SHUT THE DOOR....Patz's Message 1/29/12

MATTHEW 5:6

"When a woman bakes a cake, at some point, she has to close the oven door so the cake will actually bake." 


Before we can fight the darkness,  plant these churches or free the oppressed, we need to shut the door. 

Why is shutting the door so important:

1. It guards your heart against hypocrisy: There's a temptation to pray extra-spiritual prayers, but it's ok to pray short prayers, or to even use white out on some prayers. The devil doesn't want you to pray, and even if you do pray, he wants you to pray in a way that isn't really heartfelt. Jesus said, when you pray be careful that you don't babble.

When you go into the secret place, rote memorization becomes real.  The secret place is where you get rid of the hypocrisy of having to please people.

Secrecy is the antidote for the hypocrisy gene that we have.


2. Shutting the door saves my mind from complexity: In a world when there's so much going on around you, Jesus said, shut the door! You've turned off the cell phone, you're not looking at your emails, it's just you and fazher. 


Shutting the door is like your Sabbath, it's where you find your rest.


"Jesus is a better Savior than you are a sinner." So, when you say, "I'm not faithful" that's exactly why you need him.

If you don't shut the door, you're gonna work so hard and you're never gonna find your rest. 

3. Your heart needs you to shut the door because that's what leads you to your Father:
There's a way in which God manifests himself in the secret place in a way that he doesn't manifest in another place.

Mike's example of Isaiah sneaking a cell phone away to say hi and get his buddy to talk to Mike.
"I love this kid so much, he has this curly hair and this little lisp...sometimes when he's asleep, I just touch his hair or speak into his ear 'Isaiah, your Father loves you."

What if your Father in heaven feels this way about you? I like my son's hair, Jesus, apparently has numbered your hairs..."number one, number two..."

Behold the manner of love the Fathe has bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of God.

Hebrews 4:16, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.

I don't know how Jesus did this, but  after sweating blood, going to the cross and praying "Father forgive him" he made the throne of justice a throne of grace. Now when you approach , you don't approach on your own righteousness, you approach because of that one who died.

Shut the door, not because you're worthy, but because he is. Not because you're a better sinner, but b/c he's a better savior.

Shutting the door is not a command, it's an invitation.

Psalm 18: 6-7

"In my distress I called to the Lord. I called to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice, my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountain shook; they trembled because he was angry."

Medidation
These are such crazy verses. I love them. The image of me, or David, calling out to God in distress and having him respond with such passion and anger on my behalf. I guess it's the way any parent would respond to their child's cry for help when being attacked by bullies...I don't have any kids yet, but I can just imagine my indignation and anger. I felt a littlebit of it when i found out my nephew was being buillied; my whole body got tight and uncomfortabale because of how outraged I was on his behalf. I imagine that's how God must feel, but more. It's such a beutiful thought to know that the most powerful, awesome person allows my cry to come before his holy throne; among a crowd of beggers and praisers and whatever else, he hears me and attends to my requests. Moreover, he doesn't just respond, he feels deeply my distress and is angry on my behalf. Kind'a reminds me of that verse: "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord."

Application
Lord I'm distressed about work. Not full out worry or anything, but still, I'm a little concerned. I don't know why I don't seem to get promoted. I don't know why I haven't gotten any trials; I'm a little nervous and scared at the prospect of them, but I know that I need to do them, that's the whole reason I took this job in the first place. And yet, here I am, preparing case after case, and nothing goes. Worse than that though, I've got the dissapointment of this JOA hanging over my head.

My application of this verse is now, right here. I'm in distress Lord, about this situation, and also about my parent's medical condition. I'm in distress and I'm crying out to you. And as I cry out right now, I am assured by your word because I know that you hear my voice from your temple and that you care and respond, one way or another, I know you hear me and care.

Memorization
In my distress, I called to the Lord. I called to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice, my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked and the foundations of the mountain shook; they trembled because he was angry.

Psalm 18: 2-5

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me."

