“The day is Yours, and Yours also the night;
You established the sun and moon.
It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made both summer and winter” (Psalm 74:16-17, NIV).
Each of the four seasons has a purpose and is quickly followed by another. When the quartet is complete, it is followed by another grouping of four seasons and this is what we call the passing of time and life.
Just as there are seasons in the natural world, so there are in the kingdom of God. Each season has its purpose and each one is preparing us for days to come. Life in the kingdom of God is sequential just as in the natural.
We don’t always understand all that is going on in the season we are passing through and, frankly, we are not supposed to. My least favorite season is winter. I love spring, I love fall, I enjoy summer and I tolerate winter. In the world of nature, especially plants, winter seems to be the time when very little is happening—at least little that we can see. Crops are planted in the spring and tended/prepared for harvest, which comes in late summer or fall.
Winter seems to be the least productive of all the seasons and yet the Word says that God made winter—so what am I missing? What is the purpose of winter? It’s not always visible to the eye but winter is that period of quiet, out-of-sight preparation for the next period of growth. As much as I dislike winter, God knows that in order for there to be productive planting and harvesting, there must be a time of preparation of the soil.
In Romans 5 the apostle Paul gives us a unique insight into the sequential seasons that the Spirit of God has for each of us. Yes, I said each of us—no exceptions!
I call this quartet of insights, “The seasons of God.”
“We . . . glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3, NKJV).
Paul is saying that we rejoice in tribulation—not for the tribulation but because of what the season is going to produce. I call tribulation the breaking up of the hard ground. Seeds cannot be planted in rock hard, compacted soil so the soil must be broken up, softened, before new life can begin. Then the seed can be received, water can be supplied, and new growth can begin. Sometimes soil gets hard just from being exposed to the elements. It gets baked by the sun and pressed down by the crush of life, so there must be a time of breaking up and refreshing the soil for new life to come. The Word of God calls this process tribulation.
“Tribulation produces perseverance” (verse 3, continued).
God is not in the same kind of hurry we are. We live in a time that has lost the art of patience and perseverance; we want things—and we want them now! Perseverance is learning to cross the finish line of every task, every assignment.
For nearly twenty-five years I jogged four or five times a week. I loved jogging! I loved breaking a sweat and I loved the natural high that comes as you pile up the time and distance in every run. For me, the hardest part of jogging was always the last half-mile. I knew the finish line was just ahead and my mind would begin to appeal to me: “Go ahead and quit now. Nobody’s going to know! You’re old and your legs are tired so just walk the last few hundred yards.” And so the conversation with myself would go.
Perseverance means saying, “The finish line is just ahead and when I cross the line, I will stop.” The apostle said to his young protégé just before he died, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, NKJV). That’s perseverance!
Tribulation teaches patience and together they bring forth character. And then we cross into another season.
“Perseverance [produces] character” (verse 4).
A person with character is a person with faith that has been tested, and integrity that is evident to everyone.
The story of the Prodigal Son is really the story of two brothers. One risked everything by some very foolish behavior and the other stayed home. True, he showed integrity but then he complained when his brother returned and their father threw a party. Simply put, God wants us to embrace the best of each of the brothers—the willingness to step out in faith coupled with the stability of integrity.
A second aspect of character is experience. Some things in our walk with God can only be learned as we travel the highway of life in the Spirit. You can read about them and talk about them but they can only be learned through personal experience, which takes time—and time cannot be rushed.
“Character [produces] hope” (verse 4, continued).
Hope is a four-letter word that has lost much of its meaning in our time. We have misused the word hope by saying things such as, “Well, I hope that works out for you,” when inside we are thinking, “I don’t really care, just don’t bring that up for discussion again.”
Embedded in the meaning of the word hope is a quality of certainty and expectation that is founded on the assurance that God’s promises are true and His Word always comes to pass. The word hope means “a settled expectation.” Hope is not inferior to faith but is an extension of faith. It is the expectation that says, “As God has been faithful in the past, so He will be now, in this situation.” David had hope when he faced Goliath because he had already killed a lion and a bear.
Hope emerges stronger as we pass through the seasons of tribulation, patience and experience. As hope grows stronger, so will our fruitfulness.
And so we move through the seasons one after another. Just when we think this garden that we call our life has become wonderfully fruitful, suddenly we pass into another season and the cycle of the seasons begins again.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
IN CHRIST ALONE!
The error comes softly and is often verbalized in comfortable, pleasing phrases that appeal to our senses, to our weaknesses—and it preys on our lack of discernment. Error is often presented as “new and progressive” in contrast to the “old and outdated” and thereby the error mongers appeal to the desire of the naïve to be “on the cutting edge of a new wave.”
The apostle Paul faced this type of error in two of the churches under his apostolic care—Colosse and Laodacia. Never one to shrink from confrontation or the need to correct error, Paul wrote the book of Colossians largely to bring the two churches back to balance and to correct and heal the damage done by the error. History tells us that the church at Colosse heeded Paul’s teaching and regained what had been lost. Tragically, the church at Laodicia, which was just ten or twelve miles from the Colossian church, did not listen.
Both of these churches had been born in a powerful move of God’s Spirit and had grown and thrived in a difficult but affluent area—and then the error came. The new and progressive message was designed to get the believers to move away from Christ’s being the center of their spiritual life and, instead, to focus on temporal issues such as, “How can I be a success in life?” or “How can I be a better person?” Important subjects, indeed, but not to be pursued at the cost of replacing the centrality of Christ in the believer’s life.
Paul deals at length with the heresy and then focuses on getting the churches back into right relationship with Christ. The following two verses are the heart of his teaching on this:
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7, NKJV).
Paul admonishes the church, “You started by receiving Christ Jesus as your Lord, so continue in Him; that is, walk the pathway of your life ‘in Him.’”
Paul goes on and gives the churches three helpful descriptive word pictures (metaphors) and then finishes with an amazing and releasing understanding. Paul knew that in order for these churches to survive the pressures and tensions of life, they had to learn to live a life totally centered in Him—in Christ alone!
How can we achieve such a well-centered balance in Him that the pressures of life do not overtake us? How can we be sure that our focus is really on Him? The apostle speaks clearly to this in this passage:
1. “Rooted . . . in Him”
A friend in California had a giant oak tree in his yard. The great tree was unmoved by the weather, the economy, the earthquakes, the drought or the occasional snow flurries. Even having “The Terminator” as the governor of California didn’t bother the tree. Why? Because very quietly over time, it had sunk its roots deep into the earth and was drawing life-giving water from unseen sources. That’s an exact picture of what Paul is encouraging us to do: Get our roots deep into the soil of Christ and draw from Him the life-giving nourishment we need. The root system anchors and feeds us no matter what hell is breaking loose around us. It takes time and patience but it is so worth it.
2. “Built up in Him”
Paul’s picture here is of the wise man Jesus spoke of in His parable in Luke 6:48-49, the man who built his house on the rock: “And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded [well built] on the rock.” The spiritual life of the believer is built upon the Rock, Christ Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 10:4). The other man in the parable whose home was destroyed by the same storm is pictured as “doing nothing—not listening, and building on sand—not on the rock.” He couldn’t be bothered to dig in and so he lost everything!
3. “Established in the faith”
How do we make sure that the foundation of our faith life is solid and stable? We do so by getting into the Word and getting the Word into us. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8, NIV).
The word prosperous as it is used here means “to go on (in life) well, to finish (life) well.” The word success means “to have insight and understanding, to know how to act wisely.” These definitions sound to me like someone whose faith life is solid. Paul’s admonition to the error-prone church is, “Get into the Word and get the Word into you.” The error mongers never really emphasize anything other than their interpretations of the Word.
4. “Abounding . . . with thanksgiving”
The word abounding suggests a picture of a river overflowing its banks. When we received Christ as Savior, it was through drinking the water of life by faith and at that time He put within us a well of living water (John 4:1-14). It’s His desire that we become “rivers of living water.”
Paul is saying to let the thanksgiving—the praise—the worship—flow, not trickle. Let it flow like a river! “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). The natural outflow of a life that is rooted in Him, built up in Him, and established in Him is thanksgiving, praise and worship. I am embarrassed by how long it took me to really understand the importance of this. It took the pain of sickness for me to finally put aside the silly notion that praise and worship was good but it was just the prelude to the main event. Praise is not the prelude, it is a key part of the main event!
Personally I am convinced that our abundant, overflowing of thanksgiving is the glue that holds all the elements of stability in place. True, the elements are important but our thanksgiving, our praise, binds them all together and invites His presence into our daily life.
The apostle Paul faced this type of error in two of the churches under his apostolic care—Colosse and Laodacia. Never one to shrink from confrontation or the need to correct error, Paul wrote the book of Colossians largely to bring the two churches back to balance and to correct and heal the damage done by the error. History tells us that the church at Colosse heeded Paul’s teaching and regained what had been lost. Tragically, the church at Laodicia, which was just ten or twelve miles from the Colossian church, did not listen.
Both of these churches had been born in a powerful move of God’s Spirit and had grown and thrived in a difficult but affluent area—and then the error came. The new and progressive message was designed to get the believers to move away from Christ’s being the center of their spiritual life and, instead, to focus on temporal issues such as, “How can I be a success in life?” or “How can I be a better person?” Important subjects, indeed, but not to be pursued at the cost of replacing the centrality of Christ in the believer’s life.
Paul deals at length with the heresy and then focuses on getting the churches back into right relationship with Christ. The following two verses are the heart of his teaching on this:
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7, NKJV).
Paul admonishes the church, “You started by receiving Christ Jesus as your Lord, so continue in Him; that is, walk the pathway of your life ‘in Him.’”
Paul goes on and gives the churches three helpful descriptive word pictures (metaphors) and then finishes with an amazing and releasing understanding. Paul knew that in order for these churches to survive the pressures and tensions of life, they had to learn to live a life totally centered in Him—in Christ alone!
How can we achieve such a well-centered balance in Him that the pressures of life do not overtake us? How can we be sure that our focus is really on Him? The apostle speaks clearly to this in this passage:
1. “Rooted . . . in Him”
A friend in California had a giant oak tree in his yard. The great tree was unmoved by the weather, the economy, the earthquakes, the drought or the occasional snow flurries. Even having “The Terminator” as the governor of California didn’t bother the tree. Why? Because very quietly over time, it had sunk its roots deep into the earth and was drawing life-giving water from unseen sources. That’s an exact picture of what Paul is encouraging us to do: Get our roots deep into the soil of Christ and draw from Him the life-giving nourishment we need. The root system anchors and feeds us no matter what hell is breaking loose around us. It takes time and patience but it is so worth it.
2. “Built up in Him”
Paul’s picture here is of the wise man Jesus spoke of in His parable in Luke 6:48-49, the man who built his house on the rock: “And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded [well built] on the rock.” The spiritual life of the believer is built upon the Rock, Christ Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 10:4). The other man in the parable whose home was destroyed by the same storm is pictured as “doing nothing—not listening, and building on sand—not on the rock.” He couldn’t be bothered to dig in and so he lost everything!
3. “Established in the faith”
How do we make sure that the foundation of our faith life is solid and stable? We do so by getting into the Word and getting the Word into us. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8, NIV).
The word prosperous as it is used here means “to go on (in life) well, to finish (life) well.” The word success means “to have insight and understanding, to know how to act wisely.” These definitions sound to me like someone whose faith life is solid. Paul’s admonition to the error-prone church is, “Get into the Word and get the Word into you.” The error mongers never really emphasize anything other than their interpretations of the Word.
4. “Abounding . . . with thanksgiving”
The word abounding suggests a picture of a river overflowing its banks. When we received Christ as Savior, it was through drinking the water of life by faith and at that time He put within us a well of living water (John 4:1-14). It’s His desire that we become “rivers of living water.”
Paul is saying to let the thanksgiving—the praise—the worship—flow, not trickle. Let it flow like a river! “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). The natural outflow of a life that is rooted in Him, built up in Him, and established in Him is thanksgiving, praise and worship. I am embarrassed by how long it took me to really understand the importance of this. It took the pain of sickness for me to finally put aside the silly notion that praise and worship was good but it was just the prelude to the main event. Praise is not the prelude, it is a key part of the main event!
Personally I am convinced that our abundant, overflowing of thanksgiving is the glue that holds all the elements of stability in place. True, the elements are important but our thanksgiving, our praise, binds them all together and invites His presence into our daily life.
Friday, February 10, 2012
SYSTEM FAILURE!
