Seek Him Where He Lives

At a conference over Labor Day we heard a word that greatly impacted us, bringing us a deeper sense of awareness of the Presence of the Lord. It was not part of the teacher's message, more of a casual remark as he was winding up after his message. What he said was "Don't focus on externals - focus on the internal."

I thought of how I get all caught up in circumstances and situations, news and reports, television and movies, and everything else that is external to me - bills, books, videos, etc. I let those things determine how I feel.

The speaker didn't say we have to give these things up, so it's not about asceticism. It's about replacing one thing with another. If I put my effort into ignoring external things, I'd really be focusing on them, but if I instead put my attention somewhere else then I displace the negative influence with the positive one.

Jesus, being sovereign, rules and reigns over all the earth, and He isn't worried about these situations. God never has a bad day so why should we? We, being the temple of the Holy Spirit, ought to be more mindful of His activity within us.

What has worry ever accomplished? Personally, it's only made me feel worse than I did when I woke up, and I'm quite sure it never changed the situation I worried about. (Of course, I did get to experience the relief that comes when I found out that the situation was never as bad as I thought it would be!)

I've been thinking on the fact that all the symbols of the Holy Spirit are things that move - wind, fire, rain, and so forth. He is constantly moving - we're just not aware of it. If we will focus more on Him where He lives - in our inner beings - we'll not only experience more of His Presence but also be more aligned with His purposes in the earth. Besides, we'll wake up feeling a lot better.

I think this is what it means to be in the world but not of it. We can't avoid contact with the world, we're in it face first from morning to night. But we don't have to make it the be-all and the end-all of existence. Jesus is the One we love and adore; we can become more aware of Him and His beauty by focusing on Him instead of everything else under the sun.

Very often we live under misconceptions. We pray "Holy Spirit, come." Now, that's a good prayer, but we need to be vitally aware that He's already here. He's not going to come through the roof - He's going to rise up from within us, because He has made us His habitation in the earth.

I'm still processing the significance of this and learning to walk in it. It's a wonderful adventure and a liberating thing to become disconnected from external things - even while in the midst of them - and become more focused and attached to the Source of true life. It doesn't cost anything and I can do it anytime and all the time. That's just like something God would come up with.

In The Beginning ...

I was raised in a wonderful home, with parents who loved me and provided the best for me and my older brother. I have only fond memories of my childhood.

When I met my future wife, it was love at first sight. She brought two wonderful sons to the marriage, and we had a little girl.

Our daughter was in trouble from the beginning, with a near fatal condition that required emergency surgery when she was only six days old. My whole world was up in the air and I thought it would crash all around me into millions of little pieces. Nothing I had ever wanted in life mattered any more, only one thing - that she could live and not die.

I prayed for the first time in my life the night before the surgery. There wasn't anything we wanted more than the life of that little girl. Actually, I didn't know how to pray - I just sat before God with the desperation of my heart lifted up to Him. Pat knew the Lord's prayer, and said that.

Our daughter was miraculously healed; when the doctor opened her up the next day, he found that the situation had dramatically changed overnight and radical surgery was not required. He called it a miracle and wrote it up in medical journals. She was born November 11 and we finally brought her home on New Year's Day.

We knew then that God answered desperate prayer and intervened in human affairs. We began to follow Him as best we knew how, which wasn't very good, but God knew our hearts. We didn't equate Jesus with God; we had heard a Gospel invitation at a concert, but rejected it as being too - I don't know, it was too much of something and not enough of something else. I guess it wasn't intellectual enough, it seemed more like an emotional appeal. The music at the concert was very much to my liking, and the preaching by the host pastor was about how God had healed his child. I'm sure a seed was planted that night, even against my best efforts to reject it. God's Word did not return to Him void.

A year and a half later, after getting in bed for the night, I heard the name of Jesus spoken in my ear three times. When I woke up, I was living in the midst of a seeming cloud of light, love and peace. I didn't know what it was, although I felt sure that if Jesus were real, this is what He'd be like.

Sitting at my desk at work later that morning, I heard Him speak again saying "I am Jesus." The Lord had sovereignly invaded my life. I wasn' looking for that, I didn't ask for that, but I'm so glad that God knew what I really needed and wanted.

