Where Are You?

SUNDAY SUPPLICATIONS

The kiss of the Sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, You are nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth!

Hello, my dear family, friends and followers,

I am trusting that you are well and have emerged from the Covid-19/Lock-down drama with your faith intact.

I have a question for you dear ones.

Where are you?

Now before I unpack what it I’d like to say, to encourage you on your spiritual journey, let me ask whether this question raises any recognition bells in your mind. I’ll give you a moment to think.

Finished?

Now, given that I’m speaking into the context of those who love God and are followers of Christ, and trusting that you are familiar with your Bible, I believe you will recognise that this is a question God had asked Adam and Eve, in the book of Genesis (see Genesis 3:9).

Where are you?

Why did he ask this?

Because when he came into the Garden of Eden to fellowship with them (as was his usual custom), on this particular occasion, they were nowhere to be seen.

Why?

Because Adam and Eve had hidden themselves away. They were ashamed to meet with God because they had disobeyed his command and as a result of their disobedience they became aware of themselves in a negative way. They were naked and ashamed. But hang on, they had always been naked. Previously they’d not been ashamed. So what had suddenly made the difference?

Satan. The Devil. Mr Diablo. The Enemy of our souls!

He had made the difference. And the difference he brought into Adam and Eve’s lives was not positive. It was not life-enhancing. In fact, it brought a curse upon all humanity.

Satan had lied. He’d manipulated the truth. He’d implied by his words that perhaps God had misrepresented facts and was withholding something desirable from Adam and Eve. He suggested they could be their own gods, operate in their own wisdom, experience life on their own terms. And all Eve had to do to make this happen was eat of the forbidden fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So she did. And the rest as they say, is history!

Before this event took place, it was Adam and Eve’s practice to fellowship with God daily. After the event however, they hid from His presence. They felt naked and exposed and no longer saw themselves as worthy.

Now when God called and asked “where are you?” do you think he didn’t know the answer to his question? Do you think that the One who is omniscient, didn’t know what had happened and why his two friends, his son and daughter had not kept their fellowship appointment as usual?

Of course he did!

He asked because he wanted them to own up to what they had done. He wanted them to be honest.

Behold You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

(Psalm 51:6)

He asked because he wanted them to know that just because they had sinned, he did not love them any less than before they had sinned. He still wanted to fellowship with them. He asked because he wanted them to realise that disobedience brings consequences. He wanted them to understand and learn that the Enemy is a deceiver, who will manipulate you into thinking and doing something contrary to God’s will, contrary to whom God called and made you to be. He expected them to recognise and admit their error and take responsibility for their actions.

Do you know that God still desires open and honest fellowship with you today?

Dear friends:

• if you have cooled somewhat in your relationship with him;
• if you have accepted the lies of the Enemy, and doubted God’s goodness, or faithfulness, or ability to help and deliver you;
• if you feel spiritually naked, exposed and ashamed because of life experiences and your responses to them;
• if your choices have led you out of God’s perfect will so that you feel uncomfortable in, or dismissive of, God’s holy presence;
• if you feel complacent about your commitment to him;
• if you feel discouraged or bewildered by the disconnect between God’s assurances of blessing in His Word and the contrary evidence of your personal life…

Are you aware that God is reaching out and calling to you? Can you hear your heavenly father asking: where are you?

Whether saint or sinner – God loves you! He wants to associate with you. He wants to fellowship with you. He wants to protect you. But he will not force you to come to him!

Dear friend, if your fellowship with God through prayer, reading His Word and worship has deteriorated, is no longer a priority, or is non-existent, I’d like to encourage you today, to draw close to him. The Bible assures us that when we do so, he will reciprocate.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

(James 4:8)

No matter how worldly-wise you may believe yourself to be, no matter how ‘got-my-streetwise-head-screwed-on-tight’ you may judge yourself to be, no matter how ‘self-sufficient’ you may feel yourself to be, you are not, and never will be, in complete control of your life. The past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic has been proof of that!

And so, if you don’t want to continue through life without the benefit of the One who is in control, taking care of you… looking out for you… helping and guiding you… then you need to return to the garden of fellowship. You need to return to the terrain of obedience. You need to return to the land of loving submission to God’s will.

