Posted on Wednesday, December 6, 2006                                                by Allison J

Give God some Elbow Room

A great Christian writer and theologian once said that we need to leave “elbow room” for God.  Questions began to run through my mind about how one could possibly keep God out of anything.  If God is Sovereign, then all things are only done according to His will. And He is—He IS Sovereign and He is also the God that stands at the door and knocks. 

Don’t you ever wonder about the children of Israel, roaming in the desert?  Couldn’t God just have willed them to be an obedient nation right from the start and thus prevented the many years that they spent as nomads in the wilderness?  He gave them a choice over and over again.  Later in His dealings with them, God cried out, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).  They chose whether or not they were to draw their hearts to God—and as Scripture tells us, whenever we do, He draws nearer to us.  He doesn’t just want to take possession of, he wants whatever area of our lives it may be that He’s calling for to be surrendered. 

The concept of surrendering is so foreign to our nature, so foreign to the cry of the world which sings “I’m the boss of my life.”  One of those things that you and I are called to in our love relationship with God is to “keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His surprising power may break out on the right hand and on the left.  Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes” (Oswald Chambers).

What happened to children of Israel when they were about to reach the Promised Land?  They did not trust the God who had preserved and kept them that far to give them the land of milk and honey and thus found themselves roaming in the desert for another forty years.  They missed out on God’s surprising power breaking out on the right hand and on the left because they were so preoccupied with being their own boss and did not seek His will as they should have.  Do you ever become preoccupied like that?  Preoccupied with calculating and estimating, looking out for things to come out “my way” and wanting God to work things out “my way,” that we don’t truly look for Him but instead overlook Him.  I know that I have been guilty of such.  When we keep our lives in constant contact with God we realize that His ways will always be the best for us, since He’s the One who created us and the One who created everything our eyes can see and cannot see.  “In order to be rightly oriented to God and His work, you need a God-centered life….  The essence of sin is a shift from a God-centered to a self-centered life.  The essence of salvation is a denial of self.  We must come to a denial of self and return to God-centeredness.  When this happens, God can accomplish through us the purposes He had before He created the world” (Henry T. Blackaby). 

That’s what “elbow room” is all about.  The phrase itself is figurative, but if you think about it, it works.  God gives us the choice.  It’s all about choosing wisely.  Surrender to Him that which makes you lose sight of what is truly worthy of your adoration and takes away from God-centeredness.  Be ready for His work in your life.  Better yet, be ready by being a vessel ready to receive that work—with plenty of room for it.  And when you do, wait to see those great things that happen when we give Him the “elbow room.”

   Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2006                                                 by Allison J

The WHO and the WHAT

The calling of God on our lives is a real thing.  It’s a powerful thing.  It’s about grabbing hold of God’s “new name” for you, just as Jacob did before the Lord dubbed Him “Israel,” and not letting go until He blesses you.  It’s not about how much you know or about what you do—it’s about who you are.

We are told we are the light of the world.  We are told we are the salt of the earth.  We are a chosen generation and royal priesthood.  We are told that we are the children of God amidst a crooked and perverse generation—and on and on goes the list of our identity in Christ—but do we live in the reality of that new identity He’s given us?  Do we live as if we have obtained mercy?  Do we live as children of the Victor?  Does the joy of salvation in our soul and spirit take expression in all of our actions and responses?  After Peter tells us about who we are in the Lord, he doesn’t forget to add, “That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”  I don’t know about you, but I want my love to convince the world that God sent His Son to be a ransom for many.  I think many times we get caught up in the hype of things.  We become so enraptured with knowing and acquiring more data for our mental storehouse that we never execute anything.    

I think we miss that so many times, and I certainly know that I am trying to find that balance.  It’s about separating the “who” from the “what,” and BEing.  As Christians, I am sure that we all desire to intimately know, passionately love, and joyfully serve the Lord, but the truth is, we can’t do that if we’re preoccupied with having something extraordinary to do and show for ourselves, or gaining more know-how.  Knowledge unapplied is gained in vain.  WHO do you serve, and whom has He called you to be?  Live it out.  It’s not easy, I know.  It’s a daily thing, where we surrender ourselves, acknowledge Him in all our ways and commit to Him the direction of our footsteps.  In that daily encounter, we find that an inexhaustible source of strength to live out His calling for our lives lies in the One calling us. 

As we earnestly seek the most important Being in our life, let us ask Him to enlarge us for His purposes.  God knows how to do that best, and then we will see that He can would “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).    