That night I told my wife "Let me tell you what happened to me today." She answered "No honey, let me tell you what happened to me. Jesus came into my heart today."

We were both touched by the Good Sheperd's hand that night as we slept. We were both born again the same night, in the same way.

Ever since that day we have been vitally aware that Christianity is more than ceremonies and forms but that God is a person with whom we can have a relationship. The driving force in our lives has been our firm belief that God wants to bring that relationship to full fruition this side of heaven and not leave us in the initial stages or any other stage in between. This is a life of going on, going on, and going on. We have often been tempted to lay the quest aside and settle down on this side of Jordan, but the stirrings in our hearts for better things bade us keep moving.

Always ahead of us was the vision of the fullness of Christ in our hearts by the Spirit. We knew disappointments and failures but kept going on, because the promise of the prize outweighed the pain and frustrations of the journey.

How many have settled by the wayside instead of pressing on to be the Lord's Zion, His habitation in the earth? (Psalm 132:15). Material success eluded us, but no matter, for that's not where our hearts were. They were seeking that Zion, that city not made with hands.

More to come ...

It's A Go!

The Paraguay trip is back on again for July 25 through August 4th. Turns out that Sao Paulo, where we would go to change planes for Asuncion, is in the grip of gang violence. We feel God spared us from that. We will be going from Miaim to Buenos Aires, then on to Asuncion.

Even if we hadn't learned of the situation in Sao Paulo, God is good in all His dealings. I was disappointed at first in the cancellation of the trip, but don't want to accuse God anymore of unfaithfulness in His dealings with me. He is to be trusted at all times.

It's a misconception of His innately good character to level accusations at Him in the form of worry, anxiety, anger, depression, and all the rest. Either He's in control or He isn't - and He is. Either He's good or He isn't - and He is.

"If it be bliss, as it really is, to possess all that we desire and wish, the individual that possesses true godliness must be truly blessed, because he unites his will with God's which is always accomplished. Formerly he was pained and tormented in the infernal flame of his own will, which rendered him so frequently dissatisfied. One thing or another was always wrong, in the opinion of his perverse self-will. He writhed and agonized day and night, within himself, in doleful apprehension, care, grief, uneasiness, and anxiety, like a gnawing worm to the injury of both body and soul. Now he has entirely and unconditionally resigned his will in the exercise of real faith, and thorough self-denial, into the hands of God, in such a manner that the will of God alone influences and operates in him, by which the soul is placed in a tranquil and very peaceful state."

~Gerhard Tersteegen

They Left Their Nets

When Jesus called the disciples and said to them "Follow me," they left their nets, their boats, their jobs, and their families. What was there about this Man that caused them to forsake all?

Was it something in His voice? His eyes? His face?

Isaiah says that He had no form nor comeliness that we should desire Him. He was as a root out of dry ground. No one except John the Baptizer recognized Him at the Jordan.

Yet He was so attractive to those He called that they immediately and without a second thought left their livelihood to follow this itinerant preacher.

When He speaks to your heart, all else will pale in comparison. His beauty and His love outshine the sun. It is as the sun rising in the eastern sky, dimming all lesser lights in the stars and the moon.

Listen for His voice - He is calling to whosoever will. He is calling you. Not to religion or doctrine or creed, but to Himself, the bright and morning star, the light of the world. No experience compares to knowing Him and walking with Him.

Let Him be your light, your love, your all. You'll never regret it.

East and West

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 20:12)

Ever wonder how far the east is from the west? They never meet. (Remember the old adage "East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet?")

If I walk out the door and head north, eventually I'll reach the North Pole. If I keep on walking I'll then be going south.

But if I start walking east I could walk forever, and never end up going west. North and south meet at the poles but east and west never, ever meet.

That's how far God has removed our sins from us. They will never be connected to us again. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. His blood doesn't just cover our sins, only to need covering again the next year as in the Old Testament; the blood of Jesus washes our sin away.

Can God forget anything? How could the all-wise and all-knowing God ever forget anything? But He can and He does: "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:34).

