Everyone who asks receives . . . —Luke 11:10

Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God . . . ” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.

“Everyone who asks receives . . . .” This does not mean that you will not get if you do not ask, but it means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (seeMatthew 5:45). To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mentally, morally, and with spiritual understanding, that these things come from God.

“If any of you lacks wisdom . . . .” If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality— do not put the blinders of reason on again. The word ask actually means “beg.” Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest. Yet we will never receive if we ask with a certain result in mind, because we are asking out of our lust, not out of our poverty. A pauper does not ask out of any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg— blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).

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Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . .” (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17).

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. . . seek, and you will find . . . —Luke 11:9

Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss . . .” (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss”; that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “. . . seek, and you will find . . . .” Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? “. . . seek, [focus,] and you will find . . . .”

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. . .” (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.

“. . . knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God . . .” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands . . .” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “. . . purify your hearts . . .” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament . . . ” (James 4:9). Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves . . . ” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “. . . to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).

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Drifting along, trying to find purpose amidst a bevy of choices can be discouraging.  Trying one thing after another, but finding no real satisfaction?  Life was not meant to be tolerated, but lived to its fullest.  Ever wonder what’s missing?

Having a full life begins with the realization that your driving force isn’t working.  From an early age it seems like our lives are shaped by our desires and our needs.  Some spend their entire life trying to get all that they crave.  Some even succeed, but find their happiness is shallow.

The Apostle Paul was one who had everything and much zeal for righteousness too.  Paul was a highly educated Roman Jew who thought he was on the road to righteousness.  By his own admission, Paul had it made.  He was of the elite among his people.  He was mistaken…

Here’s a good accounting in his own words of his success:

“I am verily a man which as a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”  Acts 22:3-4 (KJV)

“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.  If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:  circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”  Philippians 3:4-6

Paul’s life changed when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  From that moment his driving force was irrevocably altered.  He began to preach about Jesus, generating much attention and much persecution.  Yet he never faltered in his new mission; to tell people about Jesus.  The change in Paul was nothing short of miraculous.  Here’s what he said about himself:

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:  for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death:  if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”  Philippians 3:8-11

Believer, if your life is going nowhere, maybe it’s because you are experiencing an inner conflict between the old nature and the new nature found in Jesus.  You are living a life that is double-minded.  You have given your allegiance to nothing and no one.  As a believer, know that we are called to commit ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ.  That means the old nature must be cast off.  Paul puts it this way:

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  Colossians 3:2

The easiest way to obey this command is to follow the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39:

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

If you will allow Jesus Christ to be your driving force, you will experience the fullest life imaginable.

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”  Philippians 3:7

Copyright © 2011 by Linda Hull, Words of Encouragement

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Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”                                                                           Genesis 11:4

The comfort of our good ‘ol pride.  Does your’s feel like a well-worn shirt or your favorite ‘ugly’ sweater?  Mine does.  I like to wear it.  It makes me feel good.  It gives me worth.  My pride in my work, my singing (even though it may not be that great), the fact that I think I can do something better than someone else.  What is wrong with this picture??

?Just like the ancient builders of the tower of Babel I am relying too much on my self.  What I can do.  How well I can do something.  What I should be focused on is how well He can do so and so through me.  What I should be concerned about is whether or not my actions and attitude are glorifying Him.  Am I taking the credit for the work He has done in my life??

?What about you today?  Do you wrestle with the issue of pride?  It can rear it’s ugly head at any time.  We need to be armed and ready to recognize it and stomp it out!  We need to keep Christ and our reflection of Him at the center of our lives at every moment.  The more we do that, the more instinctutal it becomes.  And instead of being prideful we become humble in His sight.

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