Monday Musings ...

Yesterday was week 2 in our series "Yes Lord ..." We were still in Matthew 9:27-31 and Ephesians 3:14-21. Asking the questions "Who do you believe in? and What/who are you saying yes to?"

The need we examined was what Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus. The need is for more power. There is a point in life where you realize you cannot do it in your own power alone. You need more power, not self acquired strength, but the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Another need is that we don't want to admit our need. Sometimes it is because of pride, or shame, or lack of knowledge, or poor examples or just feeling lost. Whatever the reasons, we don't like to admit our need. Another need we face is that of crisis. That point when you recognize your need, you realize your own inadequacy to meet the need and you are desperate for change.

The action needed is for you to humble yourself. Before God you kneel, either literally or figuratively to confess and request. A sign seen in a textile mill read, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, I'll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called me." We often fail to humble ourselves and call on Christ. We are not doing our best when it is just in our own strength and wisdom. The action is we need to cry out to God. Pray. Pray. Pray some more. This is not a casual 'let's get it over with' prayer. This is the humbled, broken prayer of admitting your need and desire for God and his power. John Flavel said, "They that know God will be humble and they that know themselves cannot be proud."

The results are that we are dependent on God. We cry out for his power, his cleansing, his filling and his power. Then we obey and leave the circumstances up to him. The result is you will be changed. In your spirit, in your attitude, in your vision and in your living there will be changes. If there is no change then something is missing. There must be a change. If you claim you don't need to change or live any differently then why did you need to cry out to God in the first place? Too often we cry out to God and ask him to change things without being willing to be changed. The result is a life surrendered to Christ. This surrender is not to your own desires, not to what our cultures expects, or to anything else but it is being surrendered to Christ and his will.

What is your crisis? What are you crying out for? How are you now living?