danmastrapa.com » Bible

Can’t eat right now, I’m full!

Dan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:53:27 +0000

John 4:31 I can imagine this scene in which the disciples are urging Jesus to eat because they got him the pita and hummus combo at the local fast-food joint in Samaria. They didn’t know he had been ministering to a woman while he was waiting for them and at that precise moment a mini-revival was starting in the town.

How funny that the things that we pursue in life apart from the will of God leave us empty, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. When we are in the arena of God’s purpose for our lives, there is a satisfaction that we cannot express and put fully in to words. Ministry has its ups and downs and for sure, some days I was wish I was doing something else. The consistent thing I do know, is that when I am about “my Father’s business” I experience that ‘fullness’ in my spiritual stomach that keeps my going.

Lord, I want to live my life doing your will and accomplishing your work. In that is the promise, not that life will be simple, easy, effortless and tame, but that there will be a ‘fullness’ to my life that I will never encounter apart from you.

Supersize Him

Dan — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:39:18 +0000

John 3:30 Got to love the confidence of John the baptizer as he was told that Jesus was baptizing and all of his congregation was going to Jesus. John understood his purpose and vs. 29-30 in The Message declares that John said “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”

Do we get jealous when others succeed and we don’t seem to have the same measure of success? This passage convicted me of several things. First, there is something competitive in me that doesn’t allow me to celebrate victories in other people’s lives or ministries as easily as I would like. Secondly, Jesus needs to move to the center of whatever that is in me that creates those feelings of jealousy or competitiveness. I’m sure John being human struggled with these same things but his recognition of his own purpose and that of the Christ allowed him to surmount that.

Lord, help me to overcome in this area and celebrate the successes of those around me, even when I don’t seem to have that same measure of success in my own life. Allow me to understand my own purpose with such laser-like clarity and that Jesus would be the center of this area in my life.

The Issachar Principle

Dan — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:50:38 +0000

1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV) “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”

Recently I felt impressed in my heart (I could say the Lord told me, but that would be very Charismatic of me) that the current climate that we find ourselves in is one in which the old maps we have used are no longer going to get us where we need to be. Hearing the voice of God, that still-small voice on the inside that is the Holy Spirit leading us, needs to be louder than the noise in our life. Knowing God’s word and hiding it in our heart will be critical. Maps are out — compasses are in. That compass is the Word and the Holy Spirit. We need to be able to navigate the ever-changing landscape with that compass and not the maps of old.