Ask and you shall receive...I did ask and got something I didn't expect!

If my kids ask me for anything, I usually give it to them.  If they ask me for twelve cookies before dinner, I refuse.  Yet, if they eat a good dinner I usually let them have their little sweeties.  I am a sucker.  I LOVE giving my kids what they want, ESPECIALLY if it's a thing that will aid them in their growth and strengthening of character and heart.  I am recently realizing that God is no different.

Matthew 21: 22 says "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."  Also:  Luke 11: 9-13 says "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For EVERYONE who asks receives, and to the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Ok.  I keep my quiet time to my quiet self.  It is a place where Jesus and I meet, and it is sweet.  Sometimes it is challenging.  The things I "ask" are between me and my Lord.  Yet, every once in a while I am compelled to share.  This is one of those times.  I have been asking, lately, for some kind of DIRECTION from God.  I have chosen to believe his word, that he will provide an answer.  It just hasn't come yet...much like when my kids ask if they can start their own pillow store, or can they get a dog, or can they become a spy...hmmmm.  I realize that some requests must wait until they mature, grow in character, grow in life experiences.  I know that is how God answers me, sometimes it's yes, sometimes it's WAIT (he sees a MUCH bigger picture than I do), sometimes it's no (like my kids wanting 12 cookies before dinner, they don't understand that their bellies will be full and they will have a sugar-high that lasts two days).  There must be a certain element of TRUST in this process (just like my kids have to trust my answers).  SO...I have asking God to give me SIGN, send me a LETTER, give someone a WORD to give me (where ARE you Jeremiah?  I would even take a message like...REPENT, or you will be taken captive!).  Something...is there a pulse out there????  I need some guidance in this VERY busy, very distracted, busy, challenging life in which I am in the MIDDLE.  I have been looking for an anchor.  Jesus said, ask, believe and I will receive the Holy Spirit...the voice of God...who wouldn't want that?

Here is what I got...as clear as a bell and as loud as a train passing by.  How do I know, you may ask?  I just know.  It's like practicing an instrument, or learning a craft, or doing homework...you get into a rhythm and you know when you are on the right track.  You just know.  I have been basking in the presence of my Jesus for a number of months now (not because I am some holy-roller, but because it has become the source of all good for my day...it has become addictive).  I have read what I am about to share a zillion times.  This time, the heart of God really made itself known:

Matthew 25: 33-36 (this is one of many passages when Jesus is talking about the "final judgement", a day when all people from all nations will be held accountable for their actions or inactions.  This is one of MANY passages that lay out the bigger picture of life...what we chose to believe or not believe...)

"And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'"

What!?!?!?  How is this an answer, God?  Well, as I pondered this I realized a few things.  First of all, doing nice things for people isn't going to SAVE anyone.  One needs to be spiritually reborn from sin and death to life through the blood of Jesus Christ.  This is not popular, I realize.  I didn't set it up, it's just the way God decided to answer the dilemma of this creation falling from glory to satan's hand.  Secondly, God, in his loving way, was saying to me: "Rebecca, I have given you so many blessings because I love you.  You are my precious child.  You have asked me to guide you, to keep your heart soft, to show you where I want you to go.  Now, it's time to be a servant".   God showed me this in Matthew 20: 26 (this is Jesus' answer to the mother of two of his disciples who wanted her boys to have a special place in heaven...what mother WOULDN'T want something special for her boys???)

"...But whoever would be great among you must be your SERVANT, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man (Jesus himself, who came down from heaven in the form of a baby to a stinky barn in Bethlehem...accesible to ALL who would seek him) came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

All Jesus did, for the three years of his ministry, until he was crucified, was to SERVE people.  He expected nothing.  He felt entitled to nothing.  He spent his time being crushed by crowds of poor, sick, stinky (as I am sure people with leprosy don't smell too good), demon-possesed, blind, bleeding people.  He spent days, without eating, telling people all that God wanted them to know, and they must have loved hearing it because thousands and thousands of people hung around listening to him OUTSIDE without food or water (when was the last time I felt motivated to ANYTHING for a few days in the heat without food or water...they were in the middle east, remember).  He KNEW that the heart of God, a LOVING, merciful, patient, kind heart, would best be experienced through his HELPING and serving people.  NOT just saying, "ah, yes, I am so sorry about your problems...may God bless you".  He got his hands dirty.  He sacrificed his time.  He sacrificed sleep.  He hung out with all the "sinners" that no other religious people would tolerate.  He didn't just hang out with them, he healed them, forgave them, gave them a NEW LIFE, a taste of heaven on earth.  He didn't just keep company with the popular guys, or the people who thought he was cool, or the people who GOT him.  He was willing to be misunderstood because he knew that the people who needed him would see him for who he IS and that they would see his FATHER in him...  That is what he wanted me to know today.

Who am I paying attention to around me?  Do I know my neighbors?  Am I making the most of where I am, and asking God--by his Holy Spirit---to show me who needs love and service around me?  Am I REALLY acting like God's hands and helper to those who are suffering around me?  Getting involved with people is really messy sometimes.  It's inconvenient, it's time-consuming, it takes away from what I thing I NEED to do.  Yet, God has just shown me that my time here on earth is VERY short (all things considered) and when I am standing before the THRONE on judgement day will I see the ways that I SHOWED people God's love...not just how I TALKED about it.  My next prayer is asking for the strength and faith to do what God has shown me.  AMEN.