Flashback Favorite: If you could ask God for just one thing

What’s the most important request on your heart right now?

If you could ask God for just one thing

Originally posted on June 22, 2017

When I was a child, I would sometimes think about what Heaven would be like.  All I really understood was that Heaven was this great place where we would “be with God forever” and everyone would be happy.  Well, to my little mind, the greatest place I would want to spend long lengths of time in would obviously be chock full of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon toys.  I had it all planned…when I got to Heaven, I was going to ask God for the ENTIRE COLLECTION of He-Man action figures and playsets.  Pure bliss, as far as I was concerned, required a large amount of the best toys I could imagine.

Even as I’ve grown and matured in my understanding of God, Heaven, and Eternity Future, my desire to ask God for “just one thing” hasn’t subsided, but the “one thing” I would ask for has changed.  At various stages of my life, it’s been financial assistance, romantic love, new friends, a new job, a healthy baby, my own health, the health of someone else, a reasonably-comfortable life, and many other things. 

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but if I’m feeling very spiritually mature, I tell people that when I get to Heaven, the only thing I plan on asking God for is a blue-ray history lesson narrated by Him.  I just want to know why stuff happened like it did and how He worked through it all.

But when you look closely at my progressing list of “just one thing” requests, not much has changed since I was fully enamored by plastic toys.  Even though I’m asking Him about good things for myself or others, I’m still treating God like a cosmic vending machine.  Even if God actually gave me the toys, the money, and the good health…each “one thing” item is still something that I could lose, something that could be taken away from me.

In the second stanza of Psalm 27, David asks God for “one thing”.  His ask puts his life and God in the proper perspective:

Psalm 27:4-6
I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking Him in His temple.
For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.
Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Relationship.  Created Being relating back to his Creator.  That is the most important “one thing” we could ask for, and it will not be taken away from us, not even in the day of adversity.  However, we often let life’s issues and detours distract us from the true aim of our lives – to know God and to be known by Him. 

I think C.S. Lewis summed us up rather well, even if it does sting a little:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

It’s good to pray about all our requests, cares, and concerns, for God has instructed us to do so (Philippians 4:6).  However, the next time you do ask for something, go for the biggest thing you can ask Him for.  Ask God to give you Himself.  Seek a deeper relationship with Him.  Ask for even a glimpse at His glory.  Ask to be closer to Him, even if that means dealing with enemies and adversity.  God’s beauty and splendor exceeds everything we can see on this earth.

Ask for Him.  He will not disappoint.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our desire for peace, fulfilled

There is so much strife and turmoil in our world.  The nightly news is full of what went wrong during the day.  The internet is always ready to show you the ugliness that us human beings can manufacture.  We feel divided by every available category.  We want to see peace, but we just don’t see a way for it to happen.  And yet…our longing for peace suggests that somehow, it’s possible…

Now is the time to use our sanctified imagination.  Try to imagine what John is seeing:

Revelation 21:9-11
Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory.  Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

John was doing his best to describe to his readers what he was witnessing.  Jasper was a precious stone in Bible times.  As it is known today, jasper’s appearance is more opaque than clear.  Using today’s terms, we would probably refer the New Jerusalem as a brilliant diamond (a stone which was not known as a jewel in Bible times). 

John continues:

Revelation 21:12-14
The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates.  Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates.  There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.  The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.

Interestingly enough, we see reference to both the Old and New Testament people of God…living in the same place, but yet they are still distinctly identified.  The Holy City will be a beautiful place of peace for those who love God, no matter what age they lived in. 

This is the ultimate fulfillment of what Paul explained to the believers in Ephesus:

Ephesians 2:11-3:6
So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh…at that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 
For He is our peace, who made both groups one…so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.  He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross…the Gentiles are (now, together with believers from Israel) coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

The distance from each other the and divide between us and God has been bridged because He is our peace.  The peace we want can only be found in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  That peace we can have right now, when we accept Jesus’ offer of eternal life.  Although we long to live in a peaceful society, we can take comfort knowing that our desire for a peaceful world will ultimately be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem.

For that, I am a very thankful Gentile…and I can’t wait to see Christ’s work of reconciliation and peace displayed in Eternity Future and the New Jerusalem.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

If you could ask God for just one thing

When I was a child, I would sometimes think about what Heaven would be like.  All I really understood was that Heaven was this great place where we would “be with God forever” and everyone would be happy.  Well, to my little mind, the greatest place I would want to spend long lengths of time in would obviously be chock full of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon toys.  I had it all planned…when I got to Heaven, I was going to ask God for the ENTIRE COLLECTION of He-Man action figures and playsets.  Pure bliss, as far as I was concerned, required a large amount of the best toys I could imagine.

Even as I’ve grown and matured in my understanding of God, Heaven, and Eternity Future, my desire to ask God for “just one thing” hasn’t subsided, but the “one thing” I would ask for has changed.  At various stages of my life, it’s been financial assistance, romantic love, new friends, a new job, a healthy baby, my own health, the health of someone else, a reasonably-comfortable life, and many other things. 

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but if I’m feeling very spiritually mature, I tell people that when I get to Heaven, the only thing I plan on asking God for is a blue-ray history lesson narrated by Him.  I just want to know why stuff happened like it did and how He worked through it all.

But when you look closely at my progressing list of “just one thing” requests, not much has changed since I was fully enamored by plastic toys.  Even though I’m asking Him about good things for myself or others, I’m still treating God like a cosmic vending machine.  Even if God actually gave me the toys, the money, and the good health…each “one thing” item is still something that I could lose, something that could be taken away from me.

