April 30, 2008
A
Dry Time
Here in New
Mexico we are experiencing a dry time of year and now it is fire season. Fires
are burning in the state consuming acres of land. Time, effort and money are
being expended to keep the fires in check and from spreading. Sometimes the fire
is stopped by backing burning, which is literally fighting fire with fire,
burning up resources the bigger fire needs to spread.
Life can be
like that sometimes. We all go through spiritually dry times where we don’t
feel close to God. Worship doesn’t have the same impact it used to, we don’t
pray as much and we don’t spend as much time in the Word. The enemy tries to
come and consume us like a wild fire burning up our zeal and resources using
what we have available so he can have a foothold for further destruction.
However, we
often compound that dryness through our own actions. Sometimes we get so focused
on the things of the world that we pull away from the things of God. Other
times, we’ve fallen down into a pit of sin. We didn’t mean to go there; just
slipped a bit and suddenly we’re in over our heads.
It can seem as
if God is so far away. Our prayers don’t feel answered; we’ve lost that
sense of intimacy.
It isn’t that
God has moved. He’s still there with His arms stretched wide. We’re the ones
who need to examine our hearts and turn around to Him in repentance and with
open hearts.
The key to
getting through those periods of dryness is to stay well rooted in God.
"But
blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will
be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It
does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in
a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
God’s word to
Jeremiah doesn’t say there won’t be dry times, but it does share the key to
making it through them and still thrive. Trust in the Lord. A word from one of
the team members is it is time for us to stand up and make some noise, time for
us to roar. One of the ways of roaring is to praise the Lord.
God
likes noise! He created it and He wants it to come back to glorify Him! God
values noise and volume. He cherishes it so much that the Bible is replete with
His commands to "make a joyful noise!" Understand this: God places a
Premium on any child of His that will defy their natural personality to getting
noisy in His presence. God likes our noise!
Psalm 100:1-2 KJV - "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve
the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 33:3 KJV - "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud
noise."
Psalm 98:4 KJV - "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a
loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise."
There is great power in a believer's shout!
Ezra 3:13 KJV - "So that the people could not discern the noise of the
shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted
with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off."
Could
it be that there is innate power in The Shout? Perhaps there is an endless
reservoir of supernatural power yet to be discovered. Maybe that reservoir can
only be tapped into through The Shout. Maybe there really is life and power in
anything God has commanded us to do.
In
the Bible, Jesus is called "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah!" Judah
means "praise" in the Hebrew. And the last I heard, lions still Roar!
The picture we get here is that of a lion roaring out praise! And since Jesus is
our Lord, that makes us of the Tribe of Praise too. So we ought to be roaring
out His praises without shame or embarrassment. It is our roaring praises that
will remind the enemy that The King is present indeed.
Praise invokes God's felt presence. Then His presence invokes our true worship.
Then our worship ushers in His manifested glory! And finally, His manifested
glory causes us to be awestruck in the presence of a holy God that could love us
so.
It all starts with praise. Praise gets us THERE. Then worship keeps us THERE.
And THERE is where He is, where we belong, and where we are gloriously changed!
THERE!
O Lord, please drastically change me.
Radically
alter me.
Marvelously
transform me into Jesus' likeness, I ask.
Go
for it, God; I trust You with my whole life, the darkest recesses of my mind,
and the deepest places of my inmost self.
Go
ahead, Father; Father me! Make me holy, HOLY Spirit.
Don't
leave me the same. In Jesus name!
Until next
time, if you are facing a drought in your life, lift up your head, back burn on
the enemy and Roar the praises to the king.
Be
blessed.
Darrel
Mason