Paul directs the book of Ephesians to the "saints" that are in Ephesus. Are we afraid to call ourselves saints? Yes, we are. We're like Paul when he said he was the chiefest of sinners; it's not bad to see ourselves that way - certainly, the longer I walk with the Lord the more I see my own depravity - but we need to see things from God's viewpoint, too. He doesn't see our sin. He doesn't remember our sin. He has forgotten them. He doesn't have a book with all our sins recorded by our names - the blood of Jesus has washed them all away.

Paul, who killed Christians prior to his conversion, said he served God with a clean conscience. We can have the same clean conscience before God, knowing that God not only forgives, but He forgets.

Tozer: The Friends of God

The Friends of God Scripture
What a difference it makes when we cease being general (a dodge, incidentally, for pseudo-humility and unbelief) and become pointed and personal in our approach to God. Then we shall not fear the personal pronoun, but shall with all the friends of God relate it to the One who gave it and claim each one for himself the Person and work of the Triune God. Then we shall see that all that God did was for each of us. Then we can sing: For me Thou didst cover Thyself with light as with a garment and stretch out the heavens like a curtain and lay the foundations of the earth. For me Thou didst appoint the moon for seasons and the sun knoweth his going down. For me Thou didst make every beast of the earth after his kind and every herb bearing seed and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree. For me prophet wrote and psalmist sang. For me holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. For me Christ died, and the redemptive benefits of that death are by the miracle of His present life perpetuated forever, as efficacious now as on the day He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. And when He arose the third day it was for me; and when He poured out upon the disciples the promised Holy Spirit it was that He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of the creation.

Limping, Leaning, Learning, Loving

"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of the Lord Jesus might be made manifest in our body." (2 Cor. 4:10)

The Christian life is one of continual growth and change - we go from strength to strength, from faith to faith, from glory to glory. New life should be continually springing forth.

In order for new life to issue forth, there must be death, and that is a continual process also - "always" bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. We should never reach the point where we become secure, satisfied, and set in our ways. This continual dying is the result of wanting to be like Him, of seeing ourselves in the light of His love and mercy as poor and unworthy sinners. This should repeatedly lead us to new and fresh repentance.

I raised my children to be independent of me, to be able to function in the world without me - to know how to complete a task, hold down a job, treat their spouse, drive a car, pay the bills, and all the other things that go into that. And now they do in fact live on their own and no longer need my provision or my care or my oversight.

But it is not that way in God; we should continually grow in dependence on Him. I wanted to grow more and more holy so I would not have to keep running to Jesus for forgiveness; but the more I am in this Way the more I come to realize the extent of my own wretchedness and my continual need for forgiveness and cleansing by the blood. "Always - always - always" bearing about that dying.

I thought I had learned the principles of the faith and knew the scriptures pretty well. But that kind of knowledge can actually lead to a separation from God. I have been learning lately that I need to allow the Lord to continually speak to me through His Word; I cannot walk alone in my own understanding. When the psalmist speaks of gaining understanding, he is referring to God's understanding, not our own.

This continual dying is to self, but it is not self-centered; that can tend to self-glorification and further separation from God. Paul calls it the "dying of the Lord Jesus." Everything must be His, and for Him, nothing of self. Oh, how self loves to get the glory, even in dying out.

How do I get more of His life? By dying to more of my own, in everything. That should lead to increasing dependence on Him. God smote Jacob on the thigh so that he halted the rest of his life. We do not become great for God, but great in God - limping, leaning, learning, loving, losing all to gain Him.

He Is Not A Tame Lion

Oh, He has answered my prayers, and He has provided, and He has blessed. But He is not a tame lion. Through all that He has inexorably worked toward His own purpose and His own goal in my life. I haven't been able to put Him in a cage. I haven't been able to crack the whip. I haven't been able to make Him jump through hoops.

He is a Savior and a Friend, but He is also a Lord and a King and a Judge, too. He is gentle and He is strong. When Aslan walked towards them in "The Magician's Nephew," the children could not hear him walking because the pads on his feet were so soft, but the ground shook underneath him. That is not a tame lion.

He will not be satisfied with second best, with half way, with good enough, with less than perfect. He is bound and determined to see His image formed in my life - in our lives. He continues to prod and to poke at areas in my life that are not pleasing to Him. He doesn't say "Well, now, I suppose that's alright the way it is." No - only the best will do for Him.

