The Bible clearly admonishes to “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  In fact, during this pandemic this verse has become the go to Scripture for a lot of people. Can I be perfectly honest with you? Right now, I am having trouble being still. With everything happening right now, my pulse rate is up, way up. My ability to focus in prayer is affected by how fast my heart is beating. My attention span is short because my mind is racing. How can I be still when everything else is moving at the speed of light? If you can relate to that question please read on.

The one tool that I have found in my nearly 50 years of being a follower of Jesus Christ that slows up my RPM’s (revolutions per minute) and facilitates “being still” in my life is journaling. When I say journaling, I don’t mean what you might think I mean. I am not talking about keeping a diary. I am talking about following the tried and true example of believers in times past of keeping a record of what God is saying to them and what God is doing in their lives. Two Old Testament saints provide us with a powerful example:

1. David and the Psalms – For instance, Psalm 51 is David’s journal confessing his sin with Bathsheba, Psalm 56 is written by David at a time of despair and Psalm 3 is written as David flees his son Absalom. They are great illustrations of recording what God is saying to someone and what God is doing in their lives.
2. Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations – Jeremiah writes this book as he observes the fall of Jerusalem. It is his painful journal recalling God’s chastisement and faithfulness.

I would define journaling this way – “Journaling is keeping a written record of God’s work in one’s life through His Word, through circumstances, through people we come into contact with and through life in general.”

Here is what I have found to be the five major benefits of journaling:

1. It slows down my RPM’s.
2. It helps me focus and re-focus.
3. It helps me track my spiritual progress over time.
4. It help me clarify what God is doing in my life right now.
5. It helps me listen to God.

So, are you at least sold on giving it a try? Here is a basic methodology that I think will work for most of us. (See the pictures at the bottom of the page for more clarity)

1. Use a notebook of some sort.
2. Write the date & the word “yesterday” at the top of a page.
3. Fill up one side of a page per day for the journaling.
4. Record your interactions, accomplishments, thoughts, things learned and impressions.
5. Answer the question “What is God saying to me through all this?”.
6. Record devotional thoughts and special Bible verses read that day or that come to mind at the bottom of that same page.
7. Turn the page over and right C. A. T. S. down the page.

–  C= Confession – Spend some time making sure you heart is right with God by confessing the sins committed the past day.

– A = Adoration – Write a few of the attributes of God or names of God and praise Him just for who He is.

– T = Thanksgiving – What has the Lord done for you that you are thankful for? Is there an answer to prayer or a provision He has given to you to praise Him for?

– S = Supplication – What are some requests you have specifically for this day in front of you. If you are stuck insert the outline of the Lord’s prayer here.

Beyond this simple methodology here are a few further suggestions:

1. Don’t make this complicated, simple is better.
2. Don’t write something you wouldn’t want someone else to see if they came upon it. Remember, this is not a diary.
3. Don’t be a perfectionist. Punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, etc. are not that important.
4. Don’t be easily discouraged. Try to be consistent but if you miss a couple of days a week it is not big deal.

If I am going “know that He is God” I first am going to have to “be still”. Journaling provides a simple way to put “being still” back in our lives. Try it for three weeks and let me know if it makes a difference in your heart and life. I look forward to hearing from you (nycshepherd@gmail.com).

Blessings,

Pastor Dave Watson

 

Downloadable Outline for tonight’s Good Friday Service

When I Survey the Wondrous Crosspt

Temptation in the Time of Isolation

Human beings do better in community. We are social beings and no one is an Island to themselves. We need others. All cliches but all true.  This is a fact. We are social beings created in the image of a God who is revealed to us as a social being, three persons in One essence (The Trinity – Matthew 28:19-20).

There is great spiritual danger when we withdraw from others. That is because an individual often pulls away so that they can do what they want to do without others interfering.  Proverbs 18:1 tells us that “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Because of the dangers involved in going it alone Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 reminds that “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

On account of Covid 19 we are all physically isolating on some level or another from each another. Because of this isolation, it is my opinion that we are more vulnerable to temptation. We are alone. We have idle time on our hands. We are out of sync schedule wise. We may be discouraged or feel somewhat deserted at times. That is why I believe we are so vulnerable.

Let me suggest five simple things we can do to deal with temptation in the time of isolation. In examining the life of Jesus, who is our example as well as Lord and Savior, we note a time that He was isolated. We also see how He handled the temptations that came His way in that isolation. Let’s look at Luke 4:1-13, aptly titled Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, to learn from His example. Please read it now then check out my thoughts below.

As we read the story we find the first principle in Luke 4:1 which says  “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness”

1. In our isolation we need to be controlled and led by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus needed to be controlled by the Holy Spirit how much more you and I. Galatians 5:16 exhorts us “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. This is the time we need to walk as close to God as we possibly can. Walking in the Spirit means being dependent on and controlled by the Holy Spirit every step of the way.

 

Next, we read in Luke 4:2 that “For forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.”

2. In our isolation we need to recognize that we are indeed vulnerable and that this could go on for a while. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:12 tells us “Let him who thinks he stand, take heeds, lest he fall”. You and I most humbly admit to the Lord that we can’t stand alone. We need His help. We are vulnerable. We could fail or fall or both.

In Luke 4:3-12 we read of Jesus being tempted in three areas: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life.

