“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”
John 14: 6
12 “Look, I AM coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22: 12-13
Pastors Noreen & Henry Kevern
Be Still And Know That I AM God
Be still, and know that I AM God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10
How hard is it for you to be still? Just still? And how long can you be still? A few seconds, a minute, an hour? Are you comfortable just being still? Try it for a moment. Close your eyes and just be still? What did you think about? Did you think at all? Were you distracted by something and so could not be still very long? Did your mind wander to other things? Could you empty your mind of all your worries, all your thoughts, and just be still and know that God is there?
It’s a very hard thing for most of us to do, to come before God in quiet, to pray. Jesus told us to: go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, Who is unseen. Then your Father, Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:6-7) I had to come to the Lord today, in silence, so that His direction would come to me. I was distracted by things, the noise, people, and I needed the quiet to hear His voice speak to me. I had to hear and feel Him so that I would know what He wanted me to say. It didn’t take long for Him to speak. When I come to the Lord, I try not to come to Him with a list of things that I want Him to do. I come to the Lord to find out what He wants me to do or say. It’s hard to do so sometimes. The world seems to get in the way so much. There are times when I can’t stand the noise and if I’m around it, it sometimes takes me a long time to focus on the Lord. I’m not big on TV, sometimes I do watch it, but for the most part, it really annoys me. Its mindless chatter and its images do send me to prayer though. For much of what is on TV is an affront to me and I’m sure it must be an affront to God.
Even emails can be noisy. I check my junk mail because the filters don’t work right. It doesn’t matter which email I use, the filters sometimes send email to the junk mail that don’t belong there. I haven’t figured it out yet. I’ve tried to correct it, but I’m still learning how to do things. Most of the time, I can go through the junk mail and return what needs to go to the inbox without much thought. Then there are times like today, where something just sent me reeling with disgust. Most of the time I just delete these things, but this time I decided to respond. I started writing back, telling these people that I pray that the Lord has mercy on their souls. I was going on and on, when I realized that it wouldn’t matter, so instead I deleted my response and went back to praying for these people and just deleting. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant. For the sake of Your Name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (Psalm 25:8-11) Sure, I could have pointed out to the person their sin, but in reality, if wouldn’t have made a difference to them. They probably wouldn’t even read it, but would flood my mailbox with their sinfulness.
I know that I am not perfect, that I am a sinner just as the rest of us are. When my anger is aroused due to something that has come into my plain of existence, I tend to jump and want to correct it right away. But I have learned, in the midst of my anger, I come to God and lift a prayer up to Him to show me the way that He wants me to go. So if He says, ‘go forth and complain,’ I do, but if He says, ‘let it go,’ even if I don’t want to, I do. There’s the rub with prayer and with following the way of the Lord. It’s not what I want that matters, it’s what the Lord wants. And amid all the things around us, hearing how we are to think of ourselves before all else, to do unto others before they do unto us, to see how society thinks that ones body should look, to hear how our own satisfaction should come before all else, it’s amazing that God can get through. It takes time, quiet time, to be with God and to create a personal relationship.
Now, when my kids were little, quiet time was something that was at a premium. But I always tried to make quiet time with the kids. From naps in the afternoon, to putting the toys away and laying down and listening to classical music, to an afternoon of watching the clouds, to the moment when they went to sleep, I relished those quiet times. I had a game I use to play with the kids, I would snap my fingers together and say I’m invisible, and just close myself off and the kids would do things to get me back. Sometimes I really felt as if I were somewhere quiet, a sense of peace that I felt was God. Other times, it would be really hard not to laugh at all the kids would do to get my attention, and even then, I knew what a blessing they were to me from God. Then I would snap myself visible and we would laugh. But sometimes they seemed worried that I really was gone and so I would snap back right away. You know, it is possible in the midst of a crowd to snap yourself to a quiet place to be with God. You may only be there for a moment, but that moment is sweet and the peace and strength that you need comes to you and then it’s back to whatever you were doing before.
It is also possible that you sometimes feel like my kids did, when they thought that I was really gone, when you come to God and desperately need to feel His presence in your life and you just can’t. Like the Palmist: Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy; at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger. My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. (Psalm 55:1-5) Night after night, you have come to God and still He has not answered your prayer. Each day the phone rings and the bill collectors hound you. Another bill comes in the mail and you don’t know where you are going to come up with the money to pay it. You wonder why God allows you to live like this, in fear and anger towards God that He doesn’t take care of things and make everything right. You spend another night in someone’s arms, lulling you into a sense of love, knowing that this is not what you want, but for the moment, it feels good and you are tired of hating life. You drink alcohol, take drugs, in an effort to numb the pain that you feel. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: The trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him since he delights in Him. (Psalm 22:6-8) Ever felt like people were looking at you and making fun of you? David did, but he continued to be faithful to the Lord and the Lord make him king. And from this man, his line, came Jesus, our Savior.
