We Are Going To Act Like Children Tonight
by Pastor Ritchie on Jan.26, 2010, under Avalon Church, Discipleship
I love roller coasters. The higher, faster, on-the-verge-of-hurling-my-funnel-cake the better. When I was around twelve years old I remember asking my dad if we could go to an amusement park one summer so I could ride what was advertised as the “world’s fastest roller coaster.” To my amazement, he said yes. I was ecstatic! He told me the date and I could hardly wait. I took him at his word. I believed that what he said was true. I never once doubted that we would go because he was my dad and I believed him. When he told me that we were going I began to live as if his promises were true.
We went just like he promised. I got to ride the world’s “fastest roller coaster.” For weeks I lived as if I had already received the promise. It was so much fun.
I think that is what Jesus meant when He told us that we should have “child-like faith.” We should accept His promises as true and we should live like we have already received them, because we have. We should live excited, adventurous lives filled with hope.
Tonight we are going to practice this kind of faith at our prayer gathering. Meet me at Avalon Church from 7:00 – 8:00 PM. The last two Tuesday nights have been phenomenal and I expect this one to be the best of all. Bring your worries, stress, concerns, requests, problems, and praises and we will claim the promises of God together.
See you tonight.
Ritchie
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January 26th, 2010 on 6:06 am
Seek His Esteem
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 12:00 AM EST
Yesterday I really felt a walking with the Lord in the spirit of joy and that was truly remarkable. I truly am praying for and am concerned for the things of God. I have a devotional that helps me understand what I experienced.
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. —Isaiah 66:2
It is a powerful and wonderful thing to have God’s esteem. The word esteem means to think highly of; it means respect or favorable opinion. Can anything be more fantastic than to have God esteem you—to think highly of you? This is possible not because of your profile, your importance, or performance, but because you want it more than anything else. Profile does not mean that God is pleased with you. There are people who are rich and famous, but they will never experience God’s commendation or hear “well done.” For these things mean little in heaven. All that is required is to want it—more than anything. That’s all. This means that you—whoever you are—can have God’s esteem.
What is required of you is not perfection, but seeking—making an effort to obtain—His praise and esteem. You don’t have to be the prophet Daniel. Three times the Lord said to Daniel, “You are highly esteemed” (Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19). Daniel was called highly esteemed not because he was a prophet, but because he loved God more than the approval of people (Dan. 6:10). It was his love for God’s honor that put him where he was; he could be trusted with a high profile because it meant less to him than God’s honor.
How much time and energy is required on our part? It all depends. If we want His esteem, then we are going to walk in any ray of light He gives to us along the way. We prove we want His esteem by the decisions we make. The honor of God is therefore at our fingertips. It is closer than our hands or our feet, closer than the air we breathe. It is centered in the mind, heart, and will. One could say, therefore, that to have the esteem of God is the easiest thing in the world to achieve because He is eager to show it. And yet to feel and hear His “well done” comes to those who show that it is really what they want by their words and deeds. The reward is pure joy.