FRESH START TODAY – God, May your will be done! (Blog 49) August 14, 2012 by Lenni Nordloh Matthew 26:36-42, Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." NIV What is the message that Jesus shared with the world that is so very important? Jesus was troubled and He knew that prayer was needed at this time. He wanted to be close to the Father and He knew what was about to happen to Him. Was He afraid? He was sorrowful, troubled, but I do not believe He was afraid. His sorrow was deep to the point of death. He was human, but fully God. He cried out “God, not my will, but your will be done!” This cry was for men, women and children! He loves us! Jesus began the first steps towards giving humanity His grace and redemption. He would be crossing the barrier caused by human sin to bridge the gap between God and man. He would become the sin sacrifice once for all sin! Do you suppose the Father may have given Jesus the peace and strength that He needed to follow through with doing the will of God through time He spent in prayer? Why was Jesus silent and willing to allow humanity to torture Him? The strength of the powerful God enabled our Lord to endure more than any human being could endure and still live. He gave up His life willingly. Man did not kill Him! Man’s sin killed Him! Jesus asked an important question of Peter when He asked “could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” Could we watch and pray to God for one hour today? There is a spiritual benefit to praying this way and it is to keep us from falling into temptation. We gain the peace and strength that Jesus received. We begin to grasp and understand the will of God! There may have been a time that you were too frightened to surrender to God’s will and not your own. You will never be asked to sacrifice your life for the sins of the world. The one pure Lamb of God has already done that. You may be asked to leave your family to serve where God is working. You may be asked to teach a Bible Study Class when you have never done it before or never wanted to do something like this due to your shyness. You may not speak clearly, but the Holy Spirit through you can and will. Have you said things backwards in a conversation? Well, a confession is in order from my heart to yours, just recently, when I began to pray I started by saying “God, not your will, but mine”! God knew what my heart was really feeling, so He allowed me to say it out loud! The shock of what I said surprised me! This has stayed with me for several days and I keep asking myself “Am I truly wanting God’s will or my own?” Jesus said the “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!” Do we really trust the heart of God? Do we understand that He desires the best for us, or do we think He just wants to punish us? Did Jesus really die for your sin? Jesus walked the path to the cross, so that we would see His love for us. Has He changed His mind? Can you say when you spend that hour in prayer that you see the love of Jesus penetrating your heart with His peace, strength and love? Maybe we can learn to pray “Not my will be done, but yours, God”. Do not be afraid, because a blessing is waiting to be revealed to you.

FRESH START TODAY - Know the wisdom of God (Blog 48)

FRESH START TODAY – Wisdom that comes from God – August 8, 2012 by Lenni Nordloh Proverbs 2:6-11, For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair — every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. NIV Proverbs is the book that was written by king Solomon who desired and asked for wisdom above anything else in prayer to God. He wanted the wisdom to be to rule God’s people justly and rightly. God gave him what he asked for and more. Was Solomon so different than the rest of humanity? Do we have the availability to ask God for the same thing? Wisdom? What a wonderful and beautiful gift. We could ask God for the wisdom to understand His grace that has been given to believers through Jesus Christ our Lord. He would open the doors to understanding, because this would please the Lord. People are so caught up with their daily lives that they do not stop to ask for wisdom for the day. A fresh start of wisdom for every day would be a blessing! We have decisions to make and actions to take, so why not include the Lord in our daily activity? What a blessing to acknowledge and surrender to the Holy Spirit to assist us in our every move during the day. To know that we have invited the Lord to be with us could make us direct our thoughts and actions in a different light. Could it not? We sometimes desire to help change others, but do you suppose the Lord may want us to be silent and allow the Holy Spirit to change others that need changing? A spiritual sister once said that we if we all prayed blessings of wisdom on our enemies as well as those that we love we would witness the activity of the Holy Spirit. When we do this it seems the burden drops off our shoulders and drop on to Jesus, giving Him the rains to choose the blessings. Do you suppose that He has more experience in changing a heart than we might know? God is a big boy and He can handle humanity much better than we do. He may choose to work through us, but we must have a humble heart of love for the Holy Spirit to be able to touch another heart. It may be like watching a clear river flow down a mountain ravine that does not have branches or large rocks to stop the flow. We can become stiff necked (the large branches) and judgmental (the large rocks). We bow or bend like a large branch in the water. This hinders the direct flow and the river has to go around us in order to get where it needs to travel. The branch may actually cause muddy waters if it stays stiff necked. The flow of the Holy Spirit is amazing to watch when God is working in the heart of a person. It takes time to build the character of Jesus Christ in the heart of any person due to our humanity and sinful nature. There may be times when we have to let go and let God do what He wants to do through our lives. God hates the proud, but lifts up those that are humble. (I Peter 5:6) He is blessed when we have total faith in His wisdom. He knows what is best. The scriptures tell us today that when we ask for wisdom we will know what is just, fair and right and it will be pleasant to our souls. God’s discernment through the power of the Holy Spirit will protect us and guard our hearts. Sometimes our prayers need to be “Lord help change me!”