Sometimes I wish I could tell Him that I'm happy with myself the way I am now. I've had more than a few years of being reminded of my weak points and my sins and my shortcomings. A tame lion would accept that. But He is not a tame lion. The devil may be like a roaring lion, but our heavenly Aslan is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and He shall see His reward and be satisfied.

The north wind continues to blow, the wind of judgement and reproof. We must be as willing to hear that from Him as we are to hear "I love you," "well done," "come unto me and rest." The Bible says that the judgments of the Lord are in all the earth; let us receive His judgements and accept them and say "Yes, Lord - I know that's the way I am. Change me and make me to be like you." "Purge me with hyssop, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

Aslan took Edmund off and talked to Him; we're not told what they talked about. We are assured that Aslan was stern but not angry, but we don't know what He said.He will likewise deal with each of us in the depths of our own hearts and say things to us that are just for our ears. May we hear what He is saying to us. May we take it to heart. May we be changed like Edmund was changed.

He gave His life for us. He shed His blood for us. He went to Hell for us. He rose again for us. Let us welcome His words to us and be changed.

By Him And For Him And For His Pleasure

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or prinicpalities, or powers, all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Col. 1:16 and 17)

I have spent all the time I care to spend arguing about creation versus evolution. I find that these discussions focus only on the material realm, since that is all the evolutionists care about, and never take into consideration the whole spectrum of the invisible creation. Of course, "scientists" would dismiss that out of hand since invisible things can't be seen. But invisible things are more real than seen things because they are eternal and will never fade, rot, rust, or decay.

The "creation or evolution" discussions don't get past the question of "Did God create everything" and look into the fact that it was Jesus who did the creating. When God does anything, He does it by His Son. We come up short in God if we leave Jesus out of any equation. Everything is by Him and for Him. Let Christ be magnified in all we say and do.

And Jesus didn't just create everything and leave it free to develop on its own. He didn't just cause the initial creation and then withdraw from His creation to watch it from afar. No, by Him all things consist. He holds all things together. He has been forever involved on an intimate basis with each aspect of His creation. Never for a second has He taken His hand off that which He created. The atom spinning wildly, the neutrons and protons, are all held together by the word of His power. Were He to remove His hand it would all spin out of control and universal chaos, disruption and meltdown would ensue.

That alone probably answers the questions about where did the dinosaurs go and how did the moths change and where's the missing link and all that, although I don't feel like pursuing that now. It's enough for me to know that He is in control.

Moreover, John the Revelator tells us that all things "are and were created for His pleasure." (Rev. 4:11) (I think I'll have to think about the "are" part in that verse a lot more before I even begin to understand it; is He still creating?) Evolution gives no reason for existence; the creation story in its entirety gives the best reason possible - its all for the Lord's pleasure. There is no better reason to live for than that. He must take pleasure in the sunrise and the sunset, in the bird's song and the falling snow. He must take pleasure in the chipmunk with his cheeks stuffed full of treasure and my dog dancing in circles to greet me when I come home every day. He must take pleasure in the grand sweep of the Rocky Mountains and the vast array of stars and planets and nebulae and galaxies.

And He takes pleasure in His people - He sings over us, He rejoices over us, He shouts over us. Shout to the Lord all the earth, let us sing, honor and majesty, praise to our King. Nothing compares to the treasure I have in You.

The light from the low-hanging clouds is gray at best. The ground is sodden from the seemingly continual dripping of rain, and the air is chilly and damp.

A far cry from a few weeks ago when we were in the height of the holiday season. Two months of bright colors, tantalizing food, beautiful music and high expectations came crashing to a close on January 2nd and the new year began in earnest. Now there's no holiday in sight until May and life couldn't be more ordinary. No decorations, no Christmas cookies and candies, no carols - this is indeed the "bleak mid winter."

This is always the hardest time of year for me, perhaps because I enjoy Christmas so much. Every year I'm hit with the reality of reality, right in the face. (If that's not you, I'm sorry to drag you into my misery.)

But just imagine if there were no miraculous birth to celebrate. Then all of life would be like this mid-winter stretch from January to springtime. Life would be nothing but work and bills and ... what? Certainly not the truth we know that there came One in the midst of the drabness and despair of the human condition to raise us above it.

