Oh did I miss the next part?

Man. With Dad's passing and my brother-in-law suddenly critically ill and in ICU, and I could name a host of other things that don't make sense, I feel like abandoned forsaken and a whole lot of other words of similar demize. Oh, and I'm just being honest here. I know what the promises of the Scriptures are and I believe them. But my feelings don't. So I believe God has in his still small voice indicated for me to praise my way through this. Well praise usually has a happier tone to it. Nevertheless, I will do that as best I can. I'm also asking God what he wants to show me through all of this. If I missed the next part, please re-send  for this slow learner. 

Vicki





----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 3:37 pm
Subject: Empty of God As A Christian

>
>
> When I was in Bible college, my roommate told me one day that he had a fish tank at home but it was empty.  I told him to bring it back to school, we'd fill it, and I'd pay for the fish.  He set it up one day, filling it with water, putting the brightly colored rocks in along with open geode rocks, pronounced ge odes, which the dictionary defines as a small, hollow, usually spherical rock with
> crystals lining the inside wall, 
> They sparkle like diamonds and are beautiful, and he had castles so the fish could swim in and out of the little houses and a soft light over head along with the water pump to keep the tank water oxygenated.  The only problem was, we never bought any fish.  I begged my roommate time and time again and that I'd would buy the fish but I guess he didn't want to take care of them so we just never bought any fish for this nice fish tank.
>  
> Our part of the 4-plex we lived in had the washer and drier so every weekend, guys from the other three parts of the 4-plex came right through our front bedroom, which was in the living room, and three guy bunked upstairs in two different bedrooms, and after loading their clothing into the washer, they'd come out and talk, or read, in our living area as they waited for their laundry.  The fish tank always came up in conversation like this.
>  
> I might be stretched out on my bed, my roommate working at his desk at something, and after moments of long silence, the guy would say, "Hey, you guys.  Where are the fish in this tank."  My roommate or I, would look up and say, "Oh, there in there.  Just keep looking."  Minutes passed.  "I don't see any fish."  One of us would reply and say, "Oh, they like to hide among the rocks and castles.  Just keep looking."  Sometimes this ruse, or deliberate deception, would last for 15 or 20 minutes until they'd realize, there really were not any fish in the tank.  Then they'd wonder, "Why do you have water in this fish tank and no fish living in it?"
>  
> I compare this to the average Christian life and relationship with God.  I wonder if you agree.  Most of us, even as born again Christians, try our best, even when things are going poorly, to act the part of a Christian.  Some people refer to it as performance based Christianity.  Oh, we would never admit to such behavior in our relationship with God but in all my ministry years, pastoring, and before that, traveling to churches around the country as a guest speaker, it's common in the Body of Christ, and lest you think I boast, I identify such thought behavior in my own life all the time.  Why?  Because the truth is the only thing worth believing.  Many times the Lord will call it to my attention by saying in my mind/thoughts, "What are you doing that for?  I'll tell him why but then He will say, "But I've already done that for you so stop it."
>  
> For example, a few years ago, I was praying two hours every day.  I had a list of 60 people, or more, for whom I prayed but when I broke it down one day, that meant only 2 minutes for each person.  I thought that was a puny amount of time to be praying so I switched to praying in tongues for the same amount of time in order to allow the Lord to sort it all out.  One day, after walking from our deck into our living room, going to get a drink before I returned to our deck swing and my praying, I heard a voice in my head say, "What are you doing?"  Well, Lord," I began, "I'm praying, you know, for these 60 people and for everything else you want me to pray about.  You know, I'm an intercessor so I'm doing what intercessors should be doing."  He said, "I never told you to pray 2 hours a day."  I took the hint and stopped the 2 hour per day ritual.
>  
> This all reminds me of Elijah running from Jezebel.  After the greatest victory of his ministry, calling down fire from Heaven and slaying 850 evil prophets single handedly with a sword, a woman threatens to kill him and he literally headed for the hills and finding a cave, he hid. depression set in.  You know the rest of the story.  God asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah."  The old prophet figured God hadn't heard so he explained it to Him in detail and even said he was the only prophet left in Israel to preach to the people His Word.  He didn't know God had 7000 other's throughout the country doing exactly what Elijah was already doing.  God invited him out to the opening of the cave to give him an object lesson.  The wind blew so hard, it split boulders.  That's a pretty stiff breeze if you ask me.  Then there was a mighty earthquake.  Take my word for it; you don't want to be cooped up in a mountainous cave during an earthquake but that's where Elijah was; exactly in the wrong place and thinking the wrong way about God.  Then we also learn there was a fire.  What burned in this mountainous fire?  It appears Elijah was above tree line so was it just the air, or rocks, or ground that caught on fire?  Then God asked him again what he was doing in this little cave.  Elijah didn't change his mind set and answered in the exact same way."  Why?  Because he felt God had let him down following his greatest sermon ever.  Of course, Elijah found out God was far from done using him.  How did Elijah know?  Because each event, the wind, the fire, and the earthquake, the Bible says, "but God was not in the wind, or earthquake, or fire."  Then where was God if that wasn't Him in each of those amazing miraculous events?  God was in His quiet still voice where Elijah, due to his discouragement, fear, and depression, had forgotten just to listen for the Lord's voice.
>  
> So, what does an empty fish tank have to do with any of this?  Have you ever felt, as a born again Christian, that you have everything but what you truly need from the Lord?  I mean, we have the Bible, a source of great doctrine, theology, and peaceful comfort.  We have prayer so we can commune personally with the God of the universe even if He is busy, you can leave a message and he'll eventually get around to calling you back.  Jesus is our friend now even if we have no personal friends with whom we can fellowship.  We have Christian broadcasting to listen to when we just can't take it any longer.  We know, or at least are pretty certain, what little money we put in the offering plate is going to multiply and pay all our bills.  Right?  Sure, the Bible says so, at least that's what the preacher says in his sermons.  We have the promise that nothing is impossible with God yet we have physical issues that are right down monotonous and at other times so painful, we spend most of our time crying.  If that isn't bad enough, it feels like we might just die from it all.  Look it up.  Elijah was suicidal.  Read it for yourself in 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19.  Yet, with all these pretty things to brighten up our tank, even fresh air pumped into the cool water and a light overhead to show us the way, we are flat out empty inside of real life.  So how do we get it.  I'll talk about that next time.
>  
> Phil.
> Living His Name
> WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM

As Always, Vicki
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