Tag: Rev. Dr. Ken Crawford

The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
— Judges 2:7

It is so easy to lose the sacred experience of worship and in our daily lives we are drawn toward more secular activities. God is always present, powerful and eager for connection with us. Every experience with God is life-changing and formative to bring us closer to Him. Each generation must have its own first-hand faith. Transforming faith takes more than receiving a godly heritage and stories of the past deeds of God. It requires a fresh experience of God’s mighty presence!

Holy God, help me pass down my faith in you, and my love for you, to my children and to other young believers. More than that, Abba Father, help them experience your mighty power and great deeds personally through ministry and sacrificial service. I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
– Psalm 51:11

This desperate cry is from King David to God in his deep sorrow for his sin with Bathsheba and his cry for God’s forgiveness. The king before David, Saul, had blatantly disobeyed God and sought to rationalize his sin. God took his Holy Spirit from Saul. So David’s cry is understandable: in the Old Testament, God’s Spirit didn’t come to dwell in his people permanently.

However, I believe that the New Testament teaches that when the Holy Spirit comes into a person at his or her conversion, this gift of the Spirit is permanent. They can grieve, quench, resist, and ignore the Spirit’s influence, but God doesn’t take the Spirit away from them. Jesus promised that the gift of the Spirit would be with us forever (John 14:14-16). Paul talks about nothing separating us from the love of God in Christ Jesus in the context of a chapter focusing upon the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:37-39).

We shouldn’t have the concern David voices as followers of Jesus in whom the Holy Spirit lives. Instead, when we hear David’s heart-wrenching cry, we need to be reminded of two things. First, we need to be thankful for this precious gift of God’s presence within us to be with us until we return home to the Father (Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 2:2). Second, we need to be reminded of the hurtfulness of sin to the Spirit of God living within us and commit to honor God with what we do, think, and say (Eph. 4:30; 1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Father God, I cannot fully comprehend the wonder of you coming to live inside me through your Holy Spirit. I commit to live my live more aware that every breath, every thought, every action is part of my worship to you as the Temple in which you live by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
– Isaiah 6:1

We often view difficult times, crisis times, as bad because the circumstances we face are very hard. But difficult times can also be an opportunity for our hearts to re-awaken to the steadfastness and the gloriousness of God, as well as our great need for him in our lives. The crisis of Uzziah’s death for Israel and Isaiah became the great opportunity for Isaiah to see God in a fresh way and to be called into a special ministry for God. How can God use your crises, hardships, trials, and difficulties? Why don’t you ask him to show you!

Holy God, I confess that I get discouraged enduring hardships. I sometimes wonder where you are and why you have forgotten me. Deep in my heart, dear Father, I know you are there. But sometimes, O God, it is difficult to keep my faith burning brightly when I don’t hear your voice or see you face to face. Please strengthen my heart with your Holy Spirit and help me “see” you in a fresh way so that I will open myself to you and be tuned more perfectly for your service. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Then [the Lord’s people] remembered the old days, the days of Moses, God’s servant: “Where is he who brought the shepherds of his flock up and out of the sea? And what happened to the One who set his Holy Spirit within them?” — Isaiah 63:11 MESSAGE

In their rebellion against God, the Lord’s people forgot that they were the ones who had left him rather than him abandoning them. They wondered why the power and influence of the Holy Spirit weren’t present in the life of their community and in their nation when they, in fact, had grieved and opposed the Spirit of the Living God. God’s Spirit will not abandon us, but we can grieve the Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30), quench his influence and presence (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20), and resist his influence and teaching (Acts 7:51). The yearning we feel for God’s presence in us through the Holy Spirit is a good thing. That longing reminds us of our need to return to God!

Loving Father, the holy and Almighty God, my soul yearns for your presence. I need your guidance. And I recognize that when I have been unwilling to listen for your voice, I have separated myself from the influence of your presence and have only caused myself grief. Please forgive me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. — Isaiah 61:1 NIV

God’s servants in every era, including now, are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit produces holy fruit in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23), shapes their hearts, and guides their efforts toward ministry that conforms to the heart of God: He sends them to bind up the broken, bring freedom to those in captivity, and proclaim release from darkness for those imprisoned. We can get an idea of the way we are yielding to the Spirit’s leading when we see what resonates in our hearts and what our hands find to do as ministry!