Maybe Christmas is a gift to make us think how all of life should really be - impregnated with the Presence of the Holy One. Oh, it's not the tree or the cards or the lights or the food - it's Jesus. Christmas is a kind of earnest, a light in the darkness, to let us know that He makes all of life to shine.

Shine on me, Light of the World.

He is come, He is here, He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Seasons come and seasons go, but the Faithful One is with us forever.

That Was Then, This Is Now, and Jesus Is Coming

I grew up watching the Lone Ranger, Hoppy, and Roy, secure in my vision that way out west was a land where good guys wore white hats, real men sat tall in the saddle, and evil was always defeated. While I grappled with the intricacies of 5th-grade arithmetic I knew that out there was a place where cowboys beat Indians and bad guys every time.

World War II was over, Korea was coming, and both were fully supported here at home; the Nazi and Communist menaces were soundly defeated and the world was a safe place. Mom was always there when I came home from school and Dad would be along in time for supper.

TV was invented and everything was black and white. Prices went up but the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall came down. Soldiers were good guys.

Oh, there was the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annhilation ... but then, there were Roy and Hoppy.

Of course, things have changed. Now I grapple with the intricacies of working in a company that's going out of business, and knowing that Christopher Columbus was a bad guy, that the Indians should have beat the cowboys and pilgrims, that Viet Nam was a bad thing, that my military service wasn't appreciated.

Oh where, oh where, have the good times gone? Abraham, Martin and John have been killed, and Bobby and Malcolm, too. I had a boy's vision of a world that wasn't broken and didn't need mending, but I lived through the 60's and saw it all begin to fall apart, when college professors took drugs and encouraged their students to do the same, when our best hopes were gunned down in cold blood in front of our eyes on TV and we watched them laid to rest in long processions that tore our hearts out.

I'm not longing for the past to come back because the future is living in my heart. I want to lift Him up and see all men drawn to Him. I want to see that New Jerusalem, the city of God where all men are brothers and weapons are turned into plowshares. I want to see the faint light that is gleaming become a strong and steady beacon for all people to see.

On for Jesus. Seek His face and His strength. Things may seem worse than they ever were, but that's when God is at His best. Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee.

I'm thinking about the paradox of living in two worlds - one of spiritual reality and the other of material reality. Knowing that Jesus is Lord, that He lives in me, that He rules and reigns, that the Kingdom of God is a present reality, and knowing that I still have to go to work every day and spend the majority of my waking hours worrying about bits and bytes, brings home the dichotomy of this Christian life.

How I'd like to be off somewhere in a monastery or some secluded spot in the woods engaged with my Beloved. Instead, I'm sitting here in my cubicle with a "to-do" list that's getting longer by the hour and a "done" list that's getting shorter.

But I have found that Jesus is present with me here in my cubicle, and that He is able to help and to cheer and to guide. I'm not free from the realities of life but I'm free in Him from the pressure, from the "terror that flieth by noonday," from worry and fear, from "what-if's" and "if only's," from office politics and the uncertainties of working for a company that's shutting down.

If Jesus isn't Lord in my cubicle then He's not Lord anywhere. If He doesn't know the answers to my problems then He couldn't create a universe. But He is here, He does know, and I'm asking for grace to continually turn my heart to Him, to focus my gaze on His wonderful face, and to open my ears to the sound of His voice. "The voice of my Beloved, lo, He comes."

Golden Goodness

This quote is from "The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis:

"Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered into them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

So Approachable

Had he come as the King of kings, in great pomp and majesty, he would be out of our reach; but He came as a little baby, wrapped in humility and swaddling clothes, so approachable.

Had he come as the Lord of lords, in great power and glory, he would not invite inquiry; but he came in weakness and he died in weakness, so approachable.

Had he come as judge, we would be terror-stricken at the thought of entering his presence; but he has come as Saviour, inviting us to fellowship with him, so approachable.

Had he come as God as God, we would run from him; but he came as one of us ("And the word became flesh and dwelt among us") so we can run to him, so approachable.

How can we stay away?