Meditation
I: not somebody else, not my friend, or my mom, or my sister
Will: I'll do it, not gonna leave it to chance, going to will myself
Call: I'll cry out for you Lord, I'll say your name and ask for you
Upon the Lord: I'll cry out for you, not for anything else to save me, just you, b/c you alone are Lord
Who is worthy to be praised: I'll call upon you because you are God, and you inspire praise in every situation just by the fact of your Deity and also by your wonderful acts
So: in this way, and this is the only way
Shall I: It's not a matter of question or a matter of chance, it's a sure thing
Be saved: you will deliver me, you will rescue me
From my enemies: from everything that is against me, from the orchestrations of hell, from the traps of my flesh, from the people who seek to do me evil



Application
If I was in this situation, I don't know what I would do right now. If death encompassed me and "sorrows of hell" were all around me, I'm not sure how I would stand. God, I need to learn to call upon you more often. When I am at work faced with a distressing situation, when I am in bed struggling with my flesh to get up and seek you....That's when I need to call upon you. Even if these things aren't as serious as death, they're still my enemies seeking to rob me of joy and of my communion with you. Stress and laziness are my enemies. 
And in the future, when i am scared and facing a situation like death I will also call upon you and be confident in the fact that I will be saved.

Memorization
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 

Thanksgiving Psalms, Psalm 18: 1-2

Thanksgiving Psalms
18, 21, 30, 32*, 34, 40:1-11, 66:13-20, 92, 108*, 116, 118, 138
http://www.crivoice.org/psalmtypes.html

A study based on Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods (Devotional Study Form)

I love you Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  Psalm 18:1-2

Meditation

I love the Lord, so much because among other things, he is the strength of my life. He is my source of life and the reason life is worthwhile.

Application

My actions speak louder than my words. If the Lord really is the strength of my life and I love him as I say, then I need to be communing with him every day. If he is my source of life and the reason that life is made worthwile, then why no speak to him and draw from his strength and goodness? I need to make a strong resolution to seek you. I will wake up tomorrow to pray as well.

Memorization
I love you Lord, my strength.  Psalm 18:1

Have You An Arm Like God's?...

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase them. Look on all who are proud and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together, bind their faces in the world below. Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory. (Job 40:8-14)


Awesome. Awesome, and marvelous. God that is all that I can really say, not many words left. How long have I missed this? For too long. Job apparently hadn't found out either b/c afterwards he says he didn't really know you. Or perhaps he forgot. God I want to know this side of you.  I want to say as he did:


Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know...I had heard of thee by hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes...

I Want Understanding

Dear Lord, I am getting so frustrated. Lately I've been having this persistent desire to really, really study your word. I am so tired of just accepting what people say, of hearing the incessant debates about scripture interpretation and application without really knowing what's true. On top of that, I keep thinking of all the verses that say that we are to study your word. But I don't even know where to begin. Everytime I try to do it, I get bogged down by controversy and disputes in the text. Today's reading of Matthew 1 is an example; I never knew the  reference to Isaiah 7:14 of Jesus' virgin birth had caused so much discord.  But in all honesty, it is onfusing to me. Isaisah 7:14 is talking about a child who learnd right from wrong. But Jesus knew no wrong, he was sinless! So how do I make sense of it all? God, please, please, keep me from inerrant doctrine. Keep me from bogus claims. Lead me in your truth, teach me your word God. I want  want to hide your words in my heart and I want to understand your precepts and follow them. Here is my request of you Lord, according to your word:

• Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45) God open my mind.
• Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Timothy 2:7) Give me insight, help  me to reflect please.
• They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. Show me the meaning of your word so that I can understand it.
• My heart will utter words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding." (Psalm 49:3) Let my heart be filled with wisdom and understanding of your ways.
• Give me understanding and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with all my heart. (Psalms 119:34) Father, I want to know you so that I can honor you.
• Your testimonies are righteous forever. Give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119:144) Father, I know your word is life, it is bread, it is sustenance. I want to live.
• My son, if you accept my words, and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you look for it as for silver, and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and the kowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:1-6) God, I accept your words, I turn my ear to you and want to apply my heart to understanding.  Givce me wisdom, knowledge of you.
• Let my cry come before you, Yahweh. Give me understanding according to your word. (Psalm 119:169)

Ran into this one too; awesome scripture. "and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability andknowledge in all kids of crafts--" Exodus 31: 1

Seek me that you may live...

"For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel. Seek me that you may live." What a scripture. Dear Lord, I came across it today along with this one: "Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually."

