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“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” —Psalm 139:23

A couple of years ago, I was using the library at the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. I had spent a great deal of time there as a grad student and was fairly familiar with the area. After I had finished my research, I got into my car, told my GPS my next location, and headed on my way to MidAmerica Nazarene University. I drove carefree as I loudly sang, enjoyed the scenery, and continually pushed aside this little feeling that kept creeping up telling me I was going the wrong direction. Whether it was my distracted thoughts or the overly-trusting part of me that never argued with the little GPS voice, I don’t know; I simply kept driving.

As I drove, I passed by sights like Worlds of Fun, and I still remember thinking to myself, “Wow! I didn’t realize this place was so close to Olathe!” At this point, if you are familiar with the Kansas City area, you know that I am driving in the absolute wrong direction.

After I had been driving for about 25 minutes, I heard the familiar voice of my GPS informing me I would arrive at MNU in less than five minutes. Five minutes later, I learned the fun fact that MNU has a campus in Liberty, Missouri. I had inadvertently driven 40 miles in the opposite direction from where I was trying to go. I laughed about it then, and I still laugh about it now.

However, more than being just another experience that reconfirms the fact that I am horrendous with directions, it has also become one of my favorite Holy Spirit teaching moments in my life. You see, as I listened to the GPS with every turn, I followed mindlessly and lacked intention. I aimlessly traveled and was shocked when I ended up in a place that was far from my original goal. What did I expect would happen?

The same is true with our lives. When we are distracted and listen to whichever voice is currently the loudest, we arrive at places in life we never intended. The psalmist’s cry to have God search every part of his being is a cry that is dripping with intention. This cry reveals a person who desires such closeness with the Father and who knows this only occurs in a relationship marked with intentionality and humility.

I wonder if there is an area in your current reality that is characterized by complacency.

If there is, what would it look like to cry out to the Father, to the One who delighted in you as you were being formed in the womb, and ask Him to bring new awareness and growth to your life?

Prayer for the week: Father, You know every detail of Your children’s lives. Would You search us and transform us so that we can grow closer to You and be the people You’ve called us to be.

Sarah Fredricks is Associate Pastor at Living Hope Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas, USA.

Written for Coffee Break.

Today is the 48th day that we have been counting the omer.

God called to the children of Israel at Mt Sinai saying, “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Yehovah your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6:7 CJB) Many years later, Jeremiah prophesied that Yehovah would someday put His Torah (instructions) within the people and write it on their hearts. Again Yehovah said, “I will be their God and they will be My people.”

The first covenant was made between God and the children of Israel at Mt Sinai. Unfortunately, the children of Israel did not remain faithful to the covenant. The fault was not with the covenant but with the people. According to the footnotes in my Complete Jewish Study Bible, “the only ‘fault’ in the first covenant, if one should even call it that, is that it does not contain in itself the power to keep the people faithful.” (p 1739)

Yehovah was looking forward in time to the Shavuot following Jesus’ ascension when He would pour out His Spirit upon all mankind who would love Him, and He would put His “Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33 & Hebrews 8:10) Then the prophet Joel, quoting Yehovah proclaimed, “I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity” (Joel 2:28). Peter quoted this same portion in Acts 2:17 on the Day of Pentecost/Shavuot.

God pours out His Spirit on Shavuot in part to provide the power the people need to remain faithful. If the children of Israel could be drawn away very quickly in a time when life was much less complicated, how much more do we need His Holy Spirit to be on the thrones of our hearts in these times of technological advances that allow each of us to carry in the palms of our hands computers called ‘smart phones’, giving us access to everything in the world and viewing anything we desire with one tap on “go”? John was not wrong. We are like the Israelites and are drawn away from God by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. (1 John 2:16). Therefore it is imperative that we ask the Father to send His Holy Spirit, not only to cover us but also to reign in us, teaching and empowering us to be His people so that we may continually live according to His commands.

I encourage us all to eagerly implore Yehovah to pour out His Spirit once again and baptize us as He did on the Day of Pentecost almost 2000 years ago!

