The Lion Roars

Michael Card has a song called “Will You Not Listen?”.  Following is a portion of the lyrics:  “Is not He who formed the ear worth the time it takes to hear?  Should He who formed our lips for speaking, be not heeded when He speaks?  Will you not listen?  Why won’t you listen?  God has spoken love to us, why will you not listen?  Listen to the sacred silence.  Listen to the Holy Word.  Listen as He speaks through living parables that must be heard.”

I thought of this song recently as I was reading the book of Amos.   Verse eight of chapter three says, “A lion has roared! Who will not fear?”  Now I cannot relate the reality of a lion roaring in the woods as I hike.  Because we do not live in an area where that is going to happen, I don’t think about it.  But years ago, I spent the night on occasion with a relative who lived down the alley from the cage of a lion who was the local college mascot.  There were times at night when he did a pulsating, low roar.  I’m telling you, I think the house vibrated!  It was pretty impressive and greatly unsettling.  The effect of a solid, unrestrained roar, I’ve never heard apart from T.V.  But reflecting on the possibility makes me shudder.  Ok, get the picture? 
“A lion has roared!  WHO will not fear?”

Now, the next part of the verse is the part we have to get serious about!!  “The Lord GOD has spoken!  Who can but prophesy?”  We must speak.  Whether they listen now or not is not our job.  God has spoken.  We have His “Holy Word”.  Listen to it.  Live it.  Proclaim it.  Pray for listeners.  They will listen one day because WAY louder and more unsettling than a lion, the sound will be unmistakeable!

Tozer Treasure

Just read a book called Keys to the Deeper Life by A. W. Tozer.  It is a book compiled from material from a series of articles written by him and published in Christian Life magazine.   The following excerpts are only a token treasure from this book.

Revival:  “Wherever, a careless, fleshly Christian suddenly pulls his life together, turns on himself and seeks the face of God in penitence and tears, you have the beginning of a personal revival.”

Evangelicalism:  “…the believer’s true ambition should not be success but saintliness.  They must see that they are not called to imitate the world, but to renounce it…”

 “Never forget, God is on the side of the thirsty saint.  You do not need to persuade Him to meet you.  He is already persuaded.  Just dare to trust Him.” 

“Worldliness has become epidemic in evangelical circles.”  “Hollywood now has more influence than Jerusalem every had.  Youth take for their examples not the saints of old but the stars of today.”  (Written in August 1954!!)

Deeper Life:  “…the result of a crisis…”   “…spiritual life with an intensity of purity and fruitfulness far in advance of that of the average Christian life.  It involves complete separation from the world, not only in practice but in spirit, and a full devotion to God without reservation.”

More to come!  Stay tuned!

"Let Go and Let God"

I grew up hearing that little saying.  After I was saved, however, I realized just how untrue that saying really is.  In the church I attended as a new believer, our pastor would say, “Brothers and sisters, you don’t let God do anything!  He’s God!! He does whatever He pleases.”  I would add, “and you can’t even let go without His power”.

Today that saying and my former pastor came to mind as I read chapter 15 of  2 Chronicles.  Verse 2:  “the LORD is with you when you are with Him.  And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him.”  Verse 4: “…they sought Him, and He let them find Him.”  Verse 15:  “…for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him.”

Apply this as you will.  And recognize the power and sovereignty of the God with Whom we must give account.

Realignment

A friend of mine told me yesterday that their wheel on their car hit a curb very hard and after that it became a very shaky ride.  She said they would probably need a "realignment".  As I was going through some papers in my file today, I found something I had written some months back, but never posted.  Now I have this visual to go along with it.  And I'll take it further by saying sometimes in life we get hit very hard and begin having a very shaky walk.  Sometimes it may not be a hit but a miss.  We are missing out on our time with God.  For both situations, we need realignment.

When you align yourself with something, according to the dictionary you  put yourself into correct or appropriate relative positions or give support or come together in agreement or alliance.  In last Sunday’s message, our pastor spoke of being aligned with Christ.  And he said, when we’re not aligned, we realign.  We put ourselves into the correct (according to scripture) position.  We give support to the scripture by living it out.  We come to agreement or alliance with our Savior about our sin and our need for His salvation and we live up to that agreement with the power of the Holy Spirit.  It’s that simple.

So, when we, as believers, see that we’re not aligned, we realign.  As I pondered this statement by our pastor, I began to think of ways I was not aligned.  One thing that came to mind was my lack of adoration when I hear the name of God.  That thought came to me again as I read in Exodus about Moses and the burning bush.  God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground.  I have lost my awe of God.  I have failed to “be still and know that He is God”.   I read the scripture daily and pray.  But I do not meditate, as I should.  And by neglecting that, I fail to engage in the personal relationship God desires of me.  Why it’s like clinging to letters of your loved one while they sit in the same room with you.

Yes, I need realignment!  I would say it’s part of the sanctification process.  I’m not finished.  And I am excited to know that no matter what age we are or how long we’ve been Christians, God teaches us new truths with which to align ourselves.  And our “alliance” through Jesus Christ is the absolute, most important work we have here on earth. 

If you’re not aligned, realign!  If you have no desire to realign, I doubt seriously you’ve ever truly been aligned in the first place.  But don’t fret!  Bow down to Him who has the power to save you