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Monday, May 11,
2009
Give And Take
Mark 11:22-24 And Jesus answering saith
unto them, Have faith in God. (23) For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he
saith. (24) Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (KJV)
Have you ever had a prayer, or are currently
in the process of praying, and now you are holding fast to a desire you
took to the Lord? I am sure we all have, and continue to seek things from
the Lord that we believe are a benefit to our walk with Him; like the
removing of a hindrance that has held us back from moving forward in our
walk. So not only did you pray about this need, but now you see that you need
to hold fast the profession of faith without wavering so that you can
receive your answer.
Psalms 145:16-19 Thou openest thine hand,
and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. (17) The LORD is righteous
in all his ways, and holy in all his works. (18) The LORD is nigh unto all
them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. (19) He will
fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and
will save them. (KJV)
You know, when you were a child (even as
far back as to the infant stage) you had many needs that required immediate
attention for you to live and grow. As you grew and matured, to whom much
was given, then there was much expected in return. As we see the Lord
promises to fulfill the desire of His people, so it’s good on His end. Now
the focus or responsibility shifts back to our end as well, learning how to
receive the things of God and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. (KJV)
Thayer’s definition for ‘will’:
2307
thelema-
1) what one wishes or has determined
shall be done
a) of the purpose
of God to bless mankind through Christ
b) of what God
wishes to be done by us, commands, precepts
2) will, choice, inclination, desire,
pleasure
As we see in the book of Matthew, when it
came time for the most important desire of anyone’s life, that being their
eternal inheritance into the kingdom of God, it says many will not be
granted access to what was theirs for the taking. Could it be that they
were so caught up and entangled with the affairs of this life and their own
carnal desires that they overlooked someone else’s desire for their lives,
that being a Spiritual one. You know, in a marriage if one or the other
party gets selfish and so focused on their own desires it’s not long before
they end up going separate ways. Well spiritually, many look to God for the
answer but how few look to return the favor by laying down their lives for
the brethren in Christ.
Luke 17:12-14 And as he entered into a
certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar
off: (13) And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have
mercy on us. (14) And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew
yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they
were cleansed. (KJV)
If you were to talk to any pastor, or
those that oversee a congregation of believers, you would find out that for
every person in their flock there would be their own personal prayer
requests and desires they are seeking from the Lord. As we see above, our
Lord encountered a group of believers as well and gave them the desire of
their heart.
Luke 17:14-19 And one of them, when he
saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, (16)
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a
Samaritan. (17) And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but
where are the nine? (18) There are not found that returned to give glory to
God, save this stranger. (19) And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy
faith hath made thee whole. (KJV)
Basically what we see in the above verses
is typical with many Christians, they come to the Lord in time of need
looking for a bailout, and then they bailout when they get what they desired,
and think they are in the clear. As we see in verse 19, the one that
returned to follow through with His commitment with the Lord was made
whole, while the others were off and running in the opposite direction,
headed for another fall.
Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not
unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (KJV)
How about a little give and take Church,
you know as urgent as you are to have the Lord respond on your behalf, how
diligent have you been to respond to His desire as well? Remember, with
what measure you give out is what is returned your way; so if not much is
happening and you sense that your prayers are not being heard, it may be
time to see if there is a request from our Lord that you haven’t responded
to first.
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