3. In our isolation we need to be aware of the areas in which we will be tempted. 1 John 2:15-16 reflects this saying “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” We will be tempted or are being tempted in one or all three of these areas as we are isolated. Count on it.

Also in Luke 4:3-12 we see Jesus using the Word of God to combat temptation. Three times He says “it is written” as He does battle with Satan and temptation.

4. In our isolation we need to be familiar with and use the Scriptures to deal with temptation. In our battle we are told in Ephesians 6:17- “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Word is our best weapon in this hand to hand combat we do with temptation.

Finally in Luke 4:13 we read that “when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.” In other words, this was not the last of Jesus being tempted by the devil.

5. In our isolation we need to know that beating temptation once doesn’t mean we are done with temptation. It will visit it again. It will find another “opportune time”. Jesus told his disciples to “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

 

In overcoming the temptations He faced in Luke 4 our Lord is giving us a model for overcoming the temptations we will face in and out of isolation. He isolated himself purposefully. We would be wise not to isolate ourselves unless we absolutely have too. He had to be tempted from the outside. Most of our temptations come from within. James tells us “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15).

In closing let’s have a little review by way of a few simple questions.

1. Am I right now being controlled by the Holy Spirit? If there is any doubt, I need to take a few moments and confess my sins to the Lord and yield myself to Him to control me and fill me with His Holy Spirit. I need the Spiritual power that comes from Him.

 

2. Am I right now aware of how spiritually dangerous being isolated can be? If my attitude is or has been “I got this” I need to humbly come before the Lord and let Him deal with my arrogance and pride. Pride really does come before a fall (Proverbs 16:18)

 

3. Am I right now aware of the areas that temptation could hit me? Am I aware of my achilles heel, the area I am must vulnerable in. If not, maybe I need to walk thru what the desires of the flesh, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life look like in my life and assess my weaknesses. There is a good chance I am being tempted in one of these areas right now.

 

4. Am I a person who has the Word of God at the ready to face temptation? If not, may be I need to make a file card list of Bible verses that I have at my disposal to deal with the temptations that I face.

 

5. Finally, am I a person who has let down their guard having had some success against temptation? Surely, we all need to be remembering that one battle does not win the whole war. Temptation will always be an issue for us.

 

Jesus gives us an amazing example in Luke 4 of how to deal with temptation. He demonstrates the truths for dealing with temptation while alone for 40 days in the wilderness. Each of us need to latch onto how Jesus dealt with temptation in this story. As we do, we will have success in our own temptation in isolation.

Blessings,

Pastor Dave Watson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#urgentprayerneeded – Please pray with me.

President Trump on Saturday warned the nation of a deadly week ahead in the fight against the coronavirus as the number of Americans infected passed 300,000. “This will probably be the toughest week — between this week and next week,” Trump said Saturday at the beginning of his coronavirus task force briefing at the White House. “There will be a lot of death, unfortunately. But a lot less death than if this wasn’t done,” Trump said of the nationwide precautions underway. “But there will be death.”

 

Pastor Dave Watson

   Father, please relieve the families in our congregations and bear them up; let them take refuge in You and hide themselves in Christ Who is their life. Abba Father, we cry out to You for aid and deliverance. You alone can help us; please have mercy on us and lift this virus from our heads. 

   Hear our laments before You as we place them at the throne of grace. We come to You with Christ for our High Priest for help in time of need. You alone, O Christ, are able to save us to the uttermost. Give us the power to run the race set before us with endurance, looking to You Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Not all of us have yet suffered onto the point of death. We look on the great cloud of witnesses around us on earth and in heaven, and we shake off the sins that so easily beset us, and we strain ahead toward You, O Christ. Let us know that by Your perfect blood shed, we are cleansed from a defiled conscience and dead works to serve You, our living God. Give us Your Spirit by Whom we may overcome the flesh and be filled with the life of Christ. Please deliver us from evil, for Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

     Relieve our financial woes, let us protect our homes, protect our elderly, vulnerable, and immune-compromised. Give a peculiar portion of Your Spirit to all the medical workers on the front, like You did for the tabernacle builders and for the judges of old. Strengthen essential workers who are also still out in public in the workforce facing exposure to the virus. Their jobs are indispensable, but their lives and families are at risk thereby. Give them the peace that surpasses understanding. Cover them under Your wings. Touch us, Lord, that we might have faith to persevere.

     Give Your church a special filling to be able to weep with those who weep as we will enter into great grief. If hospitals are being mobilized around the country for sick bodies, may your Church mend hearts and souls. YOU are the Great Physician. You have come not for the righteous but FOR THE SICK. Heal us, Lord Jesus, like You did in the gospels. It may be Your will that many be healed in heaven only and not here and now. But we ask for mercy’s sake that it be now. Do what is pleasing in Your sight. We can only wait on You. Help us to watch and pray, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

    May Your same power, O God, with which you raised Christ from the dead, be now in Your church, to minister Your gospel in this season the way that You intend for us to do. This work of ours in the current climate is one which You have prepared for us from before the foundation of the world that we should walk in — so that the boasting may be all in You. For we are Your workmanship in Christ Jesus, fearfully and wonderfully made. We ask to be Your vessels fit for use in Your house. Please do this to the praise of the glory of Your grace, amen.