BE who God has called you to be—live in the reality of your identity in Christ, remembering that “One life yielded to God at all costs is worth thousands only touched by God” (Oswald Chambers).  

   Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006                                                 by Allison J

Convicted Free Men and Conquered Slaves

There is such a comforting assurance that comes from knowing that our Mediator between God and man is in intercession for us before the throne of God.  Can you almost picture Christ sweetly conveying His grace to us so that we may be one as He is with the Father?  All that come unto the Father by Him know that on “another’s life, another’s death, they stake their whole eternity” (Horatius Bonar). 

However, many times I have sat back and analyzed some of my prayers, and what a tangled mess of motives God has revealed deep within my heart—prayers that do not show my adoration and gratefulness for the One who led me “out of the house of bondage”!  Christ lifted up His voice to the Lord in a prayer void of all egoistic traces, having kept us in the Father’s name, and further desiring that our “surrender would be the interior surrender of convicted free men, and not merely the outward surrender of the conquered slave.”  I am reminded of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18).  The entirety of creation is at God’s disposal; sometimes I almost wonder whether I think that I am adding some rare model to a collection when I bring my “cattle” and “ten thousands of rivers of oil” before the Lord. 

“He’s got the whole world in His hands,” and yet He waits for His children to demonstrate their willingness to change and bring their hearts before His altar, leaving the sin of their soul at His mercy seat, not with “jot and title” offerings, but hearts desiring to live before Him in right standing and character.  How many times has my heart come to him as a conquered slave, subconsciously seeing prayer as a means to nourish myself, going through the actions without zeal—without realizing the privilege of fellowship with the Father because of my Mediator?  Prayer is acknowledging that God gives life to those who overcome, that the victory is Christ’s, and that He, the Victor, has a hold of our lives!  Christ’s love pours out from His prayer for us and shows to every believer that prayer never lies in self, but in the One to whom we pray.       

The very heart of God is opened up unto those who have knocked in all earnestness, because now, we are the children of God.  We cast off our poor performances of our supposed “goodness,” for now we stand without reservation upon the foundation of the free love of Him who so loved the world that He gave His only Son for us.  The interior surrender of the convicted free man sees that prayer “nourishes the life of God within us” (Oswald Chambers)—not a means to satisfy self, but the very heart of God.  The interior surrender of the convicted free man sees prayer as an attitude of reverence and kinship, as a spirit of wonder, as worship, as acknowledgement of our need, as a knitting of our hearts with God’s voice, as a road to travel where we keep learning to get in the right direction.  There are days when the conquered slave cries out, but remember that it is about a daily surrender to our Captor—the Lover of our Souls, who more than anything desires communion with His own.  Let Him go before you as you seek to change direction on that road, and take of that grace to be one with the Father. 

“Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.  Imprison me within Thine arms and strong shall be my hand.”  ~George Matheson

   Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006                                                      by Allison J

The Potter

“Back of all that seems to be, the Potter stands, with an ideal so lofty that our highest imagination has not fully grasped it” (Hurlburt and Horton). 

Through what seemed a cruel experience, the Potter was shaping His child.  Although he could not comprehend what was befalling him, Job chose to respond wisely, acknowledging the Sovereignty of the God who “…is able to destroy both soul and body…” (Matthew 10: 28). 

Sometimes I think my lot is so hard, and my soul becomes so discouraged without stopping to think that my God has redeemed me at a countless cost—that He will work all things together for good to them that love Him.  In whatever impossible experience His children might go through, the Lord stands sure as “…a shadow from the heat” (Isaiah 25:4). 

If we pay close attention to the Psalms, we find various Hebrew interjections, some of them selah’s and some of them higgaion’s.  “Selah” calls for a suspension of music, since a psalm is just like a hymn, a poem set to notes.  “Selah” calls us to pause and calmly think about what we have just read.  “Higgaion” is a musical notation indicating the solemnity of a movement.  “Higgaion” calls us to praise meditatively.  We mostly spot these Hebrew interjections in the midst of psalms that have to deal with trials and hardship.  When combined, we see the image of a child of God pausing to meditate with a spirit of worship to God for Who He is in the midst of the harvest abundance or even a raging storm. 

