Little Chats With God

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace …
who say to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Isaiah 52:7Isaiah 52:7
English: World English Bible - WEB
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!

Lord, I have a picture of the people of the city waiting anxiously for news from the battle front. Has their king and his army been successful in defeating the enemy? Can they return to going about their day-to-day lives in peace and security? Or have they been defeated? Will a marauding horde come swarming over the hill at any moment now, ready to kill, rape, loot and capture?

Then they see the runner. Even from a distance, they can see that he is signaling victory. The enemy has been overcome. Life can go on. With a collective sigh of relief they embrace the runner, the bringer of good news.

Even in today’s wars, Lord, there is that sense of relief and joy when the news of victory comes, even though today the “runner” is more likely to be radio, television or the internet.

So, Lord, how come people don’t react the same way to the “runners” who bring the good news of the greatest victory of all - Your victory over satan, sin and death at Calvary. More often than not, they are treated as if they are bringing bad news rather than good, bondage rather than liberty.

But then, if you’re stuck in the enemy’s camp, I guess it’s hard to recognize that good news is good news. Maybe we better just keep running to bring it anyway, and hope that at least some of those to whom we go will get the message.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why so troubled within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.

Psalm 42:11Psalm 42:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, The saving help of my countenance, and my God.

Lord, I love it that Your Word is so honest. It doesn’t pretend that everyone who served You was up all the time. It records the down times, as well.

By the sound of this, the Psalmist was pretty down when he wrote it. He had been cut off from worship in the Temple, and feels as though You have cut him off. What’s more, he had to deal with the taunts of those who saw his predicament as a sign that You didn’t even exist, and that his faith in You was both unfounded and stupid.

All he could do was remember “the good old days”, and how he had delighted in being in Your presence.

I know where he was coming from. Lord, it’s really horrible when You go silent. There are times when Your presence seems to have retreated to the farthest corner of the universe, and my prayers don’t seem to even get as high as the ceiling. I beat myself up, trying to find what sin I have committed that has excluded me from Your presence. I feel forsaken, and I don’t understand why. At those times, I really understand this psalm.

Yet even in the midst of it, the psalmist sees something else. He gives himself this pep talk, reminding himself that You are still his God and Saviour. It’s like he’s saying to himself, “Even if you can see nothing, even if you can feel nothing, even if you can understand nothing, reach out by faith and take hold of the truth you know.”

Lord, my preference would be never to have to go through those dry times. But if I must go through them, help me, like the Psalmist, to continue to put my hope in You.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Ps 119:89Ps 119:89
English: World English Bible - WEB
LAMED ⁸⁹ Yahweh, your word is settled in heaven forever.

Lord, eternal is one of those concepts that it’s really hard for people to get their heads around. Maybe it was easier in the days of our grandfathers, when things moved more slowly and manfactured goods were built to last. But today … life moves so quickly, and years slip by before we have even gotten used to writing the new date. Then there’s the wonderful concept of “built in obselescence” - so often it’s cheaper to throw something away and get a new one than to have it repaired.

All of that adds up to a sense of temporariness: nothing lasts, everything changes, nothing is dependable.

Yet there, overriding it all, is Your Word. It doesn’t change or fluctuate. It’s not goint to become obsolete tomorrow, next week or next year - or in a billion years time. It’s not “here today, gone tomorrow.” It is eternal, just like You.

As with so many things about You, Lord, that can be either comforting or confronting, depending on where the hearer stands with You.

For those who know You, it is a comfort to know that Your promises re not “like piecrusts, made to be broken.” It means we can stand on firm ground, sure and unshakable. We are not going to get close to the goal posts, only to find that You have moved them again (as is so often the case with the words of men.)

For those who don’t know You, though, I guess it’s rather confronting to think that You are not going to back down; that You are not going to change Your standards just because society does; and that you are not going to allow individuals to be the “exception to the ruld”.

Lord, help me to rest in the sureness and unchangeability of Your Word.

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” Isaiah 42:8Isaiah 42:8
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 I am Yahweh, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.

Lord, I have heard people take verses like this and use them to suggest that You are some kind of egomaniac. I know that’s not the case, Lord … but I can kinda understand that reaction from people who don’t know You.

Why is it that You place such importance on people not worshiping other gods? After all, there are many today - as I’m sure there were in Isaiah’s day - who insist that there is only one god, and it doesn’t matter what you call him (or her), or how you represent him - we are still all worshiping that same god. You certainly don’t seem to share that viewpoint! You make it abundantly clear in Your Word that You do not consider Baal or any of the other deities worshiped in the ancient Middle East to be even remotely equal to You.

