Canaan's Rest

We can start by opening our hearts up to change from the inside out. That means confessing our sins and being willing to let the Lord have His way, not insisting on our own way. I am finding it rather exciting as I share with the Lord a need I think I have, then ask for Him to provide in His way. I am amazed at how He fills those requests in ways I never imagined, and I smile and say, “I know that it is You, Lord!” In a sense we are preparing the way of the Lord every time we repent, every time we die to our own ego and ask for His will to top ours. Likely we prepare the way when we tell others about Him and choose to help meet their needs.

Let us bow before the Lord every day and say, “Your will, not mine!”

Our habits reveal our character, and change involves our habits that are almost automatic, for we do them without thinking. When they are good habits, they give us freedom; bad habits may seem fun at the time, but in the long-run they are destructive. It is best to replace those bad habits with good ones that are aligned with our values. We might start by offering our habits to the Lord, and stacking one good habit on top of another, including some that bring joy. We might start with praising the Lord for the new day as we have our first cup of coffee for the day. At the close of our day, we may lay all of our burdens to rest and not be thinking of them through the night.

Let us ask God to show us where He wants to start in our lives, to give up those habits that seem to weigh us down and also compromise what we believe. Then let us not make excuses, but ask that He would give us His desires and that we would bring glory to Him. When we are angry and about to tell someone off, ask for grace to forgive the person that is hurting us. Or if we are facing temptation, ask the Lord to help us think His thoughts, and then take ourself out of a compromising situation. God’s ways bring peace and we will have more of His character as we quit making excuses and give up our bad habits. He says to each of us, “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wonderous things that you could never figure out on your own.” (Jer. 33:3)

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy what we have been given, for it is all a gift from the Lord. Near the end of his life, Solomon goes on to say that what is most important is to know and to fear and to obey God. God will one day judge everything. In Eccl. 12:13 (Amplified) he says, “All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God (revere and worship Him, knowing that He is) and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man (the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness; the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun) and the whole (duty) for every man.” These words came from a man who tried everything in life, and yet it boils down not to money and wealth, but to fear, obey and enjoy God.

I received a wonderful gift in the mail from a friend who is in a Bible Study group where the members receive my daily devotions. I was pleasantly surprised to get Susie Larson’s book called Prepare Him Room, which is also a daily devotional to help me prepare for the Lord’s coming. At the end of each devotional is an invitation to do a fast, only it isn’t about food. It is more about fasting from hindrances in our lives, like a recent one to fast from impatience and discontentment so we can be content and pursue the Lord. This is only one way to prepare my heart for this special time, but there are many other ways you may find so as not to be robbed of the closeness of His presence.

I want to share the first of the readings as it will help us enter the Advent Season with anticipation and expectancy. David prays in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Eternal One, listen for my voice; in the day’s first light, I will offer my prayer to You and watch expectantly for Your answer.” Like David, we can ask the Lord to hear our voice and pay attention as we believe in faith He will birth something new in us. Sometimes He shows us something in His Word and other times we must wait for the answer to a burden on our hearts. But as we wait, we are to remember He hears us and He will answer us in His timing, just like Elizabeth who waited so many years to have a baby who would become the forerunner of Jesus and turn hearts to the Lord.

Let us not lose heart, but hang on in expectant faith for whatever concern is on our heart. Like the song goes, “Come Thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.”

God is the healer and we are to be participants in letting the Holy Spirit flow through us to touch others. In Steven Seamands’ book, Follow the Healer, he writes of how we need to be available and open to listen, counsel and pray with people for their healing. That means we join Him in whatever He would do and not get in the way. We are not the healers that make it happen and their healing is not dependent on us, for it is the Lord’s work. We might ask the Lord if He has a word that He wants us to relay to them, and what we are to say and do. When we are abiding in Him (John 15:4), we can simply respond to the Holy Spirit and follow His lead.

It is important we are humble and open to however God wants to work. I love what Seamands had to say about Mother Teresa and it spoke to me. Her words, “I’m just a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is hard because it is a broken pencil, and He has to sharpen it a little more.”  Of course, we don’t always do it perfectly and may get in the way at times, but humbly we remember it is the Lord who is doing the healing while we watch and let it happen. I found It easier to pray for people while in Mexico, as the receivers had faith and such a positive expectation that the Lord would heal them. My heart was encouraged as I knew it was not dependent on me saying all the right words, for my Spanish was so limited, but it was all the Lord. Let our focus be on the Lord, sensitive to how He would have us pray for others, and let the Holy Spirit flow through us.