to just start talking to someone but if we don't seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, it could end up in a mess. Besides, why would you not ask for guidance when trying to lead someone to the Lord? Secondly, spend time in the scriptures so you will be ready to answer questions that someone might have about God. I Peter 3:15 says, ^"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." Lastly, JUMP! After you spend time in prayer and in God's Word, go out there and get busy! You will be nervous, but rest assured, if the Holy Spirit resides in you, you will have a boldness that only comes from Heaven above. Below are some scriptures to help you when sharing the Gospel:

"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Finally, why should you witness? Charles Spurgeon said it best when he said, "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter." Is he saying that we need to go to a foreign country, as a missionary, on a mission trip? No. From the biblical point-of-view, if we are His, our primary responsibility is to tell others about Christ. Below are some verses to read and keep in your heart.

"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:15-16
  
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
  
There are tons of scripture to help you in your earthly duty as a Christian. We are called to share the hope we have with the lost for the sake of trying to keep them from going to a devil's Hell. Whether they accept what you say or not, your effort will be rewarded in Heaven. I have seen people get spit on, abused, and slandered for sharing the cross with the lost. Why? Satan is alive and well. This is his territory. This earth belongs to him and God has given it to him to roam about, but praise God, we don't reside here permanently. Share this good news with a stranger or loved one before it's too late, beloved. May the Holy Spirit give you peace on your journey.   

Footnotes:

Songs of Encouragement

I am a big fan of listening to Christian music and not just because of the children, but because it gives me hope, peace, and reminders of God's promises. Below is a list of songs that I have listened to over the years and songs from today's music.

"Place in this World" -Michael W. Smith
"God is in Control" -Twila Paris
"Awesome God" -Rich Mullins
"On My Knees" -Jaci Velasquez
"I Will Be Here" -Steven Curtis Chapman
"Free" -Ginny Owens
"Redeemer" -Nicole C. Mullen
"Take You Back" -Jeremy Camp
"He Will Carry You" -Mark Schultz
"Cry Out to Jesus" -Third Day
"Steady My Heart" -Kari Jobe
"No Sweeter Name" -Kari Jobe
"O the Blood" -Kari Jobe


These are just a FEW of my favorite songs and if you have time, I hope you take time to listen and be encouraged. Find a good Christian station in your area and keep it on in your car or take a trip to LifeWay and buy a couple of cds. We can worship in numerous ways, but there's something about singing unto the Lord that just keeps your mind and heart focused on God. 

For the first time ever, I had the beautiful opportunity to sing with my husband in church on Easter night this year. I am one of those "shower singers" so you could probably imagine how nervous I was when my husband, who happens to have a GORGEOUS voice, asked me to sing with him that night! We sung the ole gospel song "He's alive! He's alive! No death could not hold Him" and honestly, because God showed up, our voices synchronized so beautifully together. I was too nervous to look at the crowd and didn't want to look at him for fear of laughing (LOL) so I looked at the walls and he looked at me. That night and that song had given me an opportunity to worship the Lord in a way that I wasn't used to and to be able to do it with my husband, was the most beautiful experience ever. If you don't feel comfortable singing in public, it's okay. Sing a song unto the Lord in your quiet time with Him. Drown yourself in His presence and lose yourself in worship. I promise, you won't regret it.