shadow

ZMI Today’s Dose

Unlock the Mystery of Prayer

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment
“And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.”
 1 John 5:15
1 John 5:15
 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.

Think of a time where you had to approach someone about an important topic (maybe your spouse, friend or even boss) and consider the different approaches you could take depending on if you thought your voice would be heard or dismissed.

HEARD:

  • you have confidence in your voice and your viewpoint.
  • speak in authority

DISMISSED:

  • lack confidence in your voice
  • question yourself

Confidence in asking makes a difference in HOW we ask and WHAT we ask. No request is too small or too large for our God.

Having the confidence in knowing that we are heard allows us to claim the power God has waiting for us in prayer.

” we know that we have what we ask of him.” NIV

Let’s look at this part of the verse in some other versions.

AMP: “we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.”

NLT:  “we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

MSG: “and if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.”

Does this mean that a raise at work, new house, new car and free beach vacation we pray for is ours as long as we’re confident and bold in our request?

Most likely not. The good news is though, the things that we do ask for that are in His will, are the very things He already has waiting to give us. Being aligned with God in prayer allows us to ask for things he already plans to give us.

Prayer is less about a gift being given to us, and more about a door being unlocked for us.

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” – Mother Teresa

Blessings and Love,

Stephanie Miller

 

Photo Credit: image created via wordswag

 

What a loaf of bread can teach us

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. “
Romans 5:3-5, NIV

You’d never think a humble loaf of bread could teach us much about the Christian life, but look a little deeper and you’d be astonished. In the Bible study ‘Feasts of the Bible,’ I’m examining what bread offered as a sacrifice can mean. Jewish feasts required many different items God requested. Some of the foods were bitter to represent trials in life, other items were sweet to represent the hope of a Messiah. Normally bread offered up for sacrifice is unleavened, with a very notable exception.

One feast calls for two loaves of bread, with leaven, made with very fine flour. The leavening throughout the bread represents our sin, the flour the refining process, and two loaves portray Jews and Gentiles. To dig deeper, I decided to make my own bread as it would have been made thousands of years ago.

As soon as you start the process the lessons begin. Leaven is made by stirring together simple coarse flour and water and waiting, just as we start our life by being coarse and unrefined. Wild yeast present in the air infects the simple flour and water mixture just as sin infects our untested lives. The leaven is sour and takes over whatever is in your container once you feed it. Just like sin, it grows and destroys.

Then God starts changing things. God asks for refined flour. This flour has been crushed, stomped down, until it is light and pure. God will put us through the same refining process. Once we add this refined white flour to the leaven, the tang of bread becomes less sour. The dough mixture is kneaded and stretched, then left to wait and mature. Often God will knead and stretch us, leaving us to wait on Him. The dough is ready only when it’s been stretched so much that we can see the Light through it. It’s not difficult to draw the comparison there! God will refine us and keep stretching us until we reflect his light. Then we are ready to be put in the refiner’s fire to be an acceptable offering. As James points out, endurance and perseverance perfects us, a worthy and desirable goal. (James 1:2-4)

The beauty of this offering is that God asks us to come as we are. No matter what sin is in our life, so long as we ask his forgiveness He accepts us. His work doesn’t stop there, we are continually being refined, stretched, and left to wait, reflecting His glory throughout the entire process. If you’re struggling, left in a long season of waiting, or even being stretched, take heart. This is the process God uses to refine us! A little lesson from a humble loaf of bread.

In Him,

Amy

He is Risen! No Fooling!

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment
“…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

1 Corinthians 15:2-3 NASB
This is the first time I can ever recall Easter falling on April 1st – April Fool’s Day. That’s because the last time it happened was 1956 and I wasn’t even a year old. Oh, the great April Fool’s Day jokes we play to see if anyone will be crazy enough to fall for them!

As you celebrate Easter this year, please take time to read the moving accounts of Jesus’s cruel, yet sacrificial death, His humble burial, and His lifegiving resurrection in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  But for today’s dose, I want to point us to the gospel message proclaimed by the apostle Paul found in his first letter to the Corinthians. Many considered his message of the cross to be utter foolishness.  Let’s look at these verses found in 1 Corinthians 1 (NASB, emphasis mine):

Vs. 18 – For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Vs. 21 – For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Vs. 23 – but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.

Vs. 25 – Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

Vs. 27 – But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

The Gospel – the Good News of Jesus Christ – looks like foolishness to the world. It appears as Nonsense. Useless. Unnecessary. Stupidity. That’s because the Easter message is about the greatest display of Love that can only be found and experienced in Jesus. He loved us enough – regardless of what we’ve done – to give His life so that we could live forever with Him. We deserve death, but He freely gives us LIFE. It is our choice to accept or refuse His gift.

Proverbs 19:3 states that “the foolishness of man ruins his way, and his heart rages against the Lord.” As Easter approaches, my prayer is that if you do not know the true message of Jesus Christ, you will find and receive it today! God asks that you humbly admit and turn from your wrongdoings, realize you can’t live without Him, and yield your heart and will to Him. Do not let what appears to be foolish keep you from experiencing the greatest gift ever – the gift of eternal life. It will be the wisest and best decision you ever make. No fooling!

[Digging deeper – Isaiah 53; John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 15:1-20; Ephesians 2: 4-10; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18. Please feel free to email me if you have questions about the Good News of Jesus.]

Blessed Resurrection Day,

Beverly<><

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Photo by Beverly Lussi