Could that be because all those gods turn the true order of things upside down? They are made by man - whether they are carved in stone or wood, or only in the minds and imaginations of people - therefore they reflect man’s image. You were not made by man: You are not the creation of either our minds or our hands. Rather, we were created by You in Your image.

There are a whole heap of problems when man creates god in our image. Firstly, we are finite, so a god created in our image cannot be infinite. We are temporal, so the god we create cannot be eternal. We are sinful, so god in our image cannot be holy. Our power is extremely limited, so god like us cannot be omnipotent. Our knowledge is limited, so the god we create cannot be omniscient.

Lets see … that leaves us with a god who is finite, temporal, unholy, and limited in both knowledge and power. Not much of a god, if you ask me! Not much use to mankind!

I guess that explains why You insist that we worship You, and You alone!

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the pride of the earth.” Isaiah 62: 6Isaiah 62: 6
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest,

Lord, I laugh every time I read these verses. If ever there was an invitation to nag You, this has gotta be it! You say to give you no rest - what a far cry that is from the people who say, “pray once, and then if you pray for the same thing again you are lacking faith.”

I think, too, of Your illustrations in the New Testament … the woman who kept nagging the unjust judge till he gave her justice, and the bloke who kept banging on his friend’s door in the middle of the night till the friend got up and gave him a loaf of bread. In both cases the message seems to be, “keep making a pest of yourself till you get what you want.”

Now, Lord, I know that the world has a saying that “it’s the squeaky door that gets the oil”, but I don’t quite understand why You would be like that. After all, You love us and want the best for us even more than we do. Particularly I don’t understand why You would be like that with things that You have already said that You want to do … like establishing Jerusalem, or establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. If it is Your will and purpose to do these things, then why don’t You just go ahead and do them? Why do You need us to nag You into it?

Something just occurred to me, though, Lord. From the beginning You wanted to reign on earth through man. You appointed us as Your vice-regents and gave us Your authority. Sure, we handed that to satan when we sinned - but that never changed Your purposes, did it? So, when You invite us to nag You like this, are You really inviting us to step into the position You called us to in the first place? Is it really more about moving us than about moving You?

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5

So often, Lord, we hear that expression, “Do as I say, not as I do.” People give voice to standards that they themselves do not observe, yet they expect to hold others to those standards. It’s so easy to separate our words and our actions - to say one thing and do something totally different.

But here You get to a much deeper level: the level of the heart and mind. Everything we do flows out of our attitude. Unlike our words, we cannot separate it from our actions.

Our attitude is the sum of how we think and feel about life, the universe and ourselves. If we think life owes us, that attitude will show through in everything we do. If we feel that our purpose is to love and serve You, that will also show through.

You say we are to cultivate an attitude that is the same as Your own. It’s not enough for us to speak Your words. Nor is it enough for us to “imitate” You - the very best imitation is only ever a good fake. No, You say it has to come from the heart and mind.

The question is, of course, how do we get there? You had the distinct advantage of not being encumbered by a sin nature, remember!

Ah, but even as I write that You remind me that You live within me by Your Spirit. He has Your nature and Your attitude, and He wants to live His life - Your life - through me. I don’t have to struggle and strain to make my life and my thinking conform to Yours. I just have to let the old life die and start living in the new life You have given me.

Sounds so easy … but not so easy to do! Lord, bring me to that place where I am dead to my own old attitudes, so that Your attitude can truly be expressed through me.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…

1 Thessalonians 5:111 Thessalonians 5:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

Lord, I get so tired of knockers. You know the ones I mean - the people who are always negative about everything. No matter what you’re doing, it’s not good enough. No matter what your plans, they haven’t got an ice cube’s hope in hell of succeeding. And if you’re feeling a bit down and say that you can’t do something, they will agree with you quickly and wholeheartedly. Just being around people like that pulls you down.

How refreshing it is to meet someone who, instead of knocking, lifts others up. Instead of seeing the negatives, they focus on the positives. Problems become opportunities. They appreciate your efforts, and recognize your talent even if it is only latent. They encourage you to believe that all your dreams can come true, and build you up to see more in yourself than you ever could.

