by David Brenneman
"But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray." Luke 5:16.
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:5-6.
"It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Luke 11:1-4.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6.
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" Numbers 23:19.
Oh the noise the noise the noise.
So many are just 'used to it' that it's to them not even a bother.
But it is. Oh how it is. Because both our sin nature and the enemy will keep turning up the volume as they are permitted.
Thus the teaching of Jesus by word and example is all that much more important and crucial.
We live in decades worth of a society where the noise has been given validation. Been given a foothold in the lives of billions.
You have noise, I have noise, we all have noise of life to deal with. The noise of everyday interactions with people and things.
Much of the world touts rushing headlong into life and then there's those who are of the introvert type that notice and need time to get away to recharge. Some people pay thousands of dollars to find a peaceful quiet place to be.
We don't live in the city per-se but do live in a very quiet neighborhood.
Within the confines of my home my study is surrounded on almost every side with parts of the house that are rooms. Only one wall faces the street. Within this space, should I so choose, sleep can come because the silence is so grand.
This is where I go to do my evening studies. At best/worst the furnace is what I hear in the winter or just the blower from it as the AC runs in the summer.
Jesus taught His Disciples, who were to teach their disciples who were to teach theirs on down through the last 2,000 plus years to us to take the time to get away with God.
We often choose things to create noise in our lives that we say we 'love' yet they're not at all bringing out the character of Christ in us.
My examples are just those whom come to mind when I consider the activities that we engage in that we claim to 'love' and 'enjoy' yet are not bringing out the character of Christ in us.
Most if not all sports arenas are the easiest to look to. While the concept of a sport is good, the far reaching abuse of this to the 'fans' really is not. They are encouraged to engage in 'rivalries' that absolutely do not put the character of Christ on display. While the players themselves might be Christians and while they might walk in the character of Christ both on and off the field, the fans are encouraged to NOT behave in the character of Christ when you look at it Biblically.
This, particular example, is just personal to me because I do believe that God showed me just how 'evil' I can be due to such a dumb thing as a rivalry. He showed me that my character was NOT in alignment with that of Jesus.
Then there's those who absolutely 'escape' into the ether world. The world of make believe both with and without drugs to achieve it. Their idea of a peaceful evening is to wrap their minds in fantasy. Not knowing all the while they ARE feeding their minds and in many cases are only satisfying their sin nature.
Throughout the Gospels we can see the struggles that Jesus went through to change the character of those whom were given to Him to be the 12 Disciples.
To me it was a turning point of sorts when they asked how they should pray.
Our world wants everyone to do whatever is right in their own eyes.
The Word of God wants us to do whatever is right in the eyes of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
The world wants us to behave in such a way where our joy, our thoughts, our happiness comes first even if it means stepping on others to get to it. To exude selfishness.
The Word of god wants us to become fully devoted followers of Christ, walking through life seeking our joy, our happiness in Him and not ourselves.
My personal examples are indeed back around 35-40 years ago when I was very deep into science fiction as my escape place. Around the same time I was also really into the various rivalries with professional football. I was convicted heavily by the Spirit concerning both, it just took place at different times in my past.
When you consider that when Believers will stand before Jesus one day to give an account of our lives, both the good and the bad for what we were given in Christ to use for His glory...how's it going to feel to stand there when those times we cut down people 'all in the name of fun' when we should have been there to build them up?
THAT was my conviction concerning that and that's why I don't engage in such things.
For the mid point of my life we had the 'What Would Jesus Do?" bumper stickers and pins and shirts and you name it they put it on it.
It was around that time when that conviction started setting in on me about that and other things in my life. Not that I have arrived, there's still things going on in my life that I struggle with.
What are you doing that isn't glorifying God? What time do you make sure you take to satisfy your self that could be used to further the Kingdom of God or your knowledge of your Savior and Lord on how to live your life to please Him?
It isn't the job of any one person to bring conviction into the heart and mind of someone else. Conviction, in the truest sense, comes from the Spirit of God when we are actively listening to the voice of God.
The problem is we are so used to the noise that we say we 'want' in our lives that we don't hear the still small voice calling out to each of us. We're so used to what we have going on in our lives that we say we 'love' that we're not interested in what the Spirit wants to teach us is of interest to the Savior. We cause ourselves to be busy in ways that are only for appearances sake rather than what's important. Being Martha's rather than Mary's.
We don't value taking time to sit at the feet of Jesus whether He's talking or just wanting us to rest.
Many times He took the Disciples aside not to talk but to just rest.
In His book "The Promises of Heaven" Dr. David Jeremiah noted where every one of the days mentioned in creation had a morning and an evening and it was good. Only the 7th day of rest was not given an ending. That rest would find itself in Him.
Are you busy about your home doing things that really don't matter rather than spending more time with Jesus? Are you busy about your time after work with things that are not at all going to grow you in Christ but rather nurture your selfishness?
Dr. Jeremiah's book points to what all will withstand the fire of truth when we stand before Jesus concerning how we lived our lives. Only those things done truly for Christ will be the jewels for the crown and the gold. Everything else we did that was not...will be burned up. Wasted efforts. While enjoyed in this life, they mean nothing to contribute to the crown we will give back to Jesus for all He did for us.
What are you engaged in that is not adding to that crown you'll give to Jesus? Are you convinced your busyiness is valid yet it's not at all putting the character of Christ on display for others to see and want in their lives?
THAT was the last nail in the coffin, so to speak, for me with rivalries. What I was displaying for others to see would NEVER draw them to a right relationship with Jesus Christ. They would NEVER see any good works and glorify my Father in Heaven. Same went for my knowlege of science fiction.
The noises we choose to keep in our lives can drown out the work of the Spirit of God in our lives.
Oh we get away from the world in our own ways but we still yet choose to listen to the noise rather than to choose to grown with respect to salvation.
Think about it my Dear Reader, think about it.
Years ago I was given news that there's things in my eating that had to go. Devestating was a good way to put it. But in time I learned to adapt and it's been ok.
Likewise years ago we chose to not continue cable tv or even over the air tv because it was a waste. All the news has been for decades is a production number to sway people to a certain opinion. All the advertisements were just there to sway our opinions on purchases. All the political ads were there to sway our thoughts on politics and to engage in the evil practices of this party vs that party.
We don't miss it. I don't miss the things that the Spirit took from my life even though at the time it was painful. Reading the Gospels we can see that the Disciples had to learn to let go of things they grew up knowing and were taught by family and people they knew. Jesus was teaching them a still better way to a life living in His character.
You have to choose to get away to be with Jesus. It's not going to be forced upon you but you have to choose.
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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