The New Be Attitudes . . .

Many years ago during one of my prayer times, I apologized to God for asking so many questions.  Immediately, I heard in my mind the following response:  Ask the questions now while you can because before long, you'll be too busy to ask.

Sure enough, not too long after that, our fellowship entered a season of on-the-job-training involving intercession, ministry, and deliverance that occurred almost nightly over the duration of several months.  These months were the best of times and the worst of times, and oh, how I wished I had asked a million more questions than I had.

Many of the prophetic feel that we are about to enter another of those seasons and need to be prepared.  What did we learn from the last season that may fortify us for this coming season?  I Peter 1 expresses some of these attitudes.  I call them the new be-attitudes.

• Be alert and disciplined, thinking clearly and exercising self-control
• Be focused, looking for Christ's kingdom rule and looking forward to His return 
• Be obedient, willing to follow Holy Spirit's lead and to do whatever He asks us to.  We are God's children; He longs for obedient children.
• Be merciful and just and loving and generous in all and to all.  God desires to have sons and daughters just like Himself. 
• Be totally devoted to Him.  He has set us apart for Himself.  We are to be different than the world.
• Be empowered by Holy Spirit.  His current must flow to us and through us to those around us; otherwise, our energies are nothing but wasted wind.
• Be thankful and joyful, grateful for all God is and all He has done and is going to do, and we must be these in both the good times and the bad.  Frances Roberts says that joy is the natural climate of heaven.  (Come Away, My Beloved)
• Be genuine.  God desires honesty in us and with each other.
• Be - lieve!  Period!
• Be receivers.  Leonard Sweet says that from a Biblical perspective, a theology of receiving comes before a theology of giving.   He says that one of the most dangerous spiritual problems anyone can have is to be a better giver than a receiver because God's fundamental category is giver; our fundamental category is receiver.  By being better givers than receivers, we place ourselves in God's category.  He calls this a "God complex".  (Soul Survivor)  There is so much out there that God desires to give us, but we have to be humble enough to receive it and to receive it through any means God so desires to use.
• Be reverent toward Him which simply means to have a healthy respect for Him.  We shouldn't ignore Him or treat Him casually.  He is God, and we are not.
• Be worshippers of the one true God.  We must honor Him with our time, energy, and money.
• Be life-long students of Jesus.  We must know His word.  This is a never-ending task.  There are no graduates in His university.
• Be hopeful, full of Jesus.  Just think, THE Hope of all the world lives inside of us, and He promises that one day, when He appears, we will be like Him.  What a precious promise!
• Finally, Be prayerful.  Perhaps this last attitude is the most important.  We may not make it through the days to come if prayer isn't a priority in our lives.  Watchman Nee says that our weakness is most easily manifested in prayer, that nothing in the spiritual realm reveals our weakness more than this activity or the lack thereof.  (Let Us Pray)

Folks, I write these things not because I've arrived but because I'm lacking in these areas.  I desire these things because God desires theses things and because I believe we are on the verge of something big. I don't know what it is, and I'm not sure if the prophetic knows exactly.  But, that is the glorious mystery of God.  If we knew, we would walk by sight and not by faith.  God desires people who walk by faith.  Faith pleases Him.

Therefore, be encouraged and be diligent.  Now is not the time to sleep.  Now is the time to pray.

If ever we needed to be a people of prayer, now is the time.  If ever our fellowship needed to be a house of prayer, today is the day.  While reading Daniel, I noticed how he prayed three times a day and that his windows were open to Jerusalem.  That made me wonder if my "windows" were open, if I was available to God.  How can I hear what He has to say if I'm not available?

Another passage that caught my attention is in Exodus 17 when Joshua led the army into battle.  As long as Moses held up his hands, the troops held the advantage.  However, Moses' arms grew tired.  When this happened, Aaron and Hur found a rock for him to sit upon while they held up his arms.  Needless to say, the army was victorious.

This act was an act of intercession; it was something that Moses did on behalf of the nation.  Some may think, "Well, that was his job.  After all, he was their leader."  I beg to differ.  I used to tell my high school students, especially the seniors, that we are all leaders.  They would laugh at me and say, "Mrs. Handy, I'm not a leader."  But I would counter with, "We all lead someone.  There are little eyes watching us all the time imitating what we do and what we say and how we do and say it."  Intercession is not just for the recognized leadership; it's not just their job.  Intercession is all of our jobs.

Jesus' life was one of intercession for us, and today He lives to make intercession for us.  If we desire to do the things that Jesus did and is now currently doing, we will make intercession a priority.  We will be like Daniel and have open windows at all times.

Our intercessions aren't just smoke that eventually vanishes; they are collected and considered precious in heaven.  One day, these prayers will be revealed for all to see.  (Revelation 5:6-8)

 

So, May we have open windows to heaven all the time.

May we be prepared, looking eagerly for Him and His kingdom.

May we be quick to receive from Him and to repent.

May we walk in forgiveness.

May our eyes not be accustomed to the darkness around us but be ever seeking His light.

May our hearts not be entangled in the world.

May we be His faithful witnesses and have our lamps trimmed and ready.

May we not lose the oil of His spirit or the bread of His presence or the wine of His love.

May we burn brightly.

 

 

Burn, Vineyard!  Burn!

 

 

Children of God are not Christian dreamers engaging in idle and wishful thinking.

They know who they are and to whom they belong and where they are going.

Theirs is a forward look in hope and great expectation.

A.W. Tozer