The Purpose and Benefit of This Journal
The purpose of this meandering series of daily posts is primarily to vent my own feelings as I go (mentally) through my day. It is therapeutic and – perhaps – it may help someone else who reads these words and experiences similar thoughts as I, to deal in a positive way with them. Whoever knows what soul in need he may help?
So Let’s Get Started!
“And God said, Let there be light…” (Gen. 1.3) As God went through the six days of Creation, willing and commanding things into existence that were not yet there, so I hope that God will, in this journal, choose to will, first of all, light to spring unimpeded from its cloak of non-being into the realm of glorious visibility.
Dear God, from this point forward in this project, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT!’
Tuesday 6/14/2011 9:30 AM
The day is still in its infancy and I feel shortchanged already. Usually my wife Pat will wake me at 6 AM and we will join in a telephone conference prayer meeting with our church for an hour. As usual, when 6 o’clock arrived I was sleeping – and she let me sleep! (This is surely not a positive way to start one’s day! Please read paragraph immediately below.)
It upset me a little that my wife let me oversleep… But there are two or three things I have learned by being saved and being married:
1) There’s no point in getting uptight about some spiritual matter in which you both sincerely believe;
2) if you both love God, it seems ridiculous to argue over something that is meant to draw you both — as one person – closer to the Savior, not alienate you from Him; and
3) if you love your wife, show her that you love her… and let go of all the petty bickering. There really is such a thing as love and peace in a marriage!
Frankly I am not a corporate prayer devotee, but that certainly does not mean that I don’t believe it is important… far from it. And I am sorry I missed my prayer session with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Only a few saints at my home assembly of Faith Covenant Church (pastor – Bishop Mark Moore) know me; most have never seen me, but they pray for me as I do for them. That’s what love and fellowship are all about.
Tuesday 6/14/2011 8:00 PM
Waiting for Pat to come home… Got some time to think and meditate. I have this notion that is certainly not unusual for a child of God: We all have our niche carved out for us in this life and the niche is, in a measure, determined by circumstances and our personal temperaments. When a child of God is relatively free to do what he sets his mind to do during the day (as I am), it would be a sin to waste talent and time on the boob tube or talking aimlessly on the phone all day. I don’t want to go off on a foolish tangent and view these things as sinful – not everything that brings pleasure in life is sinful – but there is a work God has for each of us to do and there also happens to be a God into whose presence we should want to come in sweet meditation – these items take priority over any optional worldly pleasures… Think of the many people who need prayer… we have in our midst so many hurts and heavy hearts… there is much for me to do in addition to my writing. God has been so very good to me in that He does not let me lack for something to do and someone to pray for.
NOTE: I have just now received an e-mail informing me of someone else in dire need of the Master’s touch. I know that, of myself, I can’t help them, so as soon as I can, I will take both the urgent need and my spiritual sibling to the Lord in prayer. The need can’t wait, so until I have the time, I will pray as I go about my daily business – what else can I do? I have a brother/sister calling for help…
I have two prayer lists. Each one is long and my memory at this point in life is very fragile, shattering into a hundred useless pieces when encountering the smallest obstacle. Furthermore the “weight” of the two lists is heavy, but God is sufficient for every situation. I print out one of the lists from time to time as specific situations change and as prayers are answered (and, yes, an occasional death does occur! Faith in Christ does not do away with the curse of sin – physical death). These ebbs and flows of life make it necessary to update my Prayer Burdens list occasionally. I often have this list close at hand as I pray to jog my faulty memory; and God understands and he hears my “effectual, fervent prayer” and answers in His own way and His own time.
Our responsibility is not to answer our own prayers. That is God’s duty; all we are required to do is believe and do whatever we can to facilitate the answer. Then we pray … and pray …and pray. If you are uncertain as to the will of God in the matter, review the situation: 1) Are you a child of God? 2) Is your petition in line with the will of God? 3) Do you have faith that God will answer?
If you can answer Yes to all three questions, then continue to believe and pray… and pray …and pray. Remember Jesus’ parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge (Luke 18.1-8). The Judge did not fear God or regard men, but he finally granted the widow’s petition because she wearied him with her constantly pressuring him for a definitive answer to her petition. If the Unjust Judge could answer the widow’s petition for such a trivial reason, surely a righteous God can answer out of the abundance of His love for His children.
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