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September 17, 2006
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Christian Disciplines
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Pastor Brian Shimer
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"CONNECTING WITH GOD; QUIET TIME"
Mark 1: 35-39; Exodus 33: 7-11
- A few weeks ago I turned on the dishwasher and it refused to run. It did not even click. At first I thought perhaps it had just died on us. It had been showing signs of age, so death seemed a possibility. But then, after someone had taken all the dishes out of the dishwasher and washed and put them away by hand, a thought dropped into my head. I went and checked the circuit breaker, flipped the switch, and wonder of wonders, it worked again. If it is not plugged into the power, it cannot work.
That is so true of us, too. Unless we stay "connected to God" day by day, which happens as we purposefully spend time with Him, our lives won't work as they are intended to.
So how do we "make that connection" to the Living God, the God of the Universe who lives in living relationship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit day by day. How do we ordinary people get "plugged in" to use the previous term, how do we "switch the switch" in our hearts so that we can "experience" the presence of God with us moment by moment during our days?
The first four studies in the booklet, Christian Disciplines, seek to answer these questions. Over the next weeks we find that we draw near to God who is more than ready to draw near to us through quiet time, what we will discuss today, the intentional setting aside of time for God; through Bible Study, digging into God's Word; through prayer, communication and listening to God and through worship, adoring God.
Now a quiet time obviously will involve all these aspects at times. But first quiet time is a matter of living on purpose -- we intentionally take time for God and like my walk into our garage to flip the switch on the circuit breaker, that intentional obedience will bear fruit in our lives. For the dishwasher it enabled it to run, for us it makes us available to God so He can transform us by speaking into our lives more fully.
- So, what will it take for you and me to get plugged into God day by day?
For Moses it took intentional action. He set up a means to seek God by setting up the Tent of Meeting outside the camp, away from the flow of daily traffic. And there God met with Moses and the people worshiped God from their tents.
Notice in chapter 34 when Moses takes the tablets onto Mt Sinai in obedience to the Lord's command, he goes early in the morning to present himself to God.
A quiet time, a time set apart for Jesus and you, is a time of obeying the God who says, "Come to me," "Draw near to me," And a quiet time happens as we set aside the time and the place. It takes a decision to make it happen. Moses had to set up his tent; he had to chisel out the tablets and then go to meet with God.
We have to set apart the place, the time, and then follow through. Usually in our lives, we won't enter the presence of God by happenstance. We must purpose, battle, and fight all the distractions and demands of life to draw away. We must intentionally pull away from the main flow of traffic and make space to meet with God.
This is what Moses did. And this is what we notice that Jesus did as well.
When Jesus came to earth, He emptied himself and became man. As a man he lived among us, filled with God's Holy Spirit as we received when born again through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet filled with God's Spirit, living as the Son of God upon the earth Jesus demonstrated a constant need to pull away from the crowds and seek fellowship with the Father. This was not a sign of weakness in Him but wisdom. Jesus knew to live as a man takes living, daily fellowship with God.
So in the first chapter of the book of Mark, Jesus doesn't sleep in after a huge day of ministry as I might have done. He does not say: "Hey, I've worked hard, I deserve a break." He does not just choose to stay in Capernaum because EVERYONE was looking for him. Following the wisdom of people, he could have just stayed there and built some huge mega synagogue.
But instead, while it was still dark, we read, while everyone else is sleeping in, Jesus goes off to draw near to the Father. Jesus seeks His Father's face. He intentionally withdraws from the crowd to seek the One who matters most. Why does Jesus do this?
First and foremost, it was because Jesus loved the Father and wanted fellowship with Him. But alongside that desire is the knowledge that more than mighty works for God is the need of relationship with God. Jesus established a "tent of meeting" a time and place away from the main thoroughfares of life to get God's Word for His day.
In this first chapter of Mark, His early morning prayer time granted him the direction needed for that next day. When the others come and find Him, Jesus has received divine guidance so is able to say to them: "I must preach in other places also…"
- What about you?
Isn't it amazingly easy to allow the visible demands of life to beset us and take priority of the place of fellowship with Almighty God? Isn't it a battle to pull away, to obey God and take the time to seek God's face?
The pace of life, the habitual routines can so capture our attention that we can begin to lose touch with the only source of strength we have. We can be left unplugged, so to speak, unless we take action. Again and again the Word of God calls us to Seek the Lord. From 1 Chronicles 16:10 and 11 where David writes to "Seek the Lord and His strength… seek His face continually," to Amos 5:4,6 where God says, "Seek Me and Live!" God calls us to Seek Him. So, priority on quiet time also becomes a matter of obedience. (Other references include: 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 27:8; Psalm 84; Isaiah 55:6; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 11:28).
For me, priority on quiet time means to put Jesus first in my day. Like Moses was directed to come up on the Mountain first thing in the morning, and like Jesus went off by himself while it was dark before the day began, I find I have to put Jesus first if my day is to go smoothly. If I wait until later in the day for quiet it just won't happen as it does first thing.
For others, they have a pattern of an evening time that gets them focused on God for the next day. For either time there needs to be intentional action.
A morning person may need to get up a bit earlier, like Jesus did, in order to turn to God. It may mean that first cup of coffee needs to come with the Scriptures instead of switching on the news or opening a newspaper.