I guess, Lord, that to be like that we have to be able to see people as You see them. It always amazes me to know that You can look at a drunk in the gutter, or a drug addict, or an habitual criminal, and see beyond what they are to what You created. It’s not that You are unaware of what people have done with their lives, or that You don’t hold them accountable. But as well as the present You see the past - the fact that You created them in Your image. And You see the potential future - what their lives could be, even now, if they turn to You and accept Your grace.

Lord, help me to see people through Your eyes, and seeing their potential to lift and encourage them to fulfill that potential, rather than knocking them down.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

 “… You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you …” 1 Samuel 23:171 Samuel 23:17
English: World English Bible - WEB
17 He said to him, Don’t be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows.

 Lord, how sad this verse is in the light of what was to follow! Here were two young men with such enormous potential. And not only did they each have that potential, but they could recognize it in each other. They could have been such a strong team, each building on the other’s strengths and compensating for his weaknesses. As David’s right-hand man, Jonathan would surely have come into greatness himself; whilst he, in turn, might have been able to deflect David from some of his more foolish decisions.

 Of course, David went on to greatness anyway. Even though he never dishonored his family or his background, he managed to separate himself from them and become his own person; to find his own identity and destiny.

 Jonathan never quite managed to do that. In spite of his recognition of Your anointing on David’s life, and in spite of his personal love for David, he clung to his loyalty to his father and the old order of things. Never able to make the break and stand firm in his new loyalty to David, he instead remained with his father and suffered the same fate as him.

 I find that sad, Lord - how much more sad must You find it? But then, I think of so many people that I know today, and wonder whether they are really much different from Jonathan … people who can see clearly the kind of things that You want for Your Church, but hold back from moving into them … people who have such enormous potential, but choose to cling to the past and the old ways rather than growing into that potential.

 Lord, teach me when to hold on and when to let go. Help me to grow in a loyalty to You that overrides all other loyalties.

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say we shall be set free?” John 8:33John 8:33
English: World English Bible - WEB
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free?’”

Um, ’scuse me, Lord, but wasn’t someone missing something here? Weren’t these descendants of Abraham the same race that had been in Egypt for four hundred years? Sure, they started out there as honored guests, but that’s certainly no how they ended their time there. I seem to recall something about slaves being forced to make bricks for the Egyptians, and being flogged if they didn’t produce enough.

And weren’t they the same ones that had been carried into captivity in Babylon? As I remember, You had become fed up with calling them back to Yourself, and had handed them over to the nation whose gods they had chosen to worship. They were forced out of their homes and marched off to Babylon, away from both their country and the Temple. Sure sounds like slavery to me!

Wait a minute - weren’t they the same ones who, at the very time they were uttering these words, were very firmly under the heel of Rome? Let’s see … governed under Roman law, enforced by Roman Governors; forced to pay Roman taxes; policed by Roman soldiers … maybe not quite slavery, but definitely not freedom!

And that’s before we even begin to consider their spiritual bondage …

It seems to me, Lord, that they were so totally caught up in pride because of their status as descendants of Abraham - a status that they only had because of Your grace in the first place - that they were blinded to the truth of their condition.

Lord, do I do that? Do I allow my relationship with You, or Your goodness to me, to become a pride issue that blinds me to my true condition? I don’t think I do … but if You ever think that I’m doing so, Lord, please give me a swift kick!

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

My times are in Your hands …

Psalm 31:15Psalm 31:15
English: World English Bible - WEB
15 My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

Lord, it seems we spend a lot of time thinking about the future. On a personal level, we think about what the future holds, whether our jobs will remain secure, whether we will be able to pass exams or to live reasonably comfortably in our retirement. On a global level, we think about things like global warming, Middle-East peace (an oxymoron, if there ever was one!) and the nuclear threat. These days the global economic crisis is added to the mix.

Of course, not all our thinking about the future is worry. Sometimes we are simply planning ahead, casting visions and setting goals. Things that are good and necessary if we are going to achieve anything in life.

Yet all our visions, all our plans, cannot guarantee us anything. A disaster could sweep them all away in an instant. Not only can we not see tomorrow, we have no guarantee that we will ever see tomorrow. If fact, we are not even guaranteed our next breath.

So, Lord, it’s good to know that even though the future is hidden from us, it is an open book to You. You have seen every one of our days. Nothing that happens tomorrow, next year, or a hundred years from now, will take you by surprise.

It’s good to know that even though I make plans, my future security does not depend on my plans. My times are in Your hands. Thank You, Lord.

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,