Pastor Ann

May 29, 2020

Today is the 45th day that we have been counting the omer.

God fed the children of Israel for more than forty years during their trip from Egypt to the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses said, “He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Yehovah.” (CJB) God allowed the people to come to the place that they were not able to provide for themselves. They could not figure out a way to provide the food needed to keep themselves alive. It was at that point that God did something for them that they could not do for themselves. He provided manna.

Do you remember the story of Jesus being tempted after His baptism? Jesus had fasted for forty days. He had to be very hungry! It was then that Satan came and tempted Him, telling Him that if He really was the Son of God, He could turn the stones into bread. Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Yehovah.” (Matthew 4:4)

Although the trend in our world today is that the government will provide for us, traditionally, we have been taught that we can only rely upon ourselves. If we refuse to acknowledge that God is the One who provides, we will ultimately end up worshiping ourselves or the government instead of God. If we choose to use our own abilities to provide, we should not be surprised if God humbles us as He did Israel.

Our challenge today is to depend upon Him at the deepest level of our lives. Those deep levels are where we develop intimacy with Him, as we chew and meditate upon His word. The closer we draw to Him, the more our lives are filled with His Presence, and we realize that everything we need in all aspects of life comes from Him.

What do you need today? What are you hungry for? God wants to provide for you what you cannot provide for yourself. The more you know Him, the more you want Him and the more you will receive from Him.

Pastor Ann

May 26, 2020

Today is the 42nd day that we have been counting the omer.

Throughout the Old Testament, God highlights the requirement to be different from all those around us. This is evident as He requires Abraham, his household and all his male descendants to be circumcised. It is seen again as God verbally gives His commandments to the Israelites at Mt Sinai and then in written form to Moses. Each one of God’s commandments reflect His holiness and His standard for living. He wants a people set apart. He not only desires but requires that they serve no other god. They were to have no other god in His face. They are to only worship Him, Yehovah. He wants a “different” people so that they stand out from all those around them.

As His people, we are to imitate Him by sanctifying ourselves, setting ourselves apart for Him alone. We are to choose to more accurately reflect Him by sanctifying things in our lives such as our possessions so that even those things are holy in His sight. We are to make sure that the things we own are not used in ways that are unholy. Maybe that means what is viewed on our TV or what our vehicles are used for…. Our time is sanctified when we set apart time to be in His Presence, drawing closer and developing intimacy with Him. Adherence to His commands hopefully is the fruit of sanctifying ourselves and living in a loving relationship with Him.

Leviticus 20:23-24; 26 (English Standard Version) “You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them…. I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples…. You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”

It is very easy for us to forget how adamant Yehovah is about living and being separate from the world in which we live. I am not talking about going and living on a mountain top, having no contact with others. I am talking about choosing to live our lives in such a way that we refuse to pick up the habits of this world in which we live. Our language, what we watch or bring into our being through any of our five senses, what we approve, where we go, our behaviors, and our attitudes are to reflect our God. Yes, He knows that we are human, but that does not give us license to do things that do not reflect His character. We cannot think and act in this manner: “well, this might be wrong, but God will always forgive me”. He requires us to be different from those who do not believe in Him. We are “to walk in humility and obedience and in the beauty of holiness – the beauty of His Presence – because He wants us to be His own. He desires for us to be consecrated and devoted in love to Him alone.” (A Taste of Torah, A devotional Study Through the Five Books of Moses, Keren Hannah Pryor, 2016) He wants so much for us to grow in intimacy and oneness of heart and mind with Him, sanctifying ourselves for Him. He wants the world to look at us and know that we are different even as He wanted the children of Israel to be different from the rest of the world. Through their difference, they were to proclaim to the world that there is only one God, and His Name is Yehovah.

Our challenge today is to do even as Paul tells those living in Corinth (2 Corinthians 6:17 NLT) “Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.” Will we choose to be like Yehovah, or will we choose to be like the world in which we live?

Pastor Ann

May 23, 2020