Can you hear God’s loving enquiry to you today?

Where are you?

If you can hear him calling, what’s your response?

Dear friend (I speak to both saint and sinner), if you can hear his voice, don’t ignore and don’t harden your heart. Don’t wait to get your life ‘together’, or for a more convenient time. You never know what’s around the corner of life!

So, act today!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Effectual, fervent prayer avails much!

PS: Have you put your spiritual armour on today?

Prayer Focus:

Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are discouraged, or who have become a casualty of the serpent’s bite of deception and wandered away from God’s perspective.

PRAYER:

Father God,

You are an amazing God! What a privilege it is to be invited into your holy presence and fellowship with you. Thank you for your steadfast, unconditional love and acceptance. Forgive us for our disobedience, rebellion and ignorance.

In accordance with Ephesians 6:18 we lift up to you every member in the body of Christ, who is struggling in their relationship with you. We pray for those who have been deceived by the Enemy and are reaping the consequences of their actions. We apply the protective covering of the blood of Jesus to their lives, homes and loved ones and ask that you show mercy to them.

We pray for those who have been caught up in the busyness of life, or whose love for you has waned and ask that you kindle within their hearts a deeper love and passionate devotion for you. We pray for those whom the Enemy has targeted with lies and deception. Open their eyes to the truth Father God and deliver them from evil.

Jesus, you said that your sheep hear your voice and follow you. We therefore ask that your voice be raised within our consciences above the subversive voices of our social culture and our self-will. May your voice stir faith in our hearts and bring lasting assurance and hope. May your voice speak wisdom and guidance into our lives.

Holy Spirit, help us to tend to our gardens of fellowship with diligence.  Help us to be vigilant against the wiles of the devil who seeks to undermine our confidence in, and relationship with, God. Help us to love our Heavenly Father the way he deserves, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

We ask this in the mighty matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

© Carol Hind

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Let’s pray for ourselves and for each other. Let’s obey God’s command to watch and pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)

Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to join this praying community.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a wonderful and victorious week!

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To read the rest of this post please visit HERE

Have a blessed week!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

The effectual, fervent prayer avails much!

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The call to prayer, the call to seek God’s urgent and merciful intervention, is sorely needed. Send Jesus your knee-mail today!

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Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 3)

 

 Hello lovely readers,

As I begin to type this post, I have no idea where my thoughts, or where the Holy Spirit will lead me. When I first planned and made notes for this theme, it looked very different and I had not intended for it to be a series, so bear with me, as together we see how the Lord will lead.

If you have not read parts 1 and 2 and you would like to, please click on the following links:

Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 1)

Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 2)

 

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Last week I ended my post with the following statement:

“When we do not know, or fail to understand, or refuse to submit to God’s will, the end result is unfulfilled potential.”

I had just spoken about the parable of the talents and how the man who received one talent had:

1. Buried his God-given resource, undermining his future potential and
2. Had a wrong perception of the Lord.

Perhaps the difference between this man who buried his talent and the other two who maximised their potential, was relationship.

The two who went out and increased what they were given, showed that they understood their master’s requirements. All three men were given the means and the same amount of time in which to develop and increase what they’d been given. Yet one failed. Why? What made the difference?

I believe it was a failure to discern the master’s will. And this failure revealed an ignorance about the master.

Why the failure? Why the ignorance?

I put it down to neglect and complacency. Neglecting to fellowship with God, neglecting to understand how the Kingdom of God operated and complacency regarding his role as a steward.

Now when a job applicant applies for a position and is fortunate enough to secure an interview, if that applicant is wise, he or she will research the company which they are hoping to join. It demonstrates interest to the potential employer but also reveals to the applicant the company’s ethos, history, aims and objectives. The person specification and job description reveals the employer’s will.

It is the same with the Kingdom of God. The Bible reveals God’s ethos. It reveals the person specification for members of the Body of Christ. It reveals God’s will. However, only the wise, only the diligent, will have the ability to discern and fulfil it.