In the second stanza of Psalm 27, David asks God for “one thing”.  His ask puts his life and God in the proper perspective:

Psalm 27:4-6
I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking Him in His temple.
For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.
Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Relationship.  Created Being relating back to his Creator.  That is the most important “one thing” we could ask for, and it will not be taken away from us, not even in the day of adversity.  However, we often let life’s issues and detours distract us from the true aim of our lives – to know God and to be known by Him. 

I think C.S. Lewis summed us up rather well, even if it does sting a little:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

It’s good to pray about all our requests, cares, and concerns, for God has instructed us to do so (Philippians 4:6).  However, the next time you do ask for something, go for the biggest thing you can ask Him for.  Ask God to give you Himself.  Seek a deeper relationship with Him.  Ask for even a glimpse at His glory.  Ask to be closer to Him, even if that means dealing with enemies and adversity.  God’s beauty and splendor exceeds everything we can see on this earth.

Ask for Him.  He will not disappoint.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Passing the torch

We won’t get to accomplish everything we want to do in this life.  There will be activities and achievements which will escape our grasp.  Sometimes we will be held back by our own decisions, for better or worse.  And yet other times, it will be God’s choice that the task should be handed off to someone else.

As David was nearing the end of his life, he looked at his beautiful palace and lavish amenities.  David compared his living situation to the tabernacle of the Lord, which was still in the same tent-configuration that Moses had commissioned during Israel’s travels through the desert before entering the Promised Land.  David wanted to rectify this gross discrepancy.  He desired to honor the Lord with a proper place of worship, with a design that expressed the greatness of the Lord.

Although David desired to do a good thing, God didn’t want him to do it.  Instead, that project would be given to his successor.

1 Chronicles 22:6-10
Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.  “My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars.  You are not to build a house for My name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me. 

But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest.  I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.  He is the one who will build a house for My name.  He will be My son, and I will be his father.  I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ ”

David desired to do a good thing for God and he was called “A man after God’s own heart”…but he was still told “No.”  That had to have stung.  David could have stopped his desire right there, thrown up his hands, and basically told his young protégé “Good luck with that.  Apparently God says that it’s your job, not mine.” 

Instead, he takes the time to encourage Solomon:

1 Chronicles 22:11-13
“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you.  Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.  Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel.  Be strong and courageous.  Don’t be afraid or discouraged.”

But David didn’t give Solomon only instruction and well wishes.  He also gave Solomon a massive head start in gathering materials and resources for this significant task:

1 Chronicles 22:14-16
“Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord – 3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver, and bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it.  I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them.  You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron – beyond number.  Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.”

David couldn’t do what he wanted to do for God, because God had designated that accomplishment for someone else.  Instead of sulking or giving up on his desire, David trusted God’s plan and wisely rerouted his energies into mentoring and assisting his protégé.

One of the ways God keeps a mentor’s ego in check is to tell him or her “No.”  We need to exercise trust and humility when those moments come.  If we desire to do a good thing, but God prevents us from doing so, then we can trust that God has something greater in mind.

When our mentor hands us a significant task or ministry, we also need to exercise trust and humility.  We may even believe that our mentor is better suited for the work than we are.  However, when God signals that it’s time to pass the torch, we must trust His timing and go for it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

For love and glory

As Jesus closes out His ‘High Priestly Prayer’, He describes our relationship with Him and our relationship with the Father, emphasizing two aspects – both love and glory.

John 17:22-23 I have given them the glory You have given Me.
May they be one as We are one.  I am in them and You are in Me.
May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me
and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Jesus has given the disciples the status and honor that the Father had given to Him, which is absolutely incredible when you think about it.  The renown and praise and honor that was bestowed upon Jesus…He then bestowed it upon those who have believed that He has come from the Father.  This is a gift unlike any other.  We have been taken from the mud and have been made to walk on marble, from the pit and into the palace.  Jesus has shared His prestige and status with those who believe in Him for eternal life.

Notice, however, that it is after Jesus had given them the Father’s glory that he then prayed for their future “oneness” with each other, with Him, and with the Father.  Jesus had previously given them their status – independent of the health of their relationship with the Father at that particular point in time. 

Jesus also reveals the purpose of their “oneness” in their day-to-day relationships – their connectedness with each other, with Jesus, and with the Father is not so they can “prove they are believers”, rather the purpose of their close relationship with the Father is so the world may know that the Father sent Jesus, and that the Father has loved the disciples as He has loved Jesus.

Finally, Jesus ends His prayer with a personal request.  Here Jesus directly asks the Father for something that He wants, something that He longs for:

John 17:24-26 Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am.
Then they will see My glory, which You have given because You loved Me
before the world’s foundation.
Righteous Father!  The world has not known You.
However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me.
I made Your name known to them and will make it known,
so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.

Jesus’ desire, His longing, His motivation…was to share His glory and love with His disciples.  The disciples could not have earned the glory and love given to them, they could not obtain it…unless it was given to them.  It had to be shared with them, and Jesus desired to share the Father, the Father’s glory, and the Father’s love with them.

Jesus’ desire is still to share these things with us, and the more we are “one” with each other, with Jesus, and with the Father...the better we understand His love and glory. 

We live what we understand.  As our lives begin to reflect His love and glory, the world will know that He sent us and that Jesus is willing to love them as He has loved us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken