Take a Timeout

Daily Devotional by Tommy Tenney

Relationship is cultured, not automatic.

Finding Favor with the King, p. 68

Scripture Reading
Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5-6, Speaks of Enoch, who "walked with God" for 300 years and "was not, because God took him"; a great example of the reward that comes to those who diligently seek God.

Some things can't be rushed. Building a strong relationship is one of them.

The only way to really get to know someone is by spending time with that person - lots of time. Sustained separation will cause a once close relationship to fade into a distant memory. A close and intimate relationship can be sustained only by close and intimate contact on a regular basis. This is true of any human relationship.

It is also true of our relationship with God. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to start taking your relationship with God for granted? To allow the urgent demands of the day and the routine pressures of life to push aside your intimate moments with the King? When things are going well it is easy to let your relationship with God slip into "autopilot." Before long you begin to presume on that relationship. You start thinking, "God is always there if I need Him." But when a crisis comes and you really do need Him, you often find that your communication tools have become rusty through disuse.

Indeed, God is always there, but a strong relationship is cultured over time. It is not automatic. We find this principle illustrated over and over in the Bible. Enoch is a good example. Genesis says that "Enoch walked with God three hundred years... and he was not, because God took him." Did you notice that? Enoch walked with God for 300 years! He took the time to cultivate his relationship with God and God rewarded him by bringing Enoch into His presence permanently. Enoch is one of only two humans who have ever bypassed death. (Elijah is the other one.)

Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch's testimony is that he "pleased God." The next verse states that without faith it is impossible to please God but that God is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Do you want to be close to God? Then take the time to cultivate your relationship. Diligently seek the Lord. God desires an intimate relationship with you more than you do. He will not force you, but He will try to draw you near. His Spirit will nudge you and prompt you. But the choice of how close and intimate with God you become is yours alone. It all depends on how hungry you are and how determined you are to press in. You can't get close to God "on-the-fly." What's your rush? Slow down . Take the time to walk with Him every day. Your patient, faithful investment of time will bring in a rich return of intimacy with the King. Take a timeout!

Prayer

Father, forgive me for the times when I've been too busy for You. I want to be close and intimate with You more than anything else in this world. Help me to slow down and take the time to get to know You. By Your grace I will walk with You and seek Your face every day.

Bread? Or the Bread-giver?

Daily Devotional by Tommy Tenney

Seek the heart of the King, not the splendor of His kingdom.

Finding Favor with the King, p. 31

Scripture Reading

John 6:26-29, where Jesus, the day after feeding the 5000, challenges the people to seek Him not because he gave them bread but because He is the Living Bread.

What does it mean to pursue the King? It means wanting to know Him, not just hang around Him. Have you met people whose sole purpose in life was to get as close as possible to people of power and influence? Their goal was to see what they could get from their association with the rich and powerful - they couldn't care less about really knowing them. The only sought the prestige or personal benefits won by saying, "I'm on the inside track" or "I'm in the loop."

Jesus also had His share of "hangers-on." He was surrounded by people who followed Him seeking only what He could do for them, not for who He was. They "hung out" with Him only for what they could get from Him. This attitude even showed up in His own inner circle. James and John, the "sons of thunder," boldly asked Jesus of they could sit on His right and left hand in glory. This made the other disciples angry. (Probably because they hadn't thought of it first!) Jesus taught them that the measure of true greatness in the kingdom of God is found only in the heart and attitude of servanthood.

People who always jockey for position aren't interested in serving but in being served. Christians who do this really know nothing of the heart of the King. Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

In John 6:26-29, on the day after Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, the same crowd had followed Him to Capernaum. Jesus bluntly confronted them about their attitude. "...you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you..."

Jesus plainly told them He was the "Bread of life" and removed any illusion about what it meant to be "with Him." It wasn't about a free ride or a free lunch. He called them to a life of faith and commitment to Him leading to everlasting life. Unfortunately, all they wanted was free bread. "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." They weren't interested in knowing the Bread-giver, they wanted free bread and the splendor of the spotlight. When its luster faded so did they.