Is an attitude of worship present in your heart when the sail doesn’t go as smoothly as you had thought?  Better yet, is it present when everything seems to be stitched into place?  Do you take the time to selah in the moments of higgaion God places in the middle of the prose He is writing of your life?  Worship and wait.  God is called our “glory” and the “lifter up of our head” (Psalm 3:3).  Direct praise to Him, and then wait—wait for His light to banish the night from your eyes, to feel His hand gently tip your face to His countenance, and His voice whisper a new song into your ear.  Whether we find ourselves panting under the “shadow from the heat,” seeking refuge from the trials that beat on us like the fiery sun, or we stand in the “green pastures” and “still waters,” Christ never fails to meet our need.  Whether in joy or in sorrow, we always need His hand, and He is ever-present molding us.

May our souls always be ready to sing, “Shape us as you will, Lord, and finish the work You have started in us so that we might be vessels meet for Your use.”     

“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isaiah 64: 8).

   Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006                                                         by Allison J

In Awe of Him

“I find no secure place for my soul except in You, and I pray that what is scattered in me may be brought together so no part may be separated from You” (St. Augustine).  Is stability inconceivable?  In the midst of the brewing storm Christ assured His disciples that they would get to the other side as He called out with authority, “Peace, be still.”  That is the power of Christ in us: no matter how confusing our life might seem at the moment, He can lead us out of the mazes in which we wander and settle whatever trivial fears linger within us.  Our souls find no secure place but in Him, and when He utters His command to the waves that toil within us, we stand amazed in His presence because we come to realize He was in control all along. 

I feel like I’ve been asking a lot of questions lately with my graduation looming near.  Although it has not yet arrived, I feel my mouth shaping “farewell” to this chapter in my life as if I were uttering some sort of misfortune—but it’s not.  Each of my classmates and I have a hill to keep climbing, a path that has been carved.  We have to keep putting each foot in front of each other, even if letting go proves to be hard.  I know that I have been struggling with letting go.  I want to be an “adult,” but I’m content with the safe boundaries that I’ve always known, hesitant about the unknown frontiers that lie ahead, although God has faithfully promised that he would “go before” me and prepare my way.  “It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look farther than you can see” (Winston Churchill), and it is there where the word “faith” echoes loudly.  It’s not so much about the next step, because that has fallen into perspective for me.  It doesn’t seem to be about the “what else,” but rather about the “more.”  But do I need to know the “more” that the next step will deliver?  Is that faith?  Faith is not toil, but rest and peace, and “faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading” (Oswald Chambers).  It amazes me to think of the times that I, in a sense, have kept myself from seeing the Lord mightily at work in me.  So often, I turn my back on a room brimming with blessings because of the narrowness of my mind and the weakness of my faith.  How could I possibly underestimate the power of the God who stilled the storm and the magnitude of all He has done and is doing?  By not bringing all my doubts into His “storehouse,” surrendering all to Him, I paradoxically “limit” the blessings that the Lord has prepared for me ahead in that next step that I am hesitant about taking. 

We need to be enabled to do what we cannot do on our own—so go to the mercy seat, leave your cares there, and in humility bring to Him your shortcomings, weaknesses, doubts, and hesitations.  I don’t want to minimize all that God wants to do in my life, but I need Him to help me to be mindful of His presence and power in my life.  He IS there.   

May those aspects of our lives that have been scattered by doubt be brought together so we can show our love for Him by embracing Him with our trust and touching Him with our praise.  We can have faith in Him simply because He is God—that should be enough.  I want to be in awe of Him—always.  Leave room for God to do wonders and leave you breathless.  He’s faithful—He will.  May we all be full of the calm peace of knowing that God reigns and can leave us in awe of Him.

   Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006                                                    by Allison J

Me. Myself and I

Where does our vision lie?  Christ has always directed our eyes heavenward.  His prayer was that believers would set their eyes and hearts on being animated by one being, just as He was one with the Father.  He desired that our vista would not be fogged up by the present cares of this world, but that we would find ourselves overwhelmed only by the tides of God’s grace.   

“Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1), Christ gently told His disciples, and those words still echo true.  Worry is a pride issue, because it stems from not being able to be in control of what is, and has been, rightfully God’s.  The hosts in heaven cry, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 14:11) Ultimately, pride is a result of letting our gaze fall down into our finite selves and resources, instead of to the private sanctuary of prayer, where our eyes will be directed to the nature of God.  You see, God always appeals to the nature of Who He is, and our God is Sovereign. 

