January 14, 2025
After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. (Matthew 14:23)
Spending hours in solitude with God alone is foreign to us. We are not familiar with God. He is, for most, a distant entity, not an every day Father. Few are those who, like Moses, speak to Him daily like “friend to friend.” But this familiarity is precisely what God desires, not casually, but in a fervent, loving, intimate way.
IT IS OUR LACK OF DESIRE AND TIME
Jesus was one with the Father, so the depth of their relationship cannot be repeated. But we can know Him more. We can long for Him so that we are often in His presence, unceasing in our communication through His Word and prayer.
The more we desire Him and spend time with Him, the more familiar we become with Him. The more comfortable, humbly joyful, and relaxed in His presence. Longer seasons in His throne room would not be an aberration if we were more familiar with God. We could learn how to talk to Him about everything (Is this not what He wants and has even commanded? Ephesians 6:18). We could learn how to listen and hear from Him in deeper ways, how to sit at His feet and learn from Him. We would discover that He is deeply concerned about everything in our lives.
WELL INTO THE NIGHT
These nights of prayer were indispensable to the man, Jesus. Can you imagine the exchanges that happened? The comfort and perspective given to Jesus, the instructions for the next day, the pure joy of being with the One from whom all blessings flow?
Can you imagine the Father hearing from the Son what He was experiencing on earth? God had never taken on human flesh until Jesus. Can you hear Jesus conveying things to the Father, now seen through the eyes of His beloved Son, with whom He was well pleased?
Everything needed was gained—and is always gained—in God's presence. His presence is our greatest need, and our presence is His great desire and delight. Oh, that God would help us … releasing us from our preoccupation with other things and creating a hunger to become familiar with Him.
Father, deliver me from my unfamiliarity with You. Help me to be at home in Your presence. Show me how to spend more time there … to be with You, learn from You, bless and honor You more. Take me there, Lord, so that I may serve you and others better and that my life will carry the fragrance and glow of Your presence to everyone I encounter for Your glory.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
February 12, 2025
Repentance helps us. Repentance heals us. Repentance restores us and refreshes us. And these are all the outcomes a loving Father desires for His children.