When two armies were facing each other in battle in conventional warfare, each side would probe the other looking for a weak spot where they could break through. Once there was a breaching and one army began advancing through the lines of the other, it was important to the success of the advance that all the necessary support flowed to the troops that had broken through. If supply lines were not quickly established, then the breakthrough would be halted or even reversed.
Becoming operational in Normandy on August 1, 1944, the Third Army under General George Patton was in nonstop combat for 281 days, advancing farther and faster than any army in military history. With a normal strength of 300,000 men, the Third killed, wounded, or captured some 1,811,388 enemy soldiers, six times its strength in personnel, and liberated over 12,000 cities and towns. The only time Patton’s forces were not in full speed advance was when they were resupplying or had outrun their supply lines.
A few weeks ago I shared an insight from Isaiah 54:1 about breaking out of barrenness.
“‘Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 54:1).
Isaiah 54 then goes on with instruction about sustaining a breakthrough. What good is a breakthrough if it’s just momentary and a few days or weeks later the situation is back to where it was?
God is not silent on this. He wants us to break through and “possess and occupy the land”—not go on a short vacation and then retreat to a life of barren fruitlessness (see Joshua 1:11).
“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch
Out the curtains of your dwellings” (Isaiah 54:2).
If fruitfulness is not prepared for, its arrival can destroy its intended home. The word tent in this verse is a reference to the tent dwellings that were home to the Jewish exiles from Egypt during their years in the wilderness. This is speaking of preparation for breakthrough, of preparing to receive what God is giving. It is speaking of the heart, of the inner man. Do not worry about things physical because there is a more important question. Are you prepared and ready to receive what God will give you? Are you ready to be stretched? Do you have a generous spirit? Fruitfulness and generosity are tied together in Scripture: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38).
“Do not spare”
Don’t hold back from what God is doing because of fear; don’t hold back things for yourself that He has instructed you to release. More people lose out on breakthrough because of fear of the unknown than anything else. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “. . . strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us” (Amplified Bible). Holding on to things God has told us to let go of weighs us down and slows our progress. Sin fills our lives with unnecessary junk that clutters and impedes our ability to receive. This portion is also saying, “Do not lack in the area of preparation; be thorough and have everything in place.”
“Lengthen your cords”
To “lengthen” or to be stretched signals a call to change. You cannot lengthen a cord by remaining the same. Some say, “Well, bless God, that’s just the way I am and I’m not going to change!” And they are right about one thing—they are not going to change and the move of God will go right past them and they will miss it. Very few things will diminish a move of God more quickly than an inflexible spirit. Willingness to change is a willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the Word.
“And strengthen your stakes”
When the wind of the Spirit begins to blow and increased fruitfulness stretches our dwelling place, it is imperative that our “foundation stakes,” the principles that hold us in place, have been driven deeply into bedrock.
I like most of the changes in the contemporary church. I like the aggressive desire of churches to grow; I have no problem with multiple locations; I love video technology; I like it that pastors no longer have to wear three-piece suits; I even love the imitation of the Eagles rock band that now dominates worship teams.
But let me speak for a moment as an older brother and as a man of God. One of the dangers facing the contemporary church is not attack from the outside but system failure within. In our zeal to succeed, to grow, to be relevant, to reach this generation, we are in danger of failing the people God has called us to reach and to lead. If our core principles are wrong or are not firmly in place, then system failure is inevitable. If our people are not being taught to worship, to pray and to study God’s Word, then we will outrun our supply lines and everything will grind to a halt.
God’s heart for our future is displayed in Isaiah 54:3:
“You shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”
So be it!
Becoming operational in Normandy on August 1, 1944, the Third Army under General George Patton was in nonstop combat for 281 days, advancing farther and faster than any army in military history. With a normal strength of 300,000 men, the Third killed, wounded, or captured some 1,811,388 enemy soldiers, six times its strength in personnel, and liberated over 12,000 cities and towns. The only time Patton’s forces were not in full speed advance was when they were resupplying or had outrun their supply lines.
A few weeks ago I shared an insight from Isaiah 54:1 about breaking out of barrenness.
“‘Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 54:1).
Isaiah 54 then goes on with instruction about sustaining a breakthrough. What good is a breakthrough if it’s just momentary and a few days or weeks later the situation is back to where it was?