If you're serious about pursuing the King, then seek to know Him. Seek His heart and love Him for who He is, not for what He can do for you. Become like Him, begin to think as He thinks, love as He loves and do as He does. Hang on His every word for the sheer joy of just being with Him! When you are with the King, nothing else matters!

Are you seeking the heart of the King or merely the splendor of His kingdom? Do you love Him for who He is or for what He can do for you? There is one way to know. Ask yourself: If I lost everything and all I had left was my relationship with the King, would that be enough? Would you be satisfied? What are you after? Bread? Or the Bread-giver?

Prayer

Lord, I want to know Your heart! I want to know You-to feel as You feel, think as You think and love as You love. Help me look beyond Your gifts, Your blessings, and the splendor of Your kingdom and put my focus on You! To know You and be with You and know You-nothing else matters!

Run to Daddy

Daily Devotional by Tommy Tenney

Some forms of worship only release their sweetest fragrance to God when offered from the fires of trial and adversity.

Finding Favor with the King, p. 25

Scripture Reading

Acts 16:25-34, where Paul and Silas, beaten and locked up in the Philippian jail, offer prayer and praise to God. He delivers them with an earthquake, and the jailer and his household become believers.

It is taught by some in the modern church that believers can expect an easy road in life if they will only have faith. It is good - even absolutely necessary - for true believers to believe and have faith in God. But the Christ of the Bible has never said "Life should be a breeze!" Christians - good Christians - sometimes go bankrupt. Christians get cancer. Christians lose their jobs. Trials and adversity are real, even for believers - perhaps especially for believers. They touch every one of us and they hurt (and they usually have nothing to do with our faith level). So how do you handle adversity in your life? Do you gripe and complain, saying, "Oh, woe is me!" Do you challenge or question God? "Why are You letting this happen to me?" Or have you learned to view trials as an opportunity to grow and to draw closer to your heavenly Father?

Children who get a cut or a scrape run to Mommy or Daddy for comfort - somehow their comforting and reassuring kisses make life better. The pain offers yet another opportunity to exchange love and deepen the bonds of unconditional love between children and parents.In the same way, trials and hard times should propel us into our Father's arms. Rather than run from Him, we must run to Him and find comfort, strength and direction in His presence. Our faith is in Him, in His abiding love, and in His Word; not in the false expectation that all trouble and adversity will leave our lives.

Jesus said, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you..." He also gave us this great promise: "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." You are on assignment in enemy territory, and trials and adversity are part of living in a fallen world. As God walks through the hard times with you, the problems serve as purifying fires burning away your impurities and strengthening you for service - if you embrace the process of growth. Your trials tend to either make you or break you - it all depends on your response.

Paul and Silas were thrown into the Philippian prison, with their feet in stocks and their backs bruised and bleeding from wrongful beatings. They could have moaned and groaned, but at the midnight hour they were too busy "praying and singing hymns to God"! They transformed their pain into praise and their stripes into songs of joy. The jubilant worship birthed in the midst of fierce tribulation became a sweet fragrance in the nostrils of God. The presence of the Father arrived with such for that it shook the earth and brought deliverance to His worshipers. The sweet fragrance of their worship even affected the lives of the jailer and his family and changed their lives forever.

Athletes know that in order to grow stronger their muscles must be stress and stretched in exercise so even stronger tissue will generate. This principle of "no pain, no gain" even applies to the Christian life. We cannot grow without pain and resistance. God uses the trials and hardships of life to draw us closer to Him and to develop greater maturity in us so we can go on to greater things. Willing worship in times of tribulation becomes the sweet fragrance that brings God near. It's easy to praise God when things go well. Have you learned to worship Him in hard times as well? Your trials and adversity are fresh opportunities to praise and worship God - and to experience new growth. When life hurts, don't run away - run to Daddy!

Prayer

Father, sometimes life hurts. My first impulse is to turn my back or run away, but I know You love me. The bad times and the sad times in my life should draw me closer to Your side and make me more like You. Teach me to worship You at all times - even in the hard times. Let my worship be a sweet fragrance rising to Your throne.