Almighty God, make my heart yearn for what you long to happen. Guide my hands to do the work that you want to be done. Open my eyes to see those who need to receive your mercy. Move in me powerfully with your Spirit to conform me — heart, soul, mind, and strength — to your holy and compassionate will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.” — Isaiah 30:1 NLT

In the time of Isaiah, God’s people were in a very difficult predicament politically and militarily. They saw making alliances with foreign governments their only hope for survival. Why is it that we, the people of God, so easily forget that God is our only hope for survival — not military might, not financial strength, not alliances with other people or other governments. The problem is that we don’t live directed by the Spirit. Galatians 5 reminds us that we are to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), to be “led by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18), and to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Eight centuries before Galatians was written, Isaiah was challenging God’s people to live this way, and they ignored him — and even more importantly, they ignored God — bringing disaster upon themselves. I wonder if we are listening to him today?

Father God, King of Glory, I surrender my heart to be influenced, led, and directed by the Spirit so that I can produce the fruit of the Spirit in my life as I walk in step with the Spirit’s will in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

[After the return of the people of Judah from Babylon, this is what the Lord said about them,] “They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.” — Zechariah 7:12 NLT

God had told his people to “show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other” (Zechariah 7:9-10). But they wanted a quick and easy religion that made sense to their chosen values, their selfish behaviors, and their disregard for others. They ignored God. They refused to pay attention to the parts of God’s will they didn’t want to obey. They chose to harden their hearts to God’s message, the message the Holy Spirit had inspired the prophets to speak. We must not be like them. We must heed God’s warning: The words of the prophets, the message of Scripture, are not human words. They come from God and reveal what is important to him (2 Peter 1:19-21). We ignore them at our spiritual peril.

Lord of Heaven’s Armies, forgive me for not valuing what you value, not doing what you command, and not loving people, especially the vulnerable, as you do. Conform my heart to your will through the power of the Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. — Galatians 6:8 NLT

We have to make a choice. There are only two possibilities: Either we will choose to live out of our sinful nature, or we will choose to live to honor and please the Spirit of God within us. To do the first, we need no real commitment — we will live out of our sinful nature by default; no surrender to a higher calling is required. To do the latter (to live to honor and please the Spirit), we must intentionally yield to the Spirit’s influence in our lives. In the dance of life, we want to yield daily to the leading of the Holy Spirit! The results of this daily choice are starkly opposite: a self-centered, sinful life leading to decay and death on the one hand versus abundant life leading to everlasting life!

Father in Heaven, I choose to live to please your Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit is at work in me to bring life in me. I want that life, your everlasting life. So please influence me in every aspect of my life through the work of your Holy Spirit within me. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Psalm 105:4 (NIV)

Most people would admit that life is full of stress and that there is never enough time for the things we enjoy. Our vocations, families and hobbies consume so much of our daily schedule. We must prioritize and actively think about the most important tasks at hand. A form of triage becomes so necessary so we may faithfully follow a routine of activities in order to get through each day in an organized and productive manner. When we honestly evaluate where we use our time, how we spend our money, what we think about most often, and where we put forth our best efforts, what do we find? Is God our consuming passion? Is he our first love?

O mighty Lord, it is hard not to be able to see your face, yet I know my imperfection makes that impossible in light of your awesome holiness. Until that Day I see you face to face in heaven, please make your presence known in my life as I seek you with all of my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Psalm 105:4 NIV

Most people would admit that life is full of stress and that there is never enough time for the things we enjoy. Our vocations, families and hobbies consume so much of our daily schedule. We must prioritize and actively think about the most important tasks at hand. A form of triage becomes so necessary so we may faithfully follow a routine of activities in order to get through each day in an organized and productive manner. When we honestly evaluate where we use our time, how we spend our money, what we think about most often, and where we put forth our best efforts, what do we find? Is God our consuming passion? Is he our first love?

Mighty Lord, it is hard not to be able to see your face, yet I know my imperfection makes that impossible in light of your awesome holiness. Until that Day I see you face to face in heaven, please make your presence known in my life as I seek you with all of my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.