God is not silent on this. He wants us to break through and “possess and occupy the land”—not go on a short vacation and then retreat to a life of barren fruitlessness (see Joshua 1:11).
“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch
Out the curtains of your dwellings” (Isaiah 54:2).
If fruitfulness is not prepared for, its arrival can destroy its intended home. The word tent in this verse is a reference to the tent dwellings that were home to the Jewish exiles from Egypt during their years in the wilderness. This is speaking of preparation for breakthrough, of preparing to receive what God is giving. It is speaking of the heart, of the inner man. Do not worry about things physical because there is a more important question. Are you prepared and ready to receive what God will give you? Are you ready to be stretched? Do you have a generous spirit? Fruitfulness and generosity are tied together in Scripture: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38).
“Do not spare”
Don’t hold back from what God is doing because of fear; don’t hold back things for yourself that He has instructed you to release. More people lose out on breakthrough because of fear of the unknown than anything else. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “. . . strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us” (Amplified Bible). Holding on to things God has told us to let go of weighs us down and slows our progress. Sin fills our lives with unnecessary junk that clutters and impedes our ability to receive. This portion is also saying, “Do not lack in the area of preparation; be thorough and have everything in place.”
“Lengthen your cords”
To “lengthen” or to be stretched signals a call to change. You cannot lengthen a cord by remaining the same. Some say, “Well, bless God, that’s just the way I am and I’m not going to change!” And they are right about one thing—they are not going to change and the move of God will go right past them and they will miss it. Very few things will diminish a move of God more quickly than an inflexible spirit. Willingness to change is a willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the Word.
“And strengthen your stakes”
When the wind of the Spirit begins to blow and increased fruitfulness stretches our dwelling place, it is imperative that our “foundation stakes,” the principles that hold us in place, have been driven deeply into bedrock.
I like most of the changes in the contemporary church. I like the aggressive desire of churches to grow; I have no problem with multiple locations; I love video technology; I like it that pastors no longer have to wear three-piece suits; I even love the imitation of the Eagles rock band that now dominates worship teams.
But let me speak for a moment as an older brother and as a man of God. One of the dangers facing the contemporary church is not attack from the outside but system failure within. In our zeal to succeed, to grow, to be relevant, to reach this generation, we are in danger of failing the people God has called us to reach and to lead. If our core principles are wrong or are not firmly in place, then system failure is inevitable. If our people are not being taught to worship, to pray and to study God’s Word, then we will outrun our supply lines and everything will grind to a halt.
God’s heart for our future is displayed in Isaiah 54:3:
“You shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”
So be it!
Friday, February 3, 2012
THE EMPTY CHAIR
“The eternal God is your refuge,
and his everlasting arms are under you” (Deuteronomy 33:27).
A man’s daughter asked a local pastor to come and pray with her ill father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on pillows. Beside the bed sat an empty chair. The young pastor assumed that the old man had been informed of his visit and had the chair brought in.
“I guess you were expecting me,” he said.
“No, who are you?” asked the father.
The pastor introduced himself and explained why he was there and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I thought you knew I was coming to visit.”
“Oh, the chair,” said the old man. “Would you mind closing the door?”
Puzzled, the pastor closed the bedroom door.
“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man, “but all my life I have never known how to pray. At church I would hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I never understood how to do that, how to pray.”
“About four years ago my best friend and I were talking about prayer and he said to me, ‘John, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Let me suggest this. Sit down in a chair, then put an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus sitting on the chair. This is not weird because Jesus promised that He would be with us always. Just speak to Him like you are talking to me right now.’”
“So, I tried it,” said the old man, “and I like it so much that I do it for a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on his journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and left.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.
“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.
“Yes” she said. “When I left the house in the afternoon, Daddy called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I came back from grocery shopping about an hour later, I found him. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside his bed. What do you make of that?”
Choking back a sob, the pastor simply said, “I wish we could all go like that,” and then he told the daughter what her dad had told him about the empty chair.
Isn’t it incredible how the use of an empty chair to visualize a conversation could revolutionize the man’s prayer life? To learn to love to pray and to spend several hours a day praying is the mark of a changed man. The empty chair is not the reason for the change; the empty chair is where his Friend sat.