An evening person may need to stay up later than the family, or leave out a TV program in order to get time with Jesus.
Either way you turn to God, open God's Word, see what is on God's mind for the day or for that night. Moses went up on the mountain and came down with God's law. We meet with God to listen for God's Word to us. To meet with the living God means power to live the day.
Whether first thing in the morning as demonstrated by Moses and Jesus or in the evening, or an intentional grabbing of moments throughout the day, as one brother in the congregation has told me he does, we must be intentional to seek God. This is not a mechanistic thing. It is not that we just do something, walk away to say we did it, instead it is a relational reality: our goal is to meet with the Living God, to be present to God, and experience God's presence with us. This time is a matter of positioning ourselves before God for then God will work to transform our lives, like that dishwasher was transformed from impotent to fruitful, so God changes us in character and mind as we draw near to Him.
- This is what happened to Moses. He went up on the mountain in obedience to God and when he came back down his face was shining. This is what happened to Jesus as well - He must have glowed with the joy of the Lord with which He was anointed, why else were children so attracted to Him?
The idea of a face that glows is not so odd. Think of someone you have greatly admired as a Christian brother or sister. Think about them and ask, "Do their faces glow with the joy of the Lord? Do you sense a light coming from their eyes or lives?"
I remember the Minister of Evangelism at St Mark UMC in Santa Barbara California who just beamed as he talked of his "matchless Jesus". He radiated the light of God.
Remember the beginning of the book of John talks about Jesus saying, "In Him was the life and that life was the light of men"? When we welcome Jesus into our lives, life and light move in, our dark hearts are transformed. The light of Jesus shines through our lives. Moses had spent 40 days and nights on that mountain with God - imagine how much his face glowed with the joy of the Lord as a deep radiance filled him. When he came down the mountain, that brightness frightened the people, so he covered his face with a veil.
In a similar way we read in Scripture: "And we, who reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we set time aside, position ourselves before Him, get honest with God about our hearts, God will work to change our lives; we'll be plugged into His power.
Christianity is not about polishing myself up to please God. It is not a "pull up yourself by your bootstraps" kind of faith. It is a casting of myself upon the mercies of God. It is the faith of honestly admitting, "I cannot do this thing before me, Lord". It is a faith of dynamic relationship, where God's grace provides the strength needed to take the next step. Friends, get "plugged into God's powerhouse" by intentionally presenting yourselves before God to be transformed by Him.
- Now for those of you who hesitate still to make the time happen, I want to share how Jesus has changed me.
For so many years I believed God did not want me to come to a devotional time and just be me, but wanted me to be a super, cleaned up, perfect me. I was not like Moses and Jesus, simply seeking to connect with the living God, simply showing up and seeing what God had for me. Instead, I was constantly trying to live up to my belief that being me was not enough.
I remember sitting in our apartment at Alumni Manor in Wilmore, KY during the winter of 1984. Here I was in seminary, called into ordained ministry. I felt like I ought to have my life all together if I was pursuing ordained ministry, but God took us to Kentucky so that the brokenness of my life could begin to be revealed and so that God could demonstrate to me that his Call was not about my adequacy but my very inadequacy which God wanted to use.
It was first thing in the morning. I could see across the street into the apartment window of our neighbors David and Donna Smith and every morning I would see David sitting there in the window having morning devotions. From my perspective, he looked so peaceful. He sat there in their rocking chair, a cup of coffee on the table beside him, an open Bible on his lap, reading and praying. Some days I watched David have devotions longing to just be peaceful like David. I wanted to experience God like he did, or like it appeared that he did.
I was so scared of rejection and of being honest with the fears in my heart at this point, I did not do then what I would have done now. So, I never asked David about his devotional practices. I never asked him to mentor me. Instead, I was just inventing in my mind how wonderful his experience of God was compared to my own.
What a contrast to Moses and Jesus! They went apart and focused upon God not David Smith. They entered into the presence of God and were transformed by the Father - Moses with his countenance changing, Jesus with his strengthened resolve and focused ministry.
Now I know, the very presence of that insecurity was a signal that God's Spirit was at work on me revealing what was in my heart. Eventually, God got my attention off of my neighbor and onto Him. God began with me just where I was, broken, insecure, feeling like a failure and began to change my heart. He taught me to put him first into my days, to open the Word, to listen to Him speak through the words, to allow prayer to be a two way conversation and to note down what the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.
I have not arrived, at all; I am still a work in progress. But I can testify to the changes God has worked in me. And I have learned that although we come to God just as we are, God will not leave us that way. God will change us as we intentionally seek Him.
The old will pass away, all things will become new. As we intentionally set aside time for the Triune God, the Father's love will embrace us, the Son will pour forth grace upon us and the Holy Spirit will grant us entrance into the fellowship of the Trinity. In that place of fellowship and relationship, we will be changed.
So, get intentional with Jesus. If you already are disciplined in your quiet times, whatever format you have begun to use, carry on. If you have not begun, or continue to get mastered by a schedule, take action. Begin! Choose a place. Set aside even 10 minutes. When God begins to show up and you taste the presence of God and the love of God for you, you might be surprised to find out how quickly 10 minutes will eventually fly by. But begin - and God will plug you into His powerful life.
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