And this one, "But seek first his kingdom and his righeousness and all these things will be added to you."

And this one, "I rejoice in the following of your statutes as one rejoices in great riches."

So much time. We humans spend so much time seeking wealth, respect, education, jobs, money, approval, diversions. Oh God, that I would seek you. How stupid it all is, we spend so much time seeking after all these other things when all the goodness of life is found in you. Hidden in you. God I want to seek you. I want to rejoice in your voice, your word, your spirit more than I rejoice in the other things of this life that you have given me. And when it's all said and done, and I go on in this life, from day to day, I want to find you there too. In my daily life-in my work, in my school, in my marriage, in the way I eat and lie down. I want to follow your statutes with the things you give me.

Help me to find your joy as I do these things today.  That I would find your strength: the joy of the Lord in my daily walk!  Open my eyes to see the joy that you bring and the fullness of life that comes from doing your will. Today God. As I prepare for this last exam, in being a wife to my husband and a good friend to my best friend. Help me to find joy in whatever you bring my way today as I follow your statutes Lord.  And help me to hide the treasure of your kingdom deep in my heart.
Thank you for your word, it is a lamp unto my feet, but more than that, it's a compass that redirects my path when I start to veer off.

Pending Bible Studies

I don't really have much to write right now. I'm tired. Just tired. I'm also realizing that I'm having a hard time lifting my finals to you. I haven't prayed in a while, just been following this schedule like a bee. I haven't read my Bible in weeks either.  But today, I just had to take a minute. Got Jason Upton's song "In Your Presence" playing. The thought of you alone calms me Lord. Thank you. Anyways, I'm not really writing to blog right now. I just wanted to note down a couple of Bible study topics that have been itching at me for a while even though I can't really get into them right now. Either way, I wanted to write them down here so I can come back to it once finals end. God please give me the time, give me the discipline to make it a habit to study your word. That my excuse of finals right now doesn't turn into another excuse.

1. Deuteronomy-some hidden jewels in here it, Ch. 8 alone blew me away.
2. Matthew Bible Study w/ that new bible study Web site.
3. Faith-I'm all confused about what it means now that I saw that video on Faith Movement, IDK what i'm supposed to belive about the way you operate and what my role is in believing you.

Yet I Will Rejoice in The Lord...

K, so I'm back. I keep remembering this verse I read a few days ago. It attached to my heart and I can't quite seem to shake it off.. Even while I try to read the chapters assigned to my reading plan, Habakkuk 3:17 just keeps coming to mind. It's just so beautiful.

Though the fig tree should not blossom.
Nor fruit be on the vine.
 Though the produce of the olive fail.
And the fields yield no food.
Though the flock be cut off from the fold.
Though there be no herd in the stalls;
yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
 I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength.
He makes my feet like the deer's.
He makes me tread on my highplaces.

The last verse is the clincher. I WILL TAKE JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION. That pretty much sums it up for me. I will take joy in you Lord; I want to be that person who takes joy in you and everything else is just extra. Help me take joy in you, make me take joy in you God. Show me your greatness, remind me of your awesome glory and neverending love so that no matter what happens in my life, no matter whether I have a groundbreaking quiet time or not, no matter whether David is being sweet, no matter how overwhelmed I am with work, how scared I may feel at points about everything I'm gonna do this semester...I can take joy in you and remember that YOU, YOU ALONE are my strength. And with you, I will tread on highplaces no matter what life looks like, no matter my circumstances or what I see. I have you and that is my highplace. Always.

Bible Reading.. Doesn't Feel Like Revelation Today...

Not sure I know what to get from my reading today. In Mattew 1, I read about how Mary became pregnant while engaged to Joseph and of how the Holy Spirit told Joseph not to leave her because the baby in  her womb had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Later on, in Acts Ch. 1, I read about how the disciples decided who would be Judas' successor by drawing straws.

In reading Matthew, I know i'm missing a lot.  A lot of the shock and emotion that Mary and Joseph must have both felt. The story reads a lot more plainly than it could have happened and I have trouble grasping the significance of it.

In reading Acts, I started to think about the whole practice of casting lots.  It would be a lot easier if I could just cast lots for major decisions in my life like the apostles did; I almost decided to start doing this as practice.  Then I researched the topi a bit and found some debate on whether this was good practice today or not; the gist of the argument against it was that we have the Holy Spirit and the word of God which abides in us so we no longer need to cast lots. Sounded like a valid point, but I'm still not sure it completely does away with the possibility that casting lots is a good idea. I think I'll just wait till I read more in Acts to see how the apostles made their decision after the day of pentecost.

So...that's that. I'm a little restless and frustrated because I feel like I'm not getting enough out of the scriptures. I keep thinking there's more, some hidden treasure in what I'm reading, but so far I haven't had any major eureka. So, God, what do you want me to do with this quiet time today? Should I keep reading, keep researching, should I worship, should I just stay quiet, is there something you wnat to tell me? I don't know. I'm not sure. But I don't want to come out the same as I came in. Can you fill me please? Revive your Holy Spirit within me today?

Disperse

So I'm reading Genesis. Of course I'm confused. It's hart do read the Bible. One of the passages that especially caused me to pause today was the story of the tower of Babel. It just didn' seem like it was something to read and just look over.  Later, as I researched and thought, you struck me. You'd said to "disperse" and to populate the earth.  You told them to spread out, not just stay in one place with one people. Yet, it seems that human tendency is to bind together to those you know.  And so they decided not to be scattered.  Funny, how we do that today. How this tendency is still evident throughout the world. People refuse to go out where you send them to, to mix with those you tell them to mix with, to go out into all the world. And we discriminate, bind together in our little social orders and try to look down/separate ourselves from those how are not like us. God, I don't want to be like that. If you want me to scatter, lead me and help me.  I want to be fruitful.

Dear Lord, today I just want to ask that you would be with me. Please fill me with your spirit, envelope my life today with your grace. There's so much work to do. I almost didn't take time out to pray b/c it feels like I have so much to do that there is no time. But there is always time for you. Time is yours. You make it slow down and speed up for your cause.  Please help me find this stuff, help me finish this paper today. Give me your creative genious, order my thoughts. Make my thoughts productive and efficient. Help me to honor you and bring you glory. And in the midst of this day where all I see are letters on a page, and read about all the reasons the world is messed up, as I "study", help me to see you. Somehow. Make my time of study more than just that. I love you. I love you. I love you Lord. It's so good to know you. To have your assurance to have your protection. Your security.

Please forgive me for the things I've said, for the way I've spoken this week. I know I haven't spoken life at times. Cleanse my lips. Make them sing your praise and only your praise.

. So I started to research and

Why the Flood?

Dear Lord, why did you bring the flood? Why destroy the people you'd just made?...Because they were wicked I know, but why didn't you put into place the salvation plan of Jesus then? Why did you start over if you knew we would need to be saved again in the end anyways? Why was it necessary to destroy everything? I don't understand and I don't want to google it. I want you to tell me. Can I approach your throne of grace boldly with this? I love you. I believe everything you do is good and just.That's who I've known you to be in my life. I'll wait for an answer.

Good night my savior. I love you. Please reveal yourself to me tomorrow and let me see you.

..."Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it..."

I love you God. Thank you for everything, for your presence yesterday, for using me. What an awesome revelation, as Mother Theresa said, "I am a pen in the hands of a loving God." (yes, I remembered that from your post Ms. Jackson). I have found that I am a trumpet in the hands of a skilled and merciful God.  My voice, is not for my profit, for my praise, it's for your honor for your glory and to draw your children close. Thank you God that I can be a vessel of honor in your hands. I want to be your vessel, and only a vessel.

Today, in breaks between studying (please help me God, I don't have strength or the will today to do it; I feel overwhelmed) I decided to do this, and to listen to your word. I came across this:

"Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it'"

What an awesome passage. You just put it right there in a couple of sentence; kind'a just sum up the trouble of it all. We walk around so many times with our faces downcast for so many reasons, when the solution is really so simple. You put before us life and death, blessings or curse...it's our choice. And you warn us, that sin is crouching, waiting, just pacing back and forth to have us. What a nasty picture, like a wild animal, like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour. But we can rule over it. I can rule over it. Jesus, cause me to rule over it. Show me how to do it. Today Lord. I want to rule over it. And I will by your strength and power.