The Baby Born in a Barn

Were He born in palace instead of a barn, then only the privileged would have access to Him, only the monied and fortunate would be able to come into His presence. But the angels announced the good news to some shepherds working the night shift, out in the fields. Not to the priests, not to the aristocracy - but to poor shepherds the angels came.

That means there's room there for the lowest of the low and the poorest of the poor. That means that everyone can come to stand before the baby born in a barn - from the highest to the lowest, from the richest to the poorest, from the highly educated to the ignorant and out-of-the-way.

There's room there for you and me, and whosover will may come. Let's come before Him in praise and worship, now and forever. Our God has made the way.

Happy Thanksgiving

We're off to Boston on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with number one son and his family. He works in high tech and has been laid off more times than he can remember, so he doesn't have a whole lot of sympathy for my plight. We're looking forward to seeing our two granddaughters (both in their 20's); they both speak Spanish fluently, so I guess their parents will be left out of the conversations.

Comunidad, our latino church, is growing. Each of the last 3 Sunday nights it's been packed out and we have had to get more chairs to seat the people. A lady who had headaches worse than migraines for 7 years was delivered from them; her family is now on fire for God. They were all coming to church before that but now they have a fresh zeal and desire for God.

Pat has started a ministry for the latino children during the Sunday evening service. They really enjoy it and it frees the main meeting up so the parents can focus on the Lord.

I'm off work this week. I'm enjoying the weather with the leaves falling and the wind blowing - real fall weather that brings the holidays with it.

On Thanksgiving, remember - you are what you eat!

The King Is Dead

In chapters 1 through 5, Isaiah declares woe on the nations round about. In chapter 6, he changes his tune. He has had a revelation of God.

"In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up ..."


Uzziah was Isaiah's benefactor, mentor, and patron, so his death must have impacted the prophet greatly. Gone were his support, his inspiration, his encouragement. When he was at his lowest, Isaiah lifted up his eyes to his only remaining support and saw the Lord of Glory in all His majesty, His train filling the temple.

Defeat and discouragement are never the end. When we get down low enough, when we can go no lower, it is then we look up and it is then we see God. The God of the mountains is still God in the valley, the God of the day is still God in the night.

It has always been thus. Job came to the end of himself and the beginning of God (if God has a beginning). Moses' great calling seemingly got blown away with the desert winds when he saw the burning bush. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in the midst of the flames when they saw the fourth man. Joseph was rejected and in prison for so long a time when he came into the fullness of God's plan for him. Our Lord Jesus was crucified, dead and buried but raised to newness of life and glory for ever.

There are no sad endings, no dead ends, for the child of God. Our King is not dead - He rules and reigns and He carries us with Him on His great journey to Zion. I want to go with Him, and I shall. We shall see Him as He is.

Still Human

This is Oswald Chambers for November 16. This is wonderful. So often we equate success with God as ministry, when really it should be a life lived for Jesus.

. . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God
—1 Corinthians 10:31

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In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.

We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, "What a wonderful man of prayer he is!" or, "What a great woman of devotion she is!" If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.

We want to be able to say, "Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!" But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3 ). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.

At All Times

So much of our conception of praise is oriented around the public meeting - we have a worship time with a worship team where we sing worship songs. That's all well and good, but does our thinking become structured around that event and not encompass all of life?

The same God I draw close to in those intense times of worship is the same God in the rough-and-tumble of daily activity. My circumstances are not uncontrolled events or happenstance but come directly from the hand of my all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful Lord; praise is as much in order at 8:00 on Monday morning as it is at 10:30 on Sunday morning.

Perhaps I don't feel as comfortable stuck in rush hour traffic on I-485 or South Boulevard as I do in a worship service, but God hasn't changed any. Maybe - just maybe - He arranged that situation to show me my impatience and my short fuse (I'm sure you don't huff and puff and pound on the steering wheel in a traffic jam, but I do). At that time I should praise Him for loving me enough to reveal my true self to me so that I can bring it before Him and ask Him to change me. Instead of asking where the driver in front of me got his license, I could be praising God for sending him my way to bring out this side of me.

Every circumstance is an opportunity for praise. Let's praise Him at all times and in all places, because He is worthy. Let every complaint be cut off before it leaves our lips - even before it can form in our hearts. Let God be justified and glorified in every situation, for He certainly deserves it.