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.

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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,

“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,

Great News! My Little Chats With God  is now available as a print book. Find it at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303

I’m really excited about this! I pray that many people will be blessed and inspired by this little book. If you have someone with a birthday coming up, this would be a great present for them.

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”  Proverbs 11: 25Proverbs 11: 25
English: World English Bible - WEB
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

When I think about it, Lord, it seems that this is one of the few laws of life that is almost universally accepted. It seems that every society on earth has some form of it: the Golden Rule, karma, what-goes-round-comes-round. No matter what it’s called, the principle is the same: what you sow is what you will reap. Almost everyone accepts that.

So why is it, Lord, that just as it is almost universally accepted, it is also almost universally ignored? I mean, if everyone who says they believe this principle acted like they believe it, it would be almost heaven on earth. Everyone would be nice to other people, expecting others to be nice back to them. No-one would harm anyone else, recognizing that to do so would be to invite harm back on themselves. Everyone would be helpful, courteous, respectful, kind, efficient and generous, believing that others would then display the same virtues toward them.

But it’s not like that, Lord. People don’t act like they believe the principle of sowing and reaping. They act as if they can sow whatever they please, and still reap a harvest of sweet smelling roses. Instead of people “doing to others as they would have others do to them” we have people “doing others before the others have a chance to do them.” Most of the time, even when someone tries to sow kindness and helpfulness, those on the receiving end get suspicious and accuse them of only acting out of selfish motives.

Yet this law really is unbreakable. When you do something nice for someone - particularly if they weren’t expecting it - you don’t even have to wait for something nice to come back to you. Just the smile on their face is a reward, and even if they are grouchy and ungracious, there is a sort of internal self-hug that comes when you know you have done right.

Lord, help me to always be someone who encourages, builds up and helps others. Help me to be someone who doesn’t just say I believe the principle of sowing and reaping, but who lives accordingly.

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,

“Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.” Mark 14:4-5Mark 14:4-5
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? ⁵ For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, ³⁰⁰ denarii was about a years wages for an agricultural laborer. and given to the poor.” They grumbled against her.

I really don’t understand the attitude of these guys, Lord. It’s not as if they were falling over themselves to give to the poor normally. In fact, if Mary had given the bottle of perfume to them instead of pouring it on You, I’m betting they would have been hunting for an excuse to not spend it on the poor.

What got up their noses was that someone was lavish in her expression of love toward You - far more lavish than they were prepared to be.

Why is it that some people consider anything that is given unreservedly to You to be wasted? They think that a life spent in Your service is wasted; that time spent worshipping You is wasted; that money given for Your kingdom is wasted.

Yet, as she did when she sat at Your feet while Martha bustled around in the kitchen, Mary had very much chosen the better part. She wasn’t indifferent to the needs around her, but she had determined that You were her first priority. It seems that, in every situation, she just couldn’t get enough of You.

Make me like Mary of Bethany, Lord. Cause me to be so totally besotted with You that I will gladly pour out my time, my energy, my possessions, my life for You. Help me to be extravagant in my love for You, no matter how much others may gripe about the “waste.”

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,