When Jesus shared this parable, he mentioned that the story he told was a picture of the Kingdom of heaven. I think this parable accurately reflects how many members of the Body of Christ behave today. Whilst some will diligently seek to fulfil Father-God’s will, others will accept the costly gifts of salvation yet fail to use their God-given resources and opportunities to glorify him.

When we look at this parable we can see that the onus is upon us to use the resources we’ve been given and, as we are diligent, our capacity to know more about God, about who we are in Christ, about the kingdom of heaven of which we have become citizens and in which we are co-labourers, increases.

When we submit to the will of God, our capacity to please him, to be transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ and to work the works of God increases. As Daniel says:

…the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.

(Daniel 11:32b NKJV)

Dear reader, relationship is a vital key to knowing God and knowing his will. And that relationship has to be genuine, ongoing and meaningful.

In Matthew 25:16 we learn that the servant with the 5 talents traded with them. A relationship with God requires the trading of your time (the most valuable commodity you can offer), in order to enjoy his presence. And whenever you spend time in God’s Word, you are trading that time for exposure to the mind-set of God. You are placing yourself in a position to receive his revelations, his directions, or his correction. You are trading that time to increase your knowledge of God. Whether engaged in prayer, in worship, in meditation, in silence, it is time well spent and the Bible tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek him.

Do you value what you’ve been given?

Do you appreciate the fact that we’ve been given complete access to God’s holy presence and unlimited resources?

The servant with the one talent did not appreciate what he’d been given. He buried it in the ground. Can you imagine that? No doubt it was tucked away in the earth out of sight whilst he went about his day-to-day life and it was only retrieved when he was called to give an account.

When you consider this parable, there is information here that gives another insight into God’s will. He wants us as his servants to be wise stewards of all that he entrusts into our hands. If this man had only deposited what he’d been given, so that it earned interest, he would not have been so severely punished.

The Word of God is replete with clues as to God’s will. From Genesis to Revelation we see a consistent pattern unfolding.

God wants to fellowship with his people. God wants to bless them. He wants to enter into a covenant relationship with them. But he also wants his people to love him, serve him, honour him, glorify him.

Just as he did with the Children of Israel, He wants to show us off to the world around us. He wants them to be able to look at us and examine our lives and witness how he provides and protects and promotes us. He wants them to recognise that we are children of the Living God.

Dear reader, God’s will is to love you, to shower you with the benefits of salvation, with the blessings of his kingdom. His will is for you to appreciate his goodness, to thank him for his mercies.

These are just the basics. There is so much more. Will you be a diligent servant or a complacent member of Christ’s body?

The choice is yours!

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

As I wrote this post I felt a burden for the Body of Christ to wake up, to recognise we’ve been given a privileged position and not take it for granted, so let’s pray for ourselves and for our church communities.

And as usual, before going into battle please protect yourselves by putting on your spiritual armour.

 

Almighty God,

I come boldly into your throne room and thank you for the privilege of being able to spend time in your presence. I want to thank you for granting me all things that pertain to life and godliness. I want to thank you for your unconditional, everlasting and extravagant love and I want to thank you for your good, acceptable and perfect will for my life.

Father God, I want to honour you. I want to love you with my whole heart. I ask that you make my thoughts and inclinations agreeable with your will. I choose not to conform to the ways of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. May your perfect will be accomplished within and through my life.

Lord God, I bring to your remembrance those of my brothers and sisters in Christ, who are represented amongst my blog followers and readers, and those who are members of the Body of Christ in the various church communities or fellowships that we attend. I ask that just as an eagle stirs up her young in their nest, so you will stir us up out of our nests of complacency. Help us to pay heed to your warning to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. Father God, I ask that you deliver us from the temptation to be preoccupied with our problems and not discern, or even care about those around us who are lost, who are grieving, who are without hope in this world.

Touch our hearts afresh. Motivate us to seek your face like never before. Enlighten the eyes of our understanding, so that we can discern your will. Empower us as individuals and corporately as a people, so that we walk in conformity with your will, so that we can effectively implement it.

I ask this in the name of your precious son Jesus. Amen.

© Carol Hind

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a blessed week!

 

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