Beyond Ourselves

Have you ever needed an architect; someone to help you design your home, office, or some other building? In Hebrews 11:10, we’re told that Abraham needed an architect, and guess who he sought? He “

was looking for the city which has foundations, whose ARCHITECT and builder is God.  

Isn’t that fun to think about?!  Abraham. Looking. For a city built by God. It is amazing! And, do you recall what Jesus told the disciples in John 14:2? “I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus is preparing a place for us! We can learn from Abraham. What can we learn? To not set our hope on what we can build on earth; be it a house, career, whatever. That’s not where we’ll find our true life and joy. Those things are temporal. Jesus tells us not to store up treasures on earth, but rather to store up treasure in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21) How do we do that? We set our minds on the things above. (Colossians 3:2) We love God first and foremost above all. (Exodus 20:3) If we realize we’ve been focused on building a life for ourselves on earth rather than building up the kingdom of God, it’s not too late to make the switch to a heavenly focus.

Jesus, we praise You, our Lord and Architect of our salvation. Fill us with a renewed awe that You are preparing a place for us. Help us focus more on You. Teach us ways we can set our minds on you. 

Prayers of My Heart character trait to journal and praise God: Architect.

Have you ever wanted to approach someone to visit or discuss an issue, or maybe just to be near them, but felt the person was unapproachable?  Maybe you felt you weren’t good enough. Isn’t it incredible that our approaching God has nothing to do with our goodness? As a matter of fact, we’re not good enough to approach Holy God. So how can we get to Him? Psalm 65:4 NKJV explains. “

Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts.

Our Heavenly Father is APPROACHABLE not because we’re good, but rather because Jesus opened the way for us to enter His presence through Christ. GOD. APPROACHABLE. Grace. Learn more HERE.

LORD, thank You for being an APPROACHABLE GOD to whom we can come through Christ’s cleansing blood. 

DISCOVERING HIS PASSION – Care about others. Share with them the good news of God’s grace. This study guide will prepare you. 

Do you like tips on money management, tips on gardening, tips on home organizing, or on some other topic. We do well to pay attention to proven tips. They help us do things smarter and in a more meaningful way.  Hebrews 3:1 gives us a spiritual tip.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

What kind of a tip is that? The word consider in this verse means to “fix your thoughts.” In other words, as partakers of a heavenly calling, we’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we wake in the morning. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we get bad news. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we face a difficult decision. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus… all the time. Why? When we look at Jesus and consider Him, we are more likely to act like partakers of a heavenly calling than if we look at our situation from an earthly perspective and feel overwhelmed, panic, worry, or perhaps even gloat or feel prideful. If you’re not convinced this is a good tip, I encourage you to try it.  You’ll discover that considering Jesus, fixing your thoughts on Him, ushers into your life increased hope, assurance, and purpose.   

Jesus, Apostle and High Priest of our confession, help us remember that our confession of You as Lord and Savior makes us partakers of a heavenly calling. Help us walk out our calling well by considering (fixing our thoughts on) You.

It makes me smile to think about where and when Christ spoke the words in Luke 4:18, 

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

When did Jesus say these words? He had just returned from being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He was led by the Spirit in the power of the Spirit.” (Luke 4:14) What was His first Spirit-anointed task following His victory over Satan’s temptations? He went home…to Nazareth. I love that. And get this –

…as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

This is a good place for us to pause and ask ourselves, “Is it our custom to gather with believers to read and hear the Scriptures? Are we raising our children with the custom of gathering with believers to hear the Word of God? If it was what God’s ANOINTED Lord Jesus did, it’s what I want to do. I’d have hated to have missed Jesus speaking in the synagogue that day. I’d hate to miss Him speaking today as I gather with others to worship Him and hear the reading/teaching of His Word.

Jesus, we praise You, ANOINTED Lord and Savior. Thank You for Your words and Your example of the Spirit-led life.

Prayers of My Heart character trait of Jesus to record in your journal and praise Him for: Anointed. Prayer to pray: Anoint me with Your Spirit to do Your will.

“Hey, Buddy.” We’re often quite chummy with people, even if while social distancing or on the phone. Some parents even call their children, “buddy.” We love to quote Matthew 11:19 that Jesus was a “friend of sinners.” But let’s not forget that the “friend of sinners” is gloriously exalted and seated at the right hand of God. Prayerfully visualize Daniel 7:9-10.

I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.
And were presented before Him.”

The Son of Man may be our friend and God our Abba Father, but based on Scripture, a casual “buddy” reverence isn’t how I visualize our relationship with God. Our Lord is the all powerful, holy, Ancient of Days. Are we daily worshipping Him? Are we sharing Him with others? Are we ready for His return?

ANCIENT of DAYS, glorious One, forgive us when we don’t show You holy reverence. Help us live more for You and less for ourselves. Use us to witness to others about Your saving grace.

Prayers of My Heart character trait to record: Ancient of Days.

Do you wish you could do something positive to help? Help what?  Anything! Help mend a relationship. Help tone down the anger among people. Help people turn their eyes to the Lord. All of those are big Christian actions and all of them are needed. How might you do them? Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. How? When does He prompt? In our hearts. In our minds. But best as I can tell, we have to have alone time with Him to develop our relationship, to learn His voice, to know His ways. Our heart has to be in the right place – one of worship. We have to want Him more than we want our “own time” or sin or habits or laziness. He says, “If you seek me..” (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; Acts 17:24-28)  If we haven’t been so close to God that we know His voice and experience His prompts, it’s not too late to get close to Him, to learn His voice and be used by Him. Christ called Paul in the midst of his trip to arrest Jews who had started following Christ. The Lord spoke to Abraham when he was 99 years old. Genesis 17:1-2 says, “

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God ALMIGHTY; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.’”

Ninety-nine and God ALMIGHTY says, I’m the “most powerful God who holds sway over all things. Walk blameless before Me.” It’s never too late to open our ears, minds, and hearts to God ALMIGHTY. It’s never too late to say, “Hold sway over my heart.” It’s never too late to be used for God’s purposes. Will we seek Him? Will we ask Him to hold sway over our hearts? Will we learn His voice and obey His prompts? Make the move today toward a closer, more intimate walk with God.

ALMIGHTY God, forgive us for busying ourselves with things of the world that are meaningless in view of eternity and people’s souls. Forgive us for closing our hearts rather than opening them to Your powerful sway. We ask now, “Hold sway over my heart so I walk blamelessly before You.”

*Excerpt from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion- a timely read for 2022. 

Have you ever been startled to see someone you didn’t expect? There have been a number of times that my husband has startled me and I assure you, I jumped. Considering how we may have been startled by someone we didn’t expect, can you imagine how startling it was for the disciple John to unexpectedly see the ascended Lord Jesus in heaven? John was on the island of Patmos when he was suddenly taken into Christ’s presence. What was his response? He fell at Jesus’s feet like a dead man. Revelation 1:18 records what Jesus said to John,

I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,…”

John had seen Christ crucified and buried. He had seen the resurrected Christ. He had seen Jesus ascend in the clouds into heaven. But to Jesus alive in heaven and to hear Jesus explaining that He is alive forevermore had to be more startling than we can imagine. If your today looks unbearable and you dread tomorrow, don’t. A day of glorious eternal LIFE awaits you in the presence of Jesus. In the meantime and while we are still on earth, find comfort knowing that Jesus is alive in heaven. Find comfort knowing that He knew where John was and He knows where you are. Find comfort knowing that Jesus is mindful of you, just like He was John. Believe. 

LORD JESUS CHRIST, we praise You, who died for us, are alive forevermore, and are mindful of where we are.