Christ always directed our eyes to the Father who “gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  How can our lives be conclusive proof to our degenerating world that we serve a God who sent His Son for the salvation of the world, if our panorama is blurred by the pouring rain of self?  In the preoccupation of what is next on our schedules, in the busy cares of piling schoolwork—in the overall general hurry of the day, do we stop to look up to God who has assured us that “…eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9)?  

“Thank God He does give us difficult things to do!  His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing.  It tests us for all we are worth.  Jesus is bringing many “sons unto glory,” and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son.  God’s grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milksops.  It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things.  It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble” (Oswald Chambers).  And indeed, it is easy to scatter to personal pillars of trust and it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to remember that simply because “His lovingkindness is better than life,” our lips should always have reason to be filled with praise” (Psalm 63:3, paraphrased).  But you see, there is good news: we owe our flesh nothing because Christ was “made in the likeness of men” to direct wandering eyes to God’s sovereignty and we are “complete in Him.”  We can extend our hands to touch the hem of His garments and receive a remedy for our wandering eyes and the pride of our souls.  We can draw from His strength to live for one audience alone instead of always dwelling on the “me, myself, and I.”   

It is when our hearts are directed away from self, that we can tap into the riches of glory, and take of God’s grace—the unmerited and enabling power to do His will—and say:

“Not in the doubting throng,
Not in the boastful song,
But kneeling—with Christ above me—
Humbly I’ll say, “I love Thee.” 
Not with my lips alone,
Not for Thy gifts I own,
But just for the grace I see
Jesus, my soul loveth Thee.
Amen.”
~Unknown

   Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006                                                by Allison J

Not By Bread Alone

“To whom am I narrating all this? Not to thee, O my God, but to my own kind in Thy presence—to that small part of the human race who may chance to come upon these writings. And to what end? That I and all who read them may understand what depths there are from which we are to cry unto Thee. For what is more surely heard in thy ear than a confessing heart and a faithful life.”  ~St. Augustine~ 

Words are a reader’s composite of the writer’s mind. Words highlight and express—they allow us to taste and see. As I continue adding words to the page, I realize that you might be wondering, “Who’s the rookie that’s writing?” Formal introductions have always intimidated me, but once they’re out of the way, it’s so much easier to get to know others. I’m Allison Jerez, and “Chung Lao”, the fearless IPF leader, has graciously given me the opportunity to write for the Inspirations column. 

I pray that as I have opportunity to share what the Lord is showing me, the words of God would be highlighted boldly in your mind, and that you too would be able to taste and see that the Lord is good. Ultimately, it’s not about getting to know me better, but about drawing closer to the Lord whom you live for. 

So…words. When it comes to our daily walk with the Lord, there are two things to consider: His words and ours. Various school assignments have me reading through the works of both historical and contemporary literary masters, and the realization has never been stronger: nothing compares to the prose of our God. The words in Scripture are His words to us. What a thought—that the Maker of Heaven and Earth would desire to thread His words into our hearts by leaving them written for us to daily embrace! The question is, can we say as Samuel did, “Speak Lord, for Your servant hears”? It is so easy for our ears to be tuned to hear ourselves speak when we should be cultivating a devotion for hearing the Lord.

Peter, the most headstrong of all twelve disciples, serves as a vivid example that “…man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). After the resurrection, Christ appeared to the disciples while they were fishing. Scripture tells us that “…when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his fisher’s coat…and did cast himself into the sea” (John 21:7). It is this same disciple that said to Christ some chapters before, “...Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Are we willing to jump into the waves of a storm to reach the One speaking? Are we earnestly drawing near to the throne of God and letting the Spirit lead us in a surrender of those things which seek to quench a hunger for God’s words? What about our words? The Psalmist sings, “My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to the King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer” (Psalm 45:1).

Do our conversations with the Lord roll off our tongue like that, like “the pen of a ready writer”? God already knows and understands our thoughts, but He still waits to hear the words of His children. That is the privilege of the believer. Why then do we often come before the throne of God with a general commentary of our lives, sentences riddled with abstract hieroglyphics, instead of coming before Him as the children of the King of Kings? Go to Christ and pour out all your words before the mercy seat, chaff and grain together, with the assurance that our Mediator will take and sift them, keeping what is of worth, and then with tender care, blow the rest away. Do not be discouraged in your devotion. Press-in, because there is no greater honor than to know Him more and to hear the words He has prepared for you.

As the Holy Spirit continues to work in our lives, may we, with confessing hearts, lift our voices to the Lord.  May our words be authentic reflections, in spite of ourselves, that we desire the meditation of our hearts to be acceptable in His sight.