I keep an empty chair next to my desk in my study. Every morning my Friend and I have a conversation; He talks to me and I talk to Him—that’s what friends do.
Friendship is defined as a relationship of trust, faith, concern and love for the other person.
In John 15:9-17 Jesus taught the disciples the importance and place of love. Jesus instructed the disciples to love each other as He loved them (verse 12). As a part of His teaching, Jesus made the following statement: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15 NIV).
This was a powerful moment for the disciples because Jesus was changing their relationship from servants to friends. He didn’t have to do this; He did so because He loved them and valued their friendship. His generosity in offering friendship was bringing the disciples to an understanding of grace. They couldn’t earn His friendship and they didn’t deserve it, but He offered it anyway because He loved them—and that’s grace.
The pharisaical legalists never do become friends of Jesus; they are too busy running around trying to meet all the demands of the law in the flesh. Legalists are always trying to be perfect and condemning others for their failures. They are trying to earn friendship when Jesus has given it as a gift. Friends receive the gift given in love and the love relationship is established.
Jesus says, “I have called you friends,” so why don’t we act like it? Let’s talk to Jesus as if He is actually a friend and not the recipient of a Tweet. Go ahead and visualize the empty chair and start talking to Him. If you are really burdened down, it’s okay to put your head over on the chair. He won’t mind at all; in fact, I think He will love it.
and his everlasting arms are under you” (Deuteronomy 33:27).
A man’s daughter asked a local pastor to come and pray with her ill father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on pillows. Beside the bed sat an empty chair. The young pastor assumed that the old man had been informed of his visit and had the chair brought in.
“I guess you were expecting me,” he said.
“No, who are you?” asked the father.
The pastor introduced himself and explained why he was there and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I thought you knew I was coming to visit.”
“Oh, the chair,” said the old man. “Would you mind closing the door?”
Puzzled, the pastor closed the bedroom door.
“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man, “but all my life I have never known how to pray. At church I would hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I never understood how to do that, how to pray.”
“About four years ago my best friend and I were talking about prayer and he said to me, ‘John, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Let me suggest this. Sit down in a chair, then put an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus sitting on the chair. This is not weird because Jesus promised that He would be with us always. Just speak to Him like you are talking to me right now.’”
“So, I tried it,” said the old man, “and I like it so much that I do it for a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on his journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and left.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.
“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.
“Yes” she said. “When I left the house in the afternoon, Daddy called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I came back from grocery shopping about an hour later, I found him. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside his bed. What do you make of that?”
Choking back a sob, the pastor simply said, “I wish we could all go like that,” and then he told the daughter what her dad had told him about the empty chair.
Isn’t it incredible how the use of an empty chair to visualize a conversation could revolutionize the man’s prayer life? To learn to love to pray and to spend several hours a day praying is the mark of a changed man. The empty chair is not the reason for the change; the empty chair is where his Friend sat.
I keep an empty chair next to my desk in my study. Every morning my Friend and I have a conversation; He talks to me and I talk to Him—that’s what friends do.
Friendship is defined as a relationship of trust, faith, concern and love for the other person.
In John 15:9-17 Jesus taught the disciples the importance and place of love. Jesus instructed the disciples to love each other as He loved them (verse 12). As a part of His teaching, Jesus made the following statement: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15 NIV).
This was a powerful moment for the disciples because Jesus was changing their relationship from servants to friends. He didn’t have to do this; He did so because He loved them and valued their friendship. His generosity in offering friendship was bringing the disciples to an understanding of grace. They couldn’t earn His friendship and they didn’t deserve it, but He offered it anyway because He loved them—and that’s grace.
The pharisaical legalists never do become friends of Jesus; they are too busy running around trying to meet all the demands of the law in the flesh. Legalists are always trying to be perfect and condemning others for their failures. They are trying to earn friendship when Jesus has given it as a gift. Friends receive the gift given in love and the love relationship is established.
Jesus says, “I have called you friends,” so why don’t we act like it? Let’s talk to Jesus as if He is actually a friend and not the recipient of a Tweet. Go ahead and visualize the empty chair and start talking to Him. If you are really burdened down, it’s okay to put your head over on the chair. He won’t mind at all; in fact, I think He will love it.
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