Being humble is a hard thing to do. Trusting in the Lord is hard. Have you ever waited for God to answer a prayer, and had to wait for years for the answer to come? Moses did, he waited for 40 years in another country that was not his own and then had to take the Israelites wandering in the desert for another 40 years. Have you ever heard God tell you to go somewhere or do something, and just listened to God and did what He told you to do. Abraham did, he left his home and God promised him that his descendants would be more than the stars in the sky. Do you know that you are one of Abraham’s descendants? Have you ever shouted out, ‘Where are You God? Why don’t You answer me? You are not alone. Jesus did, upon the cross. The Father abandoned His Son, for our sins. For the nights in someone’s arms which we should not have been. For the coat, the book, the pen, which we have taken, for murder, for the lies, the greed, the lust, the adultery that has filled our lives, for the gossip, the folly, the evil thoughts, malice, deceit, addictions, the sins which have hurt ourselves and have hurt others, He, Jesus, took them upon Himself and the Father abandoned the Son for us!
And for this gift, His life for ours, God wants you to choose to come and to build a personal relationship with Him. He will not make you, you must make yourself. You must be still and know that I AM God. The way to the Lord is narrow and few chose it, but it is a road well worth taking. Spend a moment with God and build upon those moments. Chose to pray instead of allowing TV to fill you. Let God fill your life. Know this, the road has many bumps, and it has a lot of big craters, and sometimes the road has collapsed and is gone. The evil one does all he can to distract you from the fact that Jesus has already paid for your sin. The seed of Christ has been implanted into your soul. Don’t allow the trials of life to hold you back and to stop trusting in the Lord. As a Christian, there are going to be times when you fall, even when the road seems smooth. Each bump, each hole, each trial is designed to help us to increase our faith and trust in the Lord. And we will repeat them until we have learned our lesson. It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as we keep on trying. We must learn to stop resisting and playing ‘God’ and allow God to teach us and bring us into full measure for our faith.
Jesus’ Words teach us the way. When He was transfigured up on the mountain with Moses and Elijah coming to Him, when His disciples awoke, they wanted to build shelters for all three. But the Father had other plans. Moses and Elijah are prophets, telling of GOD, but JESUS is the way, the truth and the life. And the Father told the disciples and He tell us to focus on what Jesus says. Listen to Him. The Father took away the old and showed us that it is through Jesus that will bring us into pure faith and love with Him. The Bible is God’s love letter to us, showing us what we need to feel and know and to learn for our lives. But more importantly, it is believing in Jesus that brings us to the Father in heaven. The whole Bible is more than an instruction book. Too many people focus on the instructions and law instead of the amazing love that GOD is teaching through His Word. Every word of the Bible is important, but every word of Jesus is the most important, and in Him, is the way, the truth and the life. Every step is worth it, everything that we learn from the Scriptures will teach us, and most importantly, every quiet time that we spend with God will teach us His way for our lives. It’s through perseverance, continuance that God sees that our life is transformed. The Bible is a book about faith and how to grow in faith. It is learning about faith in God and in His promises, in His way, His truth and His life. Faith doesn’t happen only one day, it’s a daily thing, for our entire life. God will reward your prayer, your perseverance, and your continuance in learning from Him. Many are called but few are chosen. It’s not just a matter of God choosing you, but of you choosing God. He forgave all our sins on the cross, and it’s up to us to choose to accept this gift.
Faith is a life changing, lifelong experience, one that you must continually do. You can’t playact your faith, expecting God to believe that you believe, it must be real. You must work at changing from your old life to your new. God accepts you as you are when you come to Him, but in order to live out our faith, we have to come to God as children. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:3)It takes nine months for a child to come into this world, and 18 more (well, I do know some who are still growing up and they are in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’s…) to grow and develop into the person that we are to be. Parents are to teach their children in the way of the Lord. Sadly, many choose not to. Their faith is not strong and they have been blinded by the evil one. Ministers and Pastors are there to teach you but it has more of an effect on people if a Christian lives a life that is according to what Jesus speaks of in the Bible. As Christians, we are all, including and more importantly, ministers, priests and pastors, (for we are held up to a higher standard because we accepted this gift from God) to bear good fruit. Anyone can be blinded by the evil one if they get lazy in their faith. God doesn’t want us to be lazy or lukewarm, or to playact being a Christian. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Revelations 3:1-3)
The evil one is no longer lurking in the shadows. He has come out into the open and is destroying lives. The evil one employs many in his army, and is trying to take away our Christian way of life. The evil one is there on your TV, in the classrooms of our children, on the street corners, in our government, demanding equal rights for those who follow his commands. Satan is bringing confusion to the world because we have become so lazy. Wake up! Strengthen your faith. If you choose God, then don’t allow the evil one to continue spreading his lies. Pray, and pray hard. Spend time with God and not with the evil one being seduced by the sexual immorality, the greed, the lust, the gossip, the adultery, the lies, the folly, the malice, that he spreads. If you choose to give up on God and lead your life leading others in sin, then you willingly have chosen to give up this gift that God has given to you. That road does not lead to heaven.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I AM! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
(Revelations 3:19-22)
So open the door and let